The Situation Concerning "First-Test Users"

If you kept walking along the riverbank, sooner or later your shoes would get wet.

Looking at the three sets of credentials they had all held out before him, he could see little difference between them at first glance.

After a moment's hesitation, He Qiu took the nearest one and lowered his head to examine it carefully, making casual conversation as he did.

"Yes, that's right. I'm He Qiu. What can I do for you?"

He neither admitted nor denied anything, behaving as though he had completely missed their deliberate mention of the word "user."

Playing dumb might not help, but people who couldn't play dumb sometimes ended up looking particularly "dumb" indeed.

"Yes, we've come specifically to pay you a visit."

The man was remarkably frank about their purpose, with an air of "if you dare to ask, I dare to answer." It was just hard to tell whether this visitor was an unwitting pawn or part of an elaborate deception.

Holding the dark-covered credentials, particularly with that gold-stamped emblem on the front, felt almost like holding something hot.

Honestly, before he had even opened it, the former photographer's left eyelid had already begun to twitch.

But this was precisely when he couldn't afford to show fear.

He opened it straight to the inside pages. The man in the ID photo wore a solemn expression, and a quick comparison with the man standing before him revealed nothing amiss.

The embossed seal was equally clear. The affiliation field plainly read "Special Affairs Investigation Bureau" in a line of Song typeface, accompanied by the designation "Special Affairs Unit, Grade Three Staff Member."

A department he had never heard of.

Yet every part of the credentials appeared flawless. There was even a small serial number and an anti-counterfeiting mark in the sleeve