Down Payment

Amid the tremors shaking the mountains, vast amounts of mud and gravel tumbled down from the peaks. Ancient trees crashed down with resounding roars. Amidst the churning torrent of mud, the earth fractured, and a slender, razor-sharp limb slowly extended right before their eyes. Then came a second, a third, a fourth... Amid piercing shrieks and swirling dust, a colossal silhouette emerged ahead of the convoy. It looked like a bizarre stick insect, except magnified thousands of times over, so enormous that a single leg stretched hundreds of meters long. Covered entirely in a hard carapace, with wild tentacles flailing about its head, its limbs slammed into the earth, gouging out deep ravines. As if thoroughly enraged, it launched frenzied attacks against every living thing in sight. "A calamity beast?" Ji Jue poked his head out of the car window, binoculars in hand, peering at the distant behemoth. Too bad Xiao Jiu wasn't here; otherwise, he could have shared her line of sight. Though aside from shared vision, she wasn't of much use for the moment anyway. As Quicksilver's cherished darling, she hardly looked like she possessed any combat prowess whatsoever—she couldn't even wrestle the remote control away from Little Niuma. To keep some underground creature from swallowing her in a single bite in the catacombs, Ji Jue hadn't dared bring her along. He had left her back at the workshop to supervise Ye Chun's studies and thesis writing. Adjusting the focus of his binoculars, the distant monster came into clearer view—though soon enough, binoculars were hardly necessary. With each thrust of its flailing limbs, the infuriated calamity beast was hurtling toward them! A violent gust blasted against his face, tinged with a faint, nauseating stench. Tentacles writhing like a grotesque mouthpart shot out, wrapping around half a truck and dragging it into its maw, crushing and chewing it to pieces. A calamity beast. A genuine calamity beast! In these times, disasters ran rampant across the wilderness, forcing humanity to huddle together within cities. Between those sprawling metropolises and smaller settlements, beyond the frequent earthquakes and violent storms, the most terrifying threats were undeniably these anomalous monstrosities. Sometimes they were endless, sprawling beast tides; other times, they were insatiable disaster entities tracking the beast tides in eternal hunger! If humans could become Celestial Chosen through lucky coincidences, then in the peril-fraught wilderness, under the influence of Sovereign Virtue's Calling or the taint of corruption, no one knew when such a nightmarish monstrosity might crawl forth. When ordinary people ran into one, aside from running as fast as possible and praying it wasn't particularly hungry today, there was practically nothing they could do. Except... this was a damn military convoy! Once he got a clear look at the situation, Ji Jue didn't panic in the slightest. He had even been debating whether to take advantage of the chaos to harvest some materials. After all, for something to grow to such a size, it might well possess a Sovereign Virtue blessing or other precious organs. Yet before he could react, he saw beams of metallic light erupt from a rapidly descending airship! Amidst a deafening roar, they plunged from the sky! Not missiles, but war machines far more lethal than missiles. —Full-fledged military power armor! Ji Jue's mouth practically watered at the sight. Genuine power armor! One had to realize that even the oldest, most battered, garbage-tier power armor models were classified as Grade-A in the Military Department's armory—completely out of Ji Jue's reach! As for active frontline models and specialized units, they weren't even searchable on the database! One press of the Enter key would instantly trigger a security alert. The suits touching down right now formed a six-man squad: a standard Dread-Violence Rapid Reaction Team consisting of two Qiongqi units, two Tiangou units, one White Tiger unit, and one Chongming unit! Flames flared as the three-meter-tall armor suits crashed to the ground. Instantly, they hoisted autocannons with absurd calibers and opened fire. Sweeping tongues of flame slashed across the beast, carving deep fractures into its hardened carapace in an instant, causing foul ichor to gush. And even under such terrifying recoil, they sprinted forward with fluid ease. Up in midair, the Chongming unit hadn't even landed before initiating fire control guidance. In less than half a minute, missiles dispatched from the Yacheng Garrison Base screamed across the sky and slammed dead into the calamity beast's face. Shockwaves ripped outward, kicking up a violent tempest. Putrid blood sprayed like torrential rain. Strength, speed, reflexes, and firepower—augmented by the power armor, everything was elevated to an unimaginable degree. But what drew Ji Jue's attention even more was the White Tiger unit, which stood impassively at the front of the convoy guarding the target, never once making a move. Enveloped in the glow of blood and fire, its spiritus fluctuations remained completely steady, unyielding as a mountain. A pure aura of the Swarm, without the slightest flaw! That was a Celestial Chosen cultivated by the military itself! Under overwhelming firepower and siege, the colossal, once-unrivaled calamity beast had its limbs shattered one by one, before being snapped cleanly at the waist, spreading a vile stench. Yet its vitality was horrifyingly tenacious; it continued to thrash endlessly, its mangled mouthparts snapping furiously, yearning to tear apart everything before it. Until finally, blue-violet lightning surged across the sky! Amidst the flickering sparks that filled the air, a Celestial Chosen