...
Three days passed in the blink of an eye, yet there was no sign of Sun Hang's memory returning.
On the third day at nine in the morning, before the routine check-up, two soldiers clad in black tactical gear pushed open the hospital room door with a discharge form signed by the director.
They asked Sun Hang to change into a set of light gray uniform and then took him to an SUV with anti-peeping film on the windows and an emblem of the Celestial City Anomaly Investigation Bureau on the side.
"Where are you taking me? To the Investigation Bureau?" Sun Hang couldn't help but ask.
The two soldiers stayed silent and sat on either side of him, holding their weapons silently... giving Sun Hang the impression that he was being escorted like a criminal.
Sun Hang could only study the buildings along the roadside himself... He realized he felt no familiarity with Celestial City at all. Furthermore, he couldn't speak the local dialect, indicating that he was likely not a native resident of Celestial City before losing his memory.
Could he really be a drifter?
After a one-and-a-half-hour drive, the SUV stopped in a spacious courtyard.
At the signal of the two soldiers, Sun Hang got out of the car by himself, and the SUV quickly drove away from the yard.
"Could you please show your identification?" A middle-aged man in the same light gray uniform as Sun Hang, but with the Investigation Bureau emblem on his chest and cuffs, approached and said to Sun Hang.
Sun Hang fumbled in his pocket for his only two identification documents and handed them over.
"0420, right? We've been waiting for you." The middle-aged man returned the documents to Sun Hang, "The recruitment training is about to start, follow me."
He led Sun Hang inside a building and into a lecture room as large as a cinema hall, where about twenty people were scattered across the seats, all wearing uniforms without emblems similar to Sun Hang's.
"The newcomers for this batch are all here, we can start." The middle-aged man said into a walkie-talkie slung over his shoulder, then casually picked a seat in the last row.
Sun Hang also sat in the last row, separated by two empty seats from the middle-aged man.
Shortly after, a tall and lanky man, as thin as a bamboo pole, in a white coat walked up to the podium and began speaking: "First, welcome to employment at the Celestial City Anomaly Investigation Bureau. Although you are currently temporary agents, I believe it is only a matter of time before you become regulars."
"Restarting life is just a matter of time." Sun Hang heard a young woman in the row in front of him quietly mutter, "Offering empty promises... Do they really think everyone here is a fool?"
Sun Hang quietly stood up, crouching as he shuffled to the row in front and sat down beside the young woman and whispered, "Did you also... 'voluntarily' sign that contract?"
"What else?" The young woman glanced sideways at Sun Hang, raising an eyebrow, "All those sitting here owe the Federation a huge amount, unable to repay, they're forced to sell their lives to the Federation... Hmph, becoming regulars, it'd be a miracle if they manage to live until the debt is paid off."
"Uh..." Sun Hang wanted to ask more, but the man on the podium had already finished his brief introduction and started the formal training content, forcing him to concentrate, lest he miss something important.
Every word this guy says could be crucial to his future survival.
"You must all be aware of enigmatic creatures, but the Federal classification system for them has never been publicly disclosed. What I'll teach you first is the classification and naming of enigmatic creatures," Bamboo Pole said.
"Apart from a few 'named' 'special enigmatic creatures', most of them are referred to by code names. A code name has two parts, the first is from the Chinese zodiac for broad classification, like the most challenging 'Rule-class creatures' which are categorized as 'A'. In addition, B is 'Phenomenon-class', C, D, E all belong to 'Biological-class creatures', representing animals, plants, and microorganisms respectively..."
Bamboo Pole paused for a moment before continuing: "Of course, the classification of creatures isn't always precise; historically, 'hybrids' have been found, like certain beasts fused with fungi, which depends on the situation. Generally, if the fungi part controls the animal part's behavior, it's categorized as 'E-class'; if the fungi are merely an appendage, it's classified as 'C-class'."
"Another category is inanimate objects; the classification here is more complex: tools, buildings, giant objects, environmental types... and sometimes the boundary between categories is blurry, requiring experts to decide after discussion."
"As for the second part of the code name, it's just a simple numerical sequence indicating the discovery order of the creatures. Although this sequence doesn't denote strength, most of the top ten creatures are not something humans can easily provoke. The so-called 'absolute taboo' zero number creature is referred to as 'original-level creature'... like 'Dingling·Decaying Mother Tree', the source of all plant-class creatures."
"Is the zero-number creature the most powerful?" a newly hired temporary agent couldn't help but ask.
"The power of creatures cannot be measured by quantifiable values; we can at most assign them a vague 'danger level'," Bamboo Pole said, "The zero-number creature's danger level is 'highest'... But rest assured, I can say confidently that none of you will ever have any encounter with a zero-number creature in your lifetime."
After these words, Bamboo Pole cleared his throat and announced, "Alright, I've said all that needs to be said, congratulations everyone, you are now qualified investigators."
The crowd was instantly in an uproar.
Sun Hang also frowned... How could the recruitment training end so abruptly just when it was getting started?
It's akin to a game, where the tutorial simply tells the player WASD is for movement, the mouse right-click for aiming and left-click for shooting, then tosses the player into a hell-difficulty level, saying: "You've completely mastered the game's skills, now try challenging the game's final boss."
What a joke?!
The temporary agent who asked earlier stood up immediately, incredulously asking, "Is this all the content for recruitment training?!"
Bamboo Pole nodded, "Yes, this is the entirety of the recruitment training. You see, creatures are a very unique existence; when investigating them, experience is not only useless but sometimes even detrimental to you and your teammates. So, the training process for both formal and temporary investigators is the same."
"But we don't even know what we have to do!"
"The specific mission objectives and necessary information will be provided when you receive corresponding tasks, no need to worry," Bamboo Pole replied.
"What about weapons training?"
"We do not issue weapons or firearm licenses to non-staff. If you require firepower support during investigations, accompanying soldiers or sheriffs will provide it."
During mission execution, temporary agents are accompanied by soldiers or sheriffs – these people assist and monitor them alike.