Chapter 53: Rapid Progress — So Close Now

My Profession is too Personal

"Let's have Hu Xiang keep an eye on things first." Su Chen only closed his wristband after receiving Hu Xiang's confirmation.

He turned, about to enter the Gravity Room, when his steps faltered. Something made him glance toward the front door. The knocking started again.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Quite the popular guy today."

Su Chen opened the door and blinked in surprise.

"Su Chen, my boy..." A middle-aged man stood outside — not particularly tall, barely reaching Su Chen's shoulder — wearing a genial smile.

"Deputy Chief... Pan?" Su Chen stared at his visitor, not expecting to come face-to-face with the man this soon.

It was Pan Yu himself.

"What brings you here so suddenly?" Su Chen's expression revealed nothing beyond mild surprise.

"You've been in the Patrol Division for a while now, and the two of us still haven't had a proper chat." Pan Yu chuckled amiably. "What's wrong — am I not welcome?"

"Not at all. Please, come in." Su Chen stepped aside. The man's repeated covert moves proved he wouldn't dare make a move here in the open.

"Settling in alright?" Pan Yu glanced around with feigned interest.

"Much better than where I used to live." Su Chen turned his back to pour a glass of water, silently lamenting the timing. The visit had come too suddenly — he hadn't prepared anything. No chance to slip in any poison.

After a few pleasantries, Pan Yu heaved a dramatic sigh and got to the point. "Look, brother, you can probably tell — I'm not really here to chat."

"Truth is, with the City Lord overseeing the Supervision Department now, everyone's walking on eggshells, afraid to make a misstep. Your 17th Patrol Squad still falls under my jurisdiction."

"This is awkward for me..." He put on a pained expression. "You've been staying in your room the whole time, but your squad's attendance records show you at full marks. When the Director was here, nobody cared. But now..."

He sighed helplessly. "Brother, can you cut me some slack here?"

"How about this — you don't even have to go out once every three days. Just once a week. Would that work?"

Su Chen's heart sank. 'This eager?'

After a brief pause, he agreed without hesitation. "No problem. I wouldn't dream of making things difficult for you."

"Wonderful! I knew the Director's student would think of the department first." Pan Yu broke into a beaming smile. "Old Qin was fretting about it, too nervous to come say it himself."

"Well, that's all I had. I'll get going." Pan Yu seemed to have come solely for this purpose — mission accomplished, he headed for the door.

Only after stepping into the elevator did his smile gradually fade. "Still too young."

'I remember his profession is Shadow-Hiding Adept.' Su Chen shut the door, his mind already calculating. He needed to learn everything about that profession.

Fortunately, that was something he could actually manage.

As for going on patrol? Fat chance.

......

Su Chen trained relentlessly, day and night. Nobody disturbed him, and it was several days before the routine was broken.

He opened the door and let Fatty Sun in.

"Little bro, with discipline like yours, you'll succeed at whatever you set your mind to." Fatty Sun dished out his daily flattery, then set down a metal case. "The potions you ordered — ten vials of Black Flame, twenty of Spiritual Light."

The Void-Rending Warrior progression was advancing faster, and once he hit 2nd-tier, these 1st-tier potions would be useless. So Su Chen had reduced his Black Flame reserves accordingly.

"Thanks." Su Chen took the case. Fatty Sun then pulled out a stack of documents and whispered, "Here's the intel on the Shadow-Hiding Adept profession."

"I pieced this together from discreet inquiries. I couldn't pull the detailed professional data directly."

"Appreciate it, bro." Su Chen accepted the files. What he cared about weren't the profession's specifics anyway — it was the abilities and capabilities.

He browsed through the documents and casually asked, "What's our Division Chief like?"

"Qin Cheng?" Fatty Sun curled his lip. "Skims off the top at every opportunity, has a terrible temper, and yells at his people constantly."

He paused, then furrowed his brow. "Did he give you trouble? I'll have a word with him."

"No, just curious." Su Chen shook his head with a smile. "What about the Deputy Chief?"

Old Sun thought for a moment. "Pan Yu's actually a decent guy. Respected throughout the department."

Su Chen nodded to show he understood. Fatty Sun watched him studying the files intently and couldn't help asking:

"Aren't you going for Gale Hunter? Why would you want intel on the Shadow-Hiding Adept? That's only a mid-2nd-tier profession."

Su Chen offered an explanation. "I'm looking into it for a friend in the squad. She just advanced to Messenger, and I figured she should start leaning in this direction. Might save her some effort if she ever gets the chance to upgrade."

Fatty Sun's beady eyes darted about. "Zhou Li?"

"Mm." Su Chen continued leafing through the materials.

"You lucky dog." Fatty Sun couldn't help but envy him. He'd been about to warn Su Chen not to get too emotionally invested.

Zhou Li was leagues below him — a passing fling, fine, but nothing more.

Then he remembered Jiang He arriving at Su Chen's door that night, and swallowed the advice. With experience like that, the kid probably didn't need reminding.

Old Sun left with a sour twinge of jealousy, reminding Su Chen to burn everything once he'd finished reading.

Shortly after, wisps of flame curled upward as Su Chen fed the paper documents into the fire. His face flickered in the dancing light. 'Shadow-Hiding Adept... I'll need to prepare carefully. Unfortunately, he's an insider too — poisoning will be next to impossible.'

He glanced out the window. The artificial light sources had already dimmed to darkness. On his panel:

[Void-Rending Warrior: 93%]

[Mystic Artificer: 74%]

[Snake Shadow Body Forging Method — Proficient: 95%]

[Morning Light Meditation Method — Adept: 10%]

He'd barely finished burning the documents when — as if on cue — Pan Yu knocked at his door again.

The Deputy Chief managed a strained smile. This time he didn't even bother with pleasantries, cutting straight to the chase: "So, brother — when are you planning to go on patrol?"

"Patrol?" Su Chen looked puzzled. "I already told Captain Zhao — just mark me down as absent."

Yuan Chenyang had placed him in the Supervision Department primarily for convenience. Old Sun had dutifully arranged every aspect of his situation out of loyalty to the Director.

But whether his attendance was perfect or not meant nothing to Su Chen.

"That way you do things by the book, and nobody puts you in a tough spot." Su Chen explained.

Pan Yu's expression shifted. He'd been shut down so neatly he couldn't find a word to say. He managed to force out, "Right... as long as you're fine with it."

"It's nothing. I'm leaving the Supervision Department sooner or later anyway." Su Chen shrugged dismissively. "I've got training to do, so I won't keep you."

Slam!

The door closed. Pan Yu stood frozen, a muscle twitching in his jaw.

'Damn it — played me for a fool!'

......

Shortly after, Su Chen crept out and made his way down to a small reception room on the first floor. Hu Xiang was already waiting.

"What's the situation?" Su Chen asked quietly. "What has Pan Yu been up to?"

"Nothing," Hu Xiang said with a frown. "Just his daily routine — work, then home."

"I can only tail him from a distance. I can't run a thorough investigation. If you really think he's a problem, you could report him to Internal Audit."

"No..." Su Chen shook his head reflexively. This involved the Spatial Crystals and the drained Evil God Artifact.

If either of those secrets came to light, even Yuan Chenyang wouldn't be able to shield him.