Yun Yu proved even more cautious than Huang Xiu had imagined.
Given Lin Wude’s current state, it was highly probable that his condition wasn’t merely due to the damaged handcuff. Instead, it likely stemmed from other underlying issues.
Perhaps he suffered from a pre-existing medical condition, or perhaps someone had tampered with him.
Regardless,
A criminal Awakened individual, whose life or death held little consequence, was simply dead if they died. The paramount concern remained Huang Xiu’s safety.
Yun Yu moved with remarkable speed. By the time Huang Xiu had just entered the car and closed her door, he was already seated in the driver’s seat, pressing the accelerator.
The tires hissed, scraping against the pavement, and the engine’s roar echoed prominently in the otherwise silent night.
With his right hand, he depressed the handbrake, and the car shot forward.
The Jurisdiction Bureau’s outpost in Ying City was not far from the main street.
Under Yun Yu’s heavy foot on the accelerator, the institution’s large compound quickly appeared within both their sights.
Even in the dead of night, someone still stood guard at the entrance.
A Jurisdiction Bureau officer, dressed in a security uniform but in reality an Awakened individual, was engrossed in his phone at his post.
Ever since the emergence of large-scale Void Realm traces in Ying City, the Jurisdiction Bureau had implemented a three-shift system.
This ensured that personnel were always available for deployment at any given moment.
Relying on his acute senses, he heard the approaching car from a distance.
He looked up.
A black vehicle sped from the end of the street at a frantic pace, screeching to a halt at the compound gates.
“Who’s there?” he frowned, pushing open the guard post door and stepping out.
Yun Yu rolled down the window. “I’m Yun Yu, a sophomore from Tiandu University. I contacted you earlier.”
“And I’m Huang Xiu, a freshman,” Huang Xiu quickly added.
“We’ve found Lin Wude, but it seems he’s experiencing some physical issues. We didn’t dare delay and brought him over immediately.”
The man was indeed aware of the situation.
However, Ying City was particularly sensitive at the moment, especially in the middle of the night.
Not a single step of the required procedure could be omitted.
He first verified Yun Yu and Huang Xiu’s identities, and only after confirming their authenticity did he raise the barrier, allowing them to enter.
Once the car had driven in,
The man picked up his walkie-talkie and reported the situation to the night shift personnel inside.
Only when everything was complete did he let out a sigh of relief, settling back into his chair.
He then chuckled, muttering, “What in the world is this nonsense? It’s been ages since things were this formal. Damn these large-scale Void Realms.”
If not for the large-scale Void Realm constantly looming, he wouldn’t need to pull an all-nighter.
Nor would he have to go through such troublesome formal procedures.
For decades, the Jurisdiction Bureau in this remote small county had been peaceful, with Void Realms rarely descending.
Yet, Ying City had been in utter chaos for the past year.
Several of his old colleagues had already been injured in the line of duty.
“Damn it, this job is getting harder and harder!” He lit a cigarette in the guard post, smoking in silence.
****
Meanwhile, inside the Jurisdiction Bureau,
Yun Yu had already parked the car in front of the office building and successfully rendezvoused with the on-duty personnel.
*Click.*
The trunk opened.
Seeing Lin Wude convulsing and losing consciousness, they immediately realized something was wrong and dared not delay.
They swiftly contacted a doctor while simultaneously rushing to activate the necessary equipment.
“Your mission is complete. Please register over here first.”
The Jurisdiction Bureau staff were in excellent spirits, speaking with extreme pleasantness, now that Lin Wude, who had troubled them for nearly a month, was finally apprehended.
The man in the Zhongshan suit handed over a tablet. “It must have been tough for the two of you to undertake a mission so late at night.”
“It was alright, not too strenuous.”
Huang Xiu took the tablet, glanced at it, and saw the mission board interface of the Void Web displayed.
She then handed it to Yun Yu.
“This is our duty. Besides, your Jurisdiction Bureau works far harder than we do.”
Yun Yu accepted the tablet with a smile.
He first pressed his fingerprint onto the tablet, then signed his name with elegant, flowing strokes.
Only when a ‘mission complete’ notification popped up on the screen, and his phone in his pocket vibrated, did he return the tablet.
Yun Yu glanced at his phone, then asked with a smile, “Excuse me, how long will it take for you to determine what’s wrong with Lin Wude? Is it a problem with the handcuff, or something else entirely?”
“We’re not sure yet. We are a local sub-bureau, and our equipment isn’t fully comprehensive. If we can’t find anything, he’ll definitely be sent to the main bureau.”
The staff member offered a solution. “How about this: if we do uncover the problem, we’ll immediately inform you of the results via the Void Web.”
“Understood,” Yun Yu nodded, then politely declined their invitation for him and Huang Xiu to rest inside.
