Chapter 12
It was rather strange. Bai Hewei had initially been fretting over his inability to control his power and the subsequent destruction of his furniture. Yet, after two days of overtime—or more accurately, after having a clash with Li Zhibo and his companion—he realized he suddenly knew how to control his strength.
As the saying goes, practice yields true knowledge.
A little sparring with fellow Evolvers was apparently all it took to master control.
Bai Hewei felt pretty good about himself. Now, his life could finally return to normal.
Naturally, once Li Zhibo’s statement was delivered to the Research Institute, it was analyzed inside out, over and over again.
“Sigh, I really want to bring Bai Hewei in for a physical examination.”
“Yeah, I wonder if our machines can even detect the absolute limit of his attributes?”
“Just what kind of flawless combination of evolutionary factors exists in his body to allow every single one of his attributes to reach the absolute peak?”
Lately, the researchers had become utterly obsessed with everything related to Bai Hewei, analyzing every scrap of surveillance footage containing him over and over again.
Of course, they had already thoroughly analyzed his household garbage, items from his workplace, and even stray hairs, fingernail clippings, and skin flakes he had shed.
But how could any of that compare to a comprehensive, head-to-toe physical examination?
“Chief Scholar Wen, what are you looking at?” Seeing that the researchers were locked in a fiery discussion, one of them noticed that Wen Zhiyi seemed to be spacing out, completely detached from the debate.
“Li Zhibo’s statement mentions that Bai Hewei deliberately destroyed their furniture.” Wen Zhiyi placed the copy of the statement onto the desk.
“Bai Hewei broke his own furniture and his office desk before this too. He only awakened a few days ago, so it’s perfectly normal that he can’t control his power. However, we’ve already coordinated with some Evolver volunteers who will soon move in as his neighbors to teach him how to control his abilities. If he truly can’t control it himself, we also have specialized power-binding dampeners. He just needs to wear one to be indistinguishable from a normal person, and he can take it off whenever necessary.” The researcher didn’t think much of it. They had more than enough tools at their disposal to deal with an Evolver’s varying conditions.
Generally speaking, the more powerful an Evolver was, the more difficult it was to master their own strength.
After all, before awakening, everyone was just an ordinary citizen.
Attempting to command an evolved supernatural ability with the mindset and baseline strength of an ordinary human was bound to cause issues. Years ago, Evolvers were highly unpopular largely because they couldn’t control themselves. Nowadays, however, Rank B and higher Evolvers were required to wear their badges, which in themselves were highly advanced ability dampeners that didn’t interfere with their daily lives.
“Though he destroyed tables and desks in all three instances, the degree of destruction across the three cases varies significantly.”
At home and in his office, the desks had been destroyed by raw, unchecked violence—shattering unevenly into a chaotic heap of mismatched fragments under intense pressure.
But the table destroyed in Li Zhibo’s home had shattered into perfectly uniform, equal-sized pieces.
This meant that Bai Hewei had already begun consciously directing his strength.
Wen Zhiyi wasn’t surprised. Though he hadn’t had much direct contact with Bai Hewei, he knew that far too many illogical things had already manifested around the man. One more wouldn’t make a difference.
“In all likelihood, he has already learned how to control his own power.”
The researcher beside him sucked in a sharp breath.
“This quickly? That’s impossible, isn’t it? Our past data shows that even a Rank S Evolver took roughly a month to fully master their strength.”
“Bai Hewei’s very existence has already shattered the laws we’ve grown accustomed to.” Wen Zhiyi stood up. “Get me Huo Ling. I need to speak with him.”
“Yes, Chief Scholar.”
Following two days of heavy overtime over the weekend, Bai Hewei specifically informed his supervisor on Monday morning that he would arrive slightly late, planning to first take a detour to check out the registration site for the municipal public institution exams.
The registration site wasn’t too far from their sub-district office; it just required a minor detour.
Although Bai Hewei intended to wait until the final day to formally sign up, it was still a good idea to scout out the competition ahead of time.
Through the “My Fate is in My Own Hands, Not the Heavens” WeChat group, Bai Hewei had already learned that a fair number of people were planning to apply for his desired position, and he had mentally prepared himself. Yet, when he actually arrived at the venue and saw the massive lines snaking across the area, he was still profoundly shocked.
There are… this many people?
