The two chatted as they walked into the office of Team Five, where Marcus immediately noticed the odd looks from the other three.
Melincha said faintly, "Boss, didn’t you check your secret account?"
Marcus, puzzled, opened the account—a Bureau of Mystic Security internal account that registered merit points instead of money.
Marcus’s face fell immediately. "They only gave me 20 merit points?"
Chen Gu remembered Marcus had once told him that field agents normally received around 30 merit points per mission, while a team leader got 90. Now Marcus was earning less than his own subordinates.
"Director Mei deducted them," Silver Eagle explained. "She said you had to compensate for that expensive life support equipment..."
Marcus grumbled something under his breath, certainly nothing pleasant. He continued to read, "Silver Eagle, you got 32 this time, with 130 in the account already, making it 164 merit points total!"
Marcus looked at his own total merit points: 76...
He glared at Silver Eagle fiercely and cursed, "You rich bastard!"
"Let’s see how the lass did, Selena... oh, nice, 35, well done. You’ve got 152 merit points now, excellent, keep it up and surpass this rich bastard!"
Silver Eagle just rolled his eyes.
"And our most popular puppet beauty, hmm, 30, not bad, you’ve got a nice pile of merit points too, 155!"
"Oh, my God, why am I, the team leader, the poorest one?!"
Marcus was in utter pain. "Life is truly a bitter journey for me!"
Silver Eagle reminded him in a wooden tone, "Keep reading. Don’t forget we’ve got another person in our team now..."
Marcus, remembering the newbie he was supposed to be taking care of, felt a rare moment of relief. "Right, we’ve got a new guy now. At last, I, the glorious team leader, am not the poorest bachelor in the team anymore... 200!"
His voice suddenly rose, his eyes nearly popping out as he refreshed the simple secret account dozens of times, double-checking that the number representing merit points next to Chen Gu’s name was "200"!
Marcus, green with envy, was ready to breathe fire. "What the hell is going on?"
Silver Eagle shrugged. "Director Mei said..."
He coughed and mimicked Director Mei’s tone and posture, jabbing his finger forcefully on the table, his voice laden with endless resentment and dissatisfaction, "He, Marcus, still wants merit points? Where do I even begin to find mine?
His life support equipment has made my operational budget overrun by 78%! Thanks to his hindrance, I, a venerable director planning a major operation, ended up with a measly 26 merit points. How much more does he, Marcus, want?
Every single time it’s , every time I’m cleaning up after him, the bastard!
Do you know how many merit points I have in my account? A total of 83! My God, there was a big discount for exchanging merit points bureau-wide in March, half price! I watched other directors go on a shopping spree, and what about me! Thanks to him, Marcus, I taped my eyes and handcuffed my hands to the back of the chair!
On the bureau-wide merit points exchange leaderboard, your director—I’m ranked last!"
Marcus, who had been in a "spewing dragon" mood, slowly shrank down but still murmured defiantly, "I... safety comes first."
He looked enviously at Chen Gu again. "Why does he have so many?"
Silver Eagle didn’t speak this time. It was the mischievous Selena who stood up with malicious intent. "The Director herself addressed this issue to Silver Eagle in person."
Then, with a cough, she showcased her professional talent, imitating the voice perfectly. She nearly poked Silver Eagle’s nose with her small finger. "How can you have the nerve to ask?!
Your esteemed operative team just took out a minor monster and ran away—leaving the big boss to a newbie! And the newbie wasn’t even a Professional but still managed to save all of the clerical, cleaning, and action teams with a desperate struggle!
You five Professionals, seasoned operatives, didn’t even have basic vigilance. If I were you, I would be so ashamed of these merit points that I’d want to kneel before some little newbie, offering my merit points and remorse with both hands, begging them to accept!"
Silver Eagle felt embarrassed being pointed at and stepped back, only to be grabbed by the little demoness who then seriously measured the distance between her finger and the tip of Silver Eagle’s nose, nodding in satisfaction and saying to Marcus, "That’s right, the Director’s finger was exactly this far from poking Silver Eagle’s nose."
The office fell silent. After a while, Chen Gu suddenly raised his hands and cheered, "I’ve saved enough merit points! I can become a Professional now!"
This feeling... It’s just like in my previous life when the big shots would show off. It was like, ’I need to save up for a Lamborghini!’ One second, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds, five seconds—’Alright, I’ve saved up enough!’
"Hey, I’m going to save up merit points to exchange for a position!"
"All right, I’ve saved enough!"
This time, the whole group couldn’t stand Chen Gu anymore, and various objects from all around the desk came flying at him.
Chen Gu submitted his "induction" application to Director Mei. Director Mei, whom Silver Eagle and the ’little demoness’ had portrayed in their imitations as an old woman with a comically distorted face, treated Chen Gu quite kindly. Chen Gu attributed this kindness to the ’face’ of his ’grown son,’ preferring not to dwell on certain unbearable memories from his past life.
Director Mei promised to report it immediately. If everything went smoothly, preparations could be done within a week, and by then, Chen Gu could become a Professional.
"Have you decided which profession you’d like to become?" Director Mei suddenly pulled Chen Gu’s hand and seemed to ask offhandedly before he left.
Chen Gu almost blurted out "Star Battle Instructor," but then, with a turn of his thoughts, he displayed his skilled acting abilities.
A hint of confusion, a smidgen of bewilderment, mixed with some speculation... but above all, reverence and anticipation for the future. "I don’t really know. I’m not very familiar with Professionals."
Director Mei patted his hand like an old aunt. "With your physical fitness, you meet the preliminary standards for any Professional, so you can choose any profession available with authority in the Bureau... TSK, TSK, look at these biceps as hard as iron and... the quadriceps!"
"The sub-bureau has a general introduction to Professionals; I’ll send it to you. Consider it carefully."
Chen Gu gracefully left the Director’s office and casually opened the document on his way.
The document wasn’t comprehensive. It started with a disclaimer: Humanity is still just a stumbling explorer in the vast Star Sea. The boundless Star Sea hides too many mysteries.
Professionals are just one of those mysteries, perhaps not too prominent.
Many professions still haven’t seen anyone reach the Ninth Power Level, and they can’t claim to fully understand their own fields.
Moreover, with the great development of interstellar navigation and the war between humans and the Alien Insect Race, new professions and skills continue to emerge.