Chen Chuan got back into his car and drove to the department.

At around 1 p.m., he arrived at the Resolution Department and parked his car at the entrance. As two security guards saluted him, he entered the building.

He found Ni Qianqian in her office, and she handed him a document before saying, “Ferris Wheel actually had some demands. They said that if they were to compensate you, you are not to harbor any hostility toward them in the future, but we shot that down.”

Ni Qianqian crossed her arms and sneered, “You’re the victim here. Why should you get told what to do by your assailants? What a joke. If they think themselves so capable, they can continue fighting against us and United Might. I’m perfectly happy to see who’s going to suffer more losses in the end.”

Chen Chuan read the document. It was mostly about compensation clauses. “What are they going to do now?”

“We’ve come to an agreement. They’re going to compensate you in batches. I think this is their main goal. As for why they want to do it in batches?”

Ni Qianqian scoffed. “They might be thinking that you won’t attack them to get the rest of the money.”

Chen Chuan put the documents on the table and said, “Putting aside the compensation, I want to know what Ferris Wheel is thinking. Did they say why they attacked me?”

“According to them, you killed a woman called Big Sis Huan while escorting Meng Shu back to Central City. She’s the partner and assistant of some executive, and they were pretty close in private. That’s why he tried to take revenge on you after she died.

“Apparently, he didn’t listen to the company’s warnings and hired foreign martial artists through private channels to attack you.”

It was obvious that Ferris Wheel had just coughed up this excuse to humor them, because this didn’t explain why they also targeted Lei Guangcheng.

The real reason had to be of some importance, which was why they didn’t want to tell it.

By the looks of it, Ferris Wheel had no intention of giving up. They were just stopping for the time being due to external pressure.

“I have one more question: The person who attacked me claimed to be from Fierce Wave School. What does the department intend to do with the school?” he asked.

“We’ve sent people to ask them, and the school said that they’re only in charge of guiding their disciples in their martial arts journey. They don’t concern themselves with their disciples’ actions.”

She shook her head at that and said grimly, “While we can put pressure on Fierce Wave School, it’s going to be hard to bring them to their knees.

“Fierce Wave School isn’t like other schools. The martial artists who graduate from there are spread all over the island nations and Oceanland, and some of them are quite powerful. The school itself also has great prestige in foreign lands.

“After entering the new era, Fierce Wave School used new technology to create an elite force for itself.

“If we want to put pressure on them, we’d need to mobilize a lot of administrative resources. Putting aside how effective that’s going to be, even if we manage to make them admit defeat for a time, the martial artists who view Fierce Wave School as their God might do something extreme, and we don’t want that.”

Chen Chuan understood what she was saying. Fierce Wave School was just like Martial Valor University and had its own independent force.

Unless the government decided to use military power to destroy them, putting pressure on Fierce Wave School through political means was useless.

That was fine, though. Since the school had sent one of its martial artists to fight against him, Chen Chuan could visit them as a martial artist too.

Ni Qianqian tapped on her Realm Pass and sent him a contract. “This is the first 200,000 devs Ferris Wheel sent you. Our lawyer has already checked the contract for you. It’s fine. If you’re worried, you can have your lawyer read through it. You’re going to receive two other batches of money later.”

Chen Chuan signed the contract and said, “Could you hand the money over to the department for me, Officer Ni?”

The three batches of money would come up to a total of 600,000 devs. It was about the same as the bonus Border Fusion gave him. Obviously, Ferris Wheel was just humoring him, or rather, they didn’t want to give him that much money.

That was why he didn’t intend to take the money, at least not now. He would get all that Ferris Wheel owed him later and with interest.

It wasn’t as if he was short on money now. The special medicine he used came from Border Fusion, and aside from buying other types of medicine as well as gas, he didn’t need money for much else.

If he took the compensation, some eccentric people in the department might also get jealous of him, so it was better for him to offer up Ferris Wheel’s money to get these people to owe him a favor.

“Are you sure?” Ni Qianqian asked.

“Very,” Chen Chuan replied.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t want to part with such a huge sum of money. I’d be able to get a new car with it,” she said jokingly before her voice turned serious again. “I know that you’re not going to let things end this way. The department won’t let it end this way either, so don’t be rash. You’ll get your chance.”

“I know. By the way, are you free? I said that I’d treat you to a meal, and it’s a day off today,” Chen Chuan changed the topic.

