Chapter 110

【Task ID E29856: Routine Patrol, Level 1, Sector B, Broken Stele Prison, Remaining Slots: 2】

After discovering this task, Lin Qing immediately applied to join.

According to what Chen Guang had just said, this task carried less risk compared to others.

Although the Broken Stele Prison held only extraterrestrial smugglers who had committed crimes, the more violent ones faced stricter surveillance and had even less chance to cause trouble.

Moreover, the prisoners in Level 1 were among the weakest of all extraterrestrial smugglers.

Routine patrols were also simple.

And while God Island was safe, it housed powerful figures from extraterrestrial civilizations with strong backgrounds—even ZhiStar Group dared not offend them, making any incident there far more troublesome.

“This task is good.”

Lin Qing was quite satisfied, “I just wonder if I’ll be selected.”

He only wanted to focus on cultivation, avoid trouble, and wait until his strength was sufficient to begin raising his Order Level.

This task suited him well, and the point reward was decent too.

So, many people had applied.

After applying, Lin Qing also glanced at other tasks as backups.

Although his profile had been updated to show he had mastered the original “Zi Zai Shen,” making him an outstanding new patrol and highly sought after, whether he’d be chosen was still uncertain.

But shortly after—

“Ding.”

Lin Qing’s phone had already received notification that his application had been approved.

“Good enough.” Lin Qing glanced at Yuan Anping, still selecting tasks, then left.

…

“I’m leaving headquarters at 2 p.m. today for a patrol mission.”

In his apartment, Lin Qing packed his luggage while instructing Zhao Jiayi beside him: “Stay put, don’t casually use mental probing, and don’t wander off.”

“Oh…” Zhao Jiayi frowned, “This is the Patrol Headquarters—why be so cautious?”

“Even the Patrol Headquarters isn’t that safe,” Lin Qing glanced at her.

He had left Lin’an City and come to the Patrol Headquarters, effectively “opening new territory,” expanding his life circle—but his Order Level had only increased by 2.5.

That meant his current life circle’s Order Level was just 2.5.

Fortunately, he could take leave anytime to return to his hometown; Lin’an City still counted as part of his life circle, or his Order Level would have dropped straight to 2.5.

According to deduction—

The Order Level depended on two things: his own rank, and whether his life circle was peaceful and stable.

Before leaving Lin’an City, he had already stabilized it, but its upper limit was only 5.7.

That was the upper limit for Lin’an City’s rank—but not his own.

Theoretically, if he entered a new life circle with a higher rank and sufficient stability, the Order Level increase should have exceeded 5.7.

Yet now, despite arriving at what seemed like a more peaceful and stable headquarters, his Order Level had only increased by 2.5—this clearly indicated the headquarters had problems.

There must be many hidden risks he couldn’t see.

But as long as his strength continued to rise and his rank climbed higher, he could overcome these risks.

“8.2… not far from 10.”

Lin Qing silently pondered, “My current life circle is this training branch—what are the hidden risks?”

…

That afternoon, 1:45 p.m.

At the East Zone Airport of the Patrol Headquarters, Lin Qing passed iris and fingerprint verification, then boarded the aircraft arranged by headquarters.

This mission was simple; there was no need to bring Zhao Jiayi.

Several people were already aboard.

This mission had very low difficulty, classified as E-level—Easy—and consisted of only ten people: three First-Star Elite Patrols and seven new recruits.

The task group leader, designated by the headquarters system, was the standout among the three First-Star Elite Patrols.

“Lin Qing?”

A handsome man with a slightly pale complexion studied Lin Qing, then slowly smiled: “I’m Cheng Cong, your task group leader. I saw your file—you’ve already mastered the original ‘Zi Zai Shen’? You’re nearly a First-Star Elite Patrol, right?”

“About that.” Lin Qing nodded.

Only headquarters high-ups had access to the full details of Patrol members.

“Good.”

Cheng Cong’s smile deepened, and his gaze toward Lin Qing grew much friendlier.

Lin Qing felt the man’s attitude was overly friendly, but he was already used to it.

Mastering the original combat technique before gene awakening showed real potential; after gene optimization and awakening, he’d quickly become a Second-Star Elite Patrol with a bright future.

It was normal for the man to want to befriend him.

After finding an empty seat on the plane, Lin Qing placed his backpack beside him to deter others from approaching.

Soon, the other six new recruits arrived.

