Chapter 16
Wen Zhiyi had finally added Bai Hewei as a WeChat friend.
Exiting WeChat, he glanced back at the researchers crowding around him. His face grew stern. “What are you all crowding around for? Is the experiment finished? Have the reports been written? Do you need me to personally audit your work?”
The deadly trifecta of questions caused the researchers to instantly scatter.
Once everyone was gone, Wen Zhiyi picked up his phone again. He pondered over how he should open the conversation.
To his surprise, Bai Hewei had already sent over a massive wall of text.
The Exam God is truly low-key. His profile picture is completely blank, and his WeChat name is just a brief “wz1.” It perfectly exudes the aura of a grandmaster!
When Will I Pass the Civil Service Exam: Great Master, Great Master! I wanted to ask, why is it that I can never get a high score on graphical reasoning, logical judgment, and general knowledge questions? Also, my Essay scores fluctuate wildly every single time. Whenever I feel like I’ve written an amazing essay, my score turns out incredibly low. But when I think I’ve written a complete pile of dog shit, my score is actually pretty good. I’m completely bewildered and have no idea how to study anymore. Great Master, how should I prepare for the exam? I’m begging you to share your experience and course recommendations! Also, do you offer tutoring classes?
Seeing how much Bai Hewei had written, Wen Zhiyi found it somewhat amusing.
One of them was the strongest Evolver in the world, and the other was the Chief Researcher of the Research Institute. Yet, they weren’t discussing grand propositions like saving the world. Instead, they were talking about things like the Administrative Aptitude Test (AAT) and Essays. It was absurdly funny yet remarkably down-to-earth.
If those foreign organizations saw their chat logs, they would probably assume they were using some kind of highly encrypted language.
After a moment’s thought, Wen Zhiyi decided to reply.
He drafted a paragraph first, then deleted a few phrases that sounded distinctly unfriendly. He even ran it through an AI to polish it up, ensuring none of his usual personal style shone through before sending it over to Bai Hewei.
wz1: If you aren’t getting high scores in graphical reasoning and logical judgment, it means your logical thinking hasn’t been properly trained yet. This requires steady accumulation through daily practice; there are no shortcuts other than drilling questions and learning the problem-solving logic. The scope of the general knowledge section is too broad, making it difficult to fully review. If you’re short on time, I suggest skipping it. Essay, on the other hand, is actually the easiest section to improve. Don’t bother reading the sample essays published by prep agencies. Just download the local government work reports and study them inside out. Those local government reports are written by the most elite essay writers burning the midnight oil. They have data, analysis, and case studies. You can use some of their subheadings directly with just a few tweaks.
When Will I Pass the Civil Service Exam: Oh, wow! Okay, I’ll go download them right now. But Great Master, did you pass the exam by studying like that too?
wz1: …Not really. I watched a day of online classes, read a day of reports, and then went to take the exam. It wasn’t hard.
Wen Zhiyi was genuinely telling the truth.
Compared to the data analysis he performed during his daily work, things like graphical reasoning and logical judgment were practically free points. For the quantitative relations section, he could calculate the answers in his head almost immediately after reading the questions. The points he lost on the AAT were merely on a few general knowledge and verbal comprehension questions. As for government reports—to put it bluntly, whenever Huo Ling had to write his year-end work report, he would humbly come over to Wen Zhiyi’s place and beg him to polish it.
As the Chief of the Research Institute, Wen Zhiyi was young, aggressive, and frequently offended people. It was only when it came time for year-end work reports—when he needed to secure funding from other departments—that he would write incredibly elaborate articles and reports. He knew exactly how skilled he was.
The Essay and AAT sections were essentially low-spec versions of his daily routine. Naturally, they were a breeze for him.
Bai Hewei stared with wide eyes.
Huh? Is this even human speech?
As expected, geniuses aren’t meant for regular jobs.
Bai Hewei instantly deflated like a punctured balloon. He typed and deleted in the dialogue box several times, completely at a loss for words. Ultimately, he could only make a polite exit.
When Will I Pass the Civil Service Exam: Alright, I’ll try that out first. Sorry for troubling you, Great Master. It’s getting late, please get some rest. If you ever need my help with anything, just let me know.
