Chapter Summaries

Han Su completed the Disaster Management Bureau’s evaluation and received five A-rank scores, but the system assigned him the codename Butcher instead of his preferred choice. Zhang Chiguo reconsidered Han Su’s prospects and decided he might be capable of joining the D2 Team and learning more.

• The man with gold-rimmed glasses earned four A-rank results, while Black Tiger received two A's and Crow received four A's, two S's, and an additional evaluation.
• Han Su answered Miss Ai’s questions about the impostors and his decisions during the internship mission, then gave his preferred codename as Sparkling Handsome Man.
• Han Su’s results appeared as five A’s and one B, under the codename Butcher, leaving him and the other trainees stunned.
• Zhang Chiguo saw Han Su’s results and worried that his evaluation had made him stand out too much.
• After rewatching Han Su’s footage, Zhang Chiguo concluded that Han Su could safely join the D2 Team and might have earned the right to learn certain things.

Han Su bonded with the other trainees during a smoke break, learning why they had joined the Disaster Management Bureau and offering to help them find opportunities. Miss Crow warned them that passing the evaluation was only the start of the danger, and Han Su proposed they stay in touch as a group.

• Han Su took Black Tiger, Doctor, and Mouse to the emergency exit for a smoke and asked what had brought them to the Bureau.
• Doctor explained that he had uncovered signs of a force concealing the supernatural, while Black Tiger sought revenge for his unit’s defeat and Mouse hoped to obtain an artifact that could treat his illness.
• Han Su offered to recommend Black Tiger and Doctor for suitable work and reassured Mouse that the Bureau would value his contributions.
• Miss Crow warned the trainees that field operatives were both the first line of defense against mysterious infiltration and expendable to the forces threatening reality.
• Han Su asked Doctor about the rules and proposed starting a group chat once the trainees received their phones and team assignments.

The trainees completed their training and learned the rules, assignments, and equipment of the Disaster Management Bureau. Han Su received his D2 assignment and wondered where Old Zhang had been placed.

• The instructor explained that the groups had different duties and levels of freedom, and warned that breaking the rules could lead to demotion or confinement.
• The instructor issued the trainees Thunderbolt 101 stun batons and Bureau IDs, explaining that the IDs granted conditional immunity from ordinary laws but required reports and approval.
• Crow told Han Su that investigators often avoided guns because they were noisy and exposed users to enemies' gaze.
• Miss Ai's encrypted messaging app sent Han Su his assignment to the D2 Work Group with the codename Butcher and an initial rating of C+.
• Han Su saw that Doctor and Black Tiger were also assigned to D2, while Crow and other S-rated trainees were in D1, and he searched the group for Old Zhang.

After joining the Disaster Management Bureau’s D2 Team, Han Su returned to his apartment with Secretary Cui Qiao, who revealed and destroyed surveillance devices planted there. Cui Qiao explained that Han Su’s early assignments would affect his evaluation and his chance to receive Mysterious Power training.

• Cui Qiao drove Han Su home and explained that his D2 Team assignment let him keep his studies and social connections, though he had to protect the Bureau’s secrets.
• Han Su described his supposedly cheap apartment and the wealthy friend who had helped him move in.
• Cui Qiao touched a live outlet, sensed hidden surveillance devices, and found bugs, a camera, and a data-stealing device in Han Su’s laptop.
• Cui Qiao destroyed the devices with electrical sparks, causing people monitoring Han Su to suffer disrupted signals and damaged equipment.
• Cui Qiao warned Han Su to take future assignments seriously because his evaluation would determine whether he could receive Mysterious Power training.
• Cui Qiao told Han Su that her ability came from Spiritual Penetration training and the second Sequence Three Cipher Incantation.

Han Su learned that using Mysterious Power brought people closer to the monsters beneath reality, but he doubted the danger could deter him. Zhang Chiguo and Cui Qiao visited to celebrate Han Su joining the Disaster Management Bureau, and their home-cooked meal brought back memories of Zhang caring for him after the Kidnapping Case.

• Cui Qiao explained that using abilities drained Mental Power and that Spiritual Penetration drew practitioners closer to monsters lurking beneath the world.
• Han Su wondered whether the monsters that had kidnapped him as a child had left Mysterious Power in his body, then tested his left-hand ability and cracked a bowl.
• Han Su considered touching a monster in the Ancient Castle to see whether he could gain another power.
• Zhang Chiguo arrived with Cui Qiao and groceries, explaining that he had come to cook Han Su a celebratory meal.
• Han Su helped prepare vegetables and remembered how Zhang Chiguo had cared for him after the Kidnapping Case.

