License Holder

The capital.

Bai Ji stood respectfully before his superior's desk.

As usual, the director's office of the Information and Intelligence Department was hazy with smoke.

The woman examined the new electronic report Bai Ji had submitted. Faint dark circles hung beneath her eyes, yet her thin lips gradually curved into a smile.

This report was a compilation of key information specifically concerning the "Whispers of the Inner Demon" instance. It listed comparative data between "that newly promoted License Holder" and previous clearers.

Naturally, the comparison subjects were all infamous villains.

"His clearance progress is very fast, especially those last two advances. He was even more efficient than those two old monsters from ten years ago."

"Yes. The information provided by the Omniscient Mainframe can't be wrong," Bai Ji agreed quietly, deeply envious that the director, who did not work in the server room, could smoke to her heart's content.

The Omniscient Mainframe was an item-based life-form owned by the authorities. It was connected to the Super-Species World and could transmit real-time information about the opening of evolution instances, along with a function for tracking instance progress.

Once a License Holder successfully cleared an instance, it could also roughly pinpoint that License Holder's location. It could generally narrow it down to within 1,000 square kilometers—roughly the area of three districts in the capital.

It was worth mentioning that it hated secondhand smoke, but readily accepted fruity-flavored e-cigarettes.

"But for the instance to become locked because of him is just too outrageous... 'Whispers of the Inner Demon' is already an incredibly anti-human instance. Just what kind of terrifying person does it take to grind a twisted instance into crashing? If someone like that is allowed to wreak havoc in society..."

The image of a highly intelligent, psychopathic serial killer surfaced in the woman's mind.

Dressed in a sharp suit while wielding heavy weaponry, bloodstained yet still smiling, walking through filthy gutters in the most exquisitely crafted leather shoes...

"Ugh, that's awful."

She lowered her head to review the report again, then pulled up the backup file sent yesterday to the East Sea Peacock Spider Task Force. After comparing them for a long while, she murmured, "No way?"

As an intelligence officer, she possessed an innate sensitivity to coincidences like these.

"Now this is getting interesting..."

She picked up the phone and was about to dial when she noticed Bai Ji still waiting respectfully at the side. She paused, then smiled at her subordinate. "Go back and continue your work, Bai Ji. This report was very timely. Keep up the good work!"

"It's my duty!" Bai Ji responded enthusiastically.

His superior did not make promises lightly, but Bai Ji seemed to see a bright future unfolding before him.

Only after her subordinate had left did the woman dial the internal line...

"Dum, dum-dum-dum~"

"Dum, dum-dum-dum~"

The young girl froze slightly.

Jiang Qian pulled his arm free from those greedy little hands and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Ahem, Old Jiang, it's me! Are you busy?"

"I'm busy. Hanging up."

With that, he decisively ended the call.

Xue Yang, waiting anxiously in the coffee shop, continued his countdown!

Jiang Qian had given no further hint, which meant the next call would come five minutes later.

Xue Yang wiped away his sweat.

This little matter had him nervous as hell. His heart had practically leaped out of his chest when he made the call! Taking in a crawling pet felt like conducting some kind of underground operation...

Silence returned to the curtained bedroom.

Jiang Qian slipped his phone back into his pocket and looked down at the young girl, whose tears had barely dried while her heart was already aflutter. She doesn't know what I cleared. Looks like she can't control which instance she gets matched with, either.

Even so, this score would not be settled so easily.

Before that, though...

Jiang Qian smiled faintly. "Since I helped you escape your instance crisis, you should properly thank me and compensate me for my emotional damages."

"But I'm a fairly decent person. There's no need to spend money on meals or gifts. You can probably tell that I'm an upright gentleman."

"So let's talk business instead. Tell me about the Super-Species World and License Holders. In exchange, I can make some fair and mutually beneficial arrangements with you."

Having said that, Jiang Qian waited to see her reaction.

He did not believe the girl before him was some soft pushover who only knew how to cry.

Sure enough, the young girl adjusted her act and blinked innocently. "I'm also a good girl who knows how to repay kindness. I'll listen to Brother Jiang."

A strange light flowed through her beautiful eyes. As their gazes met, they seemed to be reading the unspoken meanings hidden in each other's hearts through the windows of their souls.

"Get up. Sit down and talk."

"Thank you, Brother~"

"No need to thank me. This is your home."

So the young girl shifted back onto the bed, her smooth bare legs hanging over the edge. She looked like she could not wait to educate Jiang Qian.

