Roadmap to the Bound Chapter 207: Application

Chapter 207: Application

At 3 p.m., Chen Chuan helped Lu Ke bring Yu Gang out of the alley. A car was already waiting outside.

The Chain Links Gang had sent it over. At the very least, they had so compassion and did not cast Yu Gang aside after using him.

This ti, the Chain Links Gang had sided with the correct team, even though they had lost a lot of mbers because of this. Still, the most important thing was that they had participated in destroying Black Orchid Co., so they were considered to have contributed to the country.

Black Orchid Co.’s collapse and the destruction of dozens of powerful families ant that a lot of assets were left behind and plenty of market opportunities had opened up. They were all huge pie slices.

Even though the top governnt officials had already distributed the most important assets and market opportunities and only left behind scraps they didn’t want for those who had worked for them, they were still enough to fill people’s appetites.

After Chen Chuan helped Yu Gang into the car, he asked, “Mr. Yu, are there a lot of people who know the throwing art?”

“Any martial artist can pick up bits and pieces of it, as long as they’re willing to practice, but there aren’t many who have inherited proper throwing arts.

“The throwing art I have is sothing I got from a deceased, old friend. He had a proper throwing art he inherited from his master, so the book contains details on how to generate strength and how to use dicine while training the art.

“But if you want to search for soone who knows throwing arts, I suggest you check at the Resolution Departnt. They have comprehensive records of all martial artists who have shown their faces in public and what their strengths are.”

“Thank you, Mr. Yu,” Chen Chuan said gratefully.

“You’re talented and have a strong will. If you run into so problems that won’t interfere with your training, you should set them aside for the ti being. So ti in the future, you’ll find a chance to solve them,” Yu Gang advised.

Chen Chuan nodded.

Once they helped Yu Gang into the car, Lu Ke got out and said, “Chen Chuan, Master Yu said that you’re definitely going to Central City. Is that true?”

“I’m absolutely going,” Chen Chuan answered with confidence.

“That’s great! We’ll leave ahead of you, but let’s et again in Central City!” Lu Ke said excitedly and raised a hand.

Chen Chuan high-fived him and smiled. “Yes. Let’s et again in Central City.”

They exchanged goodbyes, and Lu Ke got into the car again. The engine soon ca to life. Lu Ke waved at him behind the windscreen, and Chen Chuan did the sa. He stood at the entrance of the alley and watched the car fade into the distance.

Once he could no longer see the car, Chen Chuan went to the field in front of the Domain of Fists. The place was empty, but when he walked on the field, the scenery from a year ago was still fresh in his mind, as if it had only been yesterday since he last ca here. He could recall every instant clearly, and every mont remained vivid.

A flock of birds flew by, leaving behind the sounds of flapping wings.

Chen Chuan cast a glance at the blue sky before going to grab his bicycle. He pushed it out of the alley, got on it, and went ho.

Ten minutes later, he was back. Since there were only a few days left before the new sester, he needed to pack all the things he needed to bring to the dorm.

Over the next few days, everything was peaceful, though the news broadcasts were pretty lively. They were basically all talking about the forces of power that had connections with Black Orchid Co. A few days ago, the news only talked about companies that had worked with Black Orchid Co. Now, they were starting to talk about governnt officials from the Departnt of Administrative Affairs, which ant that the purge had reached its final stages.

On the 31st, Chen Chuan went back to the university with his luggage. This ti, when he walked in, many of the students who had already co back greeted him and acted friendly.

Chen Chuan politely returned all their greetings. Things only returned to normal when he got back to his dormitory. Even there, though, when the students walking about the dorm saw him, they would say hello to him.

This was unavoidable. Chen Chuan had defeated the Mutual Aid Group by himself and got out of his trial unscathed. Nothing else was more worthy of admiration to the students. Most of them had also stood outside the tribunal court to support him, which they would always rember and look back on fondly.

Chen Chuan didn’t know this, but his reputation had been building over the past few days and had reached a height no other student had ever reached in the history of the university. Even the lecturers on the campus had to think carefully before taking action once they saw his na included.

When Chen Chuan went up to the dormitory supervisor to register being back, the dormitory supervisor handed him a form with a grin. “It isn’t easy being famous, is it?”

Chen Chuan took the form. “It really isn’t, but that’s okay. Once the sester starts, they won’t have the ti nor energy to think about these things anymore.”

The dormitory supervisor nodded at that. “You’re right about that. They have too much free ti right now and no way to release all that pent-up energy, but once the new sester starts and all sorts of training piles up on them, they’ll fall asleep the mont they hit the sack. They won’t have the ti to even think about anything else.”

“By the way, is it just , or are there more new students this year compared to the last?” Chen Chuan asked while filling out the form.

“The number keeps increasing every year. That’s the trend, but I think next year will have much more than expected,” the dormitory supervisor answered and gave Chen Chuan a aningful look.

Chen Chuan knew what he was talking about. Thirty-seven recomnded students were dead after the incident in the old factory, but it wasn’t that simple. A large group of university board mbers and sponsors were also arrested. The political situation in the campus had gone through a 180-degree change.

This ant that there was a power vacuum. The university managent could ignore all the clauses and restrictions they had to adhere to in the past and treat every situation with the rules applicable only during special occasions. They could also allow more students to enroll.

Chen Chuan handed the filled-out form back. The dormitory supervisor took it back and grumbled, “If more students enroll in the university, I’ll have more students to manage. I’ve been the dormitory supervisor for years, so I should be happier seeing more students move in, but that also ans more work. My workload will increase yet again.”

