First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!
Chapter 176: I’ll Give You Time to Catch Up—Until I’m Out of Your Reach

.....

Can’t win, can’t even get a word in, and all this over a suspicion—they brought a Heaven Observer over.

One thing after another, it was all too much to swallow.

And they even dug up all his old dirt.

Yu Chen was truly dead in body and spirit.

This time, not even the dragon horn could save him. As both his body and remnant soul faded away,

a black object floated in the air.

It flew straight toward Lu Ding.

He raised his hand—not to grab it, but to release spiritual energy to block it.

Who knew what backup plan Yu Chen might’ve left behind in death?

Looting wasn’t always so simple.

If it were Lu Ding, he’d absolutely lace all his belongings with poisons, curses, and traps before dying—

just to mess with those brainless corpse-looters.

Elder Deng looked on, his expression instantly turning kindly.

What a clever kid.

Knows not to take things that aren’t his without caution.

He reached out, drew the dragon horn over, examined it, and then handed it to Lu Ding.

“No problem. If I’m not mistaken, this is the dragon horn—it was what held onto Lin Chen’s final sliver of soul.”

“Dragon horn”—those words needed no extra explanation.

Its effects were evident to all.

It had managed to keep a Heaven Observer’s remnant soul from dissipating.

Of course, that wasn’t even the most important part. The real kicker was that the moment Lu Ding held it,

his spiritual energy started surging uncontrollably.

The Sin Dragon raced around his meridians, dragging spiritual energy with it like a wild beast.

Now that Director Deng had confirmed it, Lu Ding could rest easy.

He opened his apertures, and a suction force pulled in the dragon horn.

The Sin Dragon, already lying in wait inside his body, snatched it up without hesitation the instant it arrived.

Crack—it snapped its own broken horn off.

Pop—slapped the dragon horn right onto its head.

This thing really was brutal and fast.

Its aura dipped for a second, then immediately surged!!

Its scales began shedding and reforming—

changing from glossy black to a matte black with mysterious glowing patterns.

Those patterns started at its eyes and rippled backward.

The Sin Dragon had never looked like anything good.

It was the definition of judging a dragon by its looks.

Now with the horn attached, it looked even more sinister and fierce—adding a whole new level of terrifying dominance.

Lu Ding watched it spew black smoke through his meridians.

He raised a hand and released spiritual energy—

but the smoke came with it.

Lu Ding: ......

Hard to comment.

From now on, if he fought someone who didn’t know his background and claimed to be from 749, they probably wouldn’t believe him.

Since when did official forces’ good guys raise their hands and summon black smoke?

This was the textbook image of a villain. Good guys always came with beams of sunlight.

He shows up, and boom—instant nightfall.

“So smart—got it and immediately used it. Unlike Lin Chen. All those years holding the dragon horn, completely useless. Good stuff wasted on that guy.”

Director Deng kept praising him, his eyes narrowing kindly like he didn’t see the black smoke at all.

But regardless, the emotional support was top-tier.

Lu Ding retracted his spiritual energy.

“Thank you for coming all this way, Elder Deng.”

“What are you thanking me for? I’m just glad this old body of mine can still be of some use to you all.”

Then Deng thought that sounded too official, too distant.

So he added, “Plus, getting to beat one of my old losers again—reminded me of my youth.”

“Hahahahahaha......”

Lu Ding hadn’t expected Elder Deng to be this funny. So finding youth again meant beating people you used to beat?

“By the way, Elder Deng—who was Yu Chen really?”

“His real name was Lin Chen. Back then.....”

Once asked, Elder Deng—being an old man—couldn’t stop talking once he started. They chatted the whole way back.

Lu Ding learned from Deng’s story that

the Sin Dragon Bone Inscription he cultivated had been influenced by Lin Chen.

Lu Ding chimed in occasionally:

‘Whoa, there’s a story behind that?’

‘Well, I guess he was useful in the end—didn’t die for nothing.’

‘What a pure waste of air.’

‘You’re savage, sir.’

‘Him? He thinks he qualifies?’

‘You’re really something.’

He gave the old man plenty of thumbs-ups, keeping Elder Deng laughing the whole way.

When Lu Ding returned to the Yu residence, Elder Deng faded back into the shadows.

Inside the main hall—

Bai Hemen still sat upright, one sleeve torn at the cuff and fraying.

As for Yu Huai—face black and blue, one eyelid so swollen it covered the eye.

He looked like a disposable one-eyed pirate.

“What kind of look is this?”

Lu Ding walked in and asked.

Bai Hemen’s eyes shone with pride, a faint smirk on his lips, though his expression stayed mostly calm.

He stood, adjusting his sleeve: “Just had a little sparring match.”

Who told you to get cocky!?

Still treating him like some pushover.

Had to teach you the gap between us.

Sure, we’re both beneath Lu Ding—but that’s only because the rank above hasn’t been filled yet.

Otherwise, you'd be lining up from here to Yunhai.

Lu Ding looked at the beaten-up Yu Huai.

He wanted to laugh, but he was a professional. He held it in.

You really don’t understand how valuable being a guaranteed pick is.

In Yunmeng, in the Yu family, you’re a one-in-ten-thousand genius. But at 749’s advanced training center,

a whole group of one-in-ten-thousand geniuses ganged up on Bai Hemen.

And he still held his own.

Could attack when he wanted, retreat when he felt like it.

Unless you’ve been on the receiving end of those fists, you really don’t know what a black-handed brawler is.

Feeling Lu Ding’s gaze,

Yu Huai sniffed back his slowly dripping nosebleed.

He stood, clasped his fists: “Investigator Lu...... that man, was he.....”

Lu Ding shook his head at him.

Then looked toward the Yu Family Head, who had remained silent this whole time.

It seemed like when Lu Ding left, he had been sitting like this—and when Lu Ding returned, he was still sitting the same way.

Same man, but clearly more hunched over now.

“Family Head Yu..... I’m sure you’ve sensed it too. I won’t say much more. I hope everything that happened here—can stay confidential....”

Yu Jun had made a wise call earlier, and of course Lu Ding would return the favor.

The word “confidential” coming from Lu Ding’s mouth meant something completely different from if the Yu family had decided it themselves.

Yu Jun’s face twitched with a barely noticeable, forced smile.

Then he changed his demeanor, much gentler now—that was him accepting Lu Ding’s goodwill.

He nodded: “Thank you, Lord Lu Taishui. We truly didn’t host you well this time. As for what happened here, I, Yu Jun, swear—not a single word will leave this house.”

Lu Ding smiled in return.

He called out, “Let’s go, Xiaobai.”

Bai Hemen stood.

Seeing him leave, Yu Huai shouted: “Bai Hemen! I will challenge you again!!”

Bai Hemen tilted his head, thought about it, but couldn’t come up with anything snappy—so he turned to Lu Ding.

Lu Ding leaned down and whispered a few lines.

Bai Hemen didn’t even move, just turned his face halfway, showing only his side profile as he replied:

“I’ll give you time to catch up—until I’m out of your reach.”