Chapter 44: Mysterious Innate Ability
“So, what the hell is this?”
Han Su received his black leather suitcase and stood at the gate of the Disaster Management Bureau base, facing the dazzling sunlight and the free wind.
For a moment, he felt somewhat dazed.
Over there, Zhang Zhiguo hadn’t been found. After the teams were assigned, the members of the D1D2 task group were driven out.
Thinking back on this past week’s experience, why did it feel so bizarre?
Hmm, it started with meeting Song Chu-shi, receiving an incantation, then getting dragged into an incident involving a Ghost Freight Truck and the dead.
Afterwards, there was a week of training, he installed a program, received a booklet, and got a baton.
Did that make his identity different now?
In between, there was even that flickering experience of his.
Thinking about it in detail, it felt like he had lived an extremely surreal week.
“Let’s go!”
But just then, a woman’s voice rang out: “I’ll take you!”
Han Su turned around and saw someone unexpected — it was the female secretary in a black suit who had followed Zhang Zhiguo.
She was still dressed the same, black suit and black leather shoes, but from the patterns in the clothing details, he could tell she had changed outfits.
Could this woman be the type whose home closet held an entire row of the same color black suits?
Han Su spaced out for a moment before reacting and asked curiously, “Where’s Uncle Zhang?”
“He has to prepare something. I’ll take you back first.”
Upon hearing this, Han Su couldn’t help but frown slightly. “Then when can I see him?”
Cui Qiao, the secretary in the black suit, didn’t answer. Her leather shoes clicked as she walked ahead to lead the way. At the parking lot, she got into a tall black SUV and asked, “Where do you live?”
“Gaoqiao District.”
Han Su replied, “A small rented room, very cramped and narrow, and the floor is high up. It’s not convenient to buy things either.”
He paused, then added, “Uncle Zhang should know. I don’t have money. Even though I received a scholarship, I still have to work part-time to support myself, so I can only afford such a small place.”
Cui Qiao didn’t seem to care about what he said and simply replied, “Now that you’ve entered the Executive Division, your financial situation will improve.”
“Speaking of which, it’s quite surprising you were placed into the D2 group. That reflects your personal potential, survival probability, and the hope of being promoted to an Investigator.”
“For the next few days, take a rest and get used to your new identity.”
“If you had been assigned to D5D6, or even D3D4, you would now need to suspend your studies, and possibly sever social ties to begin serving in the Disaster Management Bureau. But since you were assigned to D1D2, your social relationships can be retained.”
“Just be careful. All information from within the Disaster Management Bureau must not be shared casually.”
As she drove, Cui Qiao reminded him, “Due to certain considerations, the Disaster Management Bureau applies a more liberal management approach to Executive personnel with potential to become Investigators. This is a new experiment.”
“But I hope you understand — this isn’t because the Disaster Management Bureau can’t enforce strict militarized management. If you’re demoted for making mistakes, you’ll lose many of your rights as a person.”
“……”
What she said, Han Su actually understood.
Weren’t the members of the D5D6 group all left directly in the Disaster Management Bureau for immediate management?
What’s more, there was also that mysterious D7 group that he had heard mentioned during training, but had yet to see in person?
As the two conversed, Cui Qiao’s car had already crossed the intersecting overpasses and bridges of Qinggang City, gradually entering Gaoqiao District where Han Su lived. When they arrived downstairs, she poked her head out for a look.
Her expression turned somewhat strange. “This is your little place?”
Han Su got out with his backpack and said, “Yeah, it’s cheap. Rent’s only a few hundred a month.”
Cui Qiao curled her lips, got out of the car, and followed Han Su through the heavily guarded first-floor main lobby.
They took a high-end elevator laid with luxurious tiles all the way to the top floor, then entered a square-shaped and comfortably laid out small apartment.
She slowly turned around:
“A luxury apartment in a bustling commercial district, with dedicated butlers and security, and a full rotation of maintenance personnel on duty. The monthly rent is actually…”
“…only a few hundred!”
“Hmm, makes sense. To be fair, while the layout is nice, the space really isn’t large.”
“……”
“Exactly.”
Han Su said, “It’s on a high floor, and shopping isn’t convenient… delivery can never make it up, I always have to go down to get it.”
Cui Qiao already looked a bit displeased: ‘Wanna swap?’
“But this was recommended by a friend.”
