His hand shook, and the half-eaten steamed bun fell onto the table. Bai Zhou immediately picked it up again without changing expression.
His stomach churned violently, as if the meals and cakes he had once enjoyed in the cafeteria had all turned into blood food circling in his gut, impossible to digest.
The overwhelming stench of blood rushed into his nose, making him want to vomit.
A free cafeteria? And unlimited funding?
It was entirely possible that, without realizing it, he had eaten someone's "flesh" before!
From the way everyone ahead of him skillfully scrambled for the wealth, it was obvious that this sort of thing had happened more than once.
Since "Liu Zhen" could be exchanged for so much wealth, then there must have been "Wang Zhen," "Zhao Jia," and others before him...
Why could the Major treat money as if it were nothing?
Perhaps the reason lay here.
This place is wrong!
Everything about it was wrong.
Section Chief Liu was a good big brother, but that did not mean the Special Management Department was a good organization!
That was a serious misconception.
Deputy Han and the Major valuing and admiring Bai Zhou's constitution did not mean it was a good thing, either.
As for the Public Security Officers outside showing such solemn respect toward the Commissioners of the Special Management Department...
Perhaps they were also among those being deceived.
Everyone had been deceived.
After all, on the surface, the Special Management Department really was an official organization.
Besides, this was only Branch 36 of the Special Management Department. It likewise did not represent the entire Special Management Department...
At that moment, Bai Zhou could only feel fortunate.
His vigilance toward everything in the base from beginning to end had not been in vain. He had always pretended to be an innocent, honest person and had never uttered a word about his own secrets.
His initial impression of this place had been completely right—
Thinking back carefully, some details from before had indeed been extremely strange.
The extraordinarily high casualty rate, and the fanatical worship of the Special Management Department and the Major among the Commissioners.
The experimental records from Black Robe's execution, and the unscrupulous methods used when testing the residents of Evening City.
Deputy Han, who always hugged a Doll.
And the Major's cleanliness obsession. Even after merely patting Bai Zhou's shoulder, he had to immediately wipe his hands with a wet tissue.
That Major, who kept claiming to value talent and whose every word was about rewards and promotion, was actually always looking down from above.
His rewards were merely condescending "gifts," while his reforms were only meant to squeeze out everyone's "maximum value."
When he had arranged matters for Bai Zhou without giving him a choice, he had never cared about Bai Zhou's personal thoughts.
Even his so-called valuing of talent—
Now that he thought about it, perhaps it was merely...
valuing "human material"?
—Of course, these were still only things Bai Zhou had inferred and pieced together from the clues currently available to him.
There was still a chance that the Major was innocent and had been deceived by Deputy Han.
—But that possibility was extremely low.
Because if it was not for personal gain, Bai Zhou could no longer think of any reason why Deputy Han would do this himself to win everyone over.
Even if he really wanted to wait until the sky turned cold and then seize power, there was no reason to do good deeds under the Major's name.
Having the Major take the blame while spending the Major's money to accomplish his own goals was what a normal ambitious schemer would do.
In other words, Bai Zhou truly had to face the worst possibility:
His "enemy" had changed from one Deputy Han into even more people who were harder to deal with.
And his position in this matter had also changed
from "a member of the organization" into a lone individual.
Moreover, there was one question he could not avoid.
—Bai Zhou needed to analyze his current situation.
What exactly had caused Section Chief Liu's death?
Had he really died in the line of duty, with his "dead flesh" being exploited and its final value squeezed out before everyone divided it up and consumed it...
Or was there some secret behind his death?
The person who had spent the most time with Section Chief Liu before his death had been Bai Zhou.
Then the danger that had already led to Section Chief Liu's death might also be silently closing in on Bai Zhou!
If circumstances allowed,
Bai Zhou would probably need to escape this dangerous place as soon as possible...
At that moment, whispers from those returning with full loads even reached Bai Zhou's ears.
"I guessed yesterday that they'd probably hand out money today."
"Whenever someone dies, the higher-ups hand out money."
"The best incentive, isn't it?"
"..."
Everyone who was still alive was a beneficiary.
And every corpse was devoured by the crowd in this way.
The entire empty Resting Mausoleum silently bore witness to this matter.
Bai Zhou shuddered.
He looked up at the crowd in the distance, where people were gradually beginning to leave, and hurried over.
