Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Logistics Department.
Fang Ping was quite surprised that Lu Fengrou had brought him to the Logistics Department of all places.
They did not head to the Exchange Office on the first floor but directly went up to the third floor.
Although the sky was dark, the Exchange Office was still open. Martial artists trained every hour of the day.
“The first floor houses the Credit Collection Office and the Exchange Office. You go to the second floor to confirm your Rank. The third floor is where you go to accept missions.”
Lu Fengrou explained as they walked, “Of course, not everyone can go there. Aspiring martial artists can’t. Rank-1 martial artists as well can’t do so without a recommendation from an instructor.”
When they arrived on the third floor, there was someone behind a reception counter-esque kiosk next to the entrance.
The martial artist guarding the room raised his head to look at them when he heard the sound of them approaching. When he saw Lu Fengrou, he greeted her quickly, “Hello, Instructor Lu!”
“Mm.”
Lu Fengrou did not say much. She led Fang Ping and Zhao Xuemei in.
It was somewhat different from what Fang Ping had imagined. There was no big blackboard crammed with missions unlike in his imagination.
There were only intelligent machines a little taller than a meter.
Lu Fengrou approached a random machine and looked at Fang Ping. “Where is your martial arts license?”
Fang Ping retrieved it hurriedly. Lu Fengrou put in on the machine and told him as she maneuvered, “You have to obtain permission before you can access the system. I’m giving you permission to accept missions now.
“Without permission from an instructor, it’s futile even if you manage to enter the room. That’s because you wouldn’t be able to access the system.”
As she talked, she finished the task.
Four portals were shown on the screen.
“Army Missions”
“Department of Investigation Missions”
“Police Missions”
“School Missions”
…
“The Army and Department of Investigation missions are tougher. Of course, since you’re only a Rank-1, the missions that you’ll see on the screen are limited. They are still difficult, though.
“There are quite a number of powerhouses in the Army and Department of Investigation. Due to them being short-staffed sometimes, or because of a few other reasons, they delegate some tasks to martial arts university students.
“The army doesn’t offer much in return, but they sometimes give out rare resources or army points.
“Such points are useful in many respects. They can be used to fulfill a criterion when you’re looking to be accepted or promoted. You can also use them to redeem rare resources.
“The Department pays more, but their missions are tough. Sometimes they award points too. Those points can equip you with a future career in the Department.
“The missions given by the police are much easier, but you must never let your guard down.”
Lu Fengrou reminded Fang Ping, “The missions given by the police often concerns civilians.
“But they’re all thieves or something. Most of them are armed.
“Although they aren’t martial artists, they’re all irrevocably evil and extremely aggressive. Rank-1 martial artists like you can get killed if you’re not careful.
“The police often pay you with cash unlike the army and the Department. The latter two often compensate you with pills or other materials.
“As for the last one, school missions.”
Lu Fengrou laughed. “There are tough ones and easy ones.
“Those that are easy are extremely so. For example, some students might post battle missions when they’re nearing a breakthrough and want to find an opponent to battle against. They’re normally not dangerous, and you can accept them.
“Some instructors might also issue missions like running errands or delivering stuff. Anything’s possible.
“They’re easy, so there isn’t much to gain.
“There are hard ones, too. For example, some students might want to form a team to carry out a mission. Some instructors might need some skilled students to help…
“To sum it up, you’ll know when the time comes.
“You can browse for a while and then choose to accept missions if you want. You’re still a freshman, though. If you do accept missions, pick those that are easier and take less time.
“There are too many things you haven’t learned. Don’t learn from those seniors of yours whose missions take a few months or even half a year.”
At last, Lu Fengrou said, “The mission system in the Logistics Department is for Rank-1 and 2 students. When you reach Rank-3, you’ll go elsewhere to accept missions.
“Also, you can access the system through the school’s official site. You just have to type in your student ID and passcode.
“This place is set up for newbies to take a look and also to report the completion of missions.
“I put up some missions when I need help from students as well. You don’t need to concern yourself with such things. You’re too green, so you aren’t needed for any missions.”
Fang Ping nodded fervently. Zhao Xuemei, who was standing beside him, ventured carefully as she asked, “Mentor, what about me…”
“You?”
Lu Fengrou smiled serenely. “You only need to know the procedure, now is not the time.”
“Oh.”
Zhao Xuemei was somewhat disappointed. Fang Ping smiled at her when he noticed her expression. “It’s nothing. When I accept a mission, I can take you with me…”
“Shut up!”
Lu Fengrou’s fury was a wild turn from her previous calmness. “Ridiculous!”
“If you don’t have the skill, what are you doing? Accepting missions? Are you trying to die?
“If you want to, don’t pull people down with you!
“Also, the missions you accept are confidential. Don’t ever tell other people what missions you’ve accepted. Didn’t you know that catastrophe comes to you when you run your mouth?
