Chapter 24 : Chapter 24
Chapter 24: Not Going
Linhai City Demon Exterminator Training Base.
With an exaggerated drift, Zhou Hong swung the car into a parking space, then smugly patted the steering wheel.
“Brother Lu, my driving’s good, isn’t it? I’m not boasting, but in the entire Demon Extermination Bureau, there are fewer than five people whose driving is better than mine.”
He spoke with open pride.
Tao Xiao’an had already been a little injured, and her complexion was pale to begin with. Now it turned even paler.
Hearing Zhou Hong show off, she punched him directly on the forehead.
“If you dare drive like that again next time, I’ll break your legs.”
Zhou Hong instantly wilted and gave an awkward laugh.
“Ahem... Sister Tao, give me a little face... Brother Lu is still here!”
He then hurriedly changed the subject.
“Well, Brother Lu, I mean it. Call me whenever you go on a mission in the future. I’ll come the moment you ask.”
There was nothing to say about Lu Zhan’s strength.
Going on a mission with him made one feel completely secure.
It would be a waste not to stay close to someone like that.
“All right.”
Lu Zhan nodded. Still, Zhou Hong’s words reminded him that he really ought to find time to buy a car.
He was a jurisdiction head, after all. Going on missions by taxi was hardly dignified.
“Let’s go. We’ll submit the mission at the Mission Hall.”
He truly was not familiar with that process yet.
“Brother Lu, what do you think that so-called envoy the Rat King mentioned before was about?”
At that question, everyone fell silent.
What lay behind the Rat King was definitely not simple.
“I’d guess it was the Rat King’s master. That Rat King was probably being raised here on purpose.”
“Be more careful when you go out from now on. The other side might be skilled in using poison.”
Lu Zhan warned them.
“Someone was raising it? To raise a Rat King that could speak human words while still only in the Demon Acolyte realm... a being like that can’t be ordinary.”
Tao Xiao’an looked grave.
She did not possess Lu Zhan’s strength, so it was only natural that she felt somewhat worried.
“What’s there to be afraid of? We’ve got the Demon Extermination Bureau behind us. Once we report this, someone will naturally deal with those people.”
Lu Zhan did not care much about it.
With such a great tree at his back, what did he have to fear?
If he did not go looking for trouble, it was only because he was kind. But if the other side failed to appreciate that and came after him, he would kill every one who came.
Inside the mission handover hall— Knock, knock!
“We’re here to submit a mission.”
Su Wenqing looked up, and her eyes immediately lit up.
“Oh, it’s you.”
Clearly, Lu Zhan’s act of crippling Wang Meng with a single punch yesterday had left a deep impression on her.
“Wait a moment. I’ll verify the mission.”
“All right, no problem. You just need to hand the Rat King over to the staff guarding the Demon-Suppressing Tower.”
“Did it have to be alive?”
“W-what do you mean? You didn’t kill the Rat King too, did you?! Fine... in that case, just take the corpse out and place it in the inspection area.”
Zhou Hong did as instructed. But after the corpse was placed in the inspection area and scanned, Su Wenqing’s brows drew together.
Seeing the realm displayed on the Demon Aura detector, she suddenly shot up from her seat.
Her eyes moved repeatedly between the instrument and the screen, as though confirming it again and again.
“The Fourth Heaven of the Demon Acolyte realm?!”
“This... this was really killed by you?”
Lu Zhan remained calm.
“Is there a problem?”
“N-no, no problem. I’ll issue the mission rewards right away.”
Once both missions had been submitted together, a sum of Contribution Points and Merit Points was credited to Lu Zhan’s phone.
Then Tao Xiao’an quickly and succinctly recounted the matter of the “envoy” mentioned by the Rat King, along with Lu Zhan’s deduction.
Su Wenqing frowned slightly, clearly realizing the seriousness of the matter as well.
“A suspected cult? All right, I’ll report it to Commandant Li and Commandant Zhao at once. Also, remember to mention this in the mission report.”
She swiftly recorded the key information, then handed Lu Zhan a card.
“This matter is no small thing. If there are any new developments afterward, be sure to contact me immediately.”