who had been gathering power for who knew how long ascended into the air and waved a hand downward. Blinding radiance converged into a single beam and speared straight down! A pillar of lightning connecting heaven and earth became the final straw that broke the camel's back. Amid dying shrieks, a scorched stench rolled out as the calamity beast collapsed. In midair, the Celestial Chosen looked down upon his handiwork, the corners of his mouth curling into a disdainful sneer. A mere calamity beast. Nothing more. However, as he gazed down, he caught sight of a vaguely familiar face. He blinked, looked closer, and the smirk instantly froze on his face. Then, his expression began uncontrollably... twitching! Over in the convoy, Ji Jue lowered his binoculars. No wonder that setup looked so familiar. An old acquaintance. "Well, well, isn't that Section Chief Yu?" He murmured softly, "Long time no see." Section Chief of Division Two of the Yacheng Security Bureau in charge of Lihua District, the umbrella protecting Jiang Jin's gang, and the Entropy Celestial Chosen who had nearly struck him dead on the spot in a fit of rage—Yu Hanguang! Ji Jue glanced back toward the self-propelled artillery vehicle behind the convoy. A rare opportunity... Should an 'accidental discharge' happen? Regrettably, the self-propelled artillery claimed it wasn't feeling well today, so no accidental misfire took place. The main issue was that there were too many people present, with countless eyes watching. The effects of Deus Ex Machina weren't difficult to trace either; once he acted, even if Yu Hanguang dropped dead on the spot, cleaning up the evidence would be tough. Sitting in his vehicle, Ji Jue pondered for a long while, simply hoping that Yu Hanguang wasn't just assigned to convoy security, but would also take part in the containment of the catacombs... Only then would there be a chance for him to commit suicide by shooting himself a dozen times in the back. Unfortunately, the odds remained slim. He still had to wait. His corruption bullets had been depleted considerably in the Chrono Ruin and were running low; he'd have to capture a couple more Swarm specimens to cultivate later... When dealing with Entropy Celestial Chosen, who possessed the most destructive power, one needed a meticulous plan, well-laid traps, and an instant kill—preferably backed by poison, curses, or the like. At this stage, the opportunity to strike wasn't ripe yet... At the very least, he had to reach the Metamorphosis stage first. Musing over it, Ji Jue settled back into his vehicle, unconcerned that Yu Hanguang might try anything underhanded. After all, his teacher was in the vehicle right ahead. If Ji Jue lost so much as a single strand of hair, Yu Hanguang would be entering the raw materials processing pipeline before the day was out. Yet what he hadn't anticipated was that during the protracted wait as the aftermath was being cleared, someone knocked on his car door. When he looked up, he saw the exact face he had just seen up in the sky. Yu Hanguang! The man actually came knocking! Have you lost your damn mind?! I haven't even gone looking for trouble with you yet... Ji Jue pressed a hand onto the steering wheel, and the machine gun in the cargo bed automatically loaded, locking onto its target through the camera feed. Coincidentally, outside the window, Yu Hanguang's expression was just as stiff as his, if not even more bizarre... He seemed to be trying his hardest to squeeze out a smile, yet failing miserably. It possessed the distinct charm of a man attending his own parents' funeral. Sensing he was being aimed at, the corner of Yu Hanguang's eye twitched slightly, but he made no hostile move. Instead, he seemed to try even harder to smile... only making it look that much uglier! Eventually, the window rolled down. Looking at his nearly spasming face with suspicion and caution, Ji Jue ventured tentatively, "Section Chief Yu, long... time no see?" "Yes, yes," Yu Hanguang nodded stiffly, his voice dry. Silence. Another long stretch of silence. Ji Jue frowned. "Are you... busy?" "Yes, yes." Yu Hanguang nodded frantically, his face twitching even more violently as he stammered like a malfunctioning machine. "Is there something you need?" "Yes, yes..." In the excruciating awkwardness, he finally stopped repeating himself, though his facial twitches resembled an electric shock as he stammered, "Last time... we met... my manners were lacking... Er... a modest gift, I hope Mr. Ji will be generous enough to forgive... I won't... intrude any further... If there's an opportunity later, I will certainly visit in person to apologize properly, definitely!" Saying so, as if terrified that Ji Jue might refuse, he dropped a box, lowered his head, and hurried away. Ji Jue didn't even have time to react. By the time he poked his head out, even the vehicle's taillights were out of sight. He didn't even get the chance to put two shots in the man's back. This was absurdly fast! The box left behind was still smeared with the calamity beast's blood from earlier. When he opened it, inside was a segment of bone gleaming with silver luster like metal, which had only received preliminary processing from some artisan, preserving its raw essence. The moment it was unsealed, a dreamlike mist of spiritus rose and began to dissipate. What struck Ji Jue as even weirder was the aura emanating from that segment of calamity beast bone... —Desolate Ruins Blessing: [Metallic Quality]! A material containing the calamity beast's native blessing?! Ji Jue was thoroughly baffled. What the hell? The weasel paying New Year's respects to the chicken?! It wasn't even the holidays! Three minutes later, Little Niuma honked its horn madly outside the motorhome, its