Chapter 8

The location of the residential area is quite good, less than two kilometers from the Precious Treasure Police Station, and it only takes a dozen minutes to walk there. After leaving the residential area, there is a market right behind it, a bit dirty and messy, but very convenient for daily life.

With not much money in hand, and the patrol officer's salary not due for at least ten days, Du Qian had to spend frugally. He bought some rice and vegetables, and though the meat looked tempting, he could only put it aside for now.

Back home, he had just put down the vegetables when his identity card flashed. Du Qian quickly put down the vegetables and swiped his identity card on the reader in the room.

The identity card is extremely important for citizens of the Zhou Shan Empire. From birth, minors have a blue card, and after turning eighteen, they get an adult green card. It contains all the information of a citizen and has a wide range of uses, almost omnipresent.

It includes basic citizen information, resumes, identity verification, and can also be used as a bank card for transfers and card payments. It can also be bound as a door card, car key, and other functions.

With the improvement of differential machine skills and mathematical calculation models, the importance of the identity card has become even stronger. Truly, with one card in hand, the world is yours.

The reader displayed a row of information.

Year 63520, September 18, 17:34, Ms. Zhang from the Imperial Bank has transferred 3,000 yuan to your bank account. Please check.

Looking at the information, Du Qian was stunned for a while, his eyes slightly moist. To his cousin, 3,000 yuan might not be a huge amount in the eyes of ordinary people, but for her and his aunt, transferring such a large sum of money would mean immense pressure. Even with surplus grain, they still had to live with the faces of other landlords, which was quite painful.

It wasn't that his aunt was materialistic or sycophantic; she simply had no ability to refuse back then. Everything was forced upon her. Thinking about it carefully, compared to his aunt's life, perhaps he, as a war orphan, was happier.

Du Qian operated the reader directly without hesitation and immediately chose to repay the loan. It was his first day out of school, and interest hadn't started accruing yet, so he didn't need to pay any extra.

After repaying the loan, Du Qian felt a wave of relief. Being debt-free felt so good, filled with happiness.

Not only did he repay the loan, but he also had 200 yuan left over, which was a huge sum, equivalent to four months of his salary.

He didn't know how his aunt managed to send him 3,000 yuan. The amount was calculated quite precisely, repaying the loan and leaving some extra money.

War orphans all had good skills. The food at the orphanage was just enough to fill one's stomach, and it might be an exaggeration to call it pig feed, but it certainly didn't reach the level of cat food.

Du Qian's specialty was grilled fish. Most of the war orphans from the Pingchuan War Orphan School had this skill, as the school was in the Precious Treasure area, closest to Precious Treasure Bay, where the cheapest and most practical fish were damaged fish.

For other dishes, Du Qian and his classmates were only average, at least not bad. Fortunately, Du Qian wasn't picky, and as long as the taste wasn't too different, he would eat it with great relish.

After dinner, it was already dark outside. The 50-square-meter apartment, with one bed, one table, one chair, and one cabinet, felt quite spacious. Compared to the dormitory at school, it was like going from hell to heaven.

After a brief moment of activity, Du Qian put away his lazy demeanor and became solemn. It was time to practice. To be respected, one must endure suffering behind the scenes.

Du Qian didn't think that a war orphan like him would ever be respected, but the desire for a better life is universal, and he was no exception.

The couplet was grand and majestic, elevating combat power to the highest status, seemingly distant from the common people yet so real.

Du Qian knew that a combat power of 5,980 was quite good among patrol officers, but to advance further would be increasingly difficult. Even a small improvement would be worth the suffering.

Combat power not only represents status and money but is also a matter of life and death. Although there hasn't been a major war among the three major countries in a hundred years, border skirmishes have never stopped.

As long as one's intelligence is normal, they would know that human history is a history of war, not just a test question but a reality. Who knows when a war might break out? The longer the preparation, the more intense the outbreak.

The current peace often deceives people's eyes and minds. Living in this world means being prepared for war at any time.

Of course, Pingchuan City was quite safe. To the west was the sea, to the north the grassland, to the south the desert, and to the east the Zhou Shan Mountains, facing the inland of the empire. The geographical location was excellent, at least far from the border, ensuring safety.

After a few deep breaths, he bent his waist and knees, slowly making a strange movement. As long as one is human, they wouldn't be unfamiliar with this movement, the ninth form of the basic martial arts training, which involves drawing spiritual energy into the body.

Drawing spiritual energy into the body beyond normal physical limits is extremely painful. As time passed, Du Qian's sweat increased, large droplets falling from his face. Only those who have experienced it know the pain.

