I, the World’s Strongest, Have Failed the Civil Service Exam Thirty-Nine Times – CH57

Chapter 57

From Bai Hewei’s perspective, this was a full-blown horror film.

He had entered the building and gone upstairs right alongside the Special Operations crew. On their way up, Zhang Fuzhi and the others claimed they heard the sound of a bouncing ball, yet Bai Hewei hadn’t heard a single thing. Even so, infected by the tense atmosphere surrounding him, he had no choice but to follow along.

By the time they reached the second-floor corridor, all Bai Hewei could see was pitch-black darkness. He couldn’t make out a thing, unable to tell whether those beside him were friend or foe, yet they adamantly insisted they could see a basketball.

With vision as sharp as his, how could he possibly see nothing at all?

A short while later, Mr. Number One and the other robots malfunctioned all at once, as if the Central Research Institute had completely lost their visual feed of the scene. And just like that, the leadership of the team fell squarely onto Bai Hewei’s shoulders.

Bai Hewei couldn’t help but reflect: as a mere temporary worker earning a paltry monthly wage, was he really supposed to be leading these people now?

Then again, in a place like this, might makes right. Taking charge as their leader actually made perfect sense.

“I can’t see any people, and I can’t see the ball you guys are talking about. But I’m absolutely certain that we’ve already been hit by someone’s ability,” Bai Hewei rubbed his nose. “Cecilia, why don’t you try using your ability to pull us into your game world?”

“I’ll try,” Cecilia didn’t hesitate for a second, immediately attempting to activate his ability.

There was zero response.

“…Looks like Bai Hewei was right; we’re already within the area of effect of an ability,” Cecilia’s voice sounded completely drained. “I can’t use my ability at all right now.”

If this were normal territory, activating his ability wouldn’t pose any issue.

However, since they had fallen into a trap and were caught within someone else’s area of effect, his ability was bound to be suppressed until they broke free from it.

“…This ability is ridiculously strong—it’s probably around the same tier as mine,” Cecilia thought it over before adding, “If there were a significant gap in our levels, it wouldn’t be able to affect me like this. What kind of ability can be controlled remotely without Bai Hewei spotting it, while suppressing us to this extent?”

The moment that question was posed, silence fell over everyone.

They were completely at a loss—who could possibly be that formidable?

“I just tried to disperse it,” Pullman made a move, and Bai Hewei noticed the blackness around him fade slightly, but the effect was extremely limited.

“I don’t know how wide the range of this ability is, but after I dispersed it, the area was immediately covered by fresh evolutionary energy,” Pullman clearly had no idea what was actually going on either, his expression growing exceedingly heavy.

He was the one who had brought these people here, and they had helped him rescue his sister. If they ended up perishing here because of him and Shirley, he would never forgive himself for the rest of his life.

Bai Hewei took a couple of experimental steps, but his vision remained utterly obscured.

He was no different from a blind man right now; what he saw was completely different from what the others were perceiving.

If Bai Hewei wanted to, he could feel his way down the stairs along the wall. Even if he couldn’t see a thing, as long as he left this area, it would no longer affect him.

Bai Hewei couldn’t pinpoint the location of the ability user, but by the same token, this ability couldn’t truly harm him either.

“…I think I see people,” Chu Han’s voice carried a faint, dreamy quality. “Do you guys see them? I think… I see a lot of people moving around here.”

“Are they wearing work badges with blue lanyards?”

“Asians, Caucasians, Black people, locals… there’s all kinds.”

“They’re chatting and laughing… they just passed right through our bodies.”

…

Apart from Bai Hewei, every single person left could see it.

In their eyes, the company that had originally been reduced to a pile of ruins was rapidly transforming back into its former grandeur.

Many of the world’s top elites were working inside this company. When lunch break arrived, they would head down to the cafeteria to eat together, and one could even see them teaming up to play basketball on the court or sipping coffee together.

It was as if they had collectively traversed through time, returning to a point in the distant past.

Here, there were no evaluators and no forbidden zones—only a massive corporation funded by various multinational conglomerates, bustling with tens of thousands of employees.

