Chapter 00227: No Old Friends, Only New Friends
# No Old Friends, Only New Friends
Chapter 227
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 227: No Old Friends, Only New Friends
“Who fired the shot?”
Cun Ling turned around and asked.
Sun Ci stepped forward with wild excitement, but Cun Ling merely nodded and withdrew his gaze, leaving Sun Ci frozen on the spot, unsure of what to do next.
Damn luck.
Cun Ling tossed the bullet up and down, understanding immediately.
That shot had pierced through the outer shell and directly hit the core of the parasitic aberration.
The core’s material was limited and fragile—shattered in a single shot.
It was a fully formed aberration, yet it died so miserably.
But this bullet…
He thought for a moment and suddenly asked, “Who made this?”
Sun Ci instinctively wanted to raise his hand, but then realized he had no idea who gave him this gun.
He looked behind him blankly and saw Ji Jue leaning on his cane.
He lowered his head and reported, “I… I did.”
Cun Ling held the bullet, feeling its manufacturing marks, and casually asked, “Where did you learn the red anvil’s spirit infusion process?”
“I…I…” Ji Jue lowered his head, his gaze evasive, suppressing unease.
Cun Ling immediately understood and simply smiled, uninterested.
Judging by the manufacturing marks alone, it was obvious how crude it was.
The application was somewhat clever, but the structure was lacking.
The fundamentals were solid, yet the theory was somewhat missing?
There was only one possibility—a stolen technique.
Between craftsmen and apprentices, stealing knowledge was way too common.
Unless you were the master’s favored disciple, what choice did you have but to rigidly memorize every step from the master and then practice it endlessly on your own time?
Someone by his side flipped through the records and muttered something.
Suddenly, Cun Ling was enlightened.
“Is he the apprentice Hu An brought along?”
Hu An—was probably the name of that solemn craftsman from the bank earlier.
“Good luck and pretty good comprehension. Looks like even in the scrap heaps, talent can emerge.”
Cun Ling patted Ji Jue’s shoulder. “Keep it up, kid. The future looks bright.”
“Yes, yes…” Ji Jue nodded frantically, feeling the envious and jealous stares from others.
After this, this cripple had even earned Cun Ling’s favor.
He might just soar straight up the Qingyun Road!
At last, Cun Ling flipped through the underground workshop’s records, pausing briefly on a number: one hundred and fifty-nine.
“Sun Ci?” He looked over at the lucky bastard who had miraculously killed the aberration.
Just perfect, it saved on rewards, too…
Sun Ci hurried forward and nodded.
“You understand the procedures all, right?” Cun Ling suddenly asked.
Sun Ci was stunned, not reacting immediately.
Then, he nodded wildly with joy.
“Good. These past days, all departments have been swamped. From now on, this place is in your hands, Supervisor Sun.”
Cun Ling emphasized “supervisor” to him, signaling, “Make sure you perform well.”
With that, he turned and left.
The people behind quickly swarmed after him.
For a moment, the underground workshop plunged back into silence.
Everyone just stood there blankly.
After a long while, Sun Ci seemed to wake from a dream, looking around at the people beside him.
“Supervisor?”
“Yes.”
Another group leader nearby hurriedly forced out a flattering smile, “Congratulations, Supervisor Sun.”
“Supervisor?” Sun Ci sleepwalked as he scanned the area and asked again.
Everyone immediately nodded wildly.
He couldn’t hold back heavy breathing anymore, even wanting to wave his arms and legs in excitement!
Supervisor! Supervisor! He was actually a supervisor now?!
Even if he barely ranked anywhere above, a scrap heap supervisor was still a supervisor! Besides, that scrap heap was a goldmine for bribes!
Having this opportunity, he could pool some money and rare materials, endure for a while, and maybe leverage this to snag an even better position.
His eyes brightened rapidly, thoughts racing, a growing smile tugging at his lips.
Even the pain in his arm seemed to vanish without a trace.
He was finally turning his luck around! Turning it around! Turning it around!!!
So, smiling broadly, basking in all the awe, flattery, and admiration, he laughed loudly and began mingling with those around him—making promises, offering pardons, and mentally taking stock.
After sending everyone off, he finally turned to the person beside him—his lucky star, his crucial helper: Ji Jue.
Want to share the joy? Want to flex a little? Want to entice the little brother to work hard alongside? Perhaps all of that—and maybe even more.
But somehow, when he saw Ji Jue’s scarred, shadowed face, in that instant it was like two broken threads suddenly reconnected amidst the tangled mess…
Suddenly, all the stray clues clicked into place—he was enlightened.
It was like he inexplicably understood something.
Who comes in for the first day on the job and immediately runs into trouble?
Who is that incredibly lucky?
Given a gun, inexplicably kills such a huge aberration with a single shot? And who benefits from this after wasting half their life away?
Unless…
In that instant of realization, he couldn’t stop trembling; coldness seeped all over him, as if plunged into an ice cave.
His eyes grew wide.
He looked at Ji Jue.
Ji Jue was looking back.
Smiling—genuinely happy for him.
“Congratulations, Supervisor Sun.”
But Sun Ci’s body stiffened, unable to hide his unease and fear.
“You… I…”
He stammered, wanting to speak, but soon his eyes sharpened with frost. “Don’t…”
Before he finished, Ji Jue, apparently oblivious, sighed, “Looks like you were the one who fired that shot that killed the aberration just now, right? So precise—one shot, one kill. Impressive!”
Sun Ci was stupidly frozen, as if turned to stone.
“Hey, I haven’t thanked you yet!” Ji Jue lamented, “A lot of materials were thanks to you gathering for me. Even the stuff beside the furnace earlier was submitted by you, too.”
