Smuggler's Relic

"Seventeen?!"

Li Ling's voice jumped an octave.

Even the driver stole a glance at Bai Pu through the rearview mirror.

It was not that Bai Pu looked old, but that he was far too mature. His every movement was steady and composed, without any of the restlessness of a teenage boy, making people naturally overestimate his age.

Li Ling muttered, "You're only seventeen? I'm already twenty-seven! When you were playing with mud in kindergarten, I could already solve trigonometric functions..."

Bai Pu did not particularly mind the age gap between Li Ling and himself—perhaps because his mental age was more mature, he was more accepting of older women. In Flesh Plague: Origin Plane, Aunt Qin had already been in her thirties.

Spirit Energy Particles seemed to prolong youth. Many male Awakened could still work day and night even in their seventies or eighties, with an old man marrying a young wife; as for women, there was even less need to mention them. Qin was still firm and smooth in her thirties, with a lovely face that surpassed even girls in their prime.

After confirming that he could take the college entrance examination, Bai Pu changed the subject.

"Wu Chen mentioned that heart earlier. It's stored in the 'Intersection Lands' controlled by the Superstar Alliance... What are the Intersection Lands?"

Li Ling came back to her senses and let out a long breath. "The Intersection Lands... are what Awakened streamers call 'secret realms.'"

"Oh!" Bai Pu understood at once.

There were also some secret realm spaces on Earth, containing all kinds of monsters and rare treasures.

Some Awakened streamers, seeking fame in the real world, would risk entering secret realms while livestreaming or recording videos to earn views and followers.

Li Ling explained, "The Intersection Lands are actually where the Spirit Realm Plane intersects with reality, equivalent to one-way passages from the Spirit Realm to reality! When the Spirit Energy Era first began, Spirit Realm creatures invaded reality through the passages in the Intersection Lands. But as Earth's Spirit Energy Civilization advanced and the overall strength of the Awakened increased, quite a few Intersection Lands have already been brought under Awakened control."

One-way passages.

Bai Pu focused on those four words.

For Awakened to enter the Spirit Realm, tickets were the only route. The passages in the Intersection Lands could not allow Awakened to travel in reverse into the Spirit Realm.

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

"What are you planning to do?" Li Ling was slightly startled. "Don't do anything reckless. You're far too weak right now."

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

Li Ling said helplessly, "Information on the Intersection Lands controlled by the Superstar Alliance is ordinary material. You can look it up in the database whenever you want. As for where the heart is hidden, neither of us has the clearance to find that out."

Screech!

The jeep stopped in the suburbs before a spacious, imposing estate.

"We're here. This is the God Strategy Army's Xi City branch base." Li Ling patted Bai Pu on the shoulder. "Get out, little brat... Welcome to the world of the Awakened!"

God Strategy Army, Xi City Hall.

Bai Pu stepped into the spacious hall. It was quiet inside, with few people around.

A petite girl with twin ponytails was rapidly tapping away at a keyboard behind the reception desk.

"Xiaoxiao, I brought the newcomer—the one who signed today." Li Ling handed over a contract, then introduced her to Bai Pu. "This beauty is Su Xiaoxiao, the front desk receptionist at the Xi City branch."

"Hello, hello! You're Big Brother Bai Pu, right? So handsome, really handsome! Welcome to the God Strategy Army!" Su Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up. Her face was tiny, and when she smiled, a delicate dimple appeared on her left cheek.

Li Ling was speechless. "Xiaoxiao, stop pretending to be young. Your Big Brother Bai Pu is only seventeen this year—half your age!"

"Ah?"

"Uh?"

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

To Bai Pu, Su Xiaoxiao looked quite young in every respect—her figure, appearance, and clothes all made her seem like a middle school girl of fifteen or sixteen.

Yet Li Ling told him that Su Xiaoxiao was actually in her thirties!

