Unexpected Attack, the Stolen Special Profession

Su Chen woke refreshed, looking full of vigor.

[Candlefire Mental Training Method—Proficient: 50%]

His progress toward becoming a [Mystic Artificer] was advancing steadily.

After washing up, he did not continue the tedious training. Instead, he headed for the cafeteria to buy a few more Nutrient Potions.

However, the moment he left the dormitory building, he sensed that something was off. There were far more patrol guards on the academy's roads than usual.

And they were not the academy's own security personnel. Every one of them was powerfully built, dressed in dark blue fitted combat suits with thick metal armor over their shoulders, chests, and thighs, carrying black assault rifles.

Their expressions were stern and cold, and they radiated danger. Su Chen could even sense quite a few professionals mixed among them.

"Why are there so many Inspection Guards? What happened?"

Many students on the road shared the same question.

"I don't know. They arrived yesterday afternoon, apparently, and took over all the school's security work," a student said quietly.

"Yesterday afternoon?" Su Chen's expression shifted slightly. Could this be because of Zhou Zong?

"I heard the school was attacked."

A mysterious-sounding voice suddenly came from behind him, and Su Chen immediately slowed down.

"Attacked? Is that for real?"

The students gathering around erupted in shocked exclamations.

"Of course it's real. Otherwise, why would they make such a big fuss?"

Su Chen pricked up his ears, only to be abruptly stopped by an Inspection Guard with somewhat dark skin. The man said nothing, merely took Su Chen's student card and scanned it with a device in his hand.

Then he reached out and rubbed Su Chen's cheek, only waving him through after confirming there was no problem.

A first-rank Strongman's body was strengthened, but it still remained within human limits. Such a simple inspection would not reveal anything unusual.

"Those behind him, stop spreading nonsense..." he warned again.

Su Chen glanced back. The academy had been attacked? Was that really true?

On the way to the cafeteria, he heard even more rumors. Some said the school had been robbed, while others claimed several senior teachers had died, all of them second-rank professionals.

All sorts of gossip filled the air.

"Bai Fengxi?" After buying his nutrient solution, Su Chen turned and spotted Bai Fengxi coming up the stairs.

Zhou Zong was probably still nursing a headache over whoever had knocked him out yesterday, so he was not by Bai Fengxi's side.

After giving it some thought, Su Chen walked straight over.

"Old Bai..." he called.

What kind of name was that? The girls beside her looked utterly baffled.

"Ah, it's him—the little pretty boy from Jiang He's... mm... handsome guy..."

Su Chen's face was rather memorable, and a girl immediately recognized him.

Bai Fengxi's gaze fell on the small bag in Su Chen's hand.

He had money so soon. Teacher Jiang He really was generous.

She seemed hesitant to speak, while Su Chen bluntly said, "I have something to tell you."

After thinking for a moment, Bai Fengxi followed Su Chen to a seat in the corner.

"Zhou Zong has his eye on you. He was asking me about your background," Su Chen said in a low voice. "He doesn't seem to know where you came from."

"Zhou Zong..." Bai Fengxi frowned and nodded slightly. "Mm. Teacher Yuan altered my records. I'm now listed as the orphaned child of one of his friends."

As she spoke, Bai Fengxi did not seem the least bit embarrassed.

"No wonder. He probably wants to use your background to control you," Su Chen realized.

Normally, once an ugly duckling became a swan, they would not want anything to do with their former self.

For example: "Bai Fengxi, you don't want your friends to find out that you're actually a lowborn drifter, do you?"

"Then you should be careful," Su Chen reminded her. He seemed about to rise, but sat back down and asked curiously, "Who's your teacher?"

"Teacher Yuan. Yuan Chenyang." Bai Fengxi's wording was somewhat odd.

"The vice principal? The head of the Inspection Department?" Su Chen froze, looking Bai Fengxi up and down. Where had she gotten such absurdly good luck?

