Chapter 35: Quasi-One-Star Mercenary

The night scenery flashing below the aeromobil's window was almost unfamiliar to Tang Mu. He could see the packed skyscrapers spread across the Asia Metropolitan Region's 4th district. They were like a constellation of kaleidoscopic lights scattered around the canvas of the night, with the equally bright and meandering roads neatly connecting them.

Tang Mu looked at it all in wonder, thinking about how the place was totally different from the one from his previous life. The arrival of the intergalactic era changed everything, and the architecture was more harmonized. He couldn't identify the famous cities like Yantian and Shenzhen that had neighbored Hong Kong during the 21st century.

He understood that the fight for survival had long forced humans to unite under the banner of fighting a common alien enemy. The many discordant countries, races, religions, and cultures from the old era were no longer so important in the big scheme of things. Instead, this was a new era, with all Earthlings tightly knit together to form a harmonious civilization spanning multiple celestial bodies.

Of course, the headquarters of this civilization was still the same old Earth divided into seven continents. Each continent was, by itself, a massive eco-friendly metropolis consisting of several administrative units called districts. And for better governance, those districts were each headed by a commissioner appointed by the Earth Federation's central government.

The 4th district he lived in was now an administrative zone within the large continental metropolis called the Asia Metropolitan Region. The district encompassed the entire southern region of the former Republic of China and other former smaller countries like Myanmar, Laos, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Tang Mu sighed at how time could erode even the most solid foundations of civilizations. The aerial view below quickly changed until he felt the aeromobil start to descend from the skies. It swiftly approached the more bustling Hong Kong Commercial Zone and landed on the disembarking pad near the famous Pink Tiger Club.

Such was the convenience of the technology of the intergalactic era. It had only been 50 minutes. But they had already traveled more than two hundred kilometers and arrived at the Hong Kong Commercial Zone.

"Young master, we're here," the driver announced after switching off the engine. He turned around and glanced at Tang Mu. "Would you like me to pick you up later? I can give you an offer of half a price for the return trip."

Tang Mu pondered and nodded. "You can pick me up from here at three in the morning. I'll contact you when I finish my business."

The driver smiled and nodded. "Enjoy your night. I'll be waiting for your call."

Tang Mu nodded again and thanked the driver. He then stepped out of the aeromobil and into the bustling scene of the night.

His eyes swept around, and he spotted many more aeromobils landing on the disembarking pad. Their owners then stepped out with one or more skimpily dressed girls close to their arms before walking towards the busy street brimming with neon lights and night activity in the distance.

These were the wealthy young masters out to enjoy their own or their parents' hard-earned money with some lucky young lasses. They were most likely heading to the nearby Pink Tiger Club to party and experience some of the forbidden pleasures of the world.

"Young master!" A sultry voice suddenly sounded in Tang Mu's ears. "You look lonely. Would you like some company?"

Tang Mu looked at the dolled-up fat lady who had called out to him and hurried away. He ran even faster when he saw a chubby guy with a thick layer of make-up batting his long-eye lashes at him. He scampered into a nearby dark alley before extending his spiritual sense and teleporting into the shadow of a building a kilometer away.

With his current powers, he could only cast the shadow ability thrice before expending his entire psionic energy. After that, he would need to recover for about two hours before filling his reserves again.

Bearing all that in mind, Tang Mu didn't continue teleporting after flickering into existence from the shadow of the building.

He instead pulled down his cap and hood before using his Mentifery to manifest the less-taxing mini shadow veil array to conceal only his face. Then, without caring about the surprising glances from the other night dwellers on the streets, he broke into a jog and started heading towards the branch office of the Federal Mercenary Guild.

His running speed and stamina after breaking through to rank one was impressive, and twenty minutes later, he was there. He let out a breath and slowed down as his eyes landed on the towering gray sky scrapper that was the branch office of the Federal Mercenary Guild.

Tang Mu finally comprehended the saying, The Federal Mercenary Guild, a guild that never sleeps. The whole place was bustling with activity, as various psionics could be seen heading into the branch office.

A few were like him and arrived on foot, while most came in flashy aeromobils. There were also those who were clearly high-ranked psionics at rank three and above. They drew gasps of admiration from those watching as they flew in from above with their own abilities before disappearing into the building.

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Tang Mu completely let go of his apprehensions after noticing that most others were really hiding their identities by using masks or their abilities.

He reinforced the dark mini shadow array that was veiling his face by manifesting it again with his Mentifery. Then, he confidently followed after a group of three psionics and entered the Federal Mercenary Guild's branch of Asia Metropolitan Region's 4th district.

The first thing he saw after walking through the doors was the enormous life-like statue of a cloaked lady with indistinct facial features in the middle of the large lobby. It was probably the depiction of Lord Enigma, one of the twelve lord chancellors of the Greater Earth Federation.

From what Tang Mu understood, she was the powerful and mysterious lord who had established the Federal Mercenary Guild with the core value of utmost secrecy at its heart about 500 years ago.

