LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 418: Recruitment
Time hurried by, a flicker of the fingers, and several months had passed.
Several months later, on the highway, a black sedan sped along.
"Qianjin!"
"Male, twenty years old, a student at Longhai University."
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"Ability: Unknown (suspected to be related to medicine, able to identify medicinal herbs)"
"Cultivation: Unknown (suspected to have achieved True Qi, cultivates at an extremely fast pace)"
"..."
In the back seat, a young man was looking at the information in his hand, then spoke to the mature lady in the passenger seat, "Ning, this mission seems a bit iffy to me!"
"Oh?"
Ning Qing responded calmly, "In what way iffy?"
The young man shrugged his shoulders and said bluntly, "I don't think he's likely to join our Security Bureau."
"That's what you think."
Before Ning Qing could respond, the young girl sitting next to the young man intervened, "I think there's a good chance he will join."
He looked at her, somewhat helpless, "Why?"
"Do I need to say?"
The girl counted on her fingers, "Just look, first off, he abides by the law and is a fine young man. He definitely aspires to join official agencies like ours. What boy doesn't dream of being a secret agent? Just a little bit of... no, the wrong word, an encouragement from us, and he's sure to join."
"That's the first point. Secondly, he's a hopeless romantic. Even when his girlfriend, who he dated for years, cheated on him, he didn't use his special powers for revenge. This shows how kind-hearted he is, and how forgiving towards girls."
"With Red's sexiness and my cuteness, wouldn't it be easy to win over a young man like him?"
"So, I think there's a good chance he'll join us, provided that a certain annoying guy doesn't mess things up!"
After speaking, the girl even cast a glare at the young man, her gesture saying more than enough.
The young man had no words to respond, "So if you're ugly, you're a 'lickspittle', but if you're handsome, you're 'hopelessly romantic'?"
"Exactly!"
The girl took it for granted, "What, you disagree?"
"..."
At a loss for words, the young man gave up the idea of arguing with her and turned to Ning Qing, "While he does abide by the law, I feel like he's up to something. He's not willing to walk down the path of crime over some petty profits or a moment of pride, drawing the attention of our Federation agencies."
"Besides that..."
He took out his phone and bluntly stated, "I think a billionaire, unless he's out of his mind, has no reason to come and work for someone else, put up with their moods, and endure being treated like a beast of burden!"
In the midst of this conversation, the video opened and such sounds emerged.
"Does the Divine Doctor have a surefire remedy?"
"Yes!"
"What's the remedy?"
"Ten million!"
"..."
The confident voice carried through, adding an odd note to the atmosphere.
The girl leaned in to glance at the phone and saw the live-streamed video playing.
In the live-stream, a quaint herbal clinic was shown with a medicine stove and rising smoke.
Inside the clinic, a young man sat steadily, prescribing medicine for patients.
The scene was nice, except...
"Really? Really?"
"Isn't this a bit too exaggerated?"
"I thought you were a purist; I didn't expect you to play this scripted game, too."
"Ten million, have you gone mad over money, aren't you afraid of having the Department of Price Regulation come after you?"
"Hello everyone, I am Doctor Qian, from a Chinese Medicine Family with a hundred-year legacy..."
"Keep bluffing, keep at it!"
The barrage of comments flew by, all expressing skepticism.
The young man shook his head and sighed, "Throwing around tens of millions so casually, if money were that easy to make, he'd be insane to work for someone else!"
Upon hearing this, Ning Qing and her companion fell silent as well.
As the months passed, many events transpired, further changing the situation.
First was the dissemination of the Martial Arts Scripture by the Black Sect, attracting the Federation agencies to monitor the Black Sect's potential reactions and any possible retaliatory maneuvers.
Moreover, they had to allocate a considerable amount of manpower to control the situation, maintain order, and prevent the further fermentation of martial fervor following the spread of the Martial Arts Scripture, which could impact various aspects and cause chaos.
Add to this the subsequent effects of the Red Moon incident, as well as the existing workload of the Federation agencies, and it's no wonder the Security Bureau has been extremely busy these past few months. A lot of matters were put on hold, including the recruitment of newcomers that had already been decided.
It was this delay that led to further changes.
Qianjin, through the channels of the Luo Family, successfully made a name for himself as a "Divine Doctor." In just a few short months, more than a dozen Gang Qi Grandmasters traveled to Longhai to seek treatment from him.
He turned away none, treating all of them with his almost miraculous medical skills, and consequently made a fortune. Now, he was truly a billionaire, and as Apricot Grove's skillful healer, his fame spread far and wide.
With developments having reached this point, would he still join the Security Bureau?
The young man thought it unrealistic.
As a member of the Security Bureau, he was well aware of how the Federation agencies recruit new people: through a combination of threats and rewards, along with deception and coercion.
There's no need to discuss rewards; the man's a billionaire and a Divine Doctor skilled in Alchemy and medicine making.
What could the Security Bureau offer him? The department's own tight budget or the scarce cultivation resources that even make us feel anxious?
As for threats...
Don't joke; threatening a doctor to treat and save lives?
Even if he agrees to treat, would you dare to let him?
A healer of this level has the skill to save you, and just as well, the skill to end you—silently, at that.
