Chapter 9: The New Captain

Lingyang City, China Disaster Prevention and Control Branch Bureau.

A young man with short, chestnut-colored hair leaned against the cold wall and let out a huge yawn, his face full of exhaustion.

“I’m seriously done. Two nights ago I was pulling an all-nighter on a mission in the South China Sea, and this morning I have to rush to the main bureau for a meeting…”

“Do they really think Awakened Ones are made of iron? If I keep staying up like this, I’m actually going to drop dead!”

“Coincidentally, the two most famous life-system Awakened Ones from the main bureau will both be attending today’s meeting.”

“One of them has the talent ‘Tree of Life,’ which can heal even the most severe injuries; the other has the talent ‘Blessing,’ which can not only dispel negative states but also lower mutation values.”

His teammate beside him patted him on the shoulder.

“Do you want to try their talents? With those two around, no one is escaping this meeting.”

The chestnut-haired youth let out a wail.

“Don’t think we don’t know what you’re trying to do. Aren’t you just trying to get to a pool party you were invited to?”

“You haven’t played around enough usually? Can’t you just settle down for one day?”

“What do you know? I’m going to the pool to appreciate beautiful young ladies!”

“Sigh, only the embrace of a beauty can bring me a bit of comfort now… otherwise, with a string always pulled tight in my head, either facing death or charging onto the front lines, what’s the point of this kind of life?”

“I’d have been better off staying in school to continue my studies.”

The chestnut-haired youth was named Song Zan, just in his early twenties, and before becoming an Awakened One, he was a freshman at a film academy.

Since joining the Prevention and Control Bureau, his studies had been put on hold indefinitely, and he was forced to cut off contact with all his friends.

Thinking about it now, the life of an Awakened One compared to the life plan he had made when applying for university was practically poles apart.

Despite becoming an Awakened One, Song Zan still retained some habits he couldn’t change.

For example, he usually paid great attention to his image management, going to parties or getting beauty treatments when free, and his favorite thing was to stay around good-looking people.

As he put it, he had been immersed in the film academy for a year, surrounded by all sorts of handsome men and beautiful women.

To avoid mistreating his eyes, he usually tried not to look closely even at those who were ugly—unfortunately, that didn’t quite work out.

The anomalies that needed to be purged were each designed more haphazardly than the last, leading Song Zan to frequently suffer mental trauma while putting in the effort to vanquish them.

The reason he chose Zhao Lin to be his captain was also because of this.

Initially, as an A-rank Awakened One, Song Zan had just finished his rookie training and was assigned to the elite teams of the Execution Department.

Of the eight squads in the Execution Department, seven were scrambling to get him, but at a glance, he picked the cold-faced Zhao Lin to be his captain.

What was he after? Just for that face, of course.

Song Zan’s delicate looks had been praised since childhood, and getting into a famous film academy was partly thanks to that face.

He prided himself as the ‘flower’ of the Execution Department, but this hidden sense of superiority was completely dispelled the moment he met Zhao Lin.

At that time, following routine, Zhao Lin was wearing a black uniform and cast only a cold glance toward Song Zan, leaving Song Zan stunned.

To use a poem to describe Song Zan’s feelings at that moment, it was “Bright as the moon revealing the snow of Mount Song.”

To put it in more mystical terms, it was as if someone had forcibly opened his mind with “Alohomora” and then cast a low-intelligence version of “Obliviate” on him.

…By the time he snapped out of it, he was already on Zhao Lin’s ‘pirate ship,’ joining the Fifth Squad and starting a 007 corporate s*ave lifestyle.

However, Song Zan would sometimes regretfully want to slap his past self a few times.

‘You just had to go for the face! You’re cheap, you deserve it!’

Anyway, it was too late for regrets now.

His captain… that is, Zhao Lin, although he usually spoke coldly and distantly, he was absolutely efficient when executing missions.

He would be the first to charge ahead when encountering a powerful anomaly, and as a captain, there was really nothing to nitpick about.

It was evident that Zhao Lin’s benefits weren’t just limited to his face.

In any case, Song Zan was determined to stick with him; he wouldn’t agree even if other squads came to poach him!

“Speaking of which… where’s the Captain?”

“He was probably called away by the Director, likely because the Third Squad still doesn’t have a captain.”

The squads in the Execution Department were ranked according to their date of establishment; the Third Squad was considered a squad that had existed since the department’s inception, making them more senior than other teams.

