Be Wary of Those Who Carry Umbrellas on Sunny Days

By evening, when Li Yèlái got off work and arrived at the East City Branch, the Iron Guard stationed at the entrance greeted him.

"Night General, I heard about it. Seven consecutive steps through the air, then one stab to kill a Void Realm Creature. Nicely done!" The Iron Guard extended a heavy metal hand and patted Li Yèlái's shoulder. "Just like one of Little Yáng Chén's team members—really has the Champion First Team's old style!"

Li Yèlái's shoulder ached from the Iron Guard's pat. This Iron Guard's surname was Chén, while the other one's was Wang.

They were both Border Iron Guards stationed at the East City Branch. At the same time, they were veterans of countless battles.

After meeting Li Yèlái a few times over the past several days, they had become somewhat familiar with one another.

Rubbing his shoulder, Li Yèlái asked, "The First Team's old style? What was it like?"

Li Yèlái was very curious about the team he belonged to.

On the forums, Li Yèlái had found traces of the Champion First Team in Border City No. 3, the city he was assigned to.

Their achievements had been exceptionally dazzling. They had suppressed a Class B Forbidden Item, wiped out an Ashes Church branch, and even repelled an invasion from the Calamity Forbidden Zone.

They had once been unmatched in prominence, yet there was no longer much news about them. It seemed certain posts had been deleted from the forums. Of course, it was also possible that intelligence of that level simply would not be posted there.

And Cheese, a senior from the First Team, refused to say anything either.

After a moment of silence, the Iron Guard answered in a metallic voice from within his helmet, "Humans will eventually pass on, but conviction endures. Don't ask too much. When the time comes for you to know, you'll know."

Li Yèlái's heart stirred.

Pass on? Could it be that the former Champion First Team had suffered such terrible casualties that it had lost its former glory?

The Iron Guard added, "Go on. Little Yáng Chén arrived a while ago. If you go now, you might still catch a good show."

A good show? Li Yèlái did not ask further. After saying goodbye, he walked straight into the branch.

Before long, he found the Training Room where Yáng Chén was.

It was easy to spot, because quite a few Processors and Clerical Staff had gathered there. Cheese was among them, and she waved when she saw Li Yèlái.

Li Yèlái squeezed through the crowd to Cheese's side. Through the protective glass surrounding the training ground, he saw a shocking sight.

Yáng Chén wore lamellar armor and wielded a Fangtian Painted Halberd, with five thick throwing spears strapped across his back. He advanced across the field in great strides, every swing of his halberd producing a shrill roar through the air.

Opposite him stood a man in an axe-shaped helmet and dark brown plate armor, gripping a heavy greatsword in one hand and a round shield in the other. He swung his sword in a mighty slash!

The two clashed with brute force, shattering the ground beneath their feet. Every collision of weapons detonated the air across the field. If not for the protective glass, the spectators would likely have been caught in the shockwaves.

The force they unleashed was enough to make even Li Yèlái, who had witnessed Xiang Yu's battlefield illusion, feel alarmed.

He had not expected Yáng Chén to be this terrifyingly strong, and he was even using a Fangtian Painted Halberd.

Li Yèlái now understood spear techniques to some extent. He could clearly sense that even if he completely mastered Single-Handed Eighteen Thrusts, he might not be able to contend with Yáng Chén in technique alone.

"This is..." Li Yèlái asked.

"The two captains are sparring in martial arts. The kind where they don't use their abilities," Cheese replied. "The one fighting our captain is Furnace, captain of the Third Team."

The next instant, the plate-armored knight abruptly swung his shield, deflecting the halberd, then slashed down with the sword in his right hand.

But Yáng Chén reacted extremely quickly. His deflected halberd swept back at once as he twisted his body and thrust in return, delivering a one-handed reverse thrust.

It smashed hard into the greatsword, sending even the plate-armored knight staggering back several meters. Only after carving two deep trails into the ground with his feet did he barely manage to steady himself.

Before the plate-armored knight could launch another attack, Yáng Chén pulled a throwing spear from his back and hurled it with such force that everyone's expressions changed. Even a sonic boom burst forth!

The plate-armored knight could only raise his shield to block.

Bang! With a muffled crash, the plate-armored knight barely knocked the throwing spear aside. It slammed straight into the ground, burying half its length underground.

But a second spear followed immediately, then a third and a fourth!

Furnace cursed under his breath and only had time to raise his shield and endure the blows head-on, yet he was driven back another several meters.

The third and fourth throwing spears completely destroyed the plate-armored knight's ability to fight. He could no longer even hold onto his shield.

He could only shout, "Stop, stop, stop! I lost!"