Sun Ci was speechless, his face growing paler by the moment.
“Really great, really great. Congratulations on seizing this chance to turn things around.” Ji Jue paused, sympathizing, “Otherwise, who knows how long you’d have waited.”
Silence.
Sun Ci’s lips quivered, unable to produce a sound.
Suddenly, he realized something wasn’t right.
When the furnace exploded, the materials he submitted were right there alongside.
Ji Jue’s materials were all collected by him and even signed on the form.
When the aberration awoke, the first one killed was the supervisor.
And finally, by sheer coincidence, it died at his own hands.
And he, in one leap, became a supervisor and escaped the mire…
Everything was so perfectly timed.
If an investigation were done later from the angle of vested interests, all the suspicion would fall on him.
Dizzy and overwhelmed, his vision blurred, but somehow that scarred smile grew clearer.
“I never expected the power struggles in the reclamation department to be so fierce. Truly astounding. Rest assured, I will keep your secret.”
Ji Jue stood beside him, watching the scene of cleanup in the underground workshop, suddenly saying, “But since I helped you so much, you’ll help me in return, right?”
Sun Ci kept silent.
After a moment, he swallowed dryly.
He nodded.
“Of course.”
He forced a smile more awkward than crying, “We share blessings and hardships together.”
“Then that means, from today on, we’re friends?”
Ji Jue smiled and reached out his hand. “Come on, good friends, shake hands?”
Sun Ci hesitated, looking at him, then at the outstretched hand, his expression twitching.
After a while, persuaded by Ji Jue’s soft voice, he slowly moved.
“That’s right, reach out, very good…”
“Good boy.”
Ji Jue smiled gently, grasped Sun Ci’s raised hand, and shook it up and down, saying, “From now on, we’re the best friends in the whole world.”
Humans don’t only have dogs as best friends.
They can also have dogs.
To everyone else, the new cripple was a legendary lucky man.
On his first day in the reclamation department, just before Sun Ci rose to power, Ji Jue quickly seized the chance to climb high, become a confidant, break free from slavery, get promoted to supervisor assistant, gain free access to the underground workshop, and appear in front of the higher-ups.
And what relieved everyone most was that he was far better than the idiot before who could only sell scraps.
Not only was he lenient with quotas and never raised them, but also kindly helped many apprentices when they fell behind.
In just one day, he became everyone’s friend.
Even the darkest-hearted could barely suppress a smile and genuinely felt grateful.
They swore by heaven and earth, solemnly and wholeheartedly admiring Supervisor Sun.
Supervisor Sun’s great, Supervisor Sun’s damn great! Now that Supervisor Sun is here, the skies have cleared, and work finally gets a bit easier!
Even the benefits have increased...
Watching Ji Jue push carts handing out protective gear to everyone, almost every apprentice was moved to tears—eager to kowtow to Supervisor Sun right there.
Only, nobody knew why Supervisor Sun’s smile always seemed a bit forced.
Probably because all this protective gear came at a great social cost—making everyone respect him even more.
After becoming supervisor assistant, Ji Jue smoothly took over many tasks.
Including daily delivery of cleaned parts and disassembled materials.
He limped along behind the senior supervisors, familiarizing himself with the environment.
The interior affairs supervisor glanced at his limp and couldn’t be bothered to say anything, nor did she slow her pace for him—it was just routine.
“The workshop has four floors total, not counting the basement.”
The bald woman ahead said coldly, “Floors one and two are where the other craftsmen work, just deliver things according to their number. On the third floor, except for Master Jian Yuan’s apprentice’s workshop, the rest is for storing and shipping materials and works. Don’t wander about without signature or permission. Dying will only cause someone to write a report.”
“What about the fourth floor?” Ji Jue asked curiously.
The bald woman glanced back coldly but didn’t answer.
Or rather, there was no other possible answer.
The fourth floor was Jian Yuan’s private domain; not only was going in forbidden, even asking about it was taboo.
Suddenly realizing this, Ji Jue panicked and gave himself a slap, flashing a flattering smile and begging, “Excuse me, I didn’t bring my brain out with me. Sorry about that.”
Saying which, he imploringly grabbed her hand.
The bald woman attempted to brush his hand away expressionlessly, but through the sleeve, something unexpectedly pressed down in her palm—a small bag filled with fine sand-like substance.
Spirit metal.
At least four hundred grams!
Her gloomy expression paused slightly, then lightened and softened.
“No blame to the unknowing. Newbies don’t know the rules—that’s why we have to guide them.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
Ji Jue nodded wildly and expertly released her hand, “Please continue to guide me.”
“That old Sun’s lucky to have such a sensible subordinate like you.” The bald woman understood, pushed open the door to the material storage vault, and pointed at the empty shelves, showing no intention to help.
“Just put everything up yourself.”
“Sure thing.”
Ji Jue wiped the sweat and bloodshot lines off his face and clumsily categorized each material on the shelves.
Yet his eyes silently flicked to a large door deeper inside, then quickly looked away.
Precious material storage room.
In his pocket, the spiritual crystal left by Lou Feng trembled faintly.
There was a reaction.
Allowing Ji Jue to slowly breathe a sigh of relief.
Finally, he had found it.
Ah, the first day of the month.
Please vote for me!!
I find that when I’m not stuck, my efficiency is quite fast—smooth and happy.
Hmm, curious how I can whip up traitor plotlines so easily all the time…
As a side note: A correction—previously, I mistakenly wrote Lao Tang’s “Fourth Uncle Ancestor” as “Second Uncle Ancestor.” This has been fixed.
Thanks for the comment pointing it out!
(End of chapter)