The past glory of this company materialized right before their eyes like a vivid mirage.

Huang Silin took a couple of steps forward and suddenly let out a gasp of surprise.

“Look! Those special forces soldiers who just walked past—the gear they’re wearing is the exact same model I used to use ten years ago, top of the line back then.”

“Huh? Where did you guys go?” Huang Silin turned around, only to find himself standing completely alone.

The others seemed to have vanished into thin air.

“What are you standing around here for? Shift’s about to start,” someone gently patted Huang Silin on the shoulder. “I heard a few mercenary groups are heading over. We need to make sure our security detail is airtight.”

Huang Silin looked down at himself; he was already dressed in the exact same military uniform.

Who was I looking for just now?

He couldn’t seem to remember.

“Understood. I’ll make sure the company is well protected,” Huang Silin declared firmly. “Let’s go, let’s start our patrol.”

…

“Try not to get injured next time. All the medicine here has to be flown in by plane, and the cost is extremely high,” Shirley wiped her hands, gesturing for the employee lying on the bed to sit up. “I’ve finished bandaging it up. Come back tomorrow for a checkup and a dressing change.”

“Alright.”

“Shirley, Shirley!”

Who’s calling me?

Shirley looked around in confusion, but the medical room was empty.

Was she just tired?

Is that why she was hearing things?

Shirley let out a yawn, logged her work on the computer, and drifted off into a deep sleep.

…

“Don’t worry. As long as you follow our training course, you’ll definitely become an evaluator.”

“According to our research, ordinary people can become evaluators too,” several researchers looked at the child before them with smiles, ignoring the needle marks of various sizes dotting his arm, and instead urged him not to give up.

Cecilia stared at them, an urge to kill surging within his heart, yet he couldn’t understand why he would harbor such a thought. The jarring disconnect was driving him nearly insane.

…

“Are you holding up alright?” Bai Hewei noticed that Pullman was continuously deploying his ability, making the blackness around him far lighter than around the others.

Bai Hewei picked up his pace and stepped forward, supporting the teetering Pullman.

“They’ve all been affected by the ability,” Pullman withdrew his hand from Shirley. He had been trying to disperse the ability on her, but no sooner had he managed to clear it than a new wave of energy enveloped her again.

In this bizarre place, no matter how strong his dispersal ability was, it proved virtually useless.

On top of that, he had to divert more than half of his energy to himself; otherwise, his consciousness would have drifted off to who-knows-where, just like the rest of them.

In a matter of mere minutes, Bai Hewei and Pullman discovered that all their companions beside them had completely changed!

Just moments ago, everyone was chatting and laughing, yet suddenly they had all fallen silent.

What’s more, they began wandering aimlessly up and down the corridor with their eyes closed, like sleepwalkers who had suddenly drifted off, impossible to rouse by any means.

Even when Bai Hewei tried knocking them out, it proved entirely ineffective.

Apart from Bai Hewei and Pullman, even Cecilia had succumbed out of nowhere.

How was that possible?

If such a powerhouse truly existed in the world, there was no way the Central Research Institute wouldn’t have received a single shred of news about it!

Wen Zhiyi and his team were equally baffled by what was transpiring. All they knew was that the Special Operations crew had suddenly begun behaving strangely; their physical metrics were all normal, yet their states had settled into an unnaturally tranquil baseline.

This made no sense!

Ever since entering these ruins, their tension levels had remained high and their heart rates elevated. Yet now, without exception, they had all calmed down at once.

No one was even answering their calls.

Only Bai Hewei and Pullman managed to maintain their composure with great effort.

Bai Hewei succinctly recounted what was happening, focusing his description on the team’s abnormal behavior.

“The evolutionary energy within them is normal, and there isn’t a single wound on their bodies. It’s just that their consciousness seems to have drifted off to another world. I even tried spanking Cecilia’s butt a few times, but he didn’t react at all,” Bai Hewei felt a bit crestfallen. He had never encountered such a ridiculous situation before.

