I, the World’s Strongest, Have Failed the Civil Service Exam Thirty-Nine Times – CH52

Chapter 52

Shirley had not vanished mid-journey during the flight as Pullman’s investigation suggested.

On the contrary, she had been captured before she even boarded the plane. A traitor had emerged within her own Evolver mercenary group.

Members of The Embargo squad had taken her place to board the flight, and then disguised themselves as airline crew members during the trip, thereby fabricating the illusion of a sudden disappearance.

This not only caused Pullman and the others to miscalculate her true time of disappearance, but it was also designed to lead them down a complete dead end.

The specialized collar currently locked around Shirley’s neck was exactly what The Embargo used to keep her in check. If she strayed past a certain distance from them, the collar would instantly discharge a fatal electric current to kill her.

She wasn’t the kind of Evolver who could resurrect from the dead, so she naturally had to watch out for her own small life.

Of course, while threatening her life, The Embargo squad had also tried to entice her with profits. They promised that as long as she served as their medic to ensure they survived the trip, the collar would be removed once they left the Forbidden Zone, and she would receive a massive sum of money.

This kind of talk was good enough to fool others, but how could Shirley be tricked by them?

She knew that once they left the Forbidden Zone, she would either be killed or forced to join them; there would never be a third option.

Shirley couldn’t even be bothered to pretend to be compliant with them.

This bunch of people was truly thoroughly spoiled.

Their fans and the entertainment industry had already pampered them to the extreme. They spoke and acted with a severe superiority complex, constantly looking down on others as if granting alms, which was genuinely nauseating. The moment Shirley showed the slightest sign of defiance, they would mock and sneer at her. If they didn’t still need a doctor, Shirley had zero doubt that they would kill her right on the spot.

Being stuck with this kind of crowd—individuals who wielded absolute power yet possessed zero respect for life—Shirley’s temper naturally wasn’t any better.

“Your brother Pullman is indeed decent,” the blonde, blue-eyed captain said, turning to Shirley with a highly fabricated smile plastered across his handsome face. “Back when you siblings initially came to our side for part-time work, we invited you to formally join us, but it’s a pity you refused.”

“I didn’t expect that either. The Embargo welcomes Evolvers from all over the world to do part-time work, and keeping your word dozens of times before was simply to pull off a massive betrayal at the critical moment,” Shirley sneered. “The person backing you guys is truly clever.”

“The Doctor is naturally different from people like you,” the captain replied carelessly. “If you want to leave this Forbidden Zone alive, you must treat us diligently. If we die, the collar around your neck will trigger just the same. Even if you manage to survive the fatal current, with your capabilities, it is absolutely impossible for you to escape this Forbidden Zone alone. Haven’t you already witnessed the horrors within this place?”

Shirley fell into a rare silence.

She naturally knew it, just as these people knew it too.

Otherwise, that woman wouldn’t have been so incredibly volatile just now, because inside this Forbidden Zone, it was truly perilous to the absolute extreme!

Shirley had explored other Forbidden Zones in the past, but compared to the hazard rating of this specific one, those were practically child’s play.

“…We walk along the country lane, happy deer keeping us company…”

“…Oh, how beautiful, how grand…”

…

A cheerful melody suddenly echoed near Shirley and the others.

The expressions of the entire group shifted dramatically.

“The singing is back!”

“Run!”

At this moment, all the internal friction within the squad vanished completely. The instant they heard the singing, everyone simply fled without a single moment of hesitation, sprinting blindly ahead. Only when they could no longer hear the singing did they slow down to catch their breath.

Even so, the companion who ran the slowest stumbled for a few steps, nearly collapsing onto the ground.

“Shirley, save him!” the captain barked immediately.

“I know,” Shirley sighed, stepping up to the collapsing Evolver. “Flip him over.”

The team members turned their teammate over, only to see that his entire back had been completely corroded. The flesh on his back was sloughing off in chunks like massive flakes of dandruff, to the point where the bone structure of his spine was already directly visible.

“What… what on earth is that thing? The Doctor never mentioned that the Forbidden Zone contained this kind of entity.” Seeing her companion reduced to this state, the Black woman could no longer maintain her prior arrogance and volatility, appearing somewhat pitiful instead. “Are we truly offending some deity?”

“If deities truly exist, then Evolvers like us are the children of god. This place is called the Devil’s Garden, so the one singing is naturally the devil,” the captain reassured. “Treat him first.”

Shirley extended her hands, gently passing them over the Evolver’s back.

