Chapter 95: The Person Hasn’t Arrived, But The Reputation Has
“Isn’t it said that news between cities is hard to circulate?” Su Chen asked in a low voice.
Gu Bing, standing in front of him, turned around, somewhat helpless, and lowered her voice:
“But you became Old Xia’s student, the Third Chief Judge must know about it, right? Old Xia acted first and reported later, and even sent a City Lord position, probably making that one quite frustrated.”
“Moreover, because of Old Xia’s special status, your name should already be known to quite a few people.”
“Alright.” Su Chen sighed.
The crowd nearby, who had perked up their ears to listen, couldn’t help but show envy on their faces, while jealousy could only be hidden.
The person hasn’t arrived yet, but the fame has come first, and it can stir up a storm in Ying Feng City—who wouldn’t envy that?
Gu Bing clapped her hands and said: “Everyone, there’s still some time before the Court of Justice assessment. I’ll arrange for the ordinary students from South Wind Academy, City Lord Yuan will cover the basic expenses, as for the others, you’re on your own.”
Du Yu and the others didn’t mind; they had money on them, carrying various precious metals, just waiting to spend.
“Su Chen… you’re not part of the Court of Justice yet, so you have to stay outside too.” Gu Bing specifically said to Su Chen.
Su Chen nodded, but his gaze swept to Yang Yan, who was coming out holding a small metal box.
That’s the Holy Word Stone inside… Su Chen’s heart stirred slightly, and he called out: “Judge Yang…”
Yang Yan paused, and Su Chen approached, “Are you heading to the Translation Department?”
“Mm.” Yang Yan nodded: “The Holy Word Stones need to be uniformly delivered to the Translation Department.”
“Can I go with you?” Su Chen asked, adding: “My teacher Yuan specifically told me that when the Holy Word Stone is delivered to Ying Feng, to remind them not to forget South Wind City.”
“After all, this profession is extraordinary.”
When lower tier cities excavate Holy Word Stones from ruins and can’t decipher them themselves, they can send them to Ying Feng, and Ying Feng will share after deciphering.
But the Translation Department holds a revered status; some professions that aren’t very important to them get tossed aside after deciphering, and no one dares to urge them.
Lower tier cities have no choice but to swallow the loss, at most sending a few messages to ask more.
“Yuan Chenyang… really…” Yang Yan chuckled and shook his head, pondering briefly: “You’re Old Xia’s student, so it’s fine for you to come along.”
What allowed Su Chen to come wasn’t South Wind’s rightful request, but his identity as Xia Hanshi’s student.
“Thank you.” Su Chen nodded, quite curious about the Translation Department, especially after discovering the Morning Star Tier–Crimson Flame Thunder Great Venerable.
Since profession information can be inscribed on the outer ring of Ying Feng, the interior might hold even more information, and the Translation Department has the greatest possibility.
And that 【Saint】, he’s keeping it in mind too; the Great Venerable’s first job appointment requirement is Mystic Purple level talent, and he’s only Crimson Gold.
He followed Yang Yan away, and the crowd watched their backs with complex expressions.
Along the way, big sister Gu Bing occasionally chatted with the crowd, but Yang Yan rarely showed up, and even when he did, his attitude was very cold.
Only Su Chen could make his attitude soften a bit.
Coming out of the spaceport, Yang Yan took Su Chen on an elevator to the lower level parking lot, handled the procedures, and retrieved a black hover car.
“…Profession Translator isn’t a profession…” Yang Yan gestured for Su Chen to fasten his seatbelt before answering his question: “It’s strange, right? Every industry has profession evolutions, yet translating Holy Word Stones isn’t one.”
“Translating Holy Word Stones requires looking up a lot of information, more about personal accumulation; it’s hard to take shortcuts, at most some special professions for improving memory or understanding ability as support.”
“So it’s purely about accumulation…” Su Chen murmured.
“Mm.” Yang Yan further explained: “The Translation Department’s duties aren’t just translating professions; many texts from ruins also need their help, otherwise even if you discover some sorcery or technology information, you can’t use it…”
Hearing him say this, Su Chen truly understood that the Translation Department’s status comes not only from translating Holy Word Stones; it can be said to be the cornerstone of civilization revival.
It’s just that profession translation is a very large part of it.
What is recorded on the Holy Word Stone is essentially a kind of text, just encrypted.
“…However, besides dedicated Profession Translators, there’s another translation method.”
The hover car started and merged into the lane; seeing his curiosity, Yang Yan was willing to say more.
“Oh?” Su Chen became interested.
“You know some people have a kind of affinity for specific professions, right…” Yang Yan asked.
“I know that.” Su Chen nodded.
Yang Yan pondered for a moment, as if thinking how to explain:
“Take the Holy Word Stones in the back box as an example; although we don’t know what exactly is recorded on them, if you have special affinity for their profession, somehow, some information will be revealed.”
“It can be like that?” Su Chen’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah…” Yang Yan sighed: “Holy Word Stones aren’t simple stone slabs; the text symbols on them change every moment.”
