Chen Fan's gaze locked onto Zhao Ying, sharp and unwavering, burning with a demand for truth.
"I want a reasonable explanation," he said, each word clipped with barely contained force.
Before Zhao Ying could answer, the space beside her shimmered—A man in black appeared out of thin air, silent as a ghost, as if he had always been standing there and the world had simply failed to notice him.
Chen Fan's eyes widened. His breath hitched.
"Instructor Xu?!"
This man—this shadow in black—was Xu Mo, the person who had plucked a starving, homeless orphan named Chen Fan out of the slums and raised him. He taught him how to survive, how to stand upright as a human being… and later sent him to the Academy of Awakened Abilities, ultimately giving him a future.
If not for him, Chen Fan wouldn't even be alive.
Yet Instructor Xu had always been a phantom—appearing and disappearing unpredictably. Even though Chen Fan respected him like a father, they had spent shockingly little time together. Most of Chen Fan's childhood memories involved nannies and caretakers, not Xu Mo himself.
Chen Fan had graduated the Ability Academy at fifteen. He had joined the Detective Alliance for three years since then…And now, for the first time in all those years, the most important person in his life stood before him again.
His eyes reddened instantly.
"Instructor Xu… Where have you been? Why didn't you contact me?" His voice trembled with the weight of years.
The man's real name was Xu Mo, but he had never allowed Chen Fan to call him "father."Instructor. That was the only title he accepted—because an instructor had to be stern, strict, consistent. Chen Fan was not exempt.
Xu Mo studied the young man in front of him and exhaled softly."Chen Fan… You've grown. It's been years."
He looked older than Chen Fan remembered—dark hair streaked with silver, a tiredness etched into his face. Something twisted in Chen Fan's chest at the sight.
"It's a long story," Xu Mo said quietly. "I've been away on… assignments. I only passed by Mars by chance. So I came to see you."
His eyes, usually cold, flickered with something complicated—pride, disbelief, maybe even a hint of relief.
"But let's talk business." Xu Mo's tone sharpened. "Do you know who Wang Yong truly is?"
Chen Fan stiffened. "So that's what this is about?"
Xu Mo nodded. "His identity is far from ordinary. Your 'reward' was decided after a long discussion between me and the Alliance's High Commander."
"Why?" Chen Fan couldn't hide the frustration in his voice. "Instructor, for the past three years I've fought tooth and nail to increase my Star Rank. I wanted to be like you—lead my own team, roam the cosmos, uphold justice. I've worked for it. I've earned it. So why—"
"Because Wang Yong isn't someone you can treat like a simple criminal."Xu Mo's tone left no room for argument."The forces behind him are powerful. Even the Alliance must tread carefully. For your safety, we had to make this decision."
He continued, "Check your personal points. You've already accumulated enough to upgrade—more than enough. Once the time is right, your Star Rank will rise naturally. In the meantime, headquarters has given you temporary privileges equal to a Two-Star Detective. You have the authority even if you lack the title. Do you understand?"
Chen Fan blinked. "…Seriously?"
"Seriously." A smile surfaced on Xu Mo's usually emotionless face. "And because you completed this mission exceptionally well, the Alliance is granting you a rare reward: a full set of Intermediate Fire-Element Techniques. Satisfied now?"
Xu Mo rarely showed affection, but at this moment, it was there—hidden deep, but unmistakably real.
"Alright," he said abruptly. "The Alliance will handle everything else. Take a few days off. Rest. I still have business to attend to."
"You're leaving already?" Chen Fan's heart sank, the light in his eyes dimming.
Xu Mo chuckled, just a little. "You're an adult, yet still this sentimental. Ying'er is more mature than you."
And then—His figure blurred and vanished into thin air, leaving Zhao Ying and Chen Fan staring at the empty space in stunned silence.
Zhao Ying, especially, was shaken. She had worked at headquarters for years, and never—never—had she imagined Chen Fan being this close to the Alliance's second-in-command.
After offering him a few words of comfort, she left for her duties.
Chen Fan, though still unhappy about the delay in his Star Rank, opened his terminal—And froze.
"…It's real."
His personal detective agency—Superpowered Detective Agency—had accumulated over 150,000 points.
Enough to upgrade to Two-Star. More than enough.
Even more shocking: permissions normally locked behind the Two-Star rank now appeared available. And in his mailbox—
A Fire-Element cultivation manual.
Chen Fan's heart pounded.
His innate lightning ability was powerful, yes—but its growth was tied to his natural evolution. It improved as he improved, but its skills were limited and unstable.
Cultivation techniques were different.Anyone with awakened abilities could practice them. They were structured, scalable, reliable.
No wonder the number of ability users had exploded across the human worlds.
"Blazing Heavenfire…" Chen Fan whispered. "What a badass name."
Currently, his Lightning ability was only Level 2. Strong enough to enhance attacks with thunder and grant him superior speed, but its raw destructive power still fell short.
He'd always wanted to learn a second elemental technique—but the required points were astronomical.
That's why this reward… was priceless.
His eyes scanned the full manual, and his pulse quickened.
"With this… my combat power will skyrocket."
He wasted no time.
Chen Fan committed every detail of the cultivation method to memory and immediately began practicing.
But as he sat cross-legged, lightning flickering faintly under his skin—Far away, in an unfamiliar star region, on a dark and silent planet…
A black stealth shuttle descended from the sky like a phantom.
It blended into the darkness so perfectly it resembled a floating shadow.Two black-clad figures leapt out, sprinting toward the wreckage of a crashed ship nearby.
Minutes later, they returned to the shuttle.
Inside the cockpit sat a strikingly handsome young man—black hair flowing past his shoulders, except for a single stark white streak at the front. The contrast gave him an eerie, almost predatory beauty.
"Leader," one subordinate said respectfully, offering a device. "The signal source is completely destroyed. No life signs detected. But we found this on the ground."
The handsome man took the item. His pupils contracted sharply.
It was a warrant.
His gaze locked onto the bottom-right corner—Onto the name of the officer responsible for the arrest.
A slow, cold smile curled across his lips.
"Chen Fan."