18: Chapter 18, Third Trainee

Bai Ya did not speak immediately.

He was very good at speaking.

For those in the Old Goods Circle, if you could not talk, you would not have survived until today. When facing collectors, he would talk about Legacy; when facing thrill-seekers, he would tell stories; when facing those looking for a bargain, he would tell half-true, half-false origins.

But in the Xinhuo Hall, for the first time, he felt that language was not an advantage.

Because the rules here were colder than language.

The settlement on the stone tablet had no praise, nor any comfort.

Twenty-seven contribution points, Apprentice authority, Mark of the Torch.

It was like a seal being stamped down.

From this moment on, he was no longer just Boss Bai, the one in the old goods market who could find rare things; he was the third Apprentice on the list of the Xinhuo Council.

Zero's voice sounded again.

"Apprentice Bai Ya, currently available functions: Personal Profile, Task Record, Basic Code of Conduct, Exchange Catalog."

The grey fog parted.

Bai Ya saw the exchange stone cabinet behind the stone tablet.

There were not many stone cabinets, but they were arranged in perfect order. Each compartment had faint fire patterns on the outside. Behind the fire patterns, some items were clear, some were blurry, and many more compartments were hidden deep within the grey fog, with only a faint outline visible.

Bai Ya's gaze rested on those blurry compartments.

He did not feel it was too little.

On the contrary, his first reaction was: currently, he was only permitted to see this much.

There was a rule in the old goods market.

Truly good things were never displayed openly.

What a newcomer could see at a glance was usually not the entire inventory, but merely a threshold for screening.

The Xinhuo Council was clearly the same.

He saw the things he could exchange for.

[spirit sight talisman.]

[Low-level Hemostatic Potion.]

[Low-level Protection Talisman.]

Further down, there were a few lines of grey text.

[Physique Enhancement Reagent: Current authority insufficient.]

[Spirit Visionary Seed: Current authority insufficient.]

[Iron Oath-taker Seed: Current authority insufficient.]

Bai Ya's gaze paused on "Spirit Visionary Seed" for a moment.

He understood almost immediately that this must be an ability path.

Not a prop.

It was a door that allowed a normal person to become a true transcendent.

And on the door, it was written that authority was insufficient.

Very reasonable.

If an organization casually handed out core abilities the moment a newcomer walked through the door, that would be suspicious.

Bai Ya did not open his mouth to haggle.

He looked up at the figure behind the firelight and asked his first question.

"Of the things I sold, how many were truly anomalous?"

Behind the firelight, Lu Chen did not answer immediately.

This question was very smart.

It wasn't asking what the Xinhuo Council was, it wasn't asking who the Fire Keeper was, nor was it asking what he could obtain.

He asked about the past first.

It showed that Bai Ya knew he had accounts in his hands, and that those accounts might turn into debts.

Lu Chen said calmly: "Your current authority is insufficient to view the complete anomalous transaction chain."

Bai Ya nodded, as if he had long expected this answer.

"Then what can I view?"

The stone tablet lit up.

[Apprentice Bai Ya, personal related intelligence retrieval authority opened.]

[Scope: Anomalous old goods clues that you have handled, contacted, or recorded yourself.]

[Restrictions: Cannot view organization-level intelligence, cannot view other members' profiles, cannot view information related to source essence.]

Bai Ya's heart stirred slightly.

The other party did not give an answer directly.

Instead, they gave a boundary.

The boundary itself was the shape of power.

He looked down at his wrist; the fire pattern had faded into his skin, leaving only a hint of warmth.

"What do I need to do?" he asked.

Zero answered.

"Complete intelligence supplementation."

"Enter the anomalous old goods transaction records you know into the Torch stone tablet according to the specified format."

"After verification by the organization, you can obtain corresponding contribution points."

"False records, induced records, or malicious concealment will lower your authority assessment."

Hearing the last sentence, Bai Ya's smile faded a bit.

He was most skilled at hiding information within information.

But now, the other party had written the four words "malicious concealment" directly into the rules, which was equivalent to telling him: You can try, but you will bear the consequences.

Behind the firelight, Lu Chen watched Bai Ya's expression and added another label to this person in his mind.

Smart.

Restless.

But has a sense of boundaries.

This type of person cannot be the main force for action, nor can they be completely left to their own devices.

It is most suitable to put them in the intelligence line and use contribution points and authority to lead them step by step.

Lu Chen raised his hand and opened the new function draft in the backend.

[Intelligence Node: Grey Net prototype.]

[Function Description: Collect real-world anomaly clues submitted by members, perform keyword comparison, anomaly residue verification, and risk classification.]

[Activation cost: 5 source essence.]

[Currently available source essence: 17.]

Lu Chen looked at the consumption and was silent for a second.

Five points of source essence was not cheap.

But it must be opened now.

Without an intelligence System, the Xinhuo Council could only rely on scattered rumors and luck. If they hit one, they hit one; if they didn't, they would just wait for the anomaly to mature on its own.

That was not an organization.

That was a scratch-off lottery.

Lu Chen did not like to bet his life on a scratch-off lottery.

He added an authority boundary in the backend.

[The Grey Net is controlled by the Core of the Torch and the Fire Keeper.]

[Apprentice Bai Ya only obtains the outermost intelligence entry authority.]

[Entered content must be verified by the Core of the Torch before it can enter the organization's task pool.]

The Grey Net was not opened for Bai Ya alone.

Bai Ya was just the first node allowed to enter intelligence.

The ones who truly controlled the Grey Net were still the Core of the Torch and the Fire Keeper.

"Activate."

The grey fog behind the fire-seed stone tablet suddenly parted to both sides.

Bai Ya heard the sound of many pages turning.

Not a book.

It was like countless files, posts, photos, and chat records were being opened by invisible hands at the same time.

On one side of the hall, a black bookshelf slowly rose from the ground.

The bookshelf was very high, its upper part hidden in the grey fog, revealing only the bottom few compartments. In each compartment, grey pages were suspended, with dark golden text swimming on them.

Zero's voice fell.

"Intelligence node opened."

"Apprentice Bai Ya, obtained temporary intelligence entry authority."

Bai Ya looked at the bookshelf, and for the first time, a clear chill arose in his heart.

It was not just created.

At least not in his perception.

It was more like it had existed deep in the grey fog for a long time, and only now was he allowed to see the bottom-most compartment.

Bai Ya suddenly understood that the secrets he had painstakingly accumulated in the Old Goods Circle for many years were, here at the Xinhuo Council, only a ticket submitted for verification.

And behind the firelight, Lu Chen watched the numbers on the backend jump.

[Intelligence node successfully opened.]

[Consumed source essence: 5.]

[Currently available source essence: 12.]

He let out a long breath in his heart.

Twelve points.

Still able to keep some for emergencies.

Very good.

A mysterious organization can pretend to be unfathomable.

But backend resources cannot really be all-in.

In previous projects, someone would say "just pile the functions on first, and adjust the values later," and Lu Chen would get goosebumps every time he heard it.

Now it was even less possible.

Adjusting values later is a version accident in a game.

In the Xinhuo Council, it is an epitaph.

He locked Bai Ya's authority into the outermost intelligence node and then spoke.

"Start from the first anomalous old good you handled."

Bai Ya looked up.

The Fire Keeper's voice behind the firelight was calm, without urging, and without explanation.

"The Xinhuo Council does not need stories."

"Only needs the truth."

Bai Ya was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice: "Understood."

He walked toward the black bookshelf.

The first grey page fell in front of him.

Three characters automatically appeared at the top of the page.

[Old Mirror.]

Bai Ya's fingertips paused.

That was a record he had never had the courage to reopen.