Chapter 59: Chapter 59

Chapter 59: The National Military Came to the Door

As the auction concluded, Jiang Chen also received a notification.

“Ding! Your consigned Level 2 Refinement Potion was sold for 350 gold coins. After deducting a 5% handling fee, you received 332 gold coins and 50 silver coins.”

“Ding! Your consigned Level 3 Refinement Potion was sold for 3,000 gold coins. After deducting a 5% handling fee, you received 2,850 gold coins.”

“Ding! Your consigned Level 3 Guild Founding Token was sold for 2 million gold coins. After deducting a 5% handling fee, you received 1.9 million gold coins.”

He hadn’t expected the Guild Founding Token to be worth so much. This kind of early-stage item only offered limited benefits, so he really couldn’t understand the mindset of rich people.

As for the handling fee—just for the Guild Founding Token alone, 5 million was deducted—but he didn’t bother to argue about it, since the rules had been clearly stated upfront.

“Hello, Lone Ranger.”

Just as Jiang Chen walked out of the auction house, he suddenly heard someone greet him.

He turned around and saw that it was his ‘customer’—[Huaxia Junhun].

Jiang Chen had vaguely heard of this name. There were many rumors about him online, and plenty of casual players spoke of him with enthusiasm.

He had no idea why the man had come looking for him this time.

Huaxia Junhun looked to be around thirty, with a strong military aura and a serious, unsmiling demeanor. He stepped forward and said, “Hello, Lone Ranger. Could we find a quiet place to have a proper chat?”

Jiang Chen’s identity had always been hidden, but the other party was still able to recognize him—clearly, he had been waiting here on purpose.

Jiang Chen hesitated for a moment but did not refuse. After all, he had earned a billion from him; a chat wouldn’t hurt. Besides, Jiang Chen was also curious about his intentions—this man had always been a bit of a mystery.

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wei Jun, and I’m a military officer from the China Region of the World Alliance.”

In the private room of an inn, Huaxia Junhun introduced himself.

Jiang Chen gave a slight nod—he wasn’t too surprised. He just didn’t understand why the other party had sought him out.

Wei Jun first added Jiang Chen as a friend and then sent him a file. The contents of the file detailed the national region’s stance on Jiang Chen, as well as numerous benefits.

“Level 1 Candidate Warrior of the War God Temple?”

Jiang Chen saw a lot of information inside that an average person would never have access to.

Wei Jun helped explain: “The War God Temple is a special organization established by the China Region to counter the coming catastrophe. Those who enter are all top talents of the region. Every member of the War God Temple receives the full support of the national region.”

“Seed Series No. 2, ID Number 201 represents the region’s high-level recognition of your potential. We sincerely hope you can join us, help China through this crisis, and protect the people behind us.”

Jiang Chen browsed through the document carefully, mildly astonished.

The benefits for warriors were indeed impressive—the greatest among them was this: a warrior and their immediate family can unconditionally enter Level 1 Safe Zones and enjoy special warrior privileges.

Level 1 Safe Zone—a place people around the world dreamed of entering.

It was known as humanity’s final line of defense. If a Level 1 Safe Zone were to fall, there would be no place left on Earth capable of withstanding the attacks of beings from other worlds.

To enter there meant being the safest person on the planet.

Additionally, the other privileges were excellent as well—top-tier benefits that couldn’t be bought with money.

If it were the Jiang Chen from three days ago, he would have agreed without hesitation. Unfortunately, he was no longer that same person.

Now he could sustain himself and had no desire to follow the orders of any organization.

As for ‘protecting the people behind us’—that was just laughable.

When he was living in poverty in the slums, barely scraping by, no one had come out to protect him. When he almost died at the jaws of wild wolves and vicious dogs just to get a bite to eat, no one came to protect him.

He had survived on his own strength. And now they wanted him to fight to protect others? What a joke.

He already had enough trouble just taking care of himself—where would he find the time to care about others?

“Thank you for your kind offer, but I don’t want to join you. Goodbye.”

Jiang Chen waved his hand and turned to leave.

Wei Jun wasn’t a talkative man. He wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to begin. Everyone had the right to make their own choices. He had no right to interfere.

After leaving the inn.

Jiang Chen headed to the Archer Hall to find his beautiful mentor, Jona.

After reaching level 20, players could learn a specialization skill. Jiang Chen was particularly fond of the skill [Triple Arrow Rain].

Holding the Painted Sparrow Phantom Bow, Jiang Chen walked up and said, “Teacher Jona, I’ve come to see you.”

Jona had a very deep impression of Jiang Chen, this divine-class archer. She immediately broke into a smile. “Your growth really is impressive. So? Did you meet Han Yunmeng?”

Jiang Chen smiled. “Of course. Master Yunmeng even asked me to send you her regards.”

At his words, Jona frowned slightly, then looked at Jiang Chen again.

“Sigh, Yunmeng is just too stubborn. If it weren’t for… never mind, that’s just how she is. Since you’re her student now, make sure to visit her often in Coldflower Valley.”

“Oh right, you’re here to learn a new skill, aren’t you?”

Description: The archer fires a large number of energy arrows into the sky, delivering a targeted strike within a 600-yard (60 meters) range (30×30 yards area). Fires three waves of arrows, each wave dealing 80% damage to all targets in the area.

“Ding! Congratulations! You have spent 1 gold coin and learned a new skill: Triple Arrow Rain!”

Just then, Jona suddenly began looking him up and down.

Jiang Chen was puzzled. “Is something wrong?”

Jona smiled. “Nothing. I was just wondering if I should assign you some tasks. But looking at you, it’s clear you haven’t been slacking in your training, so I decided to let it go.”

Jiang Chen immediately rejected that idea: “No, Teacher Jona. Those who are capable should do more. If you have anything for me, please say it—I’ll carry it out without fail.”

Not taking on quests? That would be crazy. Everyone knew how difficult it was to get quests in Hope World. And when it came to rewards, Jiang Chen could trigger the Hundredfold Reward effect.

Hearing that, Jona smiled radiantly and patted his shoulder with a jade-like hand.

“As expected of my student. Your ambition pleases me.”

“Just now, I received a report from the archer squad. They discovered a group of strange ogres in the Falling Rock Valley. The ogres seem to have undergone bizarre mutations. I’m worried it might be due to the empire opening a rift to the Abyss, causing them to be corrupted by abyssal energy.”

As she spoke, Jona’s beautiful face filled with worry.

“There are still many adventurers who need my guidance, so I can’t go investigate personally. That’s why I’m entrusting this matter to you. Do you think you’re up to it?”