Kill Every Southwind City Higher-Up! Professional Bullying!

Qi Chuan's records were spotless. His parents had died in the Mist Slaughter Incident over thirty years ago. The only thing better than Su Chen's situation was that he did not have refugee status.

Jiang He probably would not go to bat for him. From now on, anyone who made a move for Qi Chuan could serve as a thread to follow.

"Black Tuo, Weird God, Zhou Xian..."

"I only killed your son and took a few things. Do you really have to keep pressing me like this?"

As he walked, Su Chen muttered to himself.

Within the hazy fog, azure-violet lightning suddenly tore through the darkness. Winding arcs of light flickered between the clouds and the ground.

Then came a piercing shriek powerful enough to shake one's lungs, like the howl of some enormous creature having its chest torn open alive. The fog twisted and warped beneath the sound waves.

Bang!

Something seemed to crash to the ground, kicking up a great cloud of dust.

Whoosh!

A slender silver-gray aircraft shot out of the mist.

"It's a third-tier mutant, the Crimson Redhawk Demon..." At the hatch, the gale howled and a black overcoat flapped wildly. Beneath white hair was a cold, stern face.

"You're so slow..." A dissatisfied voice came from the corner. The old man lowered his head and swiped at the virtual screen before him without even looking up.

"Chief Justice..." The white-haired man's icy expression broke in an instant, and he could not help looking helpless.

"Look at this..." The old man casually swiped, and the virtual projection floated over to the white-haired man.

"News from Southwind..." The white-haired man glanced at it, visibly surprised. "The Holy Word Stone was recovered?"

"...Yuan Chenyang sent his own student undercover. Not only did he recover the Holy Word Stone, he even uncovered one of Black Tuo's followers?"

"Impressive. I thought he wouldn't escape blame this time," the white-haired man said.

"They've alerted the enemy..." The old man snorted coldly, his tone displeased. "The rest will likely go to ground. I've made this trip for nothing."

"You can't put it that way..." the white-haired man argued. "They didn't know about your plan, after all."

"The Holy Word Stone was found, but the Spatial Crystal wasn't." The old man spoke to himself. "Black Tuo's people have been alerted. The remaining followers will probably go into hiding."

"Old Xia, the Spatial Crystal was stolen from Cloudwave. That is not Southwind City's responsibility." The long-haired woman seated on the other side spoke up.

"But there's a lead, isn't there? Zhou Xian's son was used as a mule. He's highly suspicious," the white-haired man said.

"Yes..." The old man's expression flickered. His withered body looked as if a gust of wind could topple it. "The head of the Internal Affairs Hall, one of Southwind City's higher-ups, was actually corrupted. Can Southwind City's higher-ups still be trusted? Why not kill them all? A few might be wrongly accused, but I'm sure they'll understand."

The white-haired man immediately broke out in a cold sweat. "Wait, wait! It's only suspicion! If you kill them all, there'll be huge trouble!"

"Coward!" The old man sneered. He walked to the hatch and jumped straight down. The fog swallowed him, and the white-haired man heard only his hoarse voice:

"A third-tier mutant should not have appeared near this flight route. I'll investigate what's going on. You go to Southwind City first."

When Su Chen returned to his room, he found an unexpected visitor.

"Teacher?"

Su Chen carefully approached the door. Upon spotting the figure inside, he was somewhat surprised.

Old Sun stood beside him, his face wrinkling with a broad smile.

"Someone snuck into your room?" Yuan Chenyang got straight to the point.

"Yes." Su Chen nodded. "We checked the surveillance footage, but found nothing."

Fatty Sun immediately said, "I've reinforced security on this floor. Guards have been stationed in both corridors, and patrols are conducted every half hour."

Old Sun reacted quickly. No wonder Su Chen had seen several burly men.

Su Chen secretly praised him. When a problem arose and those above asked about it, there could not be nothing but excuses.

Yuan Chenyang nodded in satisfaction. "You go out first."

"Okay." Old Sun stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

"You captured Qi Chuan," Yuan Chenyang asked only then.

Su Chen explained, "He previously colluded with Hu Xiang and planned to attack me in secret."

"Mm..." Yuan Chenyang suddenly understood. "So this is the explanation Hu Xiang mentioned. As long as you know what you're doing."

He added emphatically, "Follow the rules. Don't leave anyone any leverage against you."

"Understood."

"Also, this is [Engineering Apprentice]. Take a look..." He handed over a metal engraved plate.

Su Chen glanced at it—

[First-tier lower-class profession discovered—Engineering Apprentice. After meeting the job requirements, you may take up the profession.]

[Job requirement one: Complete repairs on one thousand ordinary items.]

[Job requirement two: Be a first-tier mental-type profession holder.]

"This..." Su Chen did not understand. This profession did not seem all that impressive.

"Don't underestimate it. After a perfect job advancement, it can awaken a professional ability called [Dual Focus]."

Yuan Chenyang emphasized, "Not the ordinary kind of multitasking acquired through practice, but an ability more like that of machinery."

"You're not the first person to want to cultivate the body while also holding multiple mental-type professions. Training the body and then meditating wastes too much time."

