I, the World’s Strongest, Have Failed the Civil Service Exam Thirty-Nine Times – CH48

Chapter 48

Bai Hewei felt he had performed a deeply righteous deed, and he couldn’t have been happier.

Look at that—even the Great God had praised him, showing immense respect by using the formal pronoun “You.” Surely the man had been thoroughly captivated by his noble character and lofty morality.

When Will I Secure a Civil Service Post: Great God, this time I registered for the Evolver position at the Meteorological Bureau. I’ve long since heard of the Meteorological Bureau; it’s highly renowned and very relaxed, and they basically rarely recruit. At present, I see that the applicant count isn’t high. Do you know much about the Meteorological Bureau?

Wen Zhiyi truly didn’t know much about the Meteorological Bureau.

This particular unit essentially had zero interaction with the Central Research Institute.

After brief deliberation, Wen Zhiyi candidly admitted that he wasn’t familiar with this unit. However, he noted that it likely wouldn’t be very bustling; if Bai Hewei wished to pass the exam, he still needed to practice more questions at present.

Bai Hewei agreed remarkably crisply, and the conversation finally wound down after they chatted about a few other random topics.

The provincial public institutions unified examinations had undoubtedly attracted a massive horde of exam-takers. The turnip post that Bai Hewei had reported initially generated a small spark of buzz, but gradually, amidst various forms of traffic restriction and the eventual cancellation of the position, it slowly faded to the point where no one paid it any mind anymore.

On one rare occasion, when Bai Hewei was assisting the Special Operations Department as a sub-district worker to evacuate a crowd, he ran into An Tingyu and casually brought up the matter.

“Director An, we’re already so well-acquainted, could you drop a hint as to exactly which line of privileged royalty that turnip post belonged to, the one that caused such a massive uproar before?” Bai Hewei rarely gossiped, but since this turnip post had been reported into oblivion and he had contributed a tiny bit of effort to the cause, he couldn’t help but want to ask.

The gaze An Tingyu directed at Bai Hewei was immensely complex, as if she wanted to discern whether he was genuinely clueless or just playing dumb.

If she had known she would be grilled by Bai Hewei like this, she would have preferred to stay cooped up in her office rather than head out for fieldwork.

But choosing the lesser of two evils, when comparing Bai Hewei to Huo Ling, Bai Hewei was infinitely easier to handle.

“I have no idea who it was exactly; after all, it was reported and canceled the moment the announcement was published,” An Tingyu sighed, unwilling to dwell on this topic with Bai Hewei. She asked knowingly, “Which position did you apply for?”

“I applied for the Meteorological Bureau. Director An, you should be familiar with this unit, right? Is it exceptionally relaxed?” Bai Hewei’s eyes sparkled.

“We don’t have much interaction, but a specialized functional department like that generally won’t be busy to any severe degree.” A smile graced An Tingyu’s face. “Just stay at home and practice questions diligently lately; the number of applicants for the exam this time is quite substantial.”

Although Bai Hewei hadn’t applied for their unit, it didn’t matter. As long as Bai Hewei secured a permanent post, they could always transfer his establishment affiliation over!

“I know, I’m already practicing papers.” Bai Hewei nodded. “Director An, I noticed that the frequency of your team heading out for fieldwork has been rather high lately.”

“The number of operatives from foreign illegal organizations smuggling themselves in has been continuously ticking upward lately,” An Tingyu said, frowning. “You should be careful too; ensure you don’t expose yourself.”

“Understood, understood.”

Once he clocked out, Bai Hewei headed straight back home, ordering takeout for whatever he wanted to eat or drink to avoid running into any further complications outside.

If another gentleman showed up to disrupt his exam preparation, he would absolutely die of frustration.

Consequently, Bai Hewei behaved with absolute discipline. Regardless of how many people were causing a stir outside, he maintained a strict two-point routine between work and home, completely abstaining from wandering around outside.

Even if members of certain organizations wished to track him down, they couldn’t find him at all.

In stark contrast to him was Pullman, who had been swept into an absolute frenzy of busywork ever since he learned that his sister’s documentation had been finalized and she was about to enter the country to find him.

On one hand, he booked the most luxurious hotel room for his sister, while on the other, he constantly pressed the renovation crew to wrap up the work on the villa as quickly as possible.

Having finally confirmed the arrival time of his sister’s flight, Pullman intended to personally pick up his sister, Shirley.

Abroad, Shirley traveled with a massive entourage of Evolver mercenary groups acting as bodyguards. But within the borders of Huaxia, it was highly difficult for those Evolver mercenaries to secure entry. For the sake of keeping the news tight, Shirley had no choice but to enter the country completely alone—how could Pullman not feel anxious?

