Chapter 106: I Want to Join the Church of the New Moon

Chen Meng had just caught his breath when the hair on his body suddenly stood on end. He lunged rapidly toward the left.

A burst of gunfire erupted, and a row of bullet holes appeared in the ground exactly where he had been standing a moment before.

"Jiang Lan!"

Chen Meng spotted the shooter. He rolled toward a large freight truck and dove behind it for cover.

Jiang Lan was hiding at the other end of the truck. Seeing the dead body of A-Wei, she looked shaken. "You actually managed to kill A-Wei? He had almost completely metabolized the Black Iron serum. And you... you only just ascended to become a Divine Body lifeform..."

Her eyes were filled with shock, and a realization dawned on her. If Chen Meng could kill A-Wei, he could kill her too. A tremor of fear ran through her.

Without a second thought, she retreated quickly, backing all the way to the car they had arrived in. Chen Meng, having finished reloading his weapon, was unaware of her intent to flee. After testing the air with a few shots and hearing no response, he gathered his courage and stepped out. Just then, Jiang Lan reached the car and was already pulling the door open.

"Damn it, I thought you were here for a fight to the death, but you're actually trying to run!"

Chen Meng was speechless. He had been preparing for a life-or-death struggle to settle their grievances, but Jiang Lan was being far too cautious.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He fired several shots in quick succession. The bullets struck the door, but one managed to pass through the window, hitting Jiang Lan in the arm.

With a sharp cry, she scrambled into the car. Chen Meng fired a few more rounds at the vehicle, but while he hit the car, he could no longer inflict any damage on her.

Watching Jiang Lan drive away, Chen Meng picked up his phone and called Han Hao. "Han Hao, when exactly are your people getting here? Do you have any idea how close I came to dying?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a Public Security Bureau skiff arrived, and Jiang Feiyu leaped out from it.

"Where are they?"

Jiang Feiyu had already noticed A-Wei’s corpse on the ground.

Chen Meng glanced behind him, seeing several more public security vehicles arriving. He said urgently, "That bitch Jiang Lan escaped. The license plate number of the car she’s driving is..."

Jiang Feiyu nodded and immediately led his team in pursuit. "Just wait here. I will catch that woman."

Chen Meng nodded. Since Jiang Lan had only just escaped, there was a high probability they would catch her.

...

"Let's go."

Chen Meng checked on the driver and the freight truck driver, who had been hiding in his cab and hadn't dared to come out. Seeing they were both unharmed, he felt relieved.

At ten that night, Chen Meng received a call from Han Hao.

"We didn't catch Jiang Lan. She was rescued by someone at the last moment."

"That is certainly not good news."

Chen Meng took a deep breath. He had offended Jiang Lan even more deeply this time; that woman would surely spend every waking moment plotting to kill him. It was infuriating. How reliable was this Public Security Bureau anyway? Why were they always so late?

Knowing that complaining wouldn't help, he asked, "I killed another Crescent Cultist this time. Does that count as another meritorious service?"

Han Hao was exasperated. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Chen Meng had indeed performed another service. But the speed of his success was alarming—even Han Hao himself hadn't been this fast when he first joined the bureau.

"Yes, it counts. If you were a full-time employee of the bureau, I could apply for a Tier 2 Divine Body promotion serum for you."

"Forget about being a full-time employee. I'm still a student," Chen Meng said modestly, though to Han Hao, the tone felt off.

"If you want to join the bureau after you graduate, I can offer you a special recruitment and give you a permanent position."

"Han Hao, are you looking down on me?" Chen Meng said with disdain, sniffing dismissively.

"What do you mean?"

"How poorly would I have to do in university to end up as an officer under you? By then, I should be your superior."

"Haha, I'm the Chief of the Public Security Bureau. You want to be the Chief right out of university? Keep dreaming."

"Hmph, don't look down on people. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—don't bully a young man for being poor."

"Haha!"

...

Chen Meng couldn't be bothered to deal with Han Hao any longer and hung up. He turned his attention to his own data.

Knowledge Points: 30
Pages Turned: University Runes (0/1998), Primordial Language (10/698 (63%))
Analysis Progress: Ghost Step Lotus (8.569%)
Metabolism Progress: Pale Serum (94.011%)

At this rate, he should only need one more metabolic bottleneck to fully process the Pale Serum. The key was that he had been taking the serum for less than a month. This progress rivaled that of Mo Xiaoyi, and he had saved a massive amount of time by using knowledge points to boost his metabolic progress. After all, even without the bottlenecks, metabolizing the serum naturally would take a long time, and he had essentially bypassed that entire process.

As for his finances, he had recently earned tens of thousands, but after his expenses, only 17,900 remained.

...

The next day, when Chen Meng went to the martial arts hall, he was on high alert. He had a nagging feeling that a Crescent Cultist might pop out from anywhere and take a potshot at him.

After a cautious journey, he arrived at the hall and saw Mo Xiaoyi brushing his teeth at the entrance. Mo Xiaoyi’s metabolism was moving fast; in just two days, he had reached nearly 50%, and his strength had increased significantly.

"Junior brother, let's spar in a bit."

"Sure!" Chen Meng agreed. Mo Xiaoyi clearly felt stronger and wanted to avenge his previous defeat. Chen Meng was happy to teach him another lesson about reality.

Half an hour later.

"Junior brother, this is impossible. Why does it feel like the gap between us has only gotten wider?"

"Is that so? I feel like you've gotten weaker."

Mo Xiaoyi didn't want to speak. That was too painful. He touched his swollen face and decided that, in the future, he should be more cautious when asking Chen Meng to spar. Why was he getting beaten up even worse now that he wasn't at school? Something felt wrong.

...

That evening, as Chen Meng was heading to his tutoring session, Ni Hu blocked his path outside the hall.

"Chen Meng, I want to talk to you about something."

"Oh? What is it?" Chen Meng was suspicious. Ni Hu looked mysterious; surely he wasn't planning something shady?

Ni Hu looked left and right, then whispered, "Chen Meng, I want to join the Crescent Cult."

Chen Meng was shocked. "Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what the Crescent Cult does?"

Ni Hu knew perfectly well what they did. His expression grew grave. "Do you remember what you told me? You told me not to accept my fate, to fight to the end. I think you were right. The biggest obstacle to me becoming a Divine Body lifeform is the Fountain of Wishes. You said the Crescent Cult's protectors might have access to it. If I want to get that water, what other choice do I have? The best—no, the only—way is to infiltrate the cult, gain the protector's trust, and hopefully become his direct disciple. Then, how could he refuse me the water?"

Chen Meng stared at him in horror. "You're throwing your life away. Do you know what will happen if you’re exposed?"

Ni Hu smiled. "What could happen? Death? Do you think I’m afraid of death? Do you want me to jump off a building again to prove it?"

Chen Meng fell silent. He was terrified by Ni Hu's audacious plan.

"You really are insane."

Chen Meng thought to himself that this guy was truly ruthless—even more so than himself.