Ni Qianqian massaged her temples. “How about next time? I’m an internal affairs officer, and I need to meet up with the new sponsored student over the next few days. I’m at my wits’ end here.”

“Speaking of which, I haven’t met that student yet,” Chen Chuan said.

Ni Qianqian huffed. “He’s under probation, but based on what I can see, he’s far from your level. I’m not talking about potential or combat strength here. It’s just data, and we won’t know his real strength until he shows it in a fight. Even though his assessment points are slightly higher than yours from your first assessment, he’s too arrogant.

“He thinks it’s only right for us to sponsor him, and that he’s showing us respect by joining the Resolution Department.

“The higher-ups are also treating him like a national treasure and think that they’re going to get another you. I’ve been working in the Resolution Department for years and have met plenty of students. I’ll tell you this: I’ve never met another you.”

Chen Chuan could hear the resentment in Ni Qianqian’s voice and knew that this student didn’t give her a good impression. He shook his head and said, “Looks like he’s not the funny type.”

When Ni Qianqian heard this, she let out a full belly laugh and took a while to stop before dismissing him with a wave. “Alright, then. It’s a day off today, so don’t waste it here. Go back and rest.”

Chen Chuan nodded and said goodbye to Ni Qianqian. When he left her office, he received a message telling him that the saber he sent to the Logistics Department had been repaired, so he could come to retrieve it.

That was perfect timing. Chen Chuan went to the Logistics Department to retrieve the saber, which had been placed in a beautiful box.

Chen Chuan thanked the staff, then walked out of the department and went back to his house to put it back on the shelf he had prepared for the saber in his weapons display room. Then, he spent a long minute admiring it before leaving the room.

The moment he was back in his dorm room, he continued his training to familiarize himself with the tempering method. He wanted to ask Xue Shou to teach him the next step of mental training.

In the blink of an eye, the third day off of February arrived.

Chen Chuan had agreed to watch the theater production with Tan Zhi in the afternoon, so he went to meet him in his house. Since they could encounter Chen Bitong, Chen Chuan dressed formally and left his room early in the morning to head to Tan Zhi’s place.

The theater was in Majestic Light District, so he didn’t drive his regular car. Instead, he drove Lightning Flash.

He had never driven it before, and it wasn’t just because maintaining it was troublesome. It was mainly because that car might just disappear after he decided to take it out for a spin.

But he didn’t have to worry about that in Majestic Light District.

When he reached Tan Zhi’s rented house, Pan Xiaode and Qi Huixin had already arrived. Pan Xiaode was as friendly as ever and shook his hand. “It’s been a long time since we last met, Chen Chuan.”

“He’s strong, so he needs to shoulder a lot more responsibilities,” Tan Zhi pointed out.

“I should have sparred against you earlier. Now that you’re a Third Limit martial artist, I can’t do it anymore,” Pan Xiaode said in frustration.

“We can still spar. I can control myself and fight at about the same level as you,” Chen Chuan said with a smile.

Pan Xiaode’s eyes immediately sparkled, and he asked eagerly, “Can you?”

“Yeah. You can fight against me with Qi Huixin,” Chen Chuan said.

“Okay!” Pan Xiaode turned to Qi Huixin. “Huixin, let’s attack him together.”

Qi Huixin grunted in agreement and stood beside him with a stern expression.

Fighting against a Third Limit martial artist was a rare opportunity. Their families had hired martial artists to spar with them before, but they wouldn’t say an extra word to those younger than they were, considering their status and identity.

As for the teachers they hired, they were only in charge of teaching them. They wouldn’t spar with them. After all, a fight with too great of a disparity in strength was meaningless.

At least, that was what they thought in the past. Now, they learned that it was because those people weren’t good enough to hold themselves back like Chen Chuan.

Pan Xiaode turned to Tan Zhi. “What about you, Tan Zhi?”

“Count me out,” Tan Zhi shot down the offer with a wave of his hand.

If this was a dance competition, he would give the best performance, but when it came to fighting? He wasn’t as enthusiastic about it as his two friends. If it weren’t for the threat of being demoted once his assessment points got too low, he would just get by.

Pan Xiaode and Qi Huixin treated the sparring session with utmost seriousness. They first excused themselves to warm up and took a few tubes of nutritional paste. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Since Chen Chuan was willing to spar with them, they weren’t going to treat it as their God given right, but treasure this opportunity.

Once they finished warming up, they grabbed their best weapons and went up to Chen Chuan. They shouted and attacked him from different directions.