Chapter 62: A New Job

As the man’s voice fell, he looked at Zhuang Mian, whose hands were cuffed to the small table, and stared intently into her eyes.

Sure enough, he saw undeniable shock in Zhuang Mian’s eyes.

At that moment, she truly felt it. She knew her teacher had come to help her, but she hadn’t expected the situation to be so serious that she would have to make a choice.

In that instant, the usually decisive Zhuang Mian was struck with shock and confusion.

After a brief silence, their eyes met.

Zhuang Mian didn’t ask the ridiculous and childish question, "Do I really have to choose?" Instead, she took a deep breath and reached for the contract regarding her resignation.

Then, she signed her name and pressed her thumbprint onto it before pushing it back to her teacher.

The man picked up the contract, glanced at it, and suddenly a smile broke out on his serious face.

He looked at this student from the Security Academy with an expression of appreciation.

“Very good; you’re an excellent student, just as I expected.”

The man stood up from the chair and paced back and forth.

“This room is an absolute safe space; the Single Mirror and surveillance are turned off. Only the two of us can hear what’s said next.”

Zhuang Mian was slightly taken aback, as if realizing something, but she simply nodded and quietly waited for her teacher to continue.

“I guess you’ve already figured out part of it, so I have nothing to hide.

“On behalf of the Internal Affairs Clean-up Team, I extend an invitation to you. If you accept, you will become the Captain of a clean-up team, responsible for handling certain unspeakable events in the inner city.

“What do you think?”

As he spoke, the man pressed a button on the remote control in his hand, and with a click, the electromagnetic handcuffs on Zhuang Mian’s wrists opened, allowing her to regain her freedom.

“I choose to join!”

Zhuang Mian didn’t hide her excitement at all; there was no need to.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs was a mysterious department under the military responsible for internal oversight. Unlike the Public Security Team, which served the residents of Hope City, the Ministry focused on investigating larger events, essentially functioning as a secret police.

At this moment, Zhuang Mian finally confirmed the existence of this mysterious department—and that her teacher was part of it.

What could be better than this?

A job where she didn’t have to give up her position, could investigate many shady incidents, and even keep her secret identity hidden was exactly what she needed now.

“Welcome aboard. Follow me, and don’t forget to come up with a name for your team along the way. The tradition of the Clean-up Team is to choose an animal.”

“An animal? Do insects count?”

The old man glanced back at Zhuang Mian.

“Yes, it seems you’ve thought this through?”

“Hmm, let’s call it ‘Butterfly.’”

—

The research institutes fell into chaos for a week.

Terrifying bioweapons appeared at the core of the Department of Life Technology, causing over thirty people, including the Minister, to vanish and resulting in two hundred people falling into a state of unconsciousness. They were eventually eliminated by superpowered individuals from headquarters who arrived just in time. This was undoubtedly big news.

But such news undoubtedly should not reach people’s ears; carelessly spreading this matter would only lead to unnecessary turmoil.

Although residents in the inner city have generally higher qualifications than those in the outer city, they can easily be influenced in areas they do not understand.

For this reason, the bioweapon incident only spread within a small circle.

As one of the survivors, Ji Yongxing was part of that circle.

“…The Hope Daily reports that the fire that broke out at the headquarters of the research institutes on June 9th has resulted in the deaths of twelve researchers, including Dr. Zhao Kai, the Minister of the Department of Life Technology…”

“Bang!”

Ji Yongxing pressed the faulty radio off, his expression not looking very pleasant.

He was sitting across from Deputy Director Zhou Zhuo, watching the man doodle on a white piece of paper.

“Are you in such a bad mood today?” Zhou Zhuo asked without looking up.

“I just don’t want to hear a demon, who caused so many deaths, being remembered and praised.”

“You’re smart; I’m sure you can guess why I say this.”

Zhou Zhuo’s tone sounded very gentle, as if he were comforting a younger person.

“Every organization, every department, and every person has their secrets, don’t you think?”

Ji Yongxing turned to look out the window, not responding to Zhou Zhuo’s pointed remark.

“Alright, try to be more relaxed. The Department of Life Technology hasn’t made much progress in the past two years, so this is a good time to reshuffle.”

As he spoke, the old man handed the written paper to Ji Yongxing.

“Here, this is your latest transfer order.”

The bespectacled young man glanced down at the paper and read aloud softly:

“…Transferred to the Weapon Research Department as a researcher… Me?”

“Of course it’s you. Staying in the Department of Life Technology isn’t beneficial for you right now. Moving around will prepare you to take my place in the future.”

“Are you already planning this?”

Ji Yongxing looked speechless; the positions of the two directors in the research institutes were not easy seats. It was easy to guess that the current director had been arguing with the old members of the council this past week.

“Those who are capable take on more work; but don’t get too excited, if someone more talented is found…”

“I know, I know, the Deputy Director won’t need me then.”

“As long as you know.”

Zhou Zhuo’s face was filled with a smiling expression.

“Who cares? But why the Weapon Research Department?”

Ji Yongxing asked, confused.

“Because someone in the military is about to reach their limit.”

Zhou Zhuo sighed.

“Have you seen or heard of extraordinary beasts that can fly?”

The sudden change in topic left Ji Yongxing stunned for two seconds. He realized he hadn’t thought of this before and shook his head.

“You don’t think those creatures don’t want to fly in here, do you?

“Never mind, you’ll find out when you get there.”

Seeing that the other man had no further questions, Ji Yongxing stopped talking, waved the transfer order in his hand, and left Zhou Zhuo’s office.

He passed through several corridors, switched elevators twice, and returned to his dormitory.

Skillfully dragging a large box from under the bed, he quickly assembled the components and wires that had been temporarily dismantled due to space constraints.

The old display screen flickered twice, and a phosphorescent green cursor appeared at the top of the screen.

Accompanied by flashing lights, lines of text appeared on the screen one after another:

“Welcome back, my creator, the great ‘Pioneer’.”

A slight smile tugged at Ji Yongxing’s lips as he rapidly tapped a few keys to access the program’s backend.

Clearly, this was not an artificial intelligence but just a startup animation he had set up in advance.

Even so, during this time, Ji Yongxing had made significant changes to this system.

The model originally used for predicting the future had been thrown into the trash, and he was now developing new things that could work in tandem with his abilities.