Someone Stealing Your Own Job

Yang Lielan chuckled softly, running her fingers through her hair. "What, am I the only one getting recognized?"

Xu Mu smiled and waved his hand. "I didn’t mean it like that."

The rear door of the military helicopter swung open. After bidding farewell to Wei Jingzhi, Xu Mu and the others settled inside the cabin.

The pilot in front started the helicopter, heading toward their destination.

“This is Chen Xuan, my good brother,” Xu Mu introduced, pointing to the man beside him.

“I heard from the Supreme Elder that he’s a disciple of Senior Chen,” Yang Lielan said, glancing at Chen Xuan. “Come to think of it, Senior Chen has done quite a lot for our Xuantian Sect.”

“Senior, my master mentioned the Xuantian Sect before, and I’ve heard your name too,” Chen Xuan added politely, giving a bit of a flattering nod.

“You flatter me,” Yang Lielan smiled and waved her hand, then shifted her gaze back to Xu Mu. “This time, you guys took down the Baishi Clan. Even council members would find that hard to accomplish.”

“Mostly just luck. Besides, we weren’t the ones fighting—it was the reinforcements we called in,” Xu Mu said, thinking of Li Chenshuang, who had indeed helped a lot.

“Luck is the modesty of the strong; fate is the excuse of the weak,” Yang Lielan said, crossing her arms, her eyes full of admiration for Xu Mu.

Xu Mu chuckled a few times and changed the subject. “Sis, do you get recognized often? This is the first time for both of us, so I’m not sure how the process works.”

“Not too often. Usually, those who get recognized have completed S-level missions,” Yang Lielan explained. “About once a month, but the timing isn’t fixed.”

“That’s a relief,” Xu Mu said, visibly relaxing. He had been worried there might be something else going on.

“By the way, Senior, Brother Mu said the council chairman wants to see us. Who exactly is he?” Chen Xuan suddenly asked from the side. “Is his position higher than a senior cleaner’s?”

“The council and the cleaners are two separate departments,” Yang Lielan explained. “The Cleaners are purely combat-focused; their job is to clean up the trash.”

She continued, “As for the council within the Sanitation Department, their roles are more varied. Broadly speaking, there are two types: clerks, who handle intelligence gathering and task distribution, and fighters, who mainly deal with alien threats.”

Both Xu Mu and Chen Xuan nodded slightly.

“So, in terms of rank, council members outrank cleaners,” Xu Mu mused, stroking his chin.

“Higher than junior and intermediate levels. Senior cleaners are more honorary titles. Simply put, when you join the Sanitation Department, you start as a junior cleaner, then get promoted to intermediate cleaner. By completing more missions and earning scores, you can reach team leader level. Once you hit a certain age, the council selects new members from among the team leaders,” Yang Lielan elaborated.

Xu Mu nodded slightly. So these council members were all promoted from the team leader ranks.

No wonder Jiang Huihui had been eager to reach the team leader level.

If all went well, Du Yan, as the second team leader, would definitely enter the council once he was old enough.

…

The helicopter touched down in a forested area north of Yanjing, landing beside a military base.

Xu Mu and the others disembarked, surrounded by rows of military helicopters parked nearby.

Under a large tree not far away, a middle-aged man with a crew cut, dressed in a suit, approached with a smile.

“Brother Xu Mu!”

He called out from a distance.

Xu Mu looked toward the man in his fifties and recalled his name.

His name was Zhang Yuqiang. He had saved Xu Mu’s life before in the ruins of the Jiuli Tribe. Xu Mu remembered that Zhang was a director at the sanitation department.

“Senior Zhang,”

Xu Mu greeted him with a smile.

“Don’t call me senior. I don’t think I deserve it. The mission you and Chen Xuan are carrying out this time—I definitely wouldn’t be able to complete it,”

Zhang Yuqiang said as he walked over to join the group. He then nodded toward Yang Lielan. “Miss Yang, hello.”

Yang Lielan was a bit surprised. “You two know each other?”

“During a previous mission, I encountered a Heavenly Dao-level formation. Brother Xu Mu saved my life. If it weren’t for him, I might have died there,”

Zhang Yuqiang said with a smile. “Come with me.”

Xu Mu glanced at Chen Xuan, then followed behind Zhang.

They crossed the mountain peak and arrived at a stone tablet.

There were no inscriptions on the tablet, only a red pentagram.

Zhang Yuqiang placed his hand on it. “Come on in.”

Yang Lielan moved confidently, while it was the first time for Xu Mu and Chen Xuan to enter.

Inside the ruins, Xu Mu surveyed the surroundings. This place was very different from the previous ruins.

Whereas the earlier ruins were mostly ancient buildings, here the first thing that caught the eye was a massive power station.

Not only that, but the huge hillside in the distance was covered with photovoltaic panels.

The roads here were almost all paved with asphalt, and rows of electric scooters lined the sides.

“We’ll ride over there. Feel free to use any of the electric scooters here,”

Zhang Yuqiang said, sitting down on one of the scooters.

Yang Lielan also got on a scooter, twisted the throttle, and followed.

When Xu Mu looked toward Yang Lielan in front, his eyes narrowed slightly.

The scooter’s seat looked tiny beneath Yang Lielan’s curves, and as the vehicle vibrated lightly, her figure trembled subtly.

“Brother Mu, what are you staring at? Let’s go,”

Chen Xuan called out as he sat on another scooter.

“*Ahem*,”

Xu Mu awkwardly settled onto his scooter. “Just thinking. The path of the Surge Rider is destined to be lonely.”

……

About five minutes later, Xu Mu and the others arrived inside a building.

Several tables were set up, topped with desserts and drinks.

About twenty people were gathered here in small groups, chatting quietly.

“You all wait here for a bit. The chairman will be here soon,”

Zhang Yuqiang patted Xu Mu on the shoulder and then turned to leave.

Since the number of people was small, when new arrivals came in, everyone looked over.

Most of the people stopped at Xu Mu. Among the experts present, many already knew who he was.

Xu Mu and Chen Xuan found an empty table and sat down together.

“I think I understand why I was asked to come so early. Turns out it’s to catch the noon banquet,”

Xu Mu said, casually grabbing a pastry and popping it into his mouth.

Chen Xuan took a few pieces as well, smiling. “I didn’t even get a chance to eat breakfast this morning.”

Yang Lielan walked over to greet a few elderly men standing nearby.

But Xu Mu and Chen Xuan were just sitting there enjoying some pastries; after all, they didn’t know a single person here.

Before long, a man with long hair approached from a distance and came up to Xu Mu.

He was dressed in a suit and looked to be around thirty-six or thirty-seven years old.

“Xu Mu, I’ve heard much about you.”

The man had a pair of phoenix-like eyes and took a seat beside Xu Mu. “My name is Geng Yanlin, a director at the Sanitation Department.”

Xu Mu smiled at the man and activated his Divine Eye to observe him.

Name: Geng Yanlin

Role: Elder of the Qi Sect, Director of the Sanitation Department, antagonist from *The Evil God’s Release*

Favorability: 0

Destiny Level: 7 (max level 10)

“Damn!” Xu Mu was shocked beyond belief. What was going on here? Was someone trying to steal his thunder?