Chapter 315 – Do I Look Like a Gullible Fool?

“Hello, I’m an advisor from the B-rank team ‘Phosphorus Fire Blade,’ here to invite you to join our team.”

“Hello, I’m the Commander of the B-rank team ‘Black Forest,’ wondering if you’ve considered merging with another team.”

“I’m the Vice Captain of the A-rank team ‘Moon Cottage.’ Here’s a contract I hope you’ll review and discuss with us.”

“I’m…”

As call after call came in, and the intentions of the people on the other end were repeatedly made clear, Su Ming had gone from initial surprise to complete numbness.

After hanging up on who knows how many calls, Su Ming simply set his phone to “Do Not Disturb” mode to block unknown numbers, then looked up speechlessly at the girls sitting across from him.

“Tell me, are these people out of their minds?” Su Ming said this with utter seriousness.

“Pfft!”

Feng Qing’er and Tong Xinyao couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Haha, I never thought they’d try poaching our Commander! Those big teams are really overreaching with their schemes, aren’t they?” Feng Qing’er laughed heartily, as if Su Ming’s exasperated expression and the endless poaching calls had hit her funny bone—she was practically clutching her stomach and rolling on the sofa.

“They probably saw that the Commander is a newly debuted One-Star Sorcerer, so they wanted to try their luck—see if they could actually succeed in poaching the entire ‘Azure Mercury,’ including the Commander, to indirectly achieve their goal of recruiting us,” Mu Yan said coldly.

“I didn’t expect the Commander would get those calls too,” Tong Xinyao added softly. “I thought only we were receiving them.”

“What?” Su Ming was momentarily stunned, then caught on. “You mean you’ve already gotten similar calls?”

Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao nodded one after another.

“Our phones haven’t stopped ringing since this morning,” Feng Qing’er said, spreading her hands.

“Seeing that our team is just a rookie E-rank squad with so many Upper-Rank Professionals, it’s only natural those big teams would be tempted to try poaching,” Mu Yan snorted, seemingly annoyed by the incessant calls.

“We just never thought they’d contact you, Commander,” Tong Xinyao said cautiously, watching Su Ming’s expression as if worried he might be angry.

Su Ming wasn’t angry at all—in fact, he understood completely.

“This is what fame brings—it’s not always a good thing.”

Su Ming had already anticipated it: when ‘Azure Mercury’ made a name for itself, there would be no shortage of ill intentions from outsiders. How could those big teams not be tempted by an E-rank rookie squad that boasted three Upper-Rank Professionals and a Genius Spirit Bearer?

Even the comment sections under the official reports about ‘Azure Mercury’ were filled with indignant remarks—people complaining that talents like Chi Qian and the others joining a small E-rank team was a complete waste, a sheer squandering of potential. So how could those constantly scheming to develop, expand, and strengthen their teams resist trying?Especially when they learned that the commander of “Azure Mercury” was a newly debuted one-star Sorcerer, they would eagerly make their move, hoping to poach Chi Qian and the others into their own teams.

Unfortunately, Chi Qian and the others clearly did not agree to their requests.

Chi Qian, needless to say, had already signed a lifelong contract with Su Ming, leaving no room for regret.

Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao were also unmoved—not a single one of them had any intention of leaving “Azure Mercury.”

Thus, those teams had no choice but to turn their attention to Su Ming, planning to take advantage of his inexperience as a newly debuted rookie to see if they could trick him into letting the entire team be poached.

This kind of behavior wasn’t particularly harmful, but it was extremely insulting.

In any case, Su Ming was thoroughly annoyed.

“Do I look like some gullible greenhorn?” Su Ming pointed at himself, asking with a puzzled expression.

“You’re an eighteen-year-old rookie, after all. In the eyes of those adults, aren’t you just an easy-to-fool greenhorn?” Feng Qing’er said with a giggle.

