What Color Is It, Really

"Brother, when did you discover you had abilities?"

In another office, Lu Xin and Gecko were alone. Each of them had a cup of coffee and a plate of candy placed in front of them, but neither of them seemed inclined to touch the coffee. Gecko appeared unconcerned, continuously fiddling with the firearms and knives in front of him, while Lu Xin didn't want to drink coffee late at night for fear of insomnia.

Lu Xin, however, was not polite about the candy. He wasn't sure if Chen Jing had arranged it intentionally, but there were quite a few more candies than last time at the Guard Department, and the variety was richer. He figured she must have remembered his sister liked candy after the last mission.

His sister had just reached out to take some candy, but Lu Xin didn't agree.

He would explain to his sister later that children shouldn't eat too much candy, as it would ruin their teeth.

In reality, Lu Xin was thinking of saving them as rewards, so it would be easier to coax her if she threw a tantrum later...

"Discover I had abilities?"

Hearing Gecko's question, Lu Xin subconsciously glanced at him, not quite understanding.

"That's right!"

Gecko replied with a smile, disassembling a Beretta 92F pistol in his hand, cleaning it piece by piece, and then reassembling it. On a black silk cloth in front of him, there was another identical gun, as well as three black daggers, each about eighteen centimeters long. Strange names were written on the handles of the knives and the bodies of the guns, and he kept wiping them repeatedly.

While skillfully wiping and assembling, he answered Lu Xin's question: "The first time is always unforgettable..."

Lu Xin pondered his words and quietly recalled.

How long had it been since he left the orphanage when he saw his family?

And when did he start discovering he could borrow his family's abilities?

That memory was always a bit hazy and unreal.

Gecko didn't wait for his answer, his mouth seemingly unable to close as he chattered on: "Hey, I remember the first time I discovered my abilities so clearly. It was a winter, and it was snowing heavily. I'm a kind-hearted person. Even though I only had less than fifty yuan in my pocket at the time, I saw a young lady working the night shift on the street, braving the cold wind..."

"I felt soft-hearted, so I decided to patronize her business."

"She was very touched and very serious, but just then, there was the sound of the Guard Department breaking down the door outside."

"I was so scared that I zipped into a nearby cabinet. It wasn't until they carried my cabinet to the Guard Department, with thirty to fifty people holding guns and surrounding me, who was only wearing underwear, that I realized that cabinet..."

As he spoke, he pulled the slide of the gun and squinted to aim: "It turned out to be a shoe cabinet only thirty centimeters high!"

"Uh..."

Lu Xin was somewhat stunned. Looking at the composed Gecko, he thought, "Is it really okay to talk about something like this?"

"Now that you've joined our department, you're one of us. You'll know about my embarrassing stories sooner or later!"

Gecko seemed to understand what he was saying and smiled, "Is it the same if I tell you myself versus someone else telling you?"

Lu Xin inexplicably felt that what he said made sense.

"Besides, I'm not the only one with rumors about me!"

Gecko put down the gun and started wiping the daggers again. He said, "Let me tell you, there aren't many normal people in our department. The Drunkard always says he can see dragons flying when he's drunk, and he even claims he can tell if they're male or female. As for Kid, it's a shame. She's so beautiful, with a face and figure that are unimaginably perfect, capable of driving all the men in the world crazy, but she's just simple-minded..."

He lowered his voice and quietly said to Lu Xin, "And our Colonel Chen..."

"...Do you know what color her underwear is?"

"Cough..."

Lu Xin, who was drinking plain water, almost choked. He looked at Gecko with a strange expression: Is it really okay to talk about your superior like this?

"Pink..."

His sister climbed in through an open window from the side and said expressionlessly.

She was still a bit moody because she hadn't gotten any candy earlier.

"Pink?"

Lu Xin was a little surprised and blurted out.

"Holy crap, you actually know?"

Gecko was startled when he heard that and quickly asked, "What does it look like?"

Lu Xin was looking at his sister with a hint of blame when the door was pushed open, and Chen Jing appeared at the doorway holding documents.

Both Gecko and Lu Xin instinctively sat up straighter.

His sister glanced resentfully at Chen Jing's chest and dangled from the window outside, swaying with the wind, holding onto a wire.

"What are you guys talking about?"

Chen Jing walked in with a smile and put down the documents.

Hearing her question, neither Lu Xin nor Gecko dared to answer.

"Your testing is complete!"

Chen Jing didn't seem too concerned about the question. She opened the file, took a serious look at Lu Xin, and switched to work mode. "The detailed report will be out in a few days, but we already have a general understanding of the situation, which makes it easier to make arrangements. Your guidance plan should be executed soon, and what's needed now is to familiarize yourself with your abilities before the guidance!"

As she spoke, she looked at Gecko and said, "Gecko will help you with this. He has the same abilities as you and is an experienced ability user. Initially, he'll be assigned to take you on a few cleanup missions so you can understand yourself better."

"Oh."

Lu Xin glanced at Gecko and said, "Okay!"

Gecko merely gave a lazy salute, as if he had already guessed the purpose of his being brought here.

"There's a cleanup mission tonight!"

Chen Jing divided a document into two piles, pushing one to Gecko and the other to Lu Xin. "This is a special pollution incident just confirmed by the Special Investigation Team. The threat level is C-class, and headquarters has just approved the cleanup."

"Gecko will lead the mission, with Lu Xin as his assistant. The main objective is to familiarize yourself with the procedures!"

"..."

Both Lu Xin and Gecko solemnly agreed.

It was clear that even Gecko wouldn't take cleanup missions lightly.

"Also, this is your provisional codename!"

Chen Jing handed Lu Xin a piece of paper with freshly printed text.

Special Action Team – Non-Core Personnel

Name: Lu Xin

Age: 23

Ability Assessment: C+ (Pending)

Mental Anomaly Direction: Spider-type

Codename: Solo Soldier

Patrol Area: Qinggang Satellite City No. 2

Security Clearance: Low

Lu Xin read it over and didn't feel anything was different from before, so he just nodded in agreement.

He was a bit curious, though. "Why is my codename Solo Soldier?"

"Alright, you can depart anytime!"

Chen Jing didn't offer any further explanation. She gathered the documents and stood up decisively.

Lu Xin and Gecko prepared to rise as well.

But suddenly, Chen Jing seemed to remember something. She walked back with a smile, gently pulled her sunglasses down her face, and looked at Gecko, lowering her voice. "If you don't want to end up stripping naked and dancing in the most crowded street until your legs break, then you'd best not talk about me behind my back anymore, especially not with newcomers... And especially not with that lewd expression, understand?"

"..."

Gecko stared into her eyes, his body instantly tensing. He stiffly nodded his neck.

"Very good!"

Chen Jing patted Gecko's head and turned to leave.

Outside the door, she suddenly turned back and looked at Lu Xin. "Also, I'm wearing black today!"

Lu Xin didn't even dare to nod, remaining stiffly seated.

He had wanted to ask about his regularization, but now he didn't dare to speak.

From behind him, his Sister's faint voice could be heard, "She's lying..."