S-Class
District 9 Association branch base, main entrance parking lot.
He Xian closed the car door and cursed: "How can there be a bastard like you who likes to order others around?"
He responded and gave instructions to He Xian on which way to go and which way to drive. He acted like a human navigation system. He actually did this on purpose to avenge his "brother". He was very careful. Yun Gui took a sip of water to moisten his throat, with a harmless smile on his face: "What do you know? I'm just strengthening my memory so that we can find the way ourselves in the future."
After listening to the bickering, Yan Zhiyuan and Shi Youchen once again deeply thought: "Ying Yungui must have saved He Xian's life, otherwise they would not have been able to maintain their brotherhood for so many years."
The four of them walked towards the Mission Management Center building, encountering many men, women, and children along the way, most of whom greeted them warmly. Although they couldn't understand what District 9 was saying, He Xian's responses suggested that most of them were kind.
Ying Yungui and Yan Zhiyuan went to do the S-level mission qualification certification, while He Xian and Shi Youchen stayed in the hall.
He Xian glanced at Ying Yungui's departing back and said to Shi Youchen, "Brother...you are younger than me, I have to change my name."
Shi Youchen: "Just call me by my name."
He Xian scratched his temple lightly with his index finger: "Then I'll call you You Chen, okay?" The word You Chen already had a melodious tone, and when He Xian pronounced it, it sounded even more affectionate.
Shi Youchen said unnaturally: "Just call me by my full name."
He Xian smiled playfully as if he had succeeded in his mischief: "Calling people by their full names seems so distant. Aren't we friends? What's wrong with calling each other by our names?" He started to fool people into his own logic again.
Shi Youchen was really not good at dealing with him, so he could only nod randomly and try to end the topic.
He Xian suddenly changed the subject: "You and Yun Gui must have other things to do this time." He met You Chen's eyes and continued, "I won't interfere. Just do your own thing. I'm just giving you a heads up."
"If Ying Yungui loses control of his emotions, everyone around him will be in danger, so you must protect yourself."
......
An hour had passed the qualification certification and successfully received the S-level mission. When they came out, their faces were very solemn.
He Xian: "What's wrong? What's going on?"
Yan Zhiyuan: "There are more people coming than we imagined. It's only been one night, and there are already more than 20 intermediate-level psychics from various areas gathered here."
Ying Yungui frowned. "The threshold for this S-rank mission is surprisingly low at level 5. The rare auxiliary-type missions might even be even lower. This news will probably spread to all thirteen districts in no time. By then, let alone a couple dozen people, there will probably be more than two hundred."
He Xian was stunned. "How could that be? The minimum entry requirement for S-rank missions is usually level 6. I've never experienced this before..." His expression changed, and his speech slowed down considerably. "No... This isn't the first time."
"What?"
He Xian took a deep breath and said, "There was a special case like this three years ago."
It is the end of the 169th year of the new calendar, and this is the third year that He Xian has served as Minister of Equipment.
"Why won't you let me go? Didn't we agree before that I could participate in any missions in the border areas?" Twenty-year-old He Xian had lost his composure like this only a few times. He had always been well-behaved and obedient, but he was actually making a lot of noise in the private lounge of the head of the 9th District Association branch base.
The old man with gray hair sighed and said, "He Xian, this is an S-level mission, not some petty playful sparring. That's what we agreed on, but you know there are conditions for accepting an S-level mission, so stop messing around, okay?"
He Xian grabbed a handful of hair and said irritably, "I know! But how can you let me feel at ease! You know better than me where this mission is. Do you think I won't care?"
The old man's expression was unreadable. "Son, I know you're resentful about your parents, but you... you're someone headquarters has ordered to protect. Furthermore, you're only Level 4, not even the minimum Level 5 qualification. It's morally and logically impossible for me to let you take that risk."
He Xian poked the roof of his mouth with the tip of his tongue and laughed angrily, "Grandpa, I consider you half family because you've taken care of me all these years, and you treat me like this?" He lifted his sleeve, revealing half of his arm, a dark, unnaturally dark arm. His eyes were bloodshot as he said, "The day my parents left, they locked me in the basement and wouldn't let me out. I used these hands to pry open the ventilation duct and climb out."
He was so emotional that he spoke quickly: "You should remember that you were the one who healed my hands in the end. You said there was no other way and they could only regenerate to this extent."
He Xian pulled up his sleeves and held his hand out in front of the old man. "Every day I see them regretting why they didn't try harder to escape faster. That way, we could have persuaded them to go home before they went up the mountain."
The old man thought of the bloodied arms of the teenage boy and looked away reluctantly. He Xian followed his gaze and asked, "You want me to give up the chance to go there again? Do you think I'm not rotten enough?"
"He Xian! I told you not to talk about yourself like that anymore!" The old man also became excited and coughed violently.