"I see..." Su Chen came to a realization. Every profession had its own unique use. He would have to pay more attention in the future.

Some professional abilities might not amount to much on their own, but when properly combined, they could become very different.

Old Yuan continued, "I'll have Old Sun arrange for you to work in logistics. Do some work every day, and you'll be able to take up the profession within a few months."

"Thank you, Teacher." Su Chen was sincerely grateful. Things were far more comfortable now than when he had stayed in the Southern Academy dormitory.

"Mm." Old Yuan did not stand on ceremony. He handed over a gilded card. "There's one more matter. Zhang Yunqing, Zhang Hengyu's older sister, is holding a banquet tonight. The invitation was sent to our home. Go attend it."

"A banquet?" Su Chen accepted it and looked at the intricate patterning on it. Zhou Zong had mentioned this matter before as well.

Yuan Chenyang's bald head gleamed beneath the light, while his gaze flickered. "It'll just be some young people from the city. Besides, his sister has been in Ying Feng before and knows quite a few things. It'd be good for you to get in touch with her."

"I see..." Su Chen was thoughtful. The explanation did not seem entirely sufficient, but he still nodded. "Since Teacher has spoken, I'll make a trip there."

Yuan Chenyang left. Only after the elevator doors closed did he smile and curse, "Little brat."

"A banquet, a banquet..." Su Chen rubbed the card, unable to hide his helplessness. "This refugee status really is troublesome."

Who knew what those refugee predecessors had actually done?

He checked the time. It was still early.

Su Chen began considering [Engineering Apprentice] again. With resources available, the time needed to take up the profession should not be long.

He sighed. "But the situation is complicated right now. Spending time on this would really be..."

[Detecting the host's difficulties, the Sky-Rending Warrior and Mystic Artificer have held a friendly discussion with Engineering Apprentice. Deeply moved by the host's hardships, Engineering Apprentice has decided to grant a direct perfect job advancement. The host only needs, after taking up the profession...]

Huh? Su Chen's cheek twitched slightly. Had the Sky-Rending Warrior and Mystic Artificer teamed up to bully it?

A direct job advancement... That worked too, he supposed. He wondered how long the time limit would be this time.

A thousand ordinary items was no simple requirement.

Yet Su Chen waited and waited, but the text after the ellipsis never appeared. Until a moment later—

[Engineering Apprentice has decided that after the host takes up the profession, there will be no need to complete the job requirements within a time limit.]

Huh?

Su Chen thought he had already grown used to the panel, but these lines still left him greatly shocked.

For some reason, he could even sense a kind of grief and indignation from them.

Sky-Rending Warrior, Mystic Artificer, what exactly had you two done?

Was this the overwhelming suppression of top-tier professions against lower-tier ones?

Su Chen cracked a complicated smile and happily took up the profession.

Then a massive amount of familiar yet unfamiliar memories flooded into his mind. Different mechanical creations appeared before his eyes—their details, damaged parts, and repair processes.

It felt as though he had truly repaired over a thousand broken objects. His head swelled painfully, and it took him a long while to recover.

[Successfully took up Engineering Apprentice. Professional ability acquired—Dual Focus.]

[Dual Focus: The mind can process two matters simultaneously.]

"Whew..." Su Chen massaged his temples. The feeling of this kind of knowledge-based profession was truly peculiar.

He tested it briefly and immediately sensed the difference. His consciousness seemed to split in two, each half capable of considering different matters.

Under certain circumstances, he could also multitask, even handle more than two things, but only for a moment or an instant at most.

This, however, was like opening two taskbars on a computer, each running without interfering with the other.

"A divine skill..." Su Chen's eyes lit up. Both meditation methods and training methods were extremely complex.

Under normal circumstances, no matter how much one practiced, it would be difficult to make them truly operate at the same time.

Yet a mere ordinary profession had solved this problem.

He immediately began trying it. His body assumed a stance as he began meditating at the same time.

[Body-Tempering Method] began operating, his muscles tensing as stinging pain gradually spread throughout his body. At the same time, [Hellflame Meditation Method] circulated, heating up his brain.

The sensation was exceedingly strange. Like a child who had gotten a new toy, Su Chen practiced for over half an hour before reluctantly stopping.

"I still have to go out today, so I can't exhaust myself too much." Su Chen smacked his lips. "If I could pair this with potions, it'd be amazing. I still need to find a way to get some Blackflame Potion. The blood-activation efficiency is still too low."

"Brother..." Fatty Sun knocked on the door. Only after Su Chen allowed him in did he gently open it and walk inside with a beaming smile. "I've already arranged things with logistics. You'll be specifically responsible for repairing damaged items, and experienced workers will teach you."

Su Chen once again marveled at Old Sun's efficiency, but shook his head. "There's no rush with that."

Fatty Sun was slightly taken aback, but still smiled. "All right, brother. Just let me know whenever you're ready."

He was about to leave when Su Chen stopped him again. "Brother Sun, I'd like to ask you to help me sell something."

"Oh?" Fatty Sun was surprised as he watched Su Chen pull a blurry black garment out from beneath the bed.

"Shadow-Hiding Garment?" He could not help staring in astonishment. "You..."