“Dad…how come you are up so early? The sun is not even up..” The sleepy Jing Ru asked. After she was awoken by the constant minor noises from the living room, she found her stepfather Ren Wei adjusting his air rifle weapons.
“Oh, Jing Ru… I am sorry that I woke you up. Well, it’s a bit embarrassing to say this but I am going to the Dungeon Supplier store from last time for some fun. A few of my old police force friends from Tiangong District station informed me that they were wanting to participate in this raid event thing you had been talking about.” Ren Wei hesitated for a while before saying the reason behind it.
“Haha. I have been told the police captain has granted the entire police station some alternate budget to improve their cultivation. Since there are no other requirements apart from the money being used for cultivation purposes, they invited me to go along with them.” Ren Wei honestly told Jing Ru though that did not help with her confusion.
“Still it’s 3 am in the night. Can’t this wait until the morning? Why are you preparing so early?” Jing Ru yawned a little as she looked at the clock. Ren Wei embarrassingly picked up his phone and showed her the latest announcement that Jin had placed early in the morning. He told her how he thought it was a hoax notification, something to hype up the ongoing raid event. However, one of his police pals who was on night duty in the area got curious and tried to enter the store only to find it really was open. Their initial thought was that maybe, the infamous Boss Jin had forgotten to lock the front door of the shop, so they decided to try and enter the instance. To their surprise, it was really open and immediately after that, he announced it on the Pandamonium Chat with photo proof.
“So erm, yea. Again, I am sorry to wake you up. You can go back to sleep now. I’ll just finish my weapon adjustment at Jin’s place. The weapon store there is fantastic. Even providing free workstations to let cultivators like us adjust our weapons. I am glad you took me with you that time.” Ren Wei said and Jing Ru shook her head.
“Nope. There is no way I will go back to sleep after that announcement. You are sooo not going without me. Give me a minute…erm let’s make it five minutes to freshen up. My gear is already in place, I will just change and we can go together.” Jing Ru answered back as she quickly headed to the bathroom. In the meantime, Ren Wei smiled to himself while he continued adjusting his weapons a little more while waiting for her.
“That little girl…Dear, she is growing up all fine and dandy. Rest easy. You do not have to worry about us at all.” Ren Wei whispered to himself as he checked the number of magazine clips he was carrying. Jing Ru who had already participated in the Goblin Raid Event had raved to Ren Wei about how realistic the whole experience was. She needed to be careful emptying her air gun clips to avoid hitting friendlies while at the same time ensuring her own survival against the orc onslaught.
It was nerve wracking for her as it was really outside her comfort zone being forced to fight at close proximities against the orcs. Jing Ru even told Ren Wei how his Gun-Fu( a mixture of kung fu martial arts and the use of guns) came pretty handy during the fight in the Northern Region. For a while now she had been including more and more short range weapons like pistols, sub machine guns in her practice rounds and even managed to increase the speed for her reloading while carrying a battle vest and small backpack.
Although her storage ring was capable of accommodating all the required items, there was still a need to mentally search the items before she could retrieve them. Wearing a battle vest, on the other hand, gave her immediate access to her magazine clips or just a short reach to the next holster so that she could react fast enough. Ren Wei did help her customise her vest since he had the first hand experience on what was the direst thing to carry around. It had been initially awkward for her, but she was getting the hang of it with training.
“Alright, I am done.” Jing Ru was ready before the five minutes were up. She came out dressed in combat cargo pants and a simple black tight shirt allowing smooth movement. Ren Wei was taken aback for a moment after seeing her since her features resembled her mother more and more but quickly told her to check her battle vest and backpack one last time as he threw the weapons into his own storage ring.
“I wonder what’s the rush for Boss Jin. This is the first time he’s hosted such a time limited kind of event. Why do you think he’s offering such high rewards at such a weird timing? On a weekday Tuesday.” Jing Ru was voicing her thoughts as she placed her items at the back of the car alongside her father’s long sling bag.
“Maybe, he’s checking out how many people are insane enough to play his dungeons in the middle of the night? I honestly do not know.” Ren Wei started up his car and began to drive towards Tiangong district.