“This doesn’t apply if you need a team to finish a mission. Otherwise, you have to depend on yourself.
“You can only see the summary of a mission on the system. Specific details are not revealed until you accept it.
“Right. When you fail to complete a mission, or if you give up on it, your credits will be deducted based on the reward value. Don’t claim missions recklessly.”
Fang Ping nodded quickly and said contritely, “It was I who said the wrong thing. I won’t team up with anyone else recklessly.”
“Good that you know,” Lu Fengrou said. She then turned to look at Zhao Xuemei. “You have to master your puncture kick first and hone more than 50 bones before we talk about this.
“Don’t be jealous of others. There’s no need to. It’s not something worth being happy for anyway.”
“I know.”
“Let’s go. Fang Ping can either stay here to browse or do it afterward.”
Lu Fengrou did not wait for him. She turned to leave instantly after finishing her sentence.
Zhao Xuemei wanted to stay for a while, but she had to bide him goodbye. Seeing how Lu Fengrou had already left, she said, “Fang Ping, I’m going to leave first.”
“Mm.”
…
He watched as the two left, his heart beating fast. He clicked into the portal for police missions first.
“Capture and kill Grade A wanted criminals. A three-man criminal group that is armed with firearms. No martial artists. Danger level: High. Location: Near the outskirts of Magic City…
“Suggested for: Rank-2 or Peak Rank-1 martial artists.
“Reward: 0.3 million yuan in cash.”
“Assist the police in capturing a drug dealer. Suspected possession of firearms. Danger level: Medium…
“Suggested for: Peak Rank-1 martial artists and above.
“Reward: 0.1 million yuan in cash.”
“Capture a burglar. Civilian. No possession of firearms. Target has concealed himself in the area near Kun Mountain. Has counter-investigation skills. Danger level: Low.”
“Suggested for: Rank-1 martial artists.
“Reward: 50 thousand yuan in cash.”
“…”
Fang Ping swept through the list. There were quite a few missions. Some of them were not dangerous at all. Of course, their rewards were nothing worth talking about.
Fang Ping saw searching missions for both people and objects as well. This made him baffled.
Of course, the reward for such missions was even more unremarkable. They ranged from a few to some dozen thousand yuan.
They were not completely left alone, though. Martial artists who were more on the average side coincidentally had some free time to help in the search.
He read for a while and discovered that most of the targets were civilians. Close to none of the missions had martial artists as targets.
The police served civilians.
Fang Ping clicked into the Department of Investigation’s system. The missions there were much harder.
“Capture a Peak Rank-1 martial artist. Has murdered. Practices palm combat techniques. Location: Yellow Plain City.
Suggested for: Peak Rank-1 or Rank-2 martial artists that have mastered combat techniques.
“Reward: 0.2 million yuan.”
“Kill a Peak Rank-2 martial artist. Target has completed honing of all his limbs. Is armed with firearms and has mastered leg and fist combat techniques. Location: Target is currently in hiding in Magic City…
“Suggested for: Peak Rank-2 or Rank-3 martial artists that have mastered combat techniques, are experienced in practical combat, and have experience in completing missions of similar nature…
“Reward: 0.5 million yuan or 20 credits.”
“…”
The missions offered to MCMAU paid quite handsomely. A Peak Rank-1 martial artist could get a reward of 0.2 million yuan.
A Peak Rank-2 martial artist could earn as much as 20 credits.
A lot of missions of similar nature were offered as well. The students could choose without having to fight over them.
NMAU rarely offered such missions. If there were any, they were always snatched up quickly.
Next, Fang Ping looked at the missions offered by the army. They were more or less similar to those offered by the Department, but some of them were located in the countryside far away from the city.
Myriad rewards were offered. Cash, pills, credits, alloy weaponry, and points were given as rewards by the army or the Department of Investigation.
Fang Ping was rendered speechless after looking at the school missions for a while.
There were missions that were essentially girlfriend-searching notices!
“Looking to employ a girlfriend. Needs to be gentle and beautiful. Period: 10 days.
“Remarks: This is a pure relationship with the opposite sex. Can refuse to go along with overly intimate interactions.
“Reward: 5 credits.”
It was fine if there were only girlfriend-searching notices, but there were boyfriend-searching ones too! The main point was that the person who had posted it was male too!
Of course, there were some constructive ones aside from those.
For example, some students wanted to try out their combat techniques and needed someone else who had learned the same ones to serve as practice partners. They awarded credits as well.
As Fang Ping scanned the list, he spotted an interesting one.
“Challenge Wang Jinyang from Nanjiang Martial Arts University!
“Wang Jinyang, Peak Rank-3 martial artist (might already be Rank-4), President of the NMAU Martial Arts Club. Achievements: Has defeated 14 Rank-3 martial artists from Capital City.
