Vol. 1 - Ch. 17 - Policy

The morning sunlight spilled onto Chen Ling's face, his eyelashes quivered lightly, and he slowly opened his eyes..."I'm back..." He rubbed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

After drawing the prize, he wandered on the stage for a long time, still unable to find any exit. It wasn't until the stage bell rang and the curtains opened that he automatically returned.

"The current expectation is 23%... Approaching the life-and-death line again."

Chen Ling recalled the characters on the screen before leaving, muttering to himself, "I need to do something quickly..."

"Brother..."

The blanket was pulled back, and Chen Yan, rubbing his red eyes, sat up from the bed.

"Morning."

"Morning." Chen Ling glanced at the clock on the wall, took out the last few copper coins from his pocket, and handed them to Chen Yan. "I'm going out for a while. I don't know when I'll be back exactly. You eat something by yourself today..."

"Brother, where are you going?"

"To catch myself."

"...?"

Chen Ling put on a cotton coat, tucked the envelope given by the enforcer yesterday into his pocket, turned around, and rubbed Chen Yan's head. "Don't ask too much about the specifics. Just stay home and wait for me to come back, understand?"

"I understand." Chen Yan nodded obediently.

After watching Chen Ling leave, Chen Yan got out of bed, looked at the two big holes at the door, and furrowed his brows.

"How am I going to fix this..."

He glanced at the few copper coins left in his hand, silently pocketed them, and took out a heavy hammer and wooden board from the house to compare sizes.

Just then, a figure appeared behind the big hole, startling Chen Yan.

It was a man wearing a woolen coat, with a deep blue scarf around his neck, and a pair of silver-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, looking artistic and wise.

But at this moment, as he looked at the house with only two big holes left, a sense of confusion also appeared in his wise eyes...

He wanted to say something, but felt it would be impolite, so he attempted to knock on the door. However, after circling the house, he couldn't find where the door was.

He returned to behind the hole, looking inside.

"Do you need something?" Chen Yan tilted his head.

"Is Mr. Chen Ling here?" The man took off his white gloves, took out a letter from the coat pocket, unfolded it in his hand, and calmly spoke to the house, "I heard that Mr. Chen needs a 'doctor'."

"So, here I am."

...

The chilly wind blew into Chen Ling's collar, making him shiver involuntarily.

"Hey, where are you going? Want a ride?" A lean and dark-skinned man dragging a yellow cart hurriedly caught up to Chen Ling, grinning and revealing a row of yellow teeth.

Chen Ling glanced at him. "To the Enforcer Headquarters."

"I know the way well. Just dropped two off there. You're all going to be reserve members, right? In that case, I'll charge them ten bucks and you seven bucks. Deal or not?"

"...Forget it."

"Six bucks, how about that? Can't go any lower."

"I don't have money."

"No money?" The man frowned, glanced at him, and then muttered to himself as he walked away with his cart, "No money and wants to be an enforcer... Bad luck."

Chen Ling was shocked and speechless.

Chen Ling thought to himself that the people in this world had really poor manners. Rubbing his red hands, he couldn't help but quicken his pace toward the central area of Zone Three.

Before last night, Chen Ling had been thinking about how to avoid arousing suspicion from the enforcers and getting caught again. Now, he had an answer.

That was to become an enforcer.

Becoming an enforcer would allow him to participate in all investigations of the calamity, and then interfere with them, making it impossible for them to ever lock onto him.

"I become, I participate, I cause trouble, I escape."

That was Chen Ling's current policy.

Chen Ling walked through several streets and finally stopped in front of a giant building that looked like a glass dome.

"Quite imposing..." Chen Ling looked up at the dome and couldn't help but sigh, "How much money does it take to build this?"

In a neighborhood where there were only two-story mud houses everywhere, such a unique building stood out like an art gallery suddenly appearing in a rural area in his previous life, eye-catching and abrupt.

At this moment, several young people holding letters hurriedly walked into the headquarters, exchanging glances and politely nodding to each other.

The number of people who passed the literacy test in Zone Three was probably more than seventy. Generally, the elimination rate of the martial test was also 50%, so only about thirty people could become enforcers each year. Although the format of the martial test was changed to this form this year, the final elimination rate would not change.

In short, everyone who walked into this building at this moment was a potential competitor.

Chen Ling entered the headquarters gate, and under the glass dome, several rows of people were already standing neatly.

Like Chen Ling, these people were all dressed in ordinary civilian clothing. At the moment, ten people stood in each row, each one holding their head high and chest out, every muscle in their bodies tense, looking like soldiers waiting to be called to duty at any moment.

Chen Ling arrived a bit late and could only stand on the edge of the last row. After he took his place, one of the enforcers glanced over the list and nodded slightly.

"Everyone's here."

Another enforcer picked up a prepared speech and was about to speak when the headquarters door was forcefully pushed open, and two figures walked in slowly.

Han Meng threw the burnt cigarette butt to the ground and crushed it under his feet. The four silver lines on his black windbreaker sparkled, and he calmly scanned all the reserve members. A strange sense of oppression instantly enveloped everyone... except for Chen Ling. Sᴇaʀᴄh the Nʘvᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Chen Ling raised an eyebrow in surprise, his gaze instinctively falling on the back of Han Meng's head...

Yesterday, he hit him so hard, and today he's healed?

Is this guy's head really that hard?

"It's Han Meng!"

"Can't believe it's really him... He's here too?"

"Who is Han Meng?"

"He's the Chief Enforcer of our Zone Three, and also the only four-line enforcer in Zone Three."

"They say he's a super genius, promoted to four lines at the age of 24, and even crushed all the same-term enforcers in Aurora City... He's the pride of our Seven Zones!"

"Crushed the same-term enforcers in Aurora City? Is that true? If he's so amazing, why wasn't he absorbed into Aurora City