Chapter 7
“I found them, Phone Bro! Look, is it those guys up ahead? Are the black cases they’re holding the instruments you were talking about?” Bai Hewei hadn’t expected this group to be so incredibly easy to find.
He had simply followed the direction the dark clouds were drifting and instantly located the culprits.
Bai Hewei didn’t recklessly approach; instead, he watched from a distance.
There were four males, but in terms of appearance, they clearly hailed from four completely different countries.
One was blonde and blue-eyed, one was pure black-skinned, one was clearly of Indian descent, and another looked somewhat like a Native American.
To be fair, if these four walked down the street together, they would turn heads a hundred percent of the time.
The four of them didn’t seem to get along very well either, and each of the black cases they carried appeared to be a different style.
“Mr. Bai, please aim your phone camera at them, otherwise I can’t see,” Phone Bro’s voice came through.
“Oh, right, okay.” Bai Hewei hurriedly opened his phone and pointed the camera at the four men so Phone Bro could identify them.
Through the phone’s lens, the appearances of these four men clearly entered the view of the researchers, led by Wen Zhiyi.
“These four are from the [Divine Staff], [God’s Eagle], [Crucifix Society], and the [Seventy-Two Demon Gods]?”
“These foreign organizations really lack creativity. They keep reuse the same old naming conventions, as if they’re terrified people won’t know what they worship.”
“Don’t these four organizations usually fight among themselves? Did they actually join forces just for Bai Hewei?”
“Wow, Chief Scholar Wen, all four of them are carrying different models of black cases. It would be amazing if we could get our hands on them for research to compare their organizational technologies.”
…
The researchers were far more interested in the technology developed by these organizations.
One can learn from the strengths of others. Even if these organizations were second-rate, they could still possess some decent technology.
Furthermore, although these foreign organizations stood absolutely no chance against their country in terms of robotics and AI, domestic biotechnology and pharmaceutical research still couldn’t catch up to the West, no matter what.
Those overseas groups could use real humans for experiments to test drug reactions under extreme conditions, completely disregarding human life. That was something their country absolutely could not do.
Looking at these men, Wen Zhiyi couldn’t help but chuckle.
“They’re getting desperate.”
The Special Operations Department already kept all the Evolvers within a superpower in check. Now that a world’s strongest had suddenly popped up, how could those foreign organizations sit still?
They judged others by their own metrics. How could they ever believe that the Special Operations Department only wanted to manage the Evolvers within their own borders, rather than conquer the world?
To this end, even organizations that had previously been locked in bloody feuds were now joining forces to test the depth of Bai Hewei’s waters.
“All four of them come from different foreign organizations. The good news is they might not have any chemistry or coordination. The bad news is they likely have secret weapons given by their respective organizations hidden on them,” Wen Zhiyi’s voice transmitted through the phone. “Additionally, I’ve sent their files to your phone, but use them purely as a reference. I don’t believe this data is necessarily accurate.”
“I get it. Falsified data—it’s the same everywhere,” Bai Hewei nodded knowingly. When they compiled statistics at his workplace, the data was always heavily watered down too.
There was no helping it. Sometimes the higher-ups would demand a dataset right on Friday as they were about to get off work, and they wanted it within the hour. What else could they do besides make something up?
At most, they’d reference the data from the previous two years and fabricate something relatively realistic.
“It’s good that you understand. The types of supernatural abilities these individuals possess are likely correct, but I believe the constraint conditions and activation triggers have been modified,” Wen Zhiyi confirmed Bai Hewei’s suspicion.
Domestic Evolvers usually operated under the guidance of the Research Institute, focusing on the development and refinement of their inherent, original capabilities. For instance, if an Evolver had an offensive type, the Research Institute would pair them with a defensive type to form a two-man squad. They would complement each other’s strengths and offset weaknesses, strictly avoiding altering the evolutionary factors within the body to prevent the power from spiraling out of control.
Foreign Evolvers, however, relied heavily on bio-serums and specialized drugs tested on various subjects to forcibly spike the evolutionary factors in their bodies. Often, with a single injection, an Evolver could instantly unleash several times their baseline explosive power. As for what happened after the outburst, that wasn’t their concern; at most, it just added another entry to the compilation of side effects for serum refinement.
Bai Hewei opened his phone and found that the personal information of the four men had been transmitted in the format of resumes.
