Three days later, Su Chen finished packing. Driven by Sun Tai in a hovercar, he was delivered near the spaceship dock in the center of the city.
The open area that usually echoed with the sound of the wind was now filled with crowds. There were supervision guards responsible for keeping watch on the periphery, high-ranking officials of the city who had co to join in the fun along with their descendants, as well as carefully selected talents from Nanfeng Academy.
The quota to enter the Adjudication Court was only three.
However, Yingfeng was not just the Adjudication Court. There was also the Engraving Institute, Crafting Departnt, First Aid Training Academy, and various research institutions.
It was just that the people who erged from there could not possibly lay their hands on positions like the City Lord or even the ministers of major institutions, but it was still not a problem for them to serve as middle managent.
Therefore, there were a full twenty or so people heading to Yingfeng this ti. Under Yuan Chenyang's request, Yang Yan simply brought them all along.
A spaceship rested in the center. Its dark silver hull glead with a cold, secluded light under the afterglow of the artificial sun. The surface of its streamlined body was etched with so sort of engravings, and the gangway had already been lowered.
Clang— A transport forklift carried a tal box onto the spaceship. The statue of Black Buddha was placed inside it, causing Su Chen to subconsciously step back.
Next was everyone's luggage. Su Chen saw his own luggage; originally, it was just a small suitcase containing so clothes, but now there was an extra tal box half the height of a person.
He couldn't help but look at Yuan Chenyang in the distance, who nodded imperceptibly.
"Junior Brother Su..." Zhang Hongbo walked over, seeming to have waited a long ti. Trailing behind him was Zhang Hengyu, whose excitent could be seen at a glance, and Zhang Yunqing, whose expression was complex.
"Senior Brother..." Su Chen also felt sowhat speechless. He was now of the sa generation as Zhang Hongbo, but calling the other party 'Senior Brother' still felt truly bizarre.
Having run into each other a few tis during this period, the other party insisted on addressing him this way.
"Call him Martial Uncle..." Zhang Hongbo turned his head with a beaming smile.
"Martial Uncle Su..." Zhang Hengyu was sowhat embarrassed.
"Martial... Uncle Su..." There was even less need to ntion Zhang Yunqing; a few degrees of annoyance toward Zhang Hongbo were added to her heart.
"Once in Yingfeng, I hope Junior Brother can look after my two worthless children a bit more," Zhang Hongbo said sincerely. "If there are any areas where they are lacking, just teach them a lesson on my behalf."
Zhang Yunqing stared wide-eyed at her father. Just what kind of talk was this?
Jiang Rong had just walked over when he heard Zhang Hongbo's words. His face filled with speechlessness, and in the end, he could only call out, "Brother Su".
It was a ss, a complete ss. The whole damn thing was a ss.
Su Chen responded helplessly, "Minister Jiang..."
This was his first ti eting Jiang He's father.
anwhile, the young people further away frequently cast glances over here. A portion of them had crossed paths with Su Chen at that banquet, and at this mont, they couldn't help but have a whirlwind of thoughts.
The fathers of so among them could only stand at the edge of the small clique centered around Su Chen.
"Elder Xia really isn't returning together with you all?" Yuan Chenyang was currently conversing with Yang Yan, handing over a tal box.
"Elder Xia still has other matters," Yang Yan said vaguely. He took the box and opened it for a look; inside was exactly the Saint Word Stone, as well as a stack of deciphered data.
Yuan Chenyang asked hesitantly, "There shouldn't be any problems on the journey, right?"
"Rest assured," Yang Yan said with so displeasure. "We are taking the official space lane. Yingfeng dispatches people to clear it twice a year, and when coming here, Elder Xia even cleared it an extra ti."
"Even if there are Mutants who don't know the imnsity of heaven and earth, I can handle them."
"I was just asking," Yuan Chenyang explained. He looked at Su Chen, then at Bai Fengxi.
Adding these two people together, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they were his life and livelihood.
"You only managed to decipher 30%?" Yang Yan flipped through the data and couldn't help but frown.
Yuan Chenyang shook his head. "What sort of resources do we have over here? We don't even have a proper Class Decoder. Being able to decipher this much is already not bad."
He added a reminder, "When the deciphering is complete, don't forget to send a copy to us back in Nanfeng."
Yang Yan closed the box and handed it to Gu Bing. "Request it from the Class Decoding Departnt yourself. I don't want to deal with that bunch of guys."
Everyone boarded the ship one after another. Even Zhang Hongbo boarded, drawing Su Chen's astonishnt.
"I need to head to the Ruins for a rotation; it just so happens to be on the way," Zhang Hongbo explained.
"The Ruins, huh..." Su Chen realized. He actually felt quite curious about these Ruins.
Zhang Hongbo perceived his curiosity and explained, "It's not sothing you all can explore yet. According to preliminary estimates, it should be a 4th-tier ruin, possibly even 5th-tier. Once the initial riot period passes, Yingfeng will dispatch people over."
