A Pact of Forbidden Items

"Do you know what you're saying?" Qin Sheng asked solemnly, "Even at its peak, the Knight Organization had no more than 12 members."

Another person said, "We understand and appreciate your desire to cheer us up, but as the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Please don't lie to us."

It's no wonder these old guys didn't believe it; what Qing Chen said was simply too outrageous.

Qing Chen first had Ding Dong take Yang Yang and Zard to eat fruit, while he sat down in front of Qin Sheng's grave.

To outsiders, this Forbidden Zone was merely a place where warm breezes blew by. Qing Chen seemed to be talking to himself, saying, "You all don't believe I can understand, but what I do is use the Kashima Longevity Sky as a training aid, and then use rewards to attract Time Walker to participate in gradual training. I didn't start by looking for exceptionally talented people, nor did I reject students with dull talents. I simply tempered their character time and time again, making them resilient enough to climb Green Mountain Cliff..."

Qing Chen: "Among these people, there are those like Chen Zhuoqu who are destined to be winners, and there are those like Hu Jingyi who, though dull-witted, are as hard as a rock. These are all buried gems, and now I have unearthed them."

After he recounted his actions at the Time Walker Academy, Forbidden Zone No. 002 fell silent once again.

After a long silence, Qin Sheng said, "You're right about one thing. This is probably your master's mistake. He used to say that he wanted to find a child with extraordinary talent, but a knight... doesn't necessarily need any talent. What we need is a will as firm as a rock."

For ordinary people, even if they eat nine Longevity Sky Fruits, the Green Mountain Cliff are still an insurmountable chasm.

The first 300 meters rely on physical strength and skill, the next 299 meters rely on perseverance and spirit, and the last meter relies on courage and determination.

No matter how you look at it, talent is not what the knight values most.

What Qing Chen needs to do now is simply to select the fifty or sixty students who are the most hardworking and persevering from more than 60,000 students...

No, actually Qing Chen's ambitions are even greater at this moment, but he doesn't want to make any promises too readily. What if he really raises the old guys' hopes, only to disappoint them in the end?

Therefore, Qing Chen kept his words to himself.

Based on his secret observations... the result will likely be quite astonishing, something even Qing Chen himself hadn't anticipated.

Gradually, the old folks also realized the significance of what Qing Chen was doing.

That was a plan involving at least fifty or sixty knights, forging a new era for the Knight Organization.

To be honest, their imaginations were running low. They couldn't imagine what kind of organization would be qualified to be a match for knights if there were fifty or sixty A-rank knights, plus two or three demigod-level knights who might appear.

This kind of power can sweep away anyone it encounters!

And it's not just knights; with an unlimited supply of Purple Orchid Star, the Agricultural Academy could easily create another hundred or two A- or B-Class knight messengers.

The treasures that the Chen family used to keep hidden away are now being produced in unlimited quantities by Whale Island.

That's cheating!

This is unreasonable!

However, this growth takes time and effort. Even with a huge amount of financial support, it would take a long time for a knight to complete the eight Life and Death Trial. After all, solid training skills are essential. Otherwise, if you find yourself unable to handle emergencies while flying in a wingsuit, you will die on the spot.

This is especially true for skiing.

At this moment, Qin Sheng said to Gu Dong, "Next, I'll trouble you, Gu Dong, to help Qing Chen find all sorts of rare plants. Of the six Forbidden Zone you control, find even one that can help humanity and transplant it to the Whale Island in the Outer World."

This is the attitude Qin Sheng is expressing.

Another old man said, "I remember there was a kind of fruit in Forbidden Zone No. 002 that could enhance your reflexes by eating a few. What was it called again?"

"How would I remember? I'm lying on the ground, I don't need to eat this stuff. You'll have to ask Ding Dong and Gu Dong."

Gu Dong said from the side, "These are 'Early Summer' fruits; you need to eat nine."

Another old man asked, "Do we have any other fruits here?"

Gu Dong added, "There is also a plant called 'Wenhan' (Ask Winter), whose leaves can be steeped in water and drunk nine times to resist the cold."

"Quickly, quickly, bring them all to Qing Chen!"

The Forbidden Zone No. 002, and the Knights' Pioneers, must give their full support to Qing Chen.

This is the hope of the Knight Organization.

However, an old man poured cold water on Qing Chen's enthusiasm. "But, you're tempting them with rewards, isn't that going against the very essence of a knight?"

