"A refugee?" Zhang Hengyu was stunned. "Didn't you say refugees can't enter the Adjudication Court?"
"It's not that they can't." Zhang Yunqing looked visibly agitated. "There are just limitations tied to the status. Take this Sixth Chief Inquisitor — with his strength and achievements, if he weren't a refugee, he'd have become the Chief Inquisitor ages ago."
"And his brutal temperament is almost certainly tied to his refugee background. He sees us as the exploiting class. On every mission, he's just as likely to assault or kill the local leadership."
"If his parents hadn't been murdered by the Evil God Cults, he might very well have joined them instead."
She glanced at her brother. "This particular Chief Inquisitor enjoys taking exceptionally talented individuals as students. Be thankful you're only Brilliant Silver talent."
Zhang Hengyu fell silent.
"Don't tell father about this. At least — it can't come from us." Zhang Yunqing added the warning.
To a clear-cut instruction like that, Zhang Hengyu nodded immediately.
............
"So it's come to this..." Zhou Xian stood before the window, jaw twitching.
The room was frigid. Behind him, on a metal platform, lay the near-rigid corpse of his son, Zhou Zong.
Yuan Chenyang may have been shuffled out, but Zhou Xian's sense of dread hadn't diminished one bit. Zhang Hongbo was an even thornier problem than Yuan Chenyang had ever been.
The saving grace was that the City Lord always favored stability. Perhaps there was still a sliver of opportunity.
"The Saint Word Stone — lost. The Spatial Crystals — lost. And one of the two Evil God Artifacts is now an empty shell..." A languid sigh issued from behind him. "Quite impressive, really. Three offerings for the sacrifice, and all three lost."
Zhou Xian's pupils contracted. He spun around, and the color drained from his face. The one speaking was his own son — the one with half his skull caved in.
"Who are you?" Zhou Xian demanded in a low voice.
"You already know the answer. Why ask?" The voice was serene.
"The Priest of Black Buddha." Zhou Xian's expression was grim. He knew this was the mysterious contact who'd been communicating with him all along. "Are you here to settle accounts?"
"No..." Zhou Zong's corpse shook its head stiffly. "The great Sovereign deeply sympathizes with the pain of losing your child. He offers you a chance at redemption."
Zhou Xian clenched his fists in silence. When he'd first made contact, he'd hesitated. Now there was no way out.
Zhou Zong's mouth continued to open and close. Zhou Xian's heart clenched with each word. "When the great Sovereign happened to cast His gaze here, He discovered within this city a most delicious and appetizing soul. You must find this person."
"A delicious soul?" Zhou Xian frowned. Then a sudden thought struck him. "Do you know why the Evil God Artifact was emptied?"
"Because the corruption failed." The Priest didn't bother to hide it. "That delicious, appetizing soul possesses extraordinary resistance."
'Failed corruption?'
Zhou Xian's mind reeled. A name surged to the forefront — Yuan Chenyang!
He was capable of something like that?
The Priest's voice seemed to drift from somewhere impossibly distant. "You needn't concern yourself with anything else. Simply find this person, and the great Sovereign will grant you one small wish. For example... bringing your son back to life."
Zhou Xian's eyes blazed. Yuan Chenyang's name was on the tip of his tongue — but the Priest immediately continued:
"You have only one chance. Even I cannot confirm whether the target is truly the one the Sovereign seeks. If the wrong person is offered during the sacrifice, the great Sovereign's wrath will fall upon us both. You and I will die."
The name retreated back down Zhou Xian's throat. He stared at his son's body and gave a firm nod. "Understood."
He watched Zhou Zong's corpse collapse back into stillness. Zhou Xian's expression cycled through a dozen shades. Yuan Chenyang was already gone. To confirm the identity of this "delicious soul," he'd need to find answers from someone else.
............
The next day, Yuan Chenyang departed his loyal Supervision Department for the ruins garrison.
According to Old Sun, who arrived later with Su Chen's potions, Zhou Xian had fought fiercely in the council to take over the Supervision Department — but Zhang Hongbo had shut him down.
"Thank god it wasn't him..." Old Sun shuddered. "Everyone knows he blames you for standing by while his son died. If he'd gotten control of the Supervision Department, none of us would've slept easy."
"Besides, the Evil God Cult suspicion around him hasn't been cleared. There's no way they'd hand him the reins."
Old Sun chatted for a while, his attitude unchanged. As he left, he offered a genuine piece of advice: "Brother, you really shouldn't lock yourself in your room training all day. Too long at that pace and something'll give. Step outside once in a while."
As Yuan Chenyang had said — he was only being transferred temporarily, not vanishing forever.
"Brother Sun..." Su Chen stopped him with a question. "Does the department have any artifact-grade weapons?"
Weapons were an obvious avenue for boosting combat power. All Su Chen had was a single iron cable.
Old Sun paused. "Of course — we're a combat organization."
"If you need 1st-tier weapons, I can probably work something out. But 2nd-tier gets tricky, and 3rd-tier — don't even think about it."
"I see." Su Chen's disappointment was obvious. 1st-tier gear wouldn't make much difference for him.
"Can't be helped. We can manufacture 1st-tier weapons in-house, but anything 2nd or 3rd-tier has to come from Yingfeng." Old Sun's tone shifted. "That said, there are independent weapon-smiths on the black market. You can commission custom work, but the prices are... steep."
"Hand-crafted?" Su Chen was intrigued.
"Essentially, yes." Old Sun nodded. "High-tier weapons are nearly impossible to mass-produce. Custom smithing is basically the only way."
"What class do you need for that?" Su Chen asked.
"Brother, you need to specialize." Old Sun counseled. "That kind of profession eats up enormous time and energy."
Su Chen assured him it was merely curiosity. Old Sun relented. "The vast majority of weapon-smiths use the Engineering Apprentice as their 1st-tier foundation."
"The one my teacher gave me?" Su Chen's expression turned peculiar.
"That's the one." Old Sun nodded. "The induction requirements aren't hard, but it's only the starting point."
"As for the 2nd-tier advancement class — I'm not too clear on that."
A 2nd-tier class was beyond Old Sun's reach. Even Old Yuan would need to go through channels.
No rush. Su Chen saw Old Sun off, then expertly downed a Black Flame Potion and a Spiritual Light Potion.
Spiritual Light was also a 1st-tier potion but considerably higher quality. Perhaps because he was rotating out, Old Yuan had secured it without difficulty.
Searing flame through his body, his mind blazing with heightened activity — Su Chen stepped into the gravity room and ground away.
............
Not long after Yuan Chenyang's departure, Zhang Hongbo arrived at the now not-entirely-loyal Supervision Department and convened all section chiefs and above for a meeting.
It was straightforward — reassurance, pulling back investigators, returning everyone to their regular duties.
"Ah — Section Chief Sun... stay a moment."
As the meeting dispersed, Old Sun, who'd been trying to blend into the crowd, was singled out.
Gulp!
Old Sun's Adam's apple bobbed. Under the curious stares of his colleagues, he turned around and switched on a blinding smile. "Lord City Lord, you called?"