Powerful evolutionary energy transformed into a myriad of fine threads, draping over the Evolver’s back like a loom, weaving and sewing all the blood and shredded flesh back together.

The chunks of flesh that had fallen away acted exactly like pieces of a reassembled puzzle, returning to their original positions.

Ten minutes later.

The skin on the Evolver’s back had fully restored, leaving only a faint network of crisscrossing scars behind.

“He’s fine now, he’ll wake up in a few minutes.” Shirley retracted her hands, cold sweat beading on her forehead. “Give me a can of cola, I need to drink a few sips to replenish my energy.”

The captain handed over a can of cola.

Worried about spoilage, Shirley gulped it down in one breath after cracking it open. Yet even so, by the final two gulps, she detected a turned flavor, spitting the remainder straight out onto the ground.

“Burp—” Shirley let out a loud burp. “Can you guys maintain some defensive barriers? It’s highly draining for me to constantly provide emergency treatment like this every single day.”

“The Forbidden Zone is actively draining the evolutionary energy from our bodies to begin with. If we maintain defensive barriers at all times, we won’t even last a few days,” the captain shook his head. “Thank you for your help this time.”

No wonder the Doctor had insisted that if they wanted to venture into this Forbidden Zone and make it out safely, Shirley’s assistance was an absolute necessity.

Among healing-type Evolvers, Shirley’s sheer strength was in a league of its own.

On the other side.

After leading Mister Number One into the Forbidden Zone, Bai Hewei also caught the sound of the singing.

“What is that thing? It makes my skin crawl, highly uncomfortable,” Bai Hewei remarked, his brow furrowing slightly. “It’s rare for me to experience this kind of chilling sensation down my spine.”

“The detector indicates that your automatic defense has been triggered,” Wen Zhiyi’s voice sounded. “This isn’t standard singing; it’s a sonic wave attack. This Forbidden Zone has existed for five years. Given its extensive duration and vast coverage, it is entirely normal for anything to manifest within. It could be a unique Forbidden Zone lifeform, or a manifestation of a certain superpower.”

“Mister Number One, you don’t feel anything?”

“I am an ordinary human, so this singing is likely targeted specifically at you Evolvers,” Wen Zhiyi said after a moment of thought. “The Forbidden Zones exist fundamentally to harvest Evolvers; ordinary humans simply aren’t on their menu.”

Instead of fading, the melody seemed to be drawing progressively closer.

Bai Hewei felt the chill down his spine intensify.

“I’m going to see exactly what kind of entity it is.” Bai Hewei turned around on the spot, walking toward the source of the singing without a shred of hesitation. “What kind of phantom entity is this? Doing this day in and day out—I’m a staunch atheist, you know.”

Whether one attributed it to his overwhelming strength rendering him fearless, or simply a massive surge of curiosity, Bai Hewei harbored zero intention of steering clear of the threat, choosing to face it head-on instead.

Wen Zhiyi didn’t stop him either.

He also wanted to see exactly what kind of monster could be birthed within a Forbidden Zone that had persisted for five full years; it counted as gathering first-hand research data.

If even Bai Hewei couldn’t handle it, then there was nothing more to be said.

Bai Hewei tracked the melody, closing the distance rapidly.

After running for roughly ten minutes, Bai Hewei finally located the source.

It was a creature roughly the size of a common rat.

It resembled a hedgehog or something similar, but its entire body was completely covered in mouths, and the singing was emanating from these very mouths.

The most terrifying part was that every single mouth growing on this monster possessed the exact shape of human lips.

Staring at it sent a far harsher chill down Bai Hewei’s spine than simply hearing its melody.

“What kind of phantom entity is this? How can something be this ugly?” Bai Hewei was utterly astounded. “If this were a common mob in a video game, the developers would be hit with complaints and forced to pixelate it just to avoid ruining a child’s worldview!”

A visage of this caliber truly provoked an absolute urge to kill.

Wen Zhiyi, however, was snapping photos and gathering data in an absolute frenzy.

“This is the first time I’ve ever encountered this kind of organism. Is it a native Forbidden Zone lifeform? No, it could also be a materialized form of concentrated energy.” Wen Zhiyi took notes furiously. “Xiao Bai, can you get a bit closer? I want to examine the facial features of this monster clearly.”

“Hold on a second.” Bai Hewei rummaged through his backpack, pulling out a pair of gloves and a face mask. Only after fully equipping himself did he slowly approach the creature.

Although he knew it might not do much practically, at least it avoided direct skin contact.

