Chosen: Beyond Fate

What a pity. Mr. No-Fun had made a rare visit in person, even brought Ji Jue a chance to earn some credit, and asked him for help. And it somehow had nothing to do with ordering a hit on somebody?!

Although, in this case, “somehow” should probably have been “as expected,” Ji Jue still felt a wave of disappointment, as if he had missed out on a wealth of useful material.

Fortunately, when Tong Shan wasn’t pulling rank, he was actually pretty considerate. He did not say anything ridiculous like “lend me your head for a moment[1].” Instead, he asked Ji Jue to take a good look at himself and focus on his actual line of work.

Murder? He was the head of Cliff City Security Bureau’s First Division. When the director was absent, he was the acting director. If he wanted to kill someone, he would not even need a blade, much less need to come to Ji Jue.

You’re an Ember Chosen One. Why is your mind filled with nothing but fighting and killing every day? Get over here and help me with production, repairs, and rebuilding already!

“I recently received a batch of standard equipment from the Craftsmen Association, and some of it is damaged. I’d like to ask for your help to repair it.”

“That’s all?” Ji Jue slapped his thigh. “You were acting so serious, I thought you wanted to kill the governor!”

Tong Shan’s face darkened. Ji Jue realized that something wasn’t quite right.

As everyone knew, the Federation’s Security Bureau’s Second Division handled public security, the Third Division handled logistics, while the First Division was responsible for classified operations or security work for important figures and occasions.

In a certain sense, Tong Shan could also be considered the governor’s bodyguard. Not only that, he was the head of the bodyguards, a key figure who knew the governor’s daily movements and confidential matters.

Oh no. After running his mouth for all these years, he had accidentally run it right in front of someone directly involved!

Tong Shan looked at Ji Jue helplessly for a long while, then sighed.

“You’ve already had more than a dozen accounts banned. Maybe show a little restraint,” he said earnestly. “At the last meeting, the governor even asked who exactly it was that kept cursing him online every day.”

Ji Jue turned pale with shock. “It’s not just me, okay!”

Tong Shan’s scowl deepened. “Yes. There’s also your brother. Just this year alone, you two have had more than forty accounts banned! If this keeps up, they might end up blocking your ports and IP addresses. It’s only because North Mount District is on good terms with you that no one has come to “invite” you for tea yet. Otherwise, they would have come knocking long ago.”

Ji Jue stared at him, instantly feeling both grief and indignation, as if he were completely innocent. So what if he cursed the governor? Who in Cliff City had not cursed him before? Who had not had at least a few accounts banned over it?

“You’re talking like you’ve never had an account banned!”

“I haven’t,” Tong Shan answered flatly. “I never curse out people online.”

Ji Jue sucked in a breath and stared at him in shock, filled with disbelief and admiration.

“I don’t do it to their faces either!” Tong Shan felt like he was about to lose his hair from sheer stress. His blood pressure spiked.

It was one thing for Ji Jue, some foolish outsider, and Lu Feng, a dangerous individual under close watch by the military, to mess around like that. But the Tong family was a major household in Cliff City with a vast business empire. Who knew how many people in the family relied on this to make a living?

Though they had always kept a low profile and never openly showed off, their quiet, subtle influence had already spread through every aspect of Cliff City, including finance, industry, people’s livelihoods, water, and electricity. Without anyone realizing it, they had already become a force that could not be ignored, all through the gentlest methods possible.

As the public-facing figure of this generation of the Tong family, how could he possibly curse the governor? Forget cursing. If he so much as left the governor’s mansion and snorted or frowned, people could interpret it as a sign that the two sides were on bad terms.

It was enough trouble to drive a man insane. Although, sometimes, his fists really did clench three, four, five, six, seven, or eight times over.

But no matter how much he hated acting like a clay statue or wooden puppet, he had no choice but to accept reality, accept the rules, and integrate himself into those rules. The Tong family had risen because of those rules, so they had to uphold that order. On matters of position, they absolutely could not waver.