“All right.”
Once all that was done, Zhou Hong drove Lu Zhan home.
“Brother Lu, I’m in charge of Floating Cloud Harbor, and Sister Tao is in charge of Moon-Reflecting Street. Come visit our jurisdictions sometime when you’re free.”
Floating Cloud Harbor and Moon-Reflecting Street were not far from Peach Blossom Alley.
So Lu Zhan did not refuse.
“All right.”
After returning home, Lu Zhan opened the Demon Extermination Bureau app and checked the mission rewards.
The White Bone Case at Anxi Residential Complex had awarded 20 Contribution Points, 50,000 in cash, and 3 Merit Points.
The disappearance case involving the Peach Blossom Alley jurisdiction heads was even more generously rewarded.
After all, it involved three jurisdiction heads.
So it awarded 30 Contribution Points, 200,000 in cash, and 4 Merit Points.
Adding in the 28 Contribution Points he had earned in the assessment and subtracting the 3 Contribution Points he had already used, that meant Lu Zhan now had a full 75 Contribution Points and 7 Merit Points on him.
He estimated that after one more mission, he would be able to reach 10 Merit Points.
That sort of efficiency in earning Contribution Points and Merit Points was nothing short of terrifying.
There was, however, one thing that displeased him.
He had to get through the three-month apprenticeship period before he could become a full Demon Exterminator.
But three months later, he estimated that by then he would probably already have become a Martial Artist of the Divine Sea Realm.
Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz!
The phone in his pocket kept vibrating. After he picked up, Wang Botao’s voice came through.
“Brother Lu, where did you go today? Why couldn’t I find you?”
Something about his tone seemed a little off.
“I went out on a mission. What is it? Don’t tell me a Demon Beast appeared in our jurisdiction?”
Lu Zhan was instantly interested. He remembered looking through Peach Blossom Alley’s information last night, and he had not found anything wrong.
There was a stretch of silence on the other end of the line.
What kind of jurisdiction head sounded like that when hearing that a Demon Beast had appeared in his own territory?
“Brother Lu, you really do like joking around...” Clearly, Wang Botao had not taken Lu Zhan’s words seriously. “What could possibly happen in our jurisdiction?”
Then the voice on the other end continued, “Actually, there’s nothing major about me calling you so late. It’s just that the jurisdiction head here, Chen Lin, said...”
After hesitating for a moment, Wang Botao continued, “He said... he wants you to go see him tomorrow...”
“I’m not going.”
Lu Zhan laughed the moment he heard it.
If Chen Lin truly had some business with him, then he could come himself.
Instead, he was putting on airs and telling Lu Zhan to go see him.
In truth, Lu Zhan understood the twists and turns behind it after only a little thought.
Chen Lin was doing this for no reason other than to establish rules for the newcomer.
Originally, Peach Blossom Alley had four jurisdiction heads.
Now that Sun Xiang and the other two were dead, Lu Zhan and the other two were all newcomers. That made Chen Lin the most senior person in all of Peach Blossom Alley.
Perhaps in Chen Lin’s eyes, Lu Zhan was simply a thorn in the side.
After all, what newly appointed jurisdiction head in any district did not first go and pay respects to the senior members of the jurisdiction?
Seeking their support and guidance.
But Chen Lin had waited at home for an entire day, and never once saw so much as Lu Zhan’s shadow.
If word of that got out, it would absolutely cost him face.
Others would think that Chen Lin could not even bring a newcomer into line.
But what did any of that have to do with Lu Zhan?
Wang Botao had long since expected this result.
What kind of person was Brother Lu?
Quick-witted, decisive, and unwilling to be constrained. The unspoken rules among jurisdiction heads simply could not bind him.
“Brother Lu, how about we—”
Wang Botao symbolically tried to persuade him, only to be interrupted directly by Lu Zhan.
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle this matter. I’m planning to buy a car tomorrow. By the way, do you know much about cars?”
“Buying a car? That I’m good at. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow.”
“All right, then that’s it.”
Lu Zhan hung up, a cold light in his eyes.
This Chen Lin... it seemed he would have to deal with him tomorrow.