An Unexpected "Failure"

Lu Chen didn't press further, nor did he show excessive excitement. He simply silently tucked this unexpected kindness into his heart.

That evening, Foreman Wang brought in another batch of fresh Rotten Bone Demon Wolf carcasses.

While processing one of them, Lu Chen deliberately followed Clerk Chen's guidance and located that faintly bluish brittle bone.

Abandoning his usual brute-force extraction, he instead channeled a thread of Turtle Breath Qi and, with an exquisitely precise frequency, gave a gentle tremor around the brittle bone.

Click.

With a soft sound, the brittle bone—no larger than a fingernail—detached cleanly from the spine.

The bone felt warm and smooth in his hand. Beneath the dim oil lamp, it even emitted a faint, soft halo, like moonlight.

Code
[Discovered special material: Moonlight Brittle Bone.]
[Processed Rotten Bone Demon Wolf (Perfect). Obtained Demon Devil Lifespan: 1 year, 2 months.]

Seeing the prompt on the system panel, a storm surged in Lu Chen's heart.

Just one extra step, and the lifespan he gained had increased by several months out of thin air!

The quality of the material was worlds apart!

That Clerk Chen in the storeroom was definitely no ordinary gatekeeping old man!

He was the true, hidden master of the Demon Suppression Division!

From then on, every time Lu Chen went to the storeroom to hand in materials, he became even more respectful.

He didn't deliberately try to ingratiate himself, but after each handover, he would occasionally, as if by chance, ask for some trivial processing tips.

Most of the time, Clerk Chen couldn't be bothered to respond. But when he was in a good mood, or when he saw that the materials Lu Chen submitted were of excellent quality, he would offer a vague word or two of guidance.

However, as Lu Chen processed more and more demon corpses and his skills grew increasingly proficient, Foreman Wang's exploitation of him only intensified.

All kinds of high-difficulty, high-risk tasks were sent to the Corpse Handling Room without end.

This earned Foreman Wang repeated praise from Captain Li, and the look in his eyes when he regarded Lu Chen gradually shifted from initial exploitation and contempt to an indescribable greed.

He began to see Lu Chen as his exclusive golden goose.

Lu Chen keenly sensed this change, and alarm bells rang loudly in his heart.

Being overly valued was not a good thing.

It meant every move he made would be under Foreman Wang's scrutiny. If he ever underperformed or failed to meet the man's ever-growing appetite, the consequences would be dire.

It was time to throw cold water on him and actively rein in his expectations.

Lu Chen carefully opened the jade box that had just been delivered. A chill, yin-cold demonic aura immediately spread out.

Inside the box lay a fist-sized toad corpse, its entire body a vivid green. Its eyes were like two dazzling emeralds, still gleaming faintly even in death.

"Green-eyed Demon Toad!" Lu Chen's heart stirred as he instantly recognized it.

This was a Ranked Demon that dwelled in yin-cold poisonous swamps. Its strength wasn't great, but the venom sac inside its body was priceless—a key ingredient for refining certain high-grade poison pills and forbidden drugs.

"See this? This is good stuff!"

Foreman Wang pointed at the demon toad, spittle flying. "Captain Li paid a fortune to get his hands on it. He specifically ordered us to extract the venom sac intact. This job—in the whole Corpse Handling Room, you're the only one who can do it! Give it your goddamn full attention. If you mess up even a little, I'll skin you alive!"

With that, Foreman Wang dragged a chair over, planted himself at the door like a general, and made it clear he would supervise personally.

Lu Chen understood perfectly. This job was indeed easy to botch.

The venom sac of a Green-eyed Demon Toad had an extremely thin wall, tightly connected to the surrounding organs. The slightest mistake would puncture it, causing the venom to leak out—not only ruining the material but also putting the handler at risk of poisoning.

This was the perfect opportunity to create a mistake.

He took a deep breath and began.

Cutting, separating, peeling...

Every move Lu Chen made seemed more focused and more tense than usual.

A fine layer of sweat even cooperatively broke out on his forehead.

Foreman Wang, watching from the doorway, nodded repeatedly, growing more smug by the moment.

The separation went smoothly. Soon, the pigeon-egg-sized, crystal-clear venom sac was completely detached from the toad's abdominal cavity.

Only one step remained—using a special silver tweezer to lift it out.

Lu Chen held his breath, carefully controlling the silver tweezers as they slowly approached the venom sac.

Just as the tweezers were about to touch the sac, his wrist, with an almost imperceptible angle, gave a slight tremor.

The movement was so minute that to an outsider, it looked exactly like a muscle fatigue cramp from prolonged intense concentration.

Psssh—

A sound so faint it was nearly inaudible.

The tip of the silver tweezers precisely sliced an almost invisible, tiny tear at the edge of the venom sac.

A wisp of pale green toxic gas instantly leaked out from the breach!

Lu Chen let out a startled cry, a look of genuine "horror" spreading across his face.

He stumbled backward, flailing as if caught off guard by the poisonous gas.

"What's going on!" Foreman Wang shot up from his chair, his expression shifting dramatically.

"Foreman Wang! The Killing Intent... it's too thick, I lost my grip..." Lu Chen waved his arms frantically, trying to fan away the toxic fumes, his voice panicked as he explained.

The wisp of poison drifted through the air, filling the entire Corpse Handling Room with a cloying, sweet-scented odor.

In his "panic," Lu Chen grabbed a Tattered Palm-leaf Fan from the corner and swung it wildly at the poison, only to spread it even faster.

Finally, as if remembering something, he snatched up a rag, held his breath, and rushed forward. With the clumsiest of motions, he "rescued" the damaged poison sac from the demonic toad's body and tossed it into the Cold Jade Box.

After that, as if drained of all strength, he collapsed to the ground, coughing violently.

Foreman Wang stormed in and snatched the Cold Jade Box away.

He stared at the poison sac inside—its edges marred by a tiny flaw, its spiritual light slightly dimmed—and his face darkened until it could drip water.

Though the main body was intact, that single leak had slashed the sac's value by at least thirty percent!

"Useless! You useless, bungling piece of trash!" Foreman Wang jabbed a finger at Lu Chen's nose, cursing loudly. "Can't even handle such a small task! Do you know how much silver this one poison sac is worth? Enough to buy ten of your worthless lives!"

Lu Chen kept his head down, curled up on the ground, looking like a man ready to take any beating or scolding, trembling in fear and admitting his fault.

"Your subordinate... your subordinate admits guilt. It was the Killing Intent from the dead demonic toad that clouded my mind, and I lost my grip..."

Foreman Wang cursed for a full incense stick's time before his anger finally cooled.

Though furious, he saw that the poison sac's main body was still intact, the loss within acceptable limits. He also recalled Lu Chen's past contributions and the many tasks ahead that would still rely on him. In the end, he forced down his temper.

"Hmph! I'll let it slide this time!" he snarled. "As punishment, you'll get no Blood Activating Powder for the next three days! Tough it out with your own flesh! If you screw up again, I won't go easy on you!"

With that, he clutched the devalued Cold Jade Box and stormed off in a huff.

Lu Chen slowly rose from the ground, dusted off his clothes, his eyes as calm as a still well.

Three days without Blood Activating Powder was nothing to him—a drop in the bucket.

This deal? A massive win.