When Ren Suo returned to the Lianjiang City National Security Bureau, it was already 7:26 PM.
You Jilong, the Black Body Armor Agent responsible for leading them, announced their dismissal on the spot. He also told them they would receive text messages on their cell phones regarding their future work assignments within one to three business days.
Someone asked if they needed to keep their Cultivator identities a secret. You Jilong spread his hands. "It's up to you, but it's generally better not to. The internet surveillance department will continue to remove online information about Cultivators. Although your records have been encrypted by the National Security Bureau, if you intentionally leak your real-life information and attract persecution from criminals... don't say I didn't warn you."
While everyone had the youthful urge to show off, they more or less understood that they had stepped into the vortex of a new era. At least on the surface, all the trainees loudly agreed and then went their separate ways home.
Thanks to Xie Qiansi's efforts, all members of Team Eight had added each other on WeChat and were pulled into a group chat. Yes, it was still that "We Are the Future Successors of the Mysterious Country" group. He had met almost all the other trainees from Lianjiang City these past few days, and everyone was willing to exchange contact information for networking. Thus, the group included all the civil servant Cultivators of Lianjiang City.
When exchanging WeChat info with Qiao Muyi, Ren Suo said seriously, "I actually didn't mean to hit on you."
Qiao Muyi looked at Ren Suo, batting her eyelashes. This made him swallow hard. Damn, this is truly because of the Key's charm! Then Li Qingxuan came over, glanced at Ren Suo, and pulled Qiao Muyi away.
Ren Suo felt incredibly frustrated. How could he get Qiao Muyi to willingly get into bed in front of him and then go to sleep?
After saying goodbye to everyone, Ren Suo took the subway home. He also stopped by Jian Ji downstairs. When the auntie saw Ren Suo coming to eat noodles at night, she asked in surprise, "Haven't seen you in a few days. Did you find another takeout place?"
"Went on a trip," Ren Suo shrugged. "One order of beef brisket with soybean paste lo mein."
"Okay, two orders... one order?"
"Yes, one. Here's 18 yuan."
"Young man, eat more," the auntie said earnestly. "Don't diet, young man. You should know that attracting a girlfriend these days isn't about physique..."
Ren Suo, surprised by the auntie's thoughtfulness, nodded. "Yeah, I know."
"It's about looks and physique," the auntie continued. "Someone like you... even a great physique wouldn't be enough."
Ren Suo said, "...Can I have my money back, please?"
「 」
When Ren Suo arrived home and pushed the door open, he found no signs of anything unusual or anyone having entered. He immediately opened the bedroom door and dragged out a large storage box from under the bed.
The box was filled with clothes. Ren Suo took them all out, revealing a Mini-World Game Console that looked like a piece of sci-fi art.
Ren Suo let out a breath of relief. The Mini-World Game Console was so mysterious, so naturally, he had to hide it well before leaving home. He wasn't worried about any national special departments discovering the Mini-World Game Console and seizing it. If it were truly discovered, would Ren Suo dare to oppose the authorities? He would have to obediently hand it over and might even be rewarded with several houses for his contribution.
What he worried about was the console being stolen. That would be a huge loss. If a thief discovered its magical properties and then came after Ren Suo to silence him, he would be utterly devastated.
Although the gadget didn't look like it was worth much, it would be troublesome if it fell into the hands of a thief with good taste.
Assured that everything was fine, Ren Suo felt relieved. He returned the game console to the living room and turned it on using the game controller. The console automatically connected to the TV. After a five-day separation, Ren Suo finally saw the familiar universe sci-fi startup interface again.
The menu options still only included "World Store," "What's Best for You Right Now?" and "If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters."
Ren Suo noticed a small, spinning disc icon at the bottom right corner of the "If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters" menu option. It looked as if it were loading a disc, but Ren Suo hadn't inserted any game disc—nor did he know where to insert one if he had.
