Interlude

After carrying the items into his weapons collection room, Chen Chuan arranged them in a corner. When he switched on the lights, every single scale of armor gleamed brightly beneath the illumination. He then brought over Iron Demon's restored spear and placed it into the mannequin's hands. After securing the articulated joints, he stepped back a few paces to inspect it and nodded in satisfaction. Now everything was in place. He also retrieved the two ceremonial swords he had been awarded, along with the short sword seized from Fei Tong. After wiping them down with maintenance oil, he arranged them in their predesignated positions. Finally, he placed the Star Medal pistol onto the wall gun rack as well. Although this trip hadn't yielded much, he was confident that as time went on, his collection here would steadily grow. After standing there admiring it for a while, he left the villa and drove back to the Xuan Palace Building. As he entered the underground parking garage, he gave a slight nod to Hongfu watching from above. Having parked the car, he returned to his dormitory room, washed up, performed a brief session of breathing technique cultivation, and went to bed. The next morning, after waking up and washing his face, he brewed a hot drink and walked over to the window, gazing at the scenery outside from this corner of the building. The winter sunlight was dazzlingly bright. Streaming inside, it illuminated the entire room and cast a long shadow behind him. He stood there for a quiet moment. Tapping his boundary credential, he logged into the academy's platform. Participating in defense missions not only granted him access to special medicine, but also provided an avenue to connect with higher authorities and deeper power. He was now eligible to apply to Wuyi for an instructor to guide him on the next stage of his cultivation. With a few quick taps, he navigated to the relevant interface and submitted an application. This time, he checked the box indicating past participation in the Defense Plan before sending it off. A short while later, Hongfu's voice resonated beside his ear: "Trainee Chen Chuan, your application for an instructor has been received. Because your eligibility must be verified, this may take a few hours. Please wait patiently." Chen Chuan turned the thought over. It was likely that records from the Confluence had not yet finished updating, so waiting was his only option. He glanced at the time. It was already late December; he could pretty much start preparing for his return to Yangzhi. After some thought, he went out and first sent a telegram home, letting them know he would be back in a couple of days. Afterward, he contacted Old Qi to ask how things had been going lately. Old Qi told him that his daughter, Qiqi, had successfully transferred schools through arrangements made by Convergence Boundary Company. As for Old Qi himself, he had spent these days hiding in the room Wu Bei had arranged. Everything was currently fine, and no one had come looking for trouble. However, keeping a low profile meant money was only going out and none was coming in, leaving funds somewhat tight. He planned to wait until after the New Year before taking on commissions again. Wu Bei chimed in at this point, "I've been keeping an eye on the neighborhood lately, and no one's searching for Old Qi's whereabouts. I reckon they've either given up or tracked down the real culprit." Chen Chuan grunted in acknowledgement and said, "That would be for the best, but we still can't let our guard down. I won't be in Center City over the New Year holiday. Old Qi, if you're short on cash, draw from the squad's common fund for now. No need to rush repaying it; just make it up whenever you have a surplus later." Old Qi knew that at a time like this, it was far better to be cautious than take reckless risks for petty gain. "Brother Chen, Brother Wu, don't worry, I know what to do. You two have helped me so much. Since I can't be of much help to you, the least I can do is avoid causing you trouble." Chen Chuan felt that if the Lower District's Plague Troupe stopped coming after them, he wouldn't bother pursuing the matter either, as the original conflict had nothing to do with them. But if they truly came knocking, they couldn't blame him for being ruthless. After hanging up, he contacted Convergence Boundary Company. Yan Yi was the one who answered. Chen Chuan mentioned his upcoming trip back to Yangzhi and asked about the company's recent status. Yan Yi replied that there were no abnormalities on Meng Shu's end, that business had returned to its proper track, and informed him that a year-end bonus would be deposited into his account. Seeing that all was well there, he contacted Gao Ming, Lu Fang, and the others to let them know he would be returning soon. Gao Ming mentioned that the firm would still keep him tied up through the New Year, and since he had no family to speak of back home, he wasn't planning on making the trip. Lu Fang, on the other hand, said he was preparing to return to Yangzhi. Chen Chuan suggested he ride back in his car, which Lu Fang gladly accepted. After thanking him, the two agreed on a date. Having notified everyone who needed to be notified, he began preparing for the trip home. While sorting things out, he took the opportunity to log onto the Defense Plan platform. Now that he had visited the Confluence, many features had unlocked for him, the largest of which was the trading platform. The bulk of transactions here revolved around special medicine. After all, certain third-limit fighters lacked the drive to climb further due to personal limitations, or had given up entirely after realizing their talent fell short, treating their allocated special medicine purely as a source of income. The demand was immense; as long as the price was not utterly outrageous, any listing was snapped up almost the moment it appeared. Next came transactions