Infinite Professions-Chapter 161 - 76: Onboarding

Tianbei City, Upper City District.

"We’re here."

The flying car landed, and the two got out; it was Zhong Qin and Shen Hex.

Shen Hex looked up and saw a strange building towering in front of him, entirely in a cold silver-white tone, completely sealed, with no doors or windows, and only a stone tablet standing at the forefront with the words "Special Bureau" written on it.

"Is this the Special Bureau Base in Tianbei City?"

"Isn’t it cool?"

Zhong Qin smiled and led Shen Hex forward, arriving at the front of the silver-white spire, opening their personal terminals and performing various identity verifications. Finally, they saw a portal open.

Zhong Qin stood at the door: "Your file has already entered the Special Bureau; confirm your identity, and you can enter the base."

"Mm!"

Shen Hex nodded and stepped forward to perform operations following her example, quickly passing the identity verification.

Inside the spire, it was also silver-white, filled with a strong metallic texture and technological atmosphere, with only two figures visible at the reception area.

"Little Qin, you’re back?"

"Yes, Sister Fang."

Zhong Qin greeted her and then turned to Shen Hex, saying: "You can’t bring unregistered space items inside the base; if you have any, store them here."

Shen Hex nodded and handed the Spirit Control Ring to the reception.

After the two completed the registration, the wall door opened, revealing a corridor with warning lights every few meters, clearly another verification method.

Zhong Qin led the way forward, explaining: "Each member of the Special Bureau will receive specialized space equipment, which includes detection methods and is connected to the Special Bureau’s network. If you bring any contraband in, an alarm will be triggered instantly."

"This corridor is the Special Bureau’s security corridor, equipped with dozens of detection measures connected to the space equipment. If you have contraband on you, it will trigger an alarm and seal the corridor."

"These detection measures are not only mechanical networks and other technological creations but also include various magical spells and some professional artifacts; the accuracy can reach ninety-nine percent. At least the Tianbei City branch hasn’t had any issues in many years."

"..."

As Zhong Qin introduced, she led Shen Hex through the corridor to a metal door. Inside was an elevator platform, but instead of ascending, it descended downward.

"The work facilities are all underground; the upper levels are mostly defensive weapons and combat platforms. After all, the target is too large and easily subjected to attack."

"That’s the research area; unless there’s an emergency, you need to have a research identity or a superior’s command to enter."

"That’s the living area; you can move in once you reach a certain level, and even bring your family over. The security is high, and the living standards aren’t bad."

"That’s the training area, which is the territory for us combat personnel. It has various training equipment and a virtual combat system that is more realistic than high-level virtual warehouses."

While introducing, Zhong Qin led Shen Hex to the training area, where many people in black uniforms came and went. Many had a hurried look on their faces.

"Little Qin!"

A team was approaching, and the leader was the valiant Teng Manyun dressed in black.

"Senior, no, Captain!"

Zhong Qin hurriedly greeted her and changed her address.

Teng Manyun shook her head, then turned her eyes to Shen Hex: "Here you are."

Shen Hex nodded: "Mm!"

Teng Manyun smiled: "First, follow Little Qin to get your equipment; I’ve already handled your onboarding procedures."

She then led the team away.

"Senior is still so driven!"

Looking at the departing figure of Teng Manyun, Zhong Qin shook her head and proactively said to Shen Hex: "Her cultivation has reached Tier Five and she needs Heavenly Gang Sha to refine the Martial Arts Golden Core, so she’s been vigorously taking on missions to accumulate merit."

Shen Hex smiled faintly: "Isn’t everyone doing their best now?"

"True."

Zhong Qin nodded: "Let’s go, get the equipment."

Saying that, she led Shen Hex towards the armament area.

"Shen Hex, Second Lieutenant rank, member of the third combat team of the Tianbei City branch."