These people had acted so reliable earlier, only to drop the ball like this at the critical moment?

“It’s fine, they shouldn’t be in any immediate danger for now,” Wen Zhiyi said with absolute composure. “An ability that covers such a vast area while simultaneously affecting multiple ability users at once shouldn’t possess strong offensive lethality, or else they would already be dead. I suspect this ability is something akin to dream-weaving, realistic illusions, or mental confusion.”

And the effective range of this ability was likely limited to this very corridor on the second floor.

The moment they stepped onto the stairs, they had already walked into the trap.

Bai Hewei had temporarily repelled the ability’s influence thanks to his insanely high personal attributes, while Pullman managed to barely maintain consciousness due to the unique nature of his [Dispersal] ability.

The rest of the team, however, had fallen completely under its spell.

“If only I could see the evaluator, I could just drag them out and defeat them to break the ability,” Bai Hewei grumbled with a hint of annoyance. “Are they hiding?”

“It’s likely the ability-container sample created by the No. 0 Research Institute,” Wen Zhiyi explained unhurriedly. “They already possessed the blueprints, and their research progress was half a century ahead of ours. Creating such an ability-container is only natural for them.”

“An ability-container like this can only house exceptionally powerful abilities. After all, if an ability isn’t strong enough, housing it wouldn’t even justify the cost of the container itself.”

Back in the day, the No. 0 Research Institute had captured quite a few evaluators.

They could force an evaluator to release all of their evolutionary energy at once, seal it inside an “ability-container,” and then detonate it all in a single burst through the device.

Furthermore, because the ability-containers were designed with Awakening Blocks at their core, those lower-grade abilities could rapidly swell under the influence of the Awakening Block, continually escalating in power.

In this way, even a D-grade ability could unleash an effect comparable to an S-grade when released all at once.

That said, an ability-container was a one-time-use item, and forcing an evaluator to unleash their energy in such a manner overwhelmingly resulted in the evaluator’s death.

This was precisely why so many nations around the world were unwilling to let the No. 0 Research Institute continue existing back then.

This practice of killing the goose that laid the golden eggs was simply too dangerous.

A tiny atomic nucleus, once fissioned, could become a weapon of mass destruction capable of reshaping global geopolitics.

And in the hands of the No. 0 Research Institute, the abilities of evaluators were showing a clear trajectory toward becoming nuclear-tier weaponry!

That was something that could never be permitted.

Moreover, if the energy of lower-grade evaluators could truly be stripped and forged into containers while remaining in the hands of ordinary humans, peaceful coexistence between evaluators and ordinary people would become an absolute impossibility.

When that time came, what would become of this world?

The moment the No. 0 Research Institute produced a few samples, the project was immediately ordered to halt, with various nations stepping in to intervene and put a stop to it.

“The ability-container should be hidden somewhere nearby. Once you find it, dig out the Awakening Block inside, and the ability will be broken,” Wen Zhiyi did his best to reassure Bai Hewei. “Once the energy within an ability-container is released, it won’t stop until it runs out. You either dig out the Awakening Block or wait for its energy to deplete. Given the No. 0 Research Institute’s technology, the duration won’t exceed a day. And after all these years of degradation, the operational time shouldn’t exceed five hours.”

Five years ago, evaluators were few in number and low in tier, so the duration they could sustain was limited.

However, if it were today’s evaluators, the story would be entirely different.

A item like this should not exist in this world.

If they couldn’t prevent its emergence, they had to ensure it was kept firmly in their own hands.

“Is this the kind of thing Team [Interdict] is looking for?” Bai Hewei fell silent for a brief moment before remarking, “What kind of place was the No. 0 Research Institute anyway? They’d research just about anything?”

“There’s nothing wrong with research itself; the issue lies with the people using it,” Wen Zhiyi reiterated. “Priorities come first. Have Pullman stay here to keep an eye on the team, while you beat Team [Interdict] to the punch and find the data first. If you can’t find it, you don’t need to hold back anymore—destroy these ruins completely!”

