The more Han Su thought about the reasons behind this, the more excited he became. There were still many things that needed to be verified, but he could already sense a faint thrill of anticipation.
That night, Han Su stayed up late. Even though he was woken early the next morning, he was still in high spirits.
He changed into something like a combat uniform. After breakfast, someone led him to a spacious room, where he met the other trainees who would be taking the assessment with him.
As far as he was concerned, he'd been swept up in a mysterious incident and had no choice but to be recruited by the Disaster Management Bureau. But it wasn't until now that he realized many people had officially applied and only then been summoned by the Bureau for training.
There were more than twenty people in this group, both men and women, and of varying ages.
The oldest looked to be in his thirties, while the youngest was only seventeen or eighteen. Their temperaments varied, too. Some seemed rather wild, some composed, some levelheaded, and some looked downright arrogant.
The staff member who had brought Han Su there turned and left without another word.
Curious about who these people were, Han Su was still trying to figure them out when a man with a crew cut and flashy clothes laughed and said, "So, are we the new recruits the Disaster Management Bureau plans to bring in this time?"
Most of the people in the room were composed, if a little wary, and no one immediately responded.
He grinned. "Don't be so tense. We'll be working together in the future, maybe even entrusting each other with our lives. Since the training hasn't started yet, why don't we introduce ourselves?"
"I'll go first. My name's Xu Qingyi. I'm eighteen, and I just got back from studying in the Western Seventh District. I'm good at scuba diving, rock climbing, wilderness trekking, and wingsuit flying. I even got my helicopter pilot's license. No need to mention my driving skills—I drove myself to kindergarten."
"..."
Everyone exchanged glances as they listened, but nobody said a word.
It was clear he was joking. Nobody believed he'd driven himself to kindergarten. Still, if he really was good at all those things, he was pretty impressive.
Wilderness trekking in particular. Now that the megacities had taken shape, traveling through the wilderness was extremely dangerous.
They said you might encounter wilderness holdouts who refused to enter the cities and enjoy the conveniences of modern life, or vicious beasts. Strange phenomena like "rainbowing" and "getting lost" were also said to occur frequently, and were difficult to explain.
Even so, his opening had made the atmosphere a little less tense.
The man beside him, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, raised his head and said, "Pastor Chen. I have dual doctorates in ruin architecture and electronic communications, and I taught myself seven languages."
Next in line was a dark-skinned, muscular man. Seeing everyone look his way, he nodded slightly and said, "I'm Black Tiger. I'm skilled with firearms and hand-to-hand combat. I just got back from serving in the Northern District military."
"I earned a second-class merit once and a first-class collective merit once. I once carried out a mission in the Northern District wilderness—"
"Sorry, my memory's not great. I got shot once. I just remembered that mission is still classified!"
"..."
"So these are the social elites Zhang Chiguo was talking about?"
As one person after another introduced themselves, Han Su was a little surprised.
If all the new recruits taken in by the Disaster Management Bureau were this accomplished, that clearly showed how insanely high the bar was. They were all outstanding in their respective fields. And as for him...
As he pondered, he felt countless gazes land on him. Han Su looked up at their expectant faces and, after a moment's thought, said, "I've got more than a dozen lives on my hands."
"..."
"..."
The room fell abruptly silent.
Those who had already introduced themselves and still wore an air of pride, as well as those who had been about to introduce themselves, all fell silent. With someone like Han Su among them, they felt deeply uncomfortable.
Someone muttered, "Weren't those D7 super-criminals not supposed to train with us?"
In the crowd, a girl wearing a black hood sat unusually quietly. At Han Su's words, she turned to look at him. Her hood was large, revealing only her pale, delicate face.
The introductions had been interrupted, and no one seemed able to pick up where they'd left off.
Just then, the stainless steel door opened, and a man in a black combat uniform entered. He tossed a folder onto the table and said coldly, "Introducing yourselves?"