But a month ago, the captain of the Third Squad, Shu Qing, was ambushed and killed by a teammate whose talent was “Ghost Taming,” leaving behind only a partial corpse.

The Ghost Tamer was still at large, and the Third Squad was not only short-handed but also leaderless.

The urgent priority was to select a new captain to take over, but for some reason, they hadn’t chosen one even after all this time.

Zhao Lin being called to a meeting early was likely because of this matter.

“…Surely the Execution Department doesn’t want to merge the Third Squad with our Fifth Squad,” Song Zan said with a miserable expression.

“I really don’t want that.”

“What are you thinking? That’s impossible. The Execution Department has never had such a precedent,” his teammate denied.

Soon, the conference room door opened, and several people walked out, including Zhao Lin.

“Boss, over here!” Song Zan waved his hand.

Zhao Lin looked up at them and walked over with a calm expression.

“Boss, what did you talk about during that captains’ meeting just now?”

“The Deputy Director intended for me to take over the Third Squad.”

Seeing the suddenly panicked expressions of his teammates, Zhao Lin’s lips curled into a slight smile.

“I didn’t refuse.”

Song Zan and the few teammates standing beside him: “…”

“Captain, you’re too—refusing nothing!”

A certain teammate didn’t know what to say.

“You should have at least struggled a bit. To merge us and the Third Squad into one team, you should consider whether the members can cooperate smoothly!”

“Don’t get excited yet.”

Zhao Lin had teased them enough and finally revealed the truth.

“The Deputy Director made that proposal, but it was vetoed by the Director.”

“The Third Squad already has a new candidate for captain. You’ll see them at the meeting in a bit.”

“Eh? Who is it?”

Song Zan let out a soft hiss as a flash of inspiration hit him.

“Could it be… a newcomer parachuted in?”

Just like Zhao Lin back then; Zhao Lin had also just joined the Execution Department and immediately possessed the authority to form his own squad.

Suddenly, a heavy set of footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Zhao Lin and Song Zan instinctively looked toward the other end of the hall and found that the people from the Third Squad had arrived.

Compared to the squads formed later, the members of the Third Squad could be described as “extraordinary,” or more commonly, they didn’t look very much like humans.

Back then, when the Execution Department was first established, Awakened Ones were very scarce, and there wasn’t the strict selection and training system like there is now.

Therefore, the strength of the Awakened Ones was generally inconsistent.

A large reason why this first batch of discovered Awakened Ones joined the Execution Department to work for the Prevention and Control Bureau was—they couldn’t survive in human society anymore.

The talents of Awakened Ones were diverse, including abilities like turning stone to gold, mind reading, manipulating memories, or even controlling wind and water.

These abilities were easy to hide and could help Awakened Ones thrive in human society.

But some talents were different, especially beast-type or transformation-type talents where the mutation was more visible on the body, as well as various talents with strong side effects…

When their talents first awakened, they were difficult to control, and they were easily ostracized as demons or monsters.

Most members of the Third Squad had beast-type talents; those identifiable included an octopus, a white snake, and a white tiger—the last one was their Vice-Captain.

Their Vice-Captain’s appearance after transformation was “tiger-backed and bear-waisted” in the literal sense, and his combat suit was specially made to avoid any accidental exposure mid-transformation.

Their Vice-Captain’s surname was Chen, a man with a resolute face.

Since Shu Qing’s death, he had been in charge of the Third Squad, and Song Zan and the others generally called him “Captain Chen.”

“Call me Vice-Captain Chen from now on.”

The physically strong Vice-Captain laughed happily.

“Our Third Squad has a new captain.”

“It seems your information is quite well-informed. What did the Deputy Director call our captain in for then? Scared us for nothing.”

Song Zan let out a breath and asked, “Which one is your new captain?”

Vice-Captain Chen stepped aside behind his members, and a young man walked out.

He had a pair of amber eyes, and his handsome features held a touch of coldness.

Most importantly, he looked seventy percent similar to the deceased captain of the Third Squad, Shu Qing, though he looked younger than Shu Qing and didn’t seem to have Shu Qing’s good temper.

Song Zan was stunned. “This is…”

“Shu Qing was my brother.”

The other party took the initiative to look at Song Zan, his gaze unflinching.

His slightly raspy voice and his tall yet slender shoulders all indicated that he was even younger than Song Zan had been back then.

