Chapter 293 – Investigation

As a Master-Level powerhouse, Punk didn’t need to consult archives or materials to investigate an ordinary person who hadn’t even reached the Formal-Level threshold. Before a Master-Level Divination Spell, all information about beings below Formal-Level was completely defenseless. Within fractions of a second, Punk silently cast a Master-Level Divination Spell – “Probing Touch.”

Soon, Punk completely understood the entire life experience of that girl with flowing ink-black hair.

“Name’s Anya, no surname – clearly from a poor family. Dream is to not be bullied, barely literate in Common Tongue… Tsk! Doesn’t seem particularly visionary either.”

When Punk first saw Anya, he felt somewhat pleased. He couldn’t wait fifteen years to examine another batch of apprentices – initiating the “Host Project” as soon as possible was absolutely necessary.

However, the information revealed by the divination spell soon made Punk feel somewhat disappointed.

In his view, this little girl was still rather lacking. Her maturity was only relative to her peers, and moreover…

Punk glanced at the girl Moli shrinking in Anya’s embrace.

“Bonds can help generate positive emotions, but severed bonds will only make an optimistic being depressed and hopeless. Taking on a troublesome burden as a bond… who knows if this girl can remain optimistic when her bond meets a tragic end.”

Though aware his standards might be too high, because the law fragment was far too important, Punk still needed to choose as carefully as possible. The difficulties in this “Host Search” project made him realize that finding a qualified “host” wasn’t easy. He needed a host capable of long-term positive emotion production, not some fool who’d break down in just a few years.

But looking at the other worthless “deformed and defective” apprentices, Punk could only sigh inwardly:

“Fine, can’t ask for too much. Might as well make do with this one!”

Ultimately, Punk reluctantly made his decision. He knew that since this girl could remain composed after facing the earlier crisis, her mental fortitude was far superior to many rich second-generation mages from established families. Among her peers, she could already be considered quite outstanding!

Though thoughts raced rapidly through Punk’s mind, less than a second had passed in the outside world.

Despite his interest in this inconspicuous little girl, Punk still naturally shifted his gaze. To observers, it merely appeared he had indifferently scanned the students without paying particular attention to anyone.

With a host found, Punk promptly turned and left.

“Ding! Ding!”

Suddenly yet expectedly, two clear chimes sounded from Punk’s Storage Ring mid-air.

It was the sound from the square gem Ben Lajie had given Punk. Clearly, five minutes after the Iron-Toothed Raven’s escape, Ben Lajie had finally come to demand answers.

“This is Cyan. What do you want?”

Punk’s voice was low and cold as he flew rapidly back to his Magic Tower, his words completely devoid of pleasantries.”My dear friend Cyan, you’re truly something. Blowing up the Magic Tower was already flashy enough, but why did you have to let those feathered beasts escape as well? Must you create such complications right from the start? It’s quite troublesome for me to cover things up. Brother, could you please stop adding to the chaos? Our black market has only been operating for less than a month.”

Ben Lajie’s voice was filled with utter helplessness and exhaustion, sounding much like an Earth office worker complaining with a hangover after being forced to work overtime by their boss.

However, Punk didn’t believe Ben Lajie’s performance one bit. If this guy couldn’t handle the problem, he would have immediately distanced himself rather than sending Punk a message. If things were truly as troublesome as he claimed, this greedy old man would have demanded compensation right from the start. His current meaningless complaints were merely a pretext to give Punk a favor while showcasing his influence.

Punk saw right through Ben Lajie’s convoluted schemes. He knew that if the conversation continued, this fat old man would inevitably find a roundabout way to ask for benefits. Thus, Punk’s response became extremely brief—just one word:

“Oh.”

The moment this word was uttered, everything Ben Lajie had done suddenly seemed perfectly reasonable.

It must be said that this “Oh” is a magical “word”—wherever it’s used, it can work wonders. For instance, right now, Ben Lajie’s bellyful of crafty talk was completely blocked by this single “Oh.”

Once again, Ben Lajie was left speechless.

————————Divider——————

“Anya, Anya, did you see that? I think that lord just looked at us.”

Gazing at Punk’s receding figure, Moli tugged at Anya’s sleeve and whispered. Moli was currently at that age where she fantasized about “prince charmings” and “dashing knights-errant” from fairy tales. After witnessing Punk’s shocking entrance with its stunning visual and auditory effects, it was understandable that Moli now had stars in her eyes.

No one mocked this inconspicuous Moli, as many female apprentices around were openly displaying their infatuated expressions, while the male apprentices were equally passionate. Moli’s reaction was actually quite normal.

Under normal circumstances, Anya would have pinched Moli’s nose and teased her for being lovesick. But this time, Anya didn’t respond to Moli’s remark at all.

She too stood dumbfounded, staring silently in the direction where Punk had disappeared for a long time.

Unlike Moli’s clearly infatuation-induced psychological effect, Anya genuinely felt that the powerful Master-Level expert had given her a meaningful, icy glance moments earlier. Her intuition told her that the gaze directed at her was fundamentally different from those cast upon the other apprentices, though she couldn’t quite articulate what kind of look it was.

Regardless, Anya felt extremely uncomfortable.

Punk’s pair of cold, azure eyes seemed to peer directly into her soul, making her heart flutter uneasily and even stirring an impulse to turn and flee.

“I must be overthinking it. Why would a Master-Level expert have time to pay attention to a mere Apprentice? Stop overthinking and focus on listening to the strange birds!”Anya comforted herself inwardly while taking a deep breath. She tried hard to forget those terrifying eyes in her mind, then lifted her head and pretended nothing had happened as she looked toward the stone gate that had opened wide once again.

At some unknown moment, the strange bird that had taken refuge inside the stone gate had reappeared.

“Caw caw caw, truly remarkable! To think I’d witness a Master-Level expert today. Absolutely incredible! You little ones have no idea – those esteemed masters spend over a hundred years on a single research project. Countless useless apprentice wastes die without ever seeing a Master-Level expert even once! You should be grateful, kids! If the division’s expert hadn’t intervened today, you’d all be dead…!”

Just as one of the strange bird’s heads was about to strike an arrogant pose and start boasting again, its other head quickly spoke up to stop it:

“Enough! We need to hurry and bring the apprentices inside. We’ve had quite enough excitement for one day”!

(End of Chapter)