Chapter 12: Side Hustle

“Night General?” Li Yelan looked at his codename with a hint of regret.

Actually, he had suggested to his superiors that he wanted the codename ‘Lancer’.

After all, he intended to use a spear technique involving eighteen single-handed thrusts in the future.

Bearing the title of ‘Lancer’ wouldn’t have been too much of a stretch.

Cheese, on the other hand, had suggested the codename ‘Snow Leopard’, so they could form the ‘Cheese Snow Leopard’ duo. Li Yelan didn’t quite grasp the nuance, nor did he know what kind of combination Cheese and Snow Leopard could possibly make.

In any case, it seemed the higher-ups hadn’t approved of either.

‘What’s wrong with Lancer? Don’t they know that the great warriors in history were all masters of the spear? Xiang Yu, Ma Chao, Zhao Zilong, Yue Fei, Gao Chong…’

Young Li Yelan grumbled to himself, thinking the higher-ups were being too stingy.

Afterward, Li Yelan accepted the group invitation from ‘Cheese’.

Cheese had mentioned this to him yesterday. It was for contacting various handlers on their communicators, and having a small group would make it easier to stay in touch.

Upon entering the small group Cheese had created, Li Yelan realized everyone in it was an acquaintance.

Spark, Detective, Shadowflow, Cheese, and Heavy Cavalry—aside from Cheese, they were all newcomers to the East City branch for this term.

At this moment, Cheese, noticing Li Yelan had joined the chat, spoke up.

“Welcome, Night General. It’s a pity you didn’t choose Snow Leopard after all.” Cheese sent a crying-laughing emoji.

Li Yelan typed a response: “My Lancer choice wasn’t picked either. I don’t know why.”

“Oh, I know about that. I heard that with your kind of luck, you’d dare to take the codename Lancer? You’d be struck dead by lightning in minutes! That’s the higher-ups protecting you, or something like that…” After sending an emoji, Cheese replied: “I don’t know the specifics either. Maybe it’s a secret only high-awakening handlers are privy to.”

Struck by lightning if I’m a Lancer? Li Yelan frowned, thinking the higher-ups might know some mysterious information.

But he didn’t dwell on it; it was just a codename, and Night General wasn’t bad either.

“Alright, since you’ve got your codename, you’re an official handler now. When you have time, check the forum to improve your understanding. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask in the small group,” Cheese posted. “Also, find some time to go to the branch to get familiar with your Psionic Armament abilities and craft some equipment.”

“Got it!” Li Yelan replied, then left the small group and clicked into the forum.

This forum was a communication platform shared by all official psionicists across the recent major cities.

Many veteran handlers shared their experiences or discussed problems on it.

It also served as a channel for communication with handlers from other major cities. Of course, the higher-ups wouldn’t expose certain classified information.

In short, there were all sorts of posts.

【Lava Mine City Handling Department has obtained the formula for the third-awakening specific ability potion for the Whispering Path. One bottle costs 300 merit points; purchases from other major cities require a 10% service fee and 10 merit points for shipping.】

【Border City No. 2 has discovered a Grade-B Forbidden Item - Un-Sheep. Two full squads were dispatched and successfully suppressed it! Suppression guide…】

【Border City No. 3: The Ember Church summoned a Void creature through an evil ritual, only to be stabbed to death by a newcomer in one strike!】

【Border City No. 1: A handler has successfully completed their fifth awakening, congratulations!】

The posts were numerous and varied, and there was even one about himself.

Li Yelan smiled to himself, clicked into the post, and saw a video. It was indeed the scene of him descending from the sky and stabbing the monster to death. The resolution wasn’t high, so it didn’t capture his face clearly, nor could his mask be seen.

The responses under the post were mostly, ‘Is this a newcomer? Awesome!’

‘Why not come to our Lava Mine City!’

‘What a move, a spear-blade technique from the sky!’

‘Whose subordinate is this?’

Just some meaningless banter.

Afterward, Li Yelan continued searching for posts and finally found his target.

【List of Psionic Armaments in Major Cities】

This contained a vast collection of official psionic armaments, their effects, and their prices.

This was Li Yelan’s true goal, and arguably one of the main reasons he became a handler.

He needed to find an item here that could suppress his sister’s curse.

Soon, he saw several items that could suppress curses.

【Anti-Psionic Helmet】: While suppressing the opponent’s and even one’s own psionic energy, it can also suppress some curses. Distortion risk is zero. Price: 80 merit points. Located in Border City No. 1, so an additional 10 points for shipping. Total: 90 points.

