My Professions Have Too Much Personality - Chapter 211 - 138: Targeted and Acquired, [Gourmet]

Chapter 211: Chapter 138: Targeted and Acquired, [Gourmet]

Since things had come to this, there was no point in saying more. Xiao Ying snorted coldly, turned, and boarded the nearby hovercar.

……

Two hours later, Gu Bing arrived at Su Chen’s residence with the item.

“So this is a Void Star Fragment…” Su Chen murmured, gazing at the crystal shard in the box. Starlight swirled within, making it exceptionally beautiful.

“The Inspectorate bid one hundred seventy million. We gave them the one hundred thirty million we had, so they effectively spent an extra forty million,” Gu Bing explained, a peculiar light in her eyes.

Su Chen had told her to wait for the Inspectorate’s people after the auction, not expecting that Zhou Honglang would give them the item directly.

“Right,” Su Chen nodded. The moment he received Tie Feng’s message, he had contacted Cheng Lang.

The two had just agreed to work together for the future of Ying Feng. Cheng Lang was efficient, but the Inspectorate was merely acting as a front; Su Chen’s side still had to put up the money.

“But getting too involved with the Inspectorate… isn’t that a bit risky?” she reminded him gently. “The conflict between the Judicial Court and the Security Department is common knowledge in Ying Feng.”

“Don’t worry,” Su Chen said, closing the box and setting it aside.

Seeing Su Chen’s confident demeanor, Gu Bing relaxed and then added cautiously,

“The Security Department has been conducting a lot of audits lately, and our families’ shipping and sales channels have been facing some interference. If you could put in a word for us…”

Su Chen replied at once, “Leave it to me.”

Su Chen had heard that the Security Department had been very active in the city lately. He figured they were most likely searching for the Black Tuo Divine Blood.

But that kind of order would never reach the grunts on the ground. As a result, the low-level guards actually doing the work would inevitably mix in their own selfish interests, using the opportunity to line their pockets.

Gu Bing breathed a sigh of relief when Su Chen agreed so decisively.

’Take their money, solve their problems.’ Su Chen saw it as a perfectly normal transaction. The three families had indeed saved him a lot of trouble and had solidly ponied up the cash to help him obtain the Void Star Fragment.

After a moment’s thought, he added, “Do you want a piece of the Inspectorate’s business?”

“Is that possible?” Gu Bing asked, astonished. Even the normally stoic Tie Feng couldn’t help but look over.

The Inspectorate’s daily consumption of food, potions, and weapons was astronomical, and their businesses were all related to these supplies in one way or another.

Back when their families were at their peak, they had all, to some extent, profited from contracts with the city’s various organizations. They naturally understood how lucrative it could be.

“I can make the arrangements, but I have one condition: when I tell you to pull out, you must do so without hesitation,” Su Chen said gravely. He had already cleared it with Chong Jingtian, so he felt no pressure about freeloading off him for now, but he knew there would come a day when true intentions were revealed.

Gu Bing replied instantly, “No problem. I can make that decision on my grandfather’s behalf.”

Tie Feng nodded as well. The Wang Family, who wasn’t present, wouldn’t object either.

With that settled, Su Chen asked about what had happened at the auction. Tie Feng’s message had only said that someone had swooped in, but the details were too complicated to explain briefly.

Gu Bing’s smile vanished. She pressed her lips together and said resentfully, “It was Xiao Ying. He’s an Inner Court Seed, a Tier Four Professional, and one of Wei Yufan’s people. I never thought we’d run into them.”

“Wei Yufan… him again,” Su Chen muttered with a frown. ’That guy sees me as a serious competitor and has already tried to cause trouble for me behind my back several times.’

“I suspect Xiao Ying was acting on his own this time. No one knew we were plotting to get the Void Star Fragment,” Gu Bing said.

’Acting on his own… Xiao Ying…’ Su Chen mused.

Gu Bing explained briefly, “He’s a Tier Four Mental Professional. His Tier One and Tier Two Professions are Top-tier, and his Tier Three and Tier Four are Upper-tier.”

“I see,” Su Chen said, looking thoughtful.