Pullman arrived at the airport well ahead of schedule.

Shirley’s flight was scheduled to touch down at 10:30 AM.

Yet it was already 11:00 AM now, and he still hadn’t seen her, nor could he get through to her phone.

A minor flight delay was entirely standard.

Pullman could only reassure himself that nothing could have gone wrong; given his sister’s capabilities, staging an escape wouldn’t be difficult.

However, by 2:00 PM, he still hadn’t seen a trace of Shirley.

Pullman made a call to the airline, and the staff on their end were completely bewildered as well.

“Mr. Pullman, our flight landed normally quite some time ago. Your sister, Shirley, did indeed purchase a first-class ticket with us, but you might not believe it if we told you—she boarded the plane smoothly, yet right as we neared landing, she suddenly vanished out of thin air.”

“Ms. Shirley is a premier VIP of ours. We have cross-checked repeatedly, and she truly vanished without a trace. We suspect this matter might involve Evolvers, and we have already filed a report with the Special Operations Department. Please be patient; the moment we receive any word, we will notify you immediately.”

…

Whatever the airline representative said next, Pullman could no longer process a single word.

He only knew that his sister, Shirley, had vanished into thin air from the first-class cabin of an airplane.

Who could have done it?

Pullman cycled through names in his mind one by one.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t think of an enemy; on the contrary, it was because there were simply far too many people who wished to move against Shirley.

As a top-tier healing-type Evolver in the world, Shirley’s capabilities had always been heavily coveted. Even though she typically traveled with a full mercenary group composed entirely of Evolvers, she still frequently fell victim to kidnappings and assassinations—let alone now when she was completely solitary.

Yet for this specific trip, they hadn’t informed a soul, and Shirley had even utilized a false identity. Prior to setting out, Shirley had even hired a transformation-type Evolver to alter their appearance into hers to conduct “treatments” out in the open, which should have drawn away all surveillance elements.

Unless… someone had betrayed them.

Pullman didn’t continue wasting time waiting at the airport. If he wished to locate Shirley, he naturally had to deploy his own methods.

Night fell.

Bai Hewei had just finished practicing a full exam paper. He meticulously checked his answers against the key, and upon seeing the score he had marked out, he found it simply too unsightly to bear, prompting him to surreptitiously award himself an extra two points.

Yet the bright red score of “63” still filled Bai Hewei with profound misery.

Neglecting administrative aptitude testing for a single day was merely deceiving oneself. But neglecting it for a full month—there was no hiding from the score sheet.

“I must truly be getting old. I clearly just memorized the logic for these handful of incorrect questions, so how could I have forgotten it already?” Bai Hewei rapped his knuckles against his head, experiencing absolute agony. “How could my score be this low? Dammit, wealth truly blinds the eyes. The moment I secured over a million yuan and stopped facing a severe cash shortage, I began to degenerate. This score is even lower than back when I took the exam completely cold.”

Bai Hewei was currently engaged in profound self-reflection.

With this kind of score, dreaming of passing the exam for the Meteorological Bureau was an absolute joke. He needed a sense of pressing urgency to force himself to grind harder.

Bai Hewei let out a sigh, powered off his phone, and forced himself to prepare to tackle another practice paper.

Knock, knock, knock.

Knock, knock, knock.

Bai Hewei glanced toward his bedroom door, but there was no one knocking.

It was only when his peripheral vision darted toward the glass window and spotted a figure standing directly outside that his heart nearly leapt out of his chest.

“Holy crap, I live on the sixth floor!” Bai Hewei bolted to the window. Seeing Pullman clinging tightly to the outer window pane like a human spider, he was nearly frightened to death.

Bai Hewei hurriedly unlatched the window to let Pullman scramble inside.

“You already know exactly where I live, so could you not just knock on the front door like a normal person?” Bai Hewei remarked, taking in Pullman’s dust-covered appearance and unable to hold back a complaint.

“I sent you messages on WeChat, but you never replied. It’s already this late and your parents are asleep; I didn’t want to cause a disturbance.” Pullman had come seeking a favor, and since he knew Bai Hewei hadn’t disclosed his status as an Evolver to his family to this day, he naturally didn’t dare stir up trouble for him at a time like this.

For these two siblings to survive up to this point without anyone to lean on, they naturally possessed a keen sense of discernment.

“I was practicing exam questions.” Bai Hewei hurriedly powered his phone on. Sure enough, he saw a mountain of unread messages from Pullman, along with over a dozen missed calls, which left him feeling a bit guilty. “What brings you to my place in the dead of night?”

