Chapter 15
Bai felt that he had been getting a bit too much unwanted romantic attention lately.
He’d go out for a walk and run into a beautiful, wealthy girl who would ask for directions, then ask for his WeChat. On his way home from work, he’d stop by the market for groceries, only for another gorgeous woman to ask for his help and smoothly request his contact info.
Bai knew he was a good-looking guy, but the problem was that every single one of these women was an absolute stunner—the kind of top-tier beauty you’d rarely ever see on the streets. Women like that were used to being pursued; why on earth would they take the initiative to ask for his WeChat?
He suspected that, just like those evil organizations from before, they were out to trick him.
For the time being, Bai rejected all of their friend requests.
Anyway, if it was really something important, they could just call him directly.
These strange beauties were beyond what Bai believed he could handle, nor could he shoulder the associated risks.
Therefore, Bai reported them whenever it felt warranted. It didn’t cost him a thing, and if a report actually went through, he might even get a reward.
Speaking of rewards, when exactly was his last reward going to arrive?
Working in the government system himself, Bai knew that such rewards generally had to go through layers of reporting and approval. Getting it done within half a year would be considered fast. But his biggest worry was that the longer things dragged on, the more likely they were to just fizzle out and disappear.
He worried his bonus would never materialize, and he didn’t even have anyone he could follow up with.
He still didn’t even know who “Phone Bro” actually was.
Thinking of this, Bai felt even more depressed.
At the same time.
Shiji Jiayuan Community.
Except for a certain floor, the property management and community workers had already secretly messaged the residents on WeChat, evacuating them ahead of time under the guise of a “fire safety inspection.”
The Special Operations Department’s field team was already in position.
In her room, Tian Jiamei was still reporting her progress to the organization, along with her next planned moves.
“I will continue trying to get close to Bai, but next, I’ll target his family. His grandmother seems to have joined a waist-drum dance troupe; I’ve already signed up.” Tian Jiamei had realized that this guy Bai was completely impervious. Whether it was her or members of other organizations, Bai hadn’t let a single one of them get close. He had likely put his guard up.
That was fine. She would just win over his family first, then formally meet him.
Tian Jiamei had already tracked the movements of Bai’s family. Her proposed plan had been approved, so her next steps would be very simple.
“Excellent. As long as your work progresses, I will apply for an Evolver Potion for you.”
“Thank you, Captain. I will serve the organization loyally—” Before Tian Jiamei could finish her sentence, she suddenly noticed a commotion outside. “Something seems wrong.”
The person on the other end of the line immediately changed their tone. “Run! The rats from the Special Operations Department are coming to catch you.”
Tian Jiamei hung up without hesitation, channeling her ability to destroy all the equipment in the room. Then, she threw open the window and jumped straight out.
In the instant she fell, a pair of light, butterfly-like wings suddenly materialized on her back, launching her directly into the sky.
On the roof of the residential building, an Evolver from the Special Operations Department was rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
“A Butterfly Emissary from the [Dusk] organization. Let’s see which of us flies faster.”
With that, a massive pair of feathered wings unfurled from the Evolver’s back. With a gentle flap, he shot straight toward Tian Jiamei.
“Luo Chuan, be careful. This Tian Jiamei’s real name is Alice. She’s morbidly obsessed with butterfly specimens. During her awakening, she absorbed butterfly DNA. Watch out for the scales on her wings—inhaling even a little bit is lethal.” The voice in his earpiece belonged to a Special Operations civilian clerk reading off classified details. Knowing the enemy and yourself guarantees victory. Every field-agent Evolver was paired with an ordinary civilian clerk—partly for mutual supervision, and partly to ensure the field agents’ safety.
“Got it.” Luo Chuan pushed his earpiece in deeper and soared into the sky.
If he caught this spy, his bonus was secured.
The last few Evolvers had either been caught by Bai or An Tingyu, leaving guys like him with almost no chance to shine.
Now that they had split into several teams to arrest all the Evolvers who had approached Bai over the past few days, they finally had a chance to show what they could do.