Han Su added, “Actually, I used to live in a low-rent housing unit in the slums, but my friend said this apartment had been vacant for too long, worried it would lose its vitality. So he asked me many times to come live here.”
“But I still paid him rent. After all, even between real brothers, accounts should be settled clearly.”
“……”
Cui Qiao hesitated to speak: “You think that’s called settling clearly?”
“Of course not. That guy deliberately gave me a benefit — even my laptop was a second-hand gift from him.”
Han Su laughed and said, “But it doesn’t matter. If he had given me money directly, I wouldn’t have accepted it. But he gave me a benefit in another way, so I accepted. After all, he already went through the trouble of persuading me, making such a roundabout effort. If I didn’t accept, wouldn’t that be disrespectful?”
“Right, are you staying for dinner?”
“There’s only instant noodles at home. Want me to make you a pack?”
“……”
“No need.”
Cui Qiao snapped out of Han Su’s peculiar reasoning, shook her head, and didn’t bother with his friendship with that rich young master, slowly turning away.
Her eyes landed on a power socket on the wall. She stepped forward a few steps, and with a flick of her nimble fingers, the white cover fell off, revealing the socket core with copper wires inside.
Then she extended the index finger of her right hand and gently touched the copper wire.
“？”
Han Su looked on in confusion.
This woman brought him back. He agreed. She followed him upstairs. He didn’t refuse.
Seeing she didn’t leave, he thought she wanted to stay for dinner. But who would’ve guessed she’d touch the power line?
But before he could step forward to stop her, the moment Cui Qiao made contact with the socket, a faint numbing sensation swept through the room.
It was as if an invisible electric current instantly spread throughout the entire apartment.
Han Su saw even her hair seemed to spark faintly with electricity.
Several strands floated lightly into the air and didn’t fall for a long time.
“Found it.”
Cui Qiao held the pose for a moment before stopping.
She turned and went to the corner of Han Su’s room where a desk lamp stood, pulled out a component connected by wires, and gently tossed it on the floor.
Then she moved around the room, pulling out similar components from various hidden spots.
She even uncovered a surveillance camera.
Even Han Su’s seemingly new second-hand laptop was taken apart, and inside, she indeed found a device for stealing data.
By the time she found the first component, Han Su had already understood what was going on.
Those self-assured private detectives and bounty hunters had really come to his home to install various listening devices because of that bounty.
Zhang Zhiguo must have guessed this would happen and deliberately sent her to clean things up.
“It’s fine now.”
Cui Qiao threw all the confiscated items on the floor. Then she squatted down, lightly tapped with her finger, and a faint spark of electricity flashed at her fingertip — the devices instantly charred and were destroyed.
At the same time, in the dark corners of this vast city, some people who were listening to something, watching something, or simply using machines to record information—
Suddenly experienced a chaotic signal.
Some heard piercing noise in their headphones and clutched their heads in pain, collapsing to the floor.
Some saw strange flickers appear on their screens, their minds blanking as they passed out.
Some machines fell into total disorder, and expensive hard drives were burned out.
All the spies were punished in that instant, but the source of the punishment, Secretary Cui Qiao, said nothing. She only told Han Su, “It’s fine now. But you’ll need to be more careful in the future.”
“Your browser history being seen isn’t a big deal. But if it causes a leak of information about the Disaster Management Bureau, then it becomes a serious problem.”
“……”
“Got it…”
Han Su nodded and pulled out two packs of instant noodles. “You really not staying to eat a bit?”
“Not eating!”
Cui Qiao looked at the noodles in his hand and smiled slightly. She just shook her head a little and continued with a business-like tone: “By the way, you’ve already joined the Disaster Management Bureau, so you might soon receive a mission.”
“Early-stage missions are usually just for adaptation. But be cautious. Any mission worthy of being issued by the Disaster Management Bureau — even an E-rank — may still contain danger.”
“No matter how boring or dull the mission is, you must complete it seriously. It will affect your evaluation.”
“Only when your evaluation rises high enough — from the initial C+ to A+ — will you have a chance to undergo Mysterious Power Training and become a true Investigator.”
“……”
Han Su was a bit curious: “What you just used — is that the result of undergoing Mysterious Power Training?”
“Yes.”
Cui Qiao nodded. “After completing Spiritual Penetration training, and with approval from the Disaster Management Bureau, I obtained the second entry of the Sequence Three Encrypted Text incantation.”
“That’s also… my ability.”