Ch. 9 - Capital For The Game

|Outpost Base, Night Walker Headquarters|

Ling Feng looked up from the report he was reading when the automatic door opened. He saw his deputy, Lin Yang, a middle-aged man in his forties, walking in with a wry smile on his face.

Ling Feng gently lifted his glasses frame and asked, "Let me guess, that kid caused trouble?"

Lin Yang couldn't help but admire his boss's intelligence. "It's not that he caused trouble; it's just that he did something unexpected."

"Oh," Ling Feng said, appearing interested. "Even if you are surprised, it seems that he has done something remarkable. Did he pick a fight with his former team leader?"

"To be precise, he killed his former team leader."

Lin Yang activated an interface on the wall, turning it into a projection screen and displaying a scene from a bar, and Ling Feng saw two key figures in it, Tianyang and Qin Wu.

After watching the whole thing, Ling Feng's lips curved into a smile. "Although it's not perfect, this rigorousness will work for now. It turns out that he wanted Night Walkers and an Upper Citizen's identity to lay the groundwork for revenge."

Lin Yang rubbed his hair. "He is quite meticulous, but his scope is too narrow. He's already an Ascender; why bother with a small team leader? Even if he wanted revenge, he could have followed the proper procedures. Why create such a scene?"

Ling Feng folded his hands under his chin and said, "I don't agree. It's precisely because he's already an Ascender that he should do it."

Lin Yang looked surprised and asked, "Why?"

"Ascenders must not be offended!" Ling Feng's face turned cold.

"This is the fortress' iron rule. If that kid was just an ordinary person, with such a disparity in identity and status, seeking revenge would still be foolish even if he succeeded. Because next, he would have to endure even bigger and more violent storms."

"But he is an Ascender now, and Qin Wu was the one who did things wrong first. If he still followed the normal procedures, how would others see him? If he gets used by others, it is possible to undermine the status of Ascenders in the fortress. In recent years, there have been many voices questioning whether we should continue to invest so many resources in Ascenders."

Lin Yang snorted, "Those fools who only sit in the office, how would they know that only Ascenders can suppress the higher-level dark creatures?"

Ling Feng looked at the young man on the screen, who had now slit a throat. "That's precisely why the authority of Ascenders should be upheld. Today's incident serves as a warning to some people. Even if you are an Upper Citizen, as long as you are not an Ascender, you can’t offend us!"

Lin Yang's heart skipped a beat; he guessed that this young chief of staff would probably use this incident to his advantage. That kid probably didn't realize that his actions would become capital in the upper-level game.

Tianyang, in fact, didn’t know.

He only knew that after walking out of the bar, his hands trembled slightly.

Although he had acted calmly and killed without hesitation, he was very nervous.

The fortress' class distinction had always taught him one thing, the status of Upper Citizens couldn’t be shaken!

At least for them, the commoners, this was true. But just now, he killed an upper citizen.

The script was going exactly as he had planned, and now Tianyang felt a sense of pleasure in breaking rules and boundaries. (ED: Rebel Syndrome)

At the same time, he deeply felt the superiority of the Ascenders.

Just now, there were so many upper-level military officers in the bar, but no one dared to trouble him. This was unimaginable for his previous self.

There were so many proud Upper Citizens, but when he looked at them, they all lowered their heads.

This gave the young man a strange feeling that he was trampling the world under his feet.

Now his nerves were constantly releasing signals of tension and excitement, so Tianyang was not sure when he would return to the Collection Team dormitory.

After sitting on his bed for about 5 minutes, he finally calmed down and then remembered that his level information had changed before leaving the bar.

As this thought arose, some information became clear.

[Avenger level Rank 1: Assassin Rank ability: Weakness induction, Instantaneous killing Sublimation progress: 25% Next rank: Obliterator]

Tianyang immediately grasped the point.

Sublimation progress suddenly increased by 11%!

What's going on?

As Tianyang recalled, to advance in Ascenders, one must increase the concentration of Star Energy.

Now that he has become an Ascender himself, Tianyang knew more details. The concentration of Star Energy was the progress of sublimation.

The conventional way to increase the concentration of Star Energy was through battles.

During battles, Star Energy was mobilized, consumed, and then precipitated through cell regeneration. Through this process, the concentration of Star Energy would gradually increase.

Another way was to absorb the energy of the Pillar of Star, but the Pillar of Star itself was a valuable resource. Even though the importance of Ascenders was irreplaceable for each fortress city, it was not extravagant enough to supply Ascenders with the Pillar of Star.

From the above information, it was not difficult to conclude that the concentration of Star Energy should gradually increase, but it should not increase suddenly by 11% like in Tianyang's case.

This is crazy!

Tianyang narrowed his eyes slightly. "Can it be related to revenge?"

This was the only possibility.

Thinking about his level, this possibility was certainly great.

If that was really the case, then there should be methods for each level to significantly increase the concentration of Star Energy.

Ascenders have too many secrets, and even nowadays, some secrets were not publicized.

At least yesterday's ordinary Tianyang didn’t have the qualifications to know.

Bang!

The door of the dormitory suddenly pushed open, and a strong smell of alcohol immediately rushed in from outside the door, eager to drill into the boy’s nostrils.

Such a strong smell of cheap alcohol.

The boy frowned slightly. He didn't like this smell, especially since there was also a hint of sweat mixed in the odor. They stirred together to create an unpleasant mixture.

"You... how come you're not dead?!"

Dongyan's voice rang out, and he and another colleague each held a bottle of alcohol. It seemed they had just come back from the "Holiday Time" bar, which was only open to soldiers.

Tianyang shrugged and said, "Surprised?"

The two soldiers exchanged a glance, and Dongyan lifted his foot and kicked the door shut.

"Does the captain know you're back?"

The other soldier looked nervous.

Tianyang replied calmly, "You can go ask him yourself." (ED: Heh)

The soldier was left feeling dejected, and a look of displeasure flashed across his face.

Dongyan tried to force a smile on his face. "Tianyang, we're all happy that you're back. You see, we had no choice but to leave you behind. You won't report us, will you?"

Tianyang smiled back. "What do you think?"

Dongyan's smile immediately disappeared from his face. "Tianyang, you should know when to be grateful. Since you're not dead, let's just forget about it."

"Not dead, so we can just forget about it?"

Tianyang shook his head. "So if I beat you almost to death, you wouldn’t hold it against me?"

"So, you're going to report us then?" Dongyan's tone was clearly hostile.

Tianyang corrected him, "To be exact, the higher-ups should already be aware of this matter."

His killing of Qin Wu in the bar must have spread and the higher-ups had no reason not to know. But Night Walkers would definitely handle this matter, which was why he wanted to join them as soon as he returned.

He needed backing.

Dongyan and the other soldier's faces suddenly turned pale, even though Qin Wu was the mastermind behind this.

But they had not stopped him; according to the fortress’ rules, they were accomplices.

They could have their military status revoked or even be sentenced; their lives would be over!

Thinking of this, the two soldiers' eyes were filled with viciousness.

They exchanged a glance, then nodded together, walking towards the young man sitting on the bed.

"New recruit, this is what you asked for." Dongyan's face was grim.

"Whether I sit in jail or not, I don't care; having one more crime on my record doesn't matter," the other soldier said.

Of course, Tianyang knew what they were going to do. "I advise you to step back now while you still can. Trust me, it's for your own good."

"Oh, is that so?"

Unfortunately, they didn't take Tianyang's warning seriously.

Just as a violent incident was about to happen, the door of the dormitory suddenly pushed open and there was a cry of surprise from outside.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

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