Bai Hewei figured that since he had just added the Great Master, he shouldn’t show his hand too quickly. Once they became well-acquainted, he would ask this Great Master to properly coach him. He was certain the man still had a few secret techniques up his sleeve.
Wen Zhiyi wasn’t in a rush to push the relationship forward either. He didn’t even think about telling Bai Hewei that he was the “Phone Bro” who had helped him back in the Forbidden Zone. It wouldn’t be too late to tell him after the bonus and trophy he had applied for were officially approved.
Although Bai Hewei seemed to be on good terms with the Special Operations Department, the fact that he had only added An Tingyu on his work account showed that his acceptance of them was purely professional. What he was truly thinking and what he wanted to do in the future had never been revealed. Drawing closer to him was also considered the first step of their research.
The news that the Special Operations Department had deployed multiple teams to capture all the foreign Evolvers who had used various means to infiltrate China and approach Bai Hewei spread across the world’s major organizations in no time.
This approach was undoubtedly a clear warning to all major organizations: do not try to trouble Bai Hewei, and do not think you can lay a finger on him under their noses.
According to the information currently obtained by the major organizations, because of Bai Hewei, the local branch of the Special Operations Department where he resided had already requested the headquarters to dispatch more elite Evolvers to remain on standby. Meanwhile, the central authority was already considering candidates. They would likely draw elite Evolvers from various branches to form a dedicated task force to support that specific local branch.
This also meant it would be even more difficult for these organizations to get close to Bai Hewei in the future.
In a clandestine underground research facility in a certain country.
“Subject 32’s condition is stable.”
“The evolutionary particles inside Subject 39 are running rampant. Inject him with a few more doses of morphine to quiet him down.”
“Subject 61’s metrics are steadily increasing.”
One data stream after another appeared on the computer screens, neatly categorized into sections with clear comparisons between each set of variables.
Researchers of various ethnicities hustled back and forth through the underground facility like worker ants.
The things they did could never be exposed to the public. Even if everyone knew they were conducting human experimentation, as long as it wasn’t brought out into the light of day, people would turn a blind eye.
Soon, these metrics were delivered directly to the Director of the Research Institute.
Inside the office, someone else was present alongside the Director.
“We already raised a proposal internationally, hoping that China would hand over Bai Hewei so he could cooperate with several nations for a joint examination. However, she rejected it on the spot,” a middle-aged man in a suit stated. He possessed typical Caucasian features, and even though he was somewhat bloated now, it was clear he had been quite handsome in his youth.
Though he was already sixty-five years old, he currently looked to be around forty, entirely relying on the latest technology produced by the Research Institute.
An Evolver’s ability was simply too useful. Many medical issues that could not be resolved by science could easily be fixed by supernatural abilities.
At this rate, perhaps reversing aging wouldn’t just be a dream.
Even though this underground research facility absolutely could not be exposed, plenty of high-ranking officials and ultra-wealthy individuals scrambled to send them money for research, giving them whatever they demanded without the slightest hesitation.
“Madame Yuan has always been a famous Iron Lady. She came from the peacekeeping special forces in her youth and has a fierce personality. Three generations of her ancestors were high-ranking officials who retired with honor, giving her an incredibly solid background and strong influence. Crucially, several of her students and subordinates have awakened as high-level Evolvers, and they are fiercely loyal to her. Otherwise, how could an ordinary human like her sit securely in the position of Director of the Special Operations Department?” Another man spoke, his tone filled with admiration. “For China to place her in this position shows they weighed the decision very carefully.”
If an Evolver were placed in the position of Director of the Special Operations Department, it would trigger panic among ordinary citizens, which would be highly detrimental to the country’s overall stability. But if an ordinary person were chosen for the role, they would very likely be reduced to a figurehead by the Evolvers. In the end, after much deliberation, they chose this Iron Lady. She was of impeccable revolutionary stock, carried an immense background, and her achievements were vast enough to fill a book. Everyone had to afford her some respect.
Naturally, her uncompromising stance also invited substantial risk.