“Remarks: Has not killed anyone in combat but has caused serious injury.
“Reward:
Defeat: 200 credits.
Failed to defeat but caused injury: 50-150 credits depending on the severity of the injury.
Death: 500 credits!”
“Old Wang really has enemies everywhere!”
Fang Ping exclaimed. The reward offered for Wang Jinyang’s death was particularly remarkable, 500 credits!
It was quite a high price. It was almost equal to 1.5 million yuan.
Of course, few people – no one, rather – would accept that mission.
Peak Rank-3 or Rank-4 martial artists most probably would not be short of something like 500 credits. The missions they completed normally were not that easy as well.
That mission was somewhat special as he was able to see it there. Normally, Fang Ping was not able to see missions geared at Rank-3 or Rank-4 martial artists.
“Is it Liu Yongwen or someone else?’
Fang Ping made a guess. He then shook his head as he failed to guess who was behind it. It could not have been Liu Yongwen – that guy did not seem to have the nerve to do such a thing.
Moreover, 500 credits was a considerable sum. Liu Yongwen could not have been capable of forking out such a huge amount of credits.
Wealth was not synonymous with rank. The higher someone’s rank was, the more they spent. Some of the higher-ranked martial artists were even more destitute and poorer than Fang Ping.
Someone who was capable of giving out 500 credits had to be from a wealthy family.
Luckily, the mission called for a challenge and not an assassination.
Fang Ping guessed that the martial arts university would not allow missions of that nature. A challenge was just and exposed to the public. An assassination was different. The person carrying out the mission would be in the dark.
Old Wang himself might have been aware of the mission as well, but he did not pay it any attention.
Fang Ping stared at it for a while and had a sudden thought: “If I ask Old Wang to act it out with me and have him surrender, I’d be able to earn 200 credits without doing anything?”
After deeper thought, he concluded that Old Wang would not be so inclined to agree.
Even though everyone would know that they were only acting, one of them was a Rank-4 while the other was a Rank-1. The other could not afford to lose face like that.
“It isn’t completely impossible though. Old Wang’s quite a pragmatic person. There might be hope if I give him half the credits?’
Fang Ping committed the mission to memory and decided to ask Wang Jinyang if an opportunity arose – After all, 200 credits was quite a lot.
…
Fang Ping stayed in the Office for about two hours.
In the end, he did not accept any missions.
He wanted to wait and see before making a decision. He was not that short of funds at the moment, and he did not have the skills that made an outside venture necessary. Accepting missions would take up a lot of time and that was bad.
He could accept a few simpler missions when he found himself stuck or when he was short of money.
However, Fang Ping was thinking about something else when he walked out of the door.
“I didn’t see any missions related to the pagan group. Or are some missions calling for the capture or murder of a target related to it?
“What Old Wang and the others said about the dangers a Rank-3 martial artist would face is surely related to missions. Missions that I still can’t see. Yeah, it must be like that.”
He then thought about the special training class again.
Students had been asked to register for the special training class. How, exactly, would the training be carried out?
…
Fang Ping squashed those thoughts down when he returned to his room and started honing his bones.
At present, he had honed 28 bones. There were only 3 bones left in his right leg: the femur (thigh bone), the patella (knee bone), and the fibula (calf long bone). Those three bones were difficult to hone in their own ways: for example, the femur was huge while the patella was complicated.
Fang Ping slowed down his honing process compared to when he was honing his phalanges. Every one of those bones could be honed in just a day.
The three bones… Fang Ping estimated that he had to spend at least 10 days on each of them.
“I have to try and finish the honing of one limb as soon as I can. There are only three months left to the end of the term. There are still 34 bones left in my lower limbs. They’ll take two months at least.”
Two months to finish bone-honing and reach Peak Rank-1. That was how Fang Ping estimated his progress to be.
If he was lucky, he could enter Rank-2 by the time the term ended.
Of course, it would only happen if he was really lucky. Fang Ping might not be able to succeed. An overly quick breakthrough was not necessarily good news. His combat and stance training would need huge investments in terms of time and Vitality. He had to take care of all three at the same time.
“As for the company, I’ll have to send some money over so Li Chengze can continue expanding the business. I can feel my expenses increasing now. It’ll surely be harder in the future. Without money, I’ll progress very slowly.
“I’ve invested so much in the company. What if Li Chengze runs away?”
Fang Ping did not hesitate to think the worst of someone else. Not that much had been invested into the company yet – Li Chengze could still be holding in his true intentions when there were only millions.
When the funds increased to ten million yuan, and Fang Ping was not present, the same could not be said.
“I’ll have to look for someone else to share the power. Sigh, everything’s so hard…”
He exclaimed before clearing his mind and continuing his cultivation.