【Isolation Scarf】: Can largely isolate all-weather curses, but is less effective against powerful curses from high-level psionicists. Distortion risk is low. Price: 200 merit points, located in Lava Mine City. Plus shipping, 210 points.

【Spirit-Breaking Tree Branch】: From the Disaster Forbidden Zone, Misty Dragon Forest. Can significantly disperse psionic energy and temporarily suppress curses. Distortion risk is medium. Price: 800 merit points, requires a handler of at least third awakening to purchase.

There were quite a few items to suppress curses, but the prices were not low.

Li Yelan currently had 30 merit points, which made him quite wealthy among newcomers. Yet, he couldn’t afford any of them…

However, there was no need to look at the expensive ones; while their effects were stronger, the distortion risks were too high and unsafe.

Li Yelan wouldn’t dare use such dangerous things on his sister.

The Anti-Psionic Helmet with zero risk was the most suitable.

90 merit points wasn’t too far off.

Within half a year, if Li Yelan took on more missions, he might be able to save up enough.

With that, although it might be a bit troublesome in daily life, at least his sister would be able to step out of the house.

Li Yelan thought to himself, setting his next goal. Save up merit points, buy the Anti-Psionic Helmet!

Finally having something to look forward to, Li Yelan felt much more relaxed. The heavy stone in his heart finally fell.

Afterward, he checked other posts.

His understanding of psionicists was still insufficient, and he needed to learn more from the official science section of the forum.

There were seven paths confirmed by the authorities: Zero, Whispering, Divine Imperial, Myriad, Nether, Spirit Eye, and True Martial.

This ranking was based on the ratio of psionic energy to physical enhancement during each awakening.

The Zero Path awakening had a psionic/physical enhancement ratio of 8:2.

Therefore, at the same level of awakening, psionicists of the Zero Path had the highest total psionic energy and often gained high-power abilities like elemental control. However, their physique was the weakest. That was why Spark had his hand severed before he could even react when facing the Void creature.

By that logic, the final True Martial Path had a psionic/physical enhancement ratio of 2:8.

They had the least total psionic energy but the highest physical strength.

That was also why Heavy Cavalry’s power was so immense.

In terms of raw strength alone, she could probably beat Li Yelan twice over.

And Li Yelan was of the Myriad Path. His psionic/physical enhancement ratio was 5:5, a path of balanced development.

He could compare physique with those above him and psionic energy with those below him.

Those were the characteristics of the seven paths, followed by the promotion/awakening of psionicists.

The psionic energy gained by psionicists during each awakening varied; Li Yelan was a special case, as his mask was exchanged with a shadow.

Most other Myriad psionicists usually gained auxiliary abilities during their first awakening.

Such as extraordinary animal speech or the ability to mimic certain animals.

It was said that one comrade of the Myriad Path awakened an ability similar to an octopus or chameleon, allowing him to change his color to match the environment.

Theoretically, he was a stealth master on par with the Nether Path. But his clothes couldn’t change color.

As a result, he had to strip naked to hide. It was miserable!

Only by the second or third awakening was there a chance to gain offensive means.

Of course, if one didn’t want to rely on luck, they could drink specific potions.

That was the kind mentioned in the previous post.

Drinking it during awakening gave a high probability of gaining specific skills.

In Cheese’s words, every awakening was like a guaranteed draw in a mobile game.

Without the potion, you were pulling from the standard pool, and everything depended on fate.

With the potion, it was equivalent to an UP banner—unless you got unlucky.

The formulas and materials for these potions were the biggest expenses.

Therefore, many handlers were saving points to buy potions. And that was only for the lucky ones.

Because the specific potions mastered by the authorities weren’t comprehensive. Some handlers couldn’t find them even if they wanted to buy them.

For example, Li Yelan was Myriad, and the authorities only had specific potions for the third and fifth awakenings of the Myriad Path. For the second and fourth awakenings, Li Yelan would just have to rely on luck.

Li Yelan organized his thoughts.

For now, if he wanted to save merit points faster, he had to be more diligent in taking on missions.

That meant his strength had to be enhanced; as the saying went, sharpening the axe wouldn’t delay the woodcutting.

Li Yelan thought that he probably had to spend some of those thirty merit points. He didn’t want to save up enough points only to end up dead.

“Looks like I’ll have to find time to craft some equipment,” Li Yelan thought, closing the communicator.

After work that day, Li Yelan rushed back to the branch.

He found the Equipment Department and stated his requirements.

Cold weapons, suitable for concealment. As for what to add, he let the Equipment Department decide.

This made the people in the Equipment Department nod repeatedly; they loved clients who didn’t nag!

