The Follower

"Pregnant?!"

Gaoyang and Qingling spoke in unison, both utterly stunned.

Beasts could actually get pregnant?

Didn't beasts lack human reproductive organs?

Gaoyang's head began to ache. There were far too many questions to figure out. And here he was, still a complete weakling. Who knew how many days he had left to live?

Without a second thought, Qingling asked, "Are you sure she wasn't lying to you?"

"I'm sure," Officer Huang said firmly. "I can't think of any reason she'd lie to me."

"Are you sure the child's yours?"

"Uh..."

Qingling's question struck right at his soul. Officer Huang paused briefly. "I trust she hasn't been cheating on me."

Qingling said nothing more.

Gaoyang hesitated before speaking. "Officer Huang, can I ask you a personal question?"

Officer Huang's smile turned awkward. "I know what you're going to ask. My wife may be a beast, but we have a good relationship. We fell in love before I awakened, after all. Even now, we sleep together about once a week on average."

Gaoyang nodded, signaling for him to continue.

"My wife's rather shy. She always turns off the lights when we sleep together, and she likes to have a little red wine..." Officer Huang stopped himself. "Ahem. You two are still young, so I'll spare you the details. Anyway, since I've never had sex with an actual human woman, nothing felt wrong when I slept with her."

Officer Huang sighed. "My wife's always wanted a child, so naturally, I didn't use protection. I thought beasts couldn't have children."

"What now, then? What are you planning to do?" Gaoyang asked.

Officer Huang took out a cigarette, put it to his lips, then lowered it again. "To tell you the truth, when I first heard my wife was pregnant, my first reaction wasn't shock. It was happiness."

"Happiness?" Qingling frowned.

"Yes. The joy of being a father. Even I found it hard to believe." Officer Huang took out a lighter and lit his cigarette as though making up his mind, then took a deep drag. "I've decided to let the child be born, if the birth goes smoothly."

"Are you crazy?" Qingling was baffled. "She's a beast!"

"I know..." Officer Huang gave a bitter smile. "But she's also my wife, and she's carrying my child."

Gaoyang said nothing. Deep down, he supported Officer Huang's decision. He had a vague intuition that the "child's" birth might reveal more of this world's secrets. Of course, it would most likely drag Officer Huang into even greater danger, too, but that risk was worth taking.

"Do whatever you want. Just don't drag me into it." Qingling stopped objecting.

"Don't worry. I won't." Officer Huang expressed his gratitude, then turned and leaned his backside against the desk. "All right, next topic: you didn't complete the mission, so I can't tell you about the sequence list. But I'll still honor the extra reward I promised as thanks. You can ask me two questions. Think carefully before you ask."

"How do you level up a Talent?" Qingling blurted out.

"What makes you think Talents have levels?" Officer Huang's gaze flickered.

"Yeah." Gaoyang was just as curious. After all, he was the only one with a system.

"I wasn't sure at first, either." Qingling lowered her head and looked at her palm:

"But I've experienced [Blade God] leveling up twice. It felt different from gradually getting stronger through daily physical training. At a certain moment, some kind of energy suddenly flooded into my body, opening everything up from head to toe. It was like being reborn. I've had that experience twice with [Blade God]."

"But not with your [Metal]?" Officer Huang asked.

"Only once with [Metal]. It never happened again afterward. When I first acquired [Metal], I could only control metal objects weighing up to one kilogram. After it leveled up, I could control objects weighing up to ten kilograms. In theory, I should be able to level it up again." Qingling clenched her hand. "I don't know what the problem is."

"Figuring out that much on your own shows real perceptiveness." Officer Huang took off his police cap and thought for a moment. "Actually, every Talent can level up. Rumor has it they can reach level eight at most. Your [Blade God] is only level three right now. You have a long way to go. Of course, my [Gun God] is only level three, too."

"Then how do I level it up?" Something lit up Qingling's eyes.

"Sorry, I can't answer that."

"Why?"

"It's a rule."

"Who made it?"

Officer Huang smiled without answering.

"My turn." Gaoyang raised his hand like a student eager to ask a question in class.

"Go ahead."

"How can I meet them?"

Officer Huang blinked, then laughed. "You're quick on the uptake, kid."

"You flatter me." Gaoyang thought, My ability's already this lousy. If I don't keep my wits sharp, I won't even manage to coast along. "Officer Huang, is there an organization above you? They're the ones who made that rule, right?"

Officer Huang nodded and sighed. "Actually, I'm not a member of the organization. I'm just an outside operative. They're always the ones who contact me, give me orders, and use me as their errand boy. I'm not qualified to speak to them directly. But since I'm so good at being their errand boy, I can occasionally wheedle some useful information out of my contact."

Officer Huang's smile faded, and his expression grew serious. "But he forbids me from sharing it. If he finds out, things probably won't end well for me."

"Why don't you join the organization?" Gaoyang asked. "Shouldn't your current job give you a pretty big advantage?"

Officer Huang smiled sheepishly. "Because I'm too weak."

"You're... too weak?"

Gaoyang felt as though he'd taken a stray shot himself.

"I haven't passed the organization's assessment, so I'm still on probation. Full membership is nowhere in sight." Officer Huang looked out the window. "That organization's pretty mysterious. It keeps its existence and operations very low-profile. To survive, even Awakened stronger than us have to be extremely careful."

"I see."

"But..." Officer Huang turned around. "Now that you two are here, I think I could try another interview. Provided you want to join the organization, too."

"I do!"

Gaoyang agreed immediately, then looked at Qingling.

With a cold expression, Qingling asked, "If I join the organization, will I learn how to level up my Talents?"

This woman... is there anything in her head besides getting stronger?

"Of course."

"When's the interview?" Qingling asked.

"Don't rush. Sometime in the next couple of days. Wait for my message." Officer Huang glanced at his phone. "That's enough for now. I have to go with my wife for her ultrasound."

Gaoyang quipped, "Aren't you working? Is it really okay to skip out?"

"You can't imagine the joys of slacking off..." Officer Huang was smiling one second, but his face darkened the next. He drew his pistol in a flash and aimed at the door. "Who's there?!"

Qingling was closest to the door. She spun around, conjured a Tang Dao in her hand, and instantly thrust it through the closed office door.

Shhk-

Qingling pulled the Tang Dao back and shook her head. "No one's outside."

Gaoyang was dumbfounded!

Wait, why did you just stab straight through it? What if there really was a beast behind it? What if you got it wrong, and the person standing there was human?

She really would rather kill a thousand innocent people than let one target escape.

Officer Huang slowly lowered his pistol. "Looks like I was being paranoid. I've been on edge lately."

Officer Huang put on his police cap. "All right, let's go."

The rest of Gaoyang's day passed peacefully.

Every so often, he opened the system in his mind to check how his Luck points were increasing. Their accumulation rate never doubled, which meant his surroundings were safe and his identity as an Awakened hadn't been exposed.

Then he continued letting the points accumulate on their own.

After evening self-study, Gaoyang headed home alone.

Late at night, the streets were eerily quiet. The rain had stopped, but the pavement was still damp. Puddles of all sizes lay everywhere, shimmering beneath the neon lights like portals to other worlds.

"Splash." Gaoyang stepped into a puddle and stopped.

Something felt... wrong.

He jolted in realization: someone was following him.