Yáng Chén lowered the fifth throwing spear and laughed. "You follow the Myriad Paths. To fight my True Martial style head-on this long without using your abilities is already impressive."

"And I still couldn't even last five minutes. So you were just going easy on me before?" Furnace could not lift his left arm, so he dropped his greatsword, removed his helmet with his right hand, and looked at Yáng Chén. "Fine. According to the bet, I'll give you the materials for that Myriad Paths Potion. You really lucked out. That's worth several hundred Merit Points!"

"Thanks, thanks! Hahaha!" Yáng Chén laughed and clasped his hands. "Next time I get good material, I'll send some your way."

Then Yáng Chén spotted Li Yèlái and Cheese in the crowd and waved at them with a smile.

A few minutes later, the three of them arrived in an office. It was the First Team's exclusive office area.

Yáng Chén removed his lamellar armor and set his Fangtian Painted Halberd aside. He said to Li Yèlái, "You did very well on the last mission. But using Sky Stepping before you completed your training was too dangerous."

Others did not know, but Yáng Chén, as captain of the First Team, was well aware of it.

Li Yèlái had not even trained before directly using Sky Stepping. Anyone else would probably have fallen to their death.

Li Yèlái explained, "The situation was urgent. I didn't think much about it. I felt like I could do it, so I did."

"I know. I'm not blaming you," Yáng Chén replied. "Your strength and talent deserve recognition. Your courage and decisiveness deserve even more praise! You could have escaped, but you chose to stay. If you had not found the courage to act, even if Cheese had fought back with everything she had, she could at most have taken that monster down with her."

Cheese nodded in agreement. Li Yèlái really had saved her life.

"To kill a Suffering One and a Void Realm Creature during your first awakening is indeed rare strength. But you cannot be arrogant, and you cannot take risks like that. I've seen too many talented psychics stumble in the gutter. Yet someone with average talent like me survived. Being careful is very important!"

If I hadn't just watched that fight, I might actually have believed him, Li Yèlái thought wryly.

Yáng Chén picked up a case, opened it, and took out a Crimson Longsword.

It was Li Yèlái's Psychic Weapon.

"I heard you're taking on a private job. I don't object—it's your personal matter. The Processing Department neither prohibits nor encourages such things, so they won't arrange support or logistics for you. Just in case, you should take this Psychic Weapon with you," Yáng Chén said.

"It's just a private job. Do I need a weapon like this?" Li Yèlái was somewhat stunned. He had prepared a Jet Axe, which should have been enough.

According to Detective, it was a private matter for some wealthy household. Li Yèlái was only going as Detective's assistant to earn a little extra money.

"Hard to say. Back then, I took a private job tracking down some stolen jewelry, only to unexpectedly run into a Suffering One undergoing a second awakening. He beat me so badly I ran around with my head tucked between my legs," Yáng Chén complained. "There's nothing wrong with being careful."

As he spoke, he handed the Crimson Longsword to Li Yèlái. "Try out this Psychic Weapon's ability now. Get familiar with it."

Li Yèlái nodded, took the Crimson Longsword, and asked, "How do I use this ability? It doesn't seem to have any buttons."

"Guide your psychic energy into the weapon. You'll understand afterward," Cheese reminded him. "Since you mastered Psychic Barrier and Sky Stepping so quickly, this should not be difficult either."

Actually, it's still pretty difficult, Li Yèlái thought. The reason he had mastered Psychic Barrier and Sky Stepping on his first try, and even improved his combat techniques so quickly, was entirely because Xiang Yu's Facial Mask battlefield illusion had let him experience everything firsthand, greatly accelerating his learning.

And Hegemon Xiang Yu did not have a Psychic Weapon. Perhaps such weapons had not yet been developed in that era.

So from here on, he could only rely on his own understanding.

Li Yèlái calmed himself and followed Cheese's instructions, sensing his Soul Well.

A few minutes later, he faintly detected a force radiating from his Psychic Well.

That was psychic energy.

The power humans gained from the Void Realm after opening their Psychic Wells.

Then Li Yèlái guided his psychic energy into the weapon. All at once, he felt as if the weapon had become an extension of his limbs. It became much easier to wield.

"Good. Now activate the Psychic Weapon's ability, and pay attention to its energy consumption," Cheese's voice sounded beside him.

Li Yèlái nodded.

The next second, several eyeballs on the Crimson Longsword began to turn.

Cheese and Yáng Chén's expressions shifted slightly.

Because Li Yèlái suddenly disappeared from their sight for a fraction of a second.

"Visual Interference!" Yáng Chén nodded. "How much did it consume?"

Li Yèlái felt out his remaining psychic energy and replied, "About five percent. That means I can use it at most twenty times before my psychic energy runs out."

