Chapter 290 - 289: Understand the Rules

"Hey, watch your mouth," Zhao Yun’s expression soured.

She slammed the badge onto the table and leaned forward.

Her voice was low, but it dripped with blatant threat.

"I gave you the first-place team reward, what more could you want? You wanted to exchange it for medicine and EV value, and I did my best to process it for you. Don’t push your luck."

"Go ahead, report me. File a complaint. See if anyone even gives you the time of day. Did you really think I got to where I am today without any skills or connections, like you?"

"I’ll tell you what. If you want your seventy percent, I’m not saying I can’t give it to you. But you need to learn the rules of the game."

Zhao Yun dragged out her words, her greedy gaze sweeping over the Star Brain on Lu Qi’s wrist.

"You must’ve made a lot of money selling your haul, huh?"

Lu Qi’s fists clenched, his knuckles cracking. His nails dug into his palms, leaving deep imprints.

It wasn’t his first time taking on a mission. It was just that he was usually so unremarkable that no one bothered going after his paltry rewards.

The reward for the first-place team was a large sum of EV value and a bottle of Genetic Potion.

Even if he couldn’t use it, he could sell it for a fortune.

His life had been saved thanks to Jian Yu and Chairman Sheng.

Just because he had survived didn’t mean he would forget the crisis he’d faced in the Ultimate Eye.

Lu Qi gritted his teeth, forcing each word out. "What right do you have to my things?"

"Not giving them to me?" Zhao Yun sneered, leaning back in her chair.

She was pretty, but the scoundrelly look on her face made her seem crass. "Fine. Then your medicine application will be put on hold indefinitely. And you can forget about redeeming any other resources. The moment you step out this door, there will be plenty of people happy to teach you a lesson for me."

Lu Qi suddenly calmed down. "Issue me my combat mission certificate."

Zhao Yun’s expression faltered.

She swiped her right hand upward, and a cascade of overlapping floating screens instantly blocked Lu Qi’s view.

"Do you think you can stonewall me forever just by holding this up now?" Lu Qi threw up his hands, his gestures wide and his voice loud as he argued.

But it didn’t get him a shred of fairness.

He looked around.

The surrounding clerks kept their heads down, pretending to be busy.

In this Administration Bureau, Zhao Yun was the petty tyrant of the floor. No one was willing to offend her over a B-level Half-awakened.

Lu Qi felt blood rush to his head.

He caught sight of Jian Yu in his peripheral vision. She had her head down, fiddling with her Star Brain.

Lu Qi instinctively wanted to greet her but was too embarrassed to call out. He just shot her a longing glance before quickly lowering his head.

’We were teammates during the mission, but back at school, we’re probably strangers. I have no reason or right to ask her for help.’

’I’m different from the others. My Level is the lowest. If it weren’t for Jian Yu, I would’ve just been dragging everyone down.’

’The Zhang Ziyue sisters didn’t talk much, but they’d exchanged gifts with Jian Yu. Lu Yi was on Sheng Yue’s project team with Jian Yu. Jiang Fei was Lu Yi’s friend. Zhang Qin and his group had helped Jian Yu beat someone up...’

’Only he, Lu Qi, had contributed nothing significant, yet he had reaped huge benefits.’

Before leaving the Ultimate Eye, Jian Yu had specifically discussed the distribution of the Beast Crystal and Beast Plants with her teammates.

The team had unanimously agreed to let Jian Yu keep the 3S Rank Beast Crystal and Beast Plant, and they even set aside a portion of the other High-level Beast Crystals and Beast Plants for her.

Only the remainder was brought back to be submitted for the mission.

Chief Ji had turned a blind eye and hadn’t interfered.

Lu Qi kept his head down, his thoughts wandering. ’Even though it’s against regulations, the school probably wouldn’t dare ask Jian Yu for the items, no matter how much they might want them.’

For some reason, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Qi stood there in silence, planning to wait for Jian Yu to leave before continuing his argument with the administration staff.

But he never expected that Jian Yu would still acknowledge him back at school, let alone call him "Senior."

Jian Yu: "Senior Lu."

Lu Qi looked up. The voice that reached his ears was gentle, and the scent that wafted to him was almost intoxicating.

He sniffled pathetically. "Junior..."

Jian Yu dug her nails into her palm. "Let me ask for you."

