Chosen: Beyond Fate

An ordinary person would hesitate for a moment or two when faced with a question that sounded so much like a sales trap, but Tong Shan really was no ordinary person. “You’re the craftsman. You decide.”

Once these words were spoken, there was no taking them back.

At the very least, Tong Shan did not care about such a trivial amount of consumption. Before long, Ji Jue had finished drawing up an extremely long list, and while he was at it, he also asked for the team members’ builds and general information.

Tong Shan said nothing, but Ji Xue’s eye twitched wildly as she held the list.

What kind of maintenance was this? Orichalcum was sold by the gram, and he was asking for it by the jin? And what were all these other things with names she had never even heard of, but turned out to be absurdly expensive the moment she searched up the prices? Why did he need so much?

Mr. Tong, you’ve been taken for a sucker and fleeced hard.

While she stood there sighing and worrying, Tong Shan remained as calm as ever.

Then, less than two hours later, before she had even finished watching the variety shows she had saved up, the workshop door opened again. It happened so fast that she almost didn’t know how to react. Her eyes widened.

Shit. Did this kid really do his job properly?

“Sorry. The furnace was in use, so I had to wait my turn. Otherwise, I’d have been done even sooner.” Ji Jue lifted the towel hanging around his neck and wiped off his sweat. Then he waved, and once again, a small mercury cart came out carrying a full load of items.

Contrary to Ji Xue’s assumption that he had only done some slapdash, surface-level maintenance, every item was now so polished it looked brand new. In fact, they seemed even cleaner than when the team had first picked them up.

She lifted two pieces and examined them curiously. “You cleaned all of them?”

“This batch would’ve taken too much water, so I just burned everything clean with fire. For the hard-to-reach corners, I used an air gun. Saves you the trouble of washing them again after taking them back.” Ji Jue rummaged through the cart and pulled out a protective suit. “This one’s yours.”

The moment Ji Xue took it, she felt the difference. It was much lighter than before.

Another piece was tossed over. Both pieces had gained quite a few quick-release buckles, but she could still vaguely tell that they were part of the same set.

“I modified it for you. It’s a two-piece set now.” Ji Jue leaned against the door and smiled faintly. “You’re built for speed, right? Normally, you can wear both pieces together. In an emergency, you can throw off the outer layer. The inner layer has been lightened and reinforced in certain areas, so it’s enough to block erosion. I’ve modified both sets for you. You can try them.”

“For real?” Ji Xue was shocked. Still half-doubtful, she put on the inner layer, only to find that it was far lighter than usual. On top of that, it had been adjusted for ergonomics, so her movements were not restricted at all.

After warming up and moving around a little, there was a sudden pop. She vanished from where she stood, leaving only dust fluttering into the air. A moment later, the pressure wave blasted the dust apart, and she was back.

After personally experiencing the convenience of the customized version, joy spread across her face. She slapped Ji Jue hard on the shoulder. “Not bad! Did everyone get this treatment?”

“No. Just you.” Ji Jue rummaged through the protective suits underneath, lifted one, and tossed it to Tong Shan. “Try it on.”

Unlike Ji Xue’s lightweight version, the one Tong Shan held was practically heavy armor, far heavier than the original. Not only had metal threads been woven into the outer fabric, but metal protection like armor plates had also been added over the vital areas. Its defensive capability had more than doubled. The cost was that its weight had also climbed to over fifty jin.

However, in Tong Shan’s hands, it was as light as a feather. Before it even landed, it had already unfolded in midair.

Under the effect of telekinesis, the suit wrapped around him layer by layer, covering him completely. After he put on the thickened gas mask as well, every part of his body was enclosed, leaving not even the slightest bit of skin exposed.

Ji Jue waved a finger. Immediately, mercury blades slashed toward Tong Shan. A sheet of overlapping blade-lights came down, having the violent strength of blunt-force attacks.

Tong Shan barely felt any recoil from inside the suit. Between the outer layer and the lining of the protective suit, there was now an added liquid buffer layer. It was extremely thin, but it had the properties of a non-Newtonian fluid. The instant it suffered an impact, it hardened and dispersed the force. It was like standing inside a fortress.

After all, he was a Chosen One of the Origin, the path that specialized in interfering with the surrounding environment and controlling objects. It wasn’t that it had no defensive power at all, but compared with something with ironclad defenses like Ruins, there was just no competition. It was far too easy for him to get wrecked by White Deer.

Although Origin countered White Deer, it was also countered by White Deer. If a White Deer Chosen One got in close, he might not even get a chance to react before being carved into a plate of perfectly sliced hotpot lamb. If he ran into an opponent he couldn’t defeat, or if he was caught off guard by a sudden ambush, the result would be absolutely brutal. In that kind of situation, the thicker the armor, the better.

