I slay evil in the Department of the Supernatural

Chapter 173, Part 172: The Focus! Promotion to Company Commander! (Bonus chapter for monthly votes)

Time flies, and three days have passed in the blink of an eye.

The media interview area at the entrance of the headquarters of the Department of the Supernatural.

Numerous spotlights flashed densely, enveloping Xu Lindong, who stood in the center, in a bright white light.

He stood tall and straight, facing the camera, his voice steady, as he recounted his mission at the mental hospital.

These versions are naturally modified and simplified.

Many details involving the pollution of the sinkhole, the manifestation of human figures by the heavens, and the life-and-death struggle were omitted, with the focus mainly on the hardships of teamwork and the final victory.

"—After a thorough investigation and reinforcement, that area has now been confirmed to be safe."

He faced the microphone, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, and said solemnly, "So please rest assured."

As soon as he finished speaking, a beautiful female reporter squeezed in front of him, almost holding the microphone to his lips: "Mr. Xu, as far as we know, you are currently the second-ranked elite among the younger generation of the Jiangcheng Divine Bureau, and your position on the Prodigy List is also very high. Your potential is recognized as enormous."

"At such a crucial time, are you more focused on your duty to defend the country, or are you considering resolving personal issues and finding a life partner?"

This question came as a complete surprise and was quite presumptuous.

In the crowd, Yi Qianxun was staring intently at the figure where the lights converged on the stage. Upon hearing the sound, he clenched his fists, feeling a surge of anger.

Why is this person asking such a personal question!

Her cheeks flushed slightly, but her gaze remained fixed on Xu Lindong, filled with both trepidation and a subtle anticipation for his response.

On the other side, Lu Qian, who was talking quietly with the other executives, was also slightly startled and subconsciously looked up.

Under the lights, Xu Lindong stood tall and straight, attracting everyone's attention. He was confident and dazzling, as if a captivating halo naturally flowed around him.

"Ah Dong... he really is outstanding."

Lu Qian's eyes glazed over for a moment.

Xu Lindong is indeed excessively outstanding now, which puts a lot of pressure on her.

Xu Lindong clearly did not expect the interview to take this turn.

He paused briefly, then gave a polite and restrained smile: "This is my private matter, and I cannot discuss it further."

Besides, there are many excellent colleagues at headquarters; I'm only standing here temporarily. Perhaps tomorrow, an even more outstanding newcomer will surpass me and stand here for an interview.

He smiled calmly and said, "So for now, my energy is still focused on cultivation and dealing with supernatural events; that is my primary goal."

"Mr. Xu! Mr. Xu!"

More questions came flooding in.

Xu Lindong selected a few responses, then politely nodded and turned to leave the interview area.

As he left, murmurs arose among the onlookers.

"Executive Xu is really handsome! I'd be so happy to be his girlfriend!"

"Stop, stop, you old lady," quickly stop your daydreaming. This person is a top-tier extraordinary individual on the national prodigy list, with immense potential; she's from a completely different world than you."

"Who are you calling an 'old maid'?! I'm only twenty-eight. Who are you talking to! Come here, let's have a serious talk!"

..

Only after retreating to the back of the media area did Xu Lindong finally relax.

Dealing with these reporters who are eager to dig up gossip and break the news is even more exhausting than dealing with a series of "female directors" at the eighth rank.

You have to be on high alert the whole time, for fear that if you say something wrong, it will be magnified and misinterpreted by the camera, and the ensuing public opinion troubles will pile up like mountains.

He turned around and said to Xiao Qing, the liaison officer who had been following behind him, "Please try to turn down similar media interviews for me in the future."

If you really can't refuse, then assign it to another colleague.

Xiao Qing was slightly taken aback at first, then immediately nodded: "Okay, Captain Xu."

She readily agreed on the surface, but inwardly she was both amused and exasperated.

Turning down the interview is possible, but as for "assigning it to another colleague"—she's just Xu Lindong's personal liaison, and the authority doesn't lie with the other executives.

"If there are difficulties, we must overcome them. Let's first implement the first half of what Captain Xu told us."

As Xiao Qing pondered, her gaze drifted back to Xu Lindong's departing figure.

Our captain is strong and decisive in battle, but when facing the camera, he just wants to hide in peace and quiet. This contrast is quite interesting.

Seeing Xu Lindong head towards the rest area, Xiao Qing quickly followed.

Inside the lounge, Xu Lindong took a cup of coffee from the self-service area and handed it to Yi Qianxun: "I already told you you didn't need to come. The interview is only for a short while, and I don't like these kinds of occasions."

