Sheng An

Biodata

Background / History

Sheng An was raised by the state and underwent special training from a young age. She and Qiu Yu became the only two female members of Team 0, an elite unit responsible for the nation’s most secret and difficult missions. Qiu Yu once cared for her closely, washing and mending her clothes and preparing late-night meals. Their relationship broke down over a mission whose details Sheng An declines to discuss 8 9.

After transferring out of Team 0, Sheng An continued undertaking highly classified assignments. When the government established the Doomsday Special Affairs Office to manage Aberrants and prepare for the meteorite catastrophe, she became one of its leaders. Qiu Yu headed Group A, while Sheng An headed Group B 2 8 32.

During the initial allocation of personnel, Sheng An requested Team 0 captain Qi Lingwu rather than the three other available Aberrants. His assignment to Group B gave her access to Team 0’s collective strength, which she considered more valuable than the immediate advantage of additional ability users 9.

Appearance

• Build: Tall and slender, with an appearance Jiang Yu initially mistakes for physical frailty 1 9.
• Face: Delicate features, sharp almond-shaped eyes, and a healthy wheat-colored complexion 1 4.
• Hair and makeup: Introduced wearing a high ponytail and no makeup 1.
• Operational clothing: Wears a combat uniform and combat jacket during the operation against Long Tianyu 46 49.

Personality

Sheng An is rational, restrained, and exceptionally composed under pressure. After hearing about the Otherkind and the disasters following the meteorite impacts, she steadies Jiang Yu and Hao Jingye by treating each threat as a problem to investigate rather than a reason to surrender 5 8.

Her reassuring manner coexists with calculated coercion. Recruiting Jiang Yu involves armed precautions, a gun threat, promises of protection, emotional reassurance, incentives, and a strategic pretence of withdrawing the offer. She similarly insists that the state is bringing Li Xin under its authority, not courting his favor 2 3 4 26.

Her patriotism does not make her conventionally gentle or obedient. Song Linwei recognizes rebellion and a streak of madness beneath her languid exterior. Before the apocalypse, she often valued completing a mission above surviving it; the prospect of humanity’s destruction instead makes her determined to live and resist 11 36.

She values intelligence and practical contribution more than supernatural status. Her recruitment of Song Linwei explicitly recognizes his judgment as valuable in its own right, not merely as a means of controlling his nephew 28.

Abilities & Skills

Physical Strength and Close-Quarters Combat

Sheng An’s special training allows her to overpower opponents without an awakened ability 3 34.

• Holds Jiang Yu’s door open with one hand despite Jiang Yu’s efforts to close it 3.
• Dodges Lou Mingwei’s lightning strike by vaulting over a dining table 34.
• Uses her legs to throw Lou Mingwei, breaks his arm, and restrains him by the throat before he can attack again 34.
• Defeats Lou Mingwei without drawing her gun, demonstrating that an ability alone does not guarantee combat superiority 34.

Firearms and Scientific Countermeasures

Sheng An combines weapons with knowledge of an opponent’s ability rather than relying on ordinary ammunition alone 22 23.

• Uses a gun loaded with aqua regia bullets to damage Li Xin’s otherwise bullet-resistant metal body 23.
• Identifies copper and gold as major components of his transformation and explains why the chemical mixture can attack them 23.
• Acknowledges the countermeasure’s limits: different metallic compositions could resist it, and unfamiliar elements might require chemistry specialists 23 29.

Investigation and Deduction

She identifies Aberrants through behavioral changes, physical evidence, surveillance, and gaps in witness accounts 1 11 17 41.

• Connects Jiang Yu’s unusual purchases and vanished iron barriers to a hidden storage space 1 4.
• Recognizes Li Wanyun’s fortified villa and choice of a proposed Core Shelter site as signs of rebirth knowledge 11.
• Notices that Song Linwei is withholding information without necessarily lying, then uncovers his attempt to attract government attention 17 19.
• Links separate “ghost” reports, a faint warehouse footprint, and photographs to the grain thief 38 41.
• Infers that Long Tianyu’s flash ability has limits and that his escape plan requires another accomplice 44.

Recruitment and Ability Development

Sheng An turns unusual abilities and past-life knowledge into resources for collective survival 4 9 29.

• Assigns Jiang Yu to preserve Hope Seedlings and test Experimental Hope Seeds within her soil-filled space 9.
• Envisions combining Jiang Yu’s space with earth, water, and plant abilities to create a large shared farm; this remains dependent on admitting other people into the space 20.
• Arranges intensive, personalized scientific education for Li Xin, intended to improve his transformations and establish a training template for future metal ability users 29.
• Plans to use regressors’ memories to identify additional ability users before the apocalypse 40 44.