Lin Qing suddenly noticed that a few of them looked familiar—they were from the same training class where he’d learned Zi Zai Shen when he first arrived at headquarters.

After the plane took off, he observed more closely and confirmed all these new recruits were practicing Zi Zai Shen.

This struck Lin Qing as odd.

It was just a routine patrol of Level 1 of the Broken Stele Prison—why specifically select new recruits who trained Zi Zai Shen?

“Lin Qing.”

Suddenly, the task group leader Cheng Cong walked over, glanced at Lin Qing’s backpack on the adjacent seat, and smiled: “Mind if we chat?”

Lin Qing looked at him, said nothing, and picked up the backpack.

Cheng Cong smiled and sat down.

“What do you want, Group Leader?” Lin Qing asked bluntly.

“Just wanted to make friends,” Cheng Cong chuckled. “I see you’re under nineteen—few new recruits are this young, and you’re among the top in your cohort. Your future is bright.”

“You flatter me,” Lin Qing replied, but grew more wary.

Had he not known the training branch harbored hidden dangers, he might have thought everything harmonious and kept only mild vigilance.

But knowing something was off, he naturally remained perpetually suspicious.

“For new recruits, the most important things are points and merit.”

Cheng Cong sighed. “I was the same once—bustling about for merit and points, barely scraping together enough to afford gene optimization. Now I still need to pass evaluations to gain Second-Star authorization.”

“It’s hard,” Lin Qing replied vaguely.

At headquarters, points often substituted for merit—though they couldn’t be used to learn combat techniques or upgrade authorization levels.

But they could be used for gene optimization or purchasing resources, so points were still vital.

Still, Lin Qing cared most about what this man truly intended: “By the way, Lin Qing, have you undergone gene optimization yet?” Cheng Cong asked with apparent concern.

“Not yet,” Lin Qing shook his head slightly.

New recruits could only borrow up to 100 points, but one gene optimization cost at least 300. Since the man couldn’t access his records or know the terms of his contract, he couldn’t deduce anything.

“Of course, points are hard to gather.”

Cheng Cong nodded thoughtfully. “It takes nearly a thousand points to complete three gene optimizations. If you want to be safer, you should also train Bloodline Evolution Method—that’ll cost several thousand points. Even if you hoard them without spending, it’ll take many years to save enough.”

He glanced at Lin Qing and smiled: “I have high hopes for you, Lin Qing. Next time there’s a chance to earn points, I’ll try to bring you along.”

Lin Qing grew even more wary but politely thanked him: “Thank you, Group Leader Cheng.”

“Nothing much,” Cheng Cong chuckled, then stood. “Alright, I won’t disturb you—we’ll reach the Broken Stele Prison soon.”

Watching Cheng Cong turn away, Lin Qing felt deeply strange.

He’d come over, said all that, then left? It seemed like he truly just wanted to befriend him—but Lin Qing sensed something was off.

“Hm?”

Lin Qing noticed Cheng Cong had walked over and sat beside another new recruit.

So he was doing this with every new recruit? Lin Qing was speechless.

Half an hour later, Cheng Cong had spoken with all six new recruits.

Then he approached the seventh.

Lin Qing glanced once and lost interest—perhaps this was just his social style?

Suddenly—

“Huh?”

Lin Qing suddenly noticed that when Cheng Cong reached the seventh new recruit, his friendly, warm expression turned serious, even reverent—clearly tinged with flattery and subservience.

Even his movements carried a tone of humble deference.

Though it lasted only an instant, Lin Qing saw it clearly.

“Strange…”

From his angle, Lin Qing couldn’t see the seventh recruit’s face, but something felt off.

Even Xu Qiu, whose aunt was a Patrol Envoy, didn’t warrant such groveling from elite patrols.

Lin Qing pulled out his phone and typed: “Who is that new recruit?”

"Newcomer?"

Morning Light queried the information database in an instant and replied: "Master, the newcomer sitting there is Gong Leping, who joined the Patrol Headquarters Training Division earlier this year and was formerly the Patrol Chief of Tancheng City."

"What's his background?" Lin Qing typed another line of text to ask.

“No notable background,” Chen Guang said. “A native of Tanzhou, with considerable talent in combat techniques—he’s already mastered the original version of the Free Body Technique.”

“That’s it?” Lin Qing frowned slightly.