For instance, the blonde, blue-eyed man was listed as Howard Osborn, a Rank A Evolver from the [Divine Staff]. His ability was “Loaning.” Its key manifestation was that as long as someone accepted his assistance even once, before they fully repaid the “help,” their supernatural abilities would be forcefully borrowed and utilized by him. He was a remarkably thuggish Evolver.
The only reason he was rated Rank A instead of higher was because his “Loaning” capability had to be built on mutual consent. Therefore, in the early stages, he could only execute it through deception. Once the core of his ability was exposed, his threat level plummeted instantly.
“What a bizarre ability. Is that why it’s categorized under the specialized type?” Bai Hewei was rather curious after reading the materials. How exactly did an ability like this evolve?
“Currently, evolutionary factors predominantly develop in three directions: human baseline physical attributes, mental foundation, and deep-seated obsessions,” Wen Zhiyi explained after a brief thought. “The simplest is physical enhancement. This is the most fundamental and common path among Evolvers, usually manifesting as mind-boggling changes in speed, strength, and similar traits. The mental foundation depends on an individual’s psychological fortitude, meaning strong-willed individuals have more stable mental energy, while cowardly, sensitive individuals possess more destructive mental power. The last type is the so-called deep-seated obsession. For example, individuals who are chronically bedridden will most likely manifest healing or self-repair abilities upon evolving.”
Currently, among the healing-type Evolvers recruited by the Special Operations Department, the majority were people who had been plagued by long-term illnesses. Professional doctors, oddly enough, rarely evolved healing abilities.
“Howard was forced onto the streets because he couldn’t repay his college student loans, and survived by selling his blood. Therefore, when he evolved, his mind was utterly fixated on ‘loaning,’ which gave birth to his current ability.” Wen Zhiyi looked at Bai Hewei through the feed with data-driven curiosity. What kind of obsession or choice had caused Bai Hewei to directly bypass countless Evolvers and become the strongest in the world?
“Life abroad really is a living hell. I definitely prefer securing a stable, permanent government job back home to live a peaceful life,” Bai Hewei sighed and shook his head, his resolve to pass the civil service exam hardening even further.
See? Becoming an Evolver wasn’t all that great. When traveling abroad for missions, you still had to constantly worry about your teammates double-crossing you.
A permanent position was still the most secure option.
“Who’s there? Show yourself!” The four Evolvers were no amateurs, and they quickly caught the sound of Bai Hewei chatting with Wen Zhiyi.
Of course, neither Bai Hewei nor Wen Zhiyi had made any deliberate effort to conceal themselves.
All four men wore portable translation devices on their persons, which saved quite a bit of trouble.
“Hello, everyone, I’m Bai Hewei.” Bai Hewei extended his hand and waved, displaying his friendliness. “I’ve already returned all the English I learned back to my teachers, so you’d better not speak a foreign language to me. Due to my personal circumstances, could you please give me the black cases in your hands and voluntarily surrender? I prefer to avoid fighting whenever possible, otherwise it might delay my future political background check.”
Bai Hewei was deeply worried.
He wasn’t anxious about anything else, but rather the fact that he still didn’t know what his evolved ability actually was. It just felt like his strength had increased a bit, and he couldn’t control it properly.
If he ended up punching them all to death later, would it be deemed an excessive use of force in self-defense?
Would causing death through excessive self-defense be recorded in his permanent file and affect his future political background check?
These were all pragmatic issues Bai Hewei had to take into consideration, so he had to proceed with extreme caution.
While Bai Hewei was still fretting over his future, what the four Evolvers heard in their ears was a blatant, arrogant threat and pure condescension.
They exchanged glances and lunged forward in unison.
The first to rush over was the Black Evolver.
He was already built incredibly tall and broad, and now his speed was as swift as a gale. In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance to Bai Hewei, his fist reared back high as it smashed directly toward Bai Hewei’s face.
Bai Hewei could clearly see the thick veins bulging on the man’s arm.
If this punch landed, the destructive force would be unimaginable.
Bai Hewei blinked, instinctively reaching out to catch it.
SNAP.
The sound of a dislocation echoed from the Black man’s arm.
Wen Zhiyi narrowed his eyes slightly.
When an ordinary person faced a sudden, close-quarters strike, shouldn’t their initial reflex be to parry or defend?
Before awakening, Bai Hewei was a normal citizen who had never undergone a single day of combat training. Yet, when facing an attack, his reaction wasn’t defense—it was offense.
