Looks Human Enough

Shen Yu had flagged several anomalous locations.

They still needed people to go and investigate them.

Ji Wu was a Supervisor; his sole responsibility was keeping an eye on Bai Zuo.

In principle, investigating Weirds fell outside the scope of his duties.

But Xu Zhou was a rookie. If he went alone to investigate, the odds of something going wrong were high.

So Ji Wu ended up as a Supervisor for two people.

He had to both watch over Bai Zuo to keep him from stirring up trouble, and look after Xu Zhou, making sure this little newcomer didn't get himself killed by some low-level Weird before he even had a chance to grow.

A bit short on manpower!

How about...

Drawing another Character Card?

Shen Yu's urge to pull a card was itching.

Unfortunately, his mental energy limited his options.

Playing two characters at once was already straining him; adding a third would probably risk his head splitting open.

"Forget it, forget it. I'll wait until the Headquarters Building is finished!"

Shen Yu sent those addresses to Ji Wu, telling him to take Xu Zhou to investigate whenever he had time.

Late at night.

Some people were asleep.

Others were up all night writing reports.

Xu Zhou sat at his computer desk, constantly scratching his head. The report in the document was only a tenth finished. Frustrated and despairing, he typed while picking up a cup of coffee from beside him and taking a sip.

Several reports needed his writing.

The problem was that each report required several thousand words, demanding detailed descriptions—even needing to record the abilities of the Weirds observed by the Contract Anomalists, the process of containing the Weirds, and all the personnel involved.

Especially the reports on Contract Anomalists using their abilities.

For instance, this time, to prevent the Weird from affecting the people on Anyang Island, Bai Zuo had used his Heart Gu's power to control them in advance.

Bai Zuo was supposed to write that report himself, but he'd dumped it on Xu Zhou instead.

As Xu Zhou thought it over, it suddenly struck him: if Brother Bai hadn't discovered the Lamp Mansion Festival was problematic and stepped in to disrupt it—

If the Lamp Mansion Festival had gone smoothly, then Yama could have used the ritual to influence everyone who participated.

At that point, none of the people involved in the festival would have survived!

Brother Bai had basically saved those people's lives.

"If I write all this down, it should lighten Brother Bai's punishment a bit, right?"

Although the Aberration Containment Association's purpose was only to contain Weirds, with no rule requiring Contract Anomalists to save ordinary people caught up in incidents.

But Bai Zuo taking the initiative to save so many people showed his temperament had mellowed considerably, and his danger level had dropped significantly. Maybe one day, his supervision could be lifted.

Xu Zhou immediately started typing furiously, using every kind of flowery language to praise Bai Zuo's outstanding performance in the mission.

After fighting through the entire night, the report was finally finished!

The next day.

Ji Wu had also just finished a full night of overtime. He straightened his tie and said with a hint of weariness, "Finished writing the report? I'll submit them together."

Xu Zhou raised his hand: "Brother Bai's is done!"

Ji Wu paused. "Alright, let me take a look."

Xu Zhou gave up his seat.

Ji Wu sat down and read through the report he'd written.

Ji Wu sighed. "Ah, forget it. This will do!"

It was already impressive that Xu Zhou had managed to write it this well.

Ji Wu made a few minor corrections for typos and awkward phrasing. Once it was basically fine, he sent the report to his email, waiting to submit it all together later.

Xu Zhou took another sip of coffee.

Ji Wu noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "Good work. Once this busy stretch is over, take a few days off to rest."

Xu Zhou: "It's not hard. Compared to before, this is nothing."

Before he met Brother Bai and became a Contract Anomalist, every day felt like a year to him.

But now that he was a Contract Anomalist, even though he lived a life constantly facing danger, he felt much more at ease. At least he was doing the right thing.

Ji Wu was about to say that Contract Anomalists did have the benefit of a few days off, when his phone rang.

He pulled it out and saw it was an unfamiliar number.

Ji Wu answered with a hint of curiosity. "Hello?"

"Mr. Ji? It's Kong Yubo." Kong Yubo's voice sounded even more exhausted, and he seemed to be in a hurry, making his tone increasingly urgent.

"Mr. Ji, I have something urgent to tell you. It's related to the Lamp Mansion Festival."

Ji Wu's heart skipped a beat. "What is it?"

"At the time, the Weird collapsed a building, injuring quite a few people. After we sent them to the hospital, we received reports of missing family members. The tally now shows fifteen people unaccounted for."

"Were those fifteen missing caused by the Weird?"

Kong Yubo figured those fifteen missing were likely inside that collapsed building, probably reduced to minced meat.

After all, the force of that Weird's strike had shattered half the building. It was already beyond expectations that Bai Zuo had managed to save most of the people.

But Ji Wu didn't think so.

Only those who had spent time with Bai Zuo knew just how outstanding his strategic mind was. His observational skills were so acute that he often predicted outcomes before events even unfolded.

It gave people the feeling that he possessed foresight.

In a battle against a Weird, he would surely prepare for the worst, calculating ninety-nine steps ahead from just one.

Every reaction, every move of the Weird was within Bai Zuo's expectations.

That was how Bai Zuo managed to save so many people under the Weird's attack.

Since he had already anticipated the Weird's actions, he wouldn't have overlooked those fifteen people.

Unless.

Those fifteen had something special about them.

Ji Wu slapped his forehead, feeling his teeth start to itch again. He ground his teeth and said, "Let me ask Bai Zuo first. I'll get back to you."

"Alright, sorry for the trouble."

After hanging up, Ji Wu roared, "Bai Zuo!!!"

Outside the door.

Bai Zuo immediately poked his head in. "You called?"

Today, Bai Zuo had made a rare visit to the company and quickly got chummy with everyone there.

Deng Xiaorui came running over with a bag of takeout. "Mr. Bai, here's your milk tea and roast chicken."

Bai Zuo took it with a grin. "Thanks~"

Looking at him like this, when Bai Zuo wasn't up to no good or blatantly radiating his full malice, he actually seemed quite presentable. In fact, with his good looks and youthful face, he was quite popular in the company.

Deng Xiaorui quickly waved her hands. "No need to thank me. Taking care of you all is what us support staff are supposed to do."

Xu Zhou was a kid who didn't dare trouble others and was rather honest. Even though Ji Wu had told him about the benefits and treatment for Contract Anomalists, Xu Zhou never dared to voice his requests and did everything himself.

But Bai Zuo, once he got to the company and got to know people, had the two support staff running around in circles.

Yet this guy had a knack for understanding people. Even though he kept making them run errands, his friendly attitude and high emotional intelligence kept them from getting annoyed.