The early morning sun sprinkled on Chén Líng's face. His eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes...
"I'm back..." He rubbed the corners of his eyes and let out a long sigh.
After he finished drawing the lottery, he lingered on the stage for a long time, still unable to find any exit. It wasn't until the stage bell rang and the large curtain opened that he was automatically returned.
"Current expectation value 23%... It's almost reaching the line between life and death again." Chén Líng recalled the screen characters before leaving, muttering to himself, "I need to do something quickly..."
"Brother..."
The quilt was pulled aside, and Chén Yàn sat up in bed, rubbing his very red eyes. "Morning."
"Morning." Chén Líng glanced at the clock on the wall, took out his last few copper coins from his pocket, and handed them to Chén Yàn. "I'm going out for a bit, and I don't know exactly when I'll be back. Please eat something by yourself today..."
"Brother, where are you going?"
"To catch myself."
"..."
Chén Líng put on a cotton coat, tucked the envelope the enforcers had given him yesterday into his chest, and turned to rub Chén Yàn's head. "Don't ask too many questions about the specifics. Just wait for me to come home, understand?"
"Understood." Chén Yàn nodded obediently.
After watching Chén Líng leave, Chén Yàn rolled out of bed and looked at the two large holes in his front door, his brows immediately furrowing.
"How am I going to fix this..."
He glanced at the few copper coins left in his hand, quietly put them away, and took out a heavy hammer and wooden boards from the house to start measuring.
Just then, a figure appeared behind the large hole, startling Chén Yàn.
It was a man wearing a woolen coat, a dark blue scarf wrapped around his collar, and silver-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. He looked cultured and intelligent.
But at that moment, he looked at the house with only two large holes left, and confusion appeared in his intelligent eyes...
He wanted to say something but felt it was too impolite, so he tried to knock on the door. However, he walked around the house and couldn't find where the door was.
He returned to the hole and looked inside.
"Do you need something?" Chén Yàn tilted his head.
"Is Mr. Chén Líng here?"
Upon hearing his brother's name, a flicker of vigilance flashed in Chén Yàn's eyes. He sized up the man a few times and asked again, "Do you need something?"
The man took off his white gloves, took out a letter from his coat pocket, unfolded it in his hand, and spoke calmly to the house:
"I heard Mr. Chén needs a【doctor】."
"So, I've come."
...
The biting cold wind whistled into Chén Líng's collar, making him shiver uncontrollably.
"Young man, where are you going? May I give you a ride?" A lean, dark-skinned man pulling a rickshaw hurried beside Chén Líng, grinning to reveal a row of yellow teeth.
Chén Líng glanced at him. "Enforcer Headquarters."
"Oh, I know that place. Just dropped off two people there. You're all going to be reserve seats, right? How about this, I see we're fated to meet. I charged them ten yuan, I'll charge you seven yuan. Wanna go?"
"...Never mind."
"Six yuan, six yuan then, can't go any lower."
"I don't have any money on me."
"No money?" The man frowned, glanced at him a few times, and walked away muttering while pulling his rickshaw. "What are you doing here without money... bad luck."
Chén Líng: ...?
Chén Líng thought that the people in this world had really poor character. He rubbed his frost-reddened hands and couldn't help but quicken his pace towards the center of Zone 3.
Before last night, Chén Líng had been thinking about how to avoid the enforcers discovering any clues and finding him again... Now, he had an answer.
That was to become an enforcer.
To become an enforcer, participate in all actions to investigate the Calamity, and then interfere with them so they could never lock onto him.
"I will become, I will participate, I will disrupt, I will escape."
This was Chén Líng's current strategy.
Chén Líng passed through several streets and stopped in front of a massive building that resembled a glass dome.
"So grand..." Chén Líng looked up at the dome, unable to help but exclaim, "How much funding must have gone into this?"
In this neighborhood filled with two-story mud houses, such a unique building stood out, as conspicuous and out of place as an art museum suddenly appearing in a rural village in his previous life.
At this time, a few young people also walked into the headquarters in a hurry, holding letters. They glanced at each other and gave polite smiles and nods.
In Zone 3, about seventy-odd people passed the written test. Generally, the elimination rate for the combat test is 50%, so only about thirty people can become enforcers each year. Although the combat test this year has changed in form, the final elimination rate will not change.
In short, everyone walking into this building now was actually a potential competitor.
Chén Líng walked into the headquarters' main entrance. Under the glass dome, several rows of people were already standing neatly.
These people, like Chén Líng, were all wearing ordinary civilian clothes. They stood in rows of ten, heads held high, every muscle taut, looking like warriors waiting for a summons at any moment.
Chén Líng arrived quite late and could only stand at the edge of the last row. After he took his place, an enforcer glanced at the list and nodded slightly.
"Everyone is here."
Another enforcer picked up a prepared speech and was about to begin when the headquarters' main door was pushed open forcefully, and two figures slowly walked in.
Hán Méng flicked the extinguished cigarette butt under his foot, crushing it. The four silver patterns on his black trench coat gleamed. He calmly swept his gaze over all the reserve seats, and an inexplicable sense of pressure instantly enveloped everyone's hearts...
Except for Chén Líng.
Chén Líng raised his eyebrows in surprise, his gaze instinctively falling on the back of Hán Méng's head...
He had hit him so hard yesterday, and he was already healed today?
Was this guy's head that tough?
"It's Hán Méng!"
"It's really him... He's here too?"
"Who is Hán Méng?"
"He's the chief enforcer of our Zone 3, and the only four-pattern enforcer in Zone 3."
"They say he's a super genius. He advanced to four-pattern at the age of 24 and once completely crushed all the enforcers of his generation in Aurora City... He's the pride of our Seven Great Districts!"
"Crushed enforcers of his generation in Aurora City? Is that true? If he's so powerful, why wasn't he recruited into Aurora City?"
"I don't know... It's said he had a conflict with some big shot in Aurora City."
"I heard he's a great fighter. My mom likes him a lot."
"...How old is your mom?"
"Almost fifty."
"..."
With Hán Méng's appearance, the reserve seats started whispering, and even the many enforcers standing nearby subconsciously straightened their backs, their expressions becoming serious.
Hán Méng stopped under the dome. Suddenly, he felt a coolness on the back of his head, as if someone was scrutinizing his weakness...
He subconsciously looked back and saw that a group of reserve seats were secretly looking at him.
Upon meeting Hán Méng's gaze, all the reserve seats lowered their heads, no longer daring to discuss. The entire headquarters became eerily quiet.
"My name is Hán Méng, and I am currently the highest official of Zone 3," Hán Méng slowly said after adjusting his composure. "For the next three days, it will be your combat test assessment. Out of these 72 people, only 30 will be able to stay in the end..."
Thirty people... lower than the expected pass rate, Chén Líng mused.
This ratio also surprised the other reserve seats. They couldn't help but exchange glances, confusion in their eyes.
"However, among these 30 people, 3 will prematurely gain the qualification to enter the 'Soldier Path Ancient Treasury'..."
Hán Méng's words caused a stir throughout the headquarters. Even the enforcers standing nearby widened their eyes.
Chén Líng didn't understand.
More than half of the reserve seats present also didn't understand.
Seeing this, Hán Méng calmly began to explain: "Do you know the difference between an enforcer and an enforcer officer?"