Bai Hewei took a deep breath, nodded, gave Pullman a few quick instructions, and turned to leave.

Inside the conference room at the Central Research Institute, all the researchers sat in absolute silence.

Even Pei Xiangqing, who had been clamoring for time off earlier, sat obediently in his seat, without raising a word about leaving.

Wen Zhiyi set down his communicator and looked around at his colleagues.

“As expected, the No. 0 Research Institute truly left a sample in this forbidden zone. From this, we can deduce that the number of Awakening Blocks they obtained was far greater than we initially assumed,” dark circles were faintly visible beneath Wen Zhiyi’s eyes.

Ever since Bai Hewei and the team entered the forbidden zone, none of them had stepped out to go home. Whenever exhaustion hit, they simply lay down on a couch for a quick rest, hooking themselves up to a glucose IV to restore their strength.

“Back then, the No. 0 Research Institute enjoyed the backing of the world’s major powers, securing resources beyond our imagination. When the samples emerged, foreign nations exerted immense pressure, preventing even military forces from drawing near, offering nothing more than empty talks of peace.”

The No. 0 Research Institute was willing to be dismantled, distributing different sets of data to various national research institutes to ensure that both Awakening Blocks and ability-containers remained distributed among different nations to preserve the balance.

Regrettably, the onset of the Evolutionary Era was far too swift and fierce. Before these major powers could even react, the captured evaluators underwent secondary awakenings, laying waste to the entire institute. Numerous researchers perished on the spot, and the research data was reduced to ashes.

Now, they could only look back at that institute—once half a century ahead of its time—and sigh in helpless resignation.

“Isn’t the real trouble that old man?” A middle-aged researcher sneered cold-heartedly. “To think he isn’t dead, but was instead hidden away by America. If not for this twist of fate, we wouldn’t even know he was still alive, let alone organizing Team [Interdict] to track down that original research data.”

Back then, the prominent researchers from the No. 0 Research Institute had all met their demise, their corpses retrieved one by one and cremated.

Yet clearly, a few slipped through the cracks.

However, these remaining survivors were completely incapable of reproducing the research on their own.

Researchers were not omnipotent; most were only responsible for their own specific modules. To achieve a complete reconstruction, they still required the full, intact dataset.

“Minister Yuan has already consulted with the top leadership, and our orders are simple,” Wen Zhiyi crossed his hands. “Either bring the data back, or make sure this data never sees the light of day again.”

“I will inform Bai Hewei of the situation. If he fails to locate the ability sample and the research data within three hours, he will use his full power to completely obliterate these ruins.”

Every researcher in the room wore a look of reluctance.

This was once the culmination of global research efforts; seeing it destroyed so completely felt like an absolute tragedy!

Ability-containers possessed the power to change the world, and their potential wasn’t inherently evil—it all depended on how they were used.

Just as nuclear energy could be used for power generation to alleviate countless energy crises rather than just cause destruction, the existence of ability-containers meant that ordinary humans would gain the power to stand against evaluators.

That truly could change the world.

“To ensure no one interrupts Bai Hewei, we’ll need to give the other research institutes something else to occupy themselves with. Especially that mentor of mine—he knows far too much,” a rare, explicit glint of murderous intent flashed across Wen Zhiyi’s eyes. “It’s time to let those evaluators make their move.”

…

Jonathan watched his team members fall silent one by one.

Every single one of them had succumbed to the ability’s effect, falling into a dream state.

Yes, a dream.

The Doctor had informed him that the ability sample left by the No. 0 Research Institute in this facility contained the dream of a specific evaluator.

That person had been a rare dream-type evaluator.

Even nowadays, dream-type evaluators remained exceedingly rare, technically categorized under the broader umbrellas of mental-type or illusion-type abilities.

Yet high-tier dream-type evaluators were virtually non-existent.

This was because high-tier dream-type evaluators themselves could no longer distinguish between dream and reality, resulting in a state where they were either driven mad or reduced to a vegetative state, making normal life in reality nearly impossible.

Even so, the power of this ability was undeniable, making it one of the prime choices selected by the No. 0 Research Institute to be contained within an ability-container sample.