Just counting the instances reported by the media and those known privately among the inner circles, there had been at least dozens of assassination attempts. The Evolver bodyguards around her had to be rotated through several cohorts before her security gradually stabilized.
If someone deeply invested in international politics saw the people sitting in this office, they would probably think they had accidentally wandered into some country’s emergency council meeting. Every single individual present was the kind of figure pursued by countless media outlets.
“We can only apply a bit of international pressure. While the effect isn’t massive, it’s enough to misdirect them. The key is that we need to provide more support to those rogue organizations. There are certain things that are inconvenient for us to do, but they are perfectly positioned to handle them.”
“Mr. Smith, how many Evolvers can your Institute’s third-generation Evolver Potion supply?” the middle-aged man inquired.
“At present, a maximum of thirty vials per day,” the Director answered gravely. “The materials required for the Evolver Potion can only be harvested from Evolvers themselves. Currently, the Evolvers inside our Research Institute can no longer meet our demands.”
“Then bring some more Evolvers over from other countries,” a man replied. “The powerful Evolvers within our own nation have already been packaged into modern-day superheroes. It’s very difficult to make a move on them, nor should we.”
Since they could simply siphon blood from other nations, why use their own domestic elites?
“Last time, the [Sacred Staff] organization collaborated with others to manufacture a Forbidden Zone to trap Bai Hewei, but they failed. Artificial Forbidden Zones are still too unreliable. Doesn’t China have plenty of natural Forbidden Zones? Find a way to lure Bai Hewei into one. If we truly cannot force several nations to share this world’s strongest Evolver, we cannot let China monopolize him either.”
“Understood. I will notify the [Sacred Staff] organization.”
“The news recently reported that the lake previously designated as a Forbidden Zone has finally been cleared of its restrictions.”
“It looks like the Special Operations Department spent a whole year working to lift the restriction on that lake. Good. If that restriction hadn’t been cleared soon, the price of hairy crabs would have stayed sky-high. This is great, we should be able to buy a few more crabs next year.”
At Bai Hewei’s home, it was a rule to eat dinner while watching the Xinwen Lianbo evening news. The food was served as soon as the broadcast started, and by the time it ended, dinner was finished.
This was a habit instilled by his grandmother, and the rest of the family naturally kept it up.
Bai Hewei nodded. “Hairy crabs were way too expensive the last two years. A three-tael female crab could go for 100 yuan each. Starting next year, it should get a lot better.”
Over the past few years, the government had been dedicated to prioritizing the clearance of Forbidden Zones that directly impacted the practical lives of the public—such as lakes, mountains, and farmlands. As for the buildings within cities, they could only be pushed down the line, to be dealt with once personnel became available.
In truth, the number of Forbidden Zones within cities was far higher than in these uninhabited regions. However, urban Forbidden Zones were much more complex, vast in number, and located in densely populated areas, making evacuation a massive headache. Currently, for safety reasons, lines were generally drawn around these Forbidden Zones, and specialized construction crews were dispatched to wall them off to prevent entry.
Various media outlets continuously covered the horrors of Forbidden Zones, yet they could never stop suicidal individuals from trying to sneak inside.
For Bai Hewei, who worked at a Subdistrict Office, raising awareness about the dangers of Forbidden Zones and conducting occasional patrols to bar entry was part of his routine work.
If even a couple of incidents occurred where people entered a Forbidden Zone with their fates unknown, their subdistrict’s performance rating would drop from first-tier to second- or even third-tier.
“By the way, my dear grandson, how is work going lately? You haven’t been working much overtime, right?” his grandmother asked.
“It’s fine. After pushing through that busy period, things have quieted down. I’ve been able to review properly lately. The public institution exam is next week.” Bai Hewei felt a bit guilty. In truth, he didn’t have any confidence in next week’s exam, but his family all believed this position was excellent and close to home. It hit two out of the three golden criteria: “good pay, few chores, and close to home.”
To support him, his mother had even cooked two extra dishes for dinner to nourish his brain.
“Work hard and you can definitely do it,” his father chimed in. “If you don’t pass, it just means you didn’t work hard enough.”