“You, a twenty-four-year-old ‘old sister,’ have the nerve to call an eighteen-year-old rookie ‘little brother’?” Su Ming immediately struck back at Feng Qing’er.

“You’re the old sister! Your whole family are old sisters!” Feng Qing’er exploded on the spot, clearly stung by the term “old sister.”

Seeing that she was about to pounce on him, Su Ming quickly reached out and pressed his hand against her head.

“Wah yah yah yah!” Feng Qing’er immediately started swinging her arms like a windmill, acting as if she wanted to charge right through Su Ming, and began playfully wrestling with him.

“Qing’er sister…” Tong Xinyao watched Feng Qing’er and Su Ming roughhousing, feeling both helpless and a little envious.

Only Mu Yan, after calmly taking a sip of tea, spoke to Su Ming.

“Fame isn’t entirely a good thing, but if the team wants to grow, becoming well-known is the best option. Commander, I think we should establish a recruitment method so that those who have heard of our team’s deeds and want to join have a way to recommend themselves. Otherwise, even if someone wants to join our team, they won’t know how to find us.”

Mu Yan’s words reminded Su Ming of this matter.

“You’re right,” Su Ming nodded. “Without a listed address or contact information, even if ordinary Professionals want to join us, they won’t have a way to find us.”

For this reason, more established teams usually post their fixed contact information and even the address of their team base on the Professional Center’s official website, giving aspiring Professionals a channel to recommend themselves.

In fact, most teams even proactively station members at the Talent Market to set up fixed recruitment posts, operating around the clock to recruit new members.

“Azure Mercury” had not yet publicly released their fixed contact information or the address of their base, so even if someone wanted to join, they couldn’t.

From this perspective, publicly announcing the team’s fixed contact information and base address seemed like a necessary step.

However…

“With so many people trying to poach us already, if we publicly announce our contact information and base address, wouldn’t we have no peace at all?”

Su Ming was worried about this.”Then just make the contact information public, right?” Feng Qing’er puffed her cheeks, still seeming to sulk as she said: “Didn’t ‘Crimson’ do it this way before?”

As a team that only recruited female Professionals, with members like Chi Qian and Tong Xinyao who enjoyed great reputations in Tianfeng City, if they casually disclosed their base address to the public, it might attract not only goodwill but also malice.

If nothing else, the mere fact that the base was populated by young, beautiful women was reason enough for Chi Qian not to reveal the base’s location publicly, lest it attract some hormone-driven individuals.

Therefore, the former ‘Crimson’ only published contact information and hired specialized consultants to handle reception for professionals who came seeking admission.

As for whether these people could join ‘Crimson,’ they still had to pass review or trials by the team’s leadership.

But Su Ming didn’t want to use this method either.

“My standards are high. If we only get mediocre applicants, I really don’t want to waste entire days on them, constantly answering calls or interviewing newcomers.”

Su Ming firmly rejected the idea.

He only wanted to recruit Upper-Rank Professionals, or at the very least, potential candidates with great promise like Tong Xinyao. The recruitment conditions couldn’t be more stringent.

With such strict criteria, who knew how many people would be filtered out? Su Ming didn’t want to spend his days repeatedly rejecting applicants.

“Then we could post an email address online, specify the recruitment requirements, and have people submit resumes.”

Mu Yan proposed a more feasible approach.

“That could work.”

Su Ming thought it over and felt this method was reliable.

By clearly stating the recruitment conditions, there probably wouldn’t be many people sending spam emails daily, right?

He would only need to spare some time to review emails and select suitable resumes, keeping the workload manageable.

At worst, he could follow other teams’ examples and hire a consultant specifically for this task, saving himself considerable effort.

“I’ll set up an email account later and post it directly on the Professional Center’s official website.”

Su Ming immediately made the decision.

As for the Talent Market, he didn’t plan to return there anymore, or perhaps visit occasionally when free, but otherwise forget it.