Bai Hewei was stunned. He looked toward the end of the queues, then stared at the pure, innocent eyes of the fresh university graduates in line. He felt a sudden chill travel from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.
“Hey, handsome, are you here to line up too?” A university student who was bored out of his mind from waiting glanced at Bai Hewei, instantly reading the look in his eyes.
Exactly. Every time their massive touring exam army converged on a registration site, people nearby would always stare at them with this exact expression of absolute shock.
Sigh, the competition is just that brutal these days.
“Yeah, I originally planned to come sign up on the third day,” Bai Hewei said honestly. “I didn’t expect there to be so many people on the very first day.”
“You must be a local, brother, which is why you have the luxury of waiting until the third day. We can’t do that. We all rushed here from out of town, terrified that our documentation might be incomplete and we’d need to scramble for replacements. If we waited until the third day to apply, we’d never make it in time.” The young student sighed. “I graduated last June and have been touring the country taking exams for a full year now. It’s just too damn hard.”
“Exactly. Look, aren’t there four separate lines here? Our queue is basically for social applicants where no work experience is required. Look at the line next to us—it’s already stretched all the way back, and people are still piling in. That’s the fresh graduate line. The one over there is for positions requiring experience, and the innermost queue is for Evolver roles,” another candidate chimed in. “Based on my past experience, the line requiring work experience usually has the fewest people.”
“In the past, there weren’t that many fresh graduates. But now, the definition has been expanded; as long as you haven’t passed an exam within three years of graduation, you still count as a fresh graduate. So the numbers exploded overnight.”
“Years ago, there were barely any applicants for Evolver positions. I heard some posts couldn’t even fill their quotas. Back then, whether those Evolvers chose to do live-streaming or enter other industries, they could pull in a decent income. But things are different now. Once the hype died down, people realized that the abilities most Evolvers manifested weren’t even as useful as modern technology. The spotlight vanished instantly, and with it went the high salaries. Unable to find any other suitable work, they all flooded into the civil service exams, making the competition insanely cutthroat.”
Initially, only two or three people were talking, but before long, the surrounding candidates joined in to vent their collective grievances.
“Say, do you think it’s possible that I’ll suddenly awaken as a top-tier Evolver, and then the Special Operations Department will barge in to specially recruit me? I’ll hit deputy section chief in two years, principal section chief in five, and within ten years, I’ll be fast-tracked to become the City Mayor.” A young man suddenly clasped his hands together in prayer.
“…Brother, did you buy a pirated policy essay prep booklet? Look at you, your brain has been thoroughly poisoned by the counterfeit ink fumes.”
“Wake up. Evolvers don’t automatically get permanent positions anymore either. Word is the higher-ups are planning to equip these Evolvers with more robotic dogs, drones, and AI units to assist with field operations. The Special Operations Department is shifting to a strict entry policy, and they’re downsizing too.”
“Right now, this looks like the hardest year to pass an exam in recent history, but a few years from now, looking back, this will turn out to have been the easiest year.”
“Waaaah, stop talking! Just let me drown in the sea of Aptitude Tests and Policy Essays!”
Fearing he would get sucked into this infectious, depressing atmosphere, Bai Hewei retreated with a lingering sense of dread.
As he walked back to work, his steps felt incredibly heavy.
Initially, he had been debating whether he should keep working as a temporary grunt or perhaps try to become a consultant for the Special Operations Department. Thinking about it now, he decided to drop the idea. If the department started deploying drones and robotic dogs as primary tools in the future, who knew how many years a consultant role would even last? It was nowhere near as stable as the sub-district office. Perhaps in a few years, there would even be specialized exams targeted specifically at experienced, temporary grassroots staff like him.
The moment he arrived at the sub-district office, he noticed that everyone looked utterly drained of life.
Then again, having just pulled two days of overtime over the weekend only to find it was Monday again, no one could possibly be happy.
Fortunately, considering how busy everyone was, the supervisors didn’t pull any strange stunts on Monday. Getting off shift at 8:00 PM after a bit of evening overtime was perfectly acceptable to Bai Hewei.
When he left work, however, Bai Hewei made a conscious detour past the municipal Special Operations Department headquarters to take a look.
Good grief. The entire skyscraper was brilliantly lit, with not a single darkened office in sight.
This meant that from the top directors down to the ordinary grunts, every single person was logging heavy overtime.