Ren Suo didn't pay much attention and decided to check the "World Store" to see if "This Month's Free Game" had been updated. As for the Treasure Box and Key, which were now almost certainly his Pocket Item, he was in no hurry to open them.
He had bought "If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters" on March 28th, first completed the game on April 1st, and uploaded his rating in the early hours of April 2nd.
"Assassin" was the free game for March. Now it was April, so the free game should have been updated, right?
Ren Suo only remembered this during the intensive training. He'd been immediately called for civil servant training right after completing that hardcore jumping game, so he hadn't had a chance to check if the month's free game had updated.
It was already April 8th. The "April Fool's Day discount items!" section had disappeared from the store. It was replaced by a new one titled "A punch blasts through life and death, two steps shatter right and wrong." However, Ren Suo merely glanced at it and moved on. These games that cost money are probably out of my league.
Indeed! "This Month's Free Game"—it had updated!
「 」
Li Dan pushed open the door of the conference room on the third floor of the Lianjiang City National Security Bureau. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he yawned and casually picked a spot to sit down.
He had slept all night yesterday, and although it felt great, he felt a subtle sense of tiredness upon waking up. Li Dan thought it might be an aftereffect of his prolonged lack of sleep and didn't pay it much attention.
The fact that this Ren Suo fellow could actually make him fall asleep, however—that was something. Li Dan had spent all afternoon concocting reasons to ask his boss to transfer Ren Suo to their unit.
He couldn't exactly say that he, Li Dan, wanted Ren Suo to, well, put him to sleep, could he?
After a moment, several more personnel in Black Body Armor entered the conference room. Li Dan glanced over and found that all the Cultivators from the Eighteenth Bureau in Lianjiang City were present.
Although the members of the Eighteenth Bureau were all Cultivators, not all national Cultivators fell under its jurisdiction. This didn't even include the Public Security and administrative systems; even other departments within the National Security Bureau hosted a small number of Cultivators. This was all laying the groundwork for a large influx of Cultivator civil servants in the future.
Compared to other functional departments, the Eighteenth Bureau's distinctive feature was its specific responsibility for handling Cultivator-related affairs. However, this responsibility would soon be dispersed. At the very least, petty thieving Cultivators and Awakeners would become the responsibility of the Cultivators in the Public Security system. The Eighteenth Bureau would only need to handle 'extraordinary Cultivator affairs'.
Li Dan had initially planned to take off his Black Body Armor and go home to rest. However, he was called back when he was already halfway there.
Had a bloodthirsty Awakener appeared?
Or perhaps an important figure had been assassinated by an Awakener?
Or was the Pacific Federation preparing to host the world's foremost Transcendent Martial Arts tournament?
While Li Dan was pondering, Yu Kuangtu, sitting in the main seat, saw that everyone had arrived and began speaking. "I called you back in a hurry because Red Mansion has just confirmed a piece of news."
Hearing the name "Red Mansion," everyone instinctively sat up straighter. As the earliest Cultivators, nearly all of them had gradually progressed in their cultivation under Red Mansion's guidance. Even if they had never met anyone from Red Mansion, they knew of the organization's significant role in the Mysterious Country's research into Spiritual Energy.
Yu Kuangtu turned on the projector, and everyone saw a webpage appear on the projection screen.
""GiliGili?"" someone recognized it at first glance. ""The video site with scrolling comments?""
""We chose this one because this video has the most views on the site,"" Yu Kuangtu said as he navigated the webpage and opened the video site's leaderboard. Everyone immediately noticed the top-ranked trending video.
A man in Black Body Armor said, ""Ren Naiser posted a video? Is it *that* Ren Naiser? The one who's famous worldwide, whom no country can block, practically the strongest hacker? Rumor has it this Ren Naiser is also a member of Fairy Palace, the Mysterious Country's secret organization!""
""The name of this video… It looks like a game.""
""I think it's a True Human challenge.""
Li Dan squinted, focusing on the video in the number-one spot on the leaderboard. He murmured its title softly:
""If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters…?""