Then another voice said, "You don't know anything about 'original intentions'! Didn't I lure you out with a sports car back then? You're talking to me about 'original intentions'? You were so lazy back then. To get you to take on the Life and Death Trial challenges, I had to promise you a new car for every challenge you completed. Now you're talking to me about 'original intentions'? Don't you have a conscience? You only turned over a new leaf after taking on the Life and Death Trial challenges four times!"

The older man muttered under his breath, "Master, please give me a little face."

Qin Sheng said, "The knight's original intention is truthfulness and sincerity, to face oneself truthfully and to remain sincere to the world. Truthfulness means being unpretentious, unaffected, unhypocritical, unaffected, and not bound by worldly standards. Sincerity means having a heart as bright as the sun and moon, being honest, frank, and passionate."

Qing Chen seemed to be deep in thought. In fact, the world's evaluation of knights was not the knight's evaluation of himself.

The knights' beliefs gradually converged on the road to Life and Death Trial, but their personalities became increasingly diverse.

In fact, the only thing the knights have in common in terms of personality is their authenticity and sincerity.

Sometimes people take detours, but each life-or- Life and Death Trial is like pruning and correcting a sapling during its growth. They correct themselves time and time again, and find and rediscover their original aspirations.

Qing Chen has also taken detours, and may take them again in the future, but the significance of the Life and Death Trial lies in making him constantly reflect on the meaning of life, and ultimately become a qualified knight.

Now, Qing Chen himself is also using this standard to view those challengers in the academy.

What he liked most about Chen Zhuoqu was that as soon as she completed the task, she would immediately ask Xiao Qi for the reward, without delaying for even a minute.

Do whatever you want, let your mind be clear.

Regardless of how others see her, that is the real Chen Zhuoqu.

Only someone as simple and pure as Chen Zhuoqu can go further on this path.

If she clearly wants double the reward but doesn't dare to say it herself, she will never be able to Heart's Inquiry.

Because she even deceived herself.

Chen Zhuoqu's sincerity is reflected in the fact that although she really wanted to win, she was still willing to help her classmates and never hurt anyone in order to win anything for herself.

Hu Jingyi has experienced so many failures in his life, yet he still loves this world and his own life. If this is not sincerity, then what is?

The students who ostracized Hu Jingyi earlier seemed genuine, since they asked Hu Jingyi to give up so that he could successfully complete the challenge.

Is there anything wrong with pursuing one's own interests?

However, this kind of authenticity is different from Chen Zhuoqu's authenticity. Chen Zhuoqu did not harm anyone; on the contrary, she was helping others, while they were harming Hu Jingyi and others.

According to the rules, Hu Jingyi and his group had an equal right to challenge them, but because they had completed the first challenge, they developed a sense of superiority and an arrogant attitude when facing Hu Jingyi and his group.

Therefore, their reality is dark, selfish, and not sincere.

At least, Qing Chen didn't want to imagine himself fighting alongside such a group of people.

This team, which is to continue on this journey, must be pure.

Qin Sheng sighed, "When that kid Li Shutong told us before that you would lead the Knight Organization into a new era, I was just skeptical. Now it seems that I underestimated you."

However, while Qin Sheng and the others finished asking their questions, Qing Chen did not.

He sat in front of Qin Sheng's tombstone and asked curiously, "Speaking of which, when a new knight comes here to visit these senior figures, they should have Forbidden Item as a gift, right?"

The Forbidden Zone No. 002 suddenly fell silent again.

For some reason, everyone has been unusually silent since Qing Chen arrived.

Qing Chen counted on his fingers. "My master, Li Shutong, prepared gifts for Jingūji Maki and Li Ke. It's the 'Forbidden Item ACE-060 Telescope Without Love,' which he obtained from the Tribunal of Taboos by using the Forbidden Item ACE- to Killer of Witnesses, and the 'Forbidden Item ACE-119 Tissue Box.' He still owes Hu Xiaoniu one, saying he'll give it to him later. What about you guys? What are you going to give them?"

During the Battle of the Century, Li Bingxi escaped by Killer of Witnesses.

After that thing was taken into custody in April, Li Shutong forced it to exchange it for two Forbidden Item.