Bai Hewei was too repulsed by the monster’s ugliness to get any closer than necessary.

As he stepped forward lightly, the evolutionary energy inside his body automatically formed a protective barrier skin-tight around him. No matter how powerful the sonic wave attacks from the melody were, they failed to harm a single strand of Bai Hewei’s hair.

The monster possessed only mouths but zero eyes; it remained entirely oblivious to Bai Hewei’s approach, simply cranking up the volume of its song.

“Remarkable strength.” Back at the Research Institute, Wen Zhiyi glanced at the real-time data streaming from the robot’s built-in detector. “Its sonic wave attack is already comparable to a full S-class Evolver. If a team has no means to block it and gets dragged into a war of attrition, it will definitely turn into an absolute nightmare.”

A sonic attack of this caliber would still destroy your body even if you plugged your ears; deafness offered no protection.

The only workaround was exactly what Bai Hewei was doing—utilizing absolute raw defense to seal oneself airtight. No matter how the melody attacked, failing to breach the defense rendered it entirely useless.

Yet how many individuals in the world could maintain a defensive barrier of this caliber without the slightest hint of financial or physical burden like Bai Hewei?

Bai Hewei extended two fingers, pinching the monster by a patch of skin devoid of mouths and lifting it up, terrified of getting bitten by it.

“Here, look all you want.” Although disgusted, Bai Hewei still complied with Wen Zhiyi’s request. “Where else do you want to look?”

“Is it possible to pry its mouth open? I want to see the interior configuration,” Wen Zhiyi’s tone carried a wave of absolute excitement. “I want to examine the structure of its vocal cords.”

Bai Hewei had no choice but to extend his other hand to pry the monster’s mouth open.

Sensing an object approaching, the monster snapped its jaws shut with absolute viciousness.

Snap.

The monster’s teeth shattered.

Bai Hewei grew increasingly repulsed, while feeling deeply vindicated that he had possessed the foresight to wear gloves.

He averted his eyes in sheer disgust, forcing the monster’s jaws open.

“There you go, look at it properly.”

The robot flew directly in front of the monster, flipping on its spotlight to thoroughly analyze the creature’s internal structure.

“No vocal cords? It’s merely the external shape of a mouth, and the interior of the jaw is an absolute void,” Wen Zhiyi murmured. “So, the sonic attack is simply the externalized form of its superpower, not something generated mechanically from a throat. I checked this ballad just now; it’s a traditional folk song native to South Africa. Perhaps before the Forbidden Zone swallowed this land, someone was singing it, and the zone recorded it.”

“Fascinating. How exactly does a Forbidden Zone lifeform like this sustain itself? Up until now, there has been zero precedent of local wildlife awakening superpowers. Because awakening a superpower is deeply tied to the host’s own intellect, will, and obsession, and the intelligence of most animals falls short, creating a strict baseline barrier.” As Chief, it had been a very long time since Wen Zhiyi encountered an anomaly that could spark this level of excitement in him.

Hearing Wen Zhiyi’s remarks, Bai Hewei wanted to roll his eyes into the back of his head.

No wonder television shows and movies always framed these researchers as textbook villains.

Just listen to their dialogue—there was no need to write a script; simply broadcasting what they said and did out in the open was enough to be thoroughly terrifying.

“That’s enough.” Wen Zhiyi gestured that Bai Hewei could set it down. “I suggest you refrain from killing it; just toss it aside. I suspect there are bound to be many identical lifeforms inside this Forbidden Zone. Rashly killing one might draw a collective swarm of retribution from the pack. I have already packaged its data and transmitted it to the other robots, so Zhang Fuzhi and the others can prepare themselves early when they cross paths with it.”

“Alright, alright.” Hearing that he could discard it, Bai Hewei simply unleashed a fierce heave, sending the monster flying out in a straight line.

“Forget it, I’ll keep the gloves on. What if we run into other monsters next? I don’t have many spare pairs of gloves on hand.” Bai Hewei looked down at his gloved hands, deciding to keep them equipped.

Prior to this trip, he had never imagined he harbored the latent potential to be a complete germaphobe.

Bai Hewei let out a sigh, continuing to guide Mister Number One forward.

There were no directional markers inside a Forbidden Zone; they could only drift wherever their feet took them.

Wen Zhiyi offered a reminder: “You can try heading toward areas where the evolutionary energy density is lower. The Zero Research Institute studied Evolvers for decades; they are bound to possess a degree of self-defense capability. Even if the corporation that undertook their sub-projects fell, the facility’s interior likely utilizes the institute’s specialized machinery to shield itself.”

