Seemingly seeing through Shen Heng's thoughts, Wang Hai spoke:
"Don't feel bad. At least your ability is still useful!"
"At least my ability is still useful?" Shen Heng looked at Wang Hai with some confusion.
"That's right. Your ability can at least be used to gather intelligence." Wang Hai nodded in affirmation.
"But some people's awakened abilities are practically useless, like telling left shoes from right shoes, predicting the weather, or talking to plants..."
"Uh... aside from telling left shoes from right shoes, the other two sound pretty decent, don't they?" The corner of Shen Heng's mouth twitched slightly.
"Even I'll admit those two abilities are a little better than telling left shoes from right shoes, but they're still completely useless!" Han Ling chimed in from her seat on the bay window.
Although she hadn't laughed, Shen Heng still heard a hint of teasing in her words.
"Couldn't predicting the weather replace weather forecasts?" Shen Heng asked.
"Do you know what the problem with that ability is?" Han Ling asked in return, a trace of a smile at the corners of her mouth.
"That ability has problems too?"
Shen Heng couldn't help feeling a little astonished. It was already as paltry as chicken ribs, yet it still had drawbacks?
Han Ling nodded. "That ability can only predict the weather for the next day in the patch of sky directly above the user. And it's perfectly normal for a single county to have several different kinds of weather, let alone asking him to predict the weather over a larger area!"
"What about talking to plants, then?"
"Plants aren't intelligent." Han Ling shrugged. "All you can hear is whether they need water or sunlight. Even if you wanted to become a gardener with that ability, you'd still have to learn how to prune plants."
"..."
The corner of Shen Heng's mouth twitched again.
Abilities that weren't much to begin with, and they came with all sorts of problems too?
Compared with those abilities, his own really did seem pretty decent. After all, no matter what, he could at least use it to gather intelligence!
Thinking of it that way, Shen Heng felt a little better.
Sure enough, Mr. Lu Xun had been right:
When someone was sad, all you had to do was find someone worse off than him, and he wouldn't be so sad anymore!
"All right, let me introduce our department!"
Wang Hai finished taking notes and put down his pen and paper.
"The Supervision Bureau is a department the government established eight years ago. Its main responsibilities are maintaining social stability and eliminating all Calamity Beasts that invade cities."
"You've already seen a Calamity Beast. The one yesterday hadn't even entered a rank yet, but even so, it wasn't something an ordinary person could stand against."
"That's why, whenever we discover someone has awakened an ability, we do our best to recruit them into our ranks."
"Of course, this isn't mandatory. After all, when fighting Calamity Beasts, casualties are sometimes unavoidable."
"So we won't force anyone who doesn't want to join us."
"But they do need to register with us, and if they want to leave the city, they also need to notify us."
"Likewise, because fighting Calamity Beasts is dangerous, you'll receive a fairly substantial allowance after joining us."
"Even logistics personnel earn ten thousand yuan a month!"
"Combat personnel earn even more, and their pay changes according to their own rank!"
"On top of that, when you complete missions later on, you'll receive additional performance bonuses based on the ranks and types of Calamity Beasts you kill."
"Also, if you join us, we'll provide you with supplies, channels for exchanging combat techniques, and so on."
At this point, Wang Hai paused, his expression suddenly becoming even more solemn and earnest as he looked at Shen Heng.
"Now then, Comrade Shen Heng!"
"I, Wang Hai, in my capacity as director of the Supervision Bureau, formally invite you to join the Linhai City Public Security Supervision Bureau!"
Shen Heng didn't answer immediately. Instead, he lowered his head and began to think it over seriously.
This wasn't merely a question of whether to join. It was a choice that concerned his future!
A world invaded by Calamity Beasts, an F-rank ability, the original owner's relationships, outstanding debts... all sorts of problems surfaced in Shen Heng's mind.
Seemingly noticing Shen Heng's hesitation, Wang Hai said, "We don't mean to force you to decide right away. You can go back and think it over. One day, two days, three days, five days-any of those is fine, though we'd prefer an answer within a week."
Hearing this, Shen Heng immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "All right, thank you!"
"You're welcome. That's your right." Wang Hai rose from the stool beside the bed. "In that case, we'll be going. Once you've decided, you can contact me through Wei Q. I've already sent you a friend request."
Shen Heng acknowledged him, then hurriedly asked when he saw Wang Hai preparing to leave:
"Oh, right. How's the person who was bitten by the Calamity Beast yesterday?"
"Don't worry. Our team members treated her too. She's fine now!" Wang Hai replied.
"That's good!" Shen Heng breathed a sigh of relief. At least his efforts hadn't gone to waste in the end.
Seeing Shen Heng's reaction, Wang Hai thought for a moment, then suddenly said:
"Because of the special nature of this incident, you might not be able to receive any thanks from her family!"
Shen Heng shook his head and replied, "It's fine. I didn't save her to get thanks from her family in the first place!"
Wang Hai stood where he was and gave Shen Heng a long, searching look before turning toward Han Ling by the window.
"Han Ling, time to go!"
Han Ling nodded and hopped down from the windowsill, waving at Shen Heng with a smile.
"Shen Heng, we'll be off, then. Hope we get a chance to meet again!"
Click!
The door opened.
Wang Hai paused briefly in the doorway.
"This world may become more and more dangerous in the future. Even if you want to live out your days in peace, I'm afraid your life may not necessarily turn out the way you imagine!"
Click!
The door closed again.
Shen Heng slowly turned his head and gazed out the window at the branches and leaves swaying beneath a perched sparrow.
"Things will get more and more dangerous in the future, huh..."