Fascinated.
“I’m telling you, old brother, I really don’t know how strong I am,” Bai Hewei was startled when he heard the sound of the man’s arm popping out of its socket. “You’d better keep your distance from me. I’ve already broken a bunch of desks.”
The opponent didn’t listen to his muttering at all. After his right arm dislocated, he showed no signs of retreating; instead, he unleashed a fierce sweeping kick aimed squarely at Bai Hewei’s abdomen.
Simultaneously, the other three Evolvers moved at the exact same moment.
“Watch out. Howard might try to forcefully assist you to execute his ‘Loaning.’ The other two Evolvers have already circled behind your back. Although they hail from different organizations, they possess an excellent balance of offense and defense.”
Bai Hewei blinked, seemingly failing to register the situation entirely.
Seeing Bai Hewei’s blank, dazed expression, the other Evolvers rejoiced.
Just as their organizations had predicted, although the man before them was hailed as the world’s strongest Evolver, he had never received proper training before this and hadn’t had enough time to grow. No matter how monstrous his strength was, it was useless if he couldn’t unleash it properly.
The instant the Black man’s sweeping kick was about to strike Bai Hewei, Howard surged forward to block it.
Vaguely, Bai Hewei felt as though something had attached itself to his body.
It felt like walking along a narrow country road when a car suddenly speeds past, splashing a few drops of mud onto his clothes.
“Loaning complete!”
Howard’s face lit up with overwhelming joy. “Let me see what kind of power I can borrow from you!”
The other three were mere decoys. He had been deployed by his organization specifically to forcefully loan Bai Hewei’s power, turning the world’s strongest Evolver into a blood bank from which he could extract strength at will.
His data had been intentionally altered just to double-cross the other organizations at the critical moment.
Who would have thought it would go this smoothly?
Howard immediately drove his supernatural ability, attempting to siphon power from Bai Hewei. He wanted to feel exactly what the world’s strongest power felt like.
One second passed.
Ten seconds passed.
The joy on Howard’s face froze solid.
No one could possibly comprehend the sheer terror in his heart at this moment.
It was like holding a small water ladle, expecting to completely scoop out all the water from someone else’s bucket. But what if he found himself facing a vast, boundless ocean?
Cold sweat poured down Howard’s face, drenching his clothes in a matter of moments. He stood frozen to the spot, entirely motionless, as if turned to stone.
“What’s wrong?” The other three Evolvers realized something was amiss, and they accelerated their onslaught against Bai Hewei.
But bizarrely, though their supernatural abilities and fists landed squarely on Bai Hewei’s body, he didn’t seem to feel a single thing. There wasn’t even a ripple of an effect on him.
What kind of absolute freak was this?
“Phone Bro, their punches don’t really hurt at all. Maybe I awakened a defensive type ability,” Bai Hewei even had the leisure to chat. He had been a bit tense earlier, assuming these people would give him a severe beating.
To his surprise, it didn’t hurt a bit.
It felt like they hadn’t eaten. Those abilities looked incredibly flashy, but the results were just like cinematic special effects—they looked formidable, but actually produced zero real impact.
Originally, Bai Hewei had maintained an appropriate level of anxiety, but now he was completely unworried. With this level of output, they wouldn’t be able to inflict a single scratch on him even if he gave them a hundred years.
“…Perhaps,” Wen Zhiyi muttered, a rare trace of bewilderment creeping into his tone. He couldn’t discern exactly what kind of ability Bai Hewei had awakened either.
“Phone Bro, it’s pretty annoying with them constantly swinging at me like this. Is there any way to quickly incapacitate them so they can’t get back up to attack me? Ideally, it should legally qualify as a minor injury, so it won’t affect my future civil service applications,” Bai Hewei couldn’t help but request.
The reason he had delayed striking back was purely out of fear of being penalized for excessive self-defense. He was just a temporary worker, not an official member of the Special Operations Department, and he didn’t have any formal documentation on hand. He felt incredibly insecure.
“There is,” Wen Zhiyi smiled faintly. “And it will crush their spirits along the way.”
“What’s the method?”
“You just need to find a way to physically castrate them,” Wen Zhiyi stated with utter nonchalance. “As long as you don’t crush them to pieces and preserve basic biological functions, I guarantee you’ll get an administrative detention at most.”
Author’s Note:
Bai Hewei: ???
The other Evolvers: ???
