Martial Suppression Bureau

To Chu Yuan's surprise, Qi Da didn't ask how he had reached the Internal Breath Realm in such a short time;

He had already come up with a story about a mysterious, powerful master... but it hadn't even been necessary...

All that effort for nothing...

In fact, Qi Da had probably guessed as much without him having to say a word;

There were only three possible explanations for Chu Yuan going from an ordinary person to the Internal Breath Realm in a week;

One: the Alien Race had used some means;

Two: he had obtained a powerful inheritance;

Three: he had met a powerful Warrior and become his disciple.

None of the three seemed likely. Chenyang City was only a small inland city, hardly worth the Alien Race's attention;

Qi Da couldn't remember how many years it had been since he'd heard of the Alien Race causing trouble in Chenyang City...

As for whether Chu Yuan had obtained an inheritance... his movements were practically an open book, and anyone who cared to look could easily find out he'd stayed in the city, going back and forth between home and school. Where could he have found an inheritance?

Had a spatial rift just happened to open beside him and dropped one out?

If so, that would be even more terrifying. Just how absurdly lucky would he have to be?

So the most likely explanation was that he had a powerful master;

But even so, reaching the Internal Breath Realm in a week was a little too astonishing, so Qi Da told him to keep a low profile.

Chu Yuan didn't mind. His Internal Breath Realm might be fake, but judging from his fight with the killer just now, he really did have what it took to face a Warrior in the Internal Breath Realm;

Of course, he still couldn't beat someone too strong. Otherwise, he would have kept the killer there just now.

Based on his earlier calculations, once he completed the Foundation Establishment stage, he would be close to invincible in the Internal Breath Realm!

After tonight, he had not only cleared himself of suspicion but also risen in Qi Da's estimation. Never mind the Li Family; at the very least, he should no longer have to deal with trouble from the Public Security Bureau.

However, neither of them realized that Qi Da's gag order had come too late;

Or rather, the captain from the Public Security Bureau who had been there had reported everything too quickly...

Inside a building in the heart of Chenyang City, a square-faced man ended his call on his terminal, a grave look flashing across his eyes;

Then he sent two messages.

Before long, a man and a woman pushed open the door and walked in;

"Captain."

"Have you read the files I sent you?"

"Yes." The man looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six. Dressed in loose casual clothes, he picked a seat and sat down. "So, what's our mission?"

"Their stench is too obvious... Go flush those vermin out!"

The man nodded. "Got it. And... what about that kid who might have broken through to the Internal Breath Realm in just a week?"

The square-faced man shook his head. "Leave him alone. If there's really something wrong with him, Qi Da would have noticed."

"I'm not saying there's something wrong with him..." The man straightened up a little and leaned forward, a teasing smile on his face. "I mean, should we try to lure him into joining our Martial Suppression Bureau while he's still green?

"According to the file, his father died serving in the Third Guard Army;

"Maybe he has a different impression of the military..."

"...Do what you think best." The square-faced man gave his tacit approval.

Great Qin had only two major armed institutions: the military and the Martial Suppression Bureau;

The former recruited broadly and forged its strong fighters through one brutal war after another! The latter followed a smaller, more selective approach, with only elite members in its ranks!

And the Martial Suppression Bureau was every bit as dangerous as the military;

Warriors who committed crimes, infiltrating members of the Alien Race, cults... They handled all of it. Even when war broke out, the Martial Suppression Bureau had to send experts to assist the military.

Though both served the country and often worked together, they also competed with each other.

There were only so many experts. Every one your side gained was one less for mine...

Once they were outside, the woman who hadn't said a word in the office asked, "Brother Jiang, what did the captain mean by 'those vermin'?"

"A bunch of rebels hiding in the gutter." Jiang Fei explained, "They love nothing more than destroying promising martial arts prodigies before they've had a chance to grow!

"Sometimes they kill them. Other times... they turn them into one of their own."

"Turn them into one of their own?" The woman was puzzled. Any Warrior with even a little sense wouldn't join them, would they?

"Take Chu Yuan, for instance. Someone wearing his face killed people he had grudges against;

"Normally, it'd be very hard for Chu Yuan to clear himself of suspicion.

"Once the Public Security Bureau arrested him and put him on trial, those vermin would swoop in and break him out. Then... joining them would be his only choice." Jiang Fei shrugged, sounding a little gleeful. "But this time, they underestimated their target... They were doomed from the start."

"That sounds full of holes..."

"A high school senior who isn't a Warrior is usually just a civilian. The Public Security Bureau handles murders involving ordinary people; the Martial Suppression Bureau doesn't get involved;

"But Chu Yuan is in the Blue Cloud Project's elite tier. Even if the Public Security Bureau arrested him, someone from our bureau would have stepped in by the final review stage... Those vermin never stood a chance." Jiang Fei explained;

There was one more thing he didn't mention: why had the Li Family of the provincial capital reacted so mildly to the death of one of its direct descendants? Why hadn't they even sent anyone in person?

One reason was the Blue Cloud Project... more commonly known as the support quota;

The other was the Martial Suppression Bureau.

That was part of the "rules" Qi Da had mentioned to Chu Yuan...

"Then why bother with something so pointless?"

"Who knows... Maybe they didn't know Chu Yuan was in the Blue Cloud Project?" Jiang Fei said as he walked away. "They were careless, too. Nothing like this has happened in Chenyang City for years;

"Xiao Yun, there goes your vacation..."

"It's fine, Brother Fei. The mission comes first."

"You can't even handle something this simple;

"Tell me, aren't you useless?" someone asked calmly in a dimly lit room.

The man wearing Chu Yuan's face knelt on the floor, trembling all over as if something terrible were about to happen;

Blood was running from his chest, but he paid it no mind. He could only stammer nervously, "My lord! I didn't expect Chu Yuan and the Public Security Bureau to be hiding there in advance!

"He... he's already in the Internal Breath Realm!"

"Excuses."

Just then, someone else pushed the door open;

A mocking, feminine laugh rang out. "Heh... Yan Xuan, looks like your subordinate is just as useless as you."

Yan Xuan acted as if he hadn't heard her and placed a hand on "Chu Yuan's" head;

"Spare me, my lord! My lord... Ah!"

A shrill scream rang out as streams of red light flowed up Yan Xuan's hand and into his body.

In just a few short breaths, "Chu Yuan" seemed to have been drained of every last bit of vitality, leaving behind a dried corpse!

Then he fell to the ground and lay still...

Only then did Yan Xuan look up, his killing intent still lingering as he stared at the newcomer. She had a curvy, well-proportioned figure, but her face was covered in dense scars;

"Cao Rong, what are you doing here?"

"Heh, killing your own people to scare me? Even if you killed every last one of your underlings, what would that have to do with me?" Cao Rong curled her lip in disdain, making the scars on her face writhe like crawling centipedes;

"The envoy sent me to ask how the mission is going."

"We can begin at any time."