Chapter 80
Chapter 80
According to Tang Qingqing, the Talent What Joy in Life? could share fifty percent of all her stats with the target of the bond–the one person she could choose only once in her entire life.
Her other Talent was What Sorrow in Death? It allowed her to gain thirty percent of each of her three guardian spirits’ stats.
She could also replace guardian spirits, much as Qin Lan could replace copied abilities.
If a guardian spirit could no longer keep pace with her, she could exchange it for a stronger individual in the future.
“That growth potential… It has definitely reached A-rank standards!”
“No, it’s more than that.”
Qin Lan’s eyes gleamed. “If my guess is correct…”
After a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke.
“I’ll ask Principal Wu to give you some time off.”
Tang Qingqing did not understand. “Huh? Time off? Why?”
Qin Lan stared at her as if looking at a priceless treasure. “I need to verify a few things… You’ll have to come to the Anomaly Hunter Bureau with me.”
Only ten minutes later, Qin Lan brought Tang Qingqing to the reception desk in the Bureau’s main lobby.
Luo Yue had been reading recent instance reports. The instant she saw Qin Lan arrive with a pretty young girl behind him, her eyebrows shot upward.
“You shameless bastard!”
“How long has it been since the last young girl left? You’re already robbing the cradle again?!”
“How could you do this to her?”
Luo Yue’s loud scolding instantly attracted numerous stares. The Anomaly Hunters all turned away and pretended nothing had happened the moment they recognized Qin Lan.
By now, Qin Lan’s ruthless reputation had spread throughout Safe Zone 088. Even the Anomaly Hunter Bureau was filled with stories about him.
His title-conferral ceremony had already taken place.
Leaders from nearly every faction in the Safe Zone had attended to congratulate him.
They included representatives from corporations like the Qian Group and numerous department heads from the United Government.
None of them had dared stay away.
Over the course of one month, officials who had once sat beside them wasting time at work had died one after another. Everyone knew who was behind it, yet even the investigator from headquarters could do nothing to him.
No one wanted to become the next victim.
How many people in such positions were truly innocent? Almost everyone had something to hide.
On top of that, veteran 3-Star Anomaly Hunters like Dong Haoran had appeared to support Qin Lan. Even Lu Xingshan, Director of the Anomaly Hunter Bureau and a 4-Star Anomaly Hunter, had shown his face.
Rumors had already begun spreading within the Bureau that Qin Lan was Director Lu’s illegitimate son.
Only Luo Yue, whose backing was every bit as formidable, dared speak to him this way. Of course, given their friendship, Qin Lan would not have become angry even if she had no backing at all.
“Damn it! Don’t make things up, Sister Luo Yue…” Qin Lan wiped sweat from his brow. “She’s a new Anomaly Hunter I’m recommending!”
“What do you mean, robbing the cradle…?”
Luo Yue suspiciously examined the uneasy Tang Qingqing from head to toe, then questioned Qin Lan.
“Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake? A child this young is taking the Anomaly Hunter examination?”
“She looks even younger than you. This is absurd!”
Luo Yue turned to Tang Qingqing with concern. “Little sister, did he explain the risks an Anomaly Hunter has to face?”
“It’s an extremely dangerous profession with a consistently high mortality rate…”
Tang Qingqing glanced at Qin Lan. Only after receiving an encouraging look from him did she gather the courage to speak.
“I know! Senior Qin already explained everything!”
“But I’ve made my decision. I will become an Anomaly Hunter!”
Luo Yue’s beautiful eyes widened in astonishment.
Then she grabbed Qin Lan by the ear and dragged him aside as he yelped in pain.
“What exactly are you trying to do?”
“You know better than anyone how dangerous the Fallen Zone is!”
“How can you send such a young girl into that kind of danger?”
Qin Lan grimaced and hurriedly explained. “You misunderstand, Sister… This girl is far more capable than you think!”
“With her Talent, becoming another 3-Star Anomaly Hunter in the future–no, even a 4-Star Anomaly Hunter–is only a matter of time!”
Luo Yue instinctively released him.
She looked at the obedient girl standing nearby and appeared to consider whether Qin Lan’s claim was credible.
“Does she have an A-rank Talent too?” Luo Yue frowned.
Qin Lan looked embarrassed. “Uh, no.”
“It’s F-rank.”
Silence followed.
Luo Yue narrowed her eyes. “You do realize that I can report you to Director Lu at any time, right? Another F-rank just like you?”
She placed particular emphasis on the words “just like you.”
The implication was obvious.