Seeing the Evolver suddenly appear in front of her, Tian Jiamei’s pupils shrank violently. Glancing around at the other Evolvers lying in ambush, she immediately knew she had been exposed.
“Are you Luo Chuan, the Evolver who called himself ‘Angel’s Descent’ five years ago?” Seeing his pristine white wings, Tian Jiamei instantly recognized him. “Five years ago, didn’t you claim to be an angel descended to earth to lead humanity to heaven? Back then, even the Vatican was trying to recruit you. To think you’ve actually become a rat for the Special Operations Department?”
Luo Chuan heard his partner’s laughter through the earpiece.
“Cut the crap. That was just me being young and ignorant. Who hasn’t had an embarrassing chuunibyou phase?” His dark past exposed, Luo Chuan’s face turned black. Just because he was a bit foolish in his early years, a dignified A-Class Evolver like him had been subjected to endless mockery within the Special Operations Department.
People constantly brought up his cringey, ignorant past to tease him.
He was dying of embarrassment.
“Be a good girl and surrender. It’s rare to see another flier, and I don’t want to bully the weak. You’re a B-Class at best; against me, you have zero chance of winning,” Luo Chuan sneered. “If I go all out and accidentally kill you, I’ll lose my bonus. I want to buy a new phone and computer soon, so you’d better not cause me any trouble.”
“If you’re willing to join our organization, forget phones and computers—you could switch to luxury cars and mansions without a problem,” Tian Jiamei said, scanning her surroundings as she calculated her escape route.
She hadn’t expected the Special Operations Department to take her so seriously, dispatching an A-Class Evolver to deal with her, not to mention all the others on standby.
Damn it, why were the Evolvers in this country working so dutifully? Didn’t they realize that if they united, they could overthrow an entire nation?
“Heh. I barely scraped by the passing mark to get this civil service job. The day I got in, my mom cried tears of joy. What the hell do you know?” Luo Chuan couldn’t be bothered to waste his breath on people like her. These rogue Evolvers were too used to acting lawlessly, entirely ignorant of how the real world worked.
So what if they were Evolvers?
One round of concentrated artillery fire, and an Evolver would be crippled, if not dead. Sure, there were Evolvers capable of walking unhindered across the globe, but this woman definitely wasn’t one of them.
Besides, if he threw away his government job and went abroad for something like that, his parents would absolutely disown him.
His parents could even accept his identity as an Evolver, but they would never accept him quitting his stable government job.
Luo Chuan said no more. He merely flapped his wings. Instantly, a blindingly radiant light burst forth, completely enveloping Tian Jiamei.
Tian Jiamei tried to resist, but she was no match for Luo Chuan whatsoever, and her sole advantage of flight was instantly nullified by his identical capability.
“Hit her with the tranquilizer darts and take her back alive. Let’s see if we can interrogate her for her accomplices.” Luo Chuan tucked his wings away, looking at his uniform with a heavy sigh. “I’ve got to buy new clothes again. My ability is great and all, but it’s way too hard on my wardrobe.”
“Don’t worry, that counts as work-related damage. I’ll put it through the reimbursement process for you,” his partner’s voice chimed in. “Director An has also sent word that her net was successfully closed. We can get off work early today.”
“Tch. If it weren’t for some of my inappropriate remarks back then that almost ruined my background check, I’d at least be a Director by now.” Luo Chuan was feeling a bit depressed. He was still only a Second-Level Principal Staff Member. In a grassroots unit, that was top-tier treatment most wouldn’t see before retirement, but on a platform like the Special Operations Department, his career progress was pretty mediocre.
“Just rack up a few more merits and you’ll get promoted again.”
“I hope Bai can attract a few more Evolvers. Whether I can get a promotion and a raise is all riding on him!”
Meanwhile, Bai—the man currently occupying the thoughts of quite a few Evolvers—was bitterly suffering through his workday.
“Xiao Bai, don’t worry. The inspection team will be here soon, and once they leave, we can take our regular leave,” a colleague consoled him, mistakenly thinking Bai was depressed over their heavy workload. “Once they’re gone, your annual leave will definitely be approved.”