Such an achievement, while decent, couldn’t possibly warrant such deference from Cheng Cong. Cheng Cong himself mastered the original combat technique, underwent genetic optimization, and has even achieved genetic awakening.

Whether Gong Leping can even succeed in genetic awakening remains uncertain.

Why would Cheng Cong be so obsequious?

Either he has a hidden, powerful background—or something else is going on.

Another half-hour passed, and the plane began its descent.

The Broken Stele Prison lies south of the Cayman Islands in the North Atlantic Caribbean, buried deep within the Cayman Trench at a depth of over seven thousand meters.

Thus, the Patrol Headquarters built an airport on a nearby isolated island.

Upon reaching the airport, one must board a nuclear submarine developed by Dawn Group to swiftly reach the prison’s underwater interior.

Even with Lin Qing’s current strength, he couldn’t reach it without the submarine.

The real terror lies in the water pressure—seven hundred kilograms per square centimeter.

Professional divers can only descend a dozen meters; even saturation diving technology is useless against such extreme pressure.

“Pity—there’s no aquatic-related gene ability in genetic optimization.”

Inside the “Broken Stele” nuclear submarine, Lin Qing stood before the circular window, gazing at the pitch-black seabed outside, silently sighing.

“Master,” Chen Guang’s voice echoed in his mind. “If you activate the Enhanced and Mighty Force gene abilities, combine them with the Free Body Technique’s defense, and wear a Class-One Starry Suit, you could easily resist this pressure—though not for long.”

Lin Qing raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.

His own physical strength was merely tenfold that of an average human—barely enough to dive two hundred meters.

Yet the Free Body Technique balances softness and hardness, shifting at will; at the instinctual level, it multiplies resistance to water pressure by dozens of times. Combined with Enhanced’s doubling effect and the Class-One Starry Suit, it might… actually work.

Breathing wouldn’t be an issue either—the Starry Suit is a spacesuit, capable of converting mysterious energy to sustain life even in outer space.

“The catch is having enough energy to sustain myself all the way down.”

As Lin Qing considered this, it felt utterly unrealistic.

The immense energy drain of such a full-state activation—trying to swim thousands of meters underwater by himself? Too difficult.

Only if he prepped with constant consumption of Black Nest No.16 might it be possible.

Soon, the “Broken Stele” nuclear submarine pierced through thousands of meters of ocean and arrived at the submerged prison, fixed to the seabed deep within the Cayman Trench.

“Remember, our patrol zone is only Level One, Sector B. Don’t leave this area. The work is easy—just two days.”

After instructing the patrol team members, Cheng Cong led them out of the submarine, walked through a long corridor, and passed through triple authentication—iris, fingerprint, and facial recognition—before entering the prison interior.

Not long after, another patrol group in identical uniforms approached.

The short-haired woman smiled. “Brother Cheng, you finally came to relieve us. This underwater prison is so boring.”

“Only two days, and you’re already fed up?” Cheng Cong laughed.

After the shift change, Cheng Cong ordered: “Pair up. One full patrol is enough.”

Then he led one of the new recruits toward Level One, Sector B of the prison.

Lin Qing noticed particularly that the new recruit Cheng Cong took was Gong Leping—the same man Cheng Cong had been so obsequious toward earlier.

He didn’t care to investigate further. He casually picked a seemingly honest new patrol officer and began inspecting cells 11 through 24 as assigned.

The prisoners here were all alien smugglers—naturally, all extraterrestrials.

This was Lin Qing’s first time seeing an extraterrestrial other than Zhao Jia. Yet they looked hardly different from Earth humans.

The female prisoner most resembling a human had only an unusual eye color.

The extraterrestrial with the most distinct appearance bore a pair of strange horns and had markedly different facial features, appearing quite rugged.

Yet within this deep-sea prison, every prisoner was in a state of “compliant surrender,” silent and passive during searches.

Lin Qing also probed them—he confirmed they were all genetically awakened, but all wore handcuffs and leg irons capable of triggering high-voltage shocks, leaving them powerless.

Soon, the first patrol ended.

As Lin Qing returned through the patrol corridor to the office area, the other four teams had also returned.

Cheng Cong was chatting amiably with the new recruit, suspected of having great connections—Gong Leping.

Yet Lin Qing felt his demeanor seemed… different?

“Lin Qing, someone’s switched.”

Chen Guang’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind: “This Gong Leping isn’t the same man you saw on the plane. His life signature is different.”

(End of Chapter)