for various unique items and intelligence gathered from the Confluence. The Confluence was vast. Almost every day brought discoveries of new species and previously unknown phenomena, all of which were purchased by official organizations, corporations, and specialized intelligence outfits. Only now did he realize that in addition to fighters organized by governments and corporations, the platform was teeming with independent civilian fighters. Unwilling to be tied down, they took contracts on a mercenary basis, mostly working for corporations though occasionally accepting missions from national governments around the world. Aside from a handful of third-limit fighters, the vast majority of these mercenaries were actually first- and second-limit fighters. Originally, he hadn't known where these people came from. It was only after speaking with Counselor Pei that he learned that while most garrison soldiers and fighters were trained in the military, another portion hailed from the settlements and cities built in the rear of the Confluence. These places had begun merely as outposts and exploratory stations established by national governments and corporate syndicates, but over the span of seventy years, they had expanded dramatically. The inhabitants of these cities and settlements formed the main supply of lower- and middle-tier mercenaries in the Confluence. Living on the front lines themselves, they possessed both the drive and the willingness to participate in the Defense Plan. However, because most of them had lived in the Confluence since birth and had virtually no connection with fringe cities or Center City, he could see quite a few hidden dangers brewing beneath the surface. Yet such concerns were not his to worry about. He navigated to the search section. Beyond gathering general information, his primary goal was to form a squad, so he wanted to see if he could recruit suitable personnel from here. After entering his identification number, profiles for numerous candidates flashed onto the screen. Browsing through them briefly, he found quite a few who seemed suitable on the surface, though any real decision would have to wait until an in-person meeting. Scanning the list, he found one individual who looked promising and sent over an invitation to talk. He waited a while, but there was no response. The person seemed to be offline. Just then, Hongfu's chime sounded in his boundary credential: "Trainee Chen, your application for an instructor has passed review by the Review Committee. Please wait patiently. The academy will send you information regarding your instructor in one month." Chen Chuan reflected on this. One month from now meant after the New Year, but that was fine. Even if an instructor were assigned right now, no one would start teaching him at the end of the year anyway, and this wouldn't interfere with his trip back to Yangzhi. Receiving this news put him in a much lighter mood. Logging out of the platform, he spent half a day getting his belongings mostly in order. Then he headed out once again, making his usual stop at Baoguo Market to buy some gifts. On the way back, he swung the steering wheel around and drove toward Tan Zhi's residence. Tan Zhi rented a spacious residence with a layout similar to Instructor Zheng's courtyard home. After Chen Chuan contacted him via the boundary credential from outside, the main gate opened, and he drove in. Tan Zhi's voice reached his ears: "Classmate Chen, just park anywhere in the open space. I'm in the training room; come straight inside." Chen Chuan parked his car outside, walked up to the training room, took off his shoes, and stepped in. Inside, he saw Tan Zhi standing before a weapon rack, wiping sweat from his forehead with a towel. Opposite him stood an athletic female instructor in training attire, radiating a sharp, disciplined presence. Yet when her eyes fell upon Chen Chuan, her gaze sharpened with a slight flicker of vigilance. Tan Zhi made the introductions: "This is Instructor Wei, whom I specifically hired to give me pointers. Instructor Wei, this is my classmate, Chen Chuan." Chen Chuan sensed that the moment Instructor Wei laid eyes on him, a hint of panic had flickered through her expression, though she quickly suppressed it. He looked her over twice and nodded. "Instructor Wei." Instructor Wei offered a smile. "So it's Classmate Chen. I've heard Classmate Tan mention you. I watched the recording of your fight with Wei Wusheng—you're very formidable." "Thank you," Chen Chuan said. Turning to Tan Zhi, Instructor Wei said, "Classmate Tan, since your classmate is here, I won't disturb your visit." With a nod to both of them, she walked straight out. Tan Zhi hastily called after her, "Take care, Instructor Wei." He turned back to Chen Chuan. "Instructor Wei isn't easy to hire, you know. She's currently a security consultant for the City Council. Word has it she's very close to a certain councilor—well, you know how that goes... If my family hadn't sponsored her in the past and she owed us a favor, there's no way she'd come instruct me." As he spoke, he went to the mini-fridge, grabbed two cans of drinks, and handed one to Chen Chuan. Cracking his own open, he gulped it down and let out a satisfied breath. "The dance theater next door has a newly choreographed musical revue today, and word is quite a few new performers have joined. How about it—interested in catching a show? We could invite Pan Xiaode and Qi Huixin along too." "I'll pass," Chen Chuan replied. "I need to get ready to head back to Yangzhi over the next couple of days. I just stopped by today to see how you were doing and to pick up Chaoming while I'm at it." "Guess it'll have to wait until next time, then," Tan Zhi said with regret. "Oh, by the way, Classmate Chen, you mentioned last time that you purchased some services from the Secret Snake Cult? I heard their kind requires a referral. Could you introduce me?"