Back then, the manufacturing cost of a single ability-container was enough to match the annual GDP of a small nation—and that was without factoring in the failure rate of the containment process itself.

Under the Doctor’s guidance, Jonathan had ingested a potent sleeping pill prior to arriving here.

Before ascending the staircase, Jonathan was already “asleep,” though his team members assumed he was merely resting.

Having already entered a dream state in advance, he was naturally immune to the effects of the dream ability.

Five minutes later, a pre-set mechanism woke Jonathan up, while the consciousness of his companions remained ensnared within the dream.

The members of Team [Interdict] were trapped, and the evaluators from Special Operations would fare no better.

The only potential anomalies were Bai Hewei and Pullman.

This was also one of the reasons why the Doctor had originally wanted to capture Shirley.

As an evaluator with the [Dispersal] ability, Pullman was virtually immune to all abilities, meaning this dream ability held little to no effect on him as well.

What Jonathan needed to do now was take advantage of everyone’s helplessness, sprint straight up to the fifth floor, and retrieve the legacy research data.

The Doctor had mentioned that due to degradation over the years, the effect of the ability-container could likely only sustain itself for two to three hours. Therefore, he had to find the data during this window.

If it proved impossible to find, he would then consider killing the enemies to prevent the leak of information.

Aware that time was of the essence, Jonathan charged straight upstairs.

He kicked open the door to the first office on the fifth floor and began frantically rummaging through everything.

The Doctor had noted that the data would only be located on the fifth floor, though he couldn’t specify which room it was in.

As for the medium, it could be a small USB drive, a computer, or even a stack of paper documents.

Thus, he had to bring back anything that remotely fit the description.

Jonathan emptied his backpack, stuffing every suspicious item he saw right into it.

He couldn’t distinguish between what was useful and what was garbage, so he decided to haul away anything that looked the part.

“You’re certainly fast. Mind doing me a favor and handing that backpack over?” Bai Hewei leaned against the doorframe, speaking in a lazy, unhurried tone.

Hearing the voice, Jonathan unholstered the gun at his waist and fired at Bai Hewei without a moment’s hesitation.

In the pitch-black darkness, dodging a bullet was normally nothing short of a pipe dream.

Yet in Bai Hewei’s eyes, the trajectories of the bullets were clear as day, easily avoided with the slightest movement.

“Looks like you initiated an unlawful attack on me first, so you can’t blame me for defending myself,” Bai Hewei ducked his head, his body closing the distance in the blink of an eye to stand right in front of Jonathan.

He drove a left fist straight toward Jonathan’s abdomen while extending his right hand to snatch the backpack.

Jonathan ducked slightly, barely dodging Bai Hewei’s fist, and snapped his right leg upward in a fierce counter-kick.

In a split second, the two exchanged several rapid blows.

Yet within such a cramped space atop a fragile ruined structure, both tacitly refrained from resorting to their abilities.

If they were to retrieve the data intact, it was best not to cause wanton destruction.

A moment’s distraction cost Jonathan dearly—Bai Hewei slammed a heavy headbutt directly into him, nearly knocking him unconscious.

Seizing the opportunity, Bai Hewei grabbed hold of the backpack’s shoulder strap, yanking it toward himself with overwhelming force.

Caring little for anything else, Jonathan clamped both hands tightly around the backpack, refusing to let Bai Hewei pull it away.

[Bai Hewei, let go.]

The moment the command echoed out—

Bai Hewei felt an invisible force wrap itself directly around his arm, prying at his fingers to force him to release his grip on the backpack.

What kind of ghost trick is this? Screw off!

Bai Hewei clenched his fist violently, giving the opponent zero opportunity to manipulate him.

[LET GO!]

Jonathan’s voice grew thunderous, and the force attempting to manipulate Bai Hewei turned increasingly forceful and unyielding.

A Command-type evaluator?

Bai Hewei gritted his teeth.

Yakking away with your commands—if it’s bad for me, I’m not listening to a single word!

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