Global Bureau for Joint Investigation, Strategic Defense, Attack, and Logistics Support of Supernatural Incidents

Bang!

He opened his front door.

His wife stood in the doorway like a devoted wife and loving mother.

"Honey, you're home! Have you eaten? Want me to make you some noodles?"

Fang Xiu ignored his lovely, alluring wife, like an office drone coming home after working late into the night and using exhaustion as an excuse to dodge his marital duties.

He took a hot shower on his own, then lay down in bed to sleep.

He called it sleeping, but he was actually studying Spirituality. He desperately wanted to grow stronger. Only then could he uncover the secrets of Green Mountain Psychiatric Hospital, learn the truth about Ghosts, and take revenge on his wife, making the Ghosts of this world feel pain.

He spent half the night studying, but made little progress, mainly because he knew next to nothing about Spirituality. All his information had come from Wang Ziteng, who had heard it from his cousin, leaving him with only a few genuinely useful scraps.

With no other choice, he fell into a deep sleep.

The Green Vine City Investigation Bureau.

It was a department that almost no ordinary person knew about. No one knew what it did, or even where it was.

Yet this discreet, secretive department had a formidable reputation among Green Vine City's Spirit Tamers.

It was a special department responsible for keeping the local Ghosts in check and protecting all of Green Vine City.

Its full name was the Global Bureau for Joint Investigation, Strategic Defense, Attack, and Logistics Support of Supernatural Incidents, or the Investigation Bureau for short.

The conference center at the Green Vine City Investigation Bureau headquarters.

A group of people sat around a conference table.

There were men and women, some in formal attire, others in casual clothes, and some even in bizarre outfits. Each had their own distinctive traits, but they shared one thing: most were young, in their twenties or thirties.

The oldest was probably the middle-aged man seated at the head of the table. In his forties, he wore a black suit and had an air of authority even without showing anger.

"We're holding an emergency meeting. I assume you've all heard that a Ghost Domain appeared at Hundred Willows Academy in this city's development district five hours ago. It currently covers the Hundred Willows Academy sales office. So far, there are no signs of it spreading," the middle-aged man said, getting straight to the point.

The others reacted with varying expressions.

"There have been more and more supernatural incidents lately," someone said gravely.

"Heh, isn't that a good thing? For us Spirit Tamers, the more supernatural incidents there are, the faster we can grow stronger."

"Hmph, big talk. Watch out, or a Ghost will kill you."

"You looking for a fight?"

"You think I'm scared of you?"

The middle-aged man watched the squabbling group with an expressionless face.

Clearly, he had long since grown used to the way these people behaved.

His name was Wang Dehai, and he was the director of the Green Vine City Investigation Bureau. Yet he was not a Spirit Tamer, but an ordinary person.

And this ordinary person had to manage an entire bunch of Spirit Tamers.

Almost every city's Investigation Bureau was structured this way. Spirit Tamers had an extremely high mortality rate, and their positions were combat-oriented rather than managerial. No one wanted to waste resources by burying them in trivial administrative work.

Moreover, because supernatural power had tainted their minds, most Spirit Tamers had strange temperaments. Some were even brutally violent.

All these factors prevented Spirit Tamers from serving as directors.

They did, however, serve as team captains, assisting the directors with management.

"Enough!" Wang Dehai slammed the table and snapped, "Anyone who keeps disregarding meeting rules will have their Spirituality materials cut in half next month!"

That single sentence silenced the entire room.

Clearly, all the Spirit Tamers cared deeply about these so-called Spirituality materials.

As Spirit Tamers, they possessed physical abilities beyond those of ordinary people, along with various powers that defied common sense. Making money was easy for people like them, so they had little need for it.

Spirituality materials, however, were a necessity. Their lives depended on them.

This was also the key to the Investigation Bureau's ability to recruit large numbers of Spirit Tamers. After all, few people worked purely out of passion. To get Spirit Tamers to risk their lives fighting Ghosts, the bureau had to offer enough in return.

Seeing that the room had quieted down, Wang Dehai composed himself.

"Xiao Lin, pull up the surveillance footage from around Hundred Willows Academy."

"Yes, Director Wang."

A capable-looking young woman dressed like a secretary and wearing gold-rimmed glasses hurriedly operated the computer, projecting the surveillance footage onto the conference room screen.

Everyone looked at the screen. It showed footage from around Hundred Willows Academy, but none from inside.

More precisely, it was not that there were no cameras inside. Some supernatural force seemed to have corrupted them, causing all the surveillance equipment to fail.

The surveillance images began to change.

Footage of the main road leading to Hundred Willows Academy appeared.

The road was empty, with only the trees on either side rustling in the wind.

"Fast-forward."

Xiao Lin, the secretary, began fast-forwarding.

"Stop."

The image paused, then resumed playing.

A moment later, the air over the main road suddenly warped, and two figures appeared out of thin air.

They were Fang Xiu and Zhao Hao.

"These two survived the Ghost Domain at Hundred Willows Academy. The better-looking one is Fang Xiu, and the sleazier-looking one is Zhao Hao. Both work at the Hundred Willows Academy sales office. Xiao Lin, read out their files."

Xiao Lin immediately opened the folder in her hands and began reading.

"Fang Xiu, twenty years old, male, a Green Vine City native, orphan, graduated from...

"Zhao Hao...

"Our investigation found nothing unusual in either man's history. Both were likely ordinary people before entering the Hundred Willows Academy Ghost Domain."

"What do you think?" Wang Dehai asked the group.

A young man in a studded leather jacket said dismissively, "If even ordinary people could get out alive, the Ghost Domain's danger rating is probably only D. For something at that level, couldn't we just send anyone over to take care of it?"

"I disagree. Look at Fang Xiu in the footage. He's far too calm. That's not the expression of an ordinary person who just escaped a Ghost Domain alive. There's no joy at surviving, nor any lingering fear from encountering Ghosts. His calm is abnormal.

"If he was an ordinary person before, then there's a very good chance he became a Spirit Tamer inside the Ghost Domain," a man in a suit and gold-rimmed glasses countered.

The man in the studded jacket remained dismissive. "If a rookie Spirit Tamer who's only just awakened his Spirituality could get out alive, the danger rating is probably only C. For something at that level, couldn't we just send an experienced Spirit Tamer to take care of it?"

"Never jump to conclusions about a Ghost Domain you haven't experienced. It might be extremely dangerous, and these two only survived because they were lucky."

"If a lucky rookie Spirit Tamer who's only just awakened his Spirituality could get out alive, the danger rating is probably only..."

"Shut your mouth!" Wang Dehai lost his temper and roared at the man in the studded jacket.

His head was starting to hurt. He must have lost his mind to choose to discuss this with these people.

So he made the decision himself. "Shen Lingxue, Li Wenhao, you two go investigate Fang Xiu and Zhao Hao. Find out whether they've become Spirit Tamers, how strong their abilities are, how badly their minds have been corrupted, and whether they're worth recruiting into the Investigation Bureau. Also, determine the danger level of the Hundred Willows Academy Ghost Domain."

"Yes, Director Wang."

"Understood."