High Tech, Huh?

Hao Ren examined the silver-white device in his hand with curiosity, feeling both excited and deeply confused.

It was only about the size of his palm, with a silver-white metallic sheen. Yet it didn't feel cold in his hand—instead, it was warm and smooth to the touch, unlike any metal commonly found on Earth. The little device was a perfect hexagon, with its thickest point measuring only a few centimeters. Blue-white streams of light slowly pulsed across its surface, as though something alive were breathing within it. Hao Ren curiously rubbed the surface of the "metal plate," and the hexagonal area at its center immediately lit up. A holographic image suddenly appeared in midair—startling him badly!

Hao Ren almost threw away his first month's work-subsidy package. Clutching the metal plate, he stared at the holographic image floating above it. A deep-blue, cross-shaped emblem composed of four crystals slowly rotated against a chaotic black background. Beneath the projection was a line of Chinese text: Time-Space Administration Bureau—EN35 Node—World AZ655—General-Purpose Data Terminal. Current operator has passed authorization verification. Device standing by.

"An all-Chinese interface, foolproof operation, and even beginners can master it," Raven 12345 said, raising one finger and pointing at the "Data Terminal" in Hao Ren's hand, drawing his attention back to it. "It contains your handbook, an introduction to the Time-Space Administration Bureau, basic information about the Empire, and things you need to learn about the Macro World, Space-Time Channels, World Gate Codes, the Authorization Process, the Material Distribution List, the Support Request Protocol, and so on. Explaining all that to you would be too much trouble, so you might as well read it yourself. Take your time. Once you've memorized all this information...well, you should have completed the first stage of your internship. Then you'll enter the second stage..."

Hao Ren immediately became pessimistic about his future life. Heaven help him—he had finally graduated from school, so how had he suddenly ended up back in his student days?!

"What's this? And how do I use it?" Hao Ren temporarily set aside his potentially miserable life of studying and pointed curiously at the blue cross-shaped emblem in the holographic image. Although he had no idea what it was, he felt certain it had great significance—he often saw the same blue emblem in Raven 12345's mansion, and even on some of the magical servants. He reached out and poked the holographic image twice, only for his fingers to pass straight through it. It couldn't be controlled by touching the image, as he had imagined.

Raven 12345's expression instantly became extraordinarily solemn, so solemn that even Hao Ren was startled. He could hardly imagine that this carefree and thoroughly abnormal "Goddess" could ever look so grave. Raven 12345 stared into Hao Ren's eyes, as if she intended to drive her thoughts straight into his brain. "This is the Xiling Military Emblem—the symbol of the Empire and the mark of Xiling civilization. It represents the Empire. You're still a newcomer, so you probably can't understand what this emblem means. Just remember that it's extraordinarily significant. Throughout the Void, countless races survive under its protection, and countless warriors fight under the guidance of this military emblem."

Hao Ren listened in a daze. Seeing this, Raven patted her forehead. "Hey, why am I telling you all this so early? Anyway, remember this: no matter how dangerous the place or how complicated the situation, if you see this emblem, you've found your family. Got it?"

Hao Ren understood this time and nodded vigorously. "Then how do I use it?"

"Put your hand on any one of its edges and control it with your thoughts. It'll automatically determine whether you're confirming an instruction, so there won't be any accidental commands." Raven guided Hao Ren through starting the little device. "Of course, you may need some time to get used to it at first. Its response speed is very fast, and its intelligence is barely inferior to yours, so it'll automatically help you with certain things. Sometimes you may think you messed something up, but actually, it's fine. Here—try starting the main system, then tell it you're a rookie."

Hao Ren stared wide-eyed as he listened. One sentence kept spinning through his mind: Whoa, this is some high tech!

"Didn't you say the Xiling Apostles are gods? Why do gods use such high-tech stuff...? Do gods follow the technological path too?" Hao Ren muttered as he awkwardly concentrated on communicating with the "metal plate" in his hand. Raven 12345 answered his question. "Is there really a difference between technology and magic? The Xiling Pantheon developed both paths from the very beginning. We use whatever works. They're all tools for controlling reality. If you threw this thing into the hands of an undeveloped civilization, it would be a divine artifact. But now that you mention it, I really am not very good with technological products. I prefer mysterious creations—too bad you can't use those."

