Chapter 44: Can't You Have Some Professional Ethics?

At this point, there were still two days until the Spirit Demon Abyss entrance would open.

In another two days, once the Spirit Demon Abyss entrance opened, large numbers of Phantom Demons would surge out from it, entering the present world which served as the surface side of the world.

But now, with the Spirit Demon Abyss entrance not yet open and the Phantom Demon army yet to appear, the tasks posted on the bulletin board were mostly related to frontline defense construction, patrols, inspections, processing, and even assisting with transportation.

The only tasks with any hint of conflict were escorting important items and clearing out stray, solitary Phantom Demons within Huaming District.

The former might attract some greedy underground criminal organizations, while the latter involved direct confrontation with stray solitary Phantom Demons—both would involve combat.

Su Ming and the others took a general look and found that this type of task had relatively high difficulty, with correspondingly higher contribution points set as rewards, making them very popular among the students.

Students confident in their abilities naturally weren’t afraid of combat. Plus, this time they were carrying out tasks in squad formations, which increased safety by more than a notch. For the sake of contribution points, many students were definitely eyeing these types of tasks.

Because Su Ming and the others had delayed a bit, they couldn’t come to claim tasks immediately, resulting in most of these tasks already being taken. The remaining ones were either too time-consuming or involved dealing with particularly troublesome Phantom Demons.

Although the stray solitary Phantom Demons currently wandering in Huaming District were definitely lower-tier ones originally active in this area, and lower-tier Phantom Demons were just small fry in the Spirit Demon Abyss, making them not particularly difficult to deal with, some Phantom Demons could still be more troublesome and dangerous than the average ones, even if their power wasn’t outstanding.

For example, the Screaming Demon that Su Ming, Lei Hao, and Ye Bai had dealt with before. Because it had wings and flight capability, its high mobility made catching such a Phantom Demon—which could easily escape if it couldn’t win—somewhat challenging.

The Foulwater Demon that Su Ming and Xu Qianqian had mentioned was similar. Its combat power wasn’t high, but as an aquatic Phantom Demon, finding it in the water and luring it ashore to kill it would definitely require some effort.

Besides these, there were also Phantom Demons like the Blackheart Demon, which had the characteristic of cursing those it touched, Phantom Demons whose entire bodies were highly toxic, those capable of using mental attacks, and those with extremely high stealth abilities. Dealing with this type of Phantom Demon was ultimately more troublesome than dealing with the common varieties.

Even if such people existed, there wouldn’t be many who would unhesitatingly take on tasks to eliminate these kinds of Phantom Demons.

So, the tasks remaining on the bulletin board at this time were either those requiring considerable time or those that were too much trouble. The good tasks that could easily earn contribution points had long been taken by those who came early to stake out spots.

“Did we come too late after all?” Yao Beibei said quietly.

“It’s all Su Ming’s fault,” Jiang Wanyu seized the opportunity to complain at Su Ming.

“No, it’s my fault, not Brother Su Ming’s fault,” An Zijin, Su Ming’s ten-year fan, immediately hurried to take the blame upon herself.

“No, it really is this guy Su Ming’s fault, it has nothing to do with you, Junior An,” the senior sycophant Ye Bai was already prepared to escalate the matter.

“It seems we’d better come earlier next time,” Lei Hao, scratching his head, was the first to propose a moderate view.

“We don’t all need to be present. We can just pick one person to come choose the task first. Other squads must be doing the same. Otherwise, if we wait for everyone to gather before coming, we’ll definitely waste a lot of time again,” Su Ming directly ignored Jiang Wanyu and Ye Bai’s words and said this.

Regarding this, everyone had no objections. After agreeing to decide by rock-paper-scissors next time who would come early to claim tasks, they finally began formally selecting the tasks they planned to take.

Regarding the type of task, the three first-year juniors An Zijin, Yao Beibei, and Jiang Wanyu said not to worry about them; even tasks with some risk were acceptable to them.

Although Yao Beibei and Jiang Wanyu didn’t seem too keen on choosing the riskier tasks to avoid unnecessary danger, they weren’t so averse to risk that they’d make everyone accompany them on tasks like patrols.

Such tasks were safe, sure, but the contribution points offered as rewards were too few.

Even though Yao Beibei and Jiang Wanyu cared deeply about An Zijin’s safety, considering that insufficient contribution points would lead to expulsion, they could still accept taking some risks.

“In that case, let’s still pick our old trade—elimination tasks,” Lei Hao immediately expressed this opinion.

Among everyone, Lei Hao was the most combative. When taking tasks at the Academy, he had always favored those involving eliminating Phantom Demons. In his words, it was more exciting that way.

“I have no objections,” Su Ming followed closely in agreement.

Eliminating Phantom Demons was great!

Because if you eliminated a Phantom Demon, the materials dropped from its body could be secretly pocketed when the opportunity arose!

As a man who needed extraordinary items to exchange for the crystal chips that had returned to their pre-liberation state, Su Ming declared that his favorite thing was eliminating those ugly yet cute Phantom Demons!