internal cursing growing increasingly foul. Inside the motorhome, Ji Jue sat across from Professor Ye. He presented the box, explained the whole story, then pulled his head back and sat upright obediently. Throughout it all, Professor Ye merely kept her head down, writing and sketching in her notebook, not even bothering to look up. After listening to Ji Jue's explanation, she raised her head, casting a glance at the box. "A gift for you?" "I doubt it." Ji Jue shook his head decisively. Even thinking with his heels, there was no way the once arrogant and tyrannical Security Bureau section chief of Lihua District would now grit his teeth and bow his head to apologize to Ji Jue personally. Reflecting on it, the only possibility was his teacher's standing. Either that, or Sister Wen was on the verge of perfecting her divine craft, about to sweep away all opposition across eight hundred li, leaving those old devils and clowns so fragile they dropped to their knees begging for mercy—and Yu Hanguang, terrified he wouldn't even get in line to kowtow, wanted to burn incense with Ji Jue to curry favor. Regardless, neither form of leverage belonged to him. He had better not assume free gifts fell from heaven with no strings attached. Yet Professor Ye merely glanced at it before looking away, utterly uninterested. "Mediocre stuff. Keep it." Metallic Quality was considered a common blessing within the Desolate Ruins lineage, ubiquitous as the standard Swarm starter set. Whether one could wield it masterfully depended entirely on the individual. Its effect was to infuse spiritus to enhance the hardness and strength of the bearer, literally turning flesh into metal, impervious to blades and swords. For a Desolate Ruins Celestial Chosen, possessing this meant turning hard into harder, vastly increasing durability. For artisans, it was also a decent blessing material—chiefly because it was so common, with a myriad of established design schematics that required no extra thought. It was typically used for armor or protective equipment, with wide market appeal and no shortage of buyers. Even if one had over ten layers of shields all over, adding one or two more never hurt. "Keep it if you want, or toss it if you find it troublesome," Professor Ye said nonchalantly. "If you don't want to take it for free, you can just hit him a little softer when you beat him in the future. Leaving him a breath of life counts as giving face." Ji Jue pondered for a moment, unable to help shaking his head. "Still feels like I'm getting shortchanged." Sure, Section Chief Yu had looked quite dashing back then when he yelled 'little bastard' and hurled a bolt of lightning that failed to kill him. But thinking he could hand over a blessing now and pretend nothing had ever happened was a bit too naive. Once Ji Jue leveled up in the future and killed the guy, wouldn't every single blessing on his body be his for the taking? Wouldn't that be far better than this measly thing? "Then make him cough up more," Ye Xian said carelessly, turning a page and continuing to write. "As the chief of an entire district, an apology requires real sincerity. Trying to fool ghosts with two copper coins and three melon seeds?" "Right!" Ji Jue's eyes lit up instantly. As the saying went: better to hook a sucker than let him slip, and more friends meant more paths! He would accept today's 'friendship fee' for now— After all, Lihua District was huge, its commercial zones bustling, its business booming... After so many years, Section Chief Yu must have embezzled quite a fortune, hadn't he? Ji Jue gave it some thought and unloaded the chambered corruption bullet. A low down payment was fine for now; the deficit for building his own workshop in the future was quite large, so he'd just have to compromise a little. At the thought, Ji Jue couldn't help letting out a melancholy sigh. For a fleeting moment, those youthful days of spirited bravado and massacring an enemy's whole family seemed to drift another step further away. In the mature, despicable adult world, he had learned the benevolence of taking money to spare a life, the patience of playing the long game, and the magnanimity of wiping out the whole family a little later instead. Perhaps this was the price of growing up? "By the way, Teacher, could I borrow Bro Ball for a bit?" Ji Jue lifted the box, already impatient. With a wave of Ye Xian's hand, the puzzle ball dropped into his arms. She remained engrossed in the pages before her, writing and sketching, paying him no further mind. "Don't bother me again before we reach our destination. It's annoying." "You got it!" Ji Jue bowed and scraped, scooped up Bro Ball and the box, and scurried off like a wisp of smoke. Next, amid the quiet drive, no one made another sound. After the silent chef served the meals, the dishes gradually cooled, only to be promptly replaced by piping hot new dishes, round after round. Beside her hand, strong tea remained at room temperature. Until at last, she finished writing what was before her, closed her notebook, and lifted her head. Outside the window, in the deep darkness of the night, pinpricks of light gradually emerged at the end of the winding mountain road. And further in the distance, hallucinatory neon and lights shimmered. Just ahead of the catacombs front-line observation station, within that void of pitch darkness where nothing should have existed, dazzling and clamorous lights flickered incessantly, bustling with traffic, vibrant as ever. A veil of splendor covered the dust and withered bones, hiding the ruins and fractures from sight. Decades later, the lingering mirage of what was once Quancheng manifested once more. Just like the reverberating echoes of a dying wail. Resounding eternally from the dark.