Chapter 5
“The civil service exam?” Huo Ling froze for a second, then flared up in a bit of a rage. “The world’s strongest Evolver wants to take the civil service exam? This is prime material for the establishment! Why didn’t you just bring him in through special recruitment?”
Wanting to enter the civil service was a good thing; it meant Bai Hewei craved stability. These days, nobody feared an Evolver seeking a stable life—what they feared were the ones who just wanted to watch the world burn.
If a permanent position could solve the problem, then it wasn’t a problem at all.
“…Chief Huo, think about it carefully. Just two days ago, the city’s Organization Department director and the Institutional Organization Commission director practically threw a temper tantrum right here in our office. They said there isn’t a single position left, and they can’t approve it.” An Tingyu was furious too. Was she the one holding back?
If she had a permanent position on hand to specially recruit Bai Hewei, wouldn’t she be guaranteed a Second- or Third-Class Merit at the end of the year?
The problem was, there were no positions.
In the early years, to appease the Evolvers, their Special Operations Department handed out permanent positions like cheap flyers. As a result, they accidentally exceeded their quota. On top of that, the mortality rate within the department had dropped drastically, and the Evolvers were all incredibly young. As a department directly under the national government, they still had a massive backlog of Evolvers waiting at the level-one staff tier just to get a rank promotion!
One had to understand that permanent administrative positions were allocated based on population size when administrative regions were drawn up. Nowadays, the retirement age within the system kept getting pushed back, and the state was demanding downsizing. Where would they find an extra position?
Many of the positions in their Special Operations Department were already encroaching on other government sectors. Otherwise, the Organization Department director wouldn’t have swallowed his pride to come over and throw a tantrum. If they took any more positions, the other departments wouldn’t be able to carry out their work at all.
“I’ll give the Organization Department director another call.” Huo Ling refused to back down easily.
If they couldn’t arrange anything else, could they really not secure a single permanent post?
The moment Huo Ling hung up on An Tingyu, he dialed the Organization Department director directly.
“…A permanent position? None. Why don’t you report me to the Discipline Inspection Commission so they can strip me of my post and free one up for you?” The Organization Department director was also full of grievances. “Our department has already diverted five whole positions to you guys. Now, I have to write my own speech materials. The people in my department carry a resentment deeper than ghosts right now, I’m too ashamed to even ask them to work overtime!”
“Can’t you just reassign personnel from elsewhere?” Huo Ling replied without hesitation.
“Other departments have also diverted positions to you, where would I find anyone left to reassign?” The director grew even angrier at the mention of this. “During the year-end evaluations for excellent ratings, you said the colleagues in your department are on the front lines, risking their lives, so you need more slots. During performance assessments, you also said you guys need first-class ratings. But there are only so many first-class slots, and I’ve given them to you year after year. The other departments take turns getting second-class ratings—who’s going to give me any face now?”
Huo Ling was left entirely speechless by the counterarguments.
“…If there are no administrative positions, there must be public institution posts. I know you guys are about to start the recruitment exams for the municipal public institutions soon. Give me one slot, and I’ll send you the job requirements in a moment. This Evolver is truly important—he can save the world.”
“Heh, you’ve said those exact words many times before.”
“Seriously. After this one time, I swear I won’t look for you again for at least half a year,” Huo Ling raised his hand and vowed to the heavens.
Ultimately, through Huo Ling’s relentless pestering, he finally managed to convince the Organization Department director to grant a public institution post.
A public institution post would have to do. As long as Bai Hewei passed the exam, they could find a way to promote him to a deputy section chief level within the institution later, and then transfer him over to a civil service deputy section chief role. In the Special Operations Department, all it took was racking up a few more merits.
Feeling that he still held some sway, Huo Ling called An Tingyu back. “Give me Bai Hewei’s personal details. I’ll send the job requirements to the municipal Organization Department to eliminate some of his competition.”
“I’m afraid that’ll be quite difficult,” An Tingyu said seriously, taking another look at Bai Hewei’s file. “He holds a bachelor’s degree with double major certificates. One is Accounting and the other is Civil Engineering. Both are fields notorious for attracting candidate pools akin to ‘no-restriction’ categories—they breed absolute exam monsters. Otherwise, what did you think was the reason he failed so many times?”
