Lantern Sister is still very capable.

Chapter 172 Raising an Account

Xiao Yuan absolutely cannot let Chu Deng go.

"That's not necessarily true..." It's just for me. As Xiao Yuan spoke, his eyes were fixed on Chu Deng. Chu Deng paused in her chopsticks, but remained calm as Xiao Yuan scrutinized her.

Jin Dahai looked left and right, completely baffled by what the two young men were trying to say. "I'm going back to rest first. You two continue eating."

“I’ll go with you.” Chu Deng immediately put down her chopsticks.

Xiao Yuan didn't speak, but stood up silently as well.

Jin Dahai was in front, Xiao Yuan and Chu Deng were behind, and the three of them walked towards the room in a triangle. When they passed the corner, Xiao Yuan grabbed Chu Deng's arm and pushed her against the wall. He put one arm on Chu Deng's shoulder and whispered, "Are you really that clueless?"

Chu Deng coldly emerged from under his arm. "What do you know? I didn't promise you anything, did I?"

She had long felt that Jiang Guoqiang was acting mysteriously. One minute he was arranging for her to participate in the management of the Southeast Sea, the next he was transporting the divine tree, and then he was making secret visits to various places. He seemed to want to use her as three people, which was obviously ill-intentioned.

Unfortunately, Jiang Guoqiang was tight-lipped. Chu Deng tried to use his senses to find out more, but Jiang Guoqiang didn't reveal any information. The only useful information was that Xiao Yuan was going to participate in some world competition. Thinking that they were all Chinese, it wouldn't be good to let someone compete while injured. Considering that Xiao Yuan had protected Jin Dahai, Chu Deng generously sponsored Xiao Yuan with a level three space crystal core. Well, for Jin Xiaoyue's sake.

Unexpectedly, it seemed that Xiao Yuan had his eye on her.

Chu Deng had no interest in showing off. China certainly had no shortage of people who could participate in world competitions and demonstrate their strength in front of the world, so she was not an exception.

"You really don't understand." Xiao Yuan stared at her intently. "You'll understand the significance of a level four fire element in China when you return to Haishi." Knowing he couldn't reason with Chu Deng, Xiao Yuan simply left. There was no point in trying to persuade Chu Deng; the focus wasn't on Chu Deng at all, but on him!

Although Chu Deng is only a level four, the higher-ups certainly won't hide her only fire element like they would with those precious space-type elements. Firstly, it can't be hidden, and secondly, it's a practical necessity. The authorities want to openly display their cards to inform all countries that their weaknesses have been addressed, and they shouldn't try to take advantage of any loopholes.

Regardless of whether Chu Deng is supervised or not, Chu Deng has already been decided internally. After calming down, Xiao Yuan figured out Jiang Guoqiang's meaning: it's not about whether Chu Deng is suitable, but whether he is suitable to cooperate with Chu Deng. If he is not suitable, he will be replaced.

A cold sweat ran down his back. He glanced at the people in the restaurant out of the corner of his eye as he turned the corner, trying to make an impression on them.

So the assessment of him began the moment he boarded the ship...

Xiao Yuan began to reflect on his actions. He acknowledged some slips of the tongue, but it wasn't time to be eliminated yet. He just needed to be careful to get through the next round...

Jiang Guoqiang looked at the roster in the database, and Xiao Yuan was ranked sixth.

Xiao Yuan awakened his spatial ability relatively late, at the age of thirteen, but the awakening was quite tragic. He came from a single-parent family; his father remarried, and his mother raised him alone, only to die in an attack by a strange beast. In the roster's recorded photo, Xiao Yuan lay in a pool of blood, his face covered in blood, his fingers tightly gripping the beast's teeth, his entire head protruding into the beast's mouth. His other hand pierced the beast's stomach, exposing its blood and internal organs. Xiao Yuan's back was to the camera, but his silhouette conveyed a sense of bewilderment.

He emptied the monster's belly, but couldn't find his mother, who had been swallowed by the monster.

Xiao Yuan's mental breakdown triggered a spatial riot. When he was discovered by relevant personnel, he was surrounded by teleportation holes of various sizes. It was observed that items sucked into one of the teleportation holes would be pulverized, and the fragments would be spat out from another teleportation hole, making it almost impossible for people to get close.

In the end, it was Shi Qingyu, who was still in the Dragon Group back then, who stepped in and calmed Xiao Yuan down. After Xiao Yuan fell into a coma, he was sent to a superpower sanatorium and received treatment for three years before receiving normal guidance, but he unexpectedly became insane.