“Heh, Dad. You have no idea how insane some of the people really are for his dungeons. For example another regular of his, a Rabbit Style cultivator who I met, Luo Bo. She seemed hellbent to obtain a particular prize, what was it… ehh some large panda plushie. Apparently, it was limited in stock and it was sold out moments before Luo Bo returned with sufficient points in her account. ” Jing Ru said as she put on her seat belt.
I can still picture her rushing in with her full cultivation on display to the counter only to be rejected. She even made a huge fuss to Yun, demanding more of those panda plushies to be sold. Yun refused Luo Bo and she cried publicly in front of her claiming it’s unfair of Jin to make such limited quantities.” Jing Ru described the scene she witnessed after she got out of the recovery instance on the day she completed that Northern Fort Defence mission of hers.
“So did Boss Jin intervene or something? I mean that sounds like she was creating a great ruckus…” Ren Wei was later interrupted when he saw the opportunity to turn right before the green light arrow blinked.
“Yea, he did. Boss Jin said he would add more of those plushies in and of different sizes too. Though not because of her crying but because what happened next. After she saw that Yun would not budge she demanded a duel against the person who managed to buy one of the first panda plushies. Remember Xiong Da?” Jing Ru asked and Ren Wei had a slight inkling who that was. He remembered Jing Ru showing him a picture of him and he was supposed to be some top notch lawyer of some sort.
“Xiong Da refused even though I think he had the ability to win the match. I guess he did not want to push his luck in losing his gigantic plushie too.” Jing Ru explained and Ren Wei furrowed his eyebrows.
“Xiong Da bought that plushie? Did he plan to gift it to his wife or something?” Ren Wei asked while he went to the highway.
“I too guessed it’s for his girlfriend, but from their interaction, maybe she will become his wife soon hahah! However, he seemed to enter some form of ecstasy whenever he held onto that plushie. Wanting to know the reason why we asked to give it a try, only for him to vehemently refuse it. He even stated he would never allow anyone else to touch it again. He claimed it was for the ‘greater good’ to avoid turning someone else into a maniac. It seems he was convinced if we touch it, we would become another Luo Bo coming after him, begging him to release the plushie.” Jing Ru laughed.
“Well, if we have the chance, we could take a look at that rumoured plushie in the redemption store.” Ren Wei suggested but Jing Ru laughed.
“If Jin has indeed ordered some more, I’d love to.” Jing Ru said as she yawned a little.
“Get some rest first. I will wake you up again later. By the way, I just realised but don’t you have to attend your classes today?” Ren Wei had been so focused on the journey that he had totally forgotten about her university.
“Nah, I have no classes on Tuesday, so I am okay. I will take a snooze first then.” Jing Ru closed her eyes and lowered the seat.
—————
“Oh hey, Ah Ren. You finally arrived.” Abdul Lian Fa, a Malay with Chinese descent hailed to him as he saw Ren Wei with a pretty girl alongside him. He was slightly plump in size due to age, but his enlarged shoulders and biceps gave away his past as a former muscle builder.
“Abdul! It’s been a long time, how’s the station been treating you? By the way, this is my daughter. She said she wanted to join the battle with me. I hope you don’t mind.” Ren Wei hugged Abdul before introducing Jing Ru to him.
“Ah…so this is that rumoured beautiful daughter of yours… Nice to finally meet you. Ah Ren was always talking so highly of you.” Abdul smiled as he extended his hand and Jing Ru returned the handshake. “Not that bad I guess, nothing changed even after you transferred out. Gupta is coming too. He was just getting the ‘training cash’ from the station and is on his way right now.” Abdul answered the former question as they just finished their evening shift for the day. As policeman, being awake at irregular hours was normal for them. Thankfully having a cultivation helped out in that regard.
“Seriously? I still find it hard to believe when you say THAT Captain Mao would be giving you guys a budget to train so luxuriously. I mean I love it here, but there is no arguing that Dungeons and Panda is an expensive place.” Ren Wei commented and Abdul laughed and became a little gloom.
“Gupta and I… We …hmm.” Abdul seemed flustered as if he did not wish to say it out in front of Jing Ru and decided to switch to private transmission. Jing Ru understood the silence and claimed that she would be entering the Weapon Store to check out a few things first. Ren Wei apologised and thanked her for being considerate. However, Abdul still chose to tell him via close range transmission.