“How can you talk like that? What do you mean not passing means not working hard enough? You worked so hard back in the day, but I never saw you get promoted to a permanent position,” his mother countered with a roll of her eyes. “Look at our next-door neighbors, and so-and-so’s kid—didn’t they all fail to pass? Hewei is already under enough pressure, and here you are making it worse.”
Seeing his parents on the verge of an argument, Bai Hewei scarfed down his food in a few bites and immediately used the excuse of studying to retreat to his bedroom.
Living with family certainly saved on rent and groceries, but sometimes it was truly mentally draining. If you didn’t run fast enough, it was easy to end up as collateral damage in his parents’ arguments.
His grandmother, on the other hand, had mastered the ultimate art of selective hearing. She simply acted deaf and didn’t involve herself at all.
Bai Hewei checked his exam venue once more. This time, the test locations were set in a few vocational schools located out in the suburbs. Originally, only one school had been prepared, but due to the massive number of applicants, they had to add temporary venues. Driving there from Bai Hewei’s home would take about forty minutes. If he woke up at six in the morning and took his father’s car, he would make it in time.
Even though the probability of passing was slim, the registration fee had already been paid, so he couldn’t just not go.
Bai Hewei searched for the conditions around the exam venue and saw everyone in the exam-prep group chats complaining about the local hotels and small inns multiplying their rates several times over. They were practically treating the candidates like pigs for slaughter, and everyone was cursing up a storm.
Usually, it was at times like this that Bai Hewei’s mood would improve slightly. At the very least, he didn’t have to throw away money on that.
Perhaps tracked by algorithms, as Bai Hewei scrolled through his phone, related information about the exam venue naturally started getting pushed to him.
One of the highest-trending posts concerned a Forbidden Zone near the vocational school town.
Bai Hewei scrolled through it. A lot of people had already left comments, and the post’s popularity was surging.
“Actually, the formation of this Forbidden Zone has quite a backstory. As everyone knows, in a vocational school town, many students like to date. The predecessor of this Forbidden Zone was originally a hill with a decent view, even dubbed ‘Lovers’ Hill,’ where young couples loved to go for dates. Five years ago, when the Awakening Day began, there were still plenty of young couples flirting up there. Apparently, a few students suddenly awakened their abilities without knowing how to control them, accidentally killing their partners and severely injuring several others. Later, I heard that one of the deceased students had a secret admirer who also became an Evolver, and a massive fight broke out. It was said to be an incredibly brutal clash. Back then, dozens of Evolvers from all over the vocational school town rushed over to watch the spectacle.”
“With those dozens of Evolvers gathered together, a minor issue escalated into a major disaster. They started fighting each other, and in the end, who knows exactly what happened—long story short, only ten Evolvers survived, while all the rest died. That Lovers’ Hill turned into a Forbidden Zone. It’s completely sealed off now, with walls built all around it and high-voltage power grids. No one even dreams of entering.”
“Yeah, isn’t this vocational school town being used as an exam venue again recently? I saw the local subdistrict and community workers already patrolling in their volunteer vests. They’ll have to work overtime on the day of the exam too. How miserable.”
“Can’t be helped. There are too many candidates, and it’s easy for chaos to break out.”
“Anyway, Forbidden Zones are always the absolute top priority in grassroots evaluations. I’m truly amazed; despite how dangerous they are, there are always people who aren’t afraid of death trying to sneak inside. When we encounter these reckless fools, we grassroots workers have no options other than persuasion. What else can we do?”
“Grassroots workers don’t want to hear this.”
“That Forbidden Zone seems to have been reported to the Special Operations Department before. Because the surrounding area is a student hub, it’s very dangerous, so its priority should be near the top. However, it seems this Forbidden Zone is quite complex, and the parents of the students who died back then are still making a fuss, so there’s been no way to clear it on a large scale.”
“Entering a Forbidden Zone means a ninety-nine percent chance of death. Isn’t there a dark joke over in Japan? After Forbidden Zones appeared, suicide rates everywhere else dropped drastically, but missing person numbers inside Forbidden Zones skyrocketed.”
“True. For many people who can’t see a way out, a Forbidden Zone is a way to make themselves completely disappear. Sigh, these things really harm people. It’s better to speed up the clearance and dispersal of Forbidden Zones.”