He further explained that the classification of ruins was simple and crude. The highest tier of danger that appeared within would dictate the ruin's tier.
Su Chen couldn't help but frown. "4th-tier, or even 5th-tier; can Nanfeng withstand it?"
Zhang Hongbo shook his head. "It's fine as long as we don't explore too deeply. After a ruin appears, there will be a period of instability. During this ti, quite a few ruin creatures might scurry out, but the vast majority of them aren't considered dangerous."
Before boarding the ship, Su Chen saw Hu Xiang standing at the edge. He seed like he wanted to squeeze his way to the front but appeared hesitant and wavering.
Su Chen nodded at him, indicating that he rembered the matter regarding the Mist Nightmare Bead. Hu Xiang's expression eased, and he gave him a deep bow from afar.
Gu Bing had already arranged the rooms for them. This spaceship wasn't a dedicated transport ship, so the rooms on board were not many.
The vast majority had two to three people sharing a room. Only Yang Yan, Gu Bing, Su Chen, and Bai Fengxi received exclusive individual rooms.
As for the temporary passenger, Zhang Hongbo, he didn't need to sleep since the journey was only going to take a few days anyway.
Hum—
The cabin door closed. The thrusters at the tail of the ship burst with a faint purple radiance, and the anti-gravity devices released visible gravitational waves that kicked up the surrounding dust.
Yuan Chenyang couldn't help but narrow his eyes as he watched the spaceship plunge into the fog and gradually vanish.
.........
"The four cities of Yingfeng, Tianqing, Lieyang, and Yuandu jointly govern Crimson Thunder Planet... Yingfeng's strength is considered the foremost... managing one hundred and twenty-five cities under its jurisdiction, with the Council of Elders jointly presiding over Yingfeng's affairs..."
"The Adjudication Court is further divided into the Inner Court and Outer Court, all of which are professionals. Overall, the number is no less than ten thousand..."
In his room, Su Chen lay on the bed, looking through the virtual screen in front of him. The entire process aboard the ship was extrely boring. There wasn't a Gravity Room either, so he could only engage in ditation.
He used the extra ti to look through information, all of which ca from the ship's database, allowing him to learn a lot of knowledge that he previously found difficult to access.
"Crimson Thunder Planet... This should be this planet. Besides Yingfeng, there are three other giant cities. It's already possible to recognize that this is a planet, and perhaps there's even more to it..."
"Because of the appearance of the fog, everything resulted in being isolated, burying the past." Su Chen couldn't help but speculate. "Following that, the current civilization began to unearth the past and reproduce the technology. This is why everything I see appears so bizarre."
Every ti he ca into contact with a new database or new high-ranking officials, the thing he wanted to do most was inquire about the origin of the fog.
Within the database of this spaceship originating from Yingfeng, Su Chen finally found a clue, "...Yingfeng was initially established one thousand and four hundred years ago, which doesn't an the fog appeared one thousand and four hundred years ago. It only ans that this place revived one thousand and four hundred years ago..."
"However, prior to this, Yingfeng was also very weak. It's just that it gradually developed, and the cities at its bottom frequently suffered from danger. It wasn't until twenty years ago, when the Vault Light—also known as the artificial sun—was invented, granting the ability to isolate the fog over a large area, that it could be considered to have bood and developed vigorously..."
"I'm rely a Bronze talent. I'll just muddle along in the Yingfeng Supervision Departnt to gain so seniority, then return to serve as a section chief or sothing..."
Feeling so idle that it was suffocating, Du Yu, who had co to chat with him, leaned back in a chair and spoke absentmindedly.
He was Du Jingming's son; the two n had dealt with each other at the banquet previously.
"Although, Zhang Hengyu is definitely aiming for the City Lord position. Even though his old man stepped down, their foundation is still there..." Du Yu continued to ramble:
"He has changed a lot now. In the past, he was a lone wolf, acting like he didn't want to bother with anyone. Now, he's surprisingly talkative and has even started to win people over."
Su Chen's expression was odd. He guessed that Zhang Hengyu was acting this way purely because he had been suffocated while staying in the sub-bureau and joining him in engaging in fierce, inward competition.
"Brother Su, I heard your teacher is an incredibly famous harbinger of death." Du Yu lowered his voice. "Moreover, his motives for accepting a student are impure."
"Where is this information coming from?" Su Chen frowned as he looked over.
Du Yu explained, "It cos from the Trade Repository. They frequently travel between various cities, so they're well-inford. Prior to this, nobody on our side had any ties with that Chief Inquisitor, so not many people paid attention to it."
"Since you've beco his student, I've heard quite a bit of news during this ti."
"Baseless rumors and gossip." Su Chen shook his head, not caring much about it.
"I think so too," Du Yu was in deep agreent. "I feel that the Chief Inquisitor is quite approachable."
Su Chen cast a faint glance. Following everything he had rambled on about, it was clear that many pieces of information between the cities did not circulate; only the people from the Trade Repository could access it.
