Unexpected Gains: Partial Job Entry, A Sudden Team of Big Shots

"Someone searched Zhou Zong's corpse?"

Inside the tent, the wariness in Su Chen's eyes gradually faded. Looking at Hu Xiang before him, he had thought Hu Xiang had caught on to something and come looking for a fight.

Instead, Hu Xiang had sneakily told him that someone had searched Zhou Zong's corpse.

"Yes. Something is very wrong about this." Hu Xiang looked grave.

Su Chen stared at him. "Two things. First, why did you come to me about this?"

"Second, weren't you patrolling the surrounding area? How do you know everything that happened in the camp?"

"What does that have to do with the corpse?" Hu Xiang frowned, but seeing Su Chen's guarded stance, he understood.

The kid still didn't trust him. He could only explain, "I came to you because Zhou Zong's death was connected to you, more or less..."

"Don't slander me." Su Chen remained expressionless.

Hu Xiang ignored him and continued, "I originally planned to patrol the area, but I was worried about the camp too, so I kept watch on both."

Su Chen reluctantly accepted the explanation. Something stirred in his mind, and he said, "Let's look at the corpse."

"I brought it over for you." Hu Xiang turned and carried the body bag in from outside the tent.

Su Chen: "..."

"You go out first." Su Chen rubbed his chin, pulled open the zipper, and looked at Zhou Zong's corpse.

Hu Xiang hesitated, but Su Chen was staring at him so intensely that he could only leave the tent.

"Go farther..." Su Chen called out. Hu Xiang had no choice but to move farther away. Then he saw the tent light go out, plunging the interior into darkness.

"Fuck, what a creep..." he cursed under his breath.

Meanwhile, using his spiritual perception, Su Chen began searching Zhou Zong's corpse as well.

Before long, his movements paused slightly. His eyes narrowed. "There really is something."

Taking out a small knife, Su Chen made a series of tearing sounds before pulling a thin, paper-like object from the lining inside the clothing over Zhou Zong's left chest.

Su Chen's expression became complicated. This was the very item that recorded the [Space Storage User], as well as the item stolen from Southwind Academy.

"They actually smuggled it out like this?" Countless thoughts flashed through Su Chen's mind.

Yuan Chenyang's inspections were very thorough. Under normal circumstances, this thing should not have made it out.

But the patrol outside the city had created a loophole. On the day they left the city, Yuan Chenyang had happened to be pursuing the thief, while the one who had seen them off was Zhou Zong's father.

"Zhou Zong probably didn't know. Otherwise, he wouldn't have kept it hidden until now. They even have people within the City Patrol Guard..." Su Chen felt the situation was thorny. This was clearly a whirlpool.

"But..." he murmured softly, "perhaps it's also an opportunity."

He was about to turn on the temporary light source when he looked back at Zhou Zong and muttered, "Still, with so many students here, why did they have to put it on Zhou Zong..."

As he spoke, he reached out with his demonic claws again, this time searching even more carefully.

"There really is something else..."

Su Chen looked astonished as he stared at the two black metal cubes in his hand.

Zhou Zong had turned into a mule.

These things had been hidden in the layered heel of Zhou Zong's shoes. Each was only the size of a fingernail. They were not something that could have been casually hidden on Zhou Zong's person.

With a slight twist, the metal casing opened. Hazy colors seeped from the crack. Su Chen wrapped it in his clothes and carefully opened it.

It was a small, irregular crystal gleaming with countless colors.

The panel gave no prompt. It was not a finished product.

"This thing..." He furrowed his brow, then looked at the thin sheet again. Suddenly, he had a guess.

He immediately opened the panel, found the [Space Storage User] profession, and expanded its advancement requirements.

Sure enough, one of the [Spatial Crystal] requirements had already been completed.

He had merely thought that since this thing had been kept together with that metal sheet, it might be related to the [Space Storage User].

"So this is a Spatial Crystal?" Su Chen stared carefully at the crystal in his hand, unable to suppress the tremor in his heart.

Did that mean the profession's most inexplicable requirement had just been fulfilled?

And there were two of them at once.

But after the brief excitement passed, Su Chen realized something else. It seemed useless for him to have them.

His father most likely knew about the things hidden on Zhou Zong. His son was dead, and the items were missing. Everyone would probably be searched, especially him.

"Looks like I can only hand them over." Su Chen unconsciously rubbed the metal cube. "I can't exactly throw them away."

He was reluctant to part with them. Who knew when he would see something like this again?

[The Space Storage User has detected the host's intent to discard the Spatial Crystals and is willing to allow the host to undergo partial advancement at the cost of two Spatial Crystals.

Upon completing the remaining advancement requirements, the profession can gradually be completed.]

Hmm?

Looking at the panel that had appeared, Su Chen paused. Partial advancement?

"Not bad, not bad. Look at how considerate this profession is. If advancement is difficult, then just advance partially first. Get on the bus first and buy the ticket later. That's perfectly reasonable..."