As for the weight, with Tong Shan’s ability, none of it would fall on his body at all. He could probably keep it supported for a month without even feeling it.

Next came the maintenance of all kinds of scrapped items. Every single one was restored to its factory condition. In fact, after secondary reinforcement, their quality and durability had improved again.

The final highlight was naturally the flag Ji Jue tossed over. It looked the same as ever, exactly the same. It was as if he had only scrubbed it clean again. There was no visible change at all.

“Want to try it?” Ji Jue asked.

The moment Tong Shan nodded, Ji Jue looked up and whistled.

Horsey, which had been sitting quietly beside them, shuddered. Its machine gun rose, and in the next moment, genuine heavy firepower erupted. Amid the noise, a line of fire locked onto Tong Shan. A storm of bullets was heading right for him!

Tong Shan merely waved his hand. The flag had not even unfolded yet, but countless red-hot bullets had already stopped in midair, as if frozen in amber. His control proved precise enough to match the machine gun’s rate of fire, catching every incoming round in his grasp. This was telekinesis honed to the peak of mastery!

After a full ammunition belt had been emptied, Horsey ceased fire. The bullets clattered to the ground.

Tong Shan tilted his head and looked at the blessed armament in his hand. Beneath the mask, he could barely hide his astonishment. It was still the same as before, it had the same familiar feel and the same original setup, yet it handled everything so much more smoothly now.

It was like an old device that had suddenly been upgraded with brand-new parts. The controls and functions were all the same, but everything felt noticeably smoother. Its response time and efficiency had risen by several percentage points.

Wherever he pointed, it struck. There was no lag nor resistance, and its coordination with him was practically seamless. It felt good in his hands, too good. It was far too easy to use, almost as if it were his own hand.

The Tong family had its own craftsmen, and they had never been careless about maintenance, but not once had he ever felt anything like this.

Tong Shan took off his mask and turned around. “How did you do it?”

“I readjusted it according to your usage habits and the wear on the spirit circuits,” Ji Jue replied with a smile. “Aside from that, I didn’t change the main structure. After all, it’s a masterwork. I don’t have the ability to modify it. All I could do was add a few finishing touches for you.”

Asking him to completely remake it on such a short notice was beyond Ji Jue’s ability. Even if he were given enough time, there was no way he could surpass the original designer.

But no matter what kind of creation it was, once Deus Ex Machina went through it, communicated with the spirit intelligence inside, and then gave it a pass of Fluid Alchemy so it would fine-tune itself according to Tong Shan’s usage habits, the operating efficiency would naturally rise.

It was just like clothing. A person’s build changed over time, and so did their habits. Even if the master craftsman had tailored it perfectly to Tong Shan’s needs back then, after so much time had passed, there were bound to be changes.

Even a craftsman couldn’t crawl inside Tong Shan’s head and understand every detail of how he usually operated or what style he preferred, could they?

“Not bad, young craftsman!”

After happily finishing her inspection of the equipment, Ji Xue’s earlier distress eased quite a bit. It was expensive, sure, but expensive really did come with its perks. Not only was the work done incredibly fast, it was also worth every penny.

“Oh, right. I also threw together a set of external armor plates for you. They’re military grade. There wasn’t enough tungsten alloy, so I made do with composite steel,” Ji Jue said.

He stepped aside and pointed at the mountain of bulletproof armor piled up inside the workshop, along with even more random parts. There were even two spare transmission shafts.

“The workshop is busy right now, so there isn’t any space to install them. Just find somewhere that does auto repairs and have them put on. Remember to tell the mechanic that there’s a problem with your suspension and the whole thing needs to be replaced. If anyone tries to argue, smack them. It’s all fucking secondhand junk. Who do they think they’re fooling?”

Ji Xue was dumbfounded. She stared at the mountain of various parts and spare components piled up inside. After a long while passed, she finally managed to speak. “What the f—?!”

Tong Shan flicked her on the forehead. “No swearing.”

Ji Xue dragged Tong Shan to the side. All her earlier resistance and wariness had completely vanished. With an urgent look on her face, she lowered her voice and said, “Mr. Tong, we can’t hesitate anymore. Someone this useful has to be ours! We need to grab a craftsman this good fast and lock down a deal with him!”

Back at the Security Bureau, getting new gear was always a pain. Every little request came with a lecture, and they still had to smile and play nice. Now that they had Master Ji, they didn’t need to deal with those bastards from the Third Division anymore. On top of that, at a critical time like this, craftsmen were in short supply everywhere. With someone like him on their side, they would never have to beg anyone for help again.

How could they miss such a good chance? What if they missed it and some other team snatched him away? Wouldn’t that hurt twice as much?!

