His hand shook. The half-eaten steamed bun dropped onto the table, only to be picked back up immediately by Bai Zhou with an expressionless face.
His stomach churned, as though all the meals and cakes he had savored in the cafeteria before had turned into bloody flesh churning in his gut, impossible to digest.
A heavy metallic stench of blood rushed into his nostrils, nauseating him.
A free cafeteria? And limitless funding?
Who was to say that, completely unaware, he hadn't already eaten someone's "flesh"!
Up ahead, one could tell from the practiced way everyone scrambled for wealth and goods that this was by no means the first time.
If "Liu Zhen" could be traded for so much wealth, then in the past there must have been "Wang Zhen," "Zhao Jia," and countless others...
Why could the Major treat money like dirt?
Perhaps this was the reason.
—Something was wrong with this place!
Wrong in every single way.
Section Chief Liu being a good big brother didn't mean the Special Control Bureau was a good organization!
That had been a grave blind spot in his thinking.
And just because Adjutant Han and the Major valued and favored Bai Zhou's constitution, it certainly didn't mean it was a good thing.
As for the awe and reverence that outside constables showed toward Special Control Bureau commissioners...
Perhaps they too were among the duped.
Everyone had been deceived.
After all, on the surface, the Special Control Bureau was indeed an official organization.
Besides, this was merely Branch 36 of the Special Control Bureau; it might not represent what the Bureau as a whole was like...
Right now, Bai Zhou could only count himself lucky.
It was a good thing he had remained thoroughly vigilant about everything at the base from beginning to end, consistently maintaining his persona of a pure, honest youth while keeping his own secrets strictly to himself.
His initial impressions of this place hadn't been wrong at all—
Looking back carefully, several details from before were undeniably abnormal.
The astronomical casualty rate; the fanatic worship of the Bureau and the Major from top to bottom among the commissioners.
The experimental logs kept when executing the black robes; the ruthless, unprincipled methods used when testing the residents of Wancheng.
Adjutant Han, who always carried a doll.
And the germophobic Major, who immediately wiped his hand with a wet wipe even after doing nothing more than patting his shoulder.
That Major, who constantly claimed to value talent and spoke of nothing but rewards and promotions, was actually forever looking down from high above.
His rewards were merely condescending "handouts," and his reforms were designed only to wring out everyone's "maximum value."
When he arranged matters for Bai Zhou without brooking any argument, he hadn't cared in the slightest about Bai Zhou's personal thoughts.
Even his so-called valuing of talent—
Viewed now, perhaps it was nothing more than...
Valuing "Human Material"?
—Of course, these were still merely deductions Bai Zhou had pieced together from existing clues.
There was still a slight chance that the Major was innocent and being kept in the dark by Adjutant Han.
—Yet that probability was exceedingly slim.
Because if it wasn't for personal gain, Bai Zhou couldn't think of any reason why Adjutant Han would pull something like this to win people over on his own.
Even if Han truly wanted to seize power for himself, there was no reason to hand out boons in the Major's name.
Making the Major take the fall while spending the Major's money to advance one's own agenda was what an ordinary conspirator would do.
In other words, Bai Zhou truly had to face the worst-case scenario:
His "enemies" had expanded from a single Adjutant Han into more people who were far harder to deal with.
And his own role in this affair had shifted from being "a member of the organization" to standing entirely alone.
Furthermore, a question stared him squarely in the face.
—Bai Zhou needed to analyze his current predicament.
Why had Section Chief Liu actually died?
Had he truly died in the line of duty, his "dead flesh" merely exploited for its remaining value and carved up for everyone to feed on...
Or was there some dark secret behind his death?
In the period leading up to Section Chief Liu's death, the person he had interacted with most was Bai Zhou.
Then the very danger that had claimed Section Chief Liu's life might well be creeping up on Bai Zhou as well!
Circumstances permitting, Bai Zhou would likely need to flee this perilous place as soon as possible...
Just then, the whispers of those returning laden with spoils reached Bai Zhou's ears:
"I guessed yesterday that they'd be handing out money today."
"Every time someone dies in the line of duty, the brass hands out cash."
"The best incentive there is, wouldn't you say?"
"..."
Every living person was a beneficiary.
And every corpse was carved up and devoured by the crowd just like this.
The entire vast Resting Cemetery stood as a silent witness to it all.
Bai Zhou shuddered.
Looking up toward the crowd where people were beginning to drift away, Bai Zhou hurried over at a jog.