Operational Command

She coordinates police, intelligence personnel, researchers, and Team 0 through the Special Affairs Office’s national authority 2 47.

• Directs armed containment and capture operations against uncooperative Aberrants 2 22 47.
• Uses monitored communications, surveillance footage, traffic controls, roadblocks, and drones to track and isolate targets 13 44 45 47.
• Requests Team 0 as backup against Long Tianyu while also giving its members experience fighting an Aberrant 47.
• Maintains team cohesion after Group A’s provocations, reassuring her members without treating the rival group’s strength as a national loss 35.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Handgun: Used during confrontations and recruitment; she also carries a firearm capable of firing specialized chemical ammunition 3 23.
• Aqua regia bullets: Her personally prepared countermeasure against Li Xin’s metal shell 23.
• Protective goggles: Worn before deploying the chemical ammunition 22.
• ID badge: Identifies her as a team leader of the Doomsday Special Affairs Office 22.
• Miniature radio: Used to direct the coordinated capture operation against Long Tianyu 47.
• Cigarettes and lighter: Formerly carried; she puts them away after remembering her promise to quit smoking 11.

Relationships

• Qi Lingwu — Her lover and Team 0’s captain. Their separate assignments allow only a handful of meetings each year. He prompts her to quit smoking, understands her indirect request for his return, and reunites warmly with her after subduing Long Tianyu 9 11 32 50.
• Hao Jingye — Her close working partner in investigation, intelligence analysis, and recruitment. He admires her judgment and helps execute her plans while frequently recognizing the traps behind her friendly manner 2 4 6 44.
• Qiu Yu — Childhood companion, former Team 0 teammate, and rival Group A leader. Their falling-out began with a mission. Despite their conflict, Sheng An believes both will place national interests above personal grudges 8 35.
• Jiang Yu — A reborn recruit whom Sheng An protects, reassures, and subjects to demanding agricultural study. Jiang Yu develops sincere sisterly admiration for her, despite being only one month younger 6 8 13 50.
• Li Xin — A rebellious teenage metal ability user brought under her authority. She defeats him, disciplines him, secures a three-month work agreement against his equipment debt, and establishes his education plan 23 25 27 29.
• Song Linwei — A researcher she recruits for his intelligence and flexibility. He becomes a trusted colleague handling camp affairs and assisting investigations 28 37 44.
• Li Wanyun — A reborn spatial ability user whose storage capacity Sheng An plans to use for overseas procurement and Team 0’s arms transport. Sheng An arranges protection because she recognizes the danger of Li Wanyun’s conspicuous spending 15 31 32.
• Long Tianyu — A regressor and flash ability user she identifies as both a grain thief and a potentially useful recruit. She rejects his bargaining conditions and directs the operation that ends with Qi Lingwu subduing him 44 49 50.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Jiang Yu’s Recruitment

• Investigates Jiang Yu at Jiaqing Bay, reveals the government’s existing disaster preparations, and persuades her to disclose her past-life knowledge 1 4 5.
• Has Yu Litian and Chen Jiaojiao arrested over the theft of Jiang Yu’s bracelet 8.
• Redirects Jiang Yu’s expectations of stockpiling into agricultural research and preparation for post-apocalypse food production 9 13 20.

Overseas Logistics

• Investigates Li Wanyun’s preparations and arranges her overseas trip to support procurement and the transport of Team 0’s enormous arms shipment 11 15.
• Monitors the mission and urges an early return as foreign powers investigate Team 0 31 32.

Li Xin’s Incorporation

• Traces the “Iron Man” sightings to Li Xin and stops his public escape using chemical ammunition 17 19 22 23.
• Converts his destructive resistance into a work contract and a demanding program of examinations, training, and scientific study 27 29.

Conflict with Group A

• Stops Jiang Yu from striking herself under Qiu Yu’s Puppet ability, then defeats Lou Mingwei after his lightning attack 34.
• Recognizes that Qiu Yu’s escalating provocations aim to force the higher-ups to choose a single leader for the office 37.

Stone City Supply Thefts

• Connects the missing grain to Long Tianyu, Zhang Kun, and Ke Jiaxue, then consolidates meat supplies to bait their next theft 40 41 44.
• Arranges a warehouse for the trio and coordinates their containment, using their stockpiling plans against them 45 47.
• Reunites with Qi Lingwu after Long Tianyu’s capture and begins questioning Zhang Kun and Ke Jiaxue about their thefts of state property 50.

Notable Quotes

“An arrest warrant is our last resort. You are our country’s hope.” 4

“Ability users aren’t invincible. I haven’t even drawn my gun yet.” 34

“Groups A and B are rivals, but we’re also teammates.” 35

“Sheng as in a golden age, and An as in a nation at peace, its people safe.” 35