Chapter 155: This Person Isn't Human?!
"There's no need for that kind of meaningless chatter. Let's just stick to the business at hand," Chiya said expressionlessly.
He was well aware that Pingtsi had no interest in men; to be precise, she was a lesbian, just like Quanxi—in the original story, she was one of Quanxi's fiend companions. He certainly had no intention of making a fool of himself by trying to get close to someone who preferred women.
"I know that," Pingtsi replied, dropping the unnecessary comments. She proceeded to guide Chiya through the Devil Hunter Association according to her work requirements, giving him a tour while explaining the facilities. She was surprisingly professional at this.
Chiya wasn't entirely sure what kind of devil Pingtsi's original form was—the original story never revealed it—but he knew she could see through others' devil contracts via her ponytail and enjoyed sharing all sorts of obscure trivia. Because of this, he guessed her devil power might be related to "omniscience." Even if she was a bit arrogant and perhaps slightly narcissistic, she was quite dedicated to her job—even if that dedication was likely fueled solely by the prospect of a performance bonus on her next paycheck.
"Oh, right. The President also told me to explain our Association's ranking system to you."
Pingtsi flashed her official Devil Hunter badge for Chiya to see. "As you can see, I am an S-rank Devil Hunter. Although my raw combat power isn't the best, my devil ability is incredibly useful on missions. These rankings are determined based on one's merits and contributions."
Chiya scanned her ID, noting key terms like "Fiend," "S-rank Devil Hunter," and "Special Countermeasures Team."
"So, what rank am I?" Chiya asked casually.
"Since you haven't officially become a registered government Devil Hunter yet, newcomers usually start at B-rank. You need to be at least B-rank to qualify for employment at the Association; D and C ranks are typically just civilian, freelance Devil Hunters," Pingtsi explained in detail.
"So, I have to work my way up from B-rank?" Chiya grasped the gist of it.
"Exactly. Above S-rank, there are also SS and SSS ranks. The highest-tier SSS-rank hunters are incredibly rare throughout all of China, but our Magic City Association happens to have one." As she spoke, Pingtsi's eyes grew dreamy, and the expression on her ponytail mirrored her admiration.
"You're talking about Quanxi, aren't you?" Chiya guessed immediately. It was obvious that the only SSS-rank hunter in the Magic City Association would be her.
This ranking system sounded similar to the one used by Tokyo Public Safety, but there were significant differences. In Tokyo, rankings were primarily used for new recruits to determine training levels, and they didn't really exist after the initial probationary period—not to mention their scale was C to S, with D-rank simply meaning they were eliminated. Here in China, the local associations seemed to use a unified B-to-SSS system, which made the power scaling of Devil Hunters much clearer, with compensation varying accordingly. With Quanxi's strength, she was undoubtedly one of the few SSS-rank hunters.
"That's right, it's Lady Quanxi..." Pingtsi stopped halfway, suddenly realizing something. "Wait! How do you know about Lady Quanxi? Lady Quanxi is mine—don't you even think about having any designs on her! Besides, she would never be interested in a man!"
"Don't make it sound like I have 'designs' on her," Chiya replied dryly. "I worked for Tokyo Public Safety for a while, and Quanxi worked there for nine years many years ago. Isn't it perfectly normal for me to know about her?"
"Fine," Pingtsi said, apologizing quite readily. "So you came from Tokyo Public Safety. My mistake—I apologize."
"Anyway, let's get back to the point. The salary levels differ for each rank. Participate in a few more missions, and you'll be able to promote from B-rank to A-rank, which comes with better benefits." Pingtsi clearly wasn't following Chiya's past exploits—she likely didn't pay much attention to international transfer news and assumed he was just another rookie.
"Mm..." Chiya just gave a faint smile and didn't elaborate. He figured that, based on what Pingtsi said about merits and contributions, once the contract was signed and he officially took the position of head coach at Qingfeng High School, his rank should skyrocket quickly.
Just then, perhaps out of a sudden whim, Pingtsi decided to use her ability to probe Chiya.
Her ponytail moved in front of her face, forming a hollow circle. She held her right hand up in a "circle" gesture, aligning it with the ponytail. Closing her left eye, she peered through the "telescope" formed by her right hand and the ponytail, aiming directly at Chiya.
But before she could see anything, her vision suddenly went black—Chiya had grabbed the end of her ponytail with his hand.
"I'd say... peeping into someone else's privacy isn't exactly good manners." Chiya's expression and tone remained calm as he held the end of her hair.
"Let go! Let go of me, you jerk! It hurts!" Pingtsi struggled immediately, the face on the end of her ponytail twisting in pain.
Chiya released her.
"You...! How can you just grab a lady's hair like that? And so hard, too!" Pingtsi said, looking thoroughly displeased.
"You brought this on yourself. Who told you to pry into someone's privacy without permission?" Chiya replied flatly.
"I just wanted to see what devil you'd contracted with! I wouldn't have told anyone, no need to be so stingy, right?" Pingtsi complained, sounding slightly aggrieved.
"..."
Chiya didn't respond, but he made a feigned motion as if to grab her again.
"Ugh..." Pingtsi immediately covered her ponytail, which showed a look of genuine fear—it was clearly her weak point. Chiya was just bluffing, however; he continued walking after giving her a quick scare.
A moment later, Pingtsi felt a mix of shame and anger. The more she thought about it, the more furious she became. This human was both mean and far too serious! Originally, she had just been curious on a whim, but now, she was determined to see through his secrets!
While Chiya was walking ahead, Pingtsi stealthily repeated her earlier gesture, attempting to probe him again.
However, Chiya had already anticipated it. His body was already in an "intangible" state.
As a result...
Pingtsi's probe found absolutely nothing. She saw nothing but a vast, empty void.
Pingtsi, who could normally probe the devil contracts of humans and even the specific abilities of devils, had failed for the first time! Even a normal human without a devil contract wouldn't appear as a complete void.
Is this guy... not even human?!