Stronger with More Jobs

Chapter 680 - 291: Companions, a Bet!

Spine City, the small courtyard.

Inside the living room.

Three huge metal boxes lay open, with Wei Banmeng and the others squatting nearby, carefully counting the resources inside that would make any Transcendent envious.

Piles of Tier Two Qi Blood Crystals, dazzling high-quality Life Pearls, and top-tier Tier Two Meditation Flowers exuding a soothing fragrance.

Chu Kuanglan picked up a fist-sized, deep-red Tier Two Qi Blood Crystal and weighed it in his hand, clicking his tongue in wonder: "Tsk tsk, this quality, this energy purity... that fool... ahem, that predecessor was really willing to spend! This is enough to keep our team going for quite a while!"

Wei Banmeng was sorting the Life Pearls by their attributes, and without lifting his head, he responded in a cool voice tinged with a hint of helplessness: "The resources are good, but accepting this hush money is risky. Over on Qingzi’s side..."

Before he finished speaking, the small gate of the courtyard was pushed open.

Fang Qingyu walked in, bringing with him the chill from the street outside.

The actions in the living room ceased instantly, and four pairs of eyes turned simultaneously toward him.

Wei Banmeng stood up, keenly sensing that there seemed to be something suppressed beneath Fang Qingyu’s calm demeanor, and asked softly: "Qingzi, you’re back? Is there anything from Vice Minister Jiang’s side?"

Fang Qingyu’s gaze swept over the open boxes and the faces of his teammates.

He habitually curled his lips into a gentle smile: "Yes, there’s something."

Then Fang Qingyu paused, not explaining immediately, and turned his gaze toward the stairs leading to the second floor, "But, let’s talk later. I need to go to my room and be alone for a while."

Having said that, he walked steadily through the living room, ascending the stairs, his figure disappearing at the end of the corridor on the second floor.

"Bang."

The sound of the room door gently closing reached them.

A brief silence engulfed the living room.

Chu Kuanglan scratched his messy hair, looking puzzled at Wei Banmeng and Lu Jiuyuan: "What’s up with Qingzi? He looks a bit... off?"

Lu Jiuyuan frowned slightly, his steady gaze also carrying confusion: "It’s a bit unusual. Even with tough matters, he would usually brief us first. What exactly did Vice Minister Jiang say to him?"

Wei Banmeng gently shook her head, her cool face equally filled with doubt.

She squatted back down, picked up a Life Pearl, feeling its cold texture with her fingertips, though her thoughts were drifting afar.

This issue is too entangled, anything could happen...

Jiang Wei sat quietly on a small stool in the corner, her clear red eyes gazing at the tightly closed door of Fang Qingyu’s room on the second floor, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Being the one who has been with Fang Qingyu the longest,

she could sense... Fang Qingyu’s heart seemed to be in turmoil.

Inside the room.

Fang Qingyu did not turn on the light, walking straight to the window.

His hands rested on the cold windowsill, his gaze penetrating the glass, casting out at the never-dimming lights of Spine City.

The halos of the streetlights diffused into blurred circles in the cold wind.

The patrol searchlights of the Garrison Army swept silently across the night sky in the distance.

The city’s noise was isolated outside the window, leaving only the steady and powerful heartbeat within his chest and the tangled thoughts swirling in his mind.

In Jiang Ying’s office, he had maintained calmness and rationality, even with a hint of relief.

He understood Hong Qitian’s acquiescence, understood the weight of that slash, understood Luo Qingyi’s Merit and the complex situation her plight brought.

And without hesitation, he accepted that seemingly impossible mission.

To penetrate into the Arctic belly, haunted by the Life Ghost, to slay a uniquely capable Tier Four King Species.

However, now alone.

The suppressed confusion and incomprehension truly surged up.

"Old man... What kind of chess game are you playing?"

Fang Qingyu silently murmured, the Melted Gold eyes gleaming with a faint light in the darkness.

From breaking into the dirty human trafficking at Skull Ice Valley.

Fang Qingyu knew this was no coincidence.

With Hong Qitian’s unfathomable state and control over the frontline, could the dealings of the Ji and Luo Families really escape him?

The existence of Jiu was itself the old man’s greatest support and protection for him, giving him the confidence to tackle these tough nuts.

But now?

The old man clearly supported his investigation, even tacitly allowed him to use extreme measures to clear out the Ji Family’s minions at the Arctic Great Wall, forcing the Luo Family to intervene personally.

Yet when the Supreme Council issued the order transferring him away from the core battle zone to the Land of Chaos, the City of Injustice, the old man chose to acquiesce.

This contradiction made Fang Qingyu feel a strong sense of tearing.

This differed slightly from the old man’s initial intention when he allowed him to come upon this matter.

Unless the Lu Family paid some price.

Or perhaps, there was really something in the City of Injustice that could help him, and the old man calculated from the start that he would take this step to the City of Injustice....

This thought struck like lightning, cleaving through the fog.

Hong Qitian initially letting him stumble upon this matter, letting him manage, kill, investigate.

Not just to clear the internal decay.

Not just to hone him as a blade...

More importantly, it was to push him reasonably and smoothly to that place, the City of Injustice.

The Luo Family’s intervention, the Supreme Council’s transfer order...

Perhaps all of this was within the old man’s anticipation, and even possibly driven by him behind the scenes.

Using the Luo Family’s pressure as the perfect reason to send him to the City of Injustice.

Only in this way.

Could explain the old man’s seemingly contradictory attitude front to back.

The last words the old man instructed Jiang Ying to convey.

Were by no means empty words, but a clear guide.

The more Fang Qingyu thought about it, the more he felt this possibility was quite high.