123: Night Raven Headquarters

On the desolate wasteland in the outskirts of the Demon Capital.

Space rippled, and a pitch-black Night Raven, as tall as two men, tore through the void, suddenly landing on the barren open ground.

At the same time, a figure flashed into existence. A young man in a tight-fitting suit saw the two people on the Night Raven's back and immediately bowed in salute:

"You two adults have worked hard. Welcome back to headquarters."

Before he finished speaking, the young man raised his hand and made a sweeping motion. The seemingly empty ground was as if an invisible curtain had been pulled back, revealing the hidden true scene.

The man in black put away the giant Night Raven, carried the unconscious Ye Chen, and stepped inside, followed closely by the woman in leather.

After the two disappeared into the passage, the young man's hands flew, forming seals, restoring the space to its original state, then he flashed and disappeared without a trace.

When he opened his eyes again, Ye Chen was met with Shen Jin's roguishly smiling face.

He saw the other man sitting on the edge of the bed with his legs crossed, peeling an apple while humming an off-key pop song.

Noticing Ye Chen had woken up, Shen Jin jumped up exaggeratedly:

"Thank goodness! You're finally awake. I almost thought I'd have to arrange your funeral!"

Ye Chen frowned, propped himself up, and surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings.

The humming of various electronic instruments in the room and the blinking blue indicator lights of the detection equipment clearly indicated this was not an ordinary hospital ward.

"Where is this? How did I get here?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

Shen Jin handed over the apple in his hand, saying earnestly:

"That day, I passed by your house and saw the door wide open, and you were lying on the ground unconscious, so I sent you to the hospital."

"After the doctor examined you, he found that you fainted due to severe kidney deficiency and might become a vegetable. You needed to remove the root cause to recover. I couldn't contact your family, so I had to take the liberty of signing for you..."

Ye Chen listened to Shen Jin's nonsense, a few guesses forming in his mind, and he reached out to interrupt him.

"Is this the Youth Mutual Aid Society's hideout? Was I... kidnapped?"

"Oh! What hideout? That sounds so unpleasant. Our Youth Mutual Aid Society is a united, friendly, and progressive organization, not some gang."

"Besides, I know your family situation very well. If I kidnapped you, who would I ask for money? Oh, right, last time I saw you win a championship in a competition, the reward was pretty good. How about you take it out to ransom yourself? I'll discuss it with our boss..."

Shen Jin continued to chatter, giving Ye Chen a headache. After all that nagging, he hadn't said anything useful.

"Alright, alright... you can shut up now. Why did you kidnap me? Just for my stuff?"

Ye Chen interrupted Shen Jin's nagging again, asking directly.

Shen Jin chuckled, no longer wasting words, and patted Ye Chen's arm.

"You should keep your meager possessions. I'm mainly interested in you as a person. I think you're a talent, which is why I recommended you to the boss."

"Originally, I just thought you had some talent, but when that guy Ming Xiao went to catch you, he discovered that you were already on the path of comprehending laws, and it was the rare Shadow Law."

"Thanks to you, I was able to transfer from the branch to the headquarters. From now on, we're teammates."

"In short, welcome to the Night Raven."

Only after hearing Shen Jin's words did Ye Chen understand his situation.

It turned out he had been noticed and forced to join.

He had always been suspicious of Shen Jin's so-called Youth Mutual Aid Society, and now it seemed this guy was indeed up to no good.

Given the situation, he was clearly under strict control. Now that he was the fish on the chopping block, he could only take it one step at a time.

It was just a pity about his university dream; it seemed he wouldn't be able to go.

Thinking of this, Ye Chen tentatively asked:

"I'm just an ordinary student. I've always been well-behaved since childhood and never done anything bad. I'm probably not very suitable for us."

"By the way, what projects does our organization currently operate? It can't be kidnapping and extortion, can it?"

After hearing Ye Chen's words, Shen Jin slapped his thigh vigorously.

"Hey, you kid are really perceptive, integrating so quickly. Don't worry, we don't do those tasteless things. Usually, we just kill people, set fires, fight in the God Domain, and such."

"It mainly depends on what tasks the organization assigns. The organization will arrange tasks according to our abilities. Don't worry, the initial tasks are simple ones for practice."

"Oh, right, I promised you before that as long as you came to the headquarters, you could stay in the Waste Domain for as long as you want. After you finish your onboarding, you can go in."

This was good news, at least there was a stable channel for obtaining Abyss Power.

Shen Jin then said:

"Alright, since you've recovered, come with me. Let's go get you onboarded first."

Ye Chen did not refuse upon hearing this, immediately got up, and followed Shen Jin out of the room.

Only after leaving the room and passing through the complex corridors did Ye Chen realize he was apparently inside a base.

The base featured cool-toned metal walls and hurried black-clad members, exuding a stern, professional atmosphere everywhere.

The room he had just been in was naturally not a hospital but an examination room.

It should have been for checking his physical condition.

Shen Jin was also unfamiliar with the headquarters staff. He remained silent the whole way, leading Ye Chen to an archive room.

He found a staff member in the archive room, a beautiful young woman.

"How can I help you two?"

Shen Jin handed over his badge and some supporting documents, saying with a smile:

"Shen Jin from the Changqing City branch is here to process his transfer and onboarding. This is the proof."

The badge was the organization's identification, featuring a black Night Raven perched on a branch.

And in the Night Raven's eyes was a tiny orange gem.

The young woman checked Shen Jin's information, then retrieved relevant details from the computer. After a series of operations, she handed Shen Jin a new badge.

"You can report directly to the training center later. Is there anything else?"

Shen Jin then pushed Ye Chen forward, introducing him:

"This is a new recruit specially recruited by our headquarters, named Ye Chen. He also reported today to complete his onboarding."

The young woman glanced at Ye Chen's handsome face and found the corresponding information on the computer to check.

After reviewing Ye Chen's physical examination report and strength assessment, the young woman quickly completed his onboarding, then took out a "bracelet" and a new badge and handed them to Ye Chen.

"You two will report to the training center together later; someone there will receive you."

After clarifying the location, the two thanked her and turned to leave.

Ye Chen muttered to himself:

"This organization is quite formal. Someone who didn't know better would really think it was some official agency."

Shen Jin seemed to have heard Ye Chen's words and chuckled.

"How about it? Doesn't it feel pretty good? Our organization is great in every aspect, except for the dirty work and not paying social security."