I, Brian, Will Not Tolerate Evil!

When Brian realized that he, too, was an Aberrant, and that there was no so-called cheat at all, his feelings were extremely complicated.

According to Susan.

Aberrants were either super perverts or mentally ill.

After these people experienced the radiation from the Blood Moon phenomenon, there was a certain chance they would receive the Blood Moon's gift.

The power of the gift would reflect the host's mind, giving rise to the ability the host desired most and was most suited to. And as time passed, the dark side of their hearts would surface beyond their control. They would slowly lose their reason and commit bloody case after bloody case.

According to Susan.

Once these Aberrants acted according to the darkness in their hearts, and their desires were satisfied, they would grow even stronger, while their reason would decline even further.

So most Aberrants, after the initial influence of the Blood Moon phenomenon, could not last more than a year or two before degenerating into beasts of desire and losing their minds completely.

This made Brian feel that something was wrong.

He thought of a very serious matter!

Before the Blood Moon, his uncle had probably already been an Aberrant.

Did that not mean...

His uncle was an Aberrant who had undergone the Blood Moon's gift twice?

Then how strong would his uncle Billy be?

At this thought.

Brian quickly asked Susan, "Team leader, if those Aberrants can all obtain the power they desire most in their hearts, then if someone wants to destroy the world, wouldn't we have no way to resist?"

Hearing this, Susan gave a disdainful laugh. "If it were really that simple, this world would have fallen into chaos long ago. It's not that Aberrants will possess whatever they desire in their hearts. It's related to two factors."

"The first factor is the degree to which an Aberrant accepts the Blood Moon's contamination when they awaken.

The higher the degree of contamination, the more closely their awakened ability matches the thoughts in their hearts.

For example.

A low-contamination awakened Aberrant.

In his heart, he desires the strongest body.

Then he might develop abilities such as bone hyperplasia, skin calcification, muscle hardening, and so on—things that have benefits, but also considerable side effects.

If it is a high-contamination awakened Aberrant.

He likewise desires the strongest body in his heart.

Then he might experience a massive increase in the number and density of his muscle fibers, a massive increase in bone density, a massive increase in neural reaction speed, and other positive enhancements with no side effects.

The specific degree of contamination.

Depends on their willpower.

The higher the willpower, the higher the degree of contamination tends to be.

According to current research.

The Aberrants with the most potential are often the kind of guys who are clearly perverts or mentally ill, yet have always believed themselves to be normal.

People like that even deceive themselves.

Their degree of contamination is often very high.

But no matter which kind they are.

Ninety-nine percent of Aberrants obtain physical enhancements. It's not that they can have whatever they want; it's just that they can get infinitely close."

Brian:

He felt that Susan's final remarks were alluding to him.

But from Susan's words.

He also realized that his uncle was probably, at minimum, a high-contamination Aberrant.

He did not know whether the ten kilograms of explosives he had accumulated.

Would be enough to deal with him.

The problem was.

His uncle had so many underlings, their perception of danger was comparable to wild beasts, and he also had the ability to get his hands on a large number of weapons.

Brian only had explosives and a little pistol. They might not necessarily do the job!

Brian quickly pressed, "Team leader, what about the second factor?"

Susan glared at Brian in annoyance, took out another bottle of water, downed it in one gulp, and only then continued:

"The second factor that determines an Aberrant's strength is their reason.

Aberrants are people too. And if they are people, they know how to use tools.

Imagine this.

An Aberrant whose reactions are faster than yours and whose speed is faster than yours fires a gun at you. Can you dodge it?"

But generally speaking, the more severely polluted an Aberrant was, the more easily they lost control of their reason. Without reason, they would not make use of external forces. As for Aberrants with low levels of pollution, their willpower was usually average to begin with, and even if they were less likely to lose control, their aberrant abilities were not strong. They were not that different from ordinary criminals."

Hearing this...

Brian did not feel relieved at all.

He felt that his uncle, Billy, did not seem to fit what Susan was describing.

Not only was the man vicious and strong, his intelligence was not low either.

The more Brian learned...

The less confidence he had.

Seeing Brian's ugly expression...

Susan thought he was still worried, so she took out a special bullet with her right hand, a full 11.18 millimeters in caliber and as thick as Brian's little finger. "Brian, don't overthink it. Even the strongest Aberrant discovered so far can't withstand the Gunpowder Justice in my hand, which can shatter a brown bear's skull!"

Brian nodded, but his expression still did not improve.

He did not believe his uncle could take bullets and explosives with his bare flesh either.

The problem was...

The man's sense for danger was far too sharp.