Specifically, he craved blood and slaughter. Almost all the beasts that died at his hands were torn to pieces. Many of the cleanup workers who witnessed the scene vomited on the spot, and many were so frightened that they changed careers. As a result, Xiao Yuan was sent to recuperate for another year. He only became more normal after he came out, but he seemed to have no interest in certain things. He had a carefree attitude of playing the field and being able to die at any time.

"It has shifted from one extreme to another, and now it is in a state where the aggression is relatively small," the psychologist commented.

Xiao Yuan became fascinated with combat, not just with pure bloodshed, but with challenging the strong.

"Having aspirations is always a good thing," the psychologist continued in her comment.

Jiang Guoqiang, having seen countless people, easily saw through Xiao Yuan's true nature. The blood shed during his awakening set the tone for him. Xiao Yuan's mother died when he was weak. Every time he tore apart a strange beast, he felt a sense of triumph over his past self. As he accumulated these triumphs and reached a critical point, he found it difficult to gain a sense of accomplishment from the strange beasts. He could only start challenging stronger ability users. Defeating the strong was a way of constantly overcoming himself, while being defeated by the strong gave him a sense of atonement for punishing himself. He found his own way out.

"Being constantly engaged in fighting and killing keeps you on edge, and you experience a slight sense of disorder and breakdown in your daily life." The psychologist's comment was rather cryptic.

Jiang Guoqiang glanced at it and concluded: Unstable, but will become a sharp knife once it matures.

Xiao Yuan was not his first choice for Chu Deng, and could only be considered as a candidate. However, he could not forget the scene of being shocked by the combination of spatial ability and high attack elemental ability. Unfortunately, one of them died, and the other could no longer muster the will to fight with others and left the Dragon Group. Over the years, it has been difficult to find such an amazing combination.

"Wind and fire are good too, fire and thunder are a good combination... Let me think about it some more." Jiang Guoqiang slid through the list, thinking about who was compatible with Chu Deng, like a player engrossed in a battle card game. He sighed and started checking his collection again, preparing to allocate some resources to upgrade Chu Deng.

"Making up an account takes a lot of effort," General Jiang sighed, looking at the pile of files and messages that had accumulated before he knew it.

On the other side, two people who were equally engrossed in leveling up their accounts were nervously watching the girl on the screen.

"This one is good, this one is good... that one won't do, that one won't do... Oh! I picked the wrong one!" Jin Dahai sighed.

"It's alright, Xiaoyue will pull through." Chu Deng was full of confidence in her friend.

The two were watching the broadcast of Jin Xiaoyue's participation in the provincial competition. They were currently playing a Monopoly-style level, and Jin Xiaoyue was drawing random resources to help herself get through the upcoming challenges.

"Hey? Who's that kid?" Jin Dahai looked at the boy who walked up to his daughter with a wary expression.

"Meng Qiuhe, I participated in the special training with Xiaoyue's classmates from the class next door," Chu Deng explained. As for the specifics of their relationship, she would have to wait for Jin Xiaoyue to tell Jin Dahai herself.

"Wow? That kid from the Meng family? He really changes a lot as he grows up. He was so dark and skinny when he was little, like a monkey, but now he's all fair and clean." Jin Dahai's eyes widened. "Speaking of which, he and Xiaoyue were engaged when they were still in my wife's and her friend's wombs. But Xiaoyue got angry and said she didn't want to marry a gorilla, so it was never mentioned again."

Chu Deng's heart skipped a beat. Hearing those two words unexpectedly made her feel uncomfortable for a moment, but she quickly recovered and replied with a normal expression, "Really? They seem to be destined for each other."

Jin Dahai hummed happily, "Fate brings us together from a thousand miles away..." Chu Deng saw that it was almost time and Jin Xiaoyue had already rested on the spot, "It's getting late, I'm going to sleep too."

"Okay, goodnight. I'll watch a little longer. You should rest first," Jin Dahai nodded.

Chu Deng closed the door and exhaled. The fire tree on the table shook its branches and leaves, making a rustling sound. Chu Deng picked up the kettle next to the table and poured some water on it. The fire tree happily absorbed the aroma of the tea with its roots, nourishing its own body. The fire element it emitted touched Chu Deng's skin, and the warm feeling made her relax for a moment.

"Boom boom boom——"

Chu Deng suddenly opened her eyes, not a trace of confusion in them, and asked sharply:

"Who?!"