His majors just weren’t favorable.
“Then restrict it by work experience. Has he worked for a full two years? Is he a Party member? Does he hold any other professional certificates?”
“And finally, restrict it to Evolvers only. Surely not many people will sign up then.”
An Tingyu’s tone was incredibly sincere: “Chief Huo, I highly suggest you spend more time browsing the internet.”
Even with all those conditions combined, if the number of applicants fell below fifty, she would take Huo Ling’s last name on the spot.
Anyone who frequently failed the civil service exams knew that once a provincial exam fell through, they would enter a period of disorientation. Before the next exam loomed, exam-takers were often left with nothing to do, feeling completely lost and constantly viewing themselves as useless.
Bai Hewei was currently in this exact phase.
He hurried to the Research Institute for his Evolver certification, not for anything else, but simply to give himself something to do. Maybe his life would change a little after officially becoming an Evolver?
Following Evolution Day, research institutes had sprouted up almost everywhere. Later, the central government issued a strict decree, allowing only municipal levels or higher to operate Evolver research institutes, forcefully shutting down and merging numerous private establishments.
When Bai Hewei arrived at the municipal institute with his ID, he saw quite a few people holding similar documents, queuing up outside the door.
Didn’t the news say that Evolvers were one in a hundred? There seemed to be quite a crowd here.
But on second thought, the permanent population of this prefecture-level city was several million. Even if it was one in a hundred, there would still be tens of thousands of Evolvers, so the number was indeed substantial. Moreover, according to research, the majority of Evolvers weren’t actually that different from ordinary people.
At most, they were a bit stronger, could see a bit further, or could occasionally spark a tiny flame—their destructive power wasn’t even on par with a controlled knife. Consequently, quite a few Evolvers had absolutely no idea they were Evolvers.
Of course, there were also those who were obviously ordinary but naturally felt superior, insisting on paying money to come in for an evolution test—especially adolescents going through a chuunibyou phase.
There were at least a hundred people in this line. How long was this going to take?
“Everyone, please scan the QR code at the door to sign up, or download our Research Institute’s app, register, log in, and upload your information. It can be reviewed online, so there’s no need to line up here,” several researchers called out, distributing promotional materials one by one. “After downloading the Evolver App, remember to select our D-City as your location and complete the daily check-in tasks. Our app requires active user metrics, so we’re counting on you.”
…This familiar corporate slave flavor.
Bai Hewei recalled the various scripts he used to use when promoting government apps back then; they were exactly the same.
Out of a sense of shared misery, Bai Hewei downloaded the Evolver App anyway.
“Comrade, I’ve finished downloading it. What do I do next?” After filling out his information, Bai Hewei found that the page was frozen.
“Oh, the Evolver App can only be used normally after we confirm you are an Evolver,” the researcher explained with a smile. “Our app shares a network with the Special Operations Department. If an Evolver is verified on their end, the certification succeeds instantly, and you can even take on missions on it in the future… Huh? Yours went through?”
The smile on the researcher’s face stiffened slightly, and he looked back at Bai Hewei. “Have you already been certified before?”
“No, I just awakened.” Bai Hewei looked down and found that he could indeed use it normally.
“Then did you previously assist with a Special Operations Department case?” The researcher scratched his head. This shouldn’t be happening; generally, the department required manual review as well, so how could it be this fast? Unless the other party was a super powerful Evolver.
But looking at this young man’s slightly dazed appearance, he didn’t quite look the part.
“Oh, I did help catch some supernatural users from an illegal group earlier.” Bai Hewei thought about it seriously, remembering Wei Bo and his crew from before. Presumably, Director An had given them a heads-up, which was why he cleared it so quickly.
“That must be it then.” The researcher smiled. “Once you pass the certification, you can bind your bank card to the app. A monthly Evolver subsidy will be transferred to you. This portion is tax-free—it’s a small token of encouragement from the state for law-abiding Evolvers.”
“Generally speaking, the higher an Evolver’s contribution, the larger the subsidy, up to a maximum of eight hundred yuan a month.”
Bai Hewei nodded vigorously, resolving in his heart to remain absolutely law-abiding for the sake of this subsidy.
