"Mo Cui has nothing to do with actual combat. What you’re saying makes no sense..."
Su Chen watched for a mont, but turned and left when he saw that soone had noticed him.
’I haven’t heard anything about Zhu Xuan lately. I heard most of his people have scattered.’ Su Chen thought to himself, but didn’t dwell on it.
In the parking lot, his hovercar was waiting. Just as he was about to get in, he heard a vaguely familiar voice from nearby.
"The Inspector Guards are going too far! They won’t even let us see the body!"
Su Chen looked up and saw Yang Yan, his face ashen. He was with several other Judges, all of them looking grim and clamoring to see the Chief.
"Su Chen?" Yang Yan noticed him too. He stopped, his expression softening slightly. "Heading out?" he called.
"Yeah." Su Chen nodded. A burly man beside Yang Yan spoke up resentfully, "Well, you better be careful. Drive slow, don’t park illegally. That bunch from the Inspectorate have been acting like madn lately, trying to pick fights with us over anything."
"I’ve been fined two thousand gold pieces in the last ten days or so. This ti is even worse. A Judge died, and they won’t even let us see the body."
Soone next to him tugged on his sleeve, but he paid it no mind. "He’s a Core Seed, one of us. There’s nothing we can’t say."
"A Judge died?" Su Chen asked, surprised.
"Yeah." Yang Yan lowered his voice and led his n a few steps away before explaining:
"He was found last night. By the ti we got there, the Inspector Guards had already taken the body. They just gave us the lab report. Said it was a Professional aberration."
"Bullshit!" the Judge who had spoken earlier roared. "Old Xiao was rock-solid in every one of his Tier Professions. How could he possibly have an aberration?"
A Professional aberration only occurs in those who force a Profession or barely et the requirents. Their foundation is unstable, causing them to lose control during the developnt process.
However, an aberration only becos life-threatening once it reaches a certain point. During that process, the Professional themselves would almost certainly notice sothing was wrong and stop the developnt.
"I’m telling you, those Inspector Guards killed him!"
"That’s enough!" Yang Yan turned and snapped. "The Inspectorate isn’t stupid enough to pull sothing like that."
He apparently commanded a good deal of respect, as the distraught Judge, though breathing heavily, eventually cald down.
"We’re going to negotiate with the Director. We have to get the body back," he said to Su Chen.
"All right. Go on, then." Su Chen nodded, watching them leave.
’The Inspectorate’s anger still hasn’t subsided,’ he thought, shaking his head as he boarded the hovercar.
Ever since the Judicial Court swiftly dismantled the Pang Family, friction with the Inspectorate had been constant. Su Chen had even experienced it firsthand. He had been inexplicably pulled over on his way to the Translation Departnt, accused of smuggling contraband.
Fortunately, one of the Inspector Guards recognized him, quickly clarified that it was a misunderstanding, and offered a sincere apology. Otherwise, the conflict would have certainly escalated.
"Drive a little slower," Su Chen added. The Inspectorate usually only picked on small-tirs. They probably targeted him last ti because the registration for his hovercar hadn’t been updated yet.
No one had stopped him since, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Su Chen didn’t want to ask for trouble.
He headed straight for the Translation Departnt.
...
"You’re nothing if not punctual. You’re here at the sa ti every three days, without fail."
In the laboratory, Sang Hanhai was not at all surprised to see him.
After greeting a few staff mbers he knew, Su Chen noticed that the Holy Word Stone that had been on the table was gone.
Before he could ask, Sang Hanhai spoke up. "I deciphered it not long after you left last ti. The Profession has already been recorded. It’s called [Drug Tester]. The nas you co up with are always so fitting."
"The last piece of information we were missing was that the potion consud cannot be of a lower Tier than your own," Sang Hanhai told him.
"With that piece filled in, the overall requirents are quite clear. The Profession likely acts directly on the absorption of a potion’s effects. It’s not a difficult one, so it’ll probably be sent over to the Judicial Court soon."
"You should get a move on and complete the requirents when you have the ti."
"Okay." Su Chen nodded. Getting the Profession’s information directly was a perk of helping with the deciphering. He then asked tentatively, "And the rating?"
"D-level..." Sang Hanhai said. "It only acts on potion absorption, and the boost isn’t that significant. Since potions are just one of many auxiliary factors in a Professional’s developnt, the rating isn’t high."
