Chapter 2649: Promotion

Yuan smiled at the Ironwoman’s question and responded with a question of his own, "What do you think?"

The Ironwoman narrowed her eyes at him and replied, "I don’t think you’re human, but I doubt you’re a Void Specter, either."

Yuan chuckled at her response before turning to Mei Feng and asking her, "What about you?"

"Something that doesn’t belong in this world," she calmly responded.

The Ironwoman was slightly surprised by Mei Feng’s response.

"Anyway, I have an idea why they think I am a Void Specter. It’s just a misunderstanding," Yuan said a moment later. "Are they making a big deal out of this or something?"

"No... not yet." Mei Feng shook her head. "But it will become an issue once news spreads in the other cities—if it hasn’t already."

"Can’t you just tell them it was a misunderstanding?" Yuan asked.

"Of course I can. The real question is whether they’ll believe us," Mei Feng replied.

After a brief pause, she continued, "That being said, the existence of a humanoid Void Specter is simply too outrageous. Without concrete evidence, I doubt most people will accept that such an entity exists. In fact, they’ll probably find it much easier to believe the whole thing was a misunderstanding than to accept that a humanoid Void Specter is real."

"So what you’re saying is... to just ignore it?" Yuan asked.

"For now, yes."

"..."

The room quickly fell silent afterward.

"Is that all?" Yuan asked a moment later.

"No, we’re about to go into the main topic," Mei Feng responded before her expression turned dead serious.

"You... Did you fight the Void Hunter before coming back to the city?" Mei Feng asked with narrowed eyes.

"I did."

Yuan answered immediately and without the slightest hesitation, catching them off guard. They hadn’t expected him to admit it so readily.

"What’s with the surprised look?" Yuan remarked after seeing their faces.

"Well... I was expecting you to keep it a secret..."

"Why?" Yuan calmly replied. "It wouldn’t benefit me to keep it a secret."

In his eyes, the more people who knew about his achievement, the better his reputation would be, which would allow him to progress faster in this world.

However, Mei Feng thought differently.

"Are you thinking that letting the world know you fought—and survived—the Void Hunter would help with your recognition?"

Yuan quietly nodded.

"While I will admit that you will definitely become the most famous individual in the world, it’s not necessarily a good thing."

The Ironwoman then said, "Throughout history, only two people have ever fought the Void Hunter and survived. The first was Tian Yuchen, and now, you’re the second."

"Tian Yuchen was already a renowned figure before his battle with the Void Hunter, but surviving that encounter propelled his reputation to the very peak of the world. And because he was affiliated with our city, the other eight cities immediately became wary of us and began working together to suppress Gaia’s Heaven, fearing that we had grown too powerful."

"In order to prevent a war from breaking out, Tian Yuchen ultimately had no choice but to sever his ties with our city and become an independent figure, unaffiliated with any city, power, or individual."

"You, on the other hand, are practically unknown outside our military. If word gets out that we have someone capable of fighting the Void Hunter and surviving, the other cities will undoubtedly see us as a threat."

Yuan raised an eyebrow at such words and spoke, "Isn’t this world supposed to be working together to deal with the threat prophesied by Gaia?"

"If only things were that simple..." Mei Feng sighed. "Unfortunately, not every city believes in Gaia’s prophecy. Some even outright reject it, such as Ember City."

"And while we’re on the topic, the next drill is scheduled to happen in two months."

"You mean the one where the civilians must go underground?"

"Yes."

"About time," Yuan said. "Anything I should know before that happens?"

"No, you’ll be briefed a week before it happens."

"Alright."

"In any case, the fact that you fought and survived the Void Hunter will not leave this room, understand?" Mei Feng said a moment later.

"I do."

"What do you think? About the Void Hunter," the Ironwoman suddenly inquired.

"It’s immensely powerful. So much so that I couldn’t do anything to it," he admitted.

"Huh? But didn’t you fight with it for weeks?"

"I did, but it was toying with me, and it left once it was satisfied. What? Did you think I was secretly as powerful as the Void Hunter? You’re giving me too much credit."

"..."

The Ironwoman and Mei Feng fell silent with dumbfounded looks on their faces, but it wasn’t that they realized Yuan wasn’t as powerful as they expected.

"The Void Hunter... toyed with you and left you alive? I have never heard of such a thing before! When the Void Hunter appears, it always tries to kill everyone who summoned it without exception!" said the Ironwoman.

Mei Feng added, "The only time it failed was when Tian Yuchen held it back long enough for everyone to escape safely."

"What about all that blood?" the Ironwoman then asked. "There was so much of it that the place looked like the aftermath of a bloody battle between two massive armies!"

"Oh, that’s my blood."

"There’s no way!"

"It’s a unique trait of my physique."

"And what kind of physique is that?" The Ironwoman narrowed her eyes at him.

"You don’t have to answer that," Mei Feng suddenly said, dumbfounded the Ironwoman.

"Huh?"

The Ironwoman stared at Mei Feng with a suspicious gaze, falling silent.

"One more thing before I send you away," Mei Feng said, pretending the previous interaction didn’t happen.

She reached into her drawer and retrieved an insignia, then handed it to Yuan.

"Congratulations on your promotion. You’re now a Sergeant."

"Oh?" Yuan gladly accepted his new rank.

"Usually, there would be a ceremony for a promotion of your rank, but alas, I don’t want you to draw any unnecessary attention."

"That’s fine," Yuan said. "In fact, I’d rather not have one if I could choose."