Just as Pullman was about to speak, his gaze drifted toward the milk tea bag hanging on Bai Hewei’s wall.

“You… what is inside that bag of yours?” Pullman took two steps back, staring at the milk tea bag with absolute vigilance.

“Ah, you can sense it?” Bai Hewei was somewhat surprised. “It’s just a tiny toy piece.”

“I am a specialized anomaly-type Evolver capable of dispersing evolutionary energy. When it comes to the perception of evolutionary energy, even those perception-type Evolvers probably can’t match me.” Pullman fell silent for a moment. “The sensation the item inside that bag gives me is virtually identical to the object I felt every single second back when Shirley and I were locked inside that underground laboratory.”

Both Pullman and Shirley had been captured in the past, and a device like the building block—which could profoundly impact Evolvers—had naturally been utilized for experiments on the two siblings.

“Cough, cough, let’s not dwell on that. What exactly brings you to my place in the middle of the night?” Bai Hewei had promised Wen Zhiyi that he wouldn’t disclose the matter of the building block, so he could only clumsily redirect the topic.

Fortunately, Pullman didn’t care about this right now either.

“My sister, Shirley, has gone missing.” Pullman clenched his fists tightly. “She was scheduled to land this morning to find me, but she never showed up, and I can’t establish contact either. The airline confirmed she boarded the flight, but she vanished mid-journey. The Special Operations Department is currently investigating, but I doubt they will dig up anything substantial.”

Shirley’s identity was false, the records utilized for her boarding were false, and now she had vanished into thin air. Even if the Special Operations Department possessed absolute authority within the borders of Huaxia, what good would it do?

“Missing?” Bai Hewei finally understood why Pullman was this anxious.

The reason Bai Hewei maintained a decent relationship with Pullman was precisely because Pullman placed immense weight on his sister. An Evolver who cherished his family couldn’t be thoroughly malicious down to the core.

Furthermore, the guy wanted to invest within the borders of Huaxia and intended to immigrate here; rounding it up, he counted as a future compatriot, so Bai Hewei naturally harbored a decent impression of him.

“You came to find me because you want me to help you look for her?” Bai Hewei said immediately. “But I don’t really know how to track people down. Do you have any specific leads? Or I could help you consult Director Huo and the others; they are bound to be more adept at finding people than I am.”

“Shirley possesses excellent self-defense capabilities. Furthermore, ever since I awakened, I have continuously attached my evolutionary factors to her person year after year, precisely so that I can locate her immediately in the event she goes missing or runs into trouble.” Pullman stared fixedly at Bai Hewei, his voice solemn. “Yet I am completely unable to locate her right now. This can only mean one of two things: either my sister was taken by operatives from one of those top-tier international research labs—who have engineered many bizarre instruments capable of fully shielding my evolutionary factors—or she was brought into a Forbidden Zone. Only a Forbidden Zone can completely isolate my energy.”

“But there are so many research labs and Forbidden Zones out there. How could you possibly know exactly where she was taken?” Bai Hewei couldn’t help but frown, realizing the core issue of the dilemma.

“There are only a handful of top-tier research labs in the world, and those possessing instruments capable of shielding my energy are even scarcer. Your Huaxia’s Central Research Institute is bound to possess the relevant roster. I hope you can act as a bridge to help me inquire about the situation. As long as they can help me locate my sister, I will absolutely offer a price that leaves you all thoroughly satisfied.”

“And what if she’s inside a Forbidden Zone?” Bai Hewei pressed further.

“An ordinary Forbidden Zone has no hope of trapping her. If she was brought into a Forbidden Zone, then only one possibility remains—a group of Evolvers intends to storm an exceptionally perilous Forbidden Zone, and for the sake of their own safety, they required a top-tier healing-type Evolver by their side. The number of Evolvers possessing this caliber of capability, combined with a Forbidden Zone of such extreme hazard, is remarkably scarce. On Huaxia’s side, it is impossible for you to remain entirely devoid of intelligence.” Pullman locked eyes with Bai Hewei. “I am not one of your people yet, so they definitely won’t place their trust in me. I don’t require anything else; I only hope you can help me ask.”

“Then what can you offer in return?” As a seasoned worker, Bai Hewei clearly understood that the intelligence Pullman wished to secure was bound to carry an astronomical value.

Certain matters were simply beyond what Bai Hewei could smooth over using merely his personal favor.

