Chapter 59 Discerning the Self, Complying with One’s True Heart

Current professions are divided into two major categories: old professions and new professions. Old professions have existed for a very long time, since the days of humanity’s mother stars. Many of those Mutants or bizarre existences beyond the comprehension of ordinary people were practitioners of specific professions. For example, Abyssal Blacksmiths, Psychological Spies, and Hell Titans. New professions, on the other hand, all emerged after the great development of human technology, such as the Nuclear Explosion Nun and Star Battle Instructor. In most cases, new professions possess greater destructive power than old ones. This introduction’s wording is very precise; it doesn’t claim new professions are stronger than old ones. This is because, in the Star Age, various situations are complex. There’s no absolutely powerful skill, only the most suitable one. Correspondingly, the resources required by new professions, such as the hypermatter needed for each promotion, are also more extensive than those required by old professions. Chen Gu looked at this introduction. It only mentioned six old professions and eight new ones. Great Actor Chen was certain that this was not all the information about Professionals that the Bureau of Mystic Security possessed. But this was already enough to give Chen Gu a point of reference. Originally, Chen Gu only wanted to become a "Star Battle Instructor," but now, other professions, such as "Quantum Wizard," "Silver Eagle Commandant," and "Multistate Special Agent," also seemed very appealing. Especially "Multistate Special Agent," which allows one’s body to switch between various states of matter—solid, liquid, gas, superconducting, etc.—it seemed tailor-made for the Great Actor! However, Chen Gu then looked at "Quantum Wizard" and found that this profession’s skills, "Entanglement Control" and "Quantum Divination," were very suitable for... showing off! The world of Professionals is truly extraordinary; it makes for such a difficult choice... While Chen Gu was preoccupied with these thoughts, he unwittingly returned to the office of Team Five. Only Marcus was left there. When Marcus saw the material, he patted Chen Gu’s shoulder and said, "Don’t rush to decide, but as a predecessor, I can offer you a piece of advice." Chen Gu looked at him expectantly, only to see the team leader crazily gesture for money! "Hehehe, my advice isn’t free." Chen Gu rolled his eyes and turned to walk away. Marcus quickly grabbed him, then scratched his own head in frustration, saying, "I was just kidding." Then he added, "Anyway, you’re the team’s fat cat with the most merit points right now, so giving it a try won’t hurt. Who knows, you might even succeed." Team leader... Chen Gu didn’t know what else to say. Could you please maintain a bit of your "leader" dignity? Look at Director Mei... Director Mei just checked the hardness of his own quadriceps... that hardly seemed dignified either. Chen Gu felt like he had joined the wrong team. "Always follow your heart," Marcus said earnestly. "You can only persevere in something you truly love. Professionals face constant infiltration and temptation from the Endless Realm. Without such passion, it’s easy to fall from grace!" Chen Gu’s heart skipped a beat; he took this suggestion seriously. "I understand. Thank you, Team Leader." "Don’t just thank me with words... Okay, okay, as I said, giving it a try won’t hurt." Chen Gu became curious. "Team Leader, what’s your profession?" "I’m an ’Alchemist Magus,’" Marcus readily introduced. "Silver Eagle Charles is a ’Silver Eagle Commandant,’ Melincha the Puppet is an ’Equilibrium Arbitrator,’ and Selena the Banshee is a ’Mist Singer.’" From the names, it was clear that Charles and Melincha had new professions, while Marcus and Selena had old professions. Marcus grabbed his coat. "Alright, I’m off work. Once you become a Professional, we need to exchange information within our team and know each other’s skills so we can cooperate better in battle." Before he left, he turned back to remind him, "Hey, kid, make sure you obediently go back to class tomorrow." Chen Gu shrugged. Since everyone else in the team had slipped away, as a newcomer, Chen Gu was supposed to be on duty. But how could Great Actor Chen just sit around obediently? He casually strolled out of the precinct. His Lightning Edition Xuanwu III Type was parked in the underground garage. However, halfway through the drive, Chen Gu’s secure comm-ID received a message: Your accommodations have been arranged. Chen Gu glanced at it and saw a new address. The Bureau of Mystic Security arranged accommodations for each staff member. These places appeared to be ordinary residences but had much higher levels of security. In fact, many people lived directly within the Bureau. They engaged in special professions; if Mutants discovered this and they were contaminated in their ordinary lives, the consequences would be unimaginable. Chen Gu wanted to go back and move, but then another message came in: Your personal belongings have already been transferred to the new residence. You may move in directly. Chen Gu curled his lip, thankful that those truly "personal items," like the social crystal wands and such, had already been properly disposed of. The Lightning Edition Xuanwu III Type changed direction, and Chen Gu headed straight for his new home. This was a mid-range community, somewhat better than Chen Gu’s previous apartment, located between the school and the Bureau of Mystic Security. The house was quite nice, more than twice the size of the previous one. Upon entering, Chen Gu immediately let Griffin Wester’s memories possess him and quickly located six "security risks" in the house. However, compared to his previous apartment, which had made Griffin Wester barely able to suppress the urge to immediately start remodeling, this place was much better. Griffin Wester, at least, indicated he could "barely tolerate it..." Five minutes! That was the estimated safe window, derived from a comprehensive risk assessment of these six security flaws. Due to these vulnerabilities, the house might only be genuinely safe for five minutes. Without hesitation, Chen Gu dismissed Griffin Wester, then filled a large tub with hot water and comfortably soaked in a bath. That night, Chen Gu had an unexpected visitor: Chen Jixian. "The average success rate for attaining a profession is 32.44%. The Bureau of Mystic Security has covertly funded a great deal of research on Professionals over the years to raise this probability." "In other organizations, most rates are below 20%." "Fortunately, with advanced medicine these days, most people can have three chances at attaining a profession. However, the more hypermatter, the greater the odds." After his adult son said this, he left, leaving Chen Gu utterly confused. What did he mean by that? However, this did remind Chen Gu: he could only choose "Radiation Missionary," which was the male counterpart to "Nuclear Explosion Nun." Because in Chen Jixian’s perception, his respected old father was a "Radiation Missionary." Alright, Chen Gu admitted to himself, that whole "respected old father" thing was utter nonsense. This favorable situation was all thanks to Griffin Wester. It was his extremely abnormal preliminary training that had given Chen Gu such a terrifying physical constitution, allowing him to freely choose a profession. The preliminary training for "Radiation Missionary" demanded even higher standards than that of the "ordinary" Star Battle Instructor.