"That's normal. Psychic Weapons draw upon other people's abilities, so their consumption is a little higher. But that does not include the consumption from your Facial Mask and Psychic Barrier," Yáng Chén said. "Use your ability now and calculate how long it lasts. Figure out your combat endurance."

Li Yèlái nodded and left the office for the spacious Training Room. This was to avoid giving misfortune a chance to strike.

Then, he activated the Hegemon Facial Mask.

An hour later, Li Yèlái obtained more detailed data about his abilities.

The Myriad Paths Facial Mask consumed 1% per minute.

The Psychic Barrier triggered when he came under attack consumed 1% to 5%, depending on how strong Li Yèlái reinforced the barrier.

Using the Psychic Weapon's Visual Interference once consumed 5%.

Even if he came under continuous attack and had to keep activating Psychic Barrier, Li Yèlái's Facial Mask could last for around half an hour.

Psychic energy recovery generally required psychics to rest or meditate.

Recovering psychic energy during battle was highly difficult and inefficient.

After obtaining this data, Li Yèlái and the others began considering how to hide his Crimson Longsword.

"Don't psychics have something like Storage Rings?" Li Yèlái asked. "How did you secretly take yours out, Captain?"

"Uh... after a psychic awakens for the fifth time, they can throw their Psychic Weapon into their Soul Well and pull it back out whenever they need it," Yáng Chén replied. "But there's no way for you to do that yet."

"Such a long weapon... even putting it in the Yan Kingdom Map wouldn't work, right?" Cheese complained as well.

The three of them crouched in a corner, intensely studying the Crimson Longsword and discussing how Li Yèlái could openly carry a longsword to a job.

At that moment, someone wearing a panda doll costume passed by the Training Room. Upon seeing the three of them, the person came over.

That was Doll, a powerful psychic. Rumor had it that she was the strongest Processor at the East City Branch.

But her terrifying curse caused everyone who saw Doll's true face to be infected with fear. The sounds that came from Doll's mouth were even enough to cause mental collapse.

Thus, she could only wear a doll costume every day, never allowing the outside world to see even a trace of skin, nor could she speak a single word. She communicated entirely through psychic techniques that let her type, and supposedly she typed extremely fast.

She usually guarded the branch and spoke frequently in forums and group chats.

It was not because she was chatty, but because she was too lonely.

And Li Yèlái suspected that his Younger sister's curse was similar to Doll's.

Others could not look directly at Doll, as though they were facing some terrifying beast. She was the source of fear.

But his Younger sister could not look directly at others, as though everyone around her were terrifying beasts.

One could not be looked at, while the other could not look at others. They were curses with two opposite outcomes.

At that moment, Doll held up an advertising sign, and words appeared on it.

[What are you guys doing here? Let me join! (ノ￣▽￣)]

"Doll, we're figuring out how to hide this thing," Cheese replied. "Do you have any ideas?"

Though the curse made it difficult for everyone to communicate directly with Doll, people were all very friendly toward her.

Doll was first startled. [It's that big?!!! ∑(Дノ)ノ Can't the branch transport it over when it's needed?]

Then, after learning the situation, the panda doll immediately put her hands on her hips, and words appeared on the sign.

[Then I have an idea (^_^)☆]

Half an hour later, at an apartment in the old district.

Li Yúnyān, wearing pajamas with her hair hanging loose, fell into deep thought as she looked at Li Yèlái standing at the door.

"Big brother, did you go set up a street stall?" Li Yúnyān asked tentatively.

At that moment, Li Yèlái wore a backpack and carried a Large Black Umbrella over his shoulder. He looked truly strange.

Yes, this was Doll's so-called idea: hide the Crimson Longsword inside a Sun Umbrella.

Honestly, it really was a workable method. Street vendors did indeed carry things around like that.

But Li Yèlái could not carry a Large Black Umbrella every single time, could he?

Li Yèlái complained inwardly, but he had no better solution.

After returning home, he began contacting Detective.

"Detective, I'm more or less ready. When are we doing this private job?"

"Tomorrow. I'll come pick you up. We just need to attend a banquet together then," Detective replied. "Oh, right. The employer is particular about appearances, so I prepared a suit for you. Consider it a gift."

"Uh... it might not really match." Li Yèlái glanced at the Large Black Umbrella and hesitated.

"Don't worry. I estimated your height and weight. It'll definitely fit!" Detective sounded extremely confident.

And so, the next day.

When Detective saw a tall, handsome young man in a suit standing by the roadside beneath a pitch-black umbrella.

He sucked in a sharp breath.

And when his employer, an elderly but physically robust old butler, saw Li Yèlái's outfit, astonishment and fear flashed through his eyes.

For some reason, he recalled the household head's warning.

Be careful of people carrying umbrellas on sunny days!