"I heard that in this batch of the Adjudication Court, there is a formidable fellow."
In the end, Du Yu spoke mysteriously, "This is exclusive information originating from Qinghu City. The locals there even issued a lockdown order."
"A lockdown order was issued, yet you still know?" Su Chen gave a sidelong glance.
Du Yu was sowhat embarrassed and explained, "The guys from the Trade Repository ntioned it."
"That's not important. What's important is that in this batch, there's a guy with Ink Jade talent."
"Ink Jade?" Su Chen couldn't help being surprised. Ink Jade was still entirely above Red Gold.
"Is this for real?" Su Chen couldn't help but be skeptical. "Usually, even a Red Gold talent is rarely seen. Having two or three a year is enough to cause an uproar."
"And this year there's actually an Ink Jade?"
"It should be true, right?" Seeing Su Chen's skepticism, Du Yu also lost his confidence, hemming and hawing for a while, not daring to be certain.
"However..." His tone shifted, "He might be able to beco the Chief Inquisitor. That's one of the mbers of the Council of Elders, presiding over the rise and fall of Yingfeng."
"Tell , how is the gap between people bigger than the gap between a human and a pig?
Su Chen shook his head, too lazy to listen to his rambling. He continued to look through the virtual screen while deliberating inwardly.
Ink Jade, huh. I reckon I'll still have to find a profession similar to the 【Scholar】 and 【Sage】 in order to reach that level.
.........
In the bottom cabin of the spaceship, several accompanying supervision guards stood around the tal box. They were all temporarily assigned from Nanfeng City, and not long after arriving at Yingfeng, they would return together with the trade caravan.
Thud!
The expression of one of them shifted slightly. He abruptly turned back to look at the tal box behind him in shock and suspicion.
His action drew the attention of the others. They raised their guns, simultaneously entering a state of high alert. "Zhao Hong, what's wrong?"
"Didn't you guys hear it?" Zhao Hong asked hesitantly, "A soft thud."
The other three looked at each other and shook their heads one after another. "Didn't hear anything."
"Is it because I'm too nervous?" Zhao Hong also began to doubt himself. After a long mont of thought, he walked up. "We should still take a look."
The four of them were carefully chosen. Their strength might not be high, but they were absolutely responsible.
The other three had no objections either. They watched Zhao Hong walk up to the front of the tal box and press a button on its surface. The sheet tal facing his side opened up a slit, only as thick as a finger.
Looking inside through the gap, Zhao Hong saw that the black statue sealed by golden chains was still the sa as before.
But he wasn't sure if it was a coincidence, the black vertical pupil on its head was directly facing him.
Zhao Hong subconsciously locked eyes with it. His mind felt a burst of trance as a wisp of black mist, difficult to detect with the naked eye, shot out abruptly.
"What's the matter? There shouldn't be any problems, right?"
Seeing him remain motionless for a long ti, the guard next to him couldn't help but ask.
"It's nothing," Zhao Hong closed the observation window and shook his head. "I might be suffering from so ntal fatigue. I'm going to wash my face."
"Mhm, we will keep watch right here." The other few echoed.
"Sorry for the trouble," Zhao Hong gave his thanks, slinging his gun to the left side and walking up the handrail stairway.
"To think I'd discover such an interesting matter. It isn't an Evil God, yet it can devour my power." A dark gleam flashed through Zhao Hong's pupils. "I'd rather like to see just what exactly you are?"
......
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The sound of knocking echoed. Su Chen rubbed both of his eyes, guessing that it was Du Yu, Little Zhang, or perhaps Old Bai...
"You are..." Opening the door to take a look, Su Chen was quite surprised. Standing right in front of him was actually one of the supervision guards.
"A supervision guard responsible for watching over the tal box?" Su Chen recalled. "Why would you suddenly co looking for ?"
But the other party did not speak, only staring at him fixedly.
Abruptly... Su Chen's brow tightened. He watched as a wisp of black light suddenly swept over the other party's pupils.
He cried out 'crap' in his heart, but before he could even react, overlapping voices faintly traveled to his ears,
"...A very ordinary body, decidedly diocre... How could such a body possibly devour my power..."
"What... the hell is this!?"
The voice suddenly cried out in shock, as if having discovered so sort of inconceivable matter.
In Su Chen's line of sight, the panel subsequently erged, flashing a massive influx of ssages—
【Corrupting consciousness invasion detected. Taming in progress...】
【Taming successful. Gained pure Black Buddha faith power. Forcibly instilling into the Believer. The Believer shouts, unable to endure...】
【Believer evolved to—Fanatic: As a standout among the believers, you can rely on the power of the Evil God to strengthen yourself. Disguise: Black Buddha Fanatic】
【The Fanatic shouts, unable to endure...】
【Fanatic evolved to—Priest: Able to preside over various Evil God rituals, and even engage in basic communication with the Evil God. Disguise: Black Buddha Priest】
(End of Chapter)
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