The Association of the Chosen Ones, the Miserable Favorites of Fate...

Jiang Che had a headache, and he found himself reminiscing about the Yu Wan'er from the beginning—the fragile little potato who would catch a cold from just her period, fall ill from the slightest bullying, and run a fever at the drop of a hat. Back then, he had instilled deep fear in her.

But now?

Yu Wan'er had grown stronger, her physique improved, and her combat prowess had even reached the level of a grandmaster. The only thing that hadn’t changed was her bratty, devilish temper. Even Jiang Che was starting to struggle keeping her in check.

......

The thought of Shen Yu made Jiang Che’s headache worse.

He hadn’t spent time with her in a month, yet she hadn’t missed him at all. Instead, she had recently published a groundbreaking paper that caused quite a stir in the mathematics department at Z University.

Shen Yu’s mind simply wasn’t on him. Even though Jiang Che had once managed to crack open a sliver of her heart, she had quickly sealed that tiny gap shut with concrete.

She was truly hard to win over.

All his romantic gestures were useless against her. Born emotionally detached, she was completely immune to his usual tactics.

"What’s wrong, Jiang Che? Missing Shen Yu already?" Yu Wan'er flashed a mischievous, impish grin when she saw his expression.

"Hahaha! Who would’ve thought? Even the great Casanova himself gets shut down by Shen Yu!"

"Serves you right for being such a playboy! Serves you right for bullying us! Shen Yu will teach you a lesson for us!"

The little gremlin’s mind was already spinning a million-word tragic romance novel—

My 26-Year-Old Genius Girlfriend...

Jiang Che sighed as he watched Yu Wan'er bounce around like an overexcited gremlin. Well, she was his girl—might as well indulge her a little.

His thoughts then turned to the so-called Jiang Family from the Upper Realm.

If such a family truly existed up there, it wouldn’t be a bad thing—it would mean his background had leveled up yet again.

But at the same time, the future could take a drastic turn. The Gates were awakening, and who knew what kind of monsters might emerge?

What if some reborn Demon Emperor showed up, capable of wiping out entire galaxies with a flick of his sleeve? If that happened, he might as well give up now.

After all, even the current "Little Demon God" Zhou Fan was already pushing the limits of overpowered...

"The Fatebearers Association must have information on the Upper Realm. I can have Chen Hao dig around for me."

Zhou Fan definitely knew something, but the guy was way too cautious. Even asking him under the guise of the System would raise his suspicions.

As for Chen Hao? The guy had practically become a senior figure in the Fatebearers Association’s "Human Pavilion" branch by now. Gathering intel wouldn’t be a problem.

......

Chen Hao had been living the good life lately. No one in the Human Pavilion dared to mess with him anymore—because anyone who did ended up getting scammed to death.

Even those slightly stronger than him got played so badly they wished they were dead. Even the Human Pavilion’s leader had fallen victim to his schemes once.

Only the Pavilion Leader and Vice-Leader knew his true strength.

"Damn that Xu Rong! Calling you ‘senior’ was just a courtesy—you think I actually respect you? Just you wait, I’ll scam you to death sooner or later!"

A vicious smirk curled on Chen Hao’s lips.

He had spent this time thoroughly analyzing Xu Rong’s abilities. The old man’s power was the fusion of various biological traits.

From what he knew, Xu Rong had already assimilated 21 different creatures’ abilities—

A peregrine falcon’s flight, an ant’s super strength, a bat’s echolocation, a hound’s endurance, a swordfish’s swimming speed, a donkey’s... ahem... stamina...

(Thanks to him, Xu Rong no longer needed a belt—his waist had become the envy of all men.)

Of course, these ordinary creature traits weren’t enough to secure Xu Rong’s position as Vice-Leader. He had some far rarer abilities too.

For example, an electric eel’s bioelectricity, which made his lightning attacks rival an S-class lightning ability user!

And then there were the truly broken prehistoric monster traits...

But Chen Hao had assessed that the Vice-Leader’s strength capped at around mid-stage Shattering Heaven Realm. With a bit more Scam Points... he could buy some items from the System and screw him over for good.

Just as Chen Hao was plotting, the System’s voice suddenly chimed in.

[Ding! Temporary System Mission issued: Investigate the Mysteries of the ‘Nine Heavens’]

[Mission Objective: The Gates of the world are awakening. The host must use the Fatebearers Association’s connections to uncover clues about the Upper Realm and the ‘Nine Heavens.’ All signs point toward the enigmatic Jiang Family...]

[Reward: 10,000 Scam Points]

"Investigate the Nine Heavens? What the hell is that?"

Chen Hao scratched his head.

The Scam God System usually just told him to scam someone to death—it had never given him an actual mission before.

But this one sounded easy. No life-or-death struggles, just 10,000 Scam Points for free.

"The Jiang Family? The one in the capital? Probably not the same, right?"

He shrugged, not thinking too deeply about it—and certainly not connecting the System to Jiang Che.

Chen Hao was just too dumb, which was why Jiang Che could manipulate him so freely.

But Zhou Fan? No way.

Zhou Fan was paranoid and cautious—even now, he still distrusted the System.

"The Association’s archives must have records on this stuff!"

Chen Hao muttered to himself.

Rumor had it that the Fatebearers Association’s archives contained countless long-lost, invaluable documents. However, these weren’t publicly accessible—they were stored in the "Human Pavilion Store," purchasable only with contribution points.

Chen Hao headed to the Human Pavilion Store alone. The "store" was essentially a high-tech transparent screen where one could buy all sorts of items and tools—even a spaceship, if they had enough points.

"Hey, Ye Feng, how about lending me some points? I’m just 3,000 short for the Heavenly Strength Pill. Once I break through to grandmaster and my salary increases, I’ll pay you back next month!"

"Li Ming, are you out of your mind? My monthly salary is only 5,000 points—you’re asking for my life here!"

"Ah? Scam King—I mean, Hall Master Chen! What brings you here?"

Around the store, several Fatebearers were chatting. These once-proud Chosen Ones had now been reduced to corporate drones, stressing over a few thousand points every month.

But the moment they spotted Chen Hao, they scattered like frightened mice.

Chen Hao: "..."

Was he really that terrifying?