He Xian looked at him in shock with red eyes, and only spoke after his emotions calmed down a little: "Grandpa, I have to go. The unrest on the border of District 9 and District 10 has troubled us for so many years. My parents also sacrificed for it. I have to go." He Xian's breath trembled at the end, and the tears in his eyes finally fell.
The old man pressed his hand against his left lung and quietly used a little regenerative power to breathe more smoothly. He said, "He Xian, you can't go. You stay in the base and don't force me to lock you up."
Seeing that he was not moved by any persuasion, He Xianwu became angry and slammed the door and left.
He Xian was ultimately unable to participate in that year's S-level mission - quelling the riots in the border area between Districts 9 and 10. He was discovered when he tried to sneak into the mission area and was trapped in the base and unable to escape. More than half a month after the S-level mission was issued, intelligence from the front line was transmitted back.
"Originally, both districts were doing their best to mediate the dispute between ordinary people. They also sent many auxiliary psychics to appease people. Even the old branch director went there..."
He Xian sat there in a daze, listening to the liaison officer's account. "I didn't expect the fugitives would take advantage of this moment... to slaughter indiscriminately. That strange domain couldn't detect any energy fluctuations, and everyone was trapped inside. When it was reopened, the monitoring team at the management center simultaneously alerted over twenty abnormal vital signs. In the end, only one-third of the psychics made it back alive. Fortunately, with everyone's full protection, the civilian population suffered few casualties."
He Xian's tone was vague: "How much?"
"What did you say?" The liaison officer didn't hear clearly.
"I say, how many people came back alive?" He Xian was determined to get a definite answer.
The contact pursed his pale lips. "A total of 36 people participated in this S-rank mission. Twelve survived... 18 died, and 6 are missing."
He Xian closed his eyes and clenched his teeth: "Old branch chief..."
The contact replied with tears in his eyes, "He is...one of the 18 people who died."
After a long silence, He Xian politely thanked the contact for sharing the news with him and invited her to try a cup of wolfberry ginseng tea. After she frowned and swallowed a mouthful with difficulty, he chuckled and said, "It doesn't taste good, does it? You can go back first. You've worked hard."
After the contact left, he drank the entire pot of wolfberry ginseng tea, one cup after another, and sighed softly: "Only old men like to drink this stuff."
A new leader took over a few days later, offering no further explanation for this costly S-rank mission, only a basic report. Perhaps because word of the strange domain could easily cause panic, or perhaps for some other reason, headquarters suppressed this crucial piece of information and ordered everyone aware of it to remain silent, lest they share it at their own peril.
Finally, regarding the only S-rank mission in these 169 years, except for a very few people who knew its full details, the only archive left was—
The border between Districts 9 and 10 has been plagued by years of unrest. The Light Domain, once established by the Helans, has been crumbling for three years. The Association has mobilized a group of exceptional psychics, assigning them an "S-rank" mission, ultimately restoring true and lasting peace to the border region. Following this example, the situation at the borders of other districts has gradually stabilized.
Because the association took the initiative to block the information, and there were conditional restrictions on accessing S-level archives, as time went by, fewer and fewer people paid attention to and knew about this matter.
And all the scars, pain and tears were buried under the hard-earned peace.
If He Xian used to pretend to be well-behaved and occasionally quarrel with the old man and lose his temper, then after that S-level mission, the impression he left on everyone was that of being cute, docile and easy to control.
Due to the "no disclosure" order issued by the association at the time, He Xian simply mentioned "there was a special case like this three years ago", but Shi Youchen and Ying Yungui immediately realized -
In 169, the S-level mission that Lu Shen participated in also lowered the acceptance conditions, just like this time.
Yan Zhiyuan, who didn't know about Lu Shen's affairs, asked in confusion: "Three years ago? Isn't that 169? I remember that year there was only one S-level mission at the end of the year. So you are talking about..."
He Xian: “That time.”
Yan Zhiyuan: "That time was also..." He was about to ask more, but He Xian changed the subject: "I just heard about it. So, in that case, I might be able to take this S-level mission?" Although he was only level 4, he belonged to the rare auxiliary system.
Ying Yungui raised his eyebrows: "You? Forget it, if a fight really breaks out, no one will care about you, so just stay still."
——"You stay in the base obediently." The old man's words flashed through He Xian's mind again, but this time he was able to remain calm.
He Xianyi stuck out his tongue and said, "Who cares? You guys go and work yourself to death. You Chen and I will go and eat and drink well."
"?" Ying Yungui's eyes flashed with ferocity when he heard his affectionate name. "You wish. I have already made arrangements. Either you go and have fun by yourself, or you will be bound to us." Ying Yungui pointed at Shi Youchen and himself.
He Xian was shocked: "Why?"
Ying Yungui smiled mysteriously, turned on the bracelet screen, pointed at it and said, "Just because I am the captain of this S-level mission, and you are my contact person in District 9~"
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