Zhang Chiguo told Han Su how his investigation into the Kidnapping Case led him to join the Disaster Management Bureau and how powerful figures blocked the case from being treated as a Bizarre Incident. He revealed that, despite being ordered to stop, he found a new lead through Han Su’s mother.

• Cui Qiao secured the apartment against surveillance so Zhang Chiguo and Han Su could speak privately.
• Zhang Chiguo explained that investigating the Kidnapping Case drew Secretary Number 5’s attention and led him to help establish the Disaster Management Bureau.
• Zhang Chiguo said his reports linking the Kidnapping Case to the bizarre were rejected, and the Bureau was forbidden from investigating it further.
• Zhang Chiguo told Han Su that he had continued investigating despite the warning and had found a new lead: Han Su’s mother.

Zhang Chiguo revealed evidence that Han Su’s missing mother may still be in the city and warned him that pursuing the Kidnapping Case could put him in danger. Han Su agreed to proceed carefully but persuaded Zhang Chiguo to share the leads now, and Zhang Chiguo began to give in.

• Zhang Chiguo explained that he found Han Su’s old school transfer record and a group photo showing the Tall, Thin Woman.
• Zhang Chiguo told Han Su that he had seen the woman three years earlier while handling an incident involving a Mysterious Organization, and he was certain it was her.
• Zhang Chiguo warned Han Su that investigating the organization could expose him to powerful people and urged him to become an investigator first.
• Zhang Chiguo explained that the Disaster Management Bureau’s rules and power struggles could both constrain and endanger Han Su, while promising to keep watching over him.
• Han Su agreed not to investigate recklessly but asked Zhang Chiguo to share the case leads immediately in case something happened to him.
• Zhang Chiguo agreed to tell Han Su the leads, warning him to be very careful.

After learning more about the Crystal Skull organization, Han Su accepted his first Disaster Management Bureau assignment: monitoring a streetlight on Chunhua Street. He recorded its brief outages, completed the commission, and received a higher initial rating.

• Han Su asked Black Rose about the Crystal Skull organization and learned it had worshipped a crystal skull before disappearing from Qinggang City after a crackdown.
• Han Su decided to keep Black Rose as a confidential adviser and remembered Zhang Chiguo's warning to avoid mysterious organizations until he could protect himself.
• The Disaster Management Bureau assigned Han Su to record when a streetlight on Chunhua Street turned off and on between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.
• Han Su watched the streetlight overnight, recorded three flickers and two brief outages, then submitted his data and completed the assignment.
• Miss Ai told Han Su that his initial rating was being raised for helping protect the reality barrier.

Han Su carried out a string of routine Disaster Management Bureau assignments while learning that four trainees had died and that Miss Ai personally assigned his tasks. During a cinema assignment, he detected an abnormal shadow and alerted the Bureau, then encountered a man from the Xu Family on his way home.

• Han Su asked Cui Qiao about his tedious assignments, and she explained that new recruits started with such tasks and that Miss Ai assigned them.
• Han Su contacted Miss Ai through the Bureau app, learned what she could do, and continued completing assignments as his rating rose from C+ to B-.
• Han Su worried about another kidnapping and about Xu Ji's absence, then received an assignment to watch a deserted movie at Dadi Cinema.
• Han Su spotted a shadow moving behind the movie on the screen and sent an alert through the app.
• Miss Ai instructed Han Su to leave, and Bureau investigators and armed personnel sealed off the cinema after he walked away.
• A man from the Xu Family approached Han Su beside a black car and asked whether he had been busy.

Assistant Xu thanked Han Su on behalf of Xu Ji and the Xu family, explaining why Han Su and Xu Ji were being kept apart and warning that the supernatural was drawn to people with deep exposure. He hinted that Han Su’s past Kidnapping Case remained mysterious even to those with status, then showed him a result outside the car.

• Assistant Xu offered Han Su an apartment transfer and six million, but Han Su asked only for the building management fees and questioned whether accepting money would separate him from Xu Ji.
• Assistant Xu explained that Han Su and Xu Ji had both been deeply exposed to the supernatural, so the Xu family had grounded Xu Ji to reduce the danger, especially while the Ghost Truck remained missing.
• Assistant Xu told Han Su that status, rather than wealth alone, gave people access to knowledge about the mysterious, and said the Disaster Management Bureau helped keep ordinary people from learning too much.
• Assistant Xu said humanity was not chasing the mysterious; the mysterious had always been chasing humanity.
• Han Su asked Assistant Xu what he thought of the Kidnapping Case, and Assistant Xu admitted that even people familiar with Qinggang’s supernatural shadows found it too mysterious to understand.
• When the car stopped, Assistant Xu changed the subject and opened the curtains, asking Han Su whether he was satisfied with the result outside.