A sneak attack might not work.

A head-on clash...

Brian sighed.

A gentleman did not stand beneath a dangerous wall.

Since Uncle Billy had already been targeted, he probably could not escape the fate of being captured and brought in for research.

Brian might as well put righteousness before family and firmly cling to Susan's fair thigh.

After Susan's explanation...

Brian also figured out that his so-called cheat was not truly a transmigrator's benefit.

It was entirely a gift from the Blood Moon.

It was also a reflection of the thing he desired most deep in his heart.

Thinking about it, that made sense.

As a perfectly ordinary transmigrator facing immense pressure and threats to his life, yet powerless to change the situation...

What did Brian desire most in his heart?

A cheat, of course.

And so Brian had awakened the "cheat" of Gift of the Dead.

"No wonder every time I execute those beasts, I feel so satisfied inside..."

Brian's mind was a little chaotic.

Did that not mean...

If this continued...

His reason would also gradually vanish like those Aberrants, and he would degenerate into a beast of desire?

Brian sighed inwardly.

Forget it.

He would take things one step at a time.

Uncle Billy and Mad Dog Ike had both lasted thirty years without losing control.

He should be able to as well.

First, he had to resolve his current predicament.

Thinking of this...

Brian suppressed the worry in his heart and continued listening to Susan's endless explanation.

"...

Every time an Aberrant loses control, it impacts the order of society.

That is also the reason the NW Department exists."

At the end of her explanation...

Susan looked into Brian's eyes and said seriously, "We are the foremost line of defense for ordinary people. We are the Night Watchers in the darkness. Capturing or killing every Aberrant we discover is our most important mission!"

Brian, this BOSS-level Aberrant, raised his fist with a determined look in his eyes. "Understood, team leader! I, Brian, will never coexist with evil!"

Susan nodded in satisfaction and patted Brian on the shoulder.

"Very good, Brian!

I knew I hadn't misjudged you!"

Don't concern yourself with your uncle's business.

He told you to join the NW Department, which means he probably knows some inside information about Blood Moon, so he used you to test whether we had our eyes on him.

It was actually meaningless.

Even if I hadn't stepped in, the people at the base wouldn't have touched you.

They would only have turned you.

Because your uncle is highly valuable and has his own serial number. My guess is he was put on those disgusting bastards' captive list long ago."

"Captive list?"

"Aberrants are unstable factors, but they're also assets.

You don't need to know the details.

From now on, don't have any contact with your uncle.

There are definitely eyes from those disgusting bastards around him.

If you keep contacting your uncle, even I may not be able to protect you.

In short.

You can tell your uncle that you passed the NW Department's review.

But don't go see him again.

If your uncle insists on seeing you, then tell me.

I'll personally send him to meet Satan!"

Susan patted the twin pistols at her waist with domineering flair.

"Team leader."

Brian's eyes brimmed with tears. He wished he could pledge himself to Susan right then and there.

Unfortunately, Susan wasn't into abusing her position for favors.

She glanced at the time and beckoned to Brian. "Let's go. The onboarding training over there should be finished by now. I'll take you to sign the confidentiality agreement, and you'll also need to pick up some equipment for official employees. The true purpose of Ace Base is to imprison and research those Aberrants. We're basically their frontline staff and informants."

At the words imprison and research, Brian's heart tightened.

He absolutely could not expose his identity as an Aberrant!

Otherwise, he would suffer a fate worse than death.

Following Susan, Brian, his mind heavy with worries, received a "high-tech" watch exclusively for NW Department employees.

The thing could not only locate its wearer, but also send out an emergency request for help.

Most importantly, after an Aberrant died, the contamination radiation inside their body would leak out and be detected by the watch.

In reality, after Blood Moon, every law enforcement department in Los Angeles tested each corpse at the first opportunity to ensure they didn't miss an Aberrant's body.

That was also the fundamental reason why Mad Dog Ike's corpse had been discovered at once and sent to the base.

For frontline NW Department employees like Brian, every Aberrant corpse represented a hefty bonus.

As for who was the hunter and who was the prey, that depended on their respective methods.

This was actually an exposition chapter that opened up the worldbuilding. It was a bit tedious, sorry about that.

Oh, right.

Susan was actually originally modeled after Dean's daughter. I didn't expect some readers to notice.

Haha.

Thanks to reader "Night's Glory" for the ten-thousand-coin tip. Thank you, Boss Ye!

Brian: Thanks to reader "Night's Glory" for the ten-thousand-coin tip. Thank you, Boss Ye!

The second chapter may be half an hour late.