First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!
Chapter 305: Crouching Dragon Finally Meet the Rain, The Released Crane Soars (2/4)

...

And that movement, that expression—man, it was way too vivid.

Bai Hemen explained, “When I went back to my hometown to visit my grandma, there was a family down the slope. Their son married a girl from Shu.”

“Those few days, I heard that girl yelling this line every day. She really had some presence.”

Now that’s what you call learning all the wrong things.

But to be fair, it really did sound pretty badass.

Lu Ding couldn’t be bothered to scold him.

Too eager to learn.

No stopping him.

Soon, it was time for Lu Ding and the others to pick up their reports.

No complicated procedures, no ceremony.

There was no welcome when they arrived, and there would be no send-off when they left.

Formalities didn’t mean anything.

The only thing that did—was when Lu Ding took the report.

No one knew when the Chief Instructor had appeared, but he was standing quietly in the corner.

When Lu Ding saw him, he nodded and called out, “Chief Instructor.”

The Chief Instructor nodded back, and that signature awkward smile slowly stretched across his face. “Bro.”

He used to call Lu Ding like that when he saw him as a kid, as a trainee.

Now calling him “bro” meant he saw him as someone—someone he was proud of.

Hearing that acknowledgment, Lu Ding felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

At that moment,

He finally understood why the ancients always liked to write poetry.

At the entrance gate,

Looking at the empty wall.

Lu Ding raised his hand, and the Red Coffin Woman handed him the blade.

As the blade energy slashed through the air—

Bai Hemen’s eyes lit up, pulling out a notebook and scribbling nonstop.

At last, both of them stopped moving.

The two looked at each other, wordless.

They turned and walked into the sunset, sunlight filtering through the leaves, falling on them like golden medals.

The view pulled back behind them.

The two stood before the wall.

On the wall, bold calligraphy soared like phoenixes and dragons:

"Someday the Crouching Dragon will finally meet the rain, Today the Released Crane soars into the sky."

They stood there for a long time.

Finally, the Chief Instructor said, “I’ve seen the Corpse-Shattering Taishui, and now I’ve seen the Poetry-Shattering Taishui too.”

The smile on his face never faded. “Frame it, hang it up.”

The Counselor looked around at the entrance of the training facility.

Those two lines really did suit the place—they belonged there.

But there wasn’t a good spot to hang it.

He asked in confusion, “Where should we hang it?”

“On the door.”

“Our door’s not suitable.”

BOOM!!!!

The Chief Instructor smashed the gate with a punch. “Build a new one.”

Now that they had the vinegar, making dumplings was easy.

...

Back in Yunhai.

They submitted the report.

The higher-ups needed to do a review to assign Lu Ding his merits.

The 1,500 contribution points he got from the training facility before—that was payment.

Not merit.

The merits would be assigned by his original unit after returning.

Though they didn’t know the exact amount yet, Lu Ding figured it’d be decent—not a huge haul, but not small either.

Plus, the spoils from raiding the Monster Room.

It should be enough for Lu Ding to break through by one and a half minor realms.

No way.

What kind of half-*ssed thing is that?

Commander Rank, Level 4.5?

That’s nonsense.

Insane.

Lu Ding had a bit of OCD—he couldn’t stand something that awkward, whether doing it or hearing it.

Now that Bai Hemen had gone straight into seclusion after returning, and Bao Fan District was thriving,

Lu Ding didn’t need to worry about anything.

So, he decided to continue the path he hadn’t explored enough before.

Take on missions!

Earn enough contribution points to push up two full minor realms.

That way, he’d be better prepared for the upcoming Battle of the Qi Refiners.

Resting meant slacking.

Lu Ding’s usual practice was to always maintain an advantage of information asymmetry over the outside world.

Besides, he just couldn’t sit still.

The Chief Instructor called him “bro.”

So a bro had to fight!!

He opened the 749 APP.

Entered the higher-level, more dangerous mission interface.

After flipping through a few, one particular task caught his attention.

[In the Huangjiang River Basin, numerous collaborators with the Tianli Sect have been uncovered. A large number of personnel are now needed to support the operation.]

“This sh*t’s still not over?”

Lu Ding muttered.

But come to think of it, the Tianli Sect had been rooted and hidden for so long—how could it possibly be over that fast?

Still, this was a good thing.

The Tianli Sect mess had started because of him.

Now, it was only right that the Tianli Sect people got wiped out by him too.

Totally makes sense!

Besides, the Huangjiang River Basin had always been a hotspot for folklore and strange happenings.

Lu Ding believed he’d definitely run into some surprises.

As soon as he clicked “Apply”—

Not long after, Director Chu gave him a call.

His tone was a bit baffled. “Lu Ding, you just got back. Not gonna rest a bit?”

He’d just heard from his subordinates that Lu Ding was already applying for a new mission.

Director Chu was shocked!

Like... seriously? You’re going full throttle with zero rest?

Not even a day?

That’s some next-level ‘self-discipline.’

Even a Deputy Director like him thought—Lu Ding’s bloodlust was too damn strong.

And that wasn’t a bad thing.

It was good—really d*** good.

But he was seriously worried the guy might burn himself out.

He’d been through times where he stressed out over investigators slacking off.

But he’d never once stressed out because someone was too hardworking.

“I’m not tired. Don’t worry, Director Chu.”

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end.

“How about this then, Lu Ding—tonight, go recruit your teammates, and, also, take a break.”

He put special emphasis on the word also.

“Wait for the mission details, then head out tomorrow morning. Sound good?”

This was a first—trying to persuade someone not to work.

Lu Ding replied, “No need to recruit teammates. Yan Feifan’s perfect. Anyone else makes me feel like coughing.”

No one else had that perfect combo of tact and smarts like Yan Feifan.

And besides, they were bros.

This mission was all about racking up contribution points.

Anyone who went with him would be lucky to get a slice of that pie,

So obviously he’d look out for his friends first.

“I know you can handle the fights alone,” Director Chu replied, “but for the small stuff, Yan Feifan alone won’t cut it. You need people to run errands, do cleanup, handle looting...”

Hmm!?

Lu Ding heard something interesting—

Looting!?

He sat up. “No, really, no need, boss. I can do all that myself. More people just get in the way.”

It wasn’t that he couldn’t do those things—he just didn’t want to.

Right now, looting was a juicy gig.

With 749’s system, most of the loot went to the state, but some was rewarded to the investigator.

Do the work, get the goods.

More people meant fewer goodies.

Nope!

That’s slicing off his own meat!

If Yan Feifan couldn’t handle it, Lu Ding would just cover it himself.

He kept going:

“If they’re too weak, I have to babysit them. I don’t like being a babysitter. If we need to run and I can’t drag them with me, then who I bring or don’t bring becomes a problem.”

“And if they’re too strong...”

Director Chu listened, waiting for Lu Ding to lay it out.

Then the guy just said—

“There aren’t many in our bureau who can beat me, and I’m guessing they’re all tied up right now anyway.”

Director Chu said nothing—he honestly couldn’t argue with that.

After a moment, he opened his mouth again. “Alright then, head out tomorrow morning.”