The Forbidden Item ACE-060, a telescope without love: a telescope with adjustable focus from 4x to 32x, which is nothing special, but you can use it to see a woman's makeup clearly, and even see through the bare face in a photo on your phone before it's been beautified.

The containment requirements are simple: the host must be male.

As a knight and a core member of the Li clan, and a young man whose hormones were surging, Li Ke naturally needed this.

The Forbidden Item, ACE-119 tissue box: It contains an endless supply of tissues, and occasionally you'll pull out a tissue with a prophecy written on it. It will accurately predict something that will happen to you within 12 hours, but unfortunately, the probability of it appearing is very small. Someone once pulled it for a year and never saw any prophecy.

Qing Chen plans to leave this to Jingūji Maki. The little girl likes to cry, and Li Tongyun also cries when Jiang Xue beats her up. It's perfect for them to use to wipe their tears and blow their noses. What if they draw some kind of prophecy someday?

It doesn't matter if I don't get one, it saves me the money I would have spent on tissues.

However, since Qing Chen was going to City 22 to kill the Kamiyo Yunhe, he did not bring these two Forbidden Item with him. Instead, he asked Qing Ling, the Qing Clan intelligence agent who escaped from A02 Base, to take them to the Qing Clan and then return them to him.

Although these two Forbidden Item have no ability to help in combat, they are still truly Forbidden Item.

Qing Chen even suspected that Li Shutong was currently in the north, busy seizing... Forbidden Item for himself.

At this moment, an old man said weakly, "Your challengers haven't become knights yet, have they? They'll become knights when they do... right?"

This was the first time the old guys from Forbidden Zone No. 002 had ever felt so guilty.

It's obvious just by thinking about it. Qing Chen's side is training at least fifty or sixty knights in the future. That's a terrifying number. Even if you emptied this place out, you still wouldn't find so many Forbidden Item.

Unless you call Li Shutong back, and then send Ding Dong, Gu Dong, Li Shutong, the Knight Messenger, Vermilion Bird, and Azure Falcon together to rob the Tribunal of Taboos.

Otherwise, where would they find so many Forbidden Item?

The old guys are starting to panic!

Qing Chen confirmed, "So, once they become knights, there will be Forbidden Item as a greeting gift, right?"

"Oh, this!"

"That person doesn't represent all of us!"

"We don't need to each person have one, do we...?"

Qing Chen raised an eyebrow. "A knight doesn't even have a single Forbidden Item. If word gets out, people will think our Knight Organization is poor. Everyone must have Forbidden Item, one for each of us!"

Qin Sheng sighed and said, "Just focus on training them. I'll do my best to find Forbidden Item for you... Right now, Forbidden Zone No. 002 doesn't have that many Forbidden Item to give you."

Qing Chen asked curiously, "So many explorers have died in Forbidden Zone No. 002 over the past few hundred years. You must have a lot of treasures hidden there. Where are they all hidden? Let me look for them."

"Don't do anything reckless. When it's time to give it to you, we will naturally give it to you!" an old man said.

Qin Sheng said, "Here's what we'll do. Right now, there are only two people who truly Heart's Inquiry: Li Ke and Jingūji Maki. They already have their Forbidden Item. I'll give you one more now, and you can pass it on to Hu Xiaoniu. As for the rest... we'll think of a way."

The old folks suddenly felt a bit stifled.

They had dominated the Forbidden Zone No. 002 for hundreds of years, yet one day they found themselves penniless. They couldn't bear this humiliation!

"Gu Dong, countless people have been killed in these Forbidden Zone. There must be explorers who brought Forbidden Item in. You must quickly organize your people to conduct a thorough search and find all the strange and unusual human relics for us. We will pick out the Forbidden Item from them."

Gu Dong scratched his head. "There aren't that many Forbidden Item in the Forbidden Zone, are there?"

"Then go and conquer a few more Forbidden Zone!"

Forbidden Zone are considered extremely unlucky by ordinary people.

According to the Hu Corporation Intelligence Agency's rough estimate, since the beginning of the New Human Era a thousand years ago, there have been at least two thousand superhumans of B-Class or above in the Federation. There must be at least two every year, after all, it's been such a long time.

However, the Hu Institute only has a little over three hundred Forbidden Item registered.

Where did the rest go? They were either kept by someone, or the host died in Forbidden Zone while carrying the Forbidden Item, and then it was lost.