"Do you think this is your first day at school? You need time to get to know one another?"
"You think it's a good idea to get chummy now, only for your colleagues to hesitate when they have to become part of an emergency response team later—and cause a disaster because they can't bring themselves to pull the trigger?"
"..."
His words left everyone stunned for a moment. Then they all sat up straight.
An unfamiliar environment, a ruthless instructor—same old story. They knew the drill.
But as the instructor met their expectant gazes, he remained silent for a long time. Only when the atmosphere had grown awkward did he suddenly let out a mocking laugh. "What are you waiting for?"
"Waiting for me to give you a speech? To say the truth of the world is about to unfold before you, and that you'll become the ones who save it, carrying the burden for everyone else?"
"To tell you that you're destined to sacrifice yourselves for this world, but that someone will remember what you did?"
"..."
Even Han Su found himself wondering, Isn't that how these speeches usually start?
The instructor sneered. "We're not that sentimental. I'll tell you two things. First, our benefits are excellent. Second, our work is dangerous."
"I imagine many of you already knew this department existed before you came here."
"And plenty of you applied because you wanted to pursue the so-called truth of the world."
"But what I want to tell you is that it's hard to get into our department. Countless people would do anything to join."
"More importantly, once you've joined, it's even harder to leave."
"For the next few days, I'll be training you."
"But don't worry. Our training is strict, but we won't dismiss anyone based on how well they do. We won't even force you to participate."
"You can slack off, sleep all day, or spend every day staring at the female trainees' asses and jerking off—as long as you don't make a mess. You only need to stay here for the required amount of time, and then you can leave."
"After all, even if you aren't capable of becoming a good operative, you can at least make acceptable cannon fodder."
"..."
By this point, what he'd said had left many people in the room feeling surprised and uncomfortable.
The instructor looked over the trainees' faces, then suddenly let out another mocking laugh. "But your performance during this time will be assessed by professionals."
"That will determine which team you're assigned to. And once the teams are set, it'll be very difficult to change your fate. In other words, how you perform during this period will determine your future."
"..."
They exchanged glances. Just as someone was about to ask what exactly they'd be trained in, staff members entered from outside carrying boxes and handed them out.
Inside was a book, dozens of pages thick, with no words on the cover.
The instructor looked down at them coldly. "This is the first lesson of your training, and also the final assessment."
"This book contains the rules that operatives of the Bureau of Abnormal Disaster Assessment must follow when carrying out missions."
"If you have a brain and a good memory, memorize every word of it."
"You have one week."
"Your training ends after one week. This handbook is more highly classified than your current files. You must not let its contents leak, and you must return it before you leave."
"..."
The trainees were shocked. "How are we supposed to memorize all this?"
"What if we can't?"
The instructor merely sneered at these overly earnest questions. "If you can't memorize it all, remember these two words:"
"Obey!"
"..."
Many of the trainees looked stunned, unsure whether "obey" was meant as a taunt or a serious instruction.
For some reason, Han Su thought of what he'd told the other children when he'd tried to lead them out of the Dark Fortress. His heart tightened a little. This is interesting.
As he thought, he opened the thick handbook.
He found that it had neither a cover nor even a foreword. The opening page contained only one sentence:
When faced with anomalies, all investigators and operatives must believe that the world follows logic and abides by scientific principles.
The first rule followed:
Make every witness or person who has come into contact with an anomalous entity believe that everything they saw was merely an illusion or delusion.
If they refuse to believe it, make them disappear from this world.
The second rule:
Anyone who believes that supernatural forces and the bizarre truly exist is insane. But a group of such madmen poses a terrible threat to this world. Make them disappear from this world without delay.
The third rule:
Any books, hard drives, data, or other records concerning historical relics from before the Reconstruction Era—including the Radiation Era, the Chaos Era, and the Pre-civilization Era—must be sealed immediately and reported. They may not be accessed without an order from a superior at ministerial level.
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