“The Ruby Rat Triad Boss, he came to the police station roughly a few weeks back. His presence alone nearly killed us all. There were not many that could withstand such pressure from his aura presence. A bunch even blacked out cold.” Abdul explained the past situation that happened in the Tiangong District Police Station.
“The Boss wanted to pay some hush money for Captain Mao since he had connections with the Royal Zodiac Rat themselves. The money was just a sort of token of appreciation. Usually, we know that useless captain would simply accept the money and keep this under the rut. However, on that day something seemed to click within him, and for some reason he decided to change.” Abdul then opened his phone and showed Ren Wei the picture of the gangster Ong.
“Not only did he keep this imprisoned high level gangster under Wo De Tian for the maximum amount of time, forcing the Ruby Rat Triad Boss to wait, he also decided to give out the hush money for training. I guess he felt some justice needed to be done…No idea what comes over him, but I hope he doesn’t change his mind soon. Still a shock for a lot of us when we saw the change of heart in Captain Mao.” Abdul told him as he folded his arms and later pointed to the signage.
“Inspectors Lee An and Xue Ping, that detectives couple, remember?” Abdul asked casually and Ren Wei nodded his head.
“They were the ones who suggested this place here for training. No matter what, be it just regular gym training, they claimed it was best to come here and they would whip us into shape. According to them, the Dungeon Instances here are supposed to increase cultivation… To be honest, this is my first time coming here. So no idea how much I can believe their claims. However, seeing that they were the only ones who were to withstand the aura pressure with no significant injuries even though their cultivation grade was lower than mine, I began to believe them.” Abdul disclosed to Ren Wei.
“That is why if not for that coincidental shop opening in the night after the work shift and you agreeing to it, I probably would have headed back home and rest,” Abdul remarked and Ren Wei understood him.
“I guess having a new child must be hard on you. Thanks for calling me out. It is great to meet up with you guys again.” Ren Wei sympathised and Abdul gave a slightly jealous face.
“Well, yeah. I did not have a young adult as my daughter when my wife gave birth.” Abdul remarked sarcastically. Ren Wei laughed awkwardly and that was when they saw a motorbike blinking its headlights at them. Riding on it was Gupta. A tall rather handsome Indian that came to China to work as a policeman, on his way to be a detective. (Mainly because he had a scholarship awarded by the Police Academy.) The most prominent feature of his handsome looks was that his skin was fair to the point that he was even fairer than Abdul and could easily pass off as a tanned Chinese.
These three friends had graduated from the same batch when they were in the Police Academy, similar to how Se Lang and Deng Long had met. Sadly after working a long enough to get a higher position, their place of work separated. Both Abdul and Gupta were veteran police and in a way, held the supervising positions in Tiangong District Police Station but had different job scopes.
Abdul went towards more of the education and operations job track while Gupta went for the standard promotion track to become an investigator. Even though they all held the same rank, Ren Wei had a better initial prospect than both of them because of his exceptional skills as a police sniper. But who knows what would happen in the future?
“Yo Ren Wei, been a long time.” Gupta hugged Ren Wei and they entered the store looking for Ren Wei’s stepdaughter. When Jing Ru saw her stepfather, she quickly beckoned him to come over. Ren Wei quickly introduced Gupta to his daughter and they exchanged greetings. After which, Jing Ru returned to the topic she wanted to discuss.
“As I was preparing my weapons, the Three Headed Bear shouted at me and threw me the same particular model of rifle that I was using. It seems Boss Jin will announce it later but he is allowing us to use live ammunition for our weapons! However, it’s only possible to be used in his instances and nothing more.” Jing Ru was happy that her previous suggestion to Boss Jin about the use of live ammunition had been accepted and already incorporated since she argued other dungeon suppliers had such a feature.
All three were shocked and wondered if this was a smart move by Boss Jin. “I do not think you should worry. The restrictions seemed to be very strict, stricter than other dungeon suppliers. I briefly saw the live ammunition article in the revised FAQ section of the Pandamonium App. For example…” Jing Ru took the real design of the Winterwolf rifle that she was using and loaded a magazine full of live ammunition. Even as she visibly tried hard, she was unable to turn the safety off.
