Chapter 49 - 49 38 Storm and Settlement

49: Chapter 38: Storm and Settlement 49: Chapter 38: Storm and Settlement “Captain, there’s news of the Sophist again.” The man who just came in quickly uttered the significant news. Upon hearing this, Xia Qin continued to silently organize the records on her desk, appearing very calm. “How many times has this been now?” “The sixth time. This time in the city center, there were two witnesses who saw him delivering a storytelling performance in the square. Our men staged a false robbery incident that broke up his focused crowd. There’s still someone from Team 2 tailing him. I have advised him to maintain a safe distance, it’s fine if he loses him.” “Well done. His appearance frequency is increasing… before reinforcements arrive, let’s not bite the bait.” Lu Ping’an could guess some things, and it very much boded that these professional Secret Keepers could guess too. They exchanged the intelligence they had, but they lost interest in the increasingly frequent appearances of the Sophist. A cult follower of at least fourth-tier is indeed quite troublesome, but it’s not difficult to get rid of him with some urban deployment. The problem is that there most likely someone behind him. “Has it been confirmed that he has joined the Church of Life of the Mother Goddess system?” “Yes, it’s confirmed. There are also witness reports, when he entered the city, he was not alone.” What if there’s another ritual of the Evil Gods like the last time… if Lu Ping’an hadn’t stopped everything in time, Chris would have dragged the entire population of this city, millions of people, into that fatal ceremony. When the moment to act really comes, only a concentrated and decisive strike can be lethal. At this time of mutual patience test, the most dangerous are the police and official Secret Keepers who encounter the “bait”. When the fish refuses to bite the hook, clumsy and impatient anglers often try to provoke fish with baited hooks. Luckily, only a few days have passed since the last bloody incident, and the Sophist has not committed another crime. But how much longer he can remain quiet is a concern. The Secret Keepers only hope that the bait, him, does not become too active, making things difficult for everyone. “…The matter of the Mother Goddess has been reported to several Churches of the Life system. They will send a few Bishop-level reinforcements, among which the most significant one will be a sixth-tier Bishop from the Church of the Lady of the Forest. He will come with his guards.” “Good.” This is undoubtedly good news, but Xia Qin also knew that it is definitely not the threatened city that would assist these high-level professionals from these big-headed Churches on an ordinary day. “…Mother Goddess, and Kerdalais, wow, they are indeed very direct…” Thinking of the previous Quasi-God incident, the faces of the Secret Keepers present turned very ugly. Due to that accident, Special Service Team Three had losses that could not yet be replenished, still having only three members. The tasks, on the other hand, have multiplied from before, making them naturally swamped. “By the way, how is Lu Ping’an? You should have met him, is his mood stable? After all, he has got into trouble, and the college entrance exam is just two days away…” At these words, Lei Huoren’s expression became more subtle. “He’s extremely happy as if he’d just returned from an amusement park, no, maybe even more intense, it feels like he’s high…” Xia Qin touched her forehead, somewhat powerless. “It’s only been a few days, I hope he doesn’t cause me more trouble. You don’t know how harshly I was criticized by the higher-ups, ‘this is how you supervise! Even a mother ape would be more useful than you!’. Sure then, when I asked them to change the supervisor, they stopped talking, only daring to criticize me.” Usually decisive and heroic Captain Xia actually started to nag, complaining about superiors with no heart while rubbing her stomach. At her age, having habitual stomachaches is indeed a bit miserable. “They also don’t mention that the ‘Sophist’ case is also on my head, along with the everyday patrols, I haven’t been able to go home to sleep well for a week….” It appears that the newly appointed Xia Qin is under quite a lot of stress. “….Odd, weren’t you here to complain? Mocking me for making an oath and then causing trouble so soon, and also having to run around helping this brat clean up.” Lei Huoren just calmly shook his head. “No, I have changed my mind, you did the right thing. He is still quite dangerous, but as evident from one instance, he still has empathy, unlike the Sophist.” In fact, Lei Huoren was lying. Inside he felt that Lu Ping’an was more dangerous than he had anticipated, more incomprehensible than the Sophist. Under that seemingly peaceful and smiling face, is a reckless heart… he noticed that the youngster, literally, had no bottom line. But compared to real lunatics, his daily gentleness, tolerance, and the reality of a broken gear steadily operating within the mechanism of society made him, an informed person, feel even more uneasy. But at this time, hearing that Lei Huoren agreed with her, Xia Qin took a breather. Actually, she was under a lot of pressure this time. If one of the only two members of the team added pressure on her, she might not have been able to bear it, given the external and internal difficulties. “…and, he’s reached first-tier in only ten days. Ten days ago, he was just an ordinary person, at least five days ago, he was still a 0-tier.” This was the root cause for Lei Huoren changing his mind, Lu Ping’an was growing too fast, fast to the point that it was incomprehensible to others. But thinking about the eerie “dividends” ability, he felt like he could accept it. Lei Huoren didn’t know what the cost of Lu Ping’an’s “investment” was, but with such good results and high returns, it must be a heavy burden. “As long as he keeps ‘investing dividends’, he will grow quickly. Perhaps in half a year, he could become a ready-to-fight force.” In these increasingly chaotic times, what the law enforcers need most is power. When evil doers act recklessly, baseless words and laws are meaningless. Having to ask other churches and organizations for help in the face of an emerging Sophist and possibly the big boss of a cult behind him, actually illustrates the extreme