Tong Shan shook his head helplessly. “What are you thinking? He has his own workshop.”

If he were some independent Ember Chosen One, Tong Shan could recruit him with a single word. Tidesound Workshop kept a low profile, but back when it first set up shop in Cliff City, even his grandfather had personally shown up for it, all right?

The Security Bureau wasn’t Mount Liang[1], where they could drag people up the mountain whenever they disagreed. Did she really think Ms. Ye had no temper?

Yu Hanguang from Division Two had only just been beaten up for being ignorant enough to offend them. The aftermath had been horrible.

How did Tong Shan know so clearly? Of course he knew! How could he not know? He was the one who had given Yu Hanguang’s phone number to Ye Xian!

“Make it a temporary arrangement, then! Temporary is fine too!” Ji Xue urged him in a low voice. “There’s no harm in trying, right? Miss this chance, and we may never get another!”

Tong Shan sighed. He was just about to speak when he heard Ji Jue’s voice from not far away.

“What’s wrong, Mr. Tong?” Ji Jue asked curiously. “Is there a problem?”

Wait, had they found out that he had quietly pocketed some of the materials?

No, that couldn’t be it. He had only skimmed a little, and it was well within the acceptable margin. Honestly, he had taken less than most people would. Even the Association couldn’t fault him for that.

He was busy justifying himself, never once considering that the problem wasn’t that he had given them too little, but that he had given them way too damn much and scared the client.

“Uh, ahem...” Tong Shan hesitated.

There was no helping it. He really couldn’t bring himself to say it, knowing way too well what kind of situation the advance investigation team was in, and how much hardship they had to endure.

At a time like this, the danger was no joke. They were acquaintances, sure, but why should Ji Jue leave his air-conditioned workshop and follow him into that mess? Did Tong Shan have that much pull?

Just look at how much trouble those people from the Third Division were.

Ji Jue could sit right here and earn merit. Why would he go to Spring City and risk his life for fun?

“Mr. Tong...” Ji Xue watched him hesitate and grew so anxious that she secretly stepped on his foot.

“Well, Ji Jue, our team just happens to be short of one Ember-type...” Tong Shan said tentatively. “Are you interested?”

“Huh?”

Ji Jue froze, unable to believe it. How did this normal conversation suddenly turn into Tong Shan offering to take him along into the dungeon to farm materials? The deal was unbelievably good.

Now that Tong Shan had spoken up, he stopped hesitating.

“You don’t need to worry about your safety. I’ll personally guarantee it. When it comes to materials, you get first pick. As for pay, the Security Bureau has its standards, so I can’t offer too much. It has to follow the official rate, but I can count it as overtime for you. We’ll reimburse all consumables. The hazard pay and additional allowance for working in a contaminated zone are decent too. On top of that, once the matter in Spring City is over, I’ll help you apply for a First-Class Merit. Of course, if you’re not interested, that’s fine too.”

Ji Jue’s eyes widened even further. For a moment, he was struck speechless.

Seriously? Am I really getting an offer this good? Isn’t this offer a little too perfect?! Is this really okay?

Although Ji Jue’s little heart was thumping wildly with sweet excitement, he didn’t answer right away. After all, this was not something he could decide on his own! “I’ll have to ask my teacher.”

Tong Shan nodded. “That’s only proper.”

So Ji Jue walked to the side and made a call. It took a long while before the call connected. From the other end came the noisy clamor of what sounded like a busy construction site. Even in the middle of all that, Professor Ye remained as frank as ever. “Speak.”

Ji Jue got straight to the point. “Someone wants me to join them in Spring City for a dungeon run. You—”

“I’m busy. Go play by yourself.”

The call ended.

It was exactly like a cold, indifferent parent getting a call from kindergarten during overtime about picking up their child. It was very much in Professor Ye’s usual hands-off style.

If you can find the place, go play by yourself. If you get yourself killed, that’s on you. You’re old enough now, so stop asking for permission over every little thing. How annoying. Go if you want.

Good. He’d gotten approval from his guardian.

After Ji Jue put away his phone and looked to the side, his eyes lit up. “Are you coming?”

“Me?” Lou Feng, who was resting in the distance, looked over in shock and suspicion. His face twisted in an expression of disgust. “Hell no!”

Why would an Ember Chosen One risk his life in such a dangerous place for no reason instead of staying in a workshop? Only an idiot would go!

He gave a disdainful snort and refused without the slightest hesitation.

Even if I work myself to death, even if I jump from here—

***

Early the next morning, Young Master Lou showed up at the meeting point right on time, loaded down with bags and wearing the sourest face imaginable.

1. In the Chinese classic novel Water Margin, Mount Liang (Liangshan) is the heavily fortified marshland stronghold of 108 rebel outlaws. ☜