Hao Ren didn't have time to listen to what Raven 12345 was saying, because he had successfully activated the little Data Terminal!

The holographic projection rapidly cycled through a string of images. They looked chaotic and disorganized, but Hao Ren felt no difficulty keeping up or understanding them. The speed and transitions of the images perfectly matched his ability to comprehend. It seemed the Data Terminal could scan the human brain, then deliver new information according to its immediate operating state. Hao Ren's eyes darted across the holographic image. The most important information he needed always remained directly in the center of his vision. Whenever he wanted to know something new, he barely needed to issue a deliberate command before the display changed along with his thoughts, allowing him to obtain new data in the most efficient way possible. At first, Hao Ren thought he probably couldn't handle such an advanced device, but he soon realized something: for a civilization powerful enough to run rampant across the multiverse, creating a simple and easy-to-use tool was no challenge at all. Humans could even make feeding machines that chimpanzees and pet dogs could operate. The closer technology approached perfection, the simpler it became to use; all the complicated parts were sealed away where the user couldn't see them.

To give a simple example, Hao Ren was certain that if he dismantled the little device in his hand, no one on Earth would be able to put it back together...

"What does...'request support' mean?" Hao Ren suddenly spotted a particularly concerning term among the rapidly changing information. Without him issuing any command, the entry that had caught his interest automatically stopped in the center of his vision. A large amount of accompanying image and video information then appeared in the holographic display: images that looked like weapons and equipment, soldiers standing in formation, and charts he couldn't understand yet, all neatly arranged before him. Every single one of them, however, was gray.

"You think an examiner is a lone wolf? That taking care of the abnormal creatures mooching meals at home counts as the entire job?" Raven 12345 shrugged. "You'll understand once you become a full employee. Examiners normally have all kinds of complicated work to handle. What if I sent you to suppress a rebellion in Centaurus right now? Or dispatched you to mediate a military conflict in the Scorpion Tail Nebula? That's when the Support Request Protocol and Armament Protocol come in handy. You can choose those options when you're about to be beaten to death—though naturally, they require the corresponding permissions, and obtaining those permissions requires all sorts of strict examinations. We can't hand lethal weapons to a rookie with an unstable mind, even if those things are basically harmless civilian products in our eyes... Well, civilian products thrown onto your planet would probably be enough to survive four or five ice ages."

Hao Ren broke into a cold sweat. He hadn't even finished reading the Examiner's Handbook and the Time-Space Administration Bureau Work Outline, but he had heard some truly terrifying things from Raven 12345... This job seemed liable to kill him!

Hao Ren opened and closed his mouth. "I..."

"You can't resign." Raven 12345 grinned. "Even if you die, your soul will still be listed on my attendance sheet. I'll just put you in another body and you'll have to keep working. Do you know how hard it is for me to recruit a new employee? And you still want to run?"

Hao Ren: "..."

"Don't make that face." Raven 12345 instantly teleported to Hao Ren's side, startling him before patting him on the shoulder. "I never bluff people. You'll soon find out that this is an opportunity ordinary people would kill for. As long as you don't go looking for death, you can basically live until...well, for a very long time. Examiners aren't military personnel, after all. It's not as though there are that many major battles every day for you auxiliary police officers to charge into."

Hao Ren tried several times to speak, but this imposing White-Haired Demoness kept cutting him off. In the end, he could only force a smile and stuff the Data Terminal into his pocket. There was far too much to read, and this clearly wasn't the place to study it. He decided to examine it slowly after returning home.

"Then let's talk about that nightmare," Hao Ren said resignedly as he sat down in the chair. "I think you're hiding something from me. I'm honest, but that doesn't mean you can bully me however you want. At least tell me a little more, so I can sleep peacefully when I go home."

Raven 12345 glanced at Hao Ren and finally sighed helplessly. "All right, all right. You're stubborn too. I'll tell you some of what I'm allowed to say."