The place was a mixed bag—not exactly chaotic, but with little to look forward to. Having spent so much time there before without finding a single qualified candidate, only to attract disdainful looks from others, it simply wasn’t worth it.

It was better to post recruitment notices online; that might actually attract some talent.

Upon learning Su Ming’s plans, the three girls reacted differently.

“I hope some handsome guys will join.”

Feng Qing’er began dreaming wishfully.

“I hope we get peers to join…”

Tong Xinyao wanted companions to play with.

“I don’t mind, as long as their character is reliable. It’d be best if we get along well.”

Mu Yan appeared calm and unconcerned.

“I’ll try my best to meet your expectations.”

Su Ming rolled his eyes, stood up, and left the living room.Only Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao remained there, chattering away as they discussed the new members about to join the team, seeming quite excited.

After Su Ming left the living room, he thought for a moment but ultimately did not head toward Chi Qian’s room.

“Let her figure it out herself.”

Su Ming had no intention of interfering with Chi Qian’s decision.

He had already said all that needed to be said. If Chi Qian still couldn’t come to terms with it, he wouldn’t say anything more.

Even with one hand missing and her body riddled with internal injuries that affected her combat performance, Chi Qian was still a Peak Five-Star Hunter, stronger than most Professionals of the same rank.

Just look at the fate of Liu Zai, Commander of 『Heavenly Grandeur』—though also a Five-Star Professional, he was sent flying by Chi Qian in a single encounter.

Therefore, even if Chi Qian truly didn’t want to recover her original state or return to her peak, Su Ming would at most feel regret but wouldn’t force anything.

“Rather than that, I should focus on what’s next.”

The team had been successfully established and was already operational.

So now, aside from taking daily missions to earn Contribution Points, he also needed to fulfill his promises.

As the price for recruiting those girls with looks, strength, and talent all in one, Su Ming had agreed to train them, helping each raise a star rank in a short time.

Especially Tong Xinyao—he had promised to make her an Upper-Rank Professional before she turned sixteen.

Since the contract had been signed, he naturally had to keep his word.

And he himself also needed new resources to fuel his growth.

Having tasted the benefits of alchemical potions for auxiliary training, Su Ming was unsatisfied with the status quo. Acquiring more resources to help boost his strength was inevitable.

Moreover, Su Ming wanted to open more packages, seizing more opportunities to enhance his power through his Golden Finger.

The confidence to boast about training Chi Qian and the others came from his Golden Finger.

Among the resources from the packages were some with remarkable effects—those were his reliance for making such bold claims.

“It seems I still have a lot to do.”

Su Ming sighed to himself as he headed toward the bathhouse.

Until his Terminal rang once again.

“Again?”

Su Ming’s face darkened. He thought about hanging up directly but then remembered he had already set it to Do Not Disturb mode.

That meant the caller wasn’t a stranger but someone he knew.

Su Ming glanced at the caller ID on the screen.

“It’s her?”

The next second, a look of surprise crossed his face.

……

That night.

Outside a relatively upscale bar in Dragonheart District, Su Ming pushed open the door and stepped inside.

“Is this the place?”

Su Ming glanced around uncertainly, not seeing the noisy, chaotic bar scene he had in mind, but rather a quiet, elegant establishment.

There weren’t many people in the bar, and most were gathered in groups of two or three, drinking and chatting without any intention of mingling with others. It looked like they were just there for ordinary daily relaxation—not noisy at all, making the warm lighting in the bar feel very serene.Most importantly, this bar seemed to be the kind specifically catering to Professionals. Every patron here was a Professional, each clearly carrying an extraordinary Aura.

Su Ming stepped into the bar, his gaze sweeping around as he searched for the person who had asked him to meet.

Before long, a familiar voice reached his ears.

“Little Brother Su Ming! Over here!”

Hearing this, Su Ming followed the sound.

In a corner of the bar, a woman with captivating mature charm was enthusiastically waving at him.

It was none other than Xu Xiayan.

(End of Chapter)