lack of strength on their side. He still remembers the response when he reported up, it was relatably disheartening… “What? You said there could be an incident involving an Evil God of 6-tier or above? And there’s around a 4-tier cultist in your area? But all the manpower has been dispatched to those nearby cities where 6-tier incidents actually occurred. I don’t have any people here either. How about, I, a retired old man, come over to assist with logistics and alleviate some pressure?” With pollution incidents occurring more and more frequently, understaffing had become the norm. Merely a ‘possibility’ was not enough to bring in reinforcements. The Secret Keepers’ daily work had gradually shifted from traditional ‘precautions’ to more frequent and perilous ‘remedial actions after incidents’. Reforms were underway, but it seemed they were struggling to keep up. The brutal fact, and an unsettling sign, was that every place was understaffed. As the power of the Official control force was questioned, societal order naturally began to collapse…In fact, many churches, companies, and social organizations had already acted on their own accord, forming independent kingdoms centered on the Secret Realm. They didn’t need to bear the endless costs of societal governance, only needed to manage their own ‘territory’, and turned the resources of the Secret Realm into a force of growth, they actually flourished more than decades ago. When no one could be relied upon, Official Secret Keepers, who were focused on protection, could only rely on the power they could grab around them. “Yeah, it’s only been a week, and he’s already a 1-tier Gardener. That’s fast.” “…What? Wait, ain’t he a 1-tier Runner? I sensed him…” “Huh? He’s still a 1-tier Runner? He has two Professions? And he even has a 2-tier Magic Plant? This…” Two Secret Keepers looked at each other, this was more than just rapid growth. He had travelled the path of at least a year in half a month. This was totally like he had activated a super-cheat! “It’s too abnormal… Should we, write a report?” Lei Huoren instinctively asked, but saw Xia Qin yawn. “Too busy, no time, we’ll write when we’re free.” Would you ever have free time? Oh, got it. Special Service Team Three was in agreement, in this dangerous world, to survive well, perhaps, being too honest is not the way. Every special service team was short of personnel, despite submitting countless reports, the replenishment of personnel was always on the way. With Team 3’s situation and connections, they didn’t know how many student soldiers they could scramble for next year. If Lu Ping’an really was a cheat player, the two on his side only hoped his cheat wouldn’t get banned. “…I hope he behaves himself. Only two days left, once he’s in school, I can hand monitoring of him off to others. With one less thing on my plate, I’ll have more time to investigate the Sophist. Aha, I can also get a good night’s sleep and catch up on some shows…” But at that moment, the phone on the table rang. Lei Huoren answered the phone, only spoke a few words, and then sympathetically looked at Captain Xia. “…Captain, I just got the news, Lu Ping’an went straight to the Forest Secret Realm, the one of Green New Company, after leaving us…Captain, Captain, what’s with you! Don’t scare me!” Poor Xia Qin clutching her chest, almost couldn’t catch her breath. “Lu Ping’an! You promised me!! You untrustworthy little bastard!” ——- —— “Ah…Achoo!” Lu Ping’an sneezed, thinking that a beauty might be thinking about him. He walked along that familiar street, where people were still sorting out the aftermath of the explosion, clearing away disturbing rubble. Just by appearing, he received countless stares, as wells as whispers behind his back. He ignored all the commotion around him, yawned, and walked straight towards the end of the street. There, was the place once a shop, the Green New Company…he walked right past it. This time, he wasn’t here to cause trouble, but there were some things that he had to handle personally. He touched the door of the Secret Realm, the Life Bank system started to work. [Connecting to 1-tier Secret Realm ‘Three-ring Forest’, postponing and settling the host’s journey in the Secret Realm, please wait…] This was the reason why Lu Ping’an came back. “Settlement, which can be postponed?” When he voluntarily settled with the Secret Realm and came out, he unexpectedly received a comment. [The Secret Realm Master’s message (Virtual Persona of Lady of the Forest): Not enough, really not enough. And that disgusting emerald green vine monster… Are you selling it? Sёarch* The Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I’ll give a good price.] When Lu Ping’an saw the overall evaluation D and the message, he was completely bewildered, he instinctively asked. “Actually, the anticipated performance hasn’t ended yet. Near the Secret Realm’s entrance, you should be able to sense it…..” [The Secret Realm Master suggests postponing the settlement for your experience, which will automatically occur the next time you arrive at the entrance of the Secret Realm. Do you agree to postpone?] Even this could be done? The settlement time could be negotiated? Lu Ping’an was a little puzzled and uneasy, but Chris solved his doubts in one sentence. “…The tier of the Life Bank is much higher than this low-level Secret Realm, most importantly, they are of the same kind…” Now, Lu Ping’an understood, humans and machines couldn’t rationalize or communicate, but it was another matter with AI. “No wonder they said before they would send a Rules system power user to explore the Secret Realm. I have no reason to refuse this proposal.” When a Rules system met another Rules system, they analyzed each other, their consciousness turned into language, their demands into rules, only then could so-called ‘communication’ be achieved. Hence, when Lu Ping’an finished everything and returned here, the settlement naturally occurred. [Postponed settlement starting. 1-tier Secret Realm ‘Three-ring Forest’ has been completed, overall evaluation for Lu Ping’an is D…S (the Secret Realm Master was satisfied with your performance, raising your rating), further settlement is beginning now, please wait] “This can be done, too?! The evaluation jumped up so many levels?! How much did you want to see those people die? Aren’t they members of your Church?”