Smuggler's Relic

"17 years old?!"

Li Ling's voice rose an octave.

Even the driver glanced at Bai Pu through the rearview mirror.

It wasn't that Bai Pu looked old, but that he was too mature, his demeanor steady, without the exuberance of a young teenager, which inevitably led people to misjudge his age as older.

Li Ling muttered, "You're only 17? I'm already 27! When you were playing in the mud in kindergarten, I was already solving trigonometric functions..."

Bai Pu didn't care about the age gap between Li Ling and himself—perhaps because his mental age was more mature, he had a higher acceptance of mature women. In the Flesh Plague: Origin Plane, Aunt Qin was already in her thirties.

Spirit Energy Particles seemed to have the effect of prolonging youth. Many male Awakened, even in their seventies or eighties, could still work hard day and night, like an old pear tree pressing down on begonias; as for women, needless to say, Qin was still tight and smooth in her thirties, with a beautiful face, even better than a young girl.

After confirming that he could participate in the college entrance examination, Bai Pu changed the subject:

"Wu Chen mentioned just now that the heart is stored in the 'Intersection Lands' controlled by the Superstar Alliance... What are the Intersection Lands?"

Li Ling came back to her senses and sighed, "Intersection Lands... are what the Awakened streamers call 'Secret Realms'."

"Oh!" Bai Pu understood instantly.

In the real Earth, there are also some Secret Realm spaces, with various monsters and exotic treasures inside.

Some Awakened streamers, in order to earn real-world fame, would risk entering the Secret Realms, while simultaneously streaming live or recording videos, to earn clicks and attention for themselves.

Li Ling explained, "The Intersection Lands are actually the intersection of the Spirit Realm Plane and reality, equivalent to a one-way channel from the Spirit Realm to reality! At the beginning of the Spirit Energy Era, Spirit Realm creatures invaded reality through the Intersection Lands channel. However, with the progress of Earth's Spirit Energy civilization and the improvement of the overall strength of the Awakened, many Intersection Lands have been controlled by the Awakened."

One-way channel.

Bai Pu grasped these four words.

The only way for the Awakened to enter the Spirit Realm is through tickets. The Intersection Lands channel cannot allow the Awakened to go against the current and enter the Spirit Realm.

"Which Intersection Lands does the Superstar Alliance control? Can we find out where that heart is hidden?" Bai Pu asked.

"What do you want to do?" Li Ling was slightly surprised, "Don't mess around, your current strength is too weak."

"I'm just asking." Bai Pu smiled harmlessly.

Li Ling said helplessly, "The intelligence of the Intersection Lands controlled by the Superstar Alliance is ordinary information, which can be found in the database at will. As for where the heart is hidden, you and I don't have the authority to find out."

Squeak!

The jeep stopped in the suburbs, in front of a spacious and imposing large manor.

"We're here, this is the God Strategy Army's branch stronghold in Xi City." Li Ling patted Bai Pu's shoulder, "Get out of the car, kid... welcome to the world of the Awakened!"

God Strategy Army, Xi City Hall.

Bai Pu stepped into the spacious hall, which was very quiet, with not many people.

A small girl with pigtails was typing on the keyboard at the front desk.

"Xiaoxiao, I brought a newcomer, the one who signed the contract today." Li Ling handed over a contract, and introduced Bai Pu at the same time: "This beauty is called Su Xiaoxiao, the front desk receptionist of the Xi City branch."

"Hello, hello, Bai Pu Gege, right? So handsome, really handsome! Welcome to join the God Strategy Army!" Su Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, her face was very small, and a sweet dimple appeared on her left cheek when she smiled.

Li Ling was speechless for a moment, and said, "Xiaoxiao, stop pretending to be young. This Bai Pu gege of yours is only 17 years old, only half your age!"

"Ah?"

"Uh?"

Su Xiaoxiao and Bai Pu exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

In Bai Pu's eyes, Su Xiaoxiao, whether in figure, appearance, or dress, was quite young, looking like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old junior high school student.

But Li Ling told him that Su Xiaoxiao was actually over thirty!