She was eccentric and secretive, and her real name remained an enigma for centuries. Not many knew her identity or the nature of her psionic powers, and there were even rumors that the eleven other lord chancellors didn't know who she was exactly. As such, she got the moniker - Lord Enigma.

She also had a strange way of going about things.

For instance, when she established the mercenary guild, she went against the norm by declaring that her organization would not operate in the day like any other typical institution of the Earth Federation. And because of that, the Federal Mercenary Guild had established a culture of only opening its offices at night.

Tang Mu gave a silent thanks to the enigmatic lord for creating the guild and making things easy for many psionics of the Earth Federation. He then moved his eyes away from the statue and walked towards another section dealing with new member registration.

The beautiful receptionist behind the counter was quite welcoming, and as expected, she didn't ask for any personal information or identity papers from Tang Mu. She didn't even give the dark, misty veil concealing his face a second look before sending him to another door where his abilities as a rank-one psionic would be tested.

The first set of tests were all related to his fitness. They were similar to what he went through during the Psionic Society's assessment. They examined his punching strength, kicking power, and speed. Aside from that, there was also another assessment that tested his reaction speed under a barrage of small balls fired from a machine similar to a rattling gun.

Tang Mu's fitness had grown by leaps and bounds after he experienced his first significant psionic energy baptism while breaking through to rank one. He aced the tests, starting by throwing a punch of 2600 kg of force at the testing dummy before following that up with a 3120 kg power kick.

No one could question his strength, as these were all figures slightly above the level of a standard rank one.

Tang Mu then drew gasps of surprise from the judges when he sprinted at a speed close to 33 m/s to cover the 100-meter sprinting track in almost 3 seconds.

Following that, he remained composed and complimented his high agility with his spiritual sense to ace the reaction speed test. He dodged all the balls fired from the machine, similar to a rattling gun, and finally completed the fitness part of the assessment.

The next order of business was testing Tang Mu's awakened ability. That was also a simple no-brainer since the judges had already noticed the mini shadow veil concealing his face. They passed him as a true-blue rank-one psionic with a rare darkness manipulation ability before sending him to another private room, where he was to receive his mercenary credentials.

A delicate, pretty girl wearing light-colored glasses was sitting on the only table in the private room. On seeing Tang Mu walk in, she stood up and smiled. "Congratulations on passing the assessments to become a quasi-one-star mercenary. We're happy to have you as one of us."

"Thanks," Tang Mu said with a smile. But of course, the lady couldn't notice as he was still concealing his face with the shadow veil.

The lady smiled and settled back in her seat. "Please have a seat. I'll now finalize your registration for you."

Tang Mu nodded and did as instructed.

The lady tapped a few times on her tablet before asking, "What moniker would you like to use as your mercenary code name when dealing with guild matters?"

Tang Mu pondered for a bit and said, "Dark Star."

The lady glanced at her tablet and shook her head. "The code name Dark Star is not available for use. It has already been taken by another mercenary. Choose another one."

"Vegroid Terminator," Tang Mu said almost without thinking.

"Also taken," the lady said simply.

"Eh!" Tang Mu was at a loss for words. He sighed and said, "Let's try the name Kraken Darkblaze."

The lady tapped a few times on her tablet and then smiled. "The name Kraken Darkblaze is available for use. You can use it as your code name."

"Good, let's go with that one."

The lady nodded and took a few seconds to register his monicker on her tablet. After that, she looked up at Tang Mu and said, "You're now officially a quasi-one-star mercenary under the Federal Mercenary Guild. In a bit, you'll receive your badge and a one-time sign-in code to register an account on the guild's intranet."

"After creating your account, you'll immediately access more info about the guild plus all the available missions through the intranet. Of course, you can only access F and E-grade missions at your quasi-one-star level of clearance. If you wish to receive higher-grade missions that are more rewarding, you'll have to increase your level by accumulating more cumulative contribution points."

"Oh! How can I quickly accumulate contribution points, then?" Tang Mu asked.

"By quickly clearing more missions, of course," the lady said with a smile. "Let me give you a clear hint. If you complete two F-grade missions, you'll gain ten contribution points and immediately become a genuine one-star mercenary. Then, you can start accessing the higher-ranked D-grade missions."

"Aside from that, you must understand that you'll get more and more access to more of the guild's core secrets and benefits as you advance in clearance level. These include top training and meditation techniques, treasures, training resources, and intelligence. They will all become available to you at a subsidized price if you can raise to a high enough level within the guild."

"I see." Tang Mu's heart skipped a bit, and his hopes soared. "Do you have specialized training facilities like gravitational rooms within the guild?"

"Yes, of course," the lady answered. "But you'll need contribution points to access them. It is a rule that was put in place by the Honorable Lord Enigma centuries ago."

Tang Mu nodded, and everything that followed was simple.

He received his quasi-one-star mercenary badge and the promised one-time access code for registering his account on the guild's intranet within a quarter of an hour. He then left the mercenary guild, feeling fulfilled, before entering the shadows of one of the buildings and teleporting away.

He had met all his goals for the night. The next step was to return to his hostel and register a mercenary account. He would then select a suitable mission before thinking of ways to complete it as fast as possible.