“Xiaojin isn’t much worse than the average martial artist. At the end of the day, he is Instructor Chen’s son, and he has shown extraordinary talent at a young age. But do you think that Xiaojin can compare to you?” Fang Zhixin asked Chen Chuan before shaking his head. “Forget comparing to you. Do you think Xiaojin can compare to the people in the bar today?”

“That’s not a fair comparison,” Chen Chuan challenged.

He knew what Fang Zhixin was saying. Chen Xiaojin was more talented than the average person, but he didn’t stand out when compared to the elites.

But talent alone didn’t decide whether a person could succeed. Their determination, hard work, resources, and the changes in their surroundings played a crucial role too.

It was too rash to decide a person’s entire worth at a single stage of their life.

“Xiaojin is Instructor Chen’s son, so he’s bound to be compared to such people. He can’t avoid it. Instructor Chen is always surrounded by people like you, Captain Zhan, and the outstanding students here.

“Even Xiaojin’s siblings were outstanding martial artists. When they were at his age, they went to the merged space to fight, so they were truly remarkable. In front of them, Xiaojin is just average and mediocre,” Fang Zhixin pointed out.

Chen Chuan considered it before saying, “I saw Xiaojin training today. He seems to lack systematic guidance.”

Fang Zhixin sighed at that. “Instructor Chen is only one man and needs to use the limited time and energy he has on more talented students.

“He’s also at the merged space all-year round and seldom comes back. Ever since his wife passed away, he has failed to give Xiaojin the attention he needs.

“How should I describe their relationship? While it isn’t bad, they only greet each other when they meet. Sometimes, it even feels like he’s a stranger to Xiaojin. He can’t even compare to the nanny in charge of taking care of the boy.

“As for us, while we can see that the direction of Xiaojin’s training is a little off, it just means that his achievements in the future will be limited. Nothing will go wrong with him.

“Many of us served together with his brother and sister and saw them die. Their loss still weighs on our minds, and we don’t want to see Instructor Chen’s last son walk down the same path. Not being as talented as the elites might not be a bad thing for him.”

“But have you ever asked what Xiaojin wants?” Chen Chuan said.

Fang Zhixin was stunned for a moment before shaking his head.

They respected Instructor Chen and treated Xiaojin’s siblings as comrades, but they didn’t have much of an emotional tie with Xiaojin.

When they had time to take care of him, they did, but they had their own affairs to take care of, and they didn’t have the time nor energy to understand what a teenage boy wanted.

Besides, this wasn’t any of their business.

“You might be thinking that Xiaojin should give up, but he’s training hard and doesn’t want to do that,” Chen Chuan pointed out.

“Yes. Xiaojin is a hard worker. He’s as stubborn as his siblings, but there’s an obvious gap in their talent. No matter how hard he trains, he will never catch up,” Fang Zhixin lamented.

“Besides, Xiaojin is quite the introvert and usually doesn’t talk to anyone. I saw him talking to you just now, though. That’s rare.”

Chen Chuan didn’t find this strange. Teenagers like Chen Xiaojin might not be mature yet and lack experience, but they knew who was nice to them.

While they were talking, someone approached them and greeted Fang Zhixin and Ding Mai first before extending a hand to Chen Chuan. “Hello, Captain Chen. I’m Gu Haiting.”

Chen Chuan stood up and shook his hand. While Gu Haiting wasn’t in uniform, Chen Chuan could see confidence oozing out of his pores. He also seemed to be close friends with the people around them. Most likely, he was the son of a high-ranking military officer and part of this circle.

“I’m part of the PR Department of Azure Dragon, and I’ve heard Mr. Sun talking about you. I wasn’t expecting to see you here today, though. Guess I’m really lucky, huh?”

Chen Chuan was surprised. “How is Senior Sun? After we parted ways at Rhinoceros’ Horn, I haven’t seen him again.”

“He’s fine and is still in charge of Rhinoceros’ Horn, though he has gone back to Central City recently. He mentioned that if it weren’t for your help last time, things would have become much more troublesome.”

“He’s giving me too much credit. I was just there by chance. Even if I wasn’t around, I’m sure that Senior Sun could have taken care of the situation,” Chen Chuan said.

They chatted a little longer, but didn’t dive deep into any topics, and Gu Haiting soon left. It seemed like he had come just to befriend Chen Chuan.

But Chen Chuan didn’t think that was the case. Gao Ming had mentioned that due to Ferris Wheel’s desire to join the Union, Azure Dragon was bound to feel some heat, since their main target market was the citizens on the island nations. They wouldn’t sit by and do nothing about the situation.

Meanwhile, Ferris Wheel had attacked Chen Chuan before. To Azure Dragon, the ones having bad blood with Ferris Wheel were natural allies. Chen Chuan was also acquainted with Sun Zhiming, so it was highly likely that Gu Haiting had come to figure out his stance on the matter.

Azure Dragon hadn’t done anything even though days had passed since the second attack, yet he met Gu Haiting today. Was this just a coincidence?