Yi Qianxun took the coffee and smiled, "No matter what, this is your highlight moment. It's your first official interview on TV, so I definitely had to come and witness it."

My parents will be so happy if they see this when they turn around.

"OK."

Xu Lindong lowered his voice and got to the point, "How's the matter I asked you to investigate going?"

Yi Qianxun nodded: "The investigation is almost complete, but—"

She glanced at Xiao Qing who had followed behind her and stopped talking.

Xu Lindong understood: "We'll talk about it when we get back."

At that moment, his gaze turned to the doorway.

Seeing the two sisters, Lu Xue and Lu Qian, walking towards them from the doorway.

The moment he saw Lu Xue, a subtle flicker of emotion crossed his eyes, but he quickly returned to normal.

He had already fought her before and guessed that she was Lu Qian's older sister.

I didn't expect to run into him again so soon.

"The way he looked at me just now—there was a fleeting flicker of emotion."

As Lu Xue walked, her gaze had already fallen on Xu Lindong and Yi Qianxun beside him.

When she saw another girl standing next to the person her younger sister cared about, she naturally glanced at her a few more times, but she keenly caught the fleeting change in Xu Lindong's expression.

A slight doubt crept into her mind, followed by a silent scoff: "Is he some kind of playboy? His eyes light up at the sight of every girl?"

At this moment, Lu Qian stepped forward with a smile and exchanged pleasantries with Yi Qianxun familiarly.

The two had met before and had a good relationship.

"Captain Lu." Xu Lindong stood up and greeted him.

Lu Qian smiled and stepped forward: "Adong, congratulations. You were so calm and confident during the interview. You've done a great job again."

Xu Lindong shook his head: "It's because my teammates cooperated well. Actually, it would be better if these kinds of things happened less often, at least it's safer in the city."

He said this from the bottom of his heart.

It's best if the dangers happen outside the city.

Only when the city is peaceful can his family be at peace.

"you're right."

Lu Qian nodded solemnly, then turned to the side with a smile, "Come, let me introduce you. This is my sister, Lu Xue. She is the head of the East District Prison Station."

"It's an honor to meet you, Captain Xu!"

Lu Xue gracefully extended her hand and shook hands with Xu Lindong: "I often hear Xiaoqian mention you; you are truly a young man of great talent."

"Station Master Lu, you're too kind."

Xu Lindong responded, then turned his gaze to Lu Qian, "Your sister is the station manager, and you've kept this a secret until now."

Lu Qian smiled and said, "I don't want to be too flamboyant. Besides—I don't want to rely on my sister's connections; I want to make a name for myself first."

Xu Lindong nodded upon hearing this.

This is indeed like Lu Qian's style: capable, with potential, and with her own pride, she doesn't need to rely on anyone.

The group sat down again and chatted casually.

Lu Xue cut to the chase, saying, "Our monitoring station previously detected an unusual signal in the East District, and then that signal reappeared in the South District."

Finally, within the sealed-off area of ​​Jinxiu Residential Complex in the South District, I found the "Death warrant"—the very document that had been used to hunt down certain forces within the Federation. You've probably heard about this, haven't you?

As she spoke, Zi Guang glanced at Yi Qianxun sitting next to her, seemingly casually.

Yi Qianxun came from the Commander's Office, so she was certain that Xu Lindong had heard of him.

Xu Lindong remained calm upon hearing this, nodding and saying, "I have indeed heard this news. Station Chief Lu is investigating the whereabouts of the 'King of Hell's Decree'? What crime has he committed? Do you need my assistance in the investigation?"

"No, that's not it."

Lu Xue shook her head. "There was a misunderstanding and a minor conflict between us. Actually—I wanted to invite him to join the official team."

She paused, then continued, "There's a special organization in Jiangcheng called the Extraordinary Ones Institute, you should know about it. It recruits many unaffiliated extraordinary individuals, and they're all elites."

"Once they enter the Extraordinary Ones Institute, they can obtain official resource support and intelligence sharing, and their treatment is not bad."

With official records in place, actions become more standardized, which is beneficial to the city's safety and stability.

She looked at Xu Lindong and said, "The 'King of Hell's Decree' is being hunted down by forces from the Federation. If he's willing to join us, we can provide him with intelligence, resources, and even necessary protection."

"It's a pity he rejected me back then," Lu Xue sighed softly. "He didn't want to reveal his identity, saying that he wanted to protect his family."

Xu Lindong nodded slightly, pondered for a moment, and then said, "I can actually understand the concerns of these unofficial personnel. Although they lack security, they are more free and discreet while hiding in the shadows. They are less likely to be targeted, and their families are safer."

