Registering his Sequence

The moment Qin Siyang pushed the door open, the sight inside stunned him.

He had assumed the interior of the Sequence Administration Bureau would be just like its exterior: dull and dreary, with a hint of mystery.

His assumption turned out to be completely wrong.

The inside of the Administration Bureau building was dazzlingly lavish.

Just inside the entrance stood a gilded foyer display, with antique ornaments neatly arranged on it. Each antique had its own description beneath it.

Qin Siyang couldn't help stopping to look. There were ancient coins from Huaguo, square bricks from the pyramids, and sketches by painters from a thousand years ago.

These objects, steeped in culture and history, radiated an alluring charm beneath the glow of incandescent lamps.

He walked around the foyer display and entered the Administration Bureau proper.

Yes, the Administration Bureau building didn't even have a corridor or a reception desk. Once he passed the foyer display, he could see straight into the interior.

The ground floor covered over a thousand square meters, yet it held only a dozen or so desks.

Each desk had three computers: an ordinary desktop and two laptops.

This was the first time he had seen a laptop since his rebirth, yet now he was seeing dozens at once.

There was also a coffee bar off to one side, stocked with a variety of free drinks. An attendant behind the counter was making coffee with hand-ground beans.

Some people were drinking coffee and chatting beside the desks. Others propped their chins on one hand, idly browsing something, while still others wandered around the enormous office space.

Although the building had three stories and Qin Siyang was on the ground floor, there seemed to be no ceiling above him. The entire ceiling was a lamp emitting soft white light.

Perhaps it was incandescent lighting, or perhaps it was energy-efficient. Qin Siyang couldn't tell. But all the bulbs were concealed behind a matte diffuser, making the Administration Bureau's entire ground floor look as bright as day.

Not the brightly lit imitation of daylight at school, but actual daylight-the kind with sunshine.

Qin Siyang stood rooted to the spot, unsure how to react.

Every aspect of the Sequence Ability Management Bureau's decor told Qin Siyang one thing: everyone here enjoyed special privileges.

As he aimlessly surveyed the building's interior, a familiar figure came down the stairs from the second floor.

"Qin Siyang, you're here."

Qian Wendao greeted Qin Siyang warmly. Today, instead of his understated wool coat, he wore a neat sea-blue suit.

Clothes made the man. Dressed like this, Qian Wendao radiated the vigor of a successful man. Even his lackluster, drooping eyes now conveyed the aloofness of someone in power.

Qian Wendao's personal welcome immediately drew the attention of every Administration Bureau employee on the ground floor to Qin Siyang. They wanted to figure out just who this visitor was.

But none of them could make sense of him. Qin Siyang's shabby clothes, scruffy trousers, and shoes with his toes poking through all screamed poverty. Ordinarily, Qian Wendao wouldn't even bother with someone like this, who had awakened a Sequence through sheer dumb luck.

"Section Chief Qian."

Qin Siyang bowed to Qian Wendao, showing his respect in front of the man's subordinates.

"Come on. Let's talk upstairs."

"All right."

Qin Siyang stepped forward and onto the staircase made of dark gray stone slabs. With Qian Wendao warmly ushering him along, he went up to the second floor.

The second floor was much like the first: equally spacious, with soft white lighting across the ceiling.

However, there were no desks here, only scattered leather sofas, coffee tables, and snacks, along with four offices built into the corners.

Qian Wendao led Qin Siyang into the office in the northwest corner, carefully shut the door, and closed the blinds.

"My office is the only safe place in this entire building. We can speak freely here."

Qian Wendao got straight to the point, and Qin Siyang nodded.

He didn't ask Qian Wendao why this place was safe. Qin Siyang had complete faith in the man's caution. Qian Wendao would never make a claim without good reason.

Perhaps being on his own turf gave him more confidence. Qian Wendao was noticeably more relaxed as they talked today than he had been yesterday.

"To be honest, I've always been careful. Nothing has ever gone wrong with this before. Last time was the only exception. I really didn't have the time, so I sent my nephew to collect the money. And as luck would have it, you caught him."

"Even the wisest person can make a mistake, Section Chief Qian. No one in this world is infallible, and no secret stays hidden forever."

"You're right about that."

Qian Wendao took a small blue booklet from a drawer and handed it to Qin Siyang. "Check that the information is correct."

The cover of the blue booklet read [Sequence Ability User Registration Certificate], with a line of smaller text beneath it: [Issued by the Sequence Ability Management Bureau].

Qin Siyang opened it and took a look. It contained his information: Sequence Ability User ID [00009527], Sequence [Phantom Assassin], and residence [No fixed abode].

"Why is my ID number so low?"

As far as he knew, the [Godslayer Camp] had over a million members. There was no way his number should have been only in the nine thousands.

"The person who originally had this number died. It was reclaimed and assigned to you."

"All right, then there's no problem."

"What about your house?"

"Taken care of."

Qian Wendao didn't ask how Qin Siyang had taken care of it. Both men were meticulous, and they trusted each other.

"This booklet is your proof of identity. I didn't have your fingerprints before, but now that you're here, we can enter them into the system. Don't be suspicious of me. This is all standard procedure."

"Yes, I understand."

Qin Siyang pressed both thumbs onto the fingerprint scanner, and Qian Wendao tapped a few keys.

"Done. You're now officially a Sequence Ability User. You can log into the [Sequence Ability User Information] section of the [Godslayer Camp] and look up every legally registered Sequence Ability User."

"What about my username and password?"

"I'll send them to your phone. You can change the password yourself. If you forget it, you'll have to bring this [Sequence Ability User Registration Certificate] to the Administration Bureau and verify your fingerprints before resetting it. It's a hassle, so don't forget."

"You can also stop worrying about your Sequence. United Government regulations state that a Sequence Ability User's Sequence won't be tested a second time unless they've been convicted of a crime. Your identity is now in the database. As long as you don't get into trouble, no one will question it."

"All right. Thank you. I'll release your nephew as soon as I leave."

"Yes, thank you."

"Section Chief Qian, just so we're clear, although I'll release him, the things he was carrying..."

"I know. Consider it a lesson for him. You can keep them. Is there anything else?"

Hearing the dismissal in Qian Wendao's words, Qin Siyang thought for a moment, then nodded. "There's one more thing I'd like to ask."

"Go ahead."

"Section Chief Qian, working somewhere like this, why would you go to such lengths for a single silver coin..."

Qian Wendao froze for a moment, then smiled. "It seems you really have no sense of money."

Qian Wendao seemed to have taken Qin Siyang for an impoverished aristocrat. Qin Siyang neither confirmed nor denied it.

"One silver coin officially exchanges for ten thousand copper coins, but nobody trades at that rate. The market rate is usually twelve thousand copper coins."

"As a section chief at this Administration Bureau, I earn only fifteen hundred and fifty copper coins a month. One bit of extra income is worth over half a year's salary."

"As for this office environment you mentioned-"

"It belongs to the United Government, not me."