Chen Chuan took a sip of his drink. He would wait and see.

Chen Chuan stayed for a little over two hours and talked about some things in the military and the merged space with Ding Mai and Fang Zhixin. He also did his best to learn about Chen Bitong, though he did so through indirect, discreet ways. During that time, a number of people came up to introduce themselves.

When they left the pub, Chen Chuan added Ding Mai and Fang Zhixin to his list of connections.

Unlike the others, he didn’t leave the building immediately. Instead, he went to the training center again and saw that Chen Xiaojin was still training in silence.

After watching for a while, he said, “Practicing martial arts isn’t the way for you to vent your frustrations. You shouldn’t be forcing yourself to train. Your mutated tissue can sense your emotions. The more you force yourself to train, the more your mutated tissue will reflect those thoughts back to you. It’ll limit your growth. It’s only when you find joy in training that you will be able to improve.”

Chen Xiaojin stopped punching the puppet and turned to Chen Chuan.

“I don’t care why you’ve decided to practice martial arts. At the end of the day, it all boils down to wanting to get stronger. There are plenty of ways to make yourself stronger, but you need to walk down the right path,” Chen Chuan said.

Chen Xiaojin thought about it before nodding.

Chen Chuan looked him in the eyes and said, “You’re talented, so don’t waste it.”

“I...” Chen Xiaojin hesitated for a moment. Then, with a gaze lacking in confidence but full of hope, he asked, “Do I really have talent?”

“In my eyes, you do, and I believe that I have better judgment than most people,” Chen Chuan joked.

Chen Xiaojin nodded, convinced. Chen Chuan’s demonstration and his fight against Ding Mai gave his words a lot of credibility.

“I’m leaving now. Remember: Don’t train too much. Give your mutated fascia time to rest.” He turned to go.

“Captain Chen...”

Chen Chuan stopped and turned around.

“Can I connect with you? If I have some questions and can’t figure out something on my own, can I ask you about it?” Chen Xiaojin asked tentatively.

“Sure.” Chen Chuan smiled. He tapped on his Realm Pass and connected with Chen Xiaojin before waving him goodbye and leaving.

When he walked into the elevator, he heard Chen Xiaojin punching the puppet again.

Once he was out of the building, he drove away and contacted Advisor Pei. The moment he answered, Advisor Pei said, “One second. Let me get us into another channel.”

A moment later, Chen Chuan was dragged into a secret channel, and Advisor Pei said, “What happened, Captain Chen?”

“I went to the training center today but didn’t meet the person,” Chen Chuan said.

“He went to visit the Speaker of the House of Representatives today. It was a last-minute invite. We only just learned about it ourselves,” Advisor Pei said.

“I did meet a lot of other people, though,” Chen Chuan said.

He then told Advisor Pei about the people he met today. Chen Xiaojin was among them, but his mention was brief and did not have any details.

Once Chen Chuan finished his account, Advisor Pei said, “Even if you didn’t manage to meet the person today, you don’t have to feel frustrated about it. Let everything happen naturally.

“During the next day off of the month, he’s bound to go watch the theatre production. If you have a chance, go and talk to him. If you don’t, just show your face. Don’t do it too deliberately, though.”

“Got it,” Chen Chuan said. If Chen Bitong showed his face in public, the people he approached and talked to were bound to catch the eyes of the people in charge of monitoring him. Chen Chuan didn’t need to do anything extra.

Once the conversation ended, Chen Chuan didn’t go back immediately. Instead, he drove to Deep End District and visited Lu Fang.

He had wanted to check in on Wu Han’s new place, but after calling him, he learned that he was out on a mission with Qi Gao, even though it was supposed to be a day off.

Qi Gao probably wanted to repay the money and favor he owed Chen Chuan. After all, he always kept those things in mind. Meanwhile, Wu Han was a stubborn man who didn’t have the word rest in his dictionary. He had just arrived in Central City too, so he was full of energy.

Chen Chuan used Border Fusion’s domain signal to contact Lu Ke and Yu Gang. Everything was normal down in the lower city district. With Border Fusion’s support, Clear Road Transport was gradually reclaiming all the lost business deals.

At that moment, Chen Chuan arrived next to an eco park and stopped there. When he leaned against the car, he could see the towering buildings and brilliant neon lights in the distance.

As his friends came to Central City, he had more and more familiar faces in the city.

Now that he was part of the World Ring Defense System and a squad captain, he could even bring his family here, but with the current situation, it would be safer for them to stay in Yangzhi City.

Besides, Nian Fuli couldn’t just abandon his position in the Constabulary. It would require a lot of coordination, so it would have to wait.

At the very least, Chen Chuan needed to get rid of the threat known as Ferris Wheel first.

After observing the scenery for a while, he received a call from Ni Qianqian.

“Chen Chuan, Ferris Wheel has sent the first compensation to the department. If you’re free, come over to get it.”

“Sure. I’ll come over right now,” he replied.