Instantly, the dejection in Bai Hewei’s heart regarding the massive turnout for the public institution exam faded by quite a few fractions.
If the job was going to be this exhausting, then failing to pass it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
Feeling significantly unburdened, Bai Hewei casually strolled back home.
Little did he know, his act of stopping to stare at their skyscraper had sent the hearts of Huo Ling, An Tingyu, and several others inside the Special Operations Department right into their throats.
The evolutionary factors coiled within Bai Hewei were so cataclysmically immense that the moment he drew near, the alarms throughout the entire Special Operations Department blared to life. Huo Ling had manually overridden and silenced the system just to prevent widespread panic.
But while the alarms were quiet, the heavy rocks in their chests remained tightly lodged.
Why on earth had Bai Hewei suddenly marched over to their headquarters? He couldn’t possibly be planning to launch an assault on them, right?
They hadn’t done a single thing wrong. They simply stared at the surveillance monitors, watching Bai Hewei on screen look their skyscraper up and down with an expression of profound shock mixed with utter revulsion, before walking away with a look of half-relieved, half-cheerful contentment.
“Just… what exactly did he come here to do?” Huo Ling had originally been eager for Bai Hewei to join their unit, but now that the man was physically standing before their office building, he realized his psychological fortitude was still slightly lacking.
It turned out he was just like the man from the ancient fable who claimed to love dragons but was terrified when a real one showed up.
“Personally, I think he came to inspect his future workplace,” an Evolver beside him murmured after a brief thought. “I’m all too familiar with that exact expression. Before I passed the exam and joined the Special Operations Department, I also ran over to the office building to inspect it. Except I came during the day back then, thinking the offices were beautifully constructed, the cafeteria was massive, and there was even a basketball court. It looked amazing. Sigh, if I had known better, I should have come take a look at night too.”
“Judging by his demeanor, he probably saw that we still hadn’t off shift at this hour and felt a bit repulsed.”
“Yeah, yeah, it has to be that. The Organization Department gets off work way earlier than us.”
“Director Huo, how about we call it an early night tonight?”
…
The staff began chiming in one after another.
Huo Ling’s face darkened instantly. “No one leaves until their work is finished! Get back to your tasks, every single one of you!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Understood.”
The Evolvers responded obediently and shuffled back to work. There was no helping it; the workload was simply too massive.
Huo Ling also felt he was being a bit overly paranoid, but there was no alternative. He had to shoulder responsibility for the entire Special Operations Department. If Bai Hewei truly harbored hostile intentions toward them, not a single soul in the entire department would be able to withstand him.
“I suppose my thinking was a bit too shallow. It looks like I need to do a lot more psychological prep if I want Bai Hewei to settle down and work diligently in our department. I can’t let him feel like I’m targeting him.” Huo Ling rubbed his forehead, feeling a mountain of pressure.
Everyone loved their own nation’s nuclear deterrent, but if that nuclear weapon walked into the office to work alongside you every single day—with the constant threat of detonation looming—it would likely trigger a completely different psychological state.
The other Evolvers might not fully grasp just how terrifyingly powerful Bai Hewei truly was, so they naturally didn’t bear the same crushing weight as Huo Ling. But as one of the few people on earth who explicitly understood Bai Hewei’s cataclysmic strength, Huo Ling could not afford to treat the matter lightly.
In truth, sometimes he quite envied those who remained entirely in the dark.
Ignorance meant they could treat Bai Hewei with absolute objectivity.
He seemed to finally comprehend what Wen Zhiyi had meant before.
“Director Huo, I don’t think you need to worry too much anymore,” An Tingyu said, letting out a long, agonizing sigh, her face the picture of absolute despair. “Today was the first day of registration. Do you know how many people applied for the position we tailormade for Bai Hewei?”
“How many?” Huo Ling asked curiously. “If the number of applicants is too low, we’ll find a way to plant dummy candidates to meet the exam threshold. We can’t let the exam get canceled on him.”
“63! A whopping 63 candidates signed up on the very first day!” An Tingyu pressed a hand to her forehead. “It was my oversight. I initially estimated that forty or fifty people would apply at most. I completely failed to anticipate that staff from the architectural design institutes of several neighboring cities would catch wind of this and rush over, let alone that the Evolvers working in the construction and real estate sectors of major state-owned enterprises would all flood in to take the exam. Even with all the restrictions we added, there are still too many qualified candidates.”