Right now, annual leave was the least of his worries.
He simply couldn’t get any studying done these past two days. Every time he tried to study, he forced himself to think about the excellent benefits of the Special Operations Department. But barely two questions in, he’d remember how insanely competitive it was, and instantly lose all his confidence.
Truth be told, Bai knew that with his current half-hearted attitude, he’d never pass the exam. But his greatest enemy was his own laziness; he genuinely just couldn’t force himself to study.
Hating himself for not working hard enough, he anxiously scrolled through his phone.
Only at dinner time every night, when his parents and grandmother nagged him about the exam, did Bai muster up a tiny bit of motivation to study.
While Bai was wallowing in his misery, his phone rang.
Seeing an incoming call with a local area code, he immediately realized what it was and answered it while walking toward the restroom.
“Hello, is this Mr. Bai? The results of your Evolver grade assessment have been finalized. Please come to the municipal Special Operations Department to collect them,” a sweet female voice said over the line.
“Oh, okay. Do I need to bring any documents?” Bai asked.
“You need to bring your ID card. A special marker will be added to your identity file in the system, though it won’t be visible on the physical card itself. Additionally, please bring a bank card so we can deposit your Evolver stipend. Also, because of your meritorious service in assisting the Special Operations Department in apprehending illegal Evolvers, your stipend has been set to the highest tier: 800 yuan a month.”
“Great, great. I’ll be right there.” Bai’s previously gloomy mood vanished in an instant, replaced by utter elation.
An Evolver stipend! 800 bucks a month, and it was finally coming in!
Bai immediately told his coworkers he had an emergency and would be back in an hour. His colleague simply waved a hand, telling him to make it quick.
Working at the grassroots level had its downsides, but the good thing was that if you really had an emergency and needed to slip away for an hour or two, your coworkers would cover for you. Normally, when his colleagues needed to leave early to pick up their kids or something, Bai always helped cover their posts too. Everyone was accommodating.
For the sake of that 800-yuan stipend, Bai didn’t even bother riding a shared electric bike; he hailed a Didi ride-share and headed straight there.
When he arrived at the Special Operations Department, An Tingyu personally came downstairs to receive him and led him into her office.
“Director An, you’re too kind. I’m just here to pick up my assessment results; there’s no need to be so polite.” Stepping into An Tingyu’s authoritative office, Bai subconsciously started to feel nervous.
“It’s fine. Your Evolver Badge is a bit unique, so I needed to speak to you personally.” An Tingyu felt bitter inside. Actually, Huo Ling was supposed to do this. But Huo Ling had argued righteously that for a dignified Deputy Director-General to personally hand Bai his assessment results would look incredibly suspicious, so it fell to An Tingyu instead.
She had just captured a bunch of Evolvers and interrogated them all night, not even having time to go home, only to have another task dumped on her.
What could An Tingyu say? A higher rank crushed people to death. Damn this bureaucracy!
“Your Evolver assessment grade is B-Class. Because we currently have no way of detecting exactly what type of ability you possess, this assessment might change in the future.” An Tingyu deliberately left some wiggle room. If Bai was only a B-Class, all those Evolvers he had defeated ought to commit suicide in shame.
“B-Class?” Bai’s face instantly scrunched up in distress. “Doesn’t that mean I have to wear an Evolver Badge every day? I still wanted to do a good job at the Subdistrict Office…”
Was his only option really to resign and focus on studying at home?
But being rated as a B-Class helped Bai understand why An Tingyu was treating him so well.
According to her, once his ability was confirmed, his grade might be raised even higher.
There were at least a thousand registered Evolvers in their Heping Subdistrict, but fewer than twenty were B-Class or above. That made him quite rare. Moreover, Evolvers willing to cooperate with the Special Operations Department were even rarer. Factor in the considerable merits he had already earned for them, and it made perfect sense for An Tingyu to treat him nicely.
Sigh. If only he could pass the exam and get into the Special Operations Department. With his connections and relationship with her, wouldn’t An Tingyu cover for him every day?
