At around 7:50, Xu Le walked into the Night Watchers Branch Office in B2 District.
"Hello, hello. Morning, Brother Shu."
Along the way, he made a point of greeting everyone, whether they were guards or Night Watchers.
Whether he knew them or not, regardless of their position-even the cleaning lady-he treated them all with the same courtesy.
When it came to warmth and politeness, Xu Le was practically an overeager puppy!
His reasons were simple: he liked them, looked forward to working with them, and wanted them to remember his face.
"Good morning." Wang Shu greeted Xu Le as well.
Wang Shu was as calm and unruffled as ever, as though nothing could stir his emotions.
"Brother Shu, where should I report now?"
Xu Le knew Wang Shu was probably one of Bai Jing's trusted aides. He could tell from their previous encounters.
Bai Jing was deliberately grooming Wang Shu.
Besides, Wang Shu was a good guy. If Xu Le stuck with Brother Shu, chances were nobody would bully him.
"Come with me."
Wang Shu took Xu Le to the Men's Changing Room, then fetched a black Night Watchers uniform from the adjacent Cloakroom.
Looking at the black uniform, Xu Le ventured a timid question:
"I've been wanting to ask this, but I thought it might be a little rude. Now that I'm a Night Watcher myself, though, I wanted to ask you, Brother Shu. Isn't it hot wearing something this thick in the middle of summer?"
Wang Shu instinctively wanted to say no, but when he saw Xu Le's earnest expression, he inexplicably loosened his collar.
"Actually... this uniform is already quite breathable."
Xu Le blinked several times, then said seriously:
"I understand."
Xu Le knew when to leave well enough alone. This was like saying some singer couldn't sing back in his previous life.
A swarm of rabid fans would respond that the singer was already working so hard, so why would he say something like that?
Same principle: you said the uniform was hot, and he said it was already quite breathable.
Right, the uniform was already so breathable. Why keep harping on whether it was hot?
So Xu Le decided not to pursue the question.
After he changed into the somewhat hot black uniform, Wang Shu took him to the Administrative Office to complete his employment registration.
[Night Watchers-B2 District, Squad 6-Logistics Department-Xu Le]
Looking at his dog tag-no, his employee badge-Xu Le chuckled.
From now on, I'm on the government payroll too. A genuine civil servant!
"Brother Shu, since I'm in the Logistics Department, what exactly will I be doing?"
"I'm not responsible for your work. Gu Beichen and I belong to the Operations Department. Someone else will arrange your duties."
"Oh, I see!" Xu Le nodded.
Next, he was taken to a room tucked deep inside the Branch Office.
[Consultation Room]
Wang Shu knocked on the door, and a rich, resonant voice came from inside.
"Come in."
"Who's in there?"
While Xu Le was still wondering, Wang Shu had already pushed open the door and walked in.
"Hello, Mr. Gan. I've brought him to you."
Gan, who had been reading, raised his head and looked at Xu Le.
"Fate has brought us together once again, young Xu Le."
Xu Le was taken aback when he saw Gan.
Whatever else might be said, Gan had given him real help during both of their previous encounters.
Though neither favor had been particularly big, they had certainly saved Xu Le a great deal of trouble.
"Mr. Gan."
Sitting in the Consultation Room, Gan set down the documents in his hands and removed his black-framed glasses.
He slowly stood and extended his hand to Xu Le.
"Young Xu Le, starting today, we're colleagues."
"It's an honor to work with you, Mr. Gan."
Xu Le shook Gan's hand. Beside them, Wang Shu tapped on the door.
"All right, I'll leave you two to talk. I'm heading to the Operations Department."
"See you, Brother Shu."
After watching Wang Shu leave, Xu Le looked at Gan with a hint of awkwardness.
"Mr. Gan, what should we do next?"
Gan smiled and pointed to a chair.
"Sit down first. Captain Bai Jing said you've become a Medium, and that you advanced through the ritual method all on your own. That's quite impressive!"
"You're too kind, Mr. Gan. There was some luck involved in my advancement that day. Honestly, I don't know anything."
Xu Le wasn't being modest. He genuinely knew nothing.
"Don't sell yourself short. For a Warlock, luck is a kind of strength in its own right. The captain mentioned that you're self-taught and haven't received any systematic Warlock education. How about this? Starting today, we'll spend a month on basic training. We'll begin with the fundamentals of being a Warlock. Does that sound workable?"
Hearing that Gan would teach him the basics of being a Warlock, Xu Le grew excited. This was real instruction.
As someone who had crossed over from another world, he knew full well that knowledge was power.
Although he could use the Soul Tree to control his emotions, Xu Le felt he shouldn't be too calm at a time like this.
A young man should act like a young man. Otherwise, people might suspect he had been affected by Guyinduo pollution.
"Mr. Gan!" Xu Le looked excited, but hesitated to continue.
"What is it? If you have a question, go ahead."
"How about... I come scrub your toilet for a few days? Otherwise, I won't feel right accepting these lessons."
Gan was startled at first, then belatedly realized what he meant.
"Huh? Hahaha, don't overthink it, Xu Le. Even if I didn't teach you any of this, you could look it up yourself in the Night Watchers archives after joining."
"Looking things up yourself and having someone teach you are two completely different things. Thank you, Mr. Gan. I truly mean it."
Hearing Xu Le's heartfelt gratitude, Gan merely shook his head.
"One good deed a day wards off one calamity a month. I'm not getting nothing out of this either. If you have nothing else to attend to, shall we get started?"