“My name is Shu Yan.”

“…Has our Execution Department finally degenerated to using high school students?”

“I am already eighteen years old, an adult,” Shu Yan replied impassively.

“Moreover, strength as an Awakened One should not be simply measured by age and experience.”

Shu Yan’s words were prickly, as if implying he was stronger than ninety-nine percent of the people present.

“You want to replace your brother as the captain of the Third Squad?” Song Zan said.

“If nothing else, your brother’s talent was ‘Light Manipulation,’ at least an A-rank Awakened One.”

“It will be announced at the meeting in a bit,” a member of the Third Squad spoke up.

“Shu Yan is an S-rank Awakened One who just joined the Execution Department—there are only a few in all of China.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene fell into a brief silence.

What did S-rank imply?

Before this, the Lingyang branch only had Zhao Lin as an S-rank.

His ability almost far exceeded all other captains of the same rank, and his mission completion rate was a terrifying one hundred percent; the Execution Department often used him as the final trump card.

Shu Yan being an S-rank meant he was the Execution Department’s new precious ‘golden nugget.’

Using a captain’s position to accommodate him was not excessive at all.

Song Zan leaned toward Zhao Lin’s ear and whispered, “Is that true? Captain, what is his talent?”

“Do you need me to demonstrate it for you?”

The other party showed a look of realization, took a step forward, and spoke.

“I want you—to stick to the wall, and not look at me again.”

Song Zan was momentarily stunned.

Shu Yan’s voice seemed to penetrate his brain, and before he could even react, his body moved first—it was a terrifying experience, as if his mind and body had separated, and he had lost control over his physical form.

He took a step and slammed heavily against the wall, the force almost bruising the bridge of his nose.

At the same time, his head twisted ninety degrees, facing the direction opposite Shu Yan.

Talent: Word Spirit.

The words Shu Yan spoke were commands, even capable of twisting reality to a certain extent.

Judging purely by effect, it was a well-deserved S-rank talent.

But as soon as he arrived, he first provoked another S-rank—Zhao Lin’s subordinate.

The teammate who had been chatting with Song Zan earlier, wearing a gray mask, was the first to react.

He drew a butterfly knife from his waist, his figure flashing to Shu Yan’s side, the blade silently drawing close to Shu Yan’s neck.

Vice-Captain Chen of the Third Squad also realized what was happening and suddenly beast-morphed his arm.

A powerful tiger claw blocked the cold butterfly knife, and the anger between his brows erupted.

“What do you want to do? This is our captain’s brother!”

Suddenly, an extremely thin whistle of air passed by his ear.

Flames like a rope circled Shu Yan’s eyes once, the searing heat stinging his eyes and making him instinctively squint.

Then, a circle of fire erupted from the ground with a “boom,” separating the people of the Third Squad from the Fifth Squad.

The surrounding air suddenly stagnated.

Docile flames danced at Zhao Lin’s fingertips.

He didn’t say a word, but the spiritual pressure emitted when an S-rank talent was activated made the Awakened Ones present somewhat unable to lift their heads.

They backed away in panic for a few steps, afraid of even a spark of the scorching fire.

—They all knew that Zhao Lin’s fire could only be extinguished by death.

Shu Yan, being pulled back by his teammates, frowned and commanded the burning flames with some persistence, “Extinguish for me!”

It was useless.

The ring of fire even mockingly burst out two sparks.

“I’m only warning you once, rookie. Learn where to stop.”

Zhao Lin glanced at Song Zan, who was still stuck to the wall.

“If Shu Qing were still here, he would have disciplined you for me.”

Shu Yan had been gritting his teeth, but upon hearing Shu Qing’s name, his face instantly turned pale.

“Captain, don’t—mind—him!”

Song Zan shouted out a few words with great effort, exerted force with both hands, and literally peeled himself off the wall, massaging his neck as he inhaled sharply.

Song Zan was after all an A-rank; Shu Yan couldn’t control him for long.

“You don’t need to teach him either… just let him lead Shu Qing’s team, and see if he can piss Captain Shu back to life!”

Seeing that Song Zan had returned to normal, Zhao Lin didn’t give Shu Yan another glance.

After retracting his talent, he said, “Let’s go, we’re entering the conference room first.”

“Today’s meeting is very important, and what we’re discussing is definitely not a small matter like personnel transfers within the Execution Department.”