Han Su accepted the Xu Family’s money and asked Assistant Xu to find Meilan, while the family’s intervention made people pursuing the bounty more cautious. On the fourteenth day, the Flash began to flicker but failed to take hold, and Han Su received an urgent mission ordering operatives to assemble.

• Assistant Xu showed Han Su two former Public Security Bureau officers getting their legs broken and offered him money and help with the Black Table bounty.
• Han Su accepted the money and asked the Xu Family to search for Meilan using the few details he remembered.
• Assistant Xu agreed to look for Meilan and privately wondered whether she was someone he knew.
• Black Rose told Han Su that the attack on the former officers had made bounty hunters more cautious, and Han Su spent the next three days waiting for the Flash.
• Han Su felt the Flash begin just before four, but its signs faded before it could take hold.
• Han Su received an emergency D2-level mission ordering operatives to collect firearms and report to Pinghu Road to assist Investigator Codename: Mr. Strange Bird.

Han Su joined a street patrol tasked with finding a mysterious door and was ordered to recite a dangerous Spell. He refused after Miss Crow warned him, but his partner recited it and shot a woman whose face appeared distorted.

• Han Su collected a Service Pistol and met the other field personnel at a restaurant, where Strange Bird ordered them to search for people with obscured faces.
• Strange Bird instructed the patrol teams to recite a Spell, promising improved evaluations and promotion for their obedience.
• Han Su received a direct warning from Miss Crow and chose not to repeat the Spell.
• Han Su's partner recited the Spell and told him field personnel had to gamble with their lives to survive and advance.
• Han Su spotted a woman with a distorted face, and his partner shot her before Han Su could decide what to do.

Han Su and Mr. Strange Bird fought blurred shadows that possessed people and pursued a mysterious shop door. After Han Su failed to block the entrance and the shadows vanished inside, Strange Bird confronted him, then praised his response and asked his name and team.

• Han Su watched his Executor teammate shoot a woman with a blurred face, and Strange Bird reported an anomaly at Line 2.
• Blurred shadows attacked Han Su and the Executor, possessing bystanders and infecting the Executor until Han Su drove one off with an electric baton.
• Strange Bird rushed toward the source of the shadows, ignored the surrounded Executor, and shot him before using a Spell to slip past the attackers.
• Strange Bird mistakenly opened a nearby home, then spotted the shadows racing toward a half-open shop and ordered Han Su to block its door with his body.
• Han Su struck at the shadows with his electric baton but did not block the entrance, and the shadows slipped inside the shop and disappeared.
• Strange Bird confronted Han Su about failing to stop the shadows, but then smiled, praised him, and asked which team he belonged to and what his name was.

After a disastrous mission, Han Su reported the Strange Bird Investigator for multiple violations, leading both men to be questioned at the Disaster Management Bureau. Han Su learned that the investigator would face no punishment because his eagerness to earn merit earned him leeway.

• The Strange Bird Investigator ended the mission and ordered the scene cleaned up, while Han Su and the others returned to the bureau.
• The Strange Bird Investigator blamed Han Su for the failure and instructed his assistant to write a report against him.
• Han Su asked Doctor and Crow to list the investigator’s violations, then called Uncle Zhang to report him immediately.
• Armed personnel escorted Han Su and the Strange Bird Investigator for questioning, and Zhang Chiguo took the investigator’s briefcase.
• Han Su recounted the mission to Secretary Cui Qiao, who told him he was unlikely to face trouble but that the Strange Bird Investigator would also avoid punishment.

Strange Bird Investigator argued with Zhang Chiguo over the failed mission and tried to claim Han Su as his assistant, but Zhang warned him about Crow and the woman in the Red Trench Coat. Cui Qiao then explained Han Su’s precarious position and the paths to receiving investigator training, leaving him eager to become an investigator’s assistant.

• Strange Bird Investigator blamed a field operative for the failed mission, while Zhang Chiguo accused him of choosing the wrong door, breaking rules, and rushing ahead for credit.
• Strange Bird Investigator asked to transfer Han Su to work as his assistant, but Zhang Chiguo refused and warned him that Crow was connected to the woman in the Red Trench Coat.
• Zhang Chiguo told Strange Bird Investigator that he could seek the transfer through higher authorities, but implied he could also persuade the woman in the Red Trench Coat to retaliate over his treatment of Crow.
• Cui Qiao warned Han Su that Strange Bird Investigator had been angered by the report and that Han Su needed to be careful despite Zhang Chiguo’s protection.
• Cui Qiao explained that Han Su could receive Mysterious Power training by becoming a full-fledged investigator or an investigator’s assistant, and Han Su eagerly considered pursuing the assistant route.