“I know your Huaxia has always desired the design blueprint for creating superpower vessels. I know its exact whereabouts.” Pullman fell silent for a long moment before stating, “You only need to convey this single point to them, and they will absolutely help me find Shirley.”

Seeing Pullman’s absolute seriousness, Bai Hewei decided to help him make a phone call to inquire.

Seeing how late it was, Bai Hewei thought it over and decided to call An Tingyu first, who could then relay the message to Huo Ling. The rank over at the Central Research Institute was simply too elevated; he couldn’t bypass the chain of command to file a report.

Bai Hewei still understood the tacit rules of the workplace perfectly well.

An Tingyu was currently applying a facial mask when she received Bai Hewei’s call, leaving her somewhat dazed.

What did he mean by Pullman wanting to cut a deal with them, utilizing the whereabouts of the superpower vessel design blueprint in exchange for help in finding his sister?

An Tingyu immediately ripped the mask off her face, completely past the point of feeling heartache over the fact that this luxury mask had cost her several days’ worth of salary.

“Wait for me, give me two minutes. I will report to Director Huo immediately.” An Tingyu had never imagined she would actually hear the whereabouts of the “superpower vessel design blueprint” from Bai Hewei’s mouth. She immediately dialed Huo Ling’s number.

On Bai Hewei’s end, he had waited less than two minutes before Huo Ling’s call came through directly.

“Agree to Pullman’s terms! I will immediately file a report with the central authorities. As long as he can truly deliver the whereabouts of the superpower vessel design blueprint, we will absolutely spare no effort to help him.”

Huo Ling originally felt that being able to rise to a deputy department director rank at such a youthful age meant the ancestral graves were practically billowing with auspicious smoke.

On one hand, he had already been a formal clerk within the government establishment prior to his awakening, meaning he was thoroughly vetted and politically reliable. On the other hand, back when the Special Operations Department was first established, many Evolvers harbored deep skepticism and were unwilling to accept a government paycheck, whereas he was already holding a secure public sector position. Consequently, he had applied for a transfer immediately. Due to his absolute grit and willingness to fight, coupled with the higher-ups’ age requirements for the leadership cohort, Huo Ling had ascended via an absolute rocket ship trajectory.

But Huo Ling also knew that managing to climb to this exact position already constituted his absolute ceiling.

Moving forward, any further advancement would rely entirely on Bai Hewei. If Bai Hewei could pass the exam to enter his unit, a substantial portion of Bai Hewei’s future achievements would inevitably count toward his own political track record.

Who could have known that before Bai Hewei had even passed the exam, a monumental political achievement would drop straight out of the sky?

The superpower vessel design blueprint—this was something the entire globe dreamed of securing.

Following the onset of Evolution Day, Evolvers awakened a vast array of distinct superpowers. At that time, someone floated a hypothesis: since Evolvers relied entirely on the specific configuration of evolutionary factors inside their bodies to unleash distinct superpowers, could they also harvest a batch of evolutionary factors, arrange them into a fixed configuration, and house them inside a vessel, thereby granting the vessel the ability to unleash superpowers as well?

After all, the arrangement of the factors merely required copying the blueprints present inside the bodies of Evolvers.

This concept undoubtedly garnered immense backing from many factions, particularly those research labs that had already verified the existence of Evolvers prior to Evolution Day.

During his tenure as a spy back in the day, Wen Zhiyi had managed to copy a vast amount of data, but the documentation regarding the superpower vessel design blueprint was the one area he hadn’t managed to gain any access to before his departure.

Fifty years ago, an exceptionally covert yet incredibly formidable underground research facility existed internationally, which the outside world referred to as “Zero.”

The Zero Research Institute gathered top-tier talents from across the globe. Naturally, those top-tier minds didn’t assemble there for the sake of career prospects or fame, but rather because that underground lab possessed the most comprehensive archive of data regarding Evolvers at the time.

During the era when Evolvers hadn’t yet become a global phenomenon, being able to research Evolvers was the ultimate dream of countless researchers.

The superpower vessel design blueprint was precisely the hypothesis put forward by the most renowned genius chief scientist at the Zero Research Institute back then.

Regrettably, the number of Evolvers fifty years ago was simply too scarce, causing the progress on the superpower vessel design blueprint to stall indefinitely. Conversely, other research avenues regarding Evolvers continuously yielded breakthroughs.

It wasn’t until a decade ago, when the volume of Evolvers gradually ticked upward, that the research into the superpower vessel design blueprint truly found its proper footing. Particularly when the Zero Research Institute serendipitously secured a building block, their research into Evolvers entered an entirely new epoch. Word was they had truly engineered a crude vessel at the time; although it was merely a single-use item, it still allowed countless individuals to see a glimmer of hope.