Qin Lan rubbed his hands and laughed awkwardly. “Well… Haha… You know… Haha…”
“Human potential is limitless…”
Luo Yue needed only one look at Qin Lan’s behavior to understand the situation.
Another bizarre person had appeared whose actual Talent differed wildly from her official file.
“Two people like this in the same school… I don’t even know what to say.”
Luo Yue sighed and finally compromised. “I can register her, but the next examination isn’t until next week.”
“You can check the examination schedule yourself. Why did you bring her here so early?”
Qin Lan looked even more embarrassed by the question.
“Because…”
“Well…”
“I’m planning to take her into the Fallen Zone before then, so I need to file a report with the Bureau.”
The silence deepened.
“You had better know what you’re doing.”
Luo Yue’s gaze was distinctly unfriendly. “If I discover that this little sister has been injured, or if anything worse happens…”
“I’ll have Uncle Lu give you a full-body massage!”
This time, Luo Yue made no attempt to hide their relationship and directly called him Uncle Lu.
Qin Lan’s lips twitched. He could already imagine himself being punched unconscious within seconds by the monster guarding the Safe Zone.
“That won’t happen… She’s far more capable than any of you imagine.”
Only after repeatedly reassuring Luo Yue did Qin Lan finally receive approval to take Tang Qingqing into the Fallen Zone.
“That woman is almost too kind…” Qin Lan sighed helplessly.
He knew Luo Yue had made things difficult only because she was concerned for Tang Qingqing’s safety.
When Qin Lan first registered for his license examination, Luo Yue had patiently tried to persuade him to choose a safer path as well.
“Sister Luo is a good person.”
Tang Qingqing, walking beside Qin Lan, suddenly offered the observation.
Like Qin Lan, she had grown up in the slums. She had experienced very little kindness and far more cold malice.
Some people coveted her life. Others coveted her body.
Luo Yue was a stranger, yet her concern had been completely sincere. The feeling was unfamiliar to Tang Qingqing.
“She really is.” Qin Lan nodded, remembering how Luo Yue had soothed him in Fairytale Town.
Strangely, the fury and killing intent he had barely managed to contain at the time quietly dissolved under her comfort.
“But Sister Luo mentioned… the last young girl?”
Tang Qingqing asked as though the matter meant nothing.
Qin Lan noticed nothing. “Oh, she meant Su Xiaoyue.”
“The famous Senior Su. You should know her, right? An A-rank Talent, exceptionally gifted, and rather famous in our Safe Zone.”
Tang Qingqing nodded and blinked at Qin Lan.
“Everyone has heard of Senior Su… Is she your girlfriend?”
Qin Lan froze, then solemnly shook his head.
“Girlfriend? No.”
How could they be lovers?
He had never confessed, and Su Xiaoyue had never said she liked him. At most, they were friends.
As far as Qin Lan was concerned, if neither person explicitly said, “I like you. Will you go out with me?” then their relationship had nothing to do with romance.
It did not even qualify as ambiguous.
Besides, Su Xiaoyue did not like him.
From Qin Lan’s perspective, everything Su Xiaoyue said before leaving for the Central Region had been nothing more than courtesy between friends.
His definition of romance was painfully literal and traditional.
“She’s my friend. She saved my life… Though I suppose I saved hers too?”
Qin Lan frowned, stroked his chin, and fell into thought. “Maybe it would be more accurate to call her a friend who has shared life and death with me?”
“That doesn’t sound quite right either.”
Tang Qingqing seemed to understand something. She discreetly bit her lip and murmured, “A friend who shared life and death…”
“How wonderful…”
Qin Lan looked baffled. “What’s wonderful?”
“Nothing.” Tang Qingqing quickly concealed the change in her eyes and smiled. “I’m only envious that you have such a close friend.”
Qin Lan still failed to understand and casually replied, “Oh, that…”
“It’s no big deal. Follow me through a few instances, and you’ll be a friend who shared life and death with me soon enough.”
His statement made a certain amount of sense.
In Qin Lan’s view, almost anyone who had entered an instance with him counted as half a life-and-death companion.
Su Xiaoyue was one. Xue Chuan was one. Luo Yue counted as half of one.
After all, Qin Lan was constantly dying.
What he did not know was how violently those careless words stirred the girl’s heart.
“Does Senior Qin mean… he’s willing to entrust his life to me?”
“This…”
Tang Qingqing stopped in her tracks.
An unfamiliar emotion surfaced in her heart, sprouted, and struggled through the mud that had covered it.
Then it began to grow wildly in an uncontrollable direction…