At this point, explorers can search for treasures in Forbidden Zone based on the principle that Forbidden Item must not be damaged. Once a Forbidden Item is found, one can achieve financial freedom immediately.

And of course, Gu Dong is the most suitable person to do this, since he is not bound by rules and has the racial talent of the King of Beasts.

Gu Dong said, "Okay, I'll set off tomorrow..."

Qing Chen smiled; this was the result he wanted.

The Daylight Organization and the Knight Organization want to change the world. How can the old guys stay comfortably in the Forbidden Zone? We need to all get involved!

Qin Sheng asked, "What are your plans next?"

Qing Chen thought for a moment and replied, "I'll stay here with Ding Dong for a while, then go to City No. 10 to kill someone."

Within City No. 10.

Eight young men hid in an alley in the Fourth District. One of them glanced at his watch and said, "Why hasn't that old bastard come out yet? It's been two hours. A date with his mistress shouldn't take this long. I thought tracking him and keeping track of his whereabouts would be easy, but it's such a waste of time. Hey, Li Chao, why don't you go and plead with Sun Chuci again? We're just buying fruit anyway, why not make some money?"

"I'm not going," Li Chao, formerly of Sun Chuci's team, said with his head down. "If I had gone to the Agricultural Academy with him back then, I might not have had to work so hard on the missions."

"What are you thinking?" a new friend said with a laugh. "Even if they go to the Agricultural Academy, they won't get much benefit. How could the college allow them to enjoy such precious things in private? Don't think too much about it. After we finish this mission, let's go to the 'Tonight, Who Doesn't Get Drunk Is a Dog' bar to celebrate."

Li Chao thought for a moment and said, "Okay, one of the dancers there is very pretty."

"Haha, you'll have to spend a lot of money to pick up those dancers," the new friend muttered.

Just then, in the dirty, garbage-strewn alley, someone suddenly said, "Did you guys feel... those two little mice in the corner seem to be sizing us up?"

"Aren't the rats in Fourth District afraid of people?" Someone picked up a beer can from the ground and threw it, but the two little rats just dodged it for a moment and then continued to look at them without any fear.

"That's strange," Li Chao said.

For some reason, he had a very uncomfortable feeling. The two little mice didn't seem to be just curious... rather, they seemed to be scrutinizing their prey.

One girl said, "A few days ago, when I was doing a school quest, I went to the Lower Three Districts and found that it was much better than where we live. It was clean and hygienic, and the security seemed pretty good too. Why don't we move there?"

The new friend laughed and said, "How could that be? The Lower Three Districts are notoriously dirty and chaotic."

Li Chao interrupted, "Stop talking now. I feel something's not right. The target we've been following has been up there for too long. Either something happened to him, or he's discovered us. What should we do? Shall we go upstairs and take a look? I know where his mistress lives."

The new friends shook their heads. "Our mission is to follow them, don't take such risks."

Li Chao frowned. In the past, Sun Chuci would probably have taken the initiative to assume the responsibility of the team leader by this time, and Sun Chuci would have been the one to do the dangerous tasks.

Things are different now; nobody is willing to step forward anymore.

Li Chao sighed and said, "You all wait here, I'll go take a look."

He took the elevator to the 10th floor and quietly walked towards room 1023. However, he noticed something was wrong as soon as he reached the door: fresh blood was slowly flowing out of the room.

Li Chao immediately kicked the door open and saw the gang leader and his mistress lying in a pool of blood, with three palm-sized rats on their bodies. They suddenly looked up at him.

There was no fear in the eyes of those rats. Just like before, Li Chao was being scrutinized by them as if he were prey!

Li Chao slowly retreated, but the rat did not attack him. Instead, it turned and scurried into the dark cracks of the room, disappearing without a trace.

The two chapters total 11,000 words. Please subscribe and vote with monthly tickets.

Thank you to the following classmates for becoming new allies: Grand Commander Feng Weiwen, Akhil_Leung, Tang Zhangshi, 12-year old bookworm Old Nine Jiu, Reading to Pay Off Debts, Singing Life 2233, Reading Ben, Mengji Zhujian, Yanling Ji, Book Friend 20200919235025022, Non-European I Don't Deserve to Draw Cards, Chaozi Ge, Book Friend 20190705165855857, liuxs2008, Joyful Sorrow, Shuxia Shui, and Zipeng.

The bosses are generous; I wish them and their families good health.