After half an hour, Du Qian could clearly feel a thread of spiritual energy entering from the top of his head, circling his body, and slowly merging with it, from the internal organs to the bones, from the bones to the blood, from the blood to the skin and hair. The spiritual energy was invisible and intangible but truly existed.

His eyebrows raised, and a drop of sweat flowed down his eyelid. Today, he entered the state much faster than usual, and not only that, the feeling of the spiritual energy entering his body seemed different. The thread of spiritual energy was much stronger, even ten times stronger than usual, though he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

It seemed that ten years of effort had not been in vain. His martial arts talent wasn't as bad as others said.

But something seemed off.

Du Qian frowned, and more sweat droplets slid down, wetting the floor. The spiritual energy that entered was clearly ten times stronger, but it seemed that half of it didn't merge with his body. Instead, it circled around his chest and disappeared.

As time passed, Du Qian carefully observed. The half of the spiritual energy that disappeared indeed vanished while circling around his chest.

After two hours of contemplation, Du Qian's frown eased. Never mind, if half is missing, so be it. Today's effect of drawing spiritual energy into the body was so good that even with half missing, it was still five times better than usual. He had definitely gained.

Du Qian's personality was like this. If he couldn't understand something, he wouldn't think about it for now. As long as it was a gain and not a loss, it was fine. Unfortunately, he couldn't share this joy with his brother Lei Ming.

As the sun set and the stars rose, a bright moon illuminated the sky, and countless stars filled the heavens.

A particularly bright star stood out from the darkness, moving uncertainly, as if unsure of its position, shifting east and west, moving slowly and hesitantly, disrupting the calm of the night sky.

On the Immortal Peak in the capital, thousands of miles away, an old man with white hair stood, looking like a celestial being under the stars.

At that moment, the old man's face was heavy, gazing at the sky for a long time without speaking.

"Stars are in chaos, the heavenly artifact has emerged. You have finally appeared..."

In the Light Forest of the Sea Capital of the Zhenhai Alliance, an old woman also looked up at the sky, muttering to herself, "Stars are in chaos, the heavenly artifact has emerged, a sign of turmoil..."

In the Dragon Tooth Star Valley of the Sky Patch, a middle-aged man gazed at the sky, frowning deeply, "Stars are in chaos, the heavenly artifact has emerged, the times create heroes, heroes or cowards, it's all fate."

Similar scenes occurred in over a dozen places on the continent, with various people looking up at the sky, some in amazement, some frowning, some joyful, some sad, some with great ambition, and some with a sense of compassion for the world.

Compared to ordinary people, the great figures lived in another world. The reason they were great was that they could do what others couldn't.

Fundamentally, they were the same. Citizens of the Zhou Shan Empire were divided into nine ranks, and the world of the great figures also had its differences.

Some could only sigh at the stars, while others could discern a hint of the pattern.

Six orders of the highest level, almost identical, were issued almost simultaneously. They dispatched capable individuals to the eight cities on the western coast of the Zhou Shan Empire, with the target being unknown.

One could say this was the most absurd order, yet its level was the highest, even surpassing national war orders.

Hundreds of elites, geniuses in people's eyes, entered the Zhou Shan Empire through different channels and excuses, converging on the eight cities on the western coast, including Pingchuan City.

The fastest and largest action came from the Zhou Shan Empire itself, taking advantage of its proximity to the territory. The resources the Zhou Shan Empire could mobilize far exceeded the combined resources of other countries.

Despite the vast resources and manpower, the absurd order—target unknown—left them at a loss.

In fact, the person who issued the order knew no more than the executors. Even if they knew something, how could they dare to say it?

Let everything happen as it will.

Besides this absurd order, the three major countries simultaneously issued dozens to hundreds of orders, some public, some secret. Unbeknownst to many, the entire country was mobilized.

Strengthening military preparedness, raising the alert level, mobilizing reserve supplies, and collecting more war resources.

In this silent process, the national war alert level had reached its highest standard in a hundred years.

All of this had nothing to do with Du Qian. Not only did a war orphan have no way of knowing, but even if he did, he wouldn't think it had anything to do with him.

Tomorrow, he would be a mighty and awe-inspiring patrol officer, and a beautiful life was beckoning. The speed of drawing spiritual energy into his body had increased fivefold, and everything was so beautiful.

The happiness of a war orphan comes easily, with a very low threshold for happiness.

Unconsciously, the sky had turned light. A night of hard practice left Du Qian feeling dehydrated. The place where he was, as if a naive infant had urinated there several times.

On the dry sweat, a new layer of tears formed.

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