Subject 37 Long Sequence Observation

At the Special Intelligence Agency's office building, Xu Tui was having a relatively easy time.

After the routine questioning and statement-taking, no one paid him any further attention. They just told him to wait.

The tension he'd felt upon arriving at the notorious Special Intelligence Agency's office building had faded.

There was only a cup of tea.

No sunflower seeds.

The staff bustled about.

But the two Special Agents who had brought Xu Tui back had looked more and more grim each time they emerged from the interrogation room in the distance.

The use of technology and special drugs had yielded results.

The man was named Ma Xuehou. He was an E-grade member, not a low-level F-grade one, and therefore had some value.

His code name was Long Underwear.

You could say the two Special Agents had done a good job.

But it was a job that had blown the operation. They would rather not have done it at all!

They'd been following a high school student, gotten caught, and exposed their identities without even realizing it. In the end, they'd botched the mission. For a long time afterward, the words "stupid" and "useless" would follow them around.

The basic facts were clear.

An alert senior in high school had discovered a member and boldly stepped in, working with Special Agents from the Special Intelligence Agency who had already been tracking him to capture the traitor.

That would be the official story given to the public.

Everyone was happy.

Behind the scenes, though, the fallout from botching a critical mission wasn't something they could handle themselves. They'd have to wait for their boss.

Their boss was Zhou Sheng, director of the Special Intelligence Agency.

About forty minutes after Xu Tui entered the agency's office building, Zhou Sheng arrived.

He reviewed the case file, then walked over to Xu Tui.

"You were very brave today. You showed courage and intelligence. Do your best at Huaxia Gene University, and don't bring shame on Jincheng Prefecture."

After Colonel Liu Tianhu had sprayed him with spit, Zhou Sheng was still furious.

But if Zhou Sheng couldn't control his emotions, he wouldn't have been able to become director of the Jincheng Prefecture Special Intelligence Agency.

Looking at things rationally, Xu Tui had done very well.

He was a promising young man.

Although his actions had caused the Bait Plan—an operation involving the military, police, and intelligence services—to fail, Xu Tui had done nothing wrong from his own perspective.

Zhou Sheng was magnanimous enough to recognize that.

"Also, according to the National Merit Regulations jointly signed by the Blue Star Gene Committee and the Huaxia Gene Committee, you'll receive six Merit Points for discovering and helping capture a member of the Dawn Organization.

"This won't raise your citizen privileges to E-grade, but six Merit Points is still a very good reward."

"Six points?"

Xu Tui's face lit up with surprise. The Special Intelligence Agency wasn't stingy after all.

An E-grade traitor was usually worth only ten Merit Points. They'd given him most of them.

"Yes, six points. On top of that, you'll receive a cash reward of fifty thousand yuan. We'll submit the paperwork today, and it'll be deposited into your personal account in a day or two."

Xu Tui looked even happier.

Fifty thousand yuan was a lot.

His father, Xu Jianguo, only earned a little over five thousand yuan a month.

"Also, don't tell anyone about what happened today for now. We have a confidentiality agreement for you to sign."

"Does that include my parents?"

Zhou Sheng was speechless. So many questions.

"Once the reward has been paid, you can tell them."

"Understood."

"Go sign the confidentiality agreement over there, and then you can leave."

With that, Zhou Sheng turned and walked away.

He hadn't rushed here just to see Xu Tui off.

He'd wanted to find out whether there was any way to salvage the operation or continue it.

But after reading the case file—

An E-grade member, with a specialty in surveillance.

The evidence was conclusive.

Unless they could turn the member around in an extremely short time—

Which wasn't very likely, either.

Quite a few people had seen what happened that afternoon.

There had been a lot of people near the Maglev Bus stop.

You couldn't stop people from posting about it on Moments!

The operation had already been exposed.

A number of established plans would have to be drastically adjusted.

"Director Zhou, are you still going to use me as bait?" Xu Tui suddenly called out to Zhou Sheng as he walked away.

Zhou Sheng stopped in his tracks.

He turned around.

He saw resentment and anger in the boy's eyes.

"Why do you say that?"

"My teacher said two Special Agent uncles were assigned to protect me. But they didn't eliminate the potential threat. They just followed me.

