Scaring Oneself

Not far behind Chen Qing, Wang Chen wore the uniform of a Trainee Security Officer, a standard-issue flashlight in hand as he vigilantly swept his gaze across the streets and alleys shrouded by the rain.

His ability was not particularly powerful. Other than allowing him to hear more distant, subtler sounds and sense vague fluctuations in emotion, it was useless in a direct confrontation.

Among Awakened who possessed the same ability, even the highest recorded level was only Third-tier. Its ceiling could be called remarkably low.

Lately, he often found himself inadvertently recalling what had happened in the classroom that day.

He had watched Li Hao arrogantly force Jiang Mian into a corner, yet shrank back out of helplessness, not even having the courage to step forward and stop him.

Wang Chen would never forget the helplessness and shame he had felt in that moment for the rest of his life.

Afterward, Jiang Mian had comforted him with, "This had nothing to do with you in the first place," but she must have been deeply disappointed too, right?

It was also after that day that Jiang Mian took a long leave of absence, and he had never seen her again.

Wang Chen's heart was always filled with an emotion he could neither name nor explain.

He hated his own cowardice and wanted to change, but with his limited ability, he had no idea where to begin.

When he saw that the Public Security Bureau was expanding recruitment, opening trainee positions especially to some Low Sequence students in order to make up for the shortage of personnel at the grassroots level, he signed up without hesitation.

Perhaps because his ability truly was useful for patrols and sentry duty, he was accepted soon afterward and assigned to the North District to train under Chen Qing.

Her ability was the same type as his, but her Sequence was higher, and she possessed far more skills with much greater versatility.

For instance, even now, Chen Qing could still gather information through the "sounds" in the wind, while his own perceptions had been thrown into complete chaos by the howling wind.

Wang Chen could only focus his attention, his gaze involuntarily drifting toward the deep, shadowy alleys around them.

"Chen, I think there's someone over there?"

At first, he had merely shone his light casually into the alley. He had not expected to find someone crouching in the corner, and for a moment, he thought he had seen wrong.

It was someone wearing a Black Raincoat, their hood pulled low, their entire face hidden in shadow.

The instant the light fell upon her, she swiftly retreated, vanishing into the depths of the alley. Under the cover of the rain curtain, she was gone almost in an instant.

"Oh?"

Chen Qing's eyes sharpened as she immediately turned toward the direction indicated by Wang Chen's flashlight, her right hand already instinctively resting on the weapon at her waist.

"Who's there?"

Sneaking around in the dead of night—there was a high chance something was wrong.

Just as she was about to head deeper into the alley to investigate, she seemed to recall something and instinctively glanced at the hospital not far away.

"Here to see a doctor?"

Of course, this "seeing a doctor" was not meant literally.

Chen Qing clearly knew something about certain hidden matters, but for some unknown reason, she chose to conceal it.

Still... to evade the perception of [Wind Whisper], this person was clearly no ordinary individual.

"Strange... someone was here just now."

Wang Chen approached the spot where Jiang Mian had been standing. Mud and sand had settled at the bottom of the pooled water, and there did not seem to be any footprints at all.

Chen Qing did not respond. Instead, she used her ability to search for traces lingering in the air.

A moment later, she frowned and said, "To conceal their tracks even from my ability, they're probably an 'Awakened' too."

"Then..."

"Keep patrolling. The situation in this area is complicated. Wait long enough, and you'll understand. Don't dig too deeply into it for now."

Wang Chen glanced back at the empty alley. He was young, not stupid. Naturally, he could tell that Chen Qing seemed to be hiding something.

Whatever could make a Second-tier Awakened of Sequence 123 keep silent was not something a Trainee Security Officer like him could investigate further.

If you can't find the book by its title, try searching for the author instead. Maybe it was simply renamed!

Curled up in the alley, Jiang Mian saw that they had not followed her and Sighed in Relief.

Her deskmate had really made something of himself—he had even become a Security Officer?

Unless it was absolutely necessary, she would not casually make a move against these "acquaintances."

But this Chen Qing... her attitude seemed a little strange.

Her ability was indeed absurdly overpowered, but they did not know that. How could they so easily let off a "suspicious person" like her?

Yet after hesitating for only a moment, Chen Qing had given up. She had even inexplicably said, "Here to see a doctor," and stopped Wang Chen from looking into it further...

Combined with the information she had just received, could Chen Qing know some inside details?

And if she made an even bolder guess—what if even the North District Public Security Bureau knew what this place was?

That was far too abnormal.

The Public Security Bureau mostly dealt with ordinary people and Awakened—in other words, "normal people." Under normal procedures, when Aberrants were discovered, they would generally be handed over to the Containment Bureau.

But if the situation was urgent, they likewise had the authority to detain or even kill Aberrants.

A gathering of Aberrants was undoubtedly the greatest source of instability.

Judging by the official stance on the surface, no matter which government agency it was, they should arrest one whenever they found one, and wipe out an entire nest whenever they found one. That was the proper way of things.

Yet Chen Qing's reaction just now was as if she knew this private hospital had a problem, and even knew Aberrants came here to "see a doctor"—but simply chose to ignore it.

Why?

Jiang Mian found the entrance of a tightly shuttered shop. From here, she had a perfect view of the brightly lit hospital.

She pondered, weighing the pros and cons.

She had originally thought this was merely a secret mutual-aid channel among Aberrants. Now, though, it seemed the waters ran far deeper than she had imagined.

After turning it over and over in her mind, she came up with three worst-case possibilities.

The first was a trap, meant to lure in "wild" Aberrants before sweeping them all up in one net when the time was right.

The second was a deal. Perhaps that so-called sole manufacturer was the government itself?

And their purpose might be to have Aberrants do things for them that could not see the light of day.

The third... was nothing more than Jiang Mian's wild guess: they were training some Wind Special Assault Unit. After all...

Every Aberrant who went berserk was a humanoid bomb. Using them against Calamities might yield miraculous results.

As for those captured and sent to containment centers, they were the ones that had been eliminated—"materials" that could be deployed as needed and put to other uses.

"Can't figure it out."

Jiang Mian shook her head. The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed. She decided to give up for now and turned toward home.

She would rather be taken for a sucker in the Black Market than needlessly increase the risk of exposing herself.

There was too little information. Acting rashly was no different from seeking death.

"Hopefully, I'm just scaring myself..."

Jiang Mian felt that if she remained in this state of knowing nothing, she would scare herself to death sooner or later.

She stopped lingering, wind beneath her feet as she sped through the night.

Before long, she arrived at the apartment building where she now lived.

It was already late, and nearly every window was dark. With no streetlights, the place seemed utterly silent.

Jiang Mian reached her door and was about to take out her key when, through [Gale]'s perception, she suddenly sensed an unfamiliar aura.

Someone... was inside?!

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