Su Chen grinned broadly and praised the air several times, but the panel gave no new prompt.

He curled his lip. Normal advancement only required one crystal, yet partial advancement required two.

The two Spatial Crystals in his hand emitted dazzling light, melting like ice. The surrounding space rippled faintly as the two gradually fused together before abruptly vanishing.

[Space Storage User partial advancement successful. Profession ability acquired—Storage Space: A portable space concealed within an interlayer.]

[Complete the advancement conditions to unlock other profession abilities.]

Storage Space?

Su Chen swallowed. Focusing carefully, his spiritual power stirred, and he could indeed vaguely sense an empty little space. It was only one cubic meter, not very large.

Su Chen casually picked up the empty metal cube and tried to draw it in with his mind. The metal cube silently vanished from his hand and appeared in that small space.

"It consumes spiritual power too... No wonder the advancement requirement calls for a top-tier second-rank spiritual profession." Su Chen examined it carefully.

"Ha... not bad, not bad." He could not help grinning. Even Zhou Zong, lying on the ground with half his head missing, suddenly looked rather pleasing to the eye.

After searching carefully again and confirming that nothing had been missed, he wrecked the shoes beyond recognition before turning on the tube light and calling Hu Xiang back in.

Hu Xiang looked at the corpse on the ground. The zipper exposed only the middle of the body, and he saw no changes. He could not help asking, "Did you figure it out?"

"Maybe..." Su Chen answered vaguely. Hu Xiang said unhappily, "What do you mean, maybe?"

"Are you sure you want to know?" Su Chen asked in return.

Hu Xiang froze briefly and eyed him suspiciously. That question made his heart pound.

"Forget it." He decisively shook his head.

"You need to keep a close eye on whoever searched his corpse," Su Chen emphasized again.

Hu Xiang nodded, then asked uneasily, "Is it serious?"

Su Chen gave him a meaningful look. "Hard to say."

After hesitating for a moment, Hu Xiang went to Tang Chen first to reinforce his restraints, while Su Chen left the tent and found Bai Fengxi.

"Something wrong?" Bai Fengxi came out of her tent. Su Chen jerked his chin toward the tent.

Bai Fengxi hesitated for a moment, but she still brought Su Chen inside. The two sat cross-legged, very close to each other.

"I want to ask you something..." Su Chen leaned closer and stared into Bai Fengxi's eyes. "What kind of person is Old Yuan?"

Bai Fengxi's eyes were bright as she looked at him suspiciously. "You needed to ask me so carefully just for that?"

"Yes." Su Chen looked solemn.

Bai Fengxi was speechless. Then she began, "He..."

In the shadows, Hu Xiang had just carefully tied up Tang Chen, even preventing any possibility of suicide. Turning around, he saw the young man and woman slip into a tent and sighed regretfully, "Such a good girl."

He had asked those students about it. Su Chen really had been brought into Southwind Academy by Jiang He; it was not just a rumor.

He had also heard something about Jiang He's reputation.

A ruthless Su Chen who would stop at nothing to climb higher had already taken shape in his mind.

That girl called Bai Fengxi had probably fallen for him too. Apparently, she was even Yuan Chenyang's student.

What a capable man.

Still, he felt there was more to it. Otherwise, someone with Su Chen's strength would not possibly have taken Jiang He's route.

As he was speculating, his expression suddenly turned grave, and he abruptly looked up.

In the darkness, a City Patrol Guard on night watch hurried over.

In a flash, Hu Xiang blocked his path and repeatedly asked, "What happened? Another attack?"

"No, no..." The City Patrol Guard hurriedly shook his head and pointed into the darkness behind him.

A low hum gradually drew closer. Several bright azure light sources pierced through the mist, and several scarlet tracked war vehicles, five or six meters tall, emerged from the fog. Faintly corroded armor plates were engraved with glowing blue patterns.

Hu Xiang's brow twitched. A crushing sense of pressure bore down on him.

Several figures walked slowly at the front. Hu Xiang's solemn expression turned to shock. "C-City Lord!?"

The newcomers were the group of Southwind City big shots led by Zhang Hongbo, who had rushed here at full speed.

"Inspector General Yuan..." Hu Xiang instinctively swept his gaze over them, then his expression suddenly changed drastically. He said with difficulty, "M-Minister Zhou... Why are you here?"

Zhou Xian remained impassive. Hu Xiang was even more surprised to see him than Zhang Hongbo. He had not even greeted the City Lord, instead asking why Zhou Xian was here. Wasn't that needlessly giving Zhang Hongbo something to think about?

Why was a City Patrol Guard showing him such respect?

Hu Xiang's thoughts raced. Zhou Zong's corpse was still in Su Chen's tent. It had already been difficult enough to deal with, and now Zhou Xian would definitely keep a close eye on Su Chen.

Trouble. He sighed inwardly. Why had this group of big shots suddenly come?