Then, they ruthlessly took 5 merit points from Li Yelan! Li Yelan felt a sharp pain in his heart, and only after asking Cheese multiple times if the price was reasonable did he pay the points.

Come to think of it, the current Li Yelan wasn’t much different from before he became a psionicist.

Except for having to write a report every day to upload to the branch.

Reporting whether he used his abilities, whether he used psionic energy, whether he was discovered by outsiders, and so on. Usually, he just stayed in the antique shop, not at all like the disaster handler he had imagined. Maybe… this was better? Though he could earn a salary, there were no bonuses or merit points.

The next day, while Li Yelan was still tending the shop, he saw a pitch-black sedan pull up in front of the antique shop.

A man in a black suit walked into the antique shop carrying a briefcase.

After looking around the shop for a moment, he walked straight toward Li Yelan.

To Li Yelan’s bewilderment, the man handed the briefcase to him and said mysteriously: “Mr. Night General, your goods have arrived. You can inspect them.”

“You… you just came like this?” Li Yelan’s eyes widened. It was a good thing his boss wasn’t here, otherwise, he would have thought he was involved in some illegal transaction!

“It’s cooler this way!” the Equipment Department staff member laughed. “Don’t worry, no one will notice me. We sent your boss away in advance.”

Sent the boss away just to look cool? Couldn’t you have waited for me to go to the branch after work?

Li Yelan grumbled to himself but opened the briefcase.

He found a pitch-black metal axe inside, about the same length as a fire axe.

And strangely, there were two exhaust ports on the back of the axe head?

Li Yelan was dumbfounded. Did this count as a cold weapon?

“You told us to handle it ourselves, which was a sign of your trust. Naturally, we exhausted all means to craft this weapon for you. Although it’s not a Psionic Armament, it represents our highest craftsmanship,” the Equipment Department member introduced enthusiastically.

“The entire weapon has been treated so that standard security scanners won’t detect it. We wanted to install a grenade launcher or a shotgun barrel for you, but considering you’re a psionicist, such things aren’t very effective against your own kind, so we installed a built-in engine and thrusters. It can accelerate your weapon in a straight line in an instant! Of course, only you psionicists can use this kind of weapon; an ordinary person would probably dislocate their arm.”

Li Yelan thought about it and reluctantly agreed with the explanation.

If the weapon could accelerate instantly, it could indeed have miraculous effects.

Seeing Li Yelan agree, the Equipment Department member smiled happily: “If you have any questions, you can come find me. You can get free refills for this thruster fuel from us. Do you need any other equipment? We’re planning to build a small chainsaw thermal axe recently…”

Li Yelan shook his head decisively. One weapon had already cost him 5 merit points.

He didn’t have the spare money for that.

After seeing the Equipment Department member off, Li Yelan returned to the counter. After examining the metal axe for a while, he tried swinging it. It was quite heavy; he figured only someone who had become a psionicist could swing it easily. As for its power, Li Yelan planned to find an opportunity to test it after returning to the branch.

Afterward, he stuffed it into his backpack.

However, thinking of the merit points he had already spent, Li Yelan felt more and more heartbroken, so he posted in the small group: “Everyone, are there any other ways to earn merit points?”

“If you’re in a hurry, just spend money. Some handlers sell their spare merit points. It’s about 10,000 to 20,000 for one point,” Detective replied.

10,000 to 20,000 for one point? Li Yelan was stunned, and his heart felt a sharp pain! A mistake! He should have asked about the price of merit points beforehand. He had spent five points. Didn’t that mean he had spent 50,000 to 100,000 Major City Credits?

“Besides that, are there any other opportunities to get merit points?” Li Yelan continued to ask.

Instead, he received a private message from Detective.

“Night General, if you’re in urgent need of merit points, do you want to take on a private job with me?” Detective asked, sending an expectant emoji: “The pay is very high.”

Li Yelan was startled, thought for a moment, and replied: “Let me ask about it.”

Then he privately messaged Cheese: “What other private jobs do we handlers have? Are we allowed to take them?”

Cheese replied after a while: “Sure, Detective told you, right? The Handling Department doesn’t interfere with that.”

“Then what are private jobs?” Li Yelan asked.

“It’s nothing more than some people who know about the existence of psionicists wanting to hire them at high prices to help with things. Detective’s real identity is a private investigator. He should have some connections,” Cheese replied. “But it doesn’t exclude the possibility of it being some kind of anomaly; taking jobs can also be a form of security. However, if you take a job, you must inform the branch. To avoid any sudden emergencies nearby while you’re away. By the way, come to the branch after work; the captain wants to see you and plans to have you get familiar with your Psionic Armament.”

“Got it!”

(End of chapter)