What a pity, what a pity.
“The rule requiring B-Class and above Evolvers to wear a badge was established five years ago, and in principle, it cannot be changed,” An Tingyu replied.
Bai wasn’t discouraged; instead, he waited for An Tingyu to continue.
Having worked in the system for years, he had long since learned to read between the lines of bureaucratic jargon.
“In principle, no” meant there was a loophole.
“In principle, yes” meant not right now.
“Read” meant no opinion, just acknowledging receipt. “Proposed to agree” meant the higher-ups still had to give the final nod.
Sure enough, An Tingyu didn’t keep him in suspense. “But considering your special circumstances, we’ve modified the design of your Evolver Badge.” An Tingyu smiled, pulling a pendant out of her drawer. “This is your exclusive Evolver Badge. You can wear it on your person, hide it under your clothes, and only take it out when necessary.”
Hearing this, Bai’s eyes immediately lit up.
This was fantastic.
He took the Evolver Badge pendant, his eyes shining.
This was great. Not only did it not violate regulations, but he could also temporarily conceal his identity. This was absolutely perfect.
Even if it were exposed, Bai could just claim he bought this Evolver merch on Pinduoduo for 9.9 yuan, and no one would suspect a thing.
“Put it on and give it a try,” An Tingyu smiled. “The Evolver Badge also serves to help Evolvers control their abilities. Some people feel a bit uncomfortable when they first put it on. If you feel anything unusual, let us know, and we can adjust it.”
She wasn’t doing this without an ulterior motive. She needed to observe Bai’s reaction to wearing this specific badge.
This badge had been crafted overnight by Wen Zhiyi and his team. Its suppression effect was said to be more than ten times stronger than standard badges. If an ordinary B-Class Evolver wore this pendant, the evolutionary particles in their body would be suppressed to the point of being completely unusable. It was true black technology straight from the Research Institute.
To this day, their country’s Evolver Badges were the subject of study for countless foreign organizations, with untold numbers trying to reverse-engineer the technology.
It was thanks to this badge that so many Evolvers were kept in check.
Cooperate with state operations, wear the badge, and you keep your freedom.
Refuse to cooperate, and the next time you see this badge, it’ll be a blade aimed at your body, taking away not only your powers but your freedom as well.
Anyone with a brain knew which was more important.
“Okay, I’ll try it right now.” Overjoyed, Bai immediately hung the pendant around his neck.
“How does it feel?” An Tingyu asked nervously. If the effect was too strong, she’d have to explain it away and persuade him to keep it on.
“It’s alright, just feels a bit heavier than I imagined. It’s got some weight to it,” Bai said, twisting his neck a bit. He didn’t notice anything wrong.
“No other unusual sensations at all?” An Tingyu asked, refusing to give up.
“Nope, it’s fine,” Bai replied.
An Tingyu could only offer a hollow smile.
She had been the first test subject for this badge. When she wore the pendant, her abilities were suppressed to almost nothing. Yet Bai actually claimed he didn’t feel a thing?
The gap between Evolvers truly was greater than the gap between humans and dogs.
“Director An, is there anything else?” Bai inquired.
“Nothing much. Someone is already applying for the reward you mentioned before. Also, those two people you reported were indeed spies, and he seems to be applying for a bounty for you as well. However, you’ll have to wait for the specific results; these things are slow to get approved. Lastly, your vigilance is excellent—please keep it up. In the future, if people suddenly want to add you on WeChat, make sure to verify who they are,” An Tingyu instructed.
“Really? Phone Bro is that amazing?” Bai was shocked. “By the way, Director An, do you know who exactly Phone Bro is?”
“…You want to meet him?” An Tingyu felt rather conflicted.
“Of course! If Phone Bro hadn’t helped me back in the Forbidden Zone, I definitely wouldn’t have made it out so fast. And you just said someone is applying for my rewards—that’s definitely him. For such a good guy, I should at least treat him to a meal to show my gratitude,” Bai stated matter-of-factly. “Is Phone Bro’s identity super confidential or something? Like, you can’t tell outsiders?”