“Ha, most of those Special Operations Department people are just coasting along. Why would they risk their lives to clear a Forbidden Zone?”
“I don’t agree with that. They’re human too. If they can clear a Forbidden Zone, they definitely will, but if they can’t, there’s nothing they can do.”
“Exactly. Adding up all the Forbidden Zones across the country, there are over ten thousand of them, almost all left over from the Awakening Day five years ago. Working so hard over these years, they’ve only cleared less than one percent. How could it be that easy?”
“Our advisor published a research paper on Forbidden Zones before. The main takeaway was that the longer these Forbidden Zones exist, the harder they are to clear. It’s not that simple.”
“…If Forbidden Zones were easy to clear, those small foreign countries wouldn’t have collapsed.”
“Plus one. The number of refugees abroad has multiplied several times compared to before the Awakening Day. Isn’t it all because of the emergence of Forbidden Zones?”
Bai Hewei scrolled through a few more posts and discovered that this Forbidden Zone was actually a fair distance away from the vocational school town, which set his mind at ease.
As long as it didn’t affect his exam when the time came, it was fine.
He had encountered Forbidden Zones multiple times while on duty; he was used to it by now.
The following days could be described as smooth sailing.
When Bai Hewei returned home after work, he either drilled exam questions or chatted with the Exam God. Life passed rather comfortably.
On the eve of the exam, Bai Hewei changed into purple underwear for good luck and put on a string of “Eighteen Seeds” Buddhist beads that were supposedly blessed. He prepared all his exam supplies, checked his ID card and admission ticket, and went to bed early. He would have to wake up early tomorrow to take the car.
Meanwhile, grassroots staff members near the vocational school town had already put on their volunteer vests with heavy sighs, beginning to assign patrol duties.
“Tomorrow’s municipal exam lasts only one day. Everyone don’t worry, you won’t have to work overtime like this the day after tomorrow.”
“By the way, take a look at the duty roster. In a moment, some Evolvers from the Special Operations Department will come down to join us. One Evolver will be assigned to each patrol group, and you’ll patrol together.”
“If you run into people who want to slip into the Forbidden Zone and refuse to leave, let the Evolvers handle it. They have law enforcement powers and carry more deterrent weight than us. Everyone stay sharp, understood?”
The subdistrict leaders gave a long list of earnest instructions, emphasizing the importance of the work before finally departing.
Well, not exactly departing—on the day of the exam, these subdistrict leaders would also be present to coordinate with the Special Operations Department at a moment’s notice.
There had been municipal public institution exams before, but things had never been this tense. It was likely due to the proximity of the Forbidden Zone, the subdistrict leaders thought to themselves.
On the day of the exam, this group of patrollers bore witness to the terrifying might of the “exam-taking army.”
“There are so many people,” a community worker couldn’t help but marvel. “It’s wall-to-wall people, there’s nowhere to even park. How many openings are there even for these municipal roles? The number of applicants must have broken five thousand.”
“Way more than five thousand. I heard over ten thousand people registered. The figure you’re talking about was just from the first day of registration.”
“Terrifying.”
“No wonder they have us patrolling. If a candidate performs poorly and their mental state collapses, it’s genuinely possible they might wander over to the Forbidden Zone.”
Bai Hewei parked his car far outside the vocational school town early on, then got out and walked into his designated exam venue.
Seeing such a massive crowd of competitors, Bai Hewei felt rather depressed.
Sigh, whatever. With so many people taking the exam, only a few dozen will be recruited in the end. In comparison, the competition for my specific position isn’t even the most brutal.
In the distance.
Several Evolvers were hiding cautiously, avoiding detection by the Special Operations Department.
“Bai Hewei is already preparing to enter the exam venue. The perimeter of the Forbidden Zone is heavily guarded by Evolvers; pulling Bai Hewei inside might pose some difficulty.”
“No matter. The spatial ability user dispatched by the organization will arrive shortly.”
“He can manipulate space. Sending Bai Hewei into the Forbidden Zone won’t be a difficult task at all.”
Author’s Note:
Bai Hewei: All you rogue organizations want to harm me! The fact that I can’t pass the exam is entirely your fault!