Poor Tong Shan. In a whole family of Aether gossip-mongers and drama-watchers, he was the only one with enough sense of responsibility to shoulder his duties. He silently bore everything on his own, and on top of that, his little sister still mocked him by calling him Mr. No-Fun.

Tong Shan had it hard too.

“Must be rough.” Ji Jue gave a long, sympathetic sigh and patted him on the shoulder to show his support.

Beside them, Lou Feng’s eye twitched wildly. That was an entire custom-tailored uniform made with Central City fabric. Could you at least wash your hands first, damn it? You just smeared engine oil all over it like that? And you left so many marks too! Tong Shan, aren’t you going to teach him a lesson? Aren’t you going to punch him?

Tong Shan really did not care at all. He sat down on a filthy chair, loosened his tie, popped open his collar, and drank Ji Jue’s tea with obvious enjoyment while casually chatting about recent developments at the outpost.

He mentioned teams from Security Bureaus all across Haizhou, unusual activity in Spring City, traces left behind by the Heretic Cult, and other strange signs that might or might not exist. Only when the sound of wheels came from the distance did he straighten slightly, tighten his tie again, and turn back into that serious, proper, unsmiling leader.

A moment later, a broken-down old car came sputtering over, leaking air from every corner and thoroughly battered.

“Mr. Tong, I brought the stuff over!” The girl driving poked her head out and waved excitedly at Tong Shan from far away. However, when she saw the scene before her, she halted her movements.

Following the earlier attack, the Recycling and Processing Department could only be described as a field of wreckage. Ji Jue had knocked down several sections of wall, broken bricks and tiles were scattered everywhere, and smoke was still rising from the workshop.

Ji Xue was momentarily stunned. Holy crap, did the Heretic Cult attack this place?

But very quickly, when she saw the craftsman Tong Shan had introduced, she couldn’t help but frown. “Mr. Tong, this craftsman you found... um, he looks really promising.”

Ji Jue smiled faintly without taking it to heart. He could guess that she had not actually been trying to praise his looks. What she had originally wanted to comment on was probably his age, right? He was too young, even younger than Tong Shan.

People always said you couldn’t trust a babyface to get things done. Besides, Ember was a path that relied heavily on experience and technique. Usually, the older someone was, the stronger they became.

And now, out of nowhere, a craftsman had spawned who looked about the same age as her, maybe even a little younger. Was this guy really reliable?

“Relax. If he says he can do it, then he can do it.” Tong Shan saw through her worries at a glance and waved his hand. Without anyone needing to carry them, one large crate after another floated out of the battered truck bed and landed in front of Ji Jue.

Inside were all kinds of worn and damaged tools. The most important thing among them were the protective suits issued according to quota: two sets per person for the advance investigation team. They looked like long coats, with high collars that could wrap a person from head to toe.

On the inside, they contained emblems of the Twelve Supreme Benevolences, along with numerous spirit circuits and runes. They worked like small protective shields, isolating aberrant pollution and erosion as much as possible. On top of that, their defensive ability was not low either. Blocking ordinary bullets went without saying, and they were also convenient to move in.

There were also masks used for exploring heavily polluted areas. They looked like common gas masks, except the consumables in their breathing valves had been almost completely contaminated and could no longer be used.

There were also small containment devices used when setting up a temporary camp. These were simplified versions of the ones Ji Jue had been dismantling over the past few days, though they were more portable and consumed resources faster. Along with them came some ground mats, sleeping bags, and contaminated electronic devices that were no longer functioning properly.

Ji Jue understood at once what they wanted him to do, though he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. “There’s nothing challenging here.”

It was a bit troublesome, sure, but Pacifier combined with Flawless Craft was absurdly efficient. For something this minor, even if Tong Shan had not asked, Ji Jue would not have turned him down, not after forming a bond with that lovable idiot Tong Hua in the Time Ruin.

“No weapons?” he asked curiously.

“Uh...” Ji Xue hesitated for a moment. “The weapons are with Ji Liu. He’ll bring them over in a bit.”