But as soon as they entered the mini firing range which the Weapon Store provided to test guns out, the safety could be easily turned on and off allowing her to shoot. “I don’t know how he did it, but it feels like there is an artificial intelligence installed to the rifle. The FAQ stated that the rifle would not allow me to shoot another cultivator. They even provided a video of a person spraying his bullets but when it came close to a friendly, the rifle stopped firing in time before it could do any harm to the person.” Jing Ru explained and the three policemen were very surprised.
“Boss Jin does not allow those rifles to leave the shop instance too. If you ever hold on to the replicates of rifles, you will be automatically teleported back to this area after the end of dungeon instance play. Trying to exit the weapon store without returning the weapons back to us, or try to smuggle any parts away will result in a heavy penalty. Repeated offences may turn into being banished from the store and reported to the police. After returning those rifles free of your support modules or attachment then you are cleared to go back.” The Three Headed Bear standing tall looked at the group and said his piece. (Even the policemen were slightly frightened by its low booming voice.)
“If you are worried about the live ammunition…I can only say Boss Jin limits it to certain people who are allowed to use it.” The cute Red Panda attendant took over the explanation.
“After you register into the servers, we are privy to certain information like your nature of work. We then verify it in the back end and check with the official data record by the government servers as per the allowed regulations of being a Dungeon Supplier store.” The Red Panda explained.
Since we got the clearance for this not too long ago, our registration got more complicated. Though, we did all the necessary checks for all current clients. At the plus side, this makes it easy for newcomers with security related jobs are allowed to exchange for live ammunition rounds immediately.”
“Ah, no wonder Abdul and Gupta had trouble registering in the first place for the Pandamonium App. The machine at the storefront was asking so many questions that they started to feel their privacy was getting violated.” Ren Wei sighed as he remembered he did not have to struggle that much previously.
“All questions asked were in accordance to the Dungeon Supplier regulations, you can check it out in the official government regulated website for more information if you wish. Also, because you are police, more checks were needed to verify and give you clearance.” The Red Panda replied.
“Then what about Jing Ru? Why does she have clearance to use live ammunition?” Abdul asked since he wanted to know if there were any exceptions.
“As for Pandawan Jing Ru, her record is squeaky clean and Boss Jin vouched for her to use those live ammunition. Should she get into any trouble in the future with live ammunition outside of this store, the government officials will have all rights to pin Boss Jin as a possible accomplice.” The Red Panda answered and Jing Ru learned that Jin was doing so much for her.
“Then erm…perhaps I should return this rifle back.” Jing Ru suddenly felt her gun was too heavy with such responsibilities tied to it.
“Your choice. We do suggest using live ammunition for the purpose of cultivation training though. Most gun cultivators have their cultivation restricted because they either lack a proper gun to train or the experience with it. As you are in a Dungeon Supplier store and Boss Jin foresees great potential in you, he decided to entrust you this responsibility. If you feel you are not ready, we are not forcing you, and your clearance will also stay even if you decide not to make use of it.” The Red Panda explained thoroughly which Ren Wei and his pals unfortunately knew that was true.
Many people took up on gun related cultivation because it felt cool, but the strict regulations made it hard for them to progress in their cultivation. Hence, that many people also dropped gun related cultivation and opted for other cultivation styles or they left it at a low level.
“I see, then I shall not disappoint him.” Jing Ru said as she looked at the Winterwolf rifle she was carrying. The policemen took out their weapons and they were surprised the Three Headed Bear was able to perform a direct exchange of the guns they had. Even Ren Wei’s customised air rifle was available to exchange for the real model, though Ren Wei purposely made it as authentic as possible for the air rifle. All of them took some time to gear up and the newcomers even took the chance to preview the weapons this place was selling.
“By any chance do you have a Dragunov sniper rifle?” Abdul whispered to the Red Panda. In her characteristic cute way, she informed Abdul that those were available. Gupta took a look and thought it was a good idea too. They then asked what was the mode of payment and realised they could only buy them with Panda medals.
“For the duration of the Raid Event, we are rewarding raid points for accomplished missions and combat achievements. While we do sell special prizes which can only be exchanged for those points, we also offer the possibility of exchanging them for medals too if you wish.” The Red Panda informed Abdul and Gupta and they both nodded in agreement. They had decided to get an upcoming birthday present for Ren Wei.
Little did they know Jing Ru was having the very same idea too.
