Inside The Black Mist

Another day passed, and Tianyang was already done with the surgery. He paid out 2,000 contribution points from his own pocket and now has a tactical electronic eye installed in his left socket.

In addition to normal visual functions, it also had thermal imaging, infrared, and ultra-long-distance vision capabilities.

In the Inverse Universe, detecting an opponent early matters a lot to safety.

So Tianyang didn't hesitate to spend half of his contribution points. After all, contribution points could be earned, but life was precious.

The appearance of the tactical eye was no different from a normal one. Except for occasional electric surges that caused a blue light to appear in the pupil, it didn't look abnormal.

Tianyang could finally take off the eye patch. That night, he planned to talk to Nanfei about the mission, but his mother seemed to sense something.

She avoided the topic and didn't even give Tianyang a chance to speak, opting to tidy up the house instead, even though the shabby hut didn't need much cleaning.

The young man was helpless, unable to even apologize or talk about the mission.

The next day, when he woke up, Nanfei had already left. Tianyang had no choice but to leave a note saying he was going on a mission and would talk to her when he came back.

After breakfast, Tianyang put on his equipment and uniform and rode his motorcycle to the transfer platform.

They would gather in the third area, on the 7th deck.

When Tianyang arrived, no one had arrived yet. It seemed he arrived early.

He drove the motorcycle to the corner and was about to park it when a cold voice came up.

"This is the Raven Squad's meeting point. Which squad are you from? Don't park your vehicle anywhere you want."

Tianyang turned around and saw a young man standing behind him. He looked a bit older than himself—around 20 years old. He had dark raven-black hair tied in a ponytail, and with his overly delicate facial features, it was easy to mistake him for a girl.

He was also wearing the Night Walker's black uniform, and the armor underneath was covered with Star Crystal's unique silver light, obviously, a specialized defense armor prepared for Ascenders.

The style was slightly different from Tianyang's, and there were many scratches on it, indicating that the owner was not a rookie.

The young man carried a sword with a narrow and long scabbard that had a special design on both sides of the opening, making it easy for him to draw the overly long sword at any time to defend against enemies.

To be honest, even Tianyang's shallow knowledge of weapons knew that both knives and swords shouldn’t be too long.

Unless there was a special need, overly long knives and swords were not conducive to their use.

"Hey, you there, what are you thinking? Is this the quality of new recruits nowadays? You're practically sending yourself to the dark creatures." The young man appeared dissatisfied with Tianyang's response, or rather, lack of it.

Looking at the other's shoulder badge, Tianyang swallowed the word "Sir" that had come to his lips since he and the young man had the same rank of Second Lieutenant. "My name is Tianyang, and Chief Ling sent me to report to the Raven Squad."

The young man was taken aback, and then a look of disgust surged in his eyes. "So it's you. I heard that as soon as you became an Ascender, you killed your former superior."

Tianyang sensed the enmity emanating from him and didn't know why this person disliked him. [ED: Bro, he just said why! I would also dislike such a colleague. Think before you write, author-san] However, he had no intention of explaining.

Since they were not getting along, Tianyang didn't bother wasting any more words and turned to find a quiet corner to stay in.

A hand pressed down on his shoulder.

Tianyang turned around, and a handsome young man had a frosty expression on his face. "You're just a commoner; don't think too highly of yourself!" The young man's tone was icy.

Tianyang slapped his hand away. "Did I offend you?"

"No, but the things you've done are disgusting."

The young man clenched his fists, lightly touched his mouth, and furrowed his two beautiful eyebrows as if feeling uncomfortable and about to vomit.

"Originally, you were just a commoner, but due to some lucky shit, you became an Ascender and took revenge on your former superior. Perhaps he had done something wrong, but since he was an Upper Citizen, even if he had made a huge mistake, he shouldn't have been executed. At the very least, he shouldn't have died by your hand!"

"You guys who live in the Lower District never show gratitude, only resentment. Have you ever considered that if it weren't for the sacrifices and contributions of Upper Citizens like us, you parasites wouldn't be able to live safely in the fortress?"

Tianyang sneered. "Do you even know that the so-called noble Upper Citizen you're talking about shot me in the leg during a mission so that I could attract prowlers as bait? Why is it that an Upper Citizen shouldn't die, but a commoner should be treated as bait?"

The young man was taken aback. Although he had heard rumors, he didn't know about this detail.

Tianyang continued, "And now that I am an Upper Citizen, please refrain from showing off your superiority."

The young man snorted arrogantly, "With someone like you, do you really deserve to call yourself an Upper Citizen? True Upper Citizens are those who have surnames. Do you have your own surname?"

Tianyang calmly said, "I will have one eventually."

"That's what makes me sick. Just the thought of those ill-mannered, even whore-born bastards being able to have their own surnames one day makes me sick." The young man covered his mouth with his hand, looking pained as if he were ill.

Tianyang grabbed the hilt of his sword. "Say it again if you dare!"

The young man's hand was cold as he reached back and lightly grasped the sword's hilt.

"What? Am I wrong?"

"You can say whatever you want about me, but you can't defame my mother!" Tianyang roared, drawing his sword one inch from its sheath.

"Oh, I didn't expect you to be..."

Before the words could finish, a fist landed on the young man's face, sending him spinning through the air before crashing heavily several meters away.

Tianyang stood in a daze, only to realize that there was a man beside him.

Tall and sturdy, with thick eyebrows and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, it was none other than Han Shu, the captain of the Raven Squad!

"This kid is right; every mother deserves respect. Cang Du, you need to reflect on this," said Han Shu. His gaze then drifted towards Tianyang and he clicked his tongue. "But you, you actually unsheathed your weapon against your comrade. Hey, the weapons issued to you are not meant to be aimed at your squadmates. Go, run 50 laps along the 7th deck for me."

"Captain, I..."

"60 laps."

"I'll go right away, Captain!"

Tianyang didn’t dare to argue any further and hurriedly ran off to avoid excessive effort.

Han Shu crossed his arms and watched the young man struggling to get up from the ground and Tianyang running around the deck. He shook his head and sighed. "Young people are always full of energy. Can't you use that strength to deal with those dark scums instead of causing trouble for me?"

The captain ruffled his spiky, chestnut hair and said, "This bastard Ling Feng did it on purpose, didn't he? We already have a map; why do we need a guide? I knew it; nothing good ever happens when the Chief is involved!"