If nothing else, those highly precious archives and data files could absolutely never manifest in areas where evolutionary energy was heavily concentrated.

Bai Hewei thought it over and found the logic sound.

He scanned the landscape, his vision already expanding a full thousand meters outward, taking in the surrounding terrain with absolute clarity.

However, his luck wasn’t stellar; he hadn’t spotted any traces of The Embargo squad for the time being.

In Bai Hewei’s eyes, this Forbidden Zone was basically a pitch-black canvas; he could only choose to steer toward the sections that appeared relatively less dark.

“I hope we can locate them early. I still need to head back and practice exam questions.” Bai Hewei gave himself a silent pep talk, picking up his pace.

On the other side.

Zhang Fuzhi and his companions had also encountered situations of their own.

They ran into different types of monsters, which were promptly recorded by their robots, triggering a real-time data share across the network.

At this exact moment, they found themselves trapped inside Cecilia’s specialized Game Field.

Within the Game Field swarmed a colossal horde of misshapen, unidentifiable monsters.

Crucially, these were monsters for which the robots hadn’t triggered any data share whatsoever.

A collective pack, an absolute nest of them!

“A complete jinx has emerged among us!” Cecilia’s expression was deadly serious. “We’ve only just entered the Forbidden Zone, yet we’ve already stumbled straight into a monster congregation area. This luck is simply too abysmal. Who exactly was guiding the way just now?”

The expressions of both Zhang Fuzhi and Pullman were thoroughly unsightly.

They hadn’t expected to march directly into a monster headquarters either.

Fortunately, at the critical juncture, Cecilia had activated his superpower.

Under the shroud of his rule-based superpower, they successfully retreated into the Game Field. Because these monsters completely failed to comprehend the rules of the game, they were entirely powerless to breach their perimeter.

However, Cecilia also refused to claim them as his in-game heroes.

They couldn’t even understand speech, so what would he want them for—to drain his evolutionary energy?

For now, they could only huddle inside the field, waiting for this pack of monsters to clear out of the sector before they could make their move.

“I didn’t expect to walk into this spot either; it must just be a statistical anomaly in luck.”

“This terrain is literally called the Devil’s Garden, so it’s bound to carry far higher risks. I think you’re overthinking it.”

Zhang Fuzhi and Pullman spoke up in succession, neither willing to admit that their own luck was the culprit.

“That’s impossible. Based on my years of gaming experience, no dungeon drops a massive cluster of mobs to gang up on you the absolute second you spawn inside. It can only mean our own luck is trash, marching straight into a monster nest. In a video game, this kind of high-density nest is something you can only locate after grinding out a ton of side quests first.” Cecilia’s gaze drifted between the two adults. “Are the two of you carrying some negative luck modifiers?”

“I’ve won the lottery before—a full five-yuan prize!”

“I’m actually rather wealthy.”

Zhang Fuzhi and Pullman argued back.

“Got it, I’ll be the one guiding the way from now on anyway, since there’s no map inside here.” Cecilia saw straight through these hypocritical adults. “My evolutionary energy is finite too; I can’t afford to be dragged down to the grave by you guys.”

Zhang Fuzhi and Pullman were left speechless.

After all, they were currently sheltering within Cecilia’s superpower.

However, Cecilia’s constant references to video games still left Zhang Fuzhi feeling a bit unsettled. He secretly resolved that once they cleared the Forbidden Zone, he would purchase a massive pile of exam papers for Cecilia to complete.

How can a student have games constantly glued to his lips?

Pullman, on the other hand, resolved that once they made it out, he would find a temple to offer some prayers to cleanse himself of this absolute streak of bad luck.

Relying on his superpower, Cecilia temporarily commanded these two unreliable adults.

Compared to the absolute misfortune plaguing Zhang Fuzhi’s group, the situation on Wei Yan’s side was vastly superior.

The three of them had been long-term partners for years, sharing an exceptional degree of unspoken coordination.

The moment their robots received the incoming data files, they were instantly alerted, allowing them to view the monster profiles and photos encountered by Bai Hewei’s and Zhang Fuzhi’s groups.

“Both teams have run into monsters; they should be native Forbidden Zone lifeforms.”

“Mm, let’s exercise extreme caution then. Chu Han, deploy your defenses right around our vital organs,” Wei Yan reminded.

“Rest assured, it’s already active,” Chu Han replied casually. “As if I’d ever drag you guys down or something.”