"Here is your basic equipment: a Special Bureau’s personal terminal, a Tier Four Nanometer Combat Suit, a Tier Three Space Belt, a Tier Four Laser Pistol, Laser Rifle, and Laser Sword, and a Tier Four Vehicle, twenty boxes of Energy Cubes."

"You can also bring your own weapons, but personal weapons must be tested and registered, entered into the Special Bureau network, otherwise they cannot be brought into the base."

At the armament area, the staff happily distributed a set of weapons and equipment.

The personal terminal was a high-end Special Bureau product, much better than Shen Hex’s civilian junk, which he did not hesitate to transfer his data, upgrading from a bird gun to a cannon.

The Nanometer Combat Suit was a Standard Bureau armament, utilizing unique nanotechnology with extremely powerful defense; although it was only Tier Four, it could withstand several Tier Five level attacks and included healing, purification, and life-sustaining features.

The Space Belt was the Bureau’s standard space equipment, similar in function to the storage Dharma Artifact of Cultivation Systems. Although its tier was only Tier Three, its value was not less than the Tier Four Nanometer Combat Suit, given the high-end technology and materials used in space equipment.

The remaining pistol, rifle, and laser sword, among other standard weapons, also reached Tier Four, equivalent to a Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact in the cultivation world, with self-evident power.

This showcased the Special Bureau’s financial resources; the basic six-piece equipment set, except for the Space Belt, was Tier Four level, which in Shen Hex’s current Dream Butterfly’s cultivation realm was unimaginable.

After all, Tier Four artifacts are Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifacts, and for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from a Loose Cultivator background, having one is lucky. Two or three would require being a sect-born wealthy patron, or a master of the four arts of the Pill Talisman Array, such as the God of Wealth.

Such an existence that grants five or six Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifacts upon entry would be at an "Immortal Sect" level in the cultivation realm, and likely from an overseas Immortal Sect, as even those few busted Core Formation Sect in the mainland wouldn’t qualify.

Zhong Qin looked to Shen Hex: "The armament area also offers custom equipment services. If you have enough merit, you can customize weaponry here, up to Tier Six arms."

"That’s indeed nice."

Shen Hex stored the equipment in the Space Belt and left the armament area with Zhong Qin to head to the Professional Registration Office.

This is the final stage of onboarding—Professional Registration!

Professionals are the core of the Human Empire, and all departments’ work revolves around this core.

The Special Bureau is no exception; all members’ professions must be registered, then aligned to their professional traits and abilities, placing the right person in the right job.

This is similar to professional registration at enrollment; if you have any rare professions or special talents, you could receive special bureau’s priority training, allocation of resources to assist in your upgrade.

"Mad Hero?"

"Killing Life and Cutting Karma?"

In the captain’s office, the returning Teng Manyun looked at Shen Hex and his registered profession information: "You’re only a Tier Two Professional?"

Shen Hex nodded: "Because most of my energy has been spent on cultivation, I’m a bit behind in Professional Rank."

"That’s not a problem."

Teng Manyun shook her head, her expression somewhat peculiar: "But why did you choose this profession? With your talent in the Martial Dao, switching to a profession related to it might be better, as it could allow you to gain experience through Martial Arts Cultivation and also enhance Martial Arts Power."

Shen Hex smiled: "When I was running a farm in the suburbs, I encountered a bit of trouble, and somehow ended up with this profession. I found it quite nice, so I switched."

"A bit of trouble?" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Teng Manyun looked at him, but did not delve deeper, merely saying: "Have you considered switching back to a martial profession? I can provide you the Xingyi Martial Sect’s advancement method for free."

"Thanks for the offer, senior sister."

Shen Hex shook his head: "But I think this profession has a lot of potential to explore, so I’ve decided to advance in it and see."

"Well, alright then."

Hearing this, Teng Manyun did not insist, simply saying: "The talent ’Killing Life and Cutting Karma’ is indeed good—it allows you to sense karma and comes with a Righteous Qi effect, which is very effective against cultists. It’s just a bit low in rank."

"Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll apply for a few tasks for you. You can form a task force with Little Qin and a few juniors from the Xingyi Society to investigate and clear out the Evil God Sect’s operatives in the middle and lower city areas. They should meet your advancement conditions."

Shen Hex smiled: "Thank you, captain."

"No need."

Teng Manyun shook her head: "With the front line pausing its offensive, pressure has shifted to the rear. The activities of the Evil God Sect have become even more rampant, aiming to plant mines behind our lines for a fatal strike. Clearing out these unstable elements is beneficial to the overall situation."

...

"How did it go?"

Upon leaving the office, Zhong Qin approached: "What did senior sister say? Did she allocate any professional resources for you?"

"She’s allocated some."

Shen Hex chuckled: "But I have to go get them myself."

"Then just go get them."

Zhong Qin shrugged indifferently: "As long as there are resources for advancement, everything is fine."

"You’re right."

Shen Hex nodded, then looked at her: "By the way, what’s your Professional Talent?"

Professional information is the most personal data of any Professional, not something to be asked lightly. So for all these years, Shen Hex had never asked about Zhong Qin’s profession.

But now was different; it was necessary to find out.

"Me?"

Hearing this, Zhong Qin was straightforward, directly sending her professional information to Shen Hex via her personal terminal.

Zhong Qin

Profession: Xingyi Martial Artist.

Professional Rank: Tier Four Level 1.

Professional Talent: Strengthening the body, viewing others as mirrors, agile as a dragon, Xingyi Divine Martial.

Professional Skills: Xingyi Fist Skill, Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture.

Professional Items: Divine Martial Manual.

General Skills: Omitted.

...

A very concise professional panel.

In fact, the panels of most low-tier Professionals are very neat.

After all, human energy is limited, Professional Experience is harder to acquire, and at low tiers, most are focused on cultivation, avoiding complexity and distractions that would slow down progress.

Few, like him, venture into multiple professions with a heap of skills.

Zhong Qin was no exception; aside from the advancement section, all her Professional Experience was invested in the Xingyi Fist Skill and Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture. Therefore, her expertise in Xingyi and her foundation in Martial Dao are exceptionally high and strong.

Her four Professional Talents are not bad either: Strengthening the body effectively fortifies her physique, viewing others as mirrors improves her learning from others, even allowing her to directly "copy" their martial arts.

The final talents, agile as a dragon and Xingyi Divine Martial, enhance the power of the Xingyi Dragon Subduing Skill and Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture. They even permit using Professional Experience to craft Professional Items like the "Divine Martial Manual," integrating combat effectiveness and economic gain.

Conventionally speaking, such a profession and talents are already quite good.

After all, not everyone can traverse worlds and stir things up like he did—ordinary actions by ordinary people have too little impact, making it difficult to develop high-quality professions.

Zhong Qin’s Professional Talents are already considered excellent among ordinary Professionals. Without the turmoil created by the Evil God, attending a second-tier Martial Arts Academy wouldn’t have been a problem, and she could’ve opened a martial arts school or returned to Tianbei Second Middle School as a high-tier teacher, enjoying a bright future after graduation.

Unfortunately...

Shen Hex looked up: "Are you planning to advance to Xingyi Martial Sect next?"

"Yes!"

Zhong Qin nodded: "Senior sister provided me with the advancement method for free, next is to earn Merit. After all, to cultivate Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture in the Xingyi Martial Sect, one needs Heavenly Gang Sha and other high-tier resources."

"That works nicely."

Shen Hex chuckled: "I’ve accepted a few tasks, which should earn quite a bit of Merit."

"That’s great!"

Zhong Qin trusted him implicitly and said directly without needing to ask: "When do we set off?"

"No rush, let’s review the data first."

Shen Hex smiled: "Know your enemy and yourself, and you can win countless battles!"