Under these circumstances,
—standing apart from the herd could prove fatal!
The moment he squeezed into the crowd, Adjutant Han thrust a pile of items into his arms.
"This is yours. I took a little extra for you."
"Everyone else got some, so don't worry, no need to be shy."
Adjutant Han smiled gently at Bai Zhou.
It was a condescending smile, yet it also carried undisguised admiration and regard.
"Once you take your share, don't leave just yet. Come with me to my office in a bit to get your potion."
So soon?
Bai Zhou's spine stiffened, but outwardly he merely smiled with gratitude, revealing nothing out of the ordinary.
"This is really... so much trouble for you!"
...
Bai Zhou trailed behind Adjutant Han alongside several burly men in suits.
His heart hung in his throat the entire way.
Yet all the way back to the opulent office, right up until Adjutant Han pulled open a drawer and took out a small black case, the man did nothing untoward.
"Your Intellect Awakening Potion."
He solemnly handed the exquisite, locked case to Bai Zhou.
Bai Zhou received the heavy case with both hands.
Seeing the man's solemn demeanor and the ornate metal case made of special materials, Bai Zhou couldn't help but feel a strange sense of irony.
Eighty bowls of beef ramen plus fifty cucumbers probably wouldn't even be worth as much as this small case holding the potion.
But what was an Intellect Awakening Potion...?
Wasn't it supposed to be an Enlightenment Potion?
Behind the desk, Adjutant Han's expression turned serious.
"This is a fresh potion produced last week, just delivered today."
"Its quality is quite exceptional. The success rate for awakening Fate Principle is around fifty percent, and considering your constitution's resistance to corruption, your probability could even reach seventy percent!"
"—That was a major reason why I fought so hard before higher management and was willing to make an exception to promote you."
Produced last week?
Bai Zhou breathed a faint sigh of relief.
At the very least, this showed it hadn't been made using "Section Chief Liu."
Though regardless, he had no intention whatsoever of drinking this thing...
"Actually,"
Adjutant Han said after a moment's thought, "the next batch of potions should be even more effective, increasing the awakening rate by another ten percent. If you want to wait, that's fine too, though you'll have to wait half a month."
"After all, a potion can only be consumed once. If you fail, you'll never be able to become an Extraordinary in your lifetime."
He offered persuasive guidance with a genial smile.
"Playing it safe can't hurt."
Bai Zhou waved his hands repeatedly. "No need, this one is fine."
He couldn't possibly wait another half month.
The potion delivered half a month from now would likely be one made out of Section Chief Liu.
Before then, he had to find out what hellhole Section Chief Liu's body had been shipped to...
And then, bring Section Chief Liu home.
He believed... living in this world, a person had to hold on to certain principles.
If he couldn't even accomplish this, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully for the rest of his life.
"All right, you can head back then. There are instructions inside the case on how to consume the potion."
"I still have a meeting to attend, and it's about time I left."
Seeing Bai Zhou's response, Adjutant Han nodded.
"I think very highly of you, Bai Zhou."
He stared intently at Bai Zhou's facial expressions, offering a heartfelt and solemn reminder:
"Don't let my trust go to waste. You... simply must become an Extraordinary!"
He wants me to become an Extraordinary that badly?
...Why?
Bai Zhou's gaze met Adjutant Han's inadvertently, and his heart skipped a beat as a chill ran straight from his head down to his heels.
The look carried delight, yet it was not the way one looked at a human being.
—It was like a starving diner who, upon seeing a lavish spread, fixed his gaze straight onto the glistening slab of fatty meat sitting right in the center of the table.
It was "craving."
And so Bai Zhou understood that smiling gaze.
There was an idiom for it: drooling with ravenous desire.
—He was going to eat him.
It was coming even faster than imagined.
There had to be a reason, likely the so-called "constitution."
Perhaps not just today, nor yesterday... Bai Zhou had already caught this Adjutant Han's eye long ago.
A faint inkling of understanding and deduction formed in his heart.
Outwardly, however, Bai Zhou merely bowed his head and said,
"Yes, I will definitely do my best!"
In truth, though, what he thought was:
Of course I will become an Extraordinary.
...I already am one.
Yet not just that—he had a grand surprise to prepare for Adjutant Han.
It wouldn't be long now.
—Tomorrow night!
For Bai Zhou still had to pay proper respects to his Big Brother Liu...
Using this bastard Adjutant Han's dog head!
Chapter 27