He watched the staff member hurry into the building, the automatic glass doors slowly closing behind them.
Turning, he looked at Huang Xiu, a wide smile gracing his face.
“The mission’s complete! Now, do you want to go back to sleep, or grab a late-night snack first?”
Huang Xiu answered without a moment’s hesitation: “Snack, snack, let’s go, let’s go, I want barbecue!”
Having just used her ability, she had expended a significant amount of physical energy. If she went back to rest now, she feared she would wake up hungry halfway through the night.
It would be better to eat her fill before sleeping.
And honestly, it had been a long time since she had eaten Ying City’s local barbecue; she was genuinely quite hungry.
“So, where should we eat? You’re the local expert, you decide,” Yun Yu shrugged.
“Hmm, let me think,” Huang Xiu tapped her chin with one hand, trying to recall where there was good barbecue.
Soon, a place came to mind.
“Let’s go! There’s a barbecue place with good food right next to the internet cafe I used to frequent.”
Huang Xiu’s mouth watered profusely as she checked her phone.
“It’s only one AM. We can still make it!”
“As you wish,” Yun Yu opened the car door and got in. “We made a huge profit tonight. My treat.”
Huang Xiu got into the back seat and quickly said, “I haven’t treated you back for the last meal! It’s my turn!”
She had treated Yun Yu to the cafeteria last time, which cost no money, so she naturally didn’t genuinely consider it a proper meal.
“It’s fine. It’s your first mission, so as your senior, I absolutely have to treat you. Consider it a celebration dinner.”
Yun Yu always had a myriad of excuses to deflect Huang Xiu’s offers.
“Besides, your performance tonight was truly outstanding, well worth a treat from me. At most, you can treat me next time you think I’ve performed well.”
Huang Xiu thought about it and felt there was some truth to his words.
Her performance tonight could truly be described as carrying the entire situation, and it indeed warranted a meal.
Moreover, she already owed him one meal, so owing another wouldn’t be an issue.
She could just treat him to an extra meal next time.
With that thought, she nodded.
“Alright, Senior. I won’t hold back. I’m so hungry right now I could eat an entire ox.”
“Forget one ox,” Yun Yu waved his hand grandly. “Even if you wanted to eat two, I could afford it.”
“I’m not a pig…” Huang Xiu laughed. “But Senior, you’re really rich!”
“You’ll be rich soon too. Wait, you didn’t check the mission reward, did you?” Yun Yu drove the car out of the small compound, chuckling.
“Huh, where do I check that?” Huang Xiu tilted her head slightly, her small face etched with immense confusion.
She genuinely had no idea what the mission reward was.
She only knew that completing missions earned academic credits, and since her senior had invited her, she had happily tagged along.
“That’s my fault. I thought you knew,” Yun Yu said, a wry smile on his face.
It was the first time he’d seen such a naive and adorable side of Huang Xiu.
She hadn’t even bothered to look at the mission rewards.
Any other person would at least check beforehand or ask about it.
“Open the mission section of the Void Web. I’ve already added you as a mission member, so you can see the mission details and rewards in the backend,” Yun Yu explained.
Huang Xiu nodded, and following Yun Yu’s instructions, she checked the mission rewards.
“Fifty thousand RMB and a hundred points? Hiss, are mission rewards really that high?” She gasped, successfully accelerating the trend of global warming.
Setting aside the travel time from Tiandu to Ying City, the actual mission time was only about an hour.
This meant that in just one hour, the two of them had earned fifty thousand.
According to their agreed 50/50 split, she would soon have twenty-five thousand in cash.
*Swish!*
Golden money symbols instantly appeared in Huang Xiu’s eyes.
Missions! She was going to do missions like crazy!
“But what are these points?” she asked, curiously poking the word ‘points’ on her phone. The word was blue, indicating it was clickable.
The page had not yet loaded when Yun Yu began to explain. “Actually, compared to other missions of the same threat level, this mission’s reward is quite low.”
“It’s likely because the Jurisdiction Bureau had previous encounters and discovered that Lin Wude’s anomalous abilities weren’t highly lethal, which is why they set this low price.”
Typically, missions of a dangerous threat level usually paid around one hundred thousand.
“Missions with such low prices are usually taken by local Awakened individuals, and they earn what’s essentially hard-earned money.”
Fifty thousand, compared to other jobs,
Seemed like a substantial amount, but for an Awakened individual, it truly was hard-earned money. It involved confronting another Awakened individual, risking one’s life, and there was no guarantee of success.
If not for Huang Xiu,
An ordinary Awakened individual might have encountered Lin Wude for the first time, made a slight mistake, and allowed him to escape.
“I see,” Huang Xiu nodded, then looked at the points introduction page on her phone.