“You should ask for an increase in your wages, then,” Chen Chuan said with a grin.

“The chancellor won’t approve of it. He’s stingy,” the dormitory supervisor shot back.

“Then, I’ll approve of it when I beco the chancellor,” Chen Chuan teased him.

“I like the sound of that, but unfortunately, you need to reach a certain age before you can beco the chancellor, and I’ll be retiring by the ti you do.” The dormitory supervisor let out a fake sigh.

“That’s fine. I’ll increase your pension then,” Chen Chuan said with a laugh.

“I’ll rember that.”

After the brief chat with the dormitory supervisor, Chen Chuan left the registration counter and walked into the elevator with his luggage to head to the seventh floor. The mont he stepped out, he saw Zhuang Zhi’s group in the public training room. When they looked over, he gave them a nod and headed toward the corridor.

Zhuang Zhi’s group felt a wave of complicated emotions in their hearts, but at the sa ti, they felt lost.

The Mutual Aid Group had disappeared overnight, and they were free of their shackles. They had gotten all the benefits of the Mutual Aid Group, they no longer had to obey the clauses in the contract.

It made them feel like they had hit the jackpot and should be grateful toward Chen Chuan, but the Mutual Aid Group’s reputation was down in the dumps, and all those who joined the group before were questioned by the university managent. Even though nothing would be done to forr mbers, their reputation would be ruined in the university, and if they told anyone outside that they were once part of the Mutual Aid Group, it would be seen as a stain on their lives.

They were thinking of ways to clear their reputation, and soone suggested they join the Aspiration Club.

This club had rushed over to support Chen Chuan once they learned that he went to the abandoned factory. At that ti, the Mutual Aid Group and Black Orchid Co. were still around, so they had shown that they were willing to help without hesitation. Because of it, the club mbers had a good reputation among the students.

But the Aspiration Club didn’t accept just anyone. They weren’t welcoming toward those who had once joined the Mutual Aid Group. Because of that, the forr mbers started talking about building another club for themselves so that they could support each other. It was as if the roles of the two groups had been flipped over.

***

After Chen Chuan returned to his room, he set down his luggage by the wall. His room hadn’t changed. Its layout remained the sa. Last year, he had walked into his room just like this as well, but everything had changed since then.

Chen Chuan went to the floor-to-ceiling window and cast a glance at the Spring-Autumn Lake.

Tomorrow would be a brand new day.

He stood in front of the window for a while before he took out his things from the luggage. After putting them away and cleaning the room up a little, he went to do his daily training.

***

It was the first of September, and the new sester began. After the freshn went through the opening ceremony, Cheng Zitong ca to Chen Chuan’s door and set a stack of docunts on the table.

“Take a look, Xiao Chuan.”

Chen Chuan picked up the papers and looked through them. They detailed what he had done while he was in Martial Valor University, including the missions he took, the evaluation points and reviews he got from the three governntal departnts, and the proof that he had gotten his weapons permit and unrestricted defense permit. The pages were stacked with information.

Chen Chuan hadn’t realized that he had done so many things in just one year.

“I feel great just looking at your resu. It’s a pity that you don’t have the armor permit. Otherwise, it’d look even better.” Cheng Zitong sighed.

“It’s not as if I can’t get it,” Chen Chuan said after looking up.

Cheng Zitong stared at him for a mont before grinning. “It looks like you’ve done sothing again over the past few days. Good. I’ll be waiting for your good news. We’ll add it all to your resu. Until then, you can fill out the application form, and I’ll hand it to the chancellor for signing. Then, we can submit the materials.”

Chen Chuan nodded. The state summons had an NDA clause, so he was not allowed to say that he was part of it while the operation was ongoing and keep Cheng Zitong updated about it. Only once it was officially declared to be over that he could tell his ntor and openly add it to his resu.

But he could fill out the application form and have the university leadership approve it. Then, he would renew his resu before submitting it along with the application form to the main campus.

Chen Chuan filled out the form seriously. Once he verified every detail, he signed it and put his personal stamp on it before handing it back. Cheng Zitong checked it. Once he saw that there was no problem with it, he cleared his throat, picked up a pen, and, with great seriousness, wrote his own na in the ntor category.

He then picked up the form and checked it again before sighing with great emotion. “To think that I would see my own na in the ntor category of the student application to go to Central City.”

He then smiled and looked over. “I know my limits. I’m not that great of a ntor. It’s all because of you that I got to write my na here.”

“Without you, I wouldn’t have co this far,” Chen Chuan argued back right away.

And he ant it. Cheng Zitong had the courage to let him learn on his own and supported his ideas. If Chen Chuan had any other ntor and they put any restrictions on him, such as making him pick another refined force, things would have gone in a much different way.

Cheng Zitong stared at him for a while before he nodded. “The best choice I’ve made was agreeing to beco your ntor.”

Then, his voice gained a regretful tone. “It’s a pity that we can’t put Lao He’s na here.”

“I think that Mr. He doesn’t need this sort of acknowledgent,” Chen Chuan said after so thinking.

“True. Lao He isn’t tied down by anything, and he doesn’t care about this sort of thing. But if Shen Zheng were still alive, his na would have been here.”

At the ntion of Shen Zheng’s na, Chen Chuan said, “Mr. Cheng, while I was at the abandoned factory that day, I learned sothing from Wei Jun. To kill Shen Zheng, the Mutual Aid Group had found his long-lost sister and brought her to Central City.”