Joining the department

Night, in the staff dormitory.

Having completed the onboarding process, Xia Shou lay on the bed in his single room. Behind him, Alice phased through the bed frame like a ghost, her hands still gently clasped around his throat.

He thought back over what Dr. Modis had told him that day, and the more he thought about it, the worse his head hurt.

"Without the aid of Sealed Anomalies, low-level Transcendents have a nearly 100% mortality rate on missions above their level. To improve your chances of survival, the Containment Bureau equips you with plenty of Sealed Anomalies."

"But compared to the number of low-level superhumans, the Bureau has pitifully few Sealed Anomalies. Every usable one is already requisitioned, so only 10% of low-level superhumans can go on missions. The remaining 90% generally handle the care and testing of Anomalous Entities within the Bureau, as well as patrols, while on standby.

"If you want a mission, the earliest your turn will come is in ten days. You'll probably have to wait even longer, though. After all, you're just a rookie who's no use for anything."

Xia Shou lay in bed, thinking for a long time, before finally making that decision.

"No choice. Looks like I'll have to go see her."

Having made up his mind, Xia Shou set an alarm and closed his eyes.

The day's exhaustion forced him to rest for a while. He planned to sleep for an hour, then go find Shangguan Yan.

The instant he closed his eyes, his body was suddenly submerged in icy seawater.

His drowsiness vanished, and his mind became incredibly clear, as though he had just woken from a long, restful sleep!

He opened his eyes to the same hallucination as before. In the dark, freezing seawater, only a deep green glow drifted with the currents.

He looked around. There was not a speck of debris in the water.

No fish.

No algae.

Beneath him lay unfathomable darkness. The faint, deep green light reached out in every direction, only to disappear into that boundless blackness.

In the endless darkness... something seemed to be "watching" him.

Actually, "watching" was not quite the right word. Perhaps whatever presence was "spying" on him did not observe him through organs like eyes. He felt that something was paying attention to him, as though something might dart out of the surrounding water at any moment.

The depth gauge beside him read 1,195 meters. The number was still increasing, but very slowly.

"Click-!"

A strange, faint sound traveled through the seawater to Xia Shou's ears. It sounded a little like a door opening.

The next second, he saw the number on the gauge begin to rise wildly!

The water pressure around him slowly increased, bringing a suffocating sensation with it. The deep sea was rapidly becoming real!

In the darkness below, a rectangular black door appeared beneath his feet. A long, narrow strip of red light appeared in the center of its frame, like light spilling out of a room as the door swung open.

His lungs felt full of seawater, yet his body could not struggle.

The oxygen level in his blood had already crossed the danger threshold. His brain began to suffer from oxygen deprivation, and his consciousness grew hazy and unfocused.

His wildly pounding heart shook his eardrums, and his hands and feet spasmed and trembled uncontrollably.

The door beneath him drew closer and closer. He saw what lay inside... a shoe cabinet hanging upside down from the ceiling, a wrought-iron chandelier anchored to the floor like a hydrogen balloon, an upside-down Entrance Hall.

Xia Shou looked toward the gauge with all his strength. The depth now read 1,205 meters!

Xia Shou's eyes snapped open. A terrifying force gripped his neck, and he felt as though his cervical spine was on the verge of being snapped!

The instant he regained consciousness, Alice's iron-clamp hands suddenly relaxed, returning to their usual pressure.

Gasping, Xia Shou sat up in bed. His chest heaved, and his entire body was soaked in cold sweat.

His violently pounding heart proved that the suffocation had not been an illusion. The alarm that had already gone off on his phone also showed that he had not woken on time... he had been entranced by the hallucination. If not for Alice, he might have entered that door.

"Thank you, Alice."

There was little time left. He had to act now!

Xia Shou got out of bed and left his room. Following the directions he had asked for that day, he arrived at Shangguan Yan's office.

The office lights were still on, and the sound of typing came from inside.

Xia Shou pushed the door open. Shangguan Yan was working overtime alone in her office.

"Modis told me you want to get out on a mission as soon as possible. But I warned you, coming to me now means the price goes up." Shangguan Yan narrowed her eyes and gave Xia Shou a knowing look, as though she had known all along that he would come to her.

"What do you want me to do?" Xia Shou asked.

Shangguan Yan opened a drawer, took out a bottle of blood-red liquid, and set it on the desk. "Work overtime for a full month after you return. Agree to that, and I'll give you this."

"Huh?" Xia Shou was stunned.

He had thought she would make some outrageous demand, but all she wanted was overtime?

"Unpaid, of course. And don't think it'll be easy." Shangguan Yan raised a finger, adding the warning in a serious tone.

"If that's all, no problem." Xia Shou picked up the bottle of red liquid from the desk. "What is this?"

"Special blood. Drinking it will raise your Anomaly Level to level two for about an hour.

"And I happen to have a mission I can assign you. The danger is beyond what a level-two Transcendent can handle, but right now, it's the only mission that suits you."

Shangguan Yan took a stack of documents from her drawer and pushed them toward Xia Shou. "I know you're in a hurry, so I've already prepared the information. Take that bottle of blood, and you can go. Of course, if you'd like to stay and work overtime with me, you're more than welcome."

Xia Shou frowned. "...No, I'm more interested in the mission."

He silently picked up the document envelope, turned, and left the office.

The Ram-Headed Demon came to a stop behind Shangguan Yan, a hoarse, sinister laugh issuing from his skull. "You haven't forgotten the price of our contract, have you?"

"Why would you think I'd forget?" Shangguan Yan's tone was flat, without the slightest trace of emotion.

"Heh heh, I merely wanted to remind you.

[One: all dealings with others must be founded on the concept of a 'transaction.']

[Two: you must not allow others to perceive your actions as kindness offered without expectation of repayment.]

[Three: should you develop affection for another, you must not allow them to become aware of that affection.]

"Those are the three taboos included in our contract," the Ram-Headed Demon said.

"I know."

"Then aren't you afraid that helping him so obviously just now violated the contract?"

"I don't think he's that perceptive." Shangguan Yan smiled

coldly.

"But sooner or later, he'll learn just how precious that bottle of blood is. When that happens, heh heh..."

The Ram-Headed Demon extended his long, sharp, pitch-black nails, shaped like daggers, and sliced a rift through the air as though cutting paper. He pulled apart the curtains of space as though drawing back a veil, then turned and stepped into the deep purple mist on the other side...