Next, Jiang Chen searched every part of the hospital again. After confirming there were no other ghosts, he went outside and hailed a taxi. Just as the car left the street the hospital was on, three SUVs approached from the opposite direction.
Although everyone inside wore plain clothes, Jiang Chen could still sense their razor-sharp bearing.
They seemed to be chatting casually or glancing around without much interest, but their postures and positions ensured they could spring into action at a moment's notice and form an effective combat formation.
Every one of them had eyes as sharp as a hawk's, constantly watching for the slightest disturbance around them.
Jiang Chen instantly reached a conclusion: these were true elites!
They might have been ordinary people, but they were undoubtedly the strongest among ordinary people. With the right equipment and terrain, each could take on a hundred opponents. Calling them Soldier Kings would be no exaggeration.
He had guessed who they were.
In the lead vehicle, a poised, commanding woman in a black leather jacket noticed the direction Jiang Chen had come from. After studying him a few more times, she seemed to confirm something and called sternly into the vehicle's radio.
"Salute!"
Everyone in the vehicle seemed to realize something as well. They all turned toward Jiang Chen in the taxi, their faces filled with excitement and respect, and straightened their backs to give him a military salute.
They knew it was only thanks to Unusual Persons like him, fighting on the front lines against ghosts, that people could enjoy peaceful lives.
To deal with ghosts, Unusual Persons had to face horrors ordinary people could scarcely imagine, confront the darkest side of human nature, and take the greatest risks. They hovered on the edge of life and death, staring down inhuman monsters to defend peace in the human world.
They deserved respect!
Jiang Chen grew solemn too and earnestly returned their salute.
In truth, he respected these Cleanup Personnel even more. Places where a Paranormal Incident had just been resolved often still harbored danger. It took tremendous courage for a group of ordinary people to go in and handle the aftermath.
But there was no other choice. This was the situation in the Nine Provinces-or rather, in every country across Blue Star. Unusual Persons were far too scarce.
Jiang Chen had learned about this on the Underworld App. In the Nine Provinces alone, the power systems used by the Dao Alliance and the established families progressed slowly. Some people cultivated from childhood, only to barely reach D-rank strength by the time they ventured out into the world in their twenties.
That would not have been a problem in the past, but with the world's current concentration of yin energy and the frequency of Paranormal Incidents, it was simply too slow. They often could not keep up with the losses.
That was also why Chen Xue had said the Netherworld's emergence had allowed the Dao Alliance to breathe a sigh of relief.
As for the Netherworld's system, Jiang Chen had gleaned a rough understanding from the comments under a few posts.
It was a shortcut: seal a ghost inside the body and use its power to fight other ghosts.
However, the death rate was far too high. Even when they selected special forces soldiers with the strongest mental fortitude, the mortality rate reached ninety percent.
Because of this, the Netherworld had established a strict selection process, followed by two or three years of special training, before attempting to have prospective Netherworld Messengers seal ghosts inside their bodies.
All in all, the Netherworld was short-handed too.
That left them with no choice but to use prospective Netherworld Messengers who were still ordinary people as Cleanup Personnel.
In fact, the death rate among Cleanup Personnel was not much lower than among Unusual Persons. That, too, was a grim necessity.
Before long, he arrived at Jiangyuan Residential Community.
Jiang Chen went upstairs and took a shower. It was already very late, and he had been planning to order takeout, but the sounds of cooking and wafts of delicious food drifted over from next door.
Sister Hong seemed to have grown accustomed to Jiang Chen coming home late. She only started making dinner after hearing him open his door.
Jiang Chen did not stand on ceremony, mainly because Sister Hong's cooking was quite good. He walked over and found her door ajar. When he went inside, Sister Hong was busy in the kitchen. Seeing him enter, she beamed.
"You're here, Chen? Just wait a little longer. Dinner's almost ready!"
"I made a few nourishing dishes today. You've been so busy, leaving early and coming home late these past few days. Let me build your strength back up. I guarantee you'll be bursting with vigor!"
Sister Hong chatted as she cooked, but her mouth ran ahead of her. The moment those last words slipped out, she blushed bright red and hurriedly spat twice to take them back.
Jiang Chen turned to glance at her bustling back, her apron framing her curvaceous figure, and could not help giving a dry cough.
During dinner, seemingly trying to ease their earlier awkwardness, Sister Hong took the initiative to find something to talk about. She patted Jiang Chen's arm. "So firm. Chen, do all you Ghost Exorcists put a lot of effort into working out?"
Jiang Chen nodded. "Some do, some don't."
A hint of surprise entered his eyes. Why is Sister Hong asking whether I'm in good shape? Has she finally decided to make a move on me? These wicked rich women!
"Hahaha, then are you allowed to get involved with women?" Sister Hong asked.
Jiang Chen was startled. What a loaded question!
Seeing his hesitant expression, Sister Hong paused, then a blush rose in her cheeks. She had realized the ambiguity in her question too and hurriedly explained, "Don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand! I just wanted to ask whether you have a girlfriend. If you don't, I'd like to introduce you to someone."
"Whew..." Jiang Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
He was still young. Faced so suddenly with this kind of crossroads in life, he would have found it difficult to resist temptation. Fortunately, Sister Hong had not kept pressing him, or he might not have made it out of this apartment tonight.
"Huh? What? I mean, I don't have a girlfriend, but I'm only a sophomore..."
In Sister Hong's memory, Jiang Chen had always looked confident, as though he had everything under control. She rarely saw him flustered, and she could not help covering her mouth and chuckling. "Hahaha, that's why I said a girlfriend! I didn't say I was setting you up for marriage!"
"Don't worry. She's about your age, and she's a real beauty. I'll introduce you two when the time comes!" Sister Hong waved a hand, looking every bit the matchmaker.
Jiang Chen: "..."
After dinner, Jiang Chen returned home and glanced at his system panel.
[Host]: Jiang Chen [Ghost Qi]: 1026 [Monster Transformation Card]: Deer Power Immortal (two-star)
After killing Patient No. 18, his Ghost Qi had surpassed a thousand again.
However, after thinking it over, Jiang Chen decided against drawing a second two-star Monster Transformation Card. Instead, he silently instructed the system.
"System, draw two One-Star Monster Transformation Cards."
Tomorrow, he would be visiting the Zheng Group's mountain estate. There was clearly something wrong with Zheng Shaoming, so he needed to make some preparations. But if he only had two-star Monster Transformation Cards and did not encounter a sufficiently powerful ghost, using one would be far too wasteful.
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You have drawn a One-Star Monster Transformation Card-Te Chu Shi." "Ding! Congratulations, host. You have drawn a One-Star Monster Transformation Card-Sea-Reliant Dragon."
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