In this situation,
—not fitting in could cost him his life!
Just as he squeezed into the crowd, Deputy Han stuffed a pile of things into his hands.
"These are yours. I took a little extra for you."
"They've all received theirs, so don't worry. Don't be embarrassed."
Deputy Han smiled warmly at Bai Zhou.
It was a condescending smile, but it also held undisguised admiration and regard.
"After you collect your things, don't leave yet. Come to my office with me later to get your Magic Potion."
That soon?
Bai Zhou's back stiffened, but on the surface, he only smiled gratefully, showing no abnormality whatsoever.
"This really is... sorry for the trouble!"
Following Deputy Han, Bai Zhou walked behind him along with several men in suits.
His heart remained suspended in his chest.
But even after they returned to the lavish office and Deputy Han opened a drawer to take out a small black box, he still did nothing.
"Your Intelligence Potion."
He solemnly handed the exquisite, tightly locked box to Bai Zhou.
Bai Zhou accepted the heavy box with both hands.
Looking at Deputy Han's serious demeanor and the ornate metal box made from special materials, Bai Zhou could not help feeling a little strange.
Even eighty bowls of beef ramen plus fifty cucumbers probably would not be worth as much as this little box containing the Magic Potion.
But what was an Intelligence Potion...
Shouldn't it have been an Enlightenment Potion?
Behind the desk, Deputy Han's expression turned solemn.
"This is fresh Magic Potion produced last week. It was delivered today."
"Its quality is quite good. The efficiency for successfully awakening Destiny is around fifty percent. Considering your constitution's tolerance for contamination, the probability can even be raised to seventy percent!"
"—That is also the important reason I argued my case before the higher-ups and was willing to promote you outside the normal rules."
Produced last week?
Bai Zhou felt faintly relieved.
At least this proved that it had not been made using "Section Chief Liu."
Although no matter what, he would never drink this thing...
"Actually."
Deputy Han thought for a moment before continuing.
"The next batch should be more effective. The awakening probability can be increased by another ten percent. If you want to wait, that's fine too, but you'll have to wait half a month."
"After all, the Magic Potion can only be taken once. If you fail, you'll never be able to become an extraordinary person for the rest of your life."
He smiled as he patiently coaxed Bai Zhou.
"It's safer this way, and there's no harm in waiting."
But Bai Zhou waved his hands repeatedly. "It's fine. This batch will do."
There was no way he could wait another half month.
Half a month later, the potion delivered would probably truly be made using "Section Chief Liu."
Before that happened, he had to find out where Section Chief Liu's corpse had been sent...
Then he would "take Section Chief Liu away."
He felt that... people living in this world had to hold on to certain principles, at least.
If he could not do this, he probably would never sleep soundly again.
"All right, then go back. There's an instruction manual for taking the Magic Potion inside the box."
"I still have a meeting to attend. It's about time for me to leave too."
Seeing that Bai Zhou had said this, Deputy Han nodded.
"I have very high hopes for you, Bai Zhou."
He stared seriously at Bai Zhou's expression and earnestly urged him with great concern:
"Don't let down my trust. You must... become an extraordinary person!"
Do you want me to become an extraordinary person this badly?
...Why?
Bai Zhou happened to meet Deputy Han's eyes. Suddenly, his heartbeat slowed for half a beat, and a chill ran from his head to his heels.
That gaze held delight, but it was definitely not the look of someone inspecting another person.
—It was more like a hungry guest spotting a sumptuous feast spread across the table and fixing his eyes on the glistening fatty meat placed in the middle.
It was "craving."
And so Bai Zhou understood the smiling look in Deputy Han's eyes.
There was an idiom: "to drool three feet."
—He was going to eat Bai Zhou.
Much sooner than he had imagined.
There had to be some reason behind it, possibly the so-called "constitution."
Perhaps it was not just today or yesterday... Bai Zhou had already attracted Deputy Han's attention for a long time.
Some vague suspicions and realizations emerged in his heart.
But on the surface, Bai Zhou lowered his head and only said:
"Yes, I'll do my best!"
But what he was actually thinking was:
Of course I'll become an extraordinary person.
...I already am.
But that was not all. He also had a huge surprise to prepare for Deputy Han.
It would not be long.
—Tomorrow night!
Because Bai Zhou still had to properly pay his respects to his Brother Liu...
Using the head of that bastard Deputy Han!