Chengyang City, Paranormal Handling Department base.
An astonished, crisp female voice echoed within a certain office: "Brother Long, did you pass the special request submitted by He Zhan?"
"I did, why wouldn't I pass it?"
The person answering was a young man sitting in front of an office chair playing with a magic cube. Strangely, the young man wore a blood-red cloth strip over his face, completely covering his eyes.
Yet he continued to play with the magic cube as if his gaze could see through the red cloth to the outside world.
"But didn't Sister She predict that in Chengyang City, there would be a pair of brothers both Awakened, and they would eventually lead to the destruction of the entire city? Isn't that why we've been here for two whole years!"
The woman who asked the question sounded quite anxious, even snatching the magic cube from the other's hand and staring intently at the young man's face.
With his toy taken, the young man could only stand up helplessly, stretch lazily, and look up.
That blood-red cloth strip seemed to look back at the woman as if they were his eyes.
"But in the request He Zhan submitted, the younger brother Wu Liang is not an Awakened." His speech slowed down further, a strong sense of oppression enveloped the office.
The woman refused to yield and countered, "What if he awakens someday! Wouldn't that make him the culprit foretold by the prophecy?"
"Wouldn't that be better? Joining the department makes it easier for us to observe and manage the two brothers. Aren't you curious about what level of Awakened it would take to destroy an entire city?"
The young man said this, revealing a slight smile.
Like a child not losing his innocence seeing his favorite toy, his smile was pure and brilliant.
"Besides, we've already granted the approval, taking it back would be too embarrassing for me, don't you think? Yang."
Faced with his reasoning, the woman in front of him could only angrily toss the magic cube back at him.
The young man, still smiling, caught the magic cube.
After a sigh, the woman couldn't help but say, "Then I have three requirements. First, they must come to the department for an awakening check, especially the younger brother Wu Liang. I need to ensure he truly hasn't awakened yet."
"Reasonable."
"Second, you can't interfere with me contacting them. I need to ascertain the nature of both individuals."
When stating this requirement, the woman lightly bit her lip, appearing somewhat nervous.
She wasn't sure if the other would agree, considering she still had constraints.
"Hmm... although this is against regulations, you're technically not allowed to be more than a kilometer away from me, but... I'll allow it." The young man pondered for a few seconds, then spread his hands indicating no problem.
Hearing this, a fierce glint flashed in the woman's eyes as she continued:
"Third, if I determine the brothers pose too great a threat to the public or have twisted personalities, I will eliminate them immediately!"
"Girls shouldn't just think about killing all the time, at least give me a phone call before you do it." The young man seemed a bit helpless.
But he didn't reject this requirement.
"Alright, I'll call you after I've contacted them tomorrow." With that, the woman turned and left the office.
The young man loudly complained at her retreating figure: "Hey, hey, hey! What do you mean, call me after contact, you already plan to make a move, right? Definitely, right!"
Unfortunately, she didn't pay any attention to him.
Once the young man was alone in the office, he refocused on the magic cube.
But this time, instead of continually trying to restore the cube, he lightly tapped it with his index finger.
The entire magic cube began to tremble violently, and then in just the blink of an eye, all six sides were fully restored, without any visible technique.
"Heh, two Awakened capable of destroying a city. Wu Liang, can you and your brother beat me? I'm looking forward to it."
......
"Looking forward to it? What's there to look forward to!"
Wu Liang woke up the next day and received a call from He Zhan notifying him of his first task.
"Come on, Chengyang City's most famous nightclub! This task is one that several Awakened under me are eager to check out." He Zhan's tone was somewhat helpless.
He wasn't lying.
Upon hearing about an investigation task at that nightclub, the Priest and Cannon, two single official Awakened, perked up with enthusiasm.
Due to their identities as official Awakened, frequently exposed on media platforms, they couldn't openly visit places that easily sparked scandals.
But with a task, it's different!
"Then send them! I just graduated from college, still an innocent young man. I'm not familiar with such places and might blow my cover." Wu Liang's mouth began to twitch.
Such places are full of mixed crowds.
Even if there really is a supernatural event, he couldn't just openly summon a Fierce Ghost Minion to help in front of everyone!
This kind of thankless task is better suited for an Awakened He Zhan could assign, so they can act directly if needed.
"The nightclub currently has only some peculiarities needing investigation. Isn't your responsibility as an investigator to rule out these suspected non-supernatural phenomena?" He Zhan stated firmly.
He couldn't send an Awakened to investigate at the first sign of anomaly.
Considering the entire Chengyang City has no more than twenty official Awakened, matching the city's population of over three million, calling them rare is an understatement.
The scarce number of Awakened means they can't handle everything personally.
Only when investigative personnel confirm an issue or when ordinary people can't investigate does the department send an Awakened to explore.
Most of the time, they need to prevent emergencies from occurring.
After all, many supernatural events arise without any warning.
"Fine, fine, this is how we're playing it, huh? If I, an inexperienced young man, get dazzled by the glamor of the world in there, wouldn't that disgrace the officials?" Wu Liang fundamentally didn't want to take on tasks in such places.
He preferred going to deserted villages, unfinished buildings, slaughterhouses – places with a higher likelihood of supernatural occurrences.
Such places have fewer people, making it easier to capture ghosts.
Most importantly, they're free of charge!
Going undercover at a nightclub, how much would that cost!
Especially since the task involves Chengyang City's most famous nightclub, the expenses inside were beyond his imagination!
"Then it's your personal misconduct, don't drag the officials into it." Didn't He Zhan realize sending Wu Liang on his first task to such a place was inappropriate?
He obviously knew!
But he had no choice!
This guy's first task was personally designated by a superior with significant influence within Chengyang City's branch, who insisted Wu Liang execute this task.
If he didn't know this female superior never leaves the base and it was practically impossible for ordinary people to contact her, He Zhan might actually think Wu Liang knew her.
"Oh, when I do my job, I'm a responsible investigator, but if anything goes wrong, it's a personal misconduct issue. Captain He, why do I feel like a temp? Is the contract I signed last night even permanent?"
Listening to Wu Liang continue to complain, He Zhan suddenly thought of a crucial point.
This guy's resistance to going there, could it be because...
He quickly added:
"Investigation funds can be reimbursed by public funds."
"For the nation's service, contributing to humanity's victory over the supernatural resurgence! I'm duty-bound!"
The phone relayed Wu Liang's resounding and powerful reply!