"In movies and novels, aren't people who get that kind of treatment always used as bait?" Xu Tui asked seriously.

Zhou Sheng frowned as he began to understand.

So that was the problem.

They'd tampered with the reply from An Xiaoxue that they'd reviewed. They'd done it cleverly, mainly because the boy in front of him was so sharp.

"I see. Well, not exactly."

"We were just going with the flow."

Every year, the organization targeted gifted students from all over the country who activated a large number of Gene Points.

They usually went with the flow and took the opportunity to eliminate more threats.

They'd also assigned Special Agents to "protect" Tong Qi, who had activated sixteen Gene Points, and Gong Ling, who had activated fifteen, along with the others.

But they weren't as perceptive as Xu Tui. So far, they hadn't noticed their "protectors."

Zhou Sheng put heavy emphasis on the word "protect" and spoke with a pointed meaning.

"By the way, our protection of you will continue."

With that, Zhou Sheng quickly disappeared into the depths of the dim Special Intelligence Agency building.

"Do they give everyone this kind of special protection?"

After realizing he'd become bait, Xu Tui had been extremely dissatisfied, even furious.

What the hell was this supposed to be?

Not even the Merit Points and cash reward Zhou Sheng had mentioned had eased his anger.

But Zhou Sheng's explanation about the bait operation had dispelled much of his resentment.

"Professor An, I applied to the Wisdom Heart System at Huaxia Gene University's Mysterious Academy. I'll probably be your student, right?"

On the way home, Xu Tui messaged An Xiaoxue again.

"Probably."

"I have a question. The director of the Special Intelligence Agency said they used me as bait by going with the flow. He said they targeted students who activated lots of Gene Points every year. Is that true?"

"Yes."

"Look through the news from each year's Gene Aptitude Test season."

Seeing An Xiaoxue's reply, Xu Tui's resentment eased further.

Meanwhile, An Xiaoxue looked at her Personal Communication Device, her expression complicated.

Her reply to Xu Tui was true.

So was what Zhou Sheng had said.

The Special Intelligence Agency was a long way from Xu Tui's home.

As he rode the Maglev Bus home, Xu Tui kept thinking.

Director Zhou Sheng had said that their protection of him would continue.

That should be real protection.

Against retaliation or something like that.

After what had happened today, Xu Tui was no longer useful as bait.

This kind of protection was something he needed.

Thinking back on the incident in the milk tea shop, Xu Tui now realized how dangerous it had been.

Luck had played a significant part in what happened.

Both the Special Agents and the man code-named Long Underwear had underestimated Xu Tui.

They'd probably been following him from a position of superiority.

That had given Xu Tui an opening.

If either of them—especially Long Underwear—had been more cautious, the outcome today might have been very different.

At that thought, an intense longing suddenly surged in Xu Tui's heart!

Get stronger!

He had to get stronger!

He had to get stronger fast!

When he got home, Xu Tui casually brushed off his parents' questions about why he'd come back so late.

Back in middle and high school, he'd fought a battle of wits with his parents to watch anime and read novels. He'd already gotten pretty good at it.

Not long after dinner, Xu Tui headed straight into his bedroom.

Right now, he desperately wanted to know what had happened after he'd recklessly prodded that gray dot yesterday.

Especially with his intense desire to get stronger.

Modern society had already become fully digitized a century ago, let alone in the twenty-second century's Gene Great Era.

Information technology had reached its peak, and everything was far more standardized.

The Special Intelligence Agency's administrative supervisor had just finished reviewing the information entered that day.

Once reviewed, the information would be sent to various databases.

Any department or individual with the appropriate access could retrieve and view it.

"More and more information every day. Working overtime nonstop. Damn!"

Grumbling, the supervisor finished reviewing the paperwork and went home.

Not long after he left, a previously dark holographic screen suddenly lit up in a mysterious hall whose location was unknown, displaying rows of characters.

"Comprehensive observation indicates that Subject 37 Long Sequence Observation has exhibited an anomaly and meets the criteria for continued monitoring. Please formulate a follow-up plan."

"No response for an extended period. Proceed according to the established plan."

"Seven response plans fit the current situation."

"Prioritize Response Plan 1."

"Response plan summary—continue comprehensive observation."

"Plan in progress."