A Sudden Inferno at the World Trade Center! Here Came a Job Worth Ten Million Sensation Points!

At twelve thirty that afternoon, in Jinghai University's No. 1 cafeteria.

It was lunchtime, and thousands of freshmen and upperclassmen were packed into the three-story building. The mingled aromas of braised pork, sweet-and-sour ribs, and all kinds of dishes filled the air.

The queues before the serving windows twisted every which way, punctuated by the crisp clang of iron ladles against stainless-steel trays.

Carrying two stainless-steel trays, Lin Bei slowly squeezed out of the crowd.

Ruan Qingwu had already claimed a window seat and was waiting for him with her chin propped on her hand.

"Braised pork, sweet-and-sour ribs, and the scrambled eggs with tomatoes you specifically requested." Lin Bei set the trays on the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Ruan Qingwu picked up her chopsticks and deftly picked the green peppers out of her tray, bit by bit, piling them all into Lin Bei's bowl.

"I don't eat these. The flavor's too strong." She sounded perfectly justified.

Lin Bei shoveled a mouthful of rice into his mouth and rolled his eyes.

"Your Highness, I'm the only one who indulges your picky eating. Anyone else would've thrown you out long ago."

Ruan Qingwu bit the tips of her chopsticks and muttered, "Then just indulge me for the rest of my life."

Her voice was too soft, and the cafeteria was too noisy. Lin Bei hadn't caught it and casually asked, "What'd you say?"

"Nothing! Just eat!" Ruan Qingwu's cheeks flushed slightly as she picked up a piece of braised pork and stuffed it into Lin Bei's mouth.

The boys at the surrounding tables watched with eyes red with envy.

The aloof campus belle everyone at the university recognized was as docile as a kitten around this guy, and she even fed him herself. Where the hell was the justice in that?

While they were eating, the picture suddenly flickered on the cafeteria wall-mounted television, which had been playing some boring talent show.

A piercing alarm blared from the television's speakers, instantly drowning out the cafeteria's clamor.

Everyone instinctively looked up.

The television screen switched to violently shaking aerial footage.

At the center of the picture stood a skyscraper that towered into the clouds.

The Jinghai World Trade Center.

Lin Bei stopped chewing his rib.

He knew that place well. He had just eaten there last night.

But the World Trade Center now had none of last night's luxurious air of glittering decadence.

Above the building's midpoint, the glass curtain walls across several floors had completely shattered, and billowing black smoke rolled into the sky.

Crimson tongues of flame raced madly up the building's exterior, the fire spreading at tremendous speed.

The news anchor's voice was tinged with urgency.

"We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news!"

"Just ten minutes ago, a massive fire broke out at the World Trade Center, a landmark of Jinghai City! Preliminary findings place the source of the fire in the dining area on the twenty-eighth floor."

"The fire is now completely out of control and is rapidly spreading above the thirtieth floor!"

"According to reliable reports, over a hundred people inside the building failed to evacuate in time and remain trapped on the rooftop and upper floors!"

"The Jinghai City fire department has activated its highest-level emergency response and dispatched all available personnel to the scene..."

As the anchor spoke, the camera zoomed in.

Through the thick smoke, people could clearly be seen frantically waving clothes for help at several unbroken windows on the upper floors.

Some even leaned halfway out of the windows, driven into a corner by the flames surging up from below, with nowhere left to retreat.

The entire cafeteria fell deathly silent.

Everyone stared at the screen, their scalps prickling.

It was utterly hopeless.

This was a desperate situation with objectively no way out.

Fire ladders couldn't reach them, helicopters couldn't get close, a sea of spreading fire lay below, and above was a rooftop with nowhere to retreat.

It was as good as passing a death sentence on those hundred-odd trapped people.

They could only watch helplessly as the flames crept upward, until they either burned alive or choked to death on the smoke.

Ruan Qingwu's chopsticks froze in midair. Her wide eyes were fixed on the screen, her face pale.

"Lin Bei... this is terrifying... those people... how desperate they must feel."

She was, after all, an eighteen-year-old girl. When had she ever witnessed such a horrifying scene?

Watching those dark figures struggle desperately on the rooftop onscreen, she felt as though something had lodged in her chest.

Lin Bei sat in his chair without a word.

He stared at the smoke-shrouded building on the screen, his brow creasing slightly.

A cultivator's disposition ought to have been detached.

But this was Earth.

Deep down, he was still a modern man who had grown up beneath the red flag.

To claim he felt nothing while watching over a hundred living people about to perish like this would have been bullshit.

Just then, deep within his mind, that long-absent mechanical voice rang out without warning.

"Ding!"

"Major unexpected incident detected. Epic timed mission triggered: [Rescue from the Sea of Fire]!"

"Mission objective: Host, proceed to the fire immediately, rescue the trapped civilians, and completely extinguish the blaze!"

"Mission requirement: This operation must be carried out with a high profile. The host must earn at least ten million sensation points during the rescue!"

"Mission rewards: Ten high-grade spirit stones! An unconditional increase of one cultivation layer! Supreme-grade defensive treasure [Black Tortoise Jade Pendant]!"

Lin Bei's mind buzzed.

Holy shit.

This damned system was usually stingy as hell, handing out missions with lousy scraps for rewards.

Had it taken the wrong medicine today?

Ten high-grade spirit stones!

On an Earth where spiritual energy had now dried up, those things were practically priceless.

An unconditional increase of one cultivation layer! He was currently at the qi refining second layer. Advancing straight to the third would save him several years of arduous cultivation.

The most outrageous reward was the [Black Tortoise Jade Pendant].

The treasure's attributes automatically surfaced in Lin Bei's mind.

It could withstand one full-powered strike equivalent to that of a mid foundation establishment cultivator.

What did mid foundation establishment mean?

In modern terms, that meant enough defensive power to take a large-caliber armor-piercing round head-on without so much as a scratch! The ultimate life-saving piece of gear!

The rewards were so generous it was downright outrageous.

But high returns meant high difficulty.

For Lin Bei as he was now, rescuing people actually wasn't too difficult.

He had the Fire Avoidance Technique and spiritual power to protect his body.

The difficult parts were extinguishing the fire and that additional requirement.

Ten million sensation points.

That fucking meant he couldn't sneak in to rescue them, couldn't turn invisible, and couldn't keep anything hidden.

He had to put on a staggering spectacle in front of the entire city's media and hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of livestream viewers!

He had to extinguish this fire under everyone's watchful eyes!

Lin Bei didn't hesitate in the slightest.

I'm taking this job!

He shot to his feet and casually tossed his chopsticks onto his tray.

"Qingwu." Lin Bei spoke very quickly, his voice steady. "Something urgent just came up that I need to handle. Keep eating. Don't wait for me."

Ruan Qingwu froze.

She glanced at the rice in Lin Bei's bowl, from which he had taken only a couple of mouthfuls, then at his stern face.

"What happened? Why the rush?" She instinctively stood up. A girl's intuition told her there was something very wrong with Lin Bei's current state.

"Nothing. Zhao Yihang needs me for an urgent club job." Lin Bei casually made up an excuse.

Without waiting for Ruan Qingwu to ask anything else, he turned and headed out of the cafeteria.

His strides were swift. Within a few steps, he had squeezed through the crowd, and his figure soon disappeared through the cafeteria doors.

Ruan Qingwu stood where she was, looking in the direction Lin Bei had left, her brows faintly furrowed.

She didn't know why, but as she watched the flames soaring into the sky on television, an inexplicable sense of alarm suddenly stirred in her heart.