Chapter 109: The Division

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong? What’s going on with Brother Hatsune?”

Next to her, Luo Yu’s ears twitched as she overheard their conversation. She immediately leaned over, trying to peek at the contents on the communicator beside Qin Hongyu.

Qin Hongyu smiled helplessly but didn’t put it away; she handed the communicator directly to her. Luo Yu eagerly took it and began to read curiously.

“Huh? Brother Hatsune joined our Celestial Palace? Didn’t he refuse the other day? Potential assessment... it’s actually A-level? Wow, impressive! The Gunfighter’s entry test—three seconds and fourteen targets all taken down?”

Luo Yu’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“His marksmanship is that good?”

Qin Hongyu ignored her question and instead glanced toward Leng Xiran after a moment’s thought. “What do you think? Should we assign him to your group and help him get started?”

Leng Xiran was slightly taken aback but then suddenly smiled. “What’s this? Planning to give him special training?”

Qin Hongyu nodded calmly. “That’s the idea.”

“Just that confident in him?” Leng Xiran raised an eyebrow.

Qin Hongyu hesitated briefly before replying, “After all, he’s Aunt Xu’s son... so he’s somewhat reliable.”

“That doesn’t sound right. As far as I recall, his relationship with Lin Hatsune isn’t so great. As for Xu Zilan...” Leng Xiran smirked ambiguously, “It seems their feelings toward each other are lukewarm. And I heard... Xu Zilan once asked Lin Hatsune to bring him some things, but he refused them all.”

Hearing this, Qin Hongyu was momentarily stunned, then instinctively glanced at Luo Yu, who was clutching the communicator with a look of amazement.

Luo Yu seemed to notice Qin Hongyu’s gaze and turned her head in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

Qin Hongyu chuckled softly and shook her head.

Leng Xiran had never gotten along well with Lin Hatsune, yet she seemed well-informed about both her and Fang Mu’s situations—clearly thanks to some loose-lipped source...

“No matter what, blood is thicker than water. He obviously knows nothing and can’t forgive Aunt Xu right now, which is understandable. But after all, they are mother and son; true hatred seems unlikely.”

Leng Xiran raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment further.

Qin Hongyu paused, then looked at Leng Xiran seriously. “In at most half a year, we’ll all reach the age of service, and the Celestial Palace’s combat strength will lose over half its force. Training an outstanding Silver-level Gunfighter is crucial for us... so, what do you say?”

Leng Xiran considered for a few seconds, then sighed wearily, rubbing her temples. “You sure know how to give me headaches. You know I hate training newcomers...”

“You’ve seen the data—his talent is quite good. He just lacks systematic training. Reaching this level under integrated education is impressive. It won’t take long, so could you please give it a shot?” Qin Hongyu smiled.

After thinking it over a bit more, Leng Xiran finally sighed. “Alright, but I’ll only handle the system training. I can’t guarantee how much he’ll actually learn in the end.”

“That’s good enough.”

Qin Hongyu nodded with a smile.

After their conversation, Luo Yu finished reading the communicator’s content and exclaimed excitedly, “Brother Hatsune’s talent is great! He’s definitely not the ‘dead weight’ that Hatsune said he was! I have to tell Hatsune; she’ll be so surprised!”

She took out the communicator, eager to inform Lin Hatsune.

Qin Hongyu, Leng Xiran, and another woman all smiled quietly, not stopping her...

...

“Is there really an armor-piercing skill?”

Meanwhile, Fang Mu was still on the 96th floor, completely unaware of the conversation on the 100th floor that would decide his next path. His bright eyes were fixed on the internal network marketplace of the Celestial Palace.

There, prominently displayed, was an item description:

“Gunfighting Technique ‘Armor Piercing’: Greatly enhances destructive power. Carries the unique ‘Armor Piercing Force,’ capable of strongly suppressing the genetic prime energy and gene activity of the target. Price: 500,000 Star Coins + 100,000 Legion Contribution Points.”

This was exactly what he had been longing for!

He had searched for it for a month or two in the battlefield city, but found nothing. Now, having just joined the Celestial Palace, he discovered it here?

However...

500,000 Star Coins was not a problem. The real challenge was the 100,000 Legion Contribution Points, which made him scratch his head.

He had already skimmed through some information and knew what Contribution Points were.

Simply put, they were a form of currency within the legion. Completing legion missions earned you varying amounts of Contribution Points.

These points served many purposes. For example, at the end of each year’s Celestial Palace annual meeting, rewards were given to those with the highest Contribution Points—rewards that included cash, rare gene combat skills, high-level weapons, and even cultivation techniques...

Additionally, Contribution Points set purchase permissions.

The internal marketplace sold many rare items—weapons, gene medicines, gene combat techniques, cultivation methods... everyone wanted these. What could be done?

If it were just money, the wealthy could buy everything out.

That was obviously not allowed.

Otherwise, if an enemy spy from another legion came and bought out all the internal marketplace’s goods, what then?

Money is easy to come by, but these precious items are not so easily obtained. Armor Piercing was a living example.

Using both Star Coins and Contribution Points prevented such situations.

At the same time, offering these valuable items in the internal marketplace whetted the appetites of the lower ranks, encouraging their loyalty to the legion...

That was roughly how it worked.

As Fang Mu had just joined the legion, he had no Contribution Points at all.

Feeling frustrated but resigned, he sighed silently and kept browsing.

Soon, his eyes brightened even more...

“There’s a lot of good stuff here...”

“Gunfighting Technique ‘Thunderstrike’: Fires bullets imbued with powerful lightning energy. Targets struck by these bullets are shocked, suppressing gene vitality to some extent. Has area damage capabilities in certain scenarios and is highly effective against specific battlefield creatures. Price: 300,000 Star Coins + 50,000 Contribution Points.”

“Gunfighting Technique ‘Hallucination’: Fires bullets charged with ‘mental energy,’ causing targets to experience temporary mental abnormalities. The effect varies depending on the target’s evolutionary level. Price: 250,000 Star Coins + 30,000 Contribution Points.”

“Gunfighting Technique ‘Icebound’...”

Fang Mu was browsing the gunfighting techniques category, drooling so much he could barely sit still!

“I want to take on missions! All of these are mine!!!”

His eyes were almost glowing red.

He was utterly captivated!

Besides common techniques like Icebound and Firestorm, many of these were extremely rare and precious!

Truly, joining the Celestial Palace was the right choice. Otherwise... where could he have found these rare gunfighting techniques?

Just then, Xu Qing walked in.

“Alright, everyone, come here for the assignment. The distribution is complete.”

She spoke, and everyone turned to look at her. Fang Mu’s face showed a glimmer of anticipation...

[Originally planned to write more today, but my wife called—her mother is critically ill, possibly near the end. So I can only post one chapter today. The day before yesterday, Banmao’s grandmother also passed away... Updates may be unstable over the next few days; thank you for your understanding.]