Gan's frankness put Xu Le at ease. Working with someone like him would be a pleasure, both mentally and physically.
"Yes."
Xu Le followed Gan out of the Branch Office and took the Night Watchers' dedicated steam locomotive to the Night Watchers Headquarters in the Upper City.
Their everyday work was indeed based in the Lower City, but important documents, especially study materials, could only be found at the headquarters in the Upper City.
Gan brought Xu Le to the Night Watchers Records Room and deftly pulled a book from a shelf. It looked somewhat old, but was clearly read often.
"Starting from the Red Moon: Understanding This World"
"Xu Le, do you know how the supernatural powers of this world are classified?"
"Not very well. All I really know is that this world's supernatural systems include the Guyinduo Lineage and the Red Moon Lineage."
"Yes. Supernatural power is actually far more complicated than that. Besides Guyinduo and the Red Moon, there are three other systems: gods, outer gods, and ancient gods. The Red Moon and Guyinduo themselves also encompass some ancient gods and gods. So explaining it all thoroughly will probably take some time."
Xu Le listened intently, even entering a tranquil state to digest every word Gan said.
Guyinduo, the Red Moon, gods, ancient gods, outer gods.
Xu Le already understood the powers of Guyinduo and the Red Moon quite well. As for the other three...
The only one Xu Le remembered was the Golden Toad.
An ancient deity that devoured everything, a level 3 ancient god. It should belong to the Ancient God System.
Seeing that Xu Le was listening attentively, Gan continued:
"A Warlock's power comes from the Red Moon. Since we're both Red Moon Warlocks, let's start with the Red Moon."
"All right."
"To ordinary people, the moon is always white. Only during the Guyinduo dark tide does it turn red. That brings us to something extremely important to Warlocks: the Red Moon spirit. The Red Moon spirit is the Red Moon's tidal energy. Whenever a black tide night arrives, the Red Moon spirit gathers, turning the moon red. Warlocks absorb the power of the Red Moon spirit for their own use, arrange incantations, and unleash spell formulas..."
Gan explained in great detail, and Xu Le listened just as carefully.
Xu Le wasn't sure whether "hungry for knowledge" was the right expression. In any case, he threw himself headlong into learning.
Useful or not, he would cram it all into his head first.
Before he knew it, almost an entire day had passed.
Gan had left on business at one in the afternoon, leaving Xu Le to study alone.
Now that Xu Le had his Night Watchers credentials, and Gan hadn't assigned him any other work, he simply stayed there reading.
Just as Xu Le was leafing through his last book, a black shadow suddenly appeared in front of him.
"What brings you here?"
Meow!
"Hungry? Once I finish this book, I'll take you out for something to eat."
Meow!
Black Cat settled obediently in front of Xu Le, showing no intention of disturbing his reading.
Xu Le continued reading, turning to the final page of Light and Darkness.
[Overview of light-darkness levels]
Light-darkness levels were divided into ten levels, ranging from 0 to 9. Each number represented a corresponding degree of light and darkness.
Level 0: Absolute darkness, a state completely devoid of light. In absolute darkness, there was a very high likelihood of a Night Demon appearing.
Night Demons were born from heart energy and targeted heart energy. They would attack any human with emotions, and might even attack Oddities with emotions.
Levels 1-3: Relative darkness. Oddities would spawn according to the degree of darkness in indoor and outdoor spaces. The darker it was, the faster they spawned!
Spawned creatures initially started at level 1, increasing with time, the scent of flesh and blood, and emotional heart energy.
When emotional heart energy accumulated to 50, corresponding to heart energy alert level 1, humans would attract Oddities.
When emotional heart energy accumulated to 100, corresponding to heart energy alert level 2, humans would enter a state of mental pollution.
When polluted emotions gathered together with ancient yin duo energy, Patrol Class and Polluted Class Oddities would spawn!
Levels 4-6: Relative brightness. Brightness could maintain safety and prevent monsters from spawning, but could not dispel Oddities.
Levels 7-9: Light. Illumination created by Warlocks injecting their own energy into a light source through special spell formulas.
It had some ability to dispel Oddities and purify Guyinduo pollution. Its strength varied with the degree of brightness and the Warlock's energy.
"Books really are the most effective way to improve."
After finishing the book, Xu Le took a deep breath.
Even the most basic information was extraordinarily precious to him at this point.
Reading this knowledge directly was much faster than figuring it out bit by bit through trial and error.
He turned toward Black Cat.
"All right, let's go get something to eat."
Meow!
Black Cat nimbly leaped onto Xu Le's shoulder.
Xu Le glanced at Black Cat and only then remembered that the cat still had no name.
"How about I give you a name? How does Little Black sound?"
Meow!~!
Black Cat bared sharp teeth and grabbed a fistful of Xu Le's hair. The message was obvious.
If you dare call me Little Black, I'll murder you tonight!
"Let go first. We can talk this out."
Black Cat released those claws, and only then did Xu Le carefully smooth his hair.
He looked at Black Cat guiltily. This cat's grip was fucking strong. It was ridiculous.
"Then what name do you want?"
Black Cat's eyes rolled around a few times, as though an idea had come to mind.
The cat actually began pawing through the books on the table, seemingly searching for something.
After turning to a particular page, Black Cat extended a claw and pointed to one character, then opened another book and pointed to a second character.
Xu Le watched the cat flip through the books and asked in mild confusion:
"Ding... Ke?"
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