Then, Gu Bing added with some confusion, “The item he bought was a ’Jade Concealment’ Potion. It’s a High Tier Potion used to stabilize one’s Profession, something you only use right after advancing.”

“Is Wei Yufan having that much trouble just promoting to a Tier Five Upper-tier Profession?”

Su Chen didn’t respond. After a bit more small talk, Gu Bing and Tie Feng took their leave.

After seeing them off, Su Chen had just tossed the fragment into his Storage Space when Ming Lin knocked on his door. “So? Did you get the Profession you wanted?” he asked as soon as Su Chen let him in.

“Just got it. That’s why I called you over,” Su Chen said, gesturing for him to sit. “It’s called ’Armored Bone Warrior.’ The gist of it is strengthening the body by fusing with external objects.”

“’The gist of it?’” Ming Lin paused for a beat before it dawned on him. “A newly deciphered Profession?”

“That’s right.” Su Chen nodded. Seeing Ming Lin hesitate, he elaborated, “It’s quite powerful. It requires more than one Top-tier Physical Profession as a prerequisite.”

An expert knows value when he sees it. Hearing those two requirements, Ming Lin’s eyes lit up. “Let’s trade!” he said at once.

But he quickly added, “It doesn’t have any of those ridiculously difficult requirements, does it?”

“No, just resources and time. You can definitely meet those.”

“Good.” Ming Lin was quite excited. “My Profession doesn’t have any extremely difficult requirements either.”

As he said this, a strange expression crossed his face, as if recalling something. “The… dietary requirements are a little special, but it’s not a huge problem.”

In private Profession trades, value was mostly based on individual need, not on some objective measure of a Profession’s power.

“Then let’s sign the Contract first,” Ming Lin said, pulling a yellowish-gray sheet of parchment from within his clothes.

When he unrolled it, Su Chen saw it was densely covered in characters he couldn’t read, with black patterns creeping along the edges.

“A Contract?” Su Chen asked, surprised. He wasn’t unfamiliar with them; they were created by the special Professional, the Contractor, and were used in many industries.

“Oh, you must not have privately traded any important items before,” Ming Lin said, realization dawning on him. “Profession information can be copied and spread, which is bad for both parties.”

“The Contract acts as a binding, preventing the Profession’s information from being leaked.”

“Are there penalties?” Su Chen asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

“No,” Ming Lin shook his head. “The stronger a Contract’s binding, the higher the demands on the Contractor who made it. We have no need for one that includes penalties.”

“This Contract is very simple. If either of us actively leaks the information about the traded Profession in any way, the other party will be notified. That’s it, just a notification.”

“I’m sure you don’t want me reselling your Profession, either.”

Ming Lin was certainly thorough. Su Chen thought for a moment, then placed his hand on the Contract. He could sense a vague stream of information, and the general content was just as Ming Lin had described.

“Let’s sign it, then.” Su Chen nodded. The two quickly completed the signing. The Contract dissolved into streams of light that flowed into each of their bodies.

Su Chen said, surprised, “It’s even a Secret Contract…”

Once the contract was sealed, they exchanged the Profession information.

[Discovered Special Profession—Gourmet. May be taken up after fulfilling the requirements.]

[Requirement 1: Engage in eating beyond your physical limits for a cumulative total of more than thirty days.]

[Requirement 2: The food consumed must never be the same twice and must include: inanimate objects, living creatures, plants, carrion, metal, and rock.]

[Requirement 3: Fuse with an Abyssal Stomach.]

Su Chen carefully read over the three requirements. They were all related to eating.

’Eating beyond my limits, and I can’t even eat the same thing twice… Living creatures, metal… I have to eat rocks? And carrion…’ Su Chen’s brow furrowed. He was actually quite picky about his food, and he found these requirements repulsive.

[The corpulent Gourmet drags its body forward. Upon seeing the magnificent figure of the Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator, its blubber quakes in terror. Realizing its own insignificance, Requirement 2 has been erased.]

’That’s more like it.’ Su Chen’s expression eased considerably. ’Who wants to torture themselves for no reason? Why can’t I just eat something decent?’