As he said this, Lu Qian, who was standing next to him, immediately gave him a secret look and thought to herself: Why is he contradicting my sister?

But Xu Lindong was speaking his true thoughts; he hoped to persuade Lu Xue to give up the idea.

Lu Xue pondered for a moment, then nodded: "What you said does make sense."

The letter from the King of Hell mentioned that he had a wife and two daughters.

I didn't investigate further, partly because I was afraid of upsetting him.

Perhaps—he really wanted to protect his family.

She looked at Xu Lindong, her tone turning serious: "I'm telling you this mainly to ask you to keep an eye out for things in the East District."

The King of Hell's Decree is likely active in the East District.

Of course, other people at headquarters will also be following up on this matter. I've already reminded them to try their best to avoid conflict with the government and to try to get him to align with the authorities.

"Are there other people at headquarters following up?"

Xu Lindong was somewhat surprised and asked, "Who is in charge?"

Lu Xue looked at Lu Qian.

Lu Qian understood and continued, "At headquarters, my direct superior, Squad Leader Liu, is currently handling the matter."

"I see." Xu Lindong nodded.

Lu Qian looked at him and said in a light tone, "You completed this mission so well, you should be close to Sequence Eight, right? I reckon you'll be transferred to headquarters soon."

Xu Lindong replied, "The specifics depend on the Chief's arrangements. However, I am indeed preparing for breaking through to Sequence Eight; the application for extraordinary materials has already been submitted."

A hint of surprise flashed across Lu Qian's beautiful eyes, then she smiled and said, "Your progress is really fast."

Her tone was tinged with emotion: "Last time I said I wanted you to protect me, as I was also planning to break through to Sequence Eight. Now it seems we might have to break through at the same time."

"Oh?" Xu Lindong looked at her. "Your advancement to extraordinary material has been approved?"

"Yes, I'm already down." Lu Qian nodded. "I plan to have my sister protect me."

Xu Lindong nodded and smiled, "Then I wish you a successful breakthrough."

After the group finished chatting, they went their separate ways.

As she left, Lu Xue glanced back at Xu Lindong, who was still talking quietly with Yi Qianxun, and seemed to be deep in thought.

She glanced at her younger sister beside her and decided to offer a reminder.

She had originally planned to ask Xu Lindong about his attitude directly and make things clear.

Seeing Xu Lindong and Yi Qianxun standing together, especially the undisguised look in Yi Qianxun's eyes when she looked at Xu Lindong, she immediately understood something and swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

She, as an observer, could see things clearly, but her silly younger sister, Lu Qian, didn't seem to fully understand yet.

..

Half an hour later.

Xu Lindong instructed liaison officer Xiao Qing to escort Yi Qianxun back, while he himself went to Chief Shen Guanting's office alone.

Shen Guanting was in a good mood and got straight to the point: "You performed exceptionally well in this mission. I originally wanted to promote you directly to the position of company commander at headquarters, but you were still relatively inexperienced at the time."

He changed the subject with a smile and said, "But now that you've made this great contribution, your resume is impressive enough, and you're fully qualified. Promoting you to squadron leader is no problem."

Xu Lindong was somewhat surprised.

He originally thought he would be assigned as a squad leader upon arriving at headquarters.

Shen Guanting looked at him and asked directly, "Are you confident in taking over?"

Xu Lindong's expression turned serious, and he answered without hesitation: "Yes."

Young people should be full of vigor.

This was taught to him by Zheng Feng.

Even if he goes to headquarters, given his abilities and achievements, this is the position he deserves.

"Okay, very good."

Shen Guanting nodded in satisfaction. "I will hold a meeting later to announce the appointment and proceed with the formal process."

He continued, "Your application for Sequence 8 extraordinary material has been approved. You can go to the supplies department to collect it."

During this time, you should focus on preparing for your breakthrough. Aside from attending the appointment ceremony, you don't need to handle other matters for the time being.

"Yes, thank you, Chief of Staff," Xu Lindong said, standing up.

Shen Guanting waved his hand: "You earned this yourself. If you didn't have the ability, I couldn't have promoted you out of turn."

The two exchanged words quickly and decisively, without saying anything more.

Xu Lindong turned and left, heading straight for the headquarters' supplies department.

Collect the materials for the extraordinary material that I applied for three days ago.

The extraordinary materials of Sequence 8 are only stocked at the headquarters in Jiangcheng.