"Li Ling! You exposed me again." Su Xiaoxiao glared fiercely at Li Ling, then looked at Bai Pu with some embarrassment and lowered her head. "This Bai Pu... little brother has eyes that are too sharp. He's like my college counselor... I accidentally started calling him old."

"You can just call me Bai Pu." Bai Pu was powerless to complain about being called little brother.

"No, I'm calling you Little Bai Pu. I'm so much older than you!" Su Xiaoxiao puffed out her chest and spread her shoulders, holding her slender hands apart to indicate an exaggerated distance. When she had first called Bai Pu Big Brother, she really had meant to tease the handsome young man.

"Xiaoxiao, you're in charge of registration. Explain the God Strategy Army's rules to Bai Pu. Oh, right, he's a member of the second class of Genius Camp that I selected, so don't forget the benefits he's entitled to."

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

"Sure, no problem!" Su Xiaoxiao glanced at Bai Pu's face and felt her mood brighten.

Su Xiaoxiao held a fairly important position in the Xi City branch. Not only was she the front desk receptionist responsible for welcoming newcomers, she also managed logistics for the entire Jiangnan District, distributed Honor Points, and handled military supply exchanges.

The God Strategy Army's military supplies could not be exchanged for Hua Xia Currency or Spirit Energy Points. They only accepted "Honor Points."

Organization members could earn Honor Points in various ways, such as hunting monsters in the Wilderness Area, selling Spirit Realm intelligence, and completing commissioned tasks.

Take task commissions, for example. A D-rank commission had a base reward of 100 Honor Points. They were generally tedious, low-risk field assignments that even low-level Awakened could handle.

A C-rank commission had a base reward of 300 Honor Points and could involve low-intensity combat, making it fairly risky for low-level Awakened.

A B-rank commission had a base reward of 1,000 Honor Points and was forbidden to low-level Awakened. A-rank commissions above that started at several thousand Honor Points, and their difficulty went without saying.

Earning money was like holding in urine, while spending it was like water flowing away. The same went for Honor Points. They were hard to earn but easy to spend.

A basic low-level standard equipment item cost 100 Honor Points.

Learning a skill—meaning the lowest-level one-star skill here—cost 100 Honor Points as a base price. It was perfectly normal for relatively rare one-star skills to cost several times more.

Two-star skills had a base price of 1,000 Honor Points; legendary three-star skills started at 10,000 Honor Points!

What should newly Awakened newcomers do if they only had a single profession skill, were otherwise completely bare-bones, and lacked the strength to earn Honor Points? The God Strategy Army did not allow members to trade Honor Points with one another.

To address this, the God Strategy Army also had a humane system: every member had a certain "debt limit." They could spend Honor Points first, strengthen themselves, then earn Honor Points to repay the debt.

The debt limit was related to strength. The stronger an Awakened was, the higher their limit. For example, Bai Pu was only level 1 at present. Though he was a Reinforced Elite, his debt limit was still only 300 Honor Points, equivalent to the debt limit of a level 3 standard-template member.

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

After all, templates were not fixed. Exploration of the Spirit Realm was full of variables. An ordinary profession today might undergo a glorious promotion after a single Spirit Realm exploration, advance into a second profession, and become an elite or even a Heroic Profession!

In any case, treatment was tied to strength, and Awakened had to earn Honor Points through hard work. The God Strategy Army would not pour in too many resources for free.

Su Xiaoxiao showed Bai Pu the God Strategy Army's military supply inventory—of course, only the items his clearance permitted him to see.

That was already astonishing enough. Bai Pu could only say that it was worthy of being a large organization with a military background. Equipment, items, and even skill books filled the inventory in dazzling abundance, enough to make one's eyes blur.

"You're a member of the second class of Genius Camp recommended by Li Ling, so there's a benefit you can claim." Su Xiaoxiao clicked on the computer and showed Bai Pu the genius benefit.

Smuggler's Relic: C+-rank item. Allows the holder to ignore Main Quest requirements, forcibly leave the Spirit Realm, and return to the real world. Requires 10 seconds of preparation and can only be activated when no natives are observing.