That made perfect sense. They were dealing for the first time, and there was a possibility that the items could be damaged. If ordinary items like these were damaged, it would not be the end of the world. At worst, they would just wait for the next batch to be issued. But weapons were precious things people relied on to protect themselves and make a living. How could anyone hand them over to a stranger to tinker with so casually?

Besides, Ember Chosen Ones had a certain reputation. Compared with ancient times, their reputation had improved. It wasn’t that bad at all now, really.

Ji Jue didn’t mind.

Tong Shan, however, reached out. The ring on his finger flashed faintly, and a neatly folded flag appeared in his hand. He handed it over.

“Since they’re late, they can wait in line. How about you handle mine first?”

“Whoa!” Before Ji Xue could stop him, Ji Jue had already taken it. His eyes lit up, and he clicked his tongue in admiration. “This is good stuff!”

It was rare to see such a finely made blessed weapon. Compared to this, the ransom Ji Jue had scammed earlier was basically just a pile of scraps. Its structure was rigorous, its internal layout orderly, and its coordination perfectly balanced.

The Four Symbols[2] worked together flawlessly. This was absolutely and unquestionably a grandmaster’s work!

A weakened version of the Dissociation Technique swept over it like a probe, and after only a faint pass, the internal condition instantly appeared in Ji Jue’s mind. It was a rare armament with dual blessings! It carried both the Origin’s blessing, Total Command, and the Aether’s blessing, True Sight.

The effect of Total Command was maximizing the use of the surrounding environment, allowing the Chosen One to manipulate things around them as smoothly as a fish swimming in water, without the slightest obstruction. Whether the target was tangible or not, everything fell within its sphere of influence.

As for True Sight, it could elevate one’s consciousness and perspective out of the human body, forming a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree, no-blind-spots overhead view within the range of one’s mental influence, allowing the user to perceive even the smallest details around them.

Paired with Tong Shan’s Origin matrix and Origin’s signature telekinesis, it not only enhanced their effects, but also greatly expanded their range. This was clearly a weapon custom-made for Tong Shan by a master craftsman!

“Damn, that’s impressive,” Ji Jue said. Even though it looked plain and unremarkable, creating a dual-blessing armament tailored to Tong Shan had surely taken a great deal of effort. It could have even required more than half a year of work.

As expected of the Tong family. They were rich to an inhuman degree.

Ji Jue did not even dare to imagine how much money this thing had cost. In any case, if he had the ability to make something like this, even the family rate would have to start at a hundred million. Most of that would be the cost of materials and blessings. The labor fee would barely be a fraction of it.

Tong Shan remained as calm as ever, but Ji Xue grew even more nervous. She leaned closer. “Sir, can you handle it?”

“It’s just refurbishment and maintenance. Nothing difficult. Give me a moment.” Ji Jue hoisted the flag onto one shoulder with one hand and waved with the other. Mercury flowed out of the carriage, propped itself up, and transformed into a small cart that followed behind him.

Just before entering the workshop, he suddenly turned around. “Mr. Tong, will the consumables be reimbursed?”

Tong Shan nodded. “Use whatever you need. If there’s anything missing, write me a list, and I’ll have someone send it over.”

“Wow, that’s great!” Ji Jue’s smile grew even wilder, as if he were a stray dog let off its leash.

There were repair methods for the poor, and then there were repair methods for the rich. If someone was really willing to spend, then Ji Jue could skim quite a bit off the top. Even if he didn’t name some outrageous price, whatever was left over would be his, right?

Still, a rare chance to practice had delivered itself right to his door. He rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment before asking, “Want to give it an upgrade?”

1. The phrase “lend me your head for a moment” is a classic bit of Cao Cao’s sinister, ruthless doublespeak from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is usually associated with the famous historical anecdote in which Cao Cao “borrowed” the head of his granary officer, Wang Hou. More info in Translator’s Thoughts. ☜

2. In traditional Chinese culture and philosophy, the Four Symbols represented constellations. In astronomy, these are the Azure Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Vermilion Bird of the South, and the Black Tortoise of the North. They represent the four cardinal directions. ☜