As a sub-district temp, his salary was fixed, and he had signed a labor dispatch contract. If he wanted to increase his income, he could only rely on some side hustles.
Eight hundred a month meant an extra nine thousand six hundred a year—nearly ten grand!
He still had to work for at least thirty-four years before retiring. Calculating it out, that amounted to over three hundred thousand yuan—a fortune! He absolutely had to secure this money.
“Oh, what does this black dot mean?” Bai Hewei pointed at the phone app and asked.
“What black dot?” The researcher leaned down to look, and his expression instantly twisted in horror. “Oh no, it’s the symbol for the manifestation of a forbidden zone.”
“Emergency directive! Evacuate immediately, everyone!”
The very instant the words left the researcher’s mouth, a piercing alarm blared throughout the entire Research Institute.
“What’s going on?”
“Why did an alarm suddenly go off?”
“Everyone enter the institute first! We have a specially constructed defensive space inside our facility.”
“Move fast, pick up the pace, everyone!”
Several researchers swung into action immediately, methodically guiding people toward the defensive space. Once a forbidden zone manifested, without knowing its specific range and duration, hiding inside a defensive space and waiting for rescue from the Special Operations Department was the safest bet.
They just couldn’t comprehend it. They regularly cleared out the evolutionary energy around the institute, so why did the energy levels suddenly spike past the safety threshold to form a forbidden zone?
It defied logic.
The researcher who had been speaking to Bai Hewei directly reached out to grab him, signaling him to hurry and run along.
Just as Bai Hewei started running with him, something caught his eye out of the corner of his vision. He reached out, grabbed the researcher by the collar, and hoisted him completely off the ground. “Watch out!”
A massive shadow had just materialized right where the researcher was about to step.
Different shadows kept appearing across the ground, dragging anyone who accidentally stepped on them straight beneath the surface.
Following a few sharp cries, several individuals vanished from sight almost in the blink of an eye.
“The forbidden zone is beginning to distort space,” the researcher cried out in panic. “How can the energy be this dense? This rate of expansion makes absolutely no sense, someone is deliberately targeting us.”
The scene had already descended into absolute chaos.
“Everyone, quiet down! Head into the institute to take shelter one by one.” Driven by the mindset that he couldn’t let his subsidy go to waste, Bai Hewei stepped forward at the first opportunity. “I’m a sub-district worker and have received relevant emergency training. Listen to me! Divide yourselves into four groups, take large strides, run, and step as far across the shadows as you can…”
That eight-hundred-yuan allowance—he was securing it, no matter what.
The municipal research institute was supposed to be one of the safest places in the entire city. For it to suddenly become the epicenter of a forbidden zone meant it was absolutely impossible for there to be no one pulling strings behind the scenes.
“Contact the personnel at the institute immediately. There are still many ordinary citizens waiting for testing there—have them head to the defensive space to await rescue first. How many squads are currently on standby at headquarters? Dispatch half of them to rescue people right now, and have the other half investigate exactly who is playing tricks behind our backs!”
“Have the Propaganda Department contact the media immediately. Do not let the families and citizens panic, and report any suspicious individuals.”
“Contact the provincial Research Institute and have them send an expert over to figure out a solution as quickly as possible.”
…
Huo Ling cut his leave short immediately, rushing straight to the front lines. Everything was being executed in a rapid, coordinated frenzy.
“Chief Huo, someone’s looking for you.” A subordinate stepped forward, carrying a laptop.
“I don’t have time for a video conference right now,” Huo Ling waved his hand without hesitation.
“Huo Ling, cool down that overloaded brain of yours first. If it burns out, there are no monkey brains available to replace it.” On the computer screen, a handsome man wearing gold-rimmed glasses sat with his hands interlaced on the desk. The name tag on his chest clearly read three words: “Wen Zhiyi.”
“Bai Hewei is currently at the Research Institute waiting for certification,” Wen Zhiyi said with a calm, sarcastic tone. “This incident is aimed directly at him. Which third-party contractor did you guys hire for that Evolver App? It’s been compromised by hackers, did you know?”
Author’s Note:
Bai Hewei: The time has come to prove that I am worthy of my Evolver subsidy [hugs]
Wen Zhiyi: I frequently question my life choices due to my colleagues’ pig-headed stupidity.