“Well… pretty much. It’s not my place to reveal his identity; he’ll have to come to you himself. Some departments require strict confidentiality. I’m sorry.” Hearing Bai’s glowing evaluation of Wen Zhiyi, An Tingyu wanted to spend the next three days and nights roasting the man.
Silly child, you’ve definitely been tricked by Wen Zhiyi.
Wen Zhiyi was a master of the “stick and carrot” routine. If you fell for his sweet carrot early on, you had no idea how many times you’d be cursed out by him later.
But even with liquid courage, An Tingyu wouldn’t dare curse Wen Zhiyi out loud within the Special Operations Department. She could only wait until she got off work to vent in her private group chats.
“I see, nothing we can do about it then.” Bai understood the rules. “Don’t worry, Director An, I will absolutely cooperate with the Special Operations Department’s work.”
“If there’s nothing else, I won’t hold you up. Just remember to go to the first floor and apply for your Evolver stipend on your way out.”
“Will do, I won’t forget.”
Bai waved goodbye to An Tingyu and considerately closed the office door behind him before walking out.
The brief interaction between An Tingyu and Bai had been fully monitored by Huo Ling, Wen Zhiyi, and the others.
Though they couldn’t appear directly in front of Bai, they had kept a close eye on the scene between him and An Tingyu from start to finish.
“Chief, the readouts on Bai’s Evolver Badge have maxed out,” a researcher immediately reported.
The core principle behind their Evolver Badges was a simple “like repels like” mechanism. The badges themselves contained evolutionary particles extracted from the air. Using their technology, this chaotic evolutionary energy exerted suppression on the evolutionary particles inside an Evolver’s body. Conversely, they could use the fluctuating values within the badge to deduce an Evolver’s strength.
And the pendant given to Bai was undeniably the strongest suppressor they had ever created.
Yet, the moment Bai put it around his neck, the readings instantly hit maximum.
The researchers were dying of curiosity. How could a human body contain such colossal energy? It completely defied logic.
“It’s perfectly normal,” Wen Zhiyi said evenly. “The pendant we gave him continuously absorbs evolutionary energy from the air to suppress him. The pendant’s efficacy is beyond question. Based on current data, this pendant can suppress up to fifty percent of Bai’s evolutionary particles. But because his baseline numbers far exceed those of an ordinary Evolver, even suppressed by half, he remains number one in the world.”
With their current technological capabilities, this was as far as they could go.
This also meant that if Bai truly went berserk one day, they would have no other options short of nuclear weapons.
But if things really got to that point, the world would likely be destroyed anyway, so what would be the point?
“Chief, things can’t go on like this,” one researcher couldn’t help but say. “We can only watch Bai from a distance, totally in the dark about his actual metrics. While I understand that keeping Bai stable is the top priority, we can’t just leave him completely unchecked.”
If this continued, even if their Institute could justify it, many higher-ups definitely wouldn’t understand.
Furthermore, if they didn’t make a move to get close to Bai, foreign organizations were already trying every method in the book. If someone else beat them to the punch, they wouldn’t be able to explain themselves.
“Wanting everything in the palm of your hand is a form of arrogance,” Wen Zhiyi frowned. “The charm of science lies in the unknown and in exploration. If we knew everything, what would they need us researchers for? Also, certain officials whose own records aren’t even clean have some nerve pointing fingers at me. Don’t try using that political crap to manage me.”
Having both skills and backing made one truly untouchable.
The researchers were deeply envious, but they also knew that their First Research Institute enjoyed abundant funding and leeway precisely because Wen Zhiyi was a sharp-tongued maverick who refused to be bossed around. People with his skills usually lacked his backing, and people with his backing lacked his genius. Combine the two, and you get someone who fears absolutely nothing. Everyone else could only offer polite suggestions; no one would genuinely cross Wen Zhiyi.
Therefore, even though Bai’s existence had alarmed the upper echelons of the state, they essentially agreed with Wen Zhiyi’s judgment.
Stability above all else.
Without violating Bai’s personal will, maintaining the status quo, slowly getting close to him, understanding his mindset, and fulfilling his requests was the best approach for now.