Southern Academy had several vice principals, but Yuan Chenyang was undoubtedly one of the powerful ones. He controlled one of the city's armed departments, the Inspection Department, which was responsible for internal city security.

"What are his requirements for taking students?" Su Chen asked with great curiosity. "How did he take an interest in you?"

"I don't know..." Bai Fengxi glanced at him, seeming troubled. "I'm not too sure either."

"You should be careful. Maybe you ran into a pervert," Su Chen said "jealously."

Bai Fengxi merely gave an "oh," unbothered by the joke. Then she said, "Don't worry about Zhou Zong. I'll warn him."

"Besides, he won't have time to bother with anything else for a while. Zhang Hengyu is keeping an eye on him."

"Hm?" Su Chen raised a brow.

Bai Fengxi whispered, "Yesterday, Zhang Hengyu played dirty and stole Zhou Zong's Blood-Activating Potion. Zhou Zong was furious."

"Zhang Hengyu?" Su Chen's gaze turned strange. "Why does he think it was Zhang Hengyu?"

"Because of a spot. A spot to go to Yingfeng Megacity..." Bai Fengxi did not seem to care much.

A spot? Yingfeng Megacity?

Su Chen was surprised. He had not expected such a misunderstanding.

Bai Fengxi's eyes burned with restrained gossip. "I heard they even stripped him naked, and someone recorded it with a recording device. He's been warning people about it everywhere."

Why were you so excited?

Su Chen's expression turned odd as he asked, "How is Little Pigeon?"

Bai Fengxi's expression softened. "She's doing well. I've already arranged for her to receive basic education. She mentions you often."

"That's good." Su Chen got up to say goodbye, preparing to leave.

"Do you... want to become Yuan Chenyang's student?" Bai Fengxi asked hesitantly.

"Yeah." Su Chen sat back down and sighed. "Jiang He isn't a long-term solution."

"True. She'll get tired of playing with you sooner or later." Bai Fengxi nodded. She was no naive innocent; she had crawled through the mud herself.

Su Chen did not explain much. Bai Fengxi said, "Yuan Chenyang looks at talent."

"Talent?"

Didn't you say you didn't know why he took you in?

Su Chen could tell that Old Bai was highly guarded. Her attitude toward him could only be called slightly better than before. She probably had not intended to mention this, but for some reason had changed her mind.

"Physical talent, mental talent. If you have talent, you can go farther and better than others," Bai Fengxi explained.

Su Chen fell into thought. So he had learned the Candlefire Mental Training Method so quickly... because he had mental talent?

"Um..." He looked at Bai Fengxi and said solemnly, "I feel like I have talent too."

"You?" Bai Fengxi instinctively looked him over, seeming hesitant to speak.

"Can you help?" Su Chen asked.

"Hard to say. I can only mention it to him, but he..." Bai Fengxi hesitated.

Su Chen noticed that the way she referred to Yuan Chenyang was strange, but he did not ask. He simply said, "Alright. No matter what, thank you."

"If I could get connected to Yuan Chenyang, that would be great..." Even after returning to his dorm, Su Chen was still calculating.

Then Jiang He would not be a problem, Qi Chuan would not be a problem either, and he would not have to stay cooped up in his dorm all day worrying about his next meal.

Deep within Southwind Academy, Bai Fengxi silently entered a high-level office.

Yuan Chenyang was rubbing his temples, his bald head gleaming. When he caught sight of Bai Fengxi, he said, "You're here."

"How did the investigation go?" Bai Fengxi asked.

"There are no clues at all. Whoever did it was very experienced. But I've trapped him within the academy..." Yuan Chenyang opened his eyes, and a sharp glint flashed through them. "I suspect someone inside was working with him."

"...We had only cracked half of it before it was taken. Yingfeng has already questioned us about it. They'll probably send people over."

Bai Fengxi could not help asking, "What exactly was stolen?"

Yuan Chenyang's expression tightened. "An uncracked special profession..."