Han Su learned that Strange Bird had offered him an assistant position, which Zhang Chiguo had arranged so Han Su could begin training in the Mysterious Power early. Zhang Chiguo planned to use a favor to find someone to train him, after which Strange Bird would cancel the application, while Cui Qiao questioned Zhang Chiguo’s willingness to adapt to the Bureau.

• Cui Qiao explained that field operatives could train in the Mysterious Power early by becoming an investigator’s assistant, though doing so could complicate their promotions.
• Han Su received a message saying B-class investigator Strange Bird had invited him to work and study under him, and Cui Qiao warned that Strange Bird could be dangerous.
• Zhang Chiguo said he had asked Strange Bird to submit the application because the assistant position would give Han Su a chance to train early.
• Zhang Chiguo explained that he would arrange for someone else to train Han Su, then have Strange Bird cancel the application; Han Su accepted the risks.
• After Han Su left, Cui Qiao told Zhang Chiguo he seemed different, and he admitted he was trying to adapt rather than repeat the mistakes that had sidelined him at the Public Security Bureau.

Han Su asked Miss Crow how the Disaster Management Bureau trained people to achieve Spiritual Penetration, and she offered to let him experience Mental Power firsthand. As she pushed more of her power into him, she realized his spirit was unusually difficult to stir.

• Han Su worried that revealing his existing abilities could get him assigned to the Bureau’s restrictive Group D7, so he planned to conceal his Spiritual Penetration.
• Han Su messaged Miss Crow about Spiritual Penetration training, and she invited him to training room C2.
• Miss Crow explained that people could achieve Spiritual Penetration through Cipher Incantations, dangerous exposure to bizarre pollution, or repeated help from someone who had already achieved it.
• Miss Crow took Han Su’s hand and infused it with Mental Power so he could feel his spirit come alive.
• Miss Crow found Han Su’s spiritual world vast and stubborn, so she steadily increased the force of her Mental Power.

Han Su’s Mental Power instinctively counterattacked Miss Crow’s Spiritual Penetration, briefly invading her memories and triggering alarms throughout the base. The chapter ended with armed security personnel entering the training room as Zhang Chiguo and Secretary Cui Qiao arrived.

• Miss Crow explained Mental Power’s development and the recognized stages of understanding the mysterious while transmitting information into Han Su’s mind.
• Han Su tried to respond, stirring the sea of Mental Power inside him and causing it to surge toward his and Miss Crow’s joined hands.
• Han Su’s Mental Power repelled Miss Crow’s influence, struck back through her hand, and triggered red runes and alarms across the base.
• Han Su’s power invaded Miss Crow and showed him fragmented memories of her childhood, training, and a pitch-black eye watching her.
• Han Su and Miss Crow released each other, but before she could explain what had happened, armed security personnel entered and Zhang Chiguo and Secretary Cui Qiao arrived.

Han Su completed Spiritual Penetration training after Miss Crow accidentally opened his breach, and Zhang Chiguo tested him to confirm he remained himself. Zhang Chiguo reprimanded Miss Crow for the dangerous mistake, but Han Su claimed responsibility too because he had asked her to do it.

• Miss Crow admitted she had accidentally completed Han Su's Spiritual Penetration and offered to accept punishment.
• Zhang Chiguo and Secretary Cui Qiao tested Han Su with a mirror, an impostor image, the Ghost Truck, and the Action Manual, confirming he appeared unchanged.
• Cui Qiao tested Han Su's right hand, and his controlled Mental Power caused cracks in the training room walls before she pushed it back.
• Cui Qiao confirmed Han Su had completed Spiritual Penetration, and Zhang Chiguo scolded Miss Crow for creating a dangerous breach.
• Han Su told Zhang Chiguo that he had asked Miss Crow to open the breach and said he should share responsibility.

Han Su achieved Spiritual Penetration, and Zhang Chiguo warned him to rest and keep his right-hand opening secret while arranging his training. Meanwhile, Song Chushi hid outside Qinggang and wondered how a sealed forbidden Spell had become Void before he reached it.

• Zhang Chiguo dismissed Miss Crow without requiring a self-criticism and ordered Han Su to remain at the Bureau for observation.
• Zhang Chiguo warned Han Su that his right hand was now a known opening and told him to wear a glove until formal Mental Power training began.
• Zhang Chiguo said Han Su's future trainer was pursuing Song Chushi, who had appeared in Qinggang City and met Han Su.
• Song Chushi told the voice in his silver suitcase that he had returned to give Han Su a protective gift, but the ruin's sealed S-rank forbidden Spell had become Void.