Only Ye Bai was somewhat concerned.

“Isn’t taking on an elimination task right from the start a bit too fast?” Ye Bai couldn’t help but glance at the three juniors, An Zijin and the others.

These three overly pretty juniors were, after all, only first-years, having just enrolled not long ago. They had never eliminated Phantom Demons or participated in proper combat. With insufficient strength and lack of experience, if something really went wrong, their fault would be great.

Of course, Ye Bai’s worries earned him the juniors’ displeasure.

“Don’t underestimate us, Seniors,” Jiang Wanyu said, hands on her hips. “Even though we just enrolled, as members of Hunter Families, we’ve received training from our elders at home. We’re not as weak as you imagine.”

“Me too,” Yao Beibei said softly. “I also have elders who taught me combat.”

Hunters had this advantage. Besides those ordinary people who needed to find ways to obtain Phantom Demon Bloodlines, children from Hunter Families, born with Phantom Demon Bloodlines, due to their family conditions, could often receive education from their elders from a young age.

So, even though they hadn’t been enrolled long, Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei, coming from Hunter Families, also possessed considerable combat power—they just lacked experience.

In contrast, An Zijin, as a pure newcomer who had only recently Awakened her Spirit Constitution, indeed hadn’t received much training.

However…

“I’ll obediently follow behind Brother Su Ming, listen to everyone, and definitely won’t act recklessly,” An Zijin gave her assurance.

“Why behind Senior Su Ming?” Jiang Wanyu, this blind student, focused on the key point.

“Because Brother Su Ming will protect me!” An Zijin answered straightforwardly, and rather embarrassingly.

“We… we can protect Little Zijin too!” Yao Beibei quickly tried to make her presence felt, making Ye Bai and Jiang Wanyu nod repeatedly.

Unfortunately, An Zijin was still An Zijin.

“Having Brother Su Ming protect me is enough!” Her direct statement easily delivered a critical hit to one boy and two girls.

The three looked at Su Ming with resentful eyes, making Su Ming turn his head away.

Saw nothing… saw nothing… (/ω＼)

“Then let’s take an elimination task!”Lei Hao, as the only one able to remain detached from this complicated relationship, merely serving as an onlooker and feeling envy and jealousy like a bystander, seemed to have all his interest drawn by the new challenge and task.”

“Let’s do it that way,” Su Ming also made the final decision. “Our squad composition is quite reasonable. Taking on an elimination task won’t pose too much risk.”

This team had three Hunters and three Sorcerers—the profession distribution was extremely balanced.

Among the three Hunters, Lei Hao was the front-line tank, Jiang Wanyu was the guerrilla assassin, and Yao Beibei was the forward main attacker—their roles were also well-matched.

As for the three Sorcerers, An Zijin could use the several Offensive Spirit Arts she had already learned to serve as rear guard output, Ye Bai would continue to be the crowd control personnel, and Su Ming was the biggest firepower output—the division of labor was equally reasonable.

A team like this, aside from lacking a scout and a healing support, could already be considered a quite standard squad.

With such a team deployed, even if Su Ming didn’t reveal his true strength, it would be enough to handle any lower-tier Phantom Demon except mutants.

Provided no accidents or mistakes occurred.

With three newcomers on the team, the probability of such things happening was still quite high.

But, who hadn’t started as a beginner?

Regardless of Yao Beibei and Jiang Wanyu for now, as for An Zijin, Su Ming hoped to use this opportunity to show her the ropes, broaden her horizons, and increase her experience in dealing with Phantom Demons and undertaking tasks. Then, when the big battle two days later occurred, she could perform as not-too-badly as possible.

The most important thing was to preserve her life.

Whether in this upcoming campaign or in her future career, Su Ming hoped that this overly cute girl next door could survive all the way through.

To that end, Su Ming didn’t mind guiding An Zijin a bit.

“What are you thinking about, Brother Su Ming?” An Zijin noticed Su Ming’s contemplation and couldn’t help asking.

“Thinking about you,” Su Ming, lost in thought, uttered his inner thoughts without thinking.

“Eh?” An Zijin’s eyes widened immediately, then her pretty face turned bright red.

“Ah…” Only then did Su Ming realize what he had said. With a sudden jolt, he showed an awkward smile.

Lei Hao: “……”

Ye Bai, Jiang Wanyu, Yao Beibei: “(??Huh??╬)”

“Brother Su Ming…” An Zijin gazed at Su Ming with her large, dewy eyes, the burning emotion within them almost overflowing.

Seeing this, Su Ming didn’t think twice and turned to run.

“Don’t run! N/A｀Д′?)?”Ye Bai, Jiang Wanyu, and Yao Beibei immediately chased after him.”

“Hehe… (#^.^#)” An Zijin was still shy and blushing.

Finally, only the honest man Lei Hao remained standing in place, murmuring quietly.

“We’re here to carry out tasks, not to fall in love. Can’t you have a little professionalism?”

“Sigh… ε=(′ο｀*)” Life isn’t easy, Hao Hao sighs.

(End of Chapter)