As a top-tier defense-type Evolver, Chu Han’s call sign within the Central Special Operations Department was literally the “Ten-Thousand-Year Old Turtle.” Once his defense opened and he hunkered down, it didn’t matter who the opponent was—they simply couldn’t bypass his armor. Consequently, during every internal tournament, Chu Han’s ranking was always highly respectable.

Mastering a single ultimate trick to dominate the field—this concept had been leveraged to the absolute limit by Chu Han.

Furthermore, he continuously drilled down into his own superpower. At present, he had already achieved the capability to attach his evolutionary factors to the specific body parts of different individuals to provide specialized, dynamic defense.

On one hand, this granted his teammates far greater operational freedom, while on the other hand, it conserved his own energy reserves.

“Bai Hewei is the strongest Evolver in the world, and he has Chief Wen right by his side. For this mission, the top achievement is bound to be his,” Huang Silin remarked from the side. “Pullman and Cecilia—one is a foreigner who hasn’t even immigrated yet, the other is a minor—plus a Zhang Fuzhi. We absolutely cannot lose to them.”

“Naturally. Even if we don’t snatch the top spot, we can’t settle for absolute last place either.” Everyone was merely working to earn a living; performing poorly wouldn’t look good. “We still need to show what we’ve got to stack up some merit points.”

“Hmm…”

“Should we head over to rendezvous with Bai Hewei first?” Wei Yan hesitated slightly. “I’ll be blunt since I tend to speak harshly—given the hazard scale of this Forbidden Zone, we’d basically just be dead weight dragging Bai Hewei down.”

“The unit never expected us to provide much backup for Bai Hewei to begin with; the few of us are fundamentally utility-type Evolvers anyway,” Chu Han possessed an exceptional degree of self-awareness. “In my opinion, let’s not rush to rendezvous. Regardless, the moment we cross paths with members of The Embargo squad, we’ll naturally be drawn together anyway. For the initial phase, I suggest we focus more on gathering data on these Forbidden Zone organisms; the Research Institute is bound to love that.”

“Makes sense, let’s proceed with that.” The three of them consulted briefly and hit it off immediately, resolving to act as diligent data collection workers first rather than adding complications to Bai Hewei’s plate.

Meanwhile, over on The Embargo squad’s end, having encountered a succession of Forbidden Zone lifeforms one after another, they were already feeling somewhat exhausted.

“The frequency of us encountering these Forbidden Zone lifeforms has been steadily ticking upward over these past two days. I suspect other people have entered the perimeter, which is why the Forbidden Zone has become this active,” the captain said, his brow furrowing as he turned to glance at Shirley. “Who exactly will your brother bring along?”

“How should I know? Aren’t I currently captured by you guys?” Shirley shrugged. “My brother mentioned he maintains a decent relationship with the world’s strongest Evolver. Perhaps he’s bringing him along to rescue me. If you guys don’t want to make an enemy out of the world’s strongest, you’d better behave and release me.”

“The world’s strongest Evolver would come out here this crisply just to rescue you?” a team member who rarely spoke let out a cold sneer. “Word is that world’s strongest is Huaxia’s absolute national treasure, protected airtight. His personal data is closely guarded; even the operatives tasked with dealing with him are only briefed by the organization right at the moment of deployment. How could a person of that caliber be dragged along by your brother just to save you? What kind of place do you think this is?”

This was the third-largest Forbidden Zone on Earth, packed with absolute danger. They had been forced to discard the elite reputation The Embargo squad had cultivated over the years just to violently abduct Shirley for this venture. How could Huaxia possibly permit their world’s strongest powerhouse to take such a risk just for a foreigner?

“Who knows?” Shirley had no desire to argue with them. On the contrary, she felt that given her brother’s specific personality, he was eighty percent likely to trade that top-secret file they desired most in exchange for her safety.

There was no helping it; changing places, she would do the exact same. No matter how precious an object was, if your family died, everything turned to ash.

According to her observations, this squad was also eighty percent likely aiming for the Zero Research Institute archives, or perhaps the Awakening Blocks. Otherwise, what kind of prize could possibly drive this cohort of Evolvers—who had long been corrupted by the entertainment industry’s vanity—to abandon their luxury lifestyles and venture into a location this perilous?

Shirley quietly lowered her eyes.

She wondered: once she followed them to locate the Zero Research Institute archives, if she could manage to steal the data or copy a duplicate, would it be enough to directly secure Huaxia citizenship for herself and her brother?

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