Lowering His Head

"[Spade 7], what do you need?"

"I need a quiet room."

"Why?"

"I found a suspected Fusionist and need to conduct a Calamity-level assessment."

"A Fusionist?" The woman raised her brows in surprise. "Is there a chance we can recruit him?"

"The target can be ruled out as a member of the Fusion Faction, but he seems inclined to join the Enforcers. Whether he is worth recruiting depends on my assessment."

"Understood."

The woman pulled a key from beneath the cabinet. "The quiet room is on the second basement level."

Chu Muyun took the key, opened the hidden basement door, and vanished in a blur.

The woman stepped out from behind the counter and stood at the entrance, discreetly surveying the surroundings. Then she flipped the sign from "Open" to "Closed" and shut the shop for the day.

Whoosh—

In the darkness, Chu Muyun lit a kerosene lamp and descended the narrow staircase step by step.

The dim yellow light slowly sank. At the foot of the stairs was a space of roughly ten square meters. Chu Muyun bent down and placed the lamp in the center of the floor, then took out a small brown bottle and poured out its contents.

Chu Muyun removed his glasses. Azure radiance welled up from the depths of his eyes, and a powerful pressure became a whirlwind that churned through the room!

"Diagnosis... commencing."

Ice Spring Street.

Chen Ling moved through the shattered ruins, searching carefully.

He was immensely grateful that he had been assigned here, and that his task was to search for clues... If Chen Yan had left any clues here, he would be the first to find them—and the first to cut them off.

If he had not picked up that protective charm yesterday and it had fallen into another Enforcer's hands, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

But the truth proved that Chen Yan had not left anything else behind.

Chen Ling spent the entire morning turning the ruins of Ice Spring Street upside down. Aside from blood, flesh, and severed limbs, there was nothing else—not even any trace of the "Calamity Domain" Qian Fan had mentioned.

Chen Ling could not help wondering what kind of ability the Calamity inside Chen Yan truly possessed.

Just as he was lost in thought, a figure approached from afar.

"Wu Youdong?" Chen Ling was slightly taken aback when he recognized the newcomer.

It was not surprising that Wu Youdong was also on Ice Spring Street. The problem was that he was now supporting himself with metal crutches under his arms. One leg was already in a cast, and his body was covered in wounds and bandages. His left eye was badly bruised, and he looked filthy, as if he had just crawled out of a trench.

Hearing Chen Ling's voice, Wu Youdong, who had been hanging his head, finally had a glimmer of light appear in his eyes.

"Chen Ling." Wu Youdong gave a bitter smile. "I thought I might not live long enough to see you again..."

"You're..."

"I'm not going to be an Enforcer anymore."

Wu Youdong raised his head and looked at the aurora in the distance. A flash of sorrow and desolation crossed his bruised eyes.

"What happened?" Chen Ling clearly remembered that when he had left yesterday, Wu Youdong had still been full of anticipation as he went to complete his assignment. How had he ended up like this today?

"The Enforcers... Ice Spring Street... neither is any good."

"Chen Ling, do you know what kind of people live on this street?"

"Debt collectors! Cultists! Wanted criminals! This place is full of illegal gun deals, drug deals, organ trafficking... Yesterday, I went to gather information from the survivors on this street, and they mocked and cursed me!"

"They kicked me into a restroom! They made me wash their toilets! When I refused, they broke my leg!"

Wu Youdong's voice trembled more and more. It was as if he had recalled some painful memory, veins bulging one by one along his neck.

"They did it on purpose!!"

"The Enforcers in the Second District know exactly what kind of place this street is! None of them are willing to come, so they asked the Third District for manpower! I don't know what deal they made with Ma Zhong, but Ma Zhong transferred people over from the Third District's reserve candidates!"

"He knew we were newcomers, that our families were poor and had no influence! If he didn't send us, who else would he send??"

"To put it nicely, we came here as support. To put it bluntly, we're fucking sacrifices offered up by the higher-ups of the Enforcers! I swear on my life that the Enforcers' higher-ups must be connected to the underground trade on Ice Spring Street!"

"Why?!"

"My parents sold everything they had to put me through school! I earned my place among the Enforcers with my own ability!"

"Why do they get to humiliate me like this?!!"

Wu Youdong snarled furiously, his eyes bloodshot. Yet even now, he still did not dare speak too loudly... because the Enforcers from the Second District were nearby.

Under the gaze of lions, even ants, no matter how furious, could only remain suppressed and silent.

Wu Youdong's chest heaved violently, as if he were about to challenge either Ice Spring Street or the Enforcers to a fight. But when a voice rang out, his body shuddered again.

"Wu Youdong, Chen Ling? What are you talking about?"

Qian Fan, dressed in a black-and-red uniform, walked over from afar with his arms folded, asking curiously.

Wu Youdong's face instantly turned deathly pale.

"Wu Youdong, didn't you say you weren't going to be an Enforcer anymore?" Qian Fan continued. "Once you voluntarily withdraw from the Enforcer examination, there's no taking it back... For people like you, this should be a chance to change your fate. Have you really thought it through?

"Or... if you feel there's anything the Enforcers aren't doing properly right now, you can bring it up, and we can discuss it..."

Wu Youdong's expression changed again and again. Several times, he seemed about to speak but stopped himself... Yet under Qian Fan's gaze, he ultimately only shook his head.

"No, no... I'm voluntarily withdrawing."

"What a pity."

Chen Ling looked at Wu Youdong before him, his feelings suddenly complicated...

Wu Youdong dared to pour out accusations of the Enforcers' crimes before Chen Ling, yet before an Enforcer, he did not dare utter even one extra word.

But Chen Ling could not call Wu Youdong cowardly either. Even if Wu Youdong did not become an Enforcer, he would still have to live in the Third District, or one of Aurora Domain's other districts. No matter where he went, there would be Enforcers...

To everyone living in Aurora Domain, the Enforcers were the sky.

Wu Youdong gave Chen Ling a deep look, then lowered his head again... Leaning heavily on those cheap crutches, he gritted his teeth and limped toward the Third District.

His figure gradually shrank as he went farther away, until it became a tiny grain of pale sand, blown apart at the end of the road.

Chen Ling knew that from this day onward... Wu Youdong might never raise his head again.

"Sigh, honestly, I thought he was quite good. Hardworking, able to endure hardship, and with decent potential." Qian Fan watched Wu Youdong's departing back and let out a long sigh.

"Oh, right. Now that Wu Youdong is gone, no one is doing his work... Starting today, you'll take over for him."

Chen Ling froze and turned to look at Qian Fan.

Qian Fan smiled as he met his gaze. Under the sunlight, his smile was like that of a demon.