"The Super-Species World is a realm filled with miracles and dangers!"

The young girl spoke with great enthusiasm.

"If the Super-Species World were compared to a game, then all License Holders would be certified players of that game."

"And the reason we're called 'License Holders' is because our special abilities come from the 'identity cards' assigned to us by the Super-Species World!"

As she spoke, she spread her fingers and gently brushed them over her face. A purple "card" appeared, then vanished.

"License Holder—pretty fitting, right?"

Jiang Qian nodded in agreement, then asked, "What else do you know about the Super-Species World? For example, how long it has existed, or why it exists?"

As though she had anticipated his question, amusement flickered in the young girl's eyes.

"As far as I know, this game entered open beta at the turn of the millennium, worldwide. Since then, people have constantly been pulled into the game. Some failed their trials and vanished without a trace; some obtained identity cards and embarked on the path of super-species evolution, gaining a new life from then on. As for who created this game and what its purpose is, that's beyond my ability to answer."

"Mm, but that doesn't seem reasonable enough. If this had been happening since the turn of the millennium, why hasn't there been any news of it around the world?"

Jiang Qian silently pulled a pen from his pocket and unfolded the piece of folded paper clipped to its end, looking ready to take careful notes.

The young girl wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and giggled. "Haven't film and television works conveyed enough imagery already? It's just that people believe in science and refuse to put faith in such things. And for License Holders, opposing the order of the vastly more numerous human race would bring more trouble than it was worth. It's better to lurk among the population, enjoy the infrastructure of human society, and coexist peacefully with ordinary people."

Jiang Qian considered it. "That makes some sense."

He keenly noticed that when the young girl spoke of License Holders and humans, it was as though she were describing the story of two separate races.

Humans and License Holders—had they already diverged genetically?

Jiang Qian could not jump to conclusions yet.

"Brother Jiang, aren't you curious what my identity card is?"

The young girl blinked, seemingly probing him on purpose.

"Not curious. I have no interest in prying into a young girl's privacy, and I don't think you'd reveal your secrets to me so easily." Jiang Qian spoke as he diligently made notes on the paper.

Then his pen paused. He looked up as if casually. "Come to think of it, I still don't know your ID. Is there a way to get in touch in the Super-Species World?"

"My level isn't high enough. I can only wait for the Super-Species World's summons." The young girl spread her hands helplessly. "But I can tell you my ID. My name is Aygul."

For a brief instant, a sharp glint surfaced in her eyes as she said the name.

"Aygul..." Jiang Qian repeated the name with interest. "Are you from an ethnic minority?"

"No."

"Then isn't that a bit pretentious?"

"I just like being unconventional. Is that not allowed?" the young girl said playfully.

As though she had completely forgotten how she had knelt on the floor and begged for forgiveness just moments ago.

"Sure. Whatever you like."

Jiang Qian wrote the name "Aygul" on the paper...

The answer provided by the Secret-Seeking Notebook was blank.

What an actress... Jiang Qian kept his expression neutral.

Still, he was rather surprised that the young girl had casually given him the name Aygul.

"Ay" represented the moon, with the bright, holy moon embodying tranquil beauty; "gul" referred to a flower, implying the splendor of a brilliant bloom. The two complemented each other perfectly.

A name like that easily brought to mind a Uyghur girl with an exotic charm.

The kind of striking beauty with deep, sculpted features, tall and graceful yet strong and soft in equal measure. Dancing beneath the moonlight, their seductive passion was enough to set an entire sea of sand ablaze.

The reason Jiang Qian could think of all this was because one of his dormmates was a handsome guy from a Uyghur region. During their freshman year, the entire dorm had been brimming with enthusiasm for ethnic exchange, often comparing dialects from their hometowns—and girls.

And Jiang Qian had an exceptional memory.

"What about yours?" the young girl asked Jiang Qian curiously.

Without even thinking, Jiang Qian replied, "Anti-Scam Prodigy."

The young girl immediately looked baffled.

Who knew whether she had caught the hidden meaning in his words...

"Alright, stop dwelling on names. I'm just a newbie who doesn't understand anything."

Jiang Qian continued to ask humbly, "Tell me about identity cards and evolution paths."

I have some good news to share with everyone: starting tomorrow, the story will begin its trial promotion ^_^

Thank you, everyone! Special thanks to:

Indescribable Child of Light

Distant Nebula Honey

Reader 20180525234038802

And all the readers who sent recommendation votes!