novelraw Chapter 378: Just Do Your Best
Chapter 378: Just Do Your Best
"Teacher."
Feng Jue and the other two immediately stood up to pay their respects.
They noticed that Teacher Wang's aura had become vast and profound compared to before, the gloomy air that had plagued him for years completely swept away.
The huge news about an unknown Aberrant giving Wang Mingyuan a Reforge Fruit had already spread like wildfire.
They naturally guessed immediately who this unknown Aberrant was.
The efficacy of the Reforge Fruit was obvious at a glance.
Wang Mingyuan wore a gentle smile on his face and waved his hand, "Sit, all of you. No need for formalities."
He himself also pulled over a chair and sat down, his gaze sweeping over the three of them, taking in the lingering solemnity on their faces.
"You don't need to pay any mind to the public opinion outside."
Wang Mingyuan got straight to the point, "We know our own strength and position. Just do your best."Liu Ziming couldn't hold back and lowered his voice, "Teacher, that Reforge Fruit... was it really him who sent it?"
Although they had already learned from Wang Mingyuan that Su Zhan wasn't dead and had taken the alias "Chen Qing" to become a powerful Aberrant in Black City.
But a legendary Reforge Fruit appearing in such a shocking manner still left them feeling incredulous.
Wang Mingyuan nodded, his eyes filled with emotion, "Who else could it be but him? That kid... he's always been like this, doing things that shock the world."
"This is just too... doesn't he know how much attention and investigation this will attract?"
Xu Hao rubbed his forehead, his tone carrying lingering fear and a hint of indescribable amazement, "The Aberrant Purge Division must have him under intense surveillance by now! And... Calamity-level... how long has it been? He actually really..."
The three of them were pushing themselves to the limit, their goal being to touch the threshold of the Ocean Realm before the age of thirty-five, which was nearly ten years in the future. This was already considered a pace for geniuses among geniuses. But what about Su Zhan?
Twenty-five years old, Calamity-level!
That was a realm they needed to look up to, even dared not imagine reaching within their lifetimes.
This kind of gap could no longer be described with just talent.
It was the difference between clouds and mud.
And he even obtained a Reforge Fruit from within the Mist...
Such a rare thing... just hearing about it was shocking, let alone seeing it in person. They could already imagine the expressions of those who saw that thing.
Feng Jue remained silent, clenching his fist, feeling the spiritual energy of his First Stage of the Abyss Realm, "Is his situation even more dangerous now?"
Shock aside, he was more concerned about the real crisis.
"That's inevitable. The identity of Chen Qing has now been placed under the spotlight."
Wang Mingyuan sighed, "Before, he was perhaps just a promising Guest Advisor under City Lord Mo Yuan. Now... there are too many suspicious points about him.
Especially Qin Bai, he absolutely won't let this opportunity slip by."
Liu Ziming snapped back from his shock over the Calamity-level, and thinking of the peril Su Zhan faced, he punched the armrest of the sofa again in frustration, "Then we... are we just supposed to watch? Unable to do anything? He's so strong now, maybe..."
"Precisely because he has now reached that level, the enemies and situation he faces are completely different."
Wang Mingyuan cut him off, his expression serious, "All we can do now is focus on our own tasks.
Achieving good results in the competition, showcasing the prowess of Vermilion Bird Academy, that is the best support for him, and for the academy.
Don't distract him, and definitely don't try to contact him. That would only bring him greater trouble.
His path, he can only walk it himself."
Feng Jue and the other two fell silent.
They knew Teacher Wang was right. Right now, they could only be bystanders.
Their only goal was to win on this highly-anticipated competition stage, until they could win no more.
Perhaps this was the only silent support they could convey at this moment.
And the level Su Zhan existed in was too distant for them.
...
Aberrant Purge Division.
A certain branch.
Underground interrogation room.
The air was thick with the heavy scent of blood.
Qin Bai stood in the center of the interrogation room, his gaze sinister.
On the ground lay a body that was almost unrecognizably human, still twitching slightly, its life force rapidly fading.
Just moments ago.
Qin Bai had personally interrogated this suspect.
A vagrant who had been loitering near a border outpost, behaving suspiciously.
Intelligence reports claimed his pupils emitted strange light at night, and there had been unexplained weak Mist energy fluctuations around the outpost.
Under normal circumstances, a suspect of this level might not have warranted Qin Bai's personal involvement.
But at this moment, he needed to vent.
Chen Qing!
This name gnawed at his heart.
That Aberrant who should have been captured or killed by his own hands had not only escaped right under his nose but had also transformed into a favored figure under Mo Yuan's wing.
At the recent banquet at the City Lord's Residence, he, Qin Bai, had been forced to put on a strained smile, enduring those subtle glances from those around him.
Mo Yuan's protection, that old fox Zhang Daoxuan's seemingly impartial yet actually biased attitude, and Chen Qing's increasingly powerful strength...
All of this made him feel a long-lost sense of powerlessness.
He, Qin Bai, an Ocean Realm powerhouse, an elite agent of the Aberrant Purge Division, when had he ever suffered such humiliation?
Violent emotions churned in his chest, never diminishing over the past six months.
And today, this suspected Aberrant who had stumbled into his path became the perfect target for him to vent his rage.
The interrogation process was brutally straightforward.
Qin Bai didn't employ any skillful questioning techniques.
He directly used spiritual energy torture capable of tearing apart souls.
Ocean Realm level mental power transformed into invisible needles and blades, repeatedly ravaging the suspect's mind and body.
Piercing, inhuman shrieks echoed.
At first, the suspect could still intermittently plead for mercy, claiming innocence.
But under Qin Bai's increasingly frenzied assault, he soon lost coherence, began babbling nonsense, unconsciously repeating certain words from Qin Bai's harsh interrogations.
The body completely stopped twitching, its life force utterly extinguished.
Only then did the insane ferocity in Qin Bai's eyes slightly recede.
He waited, waited for that corpse to reveal inhuman Aberrant features, proving his judgment correct, proving his earlier brutality necessary.
One breath, two breaths... ten breaths passed.
The corpse on the ground showed no changes whatsoever.
Nor did it emit the chaotic energy typically released upon an Aberrant's death.
It was simply the corpse of an ordinary human, tortured to death.
A subordinate in white protective gear steeled himself and stepped forward, quickly scanning with an instrument before trembling as he reported, "Agent Qin, vital signs zero... scan confirms, no... no residual Aberrant energy reaction detected... target... target is an ordinary human individual."
As his words fell, the interrogation room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The other few Aberrant Purge Division members subconsciously took half a step back, deeply bowing their heads, even lightening their breaths, afraid of attracting their superior's attention.
Ever since the failed capture of Chen Qing in Black City, especially after returning humiliated from the City Lord's Residence, Agent Qin Bai had become increasingly moody and his methods ever more cruel.