Upon receiving the application materials, An Tingyu had already reviewed the files of these candidates several times, trying to see if she could disqualify some of them on technicalities. In the end, she discovered that every single one of them perfectly met the criteria.
For a moment, An Tingyu felt incredibly relieved that she had passed her own exams early on.
Who knew she had managed to ride the wave of a generational dividend?
63 applicants on the very first day?
Huo Ling was also shocked. “Didn’t we explicitly restrict it to Party members with specific work experience?”
“Exactly! That’s why it’s only 63. Otherwise, the number would have at least doubled,” An Tingyu said helplessly. “Director Huo, do you truly have no concept of how insane the competition is nowadays?”
Huo Ling paced back and forth across the room, hesitating. “This many people on day one? Has Bai Hewei applied yet? If he has, how about we enforce incredibly strict criteria tomorrow to block any further applicants?”
“Bai Hewei hasn’t signed up yet,” An Tingyu shook her head. “For this exam, I’m afraid the probability of Bai Hewei passing is going to be a bit low.”
Huo Ling knew that An Tingyu was being incredibly polite with her phrasing.
This wasn’t just “a bit low.”
The candidate pool was bound to break a hundred for a single slot.
Just as Huo Ling was racked his brain to see if they could tack on more restrictive criteria, or find some way to leak a few exam questions to Bai Hewei, Wen Zhiyi’s video call flashed across his screen.
After a brief consideration, Huo Ling retreated to his private office to answer it.
For Wen Zhiyi to seek him out at this hour, it was eighty percent likely to be about Bai Hewei.
Did he also find out that Bai Hewei stood no chance of passing the exam this time?
Huo Ling’s heart was in his throat, completely prepared to receive a severe verbal lashing from Wen Zhiyi.
“Chief Scholar Wen, for you to look for me at this hour, it must be regarding Bai Hewei, right?” Huo Ling spoke up first, cutting straight to the chase.
“Yes,” Wen Zhiyi nodded. “We have thoroughly reviewed the statement you sent over. I have also fully briefed myself on the situation regarding Li Zhibo’s home and the [Holy Infant] organization.”
“Good, good,” Huo Ling nodded.
“You look rather guilty.” Wen Zhiyi cast a piercing glance at Huo Ling, instantly sensing something amiss. “Has an issue arisen?”
“Uh, it’s nothing major, really. It’s just that the position we tailormade for Bai Hewei hit a minor snag,” Huo Ling laughed sheepishly. “I’ll figure out another way.”
“Just let things take their natural course,” Wen Zhiyi said, already deducing the situation. “It might actually be for the best if Bai Hewei delays passing his exam. Judging by current data, he has already begun learning how to control his own power. If he can master total control, it will be an excellent development for both you and the Special Operations Department. However, what I wished to discuss with you isn’t entirely related to this.”
“Then what is it?” Huo Ling asked, not even having time to celebrate Wen Zhiyi’s preceding words.
“The latest intelligence indicates that the foreign evolutionary serums have been refined to their third generation,” Wen Zhiyi sat up straight, his expression dead serious. “Although we currently lack a raw sample of the serum—our operatives are still trying to find a way to secure some for us—the intelligence indicates that the most advanced evolutionary serums are now capable of bypassing the majority of their previous side effects. Just three injections can directly double the evolutionary factors within an Evolver’s body.”
“Double?” Huo Ling bolted out of his chair. “Have they lost their minds? If the evolutionary factors double, an Evolver’s lifespan will be cut by at least half! Besides, aren’t the raw materials for their serums harvested from living Evolvers?”
To manufacture three such injections, how many Evolvers’ lives would have to be consumed?
Modern technology was physically incapable of synthesizing evolutionary factors out of thin air; they could only be extracted from human bodies!
“The emergence of Bai Hewei has accelerated their desperation for these serums.” Wen Zhiyi shook his head. “The Minister has already returned from her overseas conference. Within the near future, she will want to meet with Bai Hewei in person.”
Author’s Note:
Bai Hewei: Whatever, if the workplace is going to be this busy, then failing to pass isn’t the end of the world. By the way, I feel like the garbage at home has been disappearing a lot lately. The Researchers: [Frantically rummaging through trash bins!]
