The Crevice, the Nexus, and the Exploration Bureau

In the Personnel Department's monitoring room,

The agents who had temporarily taken over the personnel work gathered here showed different expressions: some were appreciative, some were solemn, and some were silent while starting to do warm-up exercises.

Based on the current test data, Luo Di is out of control; such a person cannot be allowed to live.

Just as some agents were preparing to go to the assessment space to carry out secret processing.

As the moonlit night faded away,

It has returned to the previous state of dark clouds looming and howling winds.

Luo Di took off his mask.

The bloodshot eyes faded away.

He went to the convenience store in the neighborhood, found a plastic lighter, and took a pack of Red Pagoda Mountain.

He bit the cigarette holder, protecting the lighter.

It was ignited amidst the fierce winds.

Alone, I lean against the streetlight, waiting for the outcome.

The so-called Exploration Bureau assessment is indeed difficult. It requires you to act alone in a corner-like environment, to find the monster avatars that are hiding in the dark and have been lying in ambush, and to fight against them all by yourself.

However... this kind of difficulty only applies to newcomers, not to Connectors like Luo Di.

The things bestowed upon him by the True Hell granted him strength surpassing that of others of the same level.

If we have to talk about the real test, the Hell Journey we went through before deserves it.

The Exploration Bureau was aware of this; they knew perfectly well that Luo Di's strength had already met, or even exceeded, the standard. Therefore, what this assessment truly needed to test was Luo Di's [stability].

Actively revealing old wounds

Provoke the deepest level of thinking to draw out that instability.

Under such circumstances, observe his mental state.

If you can maintain stability and continue to target monsters, then you are considered qualified.

Exploring hidden corners requires more than just strength; it requires an inner light that can always remain bright.

Many highly capable exploration teams have lost contact in seclusion because one member of the team was infected by fear and completely corrupted, leading to the team's collapse.

At this very moment, while Luo Di was smoking, all his stats were at a stable level.

Moreover, it wasn't just ordinary stability; there was no murderous intent, no hatred, only a sense of relief afterward.

As the Red Pagoda Mountain in his mouth completely burned out...

The strong winds subsided.

The streetlights in the residential area came on, and the loudspeakers hanging on top of the streetlights broadcast the voices of community staff.

<Congratulations, Luo Di! Your assessment test is complete. Please leave through the 'exit'. We will provide a comprehensive evaluation based on your performance to determine your eligibility to join the Exploration Bureau.>

Luo Di looked in the direction the streetlights were shining and saw a single red door standing in the center of the community.

"Some kind of Spatial Methods?"

Luo Di walked toward the red gate that stood alone.

Reach out and open the door.

Stepping into it,

Buzz!

A flash of light, and Luo Di found himself on a moving bus with no driver but a passenger.

Yu Ze was sitting in the last row, waving to Luo Di who had just boarded the bus.

"Congratulations, fellow villager! Getting on this train means you've passed the test. However, it's still uncertain whether you can join the Exploration Bureau. Why don't you come and rest for a bit?"

You've managed to control your emotions very well, but you must have been angry before, and even killed someone, right?

Don't worry too much about it. The Exploration Bureau needs to test individuals' performance under extreme conditions to see if they can remain stable in an extremely oppressive corner.

After all, the fear there is 'alive'; it will not only affect your mind, but also cause physical problems.

Only sufficiently stable individuals are sent into exploration corners by the Exploration Bureau; otherwise, the talents painstakingly cultivated might end up becoming their enemies.

"Um."

Luo Di didn't care about the Exploration Bureau's arrangements; he was even somewhat grateful to them, thanking them for reminding him of an important ' Pseudo-Human,' or more accurately, the monster that had already gone to the corner.

He followed them to the last row, sat by the window, and glanced out.

To my surprise, what I saw outside the window wasn't the interior, but the exterior, which looked more like an island... an unknown island.

Because Luo Di could see the coastline and the seawater that met the beach through the gaps in the trees.

It was unlike any seawater he had ever seen before.

The seawater here is dark and still, without even a ripple, as if no living creatures exist in it.

Due to limited visibility Luo Di could not estimate the exact size of the island, but he could vaguely sense that it was fundamentally different from the resort islands he had visited before.

"Shall we remain within the World Bureau?"

The construction of this island likely originated from spatial technologies similar to those used in the assessment scenario—technologies brought out from a corner?

You're half right.

Although technology was used, the island was formed 'naturally'.

In the early days of the Exploration Bureau, humans did not yet have a reliable way to reach remote areas, resulting in an extremely high mortality rate.

As a select few powerful individuals stepped forward and brought back relevant items and technologies from the depths of the Corner, the World Bureau initiated Crevice Plan.

At this point,

Yu Ze was supposed to be sitting in the back, had somehow ended up in the front row and was pointing towards the windshield.

Luo Di also got up and walked over, sat in the driver's seat, and looked at the front.

Beyond the obstruction of the island's trees, look towards the central area.

It was clearly night,

However, one can clearly see a "slit" in the center of the island, a vertical slit that is hundreds of meters long.

"This is... a stable path to the corner?"

"Yes, this gap was 'opened' at the cost of the lives of hundreds of our predecessors."

It is a stable passage leading to the Corner shallow layer, allowing agents to reliably enter a relatively safe area.

Instead of being randomly thrown into completely unknown and dangerous areas, or even falling directly into the mouths of monsters.

and,

Once the agents' missions are completed, they can return to the island through this gap, provided they return to the shallow area and meet certain conditions.

The existence of the gap is extremely important to the entire Exploration Bureau.

Many times, when being chased in a corner, seriously injured, or when fear and pressure reach their limit, as long as they can return to this island, there is still hope, and they can protect a talent that is one in a million.

This island is a space that spread out from the corners during the creation of the "gap," or more precisely, this island should be considered a corner space.

As the island emerges from the corner of the surface, it touches the surface of the world.

The nature of the island itself has changed; it is both part of the corner and a piece of the puzzle of reality, thus acquiring a dual nature.

It can both carry this "slit" leading to the corner and serve as a Transfer Station and a Nexus.

The nature of the island is very similar to the "gap" that Pseudo-Human need to build when they advance.

Such a perfect location naturally became the new site for the Exploration Bureau.

"I see..."

After a brief explanation,

A series of pure white high-rise buildings, built around the "gap," were reflected in the car window.

Ten of the buildings are the most conspicuous, and each building has standard Arabic numerals engraved on its surface.

It may resemble a tower, a sphere, a modern high-tech building, or an old, dilapidated structure.

"Could these ten buildings be the ' Ten Exploration Departments' you mentioned, Yu Ze?"

"Yes, once we are officially selected, we will be assigned to one of the departments."

Without any walls or barriers, the driverless bus carried the two into the complex of buildings in the center of the island, which was also the true location of the Exploration Bureau.

In addition to the buildings of the ten departments, there are various basic buildings here, which seem to correspond to the rest and living quarters, warehouses and so on of the agents when they return.

However, there were no pedestrians on the road, nor were there any shops like those in a city.

The streets are all made of pure white walls.

"Don't agents who come back from the shadows have a daily life?"

"No, or rather, they don't want to have it."

They were used to living in a corner.

Most of the agents didn't even want to come back; it was just that their time in the corner was up, and they needed to come back to wash away their fears before embarking on their journey again.

I imagine you'll also come to enjoy life in this secluded corner... and your superficial human desires will be greatly reduced."

What's inside?

Yu Ze simply raised his finger, making a shushing gesture.

soon,

We've arrived at the building where the Personnel Department is located.

A woman wrapped in a barrel-shaped white robe was already standing downstairs.