However, Li Kang’s expression was calm as he strode inside. He turned the handle of the restroom faucet to the left three tis, then opened the valve. But not a single drop of water ca out.
The wall at the far end of the restroom emitted a heavy, grinding sound as it gradually moved to reveal a downward-sloping stone passageway.
After taking just a couple of steps into the stone passageway, Chu Bamboo sensed sothing was off. He knocked hard on the wall. ’tal?’
Lost in thought, Chu Bamboo walked to the very bottom, where he was t with a brilliant light.
It was a vast room shimring with a tallic luster, possessing the feel of a secret base from a science fiction novel. From the walls to the ceiling and floor, everything was constructed from a silver-colored tal.
There were no visible lights, yet the room was brightly lit, as if the silver tal itself was glowing.
The room’s interior was extrely spacious. A series of doors lined the periter, and so instrunts were placed along the edges near the corners.
"Welco to the Captain’s Office, Jinghai City Base Three!" Li Kang turned around, giving a slight bow. His expression was extrely grim. "Ah Zhu, how did you beco a Cultivator of the First Realm of Body Refining?"
"I dunno! I just ca to catch up with you, and then you dragged here." Chu Bamboo spread his hands, a picture of innocence. His acting, honed by countless resets, was absurdly good—good enough that if he were reborn in ancient tis, he’d have no problem climbing to the highest echelons of politics.
A crude martial artist would never see through the act, but he didn’t need to. Li Kang grabbed Chu Bamboo’s wrist.
"Do you think I’m joking with you? Do you have any idea what this change in you ans? I don’t know why the radar alarms didn’t pick you up until you walked right into the police station... but the source of whatever got you to this point carries a terrifyingly horrific contamination! It could very well cause countless people to... huh?"
Li Kang snapped a tal wristband heavily onto Chu Bamboo’s forearm. At that mont, the walls, shimring with a tallic sheen, unexpectedly projected a holographic image out of thin air.
A large amount of data stread across it, finally resolving into two lines.
"Body Strength: 5.8 (First Realm of Body Refining)"
"Contamination Level: 0"
Li Kang: "???"
At that mont, Li Kang looked as if he’d seen a ghost.
"Impossible! This makes no sense. Is it broken?" Li Kang took the tal wristband off and snapped it onto his own wrist.
"Body Strength: 39.6 (Second Realm of Body Refining)"
"Contamination Level: 38.9! (Extrely Dangerous)"
Li Kang: "???"
"It’s not broken!" Li Kang couldn’t understand.
Chu Bamboo noticed sothing was off and a guess ford in his mind, but he kept his expression confused. "So, can you tell what exactly is going on?"
"...Alright." Li Kang was silent for a long mont before saying with a bitter smile, "Others can’t know, but for you, as you are now... To put it simply, do you believe there are people in this world with unimaginable power... Oh, right, you should have it already! Okay, next topic.
"The power of beings like us originates from a very ominous existence, or sothing else entirely—sothing we cannot comprehend!"
Chu Bamboo nodded calmly. ’Isn’t it just nuclear radiation? That’s perfectly easy to understand... As for why it’s "ominous"—once you’re exposed to nuclear radiation, it’d be a miracle if things stayed stable!’
"We’ve sealed away everything related to *that*. We don’t allow ordinary people to co into contact with it, or even to know about it! The mont an ordinary person learns of it, their location will appear as a map and radar marker in our main hall here. We use the coordinates shared to our tablets to find them and wipe their mories of anything related to the Extraordinary! Only those who are Extraordinary themselves are qualified to know the truth."
Chu Bamboo: "..."
’Unreal! This tech is so dark stuff... So is this the real reason I never had any mories of Extraordinary Power? No matter how I got it, I’d get flagged and have my mory wiped!’
’But this ti, it seems I was only detected after entering the police station... So, if a Transcendent knows the details of the Extraordinary, even an unofficial Transcendent, they won’t be flagged?’
"But, because we’ve co into contact with that ominous power, our bodies beco saturated with contamination. This contamination is impossible to eliminate; it can only be suppressed! But why do you..." Li Kang sized up Chu Bamboo again and again, his eyes filled with shock and bewildernt.
Chu Bamboo was no stranger to this kind of emotion... ’Isn’t this just soone’s worldview collapsing?’
And so, countless thoughts flashed through Chu Bamboo’s mind, and he basically confird that the source of Extraordinary Power was nuclear radiation. As for why he wasn’t affected by it... ’It would be weirder if I *was* affected! I’ve been reset, after all.’
’The only thing I can’t figure out is why ordinary people with no Extraordinary Power get detected just by knowing about it. Logically, as long as you haven’t been exposed to the nuclear radiation, it shouldn’t be a problem...’
"However," Chu Bamboo said thoughtfully, drawing on the countless novels he’d read in the real world, "next, aren’t you supposed to coercively invite to join the official organization? And then I’ll play hard to get..."
"In your dreams!" Li Kang cut Chu Bamboo off. "It’s not that you can’t join us, but... you have to go next door and take the civil service exam first! Once you test into a departnt, then I can transfer you into mine! Yes, even if you’re a Cultivator. You really think it’s that easy to get into the civil service? Mr. Zhu, I know you’re soone special in the shantytown districts, but the official system doesn’t recognize that!"
"Do you have any idea how high the unemploynt rate is right now? Do you know how many people fight for a single civil servant position? I rember the exam three days ago—three openings, and sixty-seven hundred people signed up to compete for them! All of them top students. You think you can just say the word and take a spot? Not even you can do that! If I actually agreed, the city administrator would have my head."
"The most my authority allows is to pull you in as an auxiliary officer!"
Chu Bamboo: "?"
’Wait, not that I was actually planning to join the governnt right away... but you’re a Transcendent, and you still have to take a test to get in?!’
He couldn’t keep a straight face.
"Alright, I’m still not sure why, but the situation is you’re not contaminated... Hmm, you’ll need to register in a mont. Just tell why you’ve beco so powerful! How did you set foot on..."
"I dunno," Chu Bamboo said, playing the sa old tune.
"...Fine." After a brief silence, Li Kang sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair in despair. "I’ll write the report! Alright, you’re clear. What did you co looking for for? Say your piece and then you can scram!"
’So cold and heartless?’ Chu Bamboo found it hilarious. He had been fully prepared to kill himself if he couldn’t get away! And the result... ’You want to join the official organization? Sigh, go compete with over six thousand top students first...’
"Um, can I look around here a bit more? By the way, is this one of the Ancient Ruins too...?" Chu Bamboo asked, choosing his words carefully.
"I knew it!" Li Kang hesitated for a good while, then sighed at the heavens. "Fine, I guess I owe you one!"
And then...
Though Chu Bamboo’s expression didn’t change, ripples stirred in his eyes, an indirect sign that his inner emotions were anything but calm.
Because Chu Bamboo clearly heard Li Kang utter a familiar phrase: "Nuwa No. 17!"
"I am here." A gentle voice responded imdiately. And that gentle voice... was speaking Chinese.
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