Chapter 156: The SSS-Rank Devil Hunter of the Heavenly Dynasty (Bonus Chapter)
Looking through her ponytail and seeing only a void, Pingtsi froze in place, completely bewildered.
Just then, Chiya turned back and glanced at her coolly. "Seen enough?"
Pingtsi was already in a state of shock, and the sudden voice nearly scared the soul right out of her.
"Ah! That... I..."
Pingtsi hurriedly dropped her hands from the "probing" gesture, stuttering incoherently. Both her face and the expression on her ponytail showed extreme panic, as she feared Chiya was about to discipline her again. Though she didn't know exactly how strong he was, she knew she was very weak—her probing ability had no combat utility whatsoever; she probably wouldn't even be able to beat a random B-rank Devil Hunter.
"Why are you so panicked? I'm not going to eat you," Chiya said with a faint smile. "You're welcome to keep trying to peek at me if you want, but you won't see a thing, am I right?"
Hearing that he didn't intend to pursue the matter, Pingtsi let out a sigh of relief.
"I did just 'sneak a peek' at you again, and that was my mistake," Pingtsi admitted honestly. "But what I'm more concerned about now is why I can't see anything on you. No—that's not right. It's more like... it's as if you don't even exist..."
This was the first time in her memory she had ever encountered such a situation. It was like seeing a ghost!
"I already told you, I have privacy I don't want others to know about. Did you really think I would answer that question?" Chiya countered, his tone indifferent.
He wasn't actually worried about her discovering the "Rage Devil" he had contracted with. Rather, he was unsure of the exact limits of her ability. There wasn't much footage of her power in the original record: once, she had seen through the three devils contracted by Kishibe, as well as the fact that the elderly Kishibe no longer had anything left to trade with devils; another time, she had sensed the Darkness Devil's arrival in advance, only to be instantly killed by it...
He didn't want Pingtsi to see anything on him. The feeling of having one's privacy stripped away was already unpleasant, and he had far too many critical secrets to risk it. Naturally, it would be best if she couldn't see Crimson either.
"Fine..." Pingtsi knew Chiya wouldn't spill, so she had no choice but to give up.
After touring most of the Devil Hunter Association, Chiya and Pingtsi returned to President Jiang's study.
"Are you finished?" President Jiang asked.
"Yes, I think I've given him a sufficiently detailed introduction," Pingtsi said confidently.
"Very well. Pingtsi, you may head back and rest," the President said.
"Understood." Pingtsi acknowledged the order and left the study. As she exited, she gave Chiya one last lingering look—she was still deeply troubled by why she couldn't see anything regarding him.
Once the study door closed, President Jiang continued, "The process has been incredibly fast this time. We've reached the final step; all that remains is for you to sign the contract."
As he spoke, President Jiang took out the complete, official contract.
"Understood. Let me take a look."
Chiya took the contract and flipped through it quickly; he finished reading the thick document in just a few moments. President Jiang had long noticed that Chiya's eyes were extraordinary—his ability to read ten lines at a glance without missing a single word was surely a testament to more than just his patterned, blood-red eyes.
After confirming the contract contents were correct, Chiya signed his name where indicated and pressed his bloody fingerprint onto it. President Jiang immediately stamped it—naturally, with the official seal of the Devil Hunter Association.
"From today on, welcome to our Magic City Devil Hunter Association, my friend."
With that, President Jiang took out another item and handed it to Chiya. "This is your ID. I had it prepared for you in advance."
Chiya looked at the information on his ID card. "SSS-rank Devil Hunter...?"
He was genuinely surprised. He had assumed that, like other newcomers, he would start as a B-rank Devil Hunter. He hadn't expected the Association to rate him at the highest possible rank, SSS, right out of the gate.
"That's right, SSS-rank," President Jiang nodded. "You should have already learned about our Heavenly Dynasty's ranking system from Pingtsi. While new recruits generally start at B-rank, you are no ordinary newcomer; we certainly couldn't assign you a rank that was too low."
"As I mentioned before, the pilot program at Magic City Qingfeng High School is of utmost importance. It requires a Devil Hunter strong enough to hold the line, and you are the perfect candidate for the job."
"Assigning you SSS-rank as an exception is meant to keep certain 'thorny individuals' in check. Besides, your raw strength truly meets, if not exceeds, this rank."
After hearing this, Chiya understood even better the gravity the Association and the higher-ups placed on this pilot program. However, he was most interested in what the President meant by "certain thorny individuals"—it was obvious from the tone that he wasn't talking about ordinary people, otherwise, they wouldn't qualify as "thorny."
"I understand. I will do my best to fulfill this important responsibility," Chiya said, nodding solemnly.
"With your word on that, I am completely at ease," President Jiang said, having total faith in Chiya's strength.
He then added, "The IDs for the others are here as well. Should I send them over, or...?" Besides Chiya's, the IDs for Reze, Shingetsu, and the others were also ready.
"No need, I'll hand them over to them myself." Chiya took the IDs and glanced at them. He found that, without exception, they were all rated as SS-rank. Shingetsu and the Weapon Hybrids were top-tier combatants in any nation; being rated SS-rank was actually quite conservative, though understandable since they were technically newcomers to the local system.
"By the way, are we not affiliated with any particular Countermeasure Squad?" Chiya asked suddenly. On the IDs of Reze and the others, the "Team" column was blank, unlike Pingtsi's, which was marked "Special Countermeasure Squad."
"Yes, because given your strength, it wouldn't be appropriate to place you in any existing squad. It would be better for you to establish your own team and then have that team incorporated into the Devil Hunter Association," President Jiang explained.
Except for the "Special Countermeasure Squad" led by Quanxi, any single member of Chiya's group was strong enough to overshadow everyone in any other squad. Furthermore, considering that Shingetsu and those Weapon Hybrids would only take orders from Chiya, it was simpler to just let him form his own team.
A squad comprised entirely of Devil Hunters with an SS-rank floor... just the thought of it was terrifying!
AN-
I promised a mass release of 30 chapters at once,but I'm both mentally and physically burnt out today,so I won't be doing any more today.
However,I did release 20 chapters today,and I have been translating from 11:30 GMT till 3:30 p.m GMT so Imma take a break.
Enjoyyyy!