Otherwise, if something went wrong, no one could shoulder the responsibility of potentially causing the nation’s downfall.
However, when peace lasted too long, there were always those who wouldn’t let things be, those who would hatch dangerously arrogant ideas.
And there was simply no cure for that kind of stupidity.
“But Chief, I heard that over at the other Research Institutes, some people are joining forces to protest your current approach,” a researcher forced himself to say.
Wen Zhiyi was indeed the Chief of their First Research Institute, but there were other institutes out there, and not everyone bought into Wen Zhiyi’s authority.
“You mean those charlatans who can’t even produce a working Evolver Badge?” Wen Zhiyi sneered. “Who the hell do they think they are? They wouldn’t even be able to comprehend a single page of my drafts. To think people like that can get recruited into a Research Institute… it seems our country’s scientific capabilities still have a lot of room for improvement.”
The researcher was powerless to retort. He feared that if he kept talking, Chief Wen would start insulting the protesters’ ancestors going back eighteen generations.
“I will handle the task of getting close to Bai,” Wen Zhiyi stated. “If anyone asks again, tell them exactly that. I’d like to see which of those rotten fish and stinking shrimp dares to snatch a project from my hands.”
“Yes, yes. If you’re willing to approach Bai personally, Chief Wen, that would be perfect,” the researcher beamed, before quickly growing worried again. “Chief, may I make a suggestion? It’s not aimed at you, just a piece of advice. When you approach Bai, could you perhaps… not reveal your true nature right away? Maybe put on an act for a little while?”
He was terrified that Bai, who was perfectly fine and stable, would get berated by Wen Zhiyi into instability.
“This is also for the sake of Bai’s stability, you know. Young people these days have very fragile mentalities, and it’s easy for things to go wrong. Our Institute already has to hire psychiatrists and fortune tellers to come in every month for psychological counseling.” The researcher wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Next time they drew lots for tasks, he was definitely rigging it. He couldn’t keep pulling these miserable assignments.
“I know.” Wen Zhiyi hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
He didn’t think Bai was that fragile, but he could pretend for a bit.
“Chief Wen, I really don’t think you know,” the researcher looked like he was about to cry. “How about you just try to make friends with Bai first? Don’t start by saying you’re from the Research Institute; our reputation outside isn’t exactly stellar.”
There were even many ill-informed Evolvers out there who thought the Research Institute was like the villainous organizations in movies that dissected Evolvers for experiments.
Add to that the inhumane acts committed by certain foreign research labs—truly a case of one rat dropping ruining the whole pot of soup—and their reputation wildly fluctuated, which was incredibly annoying.
If there was a misunderstanding, it would be a huge hassle. Wen Zhiyi’s temper was already bad enough; if Bai formed a misconception about him too, they’d really be screwed.
“Don’t worry, I understand Bai very well.” Wen Zhiyi was brimming with confidence.
…The only thing you understand is his evolutionary particles, the researcher thought.
He wanted to say more, but seeing Wen Zhiyi’s clear look of impatience, he knew he had to stop there.
He could only pray that Chief Wen’s plan went smoothly.
Getting close to Bai wasn’t actually that difficult.
They had already dug up all the necessary information long ago.
For instance, Bai actually had two WeChat and QQ accounts, keeping his work and personal life strictly separate. People like An Tingyu had been added on his work account, where his Moments were exclusively filled with policy propaganda and promotional videos.
His true personal account was where he actually vented his thoughts.
Since he was going to add him, it naturally had to be the personal account.
Wen Zhiyi pulled out his phone, typed in Bai’s personal WeChat ID, and clicked “Add Friend.”
Naturally, he was not accepted.
Bai merely glanced at his phone and tapped “Reject.”
Anyone adding him via ID search was either a scammer or a salesperson. It was never anything good.
As Wen Zhiyi sent the request, the other researchers gathered around.
“Chief, Bai is definitely on high alert. He won’t accept you that easily.”
“Yeah, Chief, I think we still need to state our identity, or just say we’re from the Special Operations Department.”