Forcing someone with power to serve would be planting a bomb for oneself, never knowing when it might explode and blow you to smithereens.
Therefore, threats are out of the question!
If rewards are ineffective and threats untenable, then there's only deception and coercion...
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In less than half a year, he amassed a fortune worth billions, would someone with such finesse and boldness trick you onto a thief's ship with just a few words?
Stop dreaming!
This trip is bound to be a wasted effort, nine times out of ten.
...
Exiting the highway and turning onto the national road, after several twists and turns, they finally reached their destination.
Before them lay a farmhouse nestled against the mountain and beside the water, resembling a villa estate.
There were already quite a few vehicles parked at the front, not overly luxurious, but certainly dignified and impressive.
Ning Qing parked the car and led her two subordinates forward, only to see the courtyard full of poultry and livestock, with chickens and ducks walking around, geese and dogs mingling, yet it was not messy or dirty; rather, it was well-organized and very clean.
"This Divine Doctor Qian, is he also skilled in animal training?"
Although they had seen it on the live stream before, witnessing this scene in person—with the animals managing themselves so orderly—still surprised the three of them.
The animals in the courtyard seemed unfazed by the arrival of the three guests, carrying on with their own business without so much as a bark.
Seeing this, the trio had no choice but to enter the courtyard and head toward the thatched cottage where people lived.
Before reaching the cottage, they caught the scent of medicine; it wasn't the usual bitter and pungent smell of common Chinese herbs, but rather a refreshing and comfortable fragrance that instantly invigorated their spirits and made their bodies feel lighter.
Inside the cottage, with fragrant herbs steaming from the medicine stove, sat an elderly man, muscular and with white hair and beard, covered in golden needles, his face shifting between green and red in a strange manner.
At that moment, a young man approached and applied the golden needles to the elder's acupoints, shockingly driving the three-inch-long needles into the elder's crown at the Heavenly Spirit point.
"Holy shit?"
"Performing a stunt?"
"Don't cause a death!"
"Such long needles into the Heavenly Spirit point?"
Seeing this spectacle, not to mention the live-streaming audience, but even the people by the side couldn't help but feel taken aback.
Xu Yang, however, was undeterred. As the golden needles were inserted, he channeled his Gang Qi.
Instantly...
"Puff!!!"
A mist gushed out, the elder shuddered, and the strange colors on his face gradually faded.
After a short while, everything calmed down. Xu Yang removed the golden needles and said to the elderly man, "You're good to go!"
The elder opened his eyes, felt the condition of his body, and found himself relieved of the previous heaviness and pain, overjoyed, he immediately stood up: "Thank you, Divine Doctor!"
"I take people's money to dispel their disasters."
Xu Yang shook his head: "If there's any discomfort, come find me again."
His words carried a hint of sending the guests away.
"Then we'll take our leave now."
Seeing this, the elder did not say more, leading his children away from the thatched cottage.
Leaving behind Luo Yun, who had introduced the elder to this place and who initially wanted to exchange pleasantries to establish a connection, but upon seeing Ning Qing and the others entering the cottage, she discarded the idea, "We will visit you another day, Divine Doctor Qian!"
With that, she too left the cottage.
Xu Yang put away the golden needles and turned to the newcomers: "What is it you want to see?"
"This..."
Ning Qing stepped forward, glanced at the mobile phone set aside, then turned her gaze back, "Could you turn off the live stream first?"
"???"
"Who are you?"
"You want it turned off just like that?"
"Wow, a beauty in black stockings!"
"Why have there been so many beautiful women coming here lately?"
At these words, waves of comments erupted in the live stream.
Unfortunately...
"Yes."
Xu Yang smiled, picked up the phone, and turned off the live stream.
"Phew!"
Seeing this, Ning Qing also breathed a sigh of relief. Ever since the chief Nie Hailong accidentally became a "web celebrity," they at the Security Bureau had developed varying levels of stress response syndrome toward anything related to live streaming.
Seeing how easily he turned off the live stream, Ning Qing relaxed, yet was somewhat surprised.
You see, in his previous "treatment episode" videos, he specifically addressed live-streaming the treatment process, demanding not only exorbitant fees from the patients of the Martial World but also their consent to broadcast the healing session live—no consent, no treatment.
Why was he so agreeable now?
Could it be...
Ning Qing harbored some doubts but still straightforwardly announced her identity: "Mr. Qian, hello, I'm Ning Qing, a covert operative from the Federation Security Bureau."
"Federation Security Bureau?"
Xu Yang smiled without surprise: "What brings you to me?"
"..."
Seeing his direct approach, Ning Qing fell silent, and eventually, she got straight to the point: "We'd like to invite you to join the Federation, to become part of our security agency."
"Join the Federation?"
Xu Yang looked at her and chuckled, "Sure!"
"We're 120,000% sincere and truly wish for you to join our Federation..."
Hearing this, Ning Qing was gearing up to express her sincerity but paused, taking a moment to recover: "What did you say?"
"I can join you."
Xu Yang smiled and casually took out a document, handing it to her: "As long as you agree to these conditions."
"..."
Staring at the document in front of her, Ning Qing fell into silence.
He... was prepared already?
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