"I see..." Su Chen couldn’t hide his disappointnt. He rembered that Soldier Nurturer was rated C-level, which he couldn’t afford to redeem.
"Co with ." Sang Hanhai, seeming to have read Su Chen’s mind, gave a subtle smile and walked toward the break room.
Su Chen raised an eyebrow. A sense of premonition washed over him, and he quickly followed.
After closing the door, Sang Hanhai slowly sat down. He watched Su Chen deftly pour him a cup of tea and said with a grin, "You’re a sharp kid, so I’ll skip the bullshit. Listen closely to the requirents for the Soldier Nurturer Profession..."
He had originally planned on saying sothing like, "Normally this can’t be redeed, but I’ll make an exception for you..." to earn a favor. But the words died on his lips, and he decided to just be direct.
Su Chen’s expression turned serious as a panel popped up before him—
[Special Profession Discovered: Soldier Nurturer. May be acquired upon completion of requirents.]
[Requirent 1: Personally refine over one hundred tons of raw tal materials.]
[Requirent 2: Master Basic tallurgy, Basic Material Science, and Basic Casting.]
Su Chen’s eyelid twitched. ’As expected of a weapon-related Profession,’ he thought. ’I have to refine tal materials... One hundred tons? How long would that even take?’
After speaking, Sang Hanhai took a sip of tea and continued, "Go to the Judicial Court’s Professional Analysis Departnt. They’ll tell you how to complete the requirents as quickly as possible."
"Normally, you’d go to the Craftsmanship Departnt and use their machines to refine the raw materials to the final step, then you’d take over from there. As for the material sciences and so on, a few months of intensive study should be enough. After all, this Profession doesn’t require overly esoteric knowledge."
Su Chen frowned slightly. The requirents Sang Hanhai had just described didn’t include the word "personally." The panel had clearly corrected it automatically.
’If it has to be done personally, that must an the entire process.’
’A deviation in the acquisition requirents would lead to a deviation in the Professional Ability. Could that be why the Soldier Nurturer consus so many materials?’
Seeing him frown, Sang Hanhai said, "To be honest, I still wouldn’t recomnd you take this Profession. According to our data, a Soldier Nurturer consus three to four tis the materials of conventional casting to upgrade a weapon."
Su Chen was about to speak when his vision blurred and the panel popped up again—
[The Soldier Nurturer has witnessed the magnificent form of the Great Venerable Red Fla Thunder Resonator. It has discovered that this form conforms to the perfect law of severance that governs all things. It is the perfect creation the Soldier Nurturer has always sought. Weeping tears of joy, it has reached a profound enlightennt.]
[Requirent 1 has been weakened. The amount of raw materials to be refined has been reduced to ten tons.]
[Requirent 2 has been automatically completed!]
[Upon successful acquisition of the Soldier Nurturer Profession, an additional reward will be granted!]
’Magnificent form? Perfect creation?’ Su Chen smacked his lips. All he could say was, ’Damn.’
He had no idea what kind of enlightennt the Soldier Nurturer had reached to warrant an additional reward.
After once again singing the praises of the Great Venerable, Su Chen finally ca back to his senses.
"Did you not get all that?" Sang Hanhai asked, thinking Su Chen had spaced out while trying to morize the requirents. "Need to say it again?"
"No need, I’ve got it all," Su Chen said, shaking his head. He then asked, "Elder Sang, have any more Holy Word Stones been sent over here recently?"
"What do you think this is, a few hundred years ago when Holy Word Stones were piled up like mountains?" Sang Hanhai chuckled. He glanced at Su Chen and saw the kid swallow hard.
He shook his head. "Most of the places worth exploring have been explored. It’s rare to find Holy Word Stones anywhere these days, unless so new ruins suddenly pop up."
"I see..." Su Chen said, disappointed. "I wanted to see if I could resonate with all Holy Word Stones."
"Well, it’s not entirely impossible. We just got word a couple of days ago that a Holy Word Stone was unearthed over in Panku City. It’ll probably be a while before it’s delivered here, though," Sang Hanhai added suddenly.
Su Chen’s eyes lit up. ’This old man really knows how to bury the lead.’
The kid’s interest in Holy Word Stones was genuine. Sang Hanhai could see the gleam in his eyes, and combined with their interactions over this period, he was now certain of it.
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