"Li Ling! You're exposing me again." Su Xiaoxiao glared at Li Ling fiercely, then looked at Bai Pu a little embarrassedly, and lowered her head, "This Bai Pu... little brother's eyes are too sharp, like my counselor in college... I accidentally called myself old."

"Just call me Bai Pu." Bai Pu was too weak to complain about being called little brother.

"No, I want to call you Little Bai Pu. I'm so much older than you!" Su Xiaoxiao puffed out her chest and broadened her shoulders, her slender hands gesturing an exaggerated length. At first, she called Bai Pu gege because she wanted to tease the handsome young man.

"Xiaoxiao, you're in charge of registration, and tell Bai Pu about our God Strategy Army's system. By the way, he's a member of the second phase of the genius camp that I selected, don't forget the benefits he should have."

Li Ling sat on the sofa in the hall and picked up a copy of The Rise and Fall of the Aztecs.

"Okay, no problem!" Su Xiaoxiao glanced at Bai Pu's face, feeling happy.

Su Xiaoxiao's position in the Xi City branch is quite important. She is not only a receptionist, responsible for welcoming newcomers, but also responsible for managing the logistics of the entire Jiangnan region, and is responsible for the distribution of Honor Points and the exchange of military supplies.

The God Strategy Army's exchange of military supplies does not recognize Huaxia currency or Spirit Energy Points, only "Honor Points".

Members of the organization can obtain Honor Points through different methods such as hunting monsters in the wilderness, selling Spirit Realm intelligence, and completing mission commissions.

Taking mission commissions as an example, a D-level commission has a base reward of 100 Honor Points, which is generally a relatively cumbersome and low-risk field mission that can be completed by low-level Awakened.

A C-level commission has a base reward of 300 Honor Points, and there will be low-intensity battles, which are relatively risky for low-level Awakened.

A B-level commission has a base reward of 1000 Honor Points, and low-level Awakened are prohibited from accepting it. The A-level commissions above that start with thousands of Honor Points, and the difficulty goes without saying.

Earning money is like holding back urine, spending money is like flowing water. The same is true for Honor Points, it is not easy to earn, but it is spent quickly.

A low-level white board standard equipment requires 100 Honor Points to exchange.

Learning a skill—here referring to the lowest level one-star skill—costs a base of 100 Honor Points. For relatively scarce one-star skills, the required Honor Points can be several times higher.

2-star skills have a base of 1000 Honor Points; the legendary 3-star skills start at 10000 Honor Points!

What should a newly Awakened person do, besides a professional skill, the pure white board type, without the strength to earn Honor Points? The God Strategy Army does not allow members to trade Honor Points with each other.

In this regard, the God Strategy Army also has a humanized system. Each member has a certain "credit limit", that is, first consume Honor Points, enhance their strength, and then earn Honor Points to pay off the debt.

The credit limit is related to strength. The stronger the Awakened, the higher the limit. For example, Bai Pu is currently only level 1. Although he is an enhanced elite, his credit limit is only 300 Honor Points, which is equivalent to the credit limit of a level 3 standard template member.

The God Strategy Army adopts an open attitude and does not reject ordinary Awakened with standard templates. Regardless of strength, Awakened can apply to join the God Strategy Army.

After all, the template is not constant, and the Spirit Realm exploration is full of variables. Today's ordinary profession may be able to gloriously advance, re-job transfer, and transform into an elite or even a hero profession after a Spirit Realm exploration!

Anyway, the treatment is linked to strength, and Honor Points also need to be earned hard by the Awakened. The God Strategy Army will not subsidize too many resources.

Su Xiaoxiao showed Bai Pu the God Strategy Army's inventory of military supplies, of course, only the content that Bai Pu's authority could see.

This was already amazing enough. Bai Pu could only say that, as expected of a large organization with a military background, the variety of equipment, props, and even skill books was dazzling, almost overwhelming.

"You're a member of the second phase of the Genius Training Camp recommended by Li Ling, so you're entitled to a benefit," Su Xiaoxiao said, clicking on the computer to show Bai Pu the genius benefits.

Smuggler's Relic: C+ Grade Item. Allows the holder to ignore the main quest requirements, forcibly escape from the Spirit Realm, and return to the real world. Requires 10 seconds of preparation and can only be activated if no natives are observing.