“Huh? Our Research Institute isn’t beneath them. Why should we use the Special Operations Department’s name?”
“Because their reputation is slightly better than ours.”
The researchers immediately started bickering, everyone trying to offer Wen Zhiyi ideas.
“I think we need to explain our utility. Chief Wen, why don’t you directly state that we can help him understand his ability?” one researcher proposed confidently. “Evolvers eat that stuff up. I’ve added dozens of Evolvers in the past using that exact line.”
Listening to his colleague’s advice, Wen Zhiyi sent another request, this time attaching a message: “I can help you understand your ability.”
Bai took one look at it and frowned.
Seriously? Earlier, people were just coming up to him on the street for his WeChat. Now that he was rejecting them, they were actually searching for his ID?
These people really refused to give up.
“Sorry, not interested,” Bai replied, rejecting the request once again.
“How was it rejected again? That shouldn’t happen.”
“Does Bai just refuse to add strangers altogether?”
“No, if he didn’t want to add anyone, he’d just disable friend searches. Our method must be wrong.”
“How about saying you’re his coworker?”
“Hmm, maybe a doctor?”
“I still think we should just state who we are. The Research Institute isn’t that scary.”
Many researchers put down their work to come over and brainstorm.
Unfortunately, very few were actually reliable.
When it came to research, they were top-notch, but when dealing with human interaction, they were each uniquely useless.
Wen Zhiyi carefully reviewed Bai’s files in his mind, recalling his twenty failed civil service exam attempts, and his own absurd speculation regarding Bai’s overwhelming power.
This time, Wen Zhiyi sent a new friend request, attaching one sentence and a screenshot.
“I scored 90 in AAT.”
He also included a screenshot of the scores from when he took the National Civil Service Exam out of boredom.
Administrative Aptitude Test: 90. Essay: 90.
The day the national exam scores were released, nearly every candidate in the country had gone wild.
An AAT score of 90 was one thing—at least it was all multiple-choice. Perhaps a genius among geniuses who had ground through a hundred thousand practice questions and knew astronomy and geography could pull it off.
But a 90 in Essay? Was that a joke?
People speculated whether this candidate had personally drafted national policy; otherwise, how could an essay score be so high?
The most shocking part was that the person who achieved this miraculous score—whom every major test-prep agency had publicly declared they wanted to hire with a million-yuan annual salary—had simply skipped the interview phase.
Everyone guessed that it must be an instructor from some test-prep agency intentionally showing off to build hype.
But no prep agency in the market ever stepped forward to claim him. The few who posted cryptic videos hinting that it was them, trying to farm clout, were swiftly exposed by netizens.
Back then, Wen Zhiyi hadn’t taken the national exam for any profound reason. He was just annoyed by some uncooperative Evolvers yammering about how they only acted tough because they had government jobs. So he registered, took the exam, and slapped his transcript in their faces. Suddenly, they all became much more cooperative.
Seeing the message and the screenshot, Bai was taken aback.
This time, he didn’t instantly reject the request. Instead, filled with doubt, he replied with one sentence: “How do I know this score is actually yours?”
Left with no other choice, Wen Zhiyi dug up the photo of his signed interview withdrawal declaration and sent it over.
The backend screenshot of the original score and the withdrawal statement definitely weren’t available online.
It’s real?
It’s actually the legendary Exam God?!
Bai was utterly shocked.
In that instant, all his doubts and vigilance were tossed entirely into the stratosphere.
He didn’t bother wondering why a civil service Exam God would want to add him. He only knew that this was the closest he had ever been to landing on the shore of a stable career!
Even if the God could impart just a tiny sliver of his exam experience, it would be infinitely better than those influencers online blowing hot air about being exam masters.
“I’ll add you, don’t trouble yourself.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Bai accepted the friend request. He immediately gave the other party the alias “Exam God” and pinned the chat to the top, terrified of missing even a single message.
His transition from utter arrogance to absolute reverence was perfectly seamless.
The researchers were all stunned.
Ah, so that’s what works on you?!