“The Translation Department has records; even for the simplest First Order profession, the total combinations of changing text symbols exceed 100,000.”
“Moreover, the Cult of the Strange God can use them to reduce the cost of communicating with the Strange God; the Holy Word Stone itself is an extremely precious material.”
“Maybe it’s really something used by gods…” Su Chen couldn’t help saying.
“The Translation Department actually has that guess…” Yang Yan didn’t think Su Chen was talking nonsense.
The two chatted casually, passing through the prosperous Ying Feng City district; dense three-dimensional traffic tracks shuttled between buildings like a flood, with no end in sight.
The glass curtain walls on high-rise buildings even had holographic ad projections, and the hover cars came in all sorts of strange styles.
The black bionic coating on Yang Yan’s car surface could show scale-like sheen with speed changes to reduce friction.
This journey took longer than Su Chen expected; by the time nightfall was completely dark, they arrived at the destination.
A silver full moon hung high overhead, casting silver glow,
“We’re here.”
“The moon…” Su Chen got out of the car and looked up, feeling both strange and familiar.
Yang Yan took out the metal box from behind and remarked: “I heard that before the mist spread, this thing was in the sky; hard to imagine.”
Su Chen’s expression was ambiguous, “Who says otherwise.”
“Let’s go.” Yang Yan called; Su Chen then came back to his senses and looked at the Translation Department before him.
This was a vast area covered by grayish-blue alloy building clusters, each building’s outer wall etched with honeycomb patterns.
The outer guards were even stricter, with sentries patrolling every certain distance.
Yang Yan parked the car outside and instructed in a low voice as they walked: “Once inside, watch your words.”
“The people in the Translation Department are very arrogant; you remind them not to forget South Wind City, just once is enough, no matter if they’re casual or impatient—best not to say it a second time.”
“I thought the Ying Feng Court of Justice was the biggest.” Su Chen muttered.
Yang Yan glanced at him and explained in a low voice: “That’s true, but their scales are different; the Translation Department, including apprentices, has no more than a hundred formal staff, not even enough for one mid-tier squad in the Court of Justice.”
“Individuals have high value; if a Chief Judge came, it would be different, but we’re just Judges.”
“Identity?” The guards standing on both sides of the gate, expressionless, stopped them; they wore thick black combat armor, more technological than South Wind’s.
“Court of Justice, Disciplinary Court—Fourth Level Judge—Yang Yan.” Yang Yan took out his identity mag card, “Here to deliver Holy Word Stone by order.”
After the guard took it and tapped it on the device on his arm, a virtual screen popped up with anti-peeking; from Su Chen’s angle, it was all blurry.
“Even the gatekeepers are professionals, as expected of Ying Feng…” Su Chen assessed.
“Go in.” The guard’s expression softened a bit, but only enough to let them pass.
Entering the internal roads, there weren’t few people coming and going; the crisscrossing roads had them standing on silver metal discs, moving very fast.
Yang Yan also received a metal disc at the gate; after they stood on it, a virtual screen popped up, he fiddled a bit to lock the target, and the metal disc shot off.
Soon they arrived in front of a metal building on the left side.
Entering the hall, it was quite spacious, with silvery-white floor stretching to the end.
Yang Yan went to the front desk opposite the gate and politely asked: “Excuse me, is Professor Sang Hanhai available?”
The front desk appeared to be an extremely delicate woman, even unreal; ripples of bluish light swirled in her pupils, and her voice had no emotional fluctuation, “Sorry, please wait…”
“This is…” Su Chen was quite surprised, scrutinizing the “woman” before him.
Yang Yan wasn’t surprised, “Alright, please make the appointment; this is the Holy Word Stone from South Wind.”
“Appointment made.”
After the response, Yang Yan took Su Chen to sit on the nearby seats to wait; seeing Su Chen still subtly eyeing the front desk, he couldn’t help saying: “This is a mechanical puppet, mainly for support work.”
“The Translation Department has a special status; ordinary people can’t come in, and it’s unrealistic to have high-rank professionals at the front desk.”
Yang Yan explained: “These things are quite popular in Ying Feng; they can handle a lot of chores, but the price isn’t low.”
Not sure if this counts as a mystic tool, Su Chen pondered inwardly.
The two chatted idly.
“You mean profession rank upper limit?” Yang Yan looked at him in surprise and shook his head: “Who knows; the strongest I know is just Seventh Order Middle Tier…”
“As for the upper limit, Ninth Order, Tenth Order, even Hundredth Order is possible.” He joked.
Su Chen was speechless; he’d wanted to subtly inquire about the “Morning Star Tier,” but Yang Yan didn’t know much either.
Seeing Su Chen’s speechless look, Yang Yan grinned instead, “I know you young people yearn for high-rank and top tier professions, but that’s not a good thing.”
“Some high-rank profession information is toxic itself; contacting it damages you.” At this, his expression grew more serious.
“Toxic?” Su Chen’s mind shook slightly, showing an inquiring look; he’d never heard this before.
