Chapter 48: The New Ace Commissioner

It was a rare leisurely weekend. Initially, Lu Chen was holed up in the dorm watching anime with Fingel, enjoying the 2008 masterpiece "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion."

Worthy of its title as a masterpiece, even someone like Lu Chen found it thoroughly enjoyable.

But something even more enticing came his way—he received a summons from the Enforcement Division, finally freeing him from the confines of the academy.

As for the Lionheart Society, he had already promoted a batch of new recruits. Chu Zihang was now the vice president, while others like Susan and Milandra assisted with paperwork. He was completely relieved of his duties there.

Poor Lancelot, just when his injuries had healed, he was pulled back into the fray. But judging from his demeanor, he seemed quite content with his bustling activity for the Lionheart Society.

...

The empty streets of Auckland, under the dimming sky, were illuminated by the intermingling neon lights. Rain fell from the sky, and the distant rumble of thunder seemed to echo the fury of the gods.

A monstrous figure ran through the streets, blood flowing from his wounds washed away by the heavy rain. Normally, he would rampage through the world, tearing apart anyone who dared to pursue him. But at this moment, he ran like a wounded dog.

Suddenly, he stopped. At the end of the road stood a young man, his short hair plastered to his forehead by the rain, his crimson-gold eyes silently watching.

He was a greater monster than the one before him.

As lightning streaked across the sky, the young man moved. His footsteps splashed in the puddles, but the sound was drowned out by the rain and thunder. In a passing moment, a head of despair soared into the sky.

With a swift swing of his blade, blood scattered.

The circular arc of blood was quickly dispersed by the rain, as if nothing had happened. The severed head that fell to the ground was the only evidence of the encounter.

"Mission accomplished. Let's clean up."

Lu Chen spoke into his earpiece, and within seconds, a group of Enforcement Division operatives clad in black raincoats appeared on the street, beginning to collect the bodies and erase any traces.

With a pull, the door of a nearby vehicle opened, and Lu Chen stepped into the temporary command center of the Enforcement Division. Immediately, someone handed him a towel and hot water.

"Thank you."

Lu Chen took the towel and wiped his head, holding the cup but not drinking.

"Cold, efficient, and powerful. You've reached this level even before graduation. It really makes us old folks feel inadequate."

The Enforcement Officer in charge of this mission was an old acquaintance of Lu Chen's, Hainard, who had introduced him to the academy.

"You're too kind, senior."

Lu Chen replied politely.

In the past few months, he had executed nineteen missions, from rogue Deadpools to the Fourth Generation Seeds unearthed in Egypt, yielding quite a harvest.

In addition to the first kill reward and the origin coins from side missions, his reputation had soared, breaking the one-thousand mark.

Not to mention, he was only a freshman, but he had already become the ace commissioner of the Enforcement Division.

Well, all the operatives who had been on missions with Lu Chen could attest to that!

Could it be any different?

In the past, chasing targets often required detailed and careful planning, considering escape routes and inevitable casualties in case the target was particularly powerful.

When Lu Chen was brought along, everything changed. With a single command, no matter how fast the target ran, they couldn't escape his grasp. And up until now, few had survived an encounter with Lu Chen, except for the Fourth Generation Dragon Seed encountered some time ago.

At first, the elders in the Enforcement Division were cautious, carefully planning various strategies to ensure the success of the mission, coordinating with other operatives to hunt down the targets.

But as they became more familiar with Lu Chen, the process was streamlined.

It turned into confirming the target's location. If it was in an uninhabited area, Lu Chen would be deployed directly. If it was in the city, the area would be cleared before Lu Chen was deployed.

In short, deploying Lu Chen was the end of it.

Missions had never been this simple.

A single command from Lu Chen was akin to the Sword of Damocles hanging over the S-Class targets' heads. In the face of absolute speed, there was nowhere to hide.

"After this mission, you probably won't be summoned again for a while," Hainard said, taking a drag of his cigarette and looking out at the pouring rain.

"Why?" Lu Chen was momentarily stunned, wondering if he had made a mistake in handling this mission.

"Don't misunderstand. The Enforcement Division is very satisfied with your performance. It's your mentor," Hainard paused. "Minister Schneider believes that your frequent involvement in dragon-related battles is detrimental to your physical and mental health."

"Oh? Physical and mental health?" Lu Chen was dumbfounded. He couldn't imagine these words coming from his terrifying mentor, who was like a cold-hearted demon king. It sounded more like something an educator would say.

Oh, right. His mentor was also one of the professors at the academy... indeed, an educator.

Just that educator wore a breathing mask, hiding a fierce and terrifying face beneath. His commands determined the fate of dangerous targets worldwide.

"Don't worry, they'll call you for good missions," Hainard smiled. Having become more familiar with Lu Chen, he realized that the young man was indeed quite martial, and probably didn't want to stay idle at school.

"Alright, I'll head back to the academy for now."

Lu Chen nodded. Since it was Minister Schneider himself who spoke, there was probably no room for negotiation for the time being. He would just consider this a "vacation" at school.

...

Sitting in the academy's specialized vehicle, the World Python, Lu Chen looked at the red maple trees on both sides that had begun to wither. It was late autumn now, and winter would be here in a month.

During this time, he had completed the first kills of the Fifth and Fourth Generation Seeds. He was actually a bit disappointed.

The so-called pure-blooded dragons weren't as strong as he had imagined. Perhaps the Fourth and Fifth Generations could only be considered minions among dragons.

He obtained three Dragon Blood Seeds, all of which he had used. In addition to gaining a +3 bonus to all attributes, his dragon lineage had also received a certain boost.

According to the standards of the Cassel Academy, he should already be a qualified C-Class hybrid. But unfortunately, he still hadn't awakened his linguistic abilities. However, he had a feeling that if he could get his hands on a Dragon Blood Crystal, his linguistic abilities would awaken.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be some useless junk that he couldn't use. Actually, he thought his current disguised linguistic abilities were pretty good. But the awakening of linguistic abilities wasn't something he could choose; it depended on luck.

As the train arrived at the station, he held the red maple in his left hand and carried a small suitcase in his right hand, which had been waiting for quite some time. 

The girl skillfully took the suitcase and placed it in the front storage compartment before standing on tiptoe to adjust Lu Chen's shirt collar.

It wasn't that Lu Chen had become extravagant. As the current president of the Lionheart Society, his attire and appearance had to match his status. Therefore, under the planning of Milandra and others, he underwent a thorough transformation. It's just that he wasn't used to wearing high-end shirts. He preferred casual wear without buttons or collars.

"Chicago isn't as warm as California. You should wear something thicker," Milandra scolded in tone. She was now the president's full-time secretary, although she rarely saw Lu Chen.