Chapter 16
Chapter 16
“Oh? You know me?”
Qian Youquan was mildly surprised, but quickly accepted it.
Of course.
As the future heir of the mighty Qian Group, where did he not receive the adoration of the crowd and an entourage at his beck and call?
Even among the elite of Safe Zone 088, he was a prominent figure.
To exaggerate only slightly, anyone who took a photograph with Qian Youquan could use it to secure a loan from any bank in Safe Zone 088.
Qin Lan, meanwhile, knew Qian Youquan’s face extremely well.
In all the information he had found about the Qian Group, that flamboyant, eminently punchable face had appeared at least a hundred times.
“Young Master Qian, you have no idea. I’ve thought of you day and night. I even dreamed of meeting you.”
Qin Lan enthusiastically clasped Qian Youquan’s hand, his expression sincere and every word from the heart.
It was not exactly a lie. He had longed for this meeting, only because he longed to see Qian Youquan dead.
Qin Lan had already imagined more than a dozen elaborate ways for him to die.
“He didn’t recognize me… Heh. So he never once considered a slum boy like me worth noticing.”
“To him, I was an insignificant ant. Once crushed underfoot, it wasn’t worth another thought.”
Qin Lan remained enthusiastic, but coldness lurked beneath his eyes.
Indeed, in the eyes of the powerful, they had merely sacrificed a piece of trash destined to die sooner or later. Why bother learning what trash looked like?
Su Xiaoyue was confused by Qin Lan’s attitude toward Qian Youquan.
In fact, she did not know that the Qian Group had orchestrated the earlier attack.
Her family’s connections had let her learn that someone intended to harm Qin Lan, but she could not trace it as far as the Qian Group. Principal Wu had never told her either.
To Su Xiaoyue, Qian Youquan differed from the Su Xiaoyue Admirers’ Alliance only in his family’s power.
“Since you’re Su Xiaoyue’s friend and know who I am, I’ll be direct,” Qian Youquan said, crossing his legs and looking contemptuous.
“You know me, while I don’t know you. That proves your background is nothing special.”
“Someone like Su Xiaoyue is destined to soar through the ranks and stand at the top of society.”
“Only someone at my level has the right to remain beside her.”
He spoke these arrogant words directly in front of Qin Lan as though they were self-evident.
“If I were you, I would recognize my place and stay far away from her.”
“I know that makes you uncomfortable, but this is how the world works. People like me make the rules. People like you obey them.”
Su Xiaoyue could barely suppress her anger.
Before she could speak, Qin Lan smiled.
“Oh? Young Master Qian means that I don’t deserve to stay beside Su Xiaoyue, but you do?”
Qian Youquan raised his chin proudly.
“Of course!”
“Only an exceptional person like me can–”
Qin Lan did not let him finish.
“Exceptional? You mean an ignorant wastrel who needed his family’s influence to fabricate an examination result before he could barely enter a decent academy?”
“Qualified? If I remember correctly, your Talent tested at D-rank. To preserve the Qian Group’s reputation, your family bribed United Government personnel to change it to B-rank.”
Those two sentences drained the color from Qian Youquan’s face, then flooded it back in alternating waves.
After Qin Lan officially became an Anomaly Hunter, this information had taken only a casual search of the internal network to uncover.
Beside them, Su Xiaoyue trembled and looked at Qin Lan in disbelief.
“What do you mean? Is he the person who…”
Qin Lan nodded, confirming her suspicion.
Then he watched Qian Youquan’s expression with interest.
“Forgive my bluntness, but the excellence you boast about has always been a falsehood that shatters at a touch.”
“As for the family background you’re so proud of… Well, it isn’t worth a cent to me.”
Qin Lan took out a black badge and placed it on the table.
“You filthy commoner! How dare you–”
The moment Qian Youquan saw the badge, his erupting fury died in his throat.
A 1-Star Anomaly Hunter.
“Oh, so you recognize it.”
Qin Lan spread his hands and smiled brilliantly.
“If you want to cause trouble for me, I’ll be waiting. But if you attack an Anomaly Hunter, I wonder how many lives you have available as compensation?”
An Anomaly Hunter? How could someone this young be an Anomaly Hunter?
Qian Youquan ground his teeth but could not refute him.
Inside a Safe Zone, an Anomaly Hunter’s identity was an absolute shield.
Whatever the faction, anyone who dared attack an Anomaly Hunter faced only one outcome.
A crackdown on organized crime required evidence. Counterterrorism required a list of names. Suppressing rebellion required only coordinates.
“You’re only a 1-Star Anomaly Hunter… Several Anomaly Hunters have close ties to the Qian Group. You think this scares me?”
Qian Youquan’s refined face turned savage.
“Even if I cannot touch you, how long do you think you’ll live?”
“More than ninety percent of Anomaly Hunters die each year. How many years can a 1-Star like you survive?”
Qin Lan yawned.
“That isn’t your concern… But I’m certain I’ll live longer than you.”
“You had better pray that I don’t survive, and that I never reach 2-Star or 3-Star rank.”
Qin Lan bared his teeth.
“When that day comes, I’ll visit you even if you don’t come looking for me.”
Qian Youquan’s temples throbbed, but he could only suppress his rage.
Seeing him stand frozen, Qin Lan looked surprised.
“Still not leaving? Drink too much coffee?”
“If you drank too much, get lost. Are you waiting for dinner?”
Qian Youquan slammed the table, rose without another word, and left.
“Ah, that felt wonderful.”
Watching the furious man depart filled Qin Lan with satisfaction.
No wonder so many people wanted to become Anomaly Hunters despite the mortality rate.
Sheltering beneath a great tree truly was comfortable.
“Who would have imagined some penniless bastard from the slums could insult the Qian Group’s heir to his face while the man couldn’t answer back?”
“Tsk, tsk…”
But when Qin Lan turned and saw Su Xiaoyue staring fixedly at the badge, his smile vanished.
Unease replaced it.
Su Xiaoyue slowly raised her head, complicated emotions in her eyes.
“You… joined the Anomaly Hunter Bureau?”
Qin Lan stumbled over his answer.
“Well, this… Yes… I did.”
“I meant to share the good news, but never found a chance…”
Su Xiaoyue’s voice was soft, yet it made him increasingly nervous.
“A profession with an extremely high mortality rate. You have to explore instances in Fallen Zones regularly and fight each anomaly you encounter…”
“You took the licensing exam two days ago, didn’t you? This is the ‘nothing serious’ you told me about?”
Qin Lan smiled awkwardly, unsure how to explain.
“So while I couldn’t contact you, you could have died in a Fallen Zone at any moment, and I would have known nothing.”
Su Xiaoyue rose, lowered her lashes, and avoided Qin Lan’s eyes.
“Qin Lan, have you ever seriously considered your own well-being?”
“I…”
“Do you truly value your life?”
“Well…”
“Or do you believe no one cares about you, so you can treat yourself this irresponsibly?”
“No, I…”
Su Xiaoyue turned and left without looking back, leaving Qin Lan frozen in his seat.
“Uh… This is bad…”
Even someone as slow as Qin Lan realized how badly the situation had deteriorated.