"Ice Wolf, go!"
Contract spirits were fundamentally beyond what a human body could contend against—forget a small knife, even wielding a handgun wouldn't be enough to win.
Unless you were carrying a missile launcher...
A moment later,
"Uncle Wang, get to the Western District quick—I've already captured the scam gang criminals!"
Chen Shu pulled out his phone and called Wang Qian from the Spirit Suppression Bureau.
Soon enough, a group arrived at the abandoned factory in the Western District.
"Hm? These really are the scam gang?" Wang Qian asked, immediately recognizing the Wang Bage mynah bird. The other three criminals were unconscious, one of whom was a fat guy with a head swollen like a pig's, his face covered in bruises from a clear beating.
Chen Shu crossed his arms and said, "Of course. Anyone who ruins my reputation gets no mercy!"
"Not bad, really not bad!" Wang Qian nodded, surprised that Chen Shu had managed to capture the scam gang in just a few short days.
Chen Shu pulled Wang Qian aside and said in a low voice, "Uncle Wang, I kinda... squashed one of the criminals into a mosaic."
"No problem. As long as we can confirm they're accomplices, that's fine—this group probably won't see daylight for the rest of their lives anyway."
Wang Qian waved his hand dismissively; anyone wanted by the Spirit Suppression Bureau was an extremely dangerous criminal, after all.
Was this called killing? Of course not—this was called self-defense!
"Uncle Wang, you see I've made such a huge contribution here—shouldn't the Spirit Suppression Bureau show some appreciation?"
Chen Shu rubbed his hands together, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"Right, the Beast Tamer Association has a task with a reward of a hundred thousand—I'll give it to you later," Wang Qian said.
"The way you're putting it—am I catching criminals purely for money?"
Chen Shu shook his head, displaying an expression of extremely high moral consciousness.
"Oh? Then what are you doing it for, you little brat? Don't tell me you're really some messenger of justice?"
Wang Qian's expression turned peculiar as he studied Chen Shu, wanting to see what nonsense he could come up with.
Chen Shu grinned and said, "Part of it is for justice, but of course another part is to get my reputation back."
"You have a reputation?" Wang Qian's expression froze as he looked Chen Shu up and down.
Chen Shu spread his hands and said emotionally, "Of course I do! Who doesn't know my title as the Black Market's Number One? Now because of these criminals, my reputation's completely ruined—how am I supposed to sell potions?"
"So what do you want?" Wang Qian asked.
Chen Shu's eyes darted around as he said with a grin, "Simple—when the time comes, just sign something in your capacity as Spirit Suppression Bureau captain to clear my name."
Wang Qian thought for a moment, then nodded.
Chen Shu immediately added, "That's good then, but of course that hundred thousand yuan reward can't be reduced by a single cent!"
"......" Wang Qian shook his head. You really won't take even the slightest loss, will you, kid?
The Spirit Suppression Bureau personnel took the Wang Bage and the other three criminals away.
Chen Shu and Xia Bing likewise returned to the residential district.
"I really have to thank you this time, Committee Member Xia!" Chen Shu looked at Xia Bing with complete sincerity.
Xia Bing shook her head and said, "Consider it repaying the favor. Without your help, I might not have made it into the special training class."
"That's good then. In our senior year we'll all be classmates—if you ever need anything, you can come to me."
Chen Shu patted his chest with a magnanimous air.
"Classmates? You got into the special training class too?"
Xia Bing's eyes widened in disbelief.
Chen Shu said, "Isn't the special training class just for recruiting top students? Isn't it normal for me to get in?"
"Normal..." Xia Bing forced a dry laugh, but thought to herself: Normal... my ass!
Everyone else had studied hard for two whole years, working themselves to the bone before finally making it into the special training class, and this guy had only been a beast taming student for one month before getting in?
Could there be... insider connections?
Chen Shu ignored her and suddenly said, "Oh right, Classmate Xia, that essay you gave me last time had some flaws—when you have time, why don't you revise it a bit?"
"Essay? What essay?" Xia Bing looked completely confused.
"That two-thousand-word essay praising me. I feel like it wasn't heartfelt enough—you only focused on my appearance without deeply exploring my inner qualities."
Chen Shu shook his head, talking to himself.
"Huh? Where'd she go?"
He looked up to see that Xia Bing had already fled.
Chen Shu nodded with the air of a satisfied teacher, murmuring, "A teachable child indeed. Seems like she understood a bit of my inner qualities and went home to record them."[1]
---
"Let's turn in the task first."
Chen Shu stretched and headed to the Beast Tamer Association.
When he arrived at the Beast Tamer Association, he ran into a familiar face.
"Xie No-Meat!"
It was none other than Xie Sunan, the pork stall owner. Right now he wasn't wearing his apron or holding his cleaver, but was instead dressed in casual clothes, which made him look considerably younger—like he was only in his forties.
"Huh? It's you?"
Xie Sunan turned around and likewise spotted Chen Shu.
Chen Shu asked, "What's this? You expanding your pork business to the Beast Tamer Association now?"
"I'm here to check out tasks, damn it!"
"You? You're a Beast Tamer?"
"Got a problem with that?"
Xie Sunan crossed his arms, his thick beard particularly prominent, and said, "As a Beast Tamer, selling pork on the side is perfectly reasonable, right?"
"Reasonable... extremely reasonable..."
Chen Shu's mouth twitched as he walked up to the counter.
Producing the certificate Wang Qian had given him, Chen Shu said, "I'd like to turn in a task."
"One moment please!" The staff member smiled, and after a quick verification, she confirmed, "Sir, your accepted task to investigate the fake medicine dealer has been completed! The one-hundred-thousand-yuan reward has been automatically deposited to your account!"
"Thank you!" Chen Shu nodded with a smile.
"Holy crap, your task was worth a hundred thousand yuan?" Xie Sunan suddenly leaned in close and said, "You're way too shady as a middleman, aren't you?"
"Shady? Do you even know what I went through?"
Chen Shu's eyes widened as he said emotionally, "Five! A full five criminals! Do you know what my day was like?! Do you?!"[2]
In an instant, all the Beast Tamers in the hall turned to look.
Xie Sunan's mouth twitched. Big brother, can you dial down the dramatics a bit?
"The total reward was only a hundred thousand yuan, and you charged me forty thousand for information fees!" Chen Shu crossed his arms and said, "At least refund me ten thousand!"
"Give me a break. Without my information, what the hell could you have caught? Only I, Xie Sunan, could investigate that."
Xie Sunan curled his lip, showing no intention whatsoever of refunding the information fee.
Chen Shu thought about it and decided not to press further. If he pushed him too far and the guy pulled out his pig-butchering cleaver...