After reading for a while, she roughly understood what it was.
These points were an official credit system promoted by the government and recognized by various institutions.
They were somewhat similar to academic credits at their school.
Awakened individuals could use these points to exchange for items or services from major institutions that money alone couldn’t buy.
For example, they could commission Tiangong Group to customize Void Artifacts and Void Energy Instruments, or purchase Void Arts from Tiandu University…
These points could only be obtained through missions. They could not be exchanged for RMB, nor was private trading allowed.
As for a hundred points…
Huang Xiu looked at it, realizing she couldn’t exchange it for much of anything.
“Wait, I can exchange it for a basic Void Art: Dynamic Vision Enhancement.”
She shook her head.
It went without saying that a Void Art that could be exchanged for mere points couldn’t be anything good.
“The Void Web has an introduction to what points are, so I won’t go into detail,” Yun Yu said, offering advice.
“Junior, I suggest you save these points. Most good things are available at the school, and the really good things not available at school usually require points to unlock and exchange.”
Huang Xiu naturally accepted Yun Yu’s advice wholeheartedly.
She tucked her phone into the pocket of her capris, gazing out the window at Ying City at one in the morning.
The small county, devoid of much nightlife, was extremely quiet, with cars being pitifully scarce.
Yun Yu was thus able to accelerate.
After driving for barely five minutes, the surrounding scenery had already become increasingly familiar.
Huang Xiu looked at this road, which she took every holiday, with a sense of nostalgia.
The SUV turned into a small alley and finally stopped slowly in front of a barbecue restaurant named Old Soldier Barbecue.
The barbecue shop was not large.
To attract customers, the barbecue grill was set up outside.
At this moment, the bare-chested owner was grilling skewers, and the aroma of rendered fat sizzling over charcoal permeated the entire street.
Several tables of guests were already seated at the tables and chairs arranged on the street.
Sniffing the enticing scent, Huang Xiu’s stomach rumbled incessantly, so loudly that even Yun Yu, sitting beside her, heard it and looked over.
“Eat more,” he said with a smile.
Huang Xiu’s cheeks flushed slightly as she nodded, then pushed open the door and got out of the car, skillfully calling out to the owner, “Boss, two people, outside please.”
“Alright, find a seat yourselves!”
Upon hearing the greeting, the owner initially thought it was a regular customer, but he instinctively looked up and found two unfamiliar faces.
A handsome man and a beautiful woman, both exceptionally good-looking.
He mumbled to himself, ‘Dad, these two look even better than celebrities…’
The menu and pencils were already placed on the tables.
Huang Xiu picked up the menu, placed it between them, and began recommending her favorite dishes to Yun Yu.
“The beef skewers, mushrooms, chicken drumsticks, and stir-fried noodles here are all incredibly delicious. Highly recommended!”
“I’m not picky. Junior, just order whatever you like.”
Yun Yu finished speaking and leaned back in his chair.
His eyes were filled with amusement as he watched Huang Xiu, now given permission, activate her ‘berserk ordering mode’.
“Alright, that’s enough for now.”
Huang Xiu put down the pencil.
“As for drinks, Senior, what do you want to drink? There’s a convenience store nearby that’s open 24 hours. I’ll go buy some.”
Drinks at barbecue stalls were several yuan more expensive than at convenience stores, so whenever she went out for barbecue with Shi Jia, she usually bought drinks separately from a convenience store.
“Anything is fine. If you’re too lazy to run, Junior, you can just order here. I can certainly afford that much.”
Yun Yu didn’t have any particular fondness for drinks; he usually drank tea or plain water.
“Okay.”
Huang Xiu didn’t get angry when Yun Yu acted like a hands-off manager, after all, whoever paid the bill was the boss.
She handed the menu to the owner.
She explained several times to the owner that their appetites were large and they genuinely could finish everything without wasting any food.
Only then did the skeptical owner agree to the large order.
Huang Xiu placed the large bottle of Coca-Cola she bought from the supermarket on the table and began telling Yun Yu amusing anecdotes about the barbecue shop owner.
“Senior, let me tell you, the owner of this Old Soldier Barbecue is really interesting. After he retired from the army, his old squad leader swindled him out of his severance pay, and then his friends tricked him into a pyramid scheme.”
Even though she had recounted the story many times, Huang Xiu couldn’t help but be amused each time.
“Because he ate too much and couldn’t make any sales, the pyramid scheme boss eventually kicked him out. He returned to his hometown and opened Old Soldier Barbecue.”
“But unexpectedly, because he was honest and generous with his portions, Old Soldier Barbecue became increasingly popular. He even got married and bought a house.”
This wasn’t just a rumor; it was something all the middle school students knew.
Because whenever the owner got drunk, he loved to loudly recount his embarrassing past.