Wen Zhiyi had been a mere seventeen years old a decade ago, far from catching the eye of the Zero Research Institute. By the time Wen Zhiyi generated substantial research breakthroughs in other laboratories and the Zero Research Institute prepared to extend an olive branch to him, the facility was forcibly dismantled.

The major global powers had all taken action at the time. Every single nation desired to secure the superpower vessel design blueprint, viewing superpowers as a brand-new avenue to fortify their own national strength. Naturally, a substantial reason was also rooted in the fear shared by all nations: if superpower vessels truly entered mass production, then these bizarre superpowers could genuinely rewrite the global landscape.

Regardless of the circumstances, the Zero Research Institute could no longer be permitted to continue developing in this fashion.

The researchers of the Zero Research Institute were either killed or went into hiding, while some were absorbed by other laboratories. Yet every single nation—provided they possessed sufficient scientific R&D capabilities and economic strength—launched their own Evolver research institutes, unwilling to ever see a monopoly situation emerge again.

However, the genius chief scientist who genuinely understood the superpower vessel design blueprint and held the actual blueprints suffered a sudden, fatal heart attack right on the spot due to his advanced age and the shock of the crisis. He had been completely unable to save the data, and the blueprints vanished without a trace amidst the absolute chaos.

The death of a genius who outpaced his era meant that subsequent generations found catching up to be a monumental challenge.

Many times, even Huo Ling found himself reflecting: if only Wen Zhiyi had been born a few years earlier and could have spent a couple of years inside the Zero Research Institute, they wouldn’t be forced to start entirely from scratch today.

But the Huaxia of fifty years ago was far from possessing its current level of national strength; even if they knew of the Zero Research Institute’s existence, it was highly difficult to intervene.

Furthermore, the Zero Research Institute of a decade ago had long since ceased recruiting outsiders lightly. Even though the current Central Research Institute and the laboratories of other nations were working relentlessly to elevate their scientific capabilities, they had ultimately started too late—how could they possibly match the Zero Research Institute, which had already begun burying its head in research fifty years ago?

Moreover, at that time, the Zero Research Institute gathered the absolute crème de la crème of global talent. Even for a genius of Wen Zhiyi’s caliber, they would still pick and choose, only extending an olive branch after verifying he possessed genuine, absolute mastery—clear evidence of just how packed with talent the facility was.

Today, many theories and baselines utilized by research labs worldwide were derived from the archives left behind by the Zero Research Institute.

The engineering of superpower vessels currently constituted an exceptionally vital project within the Central Research Institute as well. If they could secure blueprints that had successfully yielded a prototype in the past, it would undoubtedly allow them to bypass many years of dead ends.

Who could have thought that Pullman actually managed to uncover the whereabouts of the blueprints?

But thinking about it carefully, it made sense. Pullman’s sister, Shirley, had spent years treating top-tier Evolvers, while Pullman himself was renowned as an Evolver killer; the channels through which these two siblings could secure intelligence were naturally extraordinary.

Bai Hewei blinked, conveying Huo Ling’s stance to Pullman right on the spot.

Before long, word arrived from the Central Research Institute as well.

On Pullman’s end, he hoped Bai Hewei could temporarily serve as the bridge for their communications; they would handle the remaining details.

Just as Bai Hewei was wondering exactly how the central authorities intended to handle the logistics, he was summoned to the office by the sub-district Party secretary the very next morning at work, who handed him an official document bearing a red header.

“Xiao Bai, I never imagined you would catch the eye of the Special Operations Department.” The sub-district Party secretary felt increasingly validated in his prior hypothesis—Bai Hewei was eighty percent likely to have a relative who was a top-tier Evolver; otherwise, why would the Special Operations Department suddenly request to second Bai Hewei?

“The Special Operations Department has some clerical work that requires assistance. This is a secondment letter, requesting to borrow you for three months. Make the necessary preparations and hand over your current duties to your colleagues. This requires you to be fully detached from your current post, so ensure you don’t bring shame to our sub-district, understood?” the sub-district Party secretary said with immense gravity.

“Wait, aren’t secondments strictly prohibited?” Bai Hewei was somewhat stunned.

“Correct, those on the permanent establishment are monitored exceptionally strictly; secondments aren’t permitted, and it’s labeled as ‘detached study.’ But you don’t carry that baggage. You aren’t within the permanent establishment, so the regulations aren’t nearly as stringent.”

Who on earth gave a damn about whether a temporary worker was seconded or not?

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