Chapter 391 - 357: Investing in Oneself

Chapter 391: Chapter 357: Investing in Oneself

Shangyuan Zi nodded.

Yelena noticed she wasn’t very talkative and seemed to be an introvert, so she turned to look at Guan Tong.

"Teacher, it’s been a while."

Shangyuan Zi was a little surprised to hear this form of address.

On the way here, Guan Tong had explained how he and Yelena met, but she hadn’t expected Yelena, now a Governor, to still address him as "teacher."

"Didn’t we just see each other at the museum?" Guan Tong said. "Besides, I’ve already left the academy. You can just call me by my name."

Yelena shook her head gently. "The ’me’ who saw you at the museum was a transformed decoy; that doesn’t count. As for the title, it’s because you taught me incredibly useful knowledge, not because of some status at the academy."

"...Suit yourself. But you must have been busy these past few days, right? The Landing Site..."

The surprise attack by the Parasite Ascenders had resulted in heavy casualties among the soldiers. Although Guan Tong had wanted to protect them at the time, he couldn’t watch over so many people at once.

"Yes, I’ve taken care of the aftermath for the fallen soldiers. And I have you to thank for that, Teacher. If you hadn’t been there to stop those Parasites, they would have started asking questions wantonly, and the entire defensive line at the Landing Site, along with the people of Sisiya in the nearby towns, could have suffered."

After speaking, Yelena stood solemnly before Guan Tong and gave him a deep bow.

Her action made Guan Tong a little embarrassed. "There’s no need for that. I couldn’t have even gone there without your permission. It was only right for me to do my best when the situation arose."

"Regardless, you’ve helped me too much, Teacher," Yelena said apologetically. "I really shouldn’t be asking you to sacrifice more of your time to stay in Sisiya and help me."

"No, I didn’t have any other plans. It’s good that I can help you."

Guan Tong originally had four debts to collect. He had already settled three, leaving only the one from Lucifer.

But he had no idea where Lucifer was right now. Though Lucifer’s base of operations was in the Tulip Federation, it was uncertain if he was actually there.

Judging from how Lucifer had previously accepted a commission and traveled thousands of miles to the North Star Border to help Jiang Lanying escape, the man was likely always taking on high-paying jobs.

On one hand, it was for the high returns; on the other, it was because the guy was a battle maniac who knew that high-priced commissions meant high risks—and opportunities to fight the strong.

Until he could determine Lucifer’s whereabouts, Guan Tong had no plans to search for him blindly.

If he didn’t need to rush collecting this debt, then he really didn’t have much else to do.

Perhaps he could look for suitable candidates to expand his Origin-Tracing Expedition, or return to Pinglu to continue helping Shi Jingyi perfect and study her Mind Martial Technique. Both were options.

But since Yelena needed his help so badly now, he was naturally willing to stay for a while. Even without their prior agreement, he wouldn’t refuse, if only for the sake of their friendship.

Afterward, Yelena had her butler arrange rooms for the two of them. For the duration of their stay in Sisiya, they would live in her manor.

Once everything was settled, Yelena spoke to Guan Tong alone about the matter of being her bodyguard.

This was also Guan Tong’s main concern. If he was to protect Yelena’s personal safety, he first needed to know where the threat was coming from.

"If it were just normal political opponents, I wouldn’t have asked you to come, Teacher," Yelena said. "But I’ve received intelligence through certain channels that some people closely associated with Rijeka are secretly plotting an armed rebellion."

"You mean a military coup?"

"Yes."

Guan Tong hadn’t realized the situation was so serious.

He had thought the threat to Yelena was just an assassination attempt by Rijeka’s confidants, but now it seemed far more complicated.

"These people are too closely tied to Rijeka; there’s no turning back for them. They know that once I have a free hand, I will purge them, so they don’t want to just sit around and wait for their doom."

"Although I’ve succeeded to the position of Governor, I don’t have many troops I can mobilize. Moreover, the ones lost at the Landing Site were mostly from my personal guard. To ensure the situation there was controllable, I could only dispatch soldiers who were absolutely loyal to me. As a result, my military strength is now very weak, and my enemies will likely seize this opportunity to make a move."

Yelena analyzed the situation calmly. Despite her youth, she had a clear and thorough understanding of the dangerous vortex she was in.

Guan Tong asked, "Are you saying they’ll mobilize the army and rebel?"

"They probably won’t deploy troops," Yelena said. "The risk would be too high, and the Human Federation would likely intervene. At a time like this, the Human Federation wouldn’t want to see any country fall into a civil war and suffer a massive loss of its precious population."

Guan Tong nodded in agreement.

She was right. The population was extremely precious now; if a civil war broke out at a time like this, the Human Federation would definitely intervene to mediate.

"What do you think they’ll do? Send a small team to assassinate you?"

"I can’t rule out that possibility, which is why I asked you to come, Teacher. I feel very safe with you here." Yelena looked at Guan Tong and added, "And it’s not because you’re ’Shadow,’ but because I trust you."

"I understand."

Anyone choosing a bodyguard would prioritize trust over ability.

Of course, someone both trustworthy and powerful would be ideal, but such a person is a rare find. Even for someone of Yelena’s status, she only had Sikokun.

Guan Tong’s appearance now was, for Yelena, undoubtedly a gift from the heavens.

To get a bodyguard who was not only trustworthy but also one of the world’s top Ascenders—even for a short time—was a stroke of incredible luck.

"If you agree, Teacher, please act as my driver and office security for the time being. I will eliminate the unstable elements in the country as quickly as possible."

"Okay."

"And your companion, Teacher, is there anything she wants to do? Or any needs I can arrange for?"

"She probably doesn’t need anything. She can just do whatever she wants during this time." Guan Tong knew Shangyuan Zi wasn’t the type to make demands of Yelena.

The two discussed a few more details, after which Yelena told Guan Tong to get some rest and left the room.

Guan Tong thought for a moment, then silently called up his Terminal Panel.

[Name: Guan Tong]

[Nickname: Shadow]

[Title: Civilization Observer]

[Psychic Power: 978 (978) (13,208)]

[Sublimation Coins: 488,520]

[Comprehensive Bio-Information Assessment: Excellent]

His Psychic Power cap was still steadily increasing, but his reserves were about to dip below ten thousand.

He had continuously used abilities like Shadow, Small Space, and Shadow Realm at the Landing Site, fighting dozens of spore-enhanced Parasite Ascenders by himself. The massive consumption was unavoidable.

The reserves he had converted over many days couldn’t offset the massive amount he’d used at a critical moment, let alone leave any surplus.

’If I get into another high-intensity battle and keep consuming power like this, my Psychic Power reserves will be depleted before long... For an external supply, I might have to go the cooperation route.’

Guan Tong pondered. To get a large amount of reserve Psychic Power in the short term, his best bet was likely to cooperate with the Strategy Research Room... or maybe, he could just solve the problem with coins?

Letting hundreds of thousands of Sublimation Coins just sit on his panel wasn’t a good thing. Guan Tong’s previous plan had been to use them to arm future members of his expedition and strengthen their overall combat power.

But after establishing the expedition, he had traveled through different cities, spoken with many Ascenders, and listened to their conversations in places like the tavern in Icefield Town. Through all this, he had gradually come to understand one thing.

People who made it their goal to pursue the truth were a minority—an extreme minority, even.

Most Ascenders were more concerned with getting stronger, enjoying their privileges, or joining official departments to gain a stable backing.

This made him change his way of thinking. Instead of saving his Sublimation Coins to invest in new members who might never come, it was better to first invest in himself.

And for Guan Tong, investing in himself didn’t mean buying offensive or defensive items; he didn’t need those things right now.

The most direct and effective way for him to invest in himself was to spend money commissioning other Ascenders to transfer their Psychic Power to him, thus rapidly increasing his own reserves.