Therefore, if a branch office executive wants to be promoted, he often has to be transferred to headquarters first, accumulate experience and merits, before he is eligible to apply.

Lu Qian is taking this very path.

However, with the official launch of the "Prodigy Project", resources began to be tilted towards the prodigies on the list with unprecedented force.

He could have waited for the first ranking of the prodigies to be determined, and then relied on the extraordinary materials rewarded by the headquarters to advance, but that would take some time. Therefore, he went through a special channel and used his merit points to exchange for them first, and the headquarters would make up for it later.

Three days ago, he directly used 15,000 merit points to exchange for the extraordinary materials needed to advance to the eighth rank of "Town Land".

This price is already quite favorable.

If this were outside the company, business owners or extraordinary individuals would have to pay far more to acquire the same resources than this figure.

However, the expenditure of these merits did not affect his total accumulated merit value on the Heavenly Pride Ranking.

Since the Pride Ranking was introduced, the merit points consumed are no longer deducted from the overall ranking.

With the 3,000 spent on upgrading his weapon and the 15,000 he has now, he has 31,000 merit points left to use.

At this moment, Xu Lindong finished filling out the forms at the counter of the headquarters' supplies department.

He received the metal box containing Sequence 8 extraordinary matter from a woman dressed in a strict black suit, with a meticulous expression and seemingly regular menstrual cycles.

He opened the box, looked at the small handful of soil inside, then closed it and calmly said, "Director Shi, I still have one C-level divine item exchange privilege left, and I would like to apply for it now."

He didn't have many supernatural or supernatural items at his disposal. Apart from the life-saving badge given to him by the chief of staff, the mask of the faceless man, and the ghost token from the underworld, all he had left was the land painting brush that he was still figuring out how to use.

None of them could actually be used for attack or to cause damage.

There are quite a few evil creatures imprisoned in the Tower of Babel.

Unfortunately, those things can't be exposed to the light and are inconvenient to use normally.

Therefore, Xu Lindong decided to take this opportunity to exchange for a divine artifact that could be used directly in battle.

"Okay, I have a list of Class C supernatural artifacts currently corresponding to headquarters."

After listening, the middle-aged woman, Director Shi, remained meticulous and rigorous, and like a female robot, she took out a list and pushed it in front of him.

Xu Lindong's gaze swept across the items, looking at them one by one, finally stopping at the entry for a longbow.

"The Crimson Bow...? A divine artifact for the human path... I'll choose that."

"This bow is an artifact from a general of the Xia Dynasty three hundred years ago."

Director Shi explained.

She turned and walked to the alloy locker on the side, and after fingerprint verification, the locker door slid open.

She took out a long, narrow black metal box from it.

Return to the counter, open it, take out the bow, and place it flat on the counter.

The bow is dark red all over, resembling wood but not quite, and feels cold to the touch, vaguely exuding a murderous aura that has settled from the battlefield.

The bow arms are engraved with cloud patterns, and the handle in the middle is clearly worn, as if it has been held for a long time.

Director Shi meticulously explained, "This bow is very powerful. It requires a sufficiently strong humanistic transcendental phantom to draw. It does not require arrows; your burst of human energy can condense into arrows."

She paused, then added, "The side effects are also obvious; the more frequently it's ejaculated, the more bloodthirsty it becomes."

Each time the bow is drawn, the user's blood is extracted, which will weaken the person over time.

"However, it only drinks blood, not supernatural power. As long as a superhuman doesn't lose too much blood, it won't have much of an impact."

"A blood-sucking bow..."

Xu Lindong nodded, reached out and stroked the cold bow, feeling a faint, extraordinary hum that seemed unwilling to fall silent within it.

His extraordinary popularity and illusory strength are sufficient; drawing this bow should not be a problem.

Moreover, he will also strive for advancement in the Humanitarian Rank.

Now he has accumulated enough fame and prestige, and he is just one step away from achieving his goal.

Having this bow in hand is more advantageous, both in actual combat and in gaining insights.

Without hesitation, he immediately used his C-level divine artifact exchange privilege to exchange for the Crimson Sky Bow.

Then, carrying a metal box containing materials for advancing to Sequence 8 in one hand and slinging the Crimson Sky Bow behind his back in the other, Xu Lindong turned and left the supplies area.

Instead of going home, he went straight to the temporary training room arranged by headquarters.

It's safer to make a breakthrough here at headquarters.

Without being disturbed, the fluctuations in power will not affect the outside world.

More importantly, being located in the headquarters area allows for a clearer understanding of the power dynamics within the "town and land" system, which will greatly benefit his promotion...

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