Her expression turned frosty. "Hello. I’m Jian Yu, a member of Team 15 from the Ultimate Eye mission."

The floating screens shifted, the dense data parting.

Upon hearing Jian Yu’s name, Zhao Yun shot to her feet.

The air in the Mission Administration Bureau’s hall suddenly grew tense.

Someone shot Zhao Yun a gloating look.

Zhao Yun braced herself and began processing the request, her tone now respectful.

"You’re here to collect your reward, I presume? Please wait just a moment, I’ll have it ready right away."

"Found it. During the Ultimate Eye mission, Team Fifteen’s performance far surpassed that of the other teams."

"After verifying the items you submitted, the Administration Bureau has set aside the required portion for the mission. For the remainder, you can choose to have seventy percent returned to you, or you can exchange it for resources such as EV value and medicine."

Jian Yu accepted her share. "Have my other teammates collected their rewards yet?"

Zhao Yun’s face was taut, and cold sweat dripped down her back.

"There are ten members on the team. Besides you, only Zhang Qin hasn’t come to collect his yet."

"Excluding the Beast Crystals required for the mission and expenses for school-issued equipment, the Administration Bureau has already returned your teammates’ shares to them as per regulations."

"As for Lu Qi’s results..." Zhao Yun sighed. "I was just following regulations."

Lu Qi finally saw red. "Bullshit! I don’t care about the ranking rewards—I knew I wouldn’t make the top fifteen anyway. But this was a team mission! What gives you the right to dock my rewards?! I’ve never heard of teammates being treated differently like some kind of class system!"

A hand gently rested on his shoulder.

Lu Qi froze, his anger instantly extinguished. "She’s just bullying me."

Jian Yu activated her Star Brain.

A blue screen floated into the air.

"This is the mission certificate for Team Fifteen. Out of one hundred participants, Senior Lu is ranked fourteenth."

"Has the Administration Bureau’s efficiency really sunk so low that it has to resort to extorting its members just to function?"

The voice was cold and clear, almost delicate, but to Zhao Yun, it felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head.

With anyone else, she would have snapped, ’Mind your own damn business.’ But now, she was like a duck with its neck squeezed, unable to make a single peep.

"A misunderstanding..." Zhao Yun’s face turned ghastly pale, her earlier arrogance completely vanished.

Lu Qi was still in a daze. "I’m fourteenth? My individual rank is actually fourteenth?"

How... how is that possible?

’The student ID is correct, the name is correct, and the mission team name is correct.’

Lu Qi’s eyes widened as he stared fixedly at Jian Yu’s Star Brain Floating Screen.

He saw the display read:

This student acted decisively to rescue a teammate during a critical moment, demonstrating exceptional team spirit and a strong sense of responsibility. Furthermore, he not only excels at efficiently recovering intact Beast Crystals but also possesses a keen environmental awareness, allowing for the precise detection of water sources. He is an indispensable and reliable asset to the team.

Lu Qi suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

’I only extracted the Crystal Stones so carefully because I was scared of breaking them. To be honest, it just shows how green I am.’

’I only found the water source because I get thirsty so easily.’

’And I only rescued him because I was worried about our team’s powerful backer getting into trouble. Besides, Zhang Qin was good to me, and I couldn’t just let him die.’

Jian Yu paid no mind to Lu Qi’s dazed state.

Her gaze fell on Zhao Yun. "Besides the individual rankings, I also have the data sheet from your Administration Bureau’s backend calculations."

Jian Yu pulled up the relevant page.

This time, she wasn’t using Ling Yanzhi’s authority.

She was using her own power—the power that belonged to her as a 3S Awakener.

’Jian Yu was a little nervous, but she didn’t let it show.’ "Are there any other problems?"

Zhao Yun lowered her head. "I’m sorry. I wasn’t familiar enough with the regulations. I will recalculate Lu Qi’s reward based on the team standard. Additionally, I will expedite the approval for the medicine he requested."

Her hands were trembling as she flew through the operations on her terminal.

A few minutes later, Lu Qi was holding a new reward certificate and a box full of medicine, still in utter disbelief.

Zhao Yun personally escorted them out.

She thought the matter was over.

But when she turned around, she saw her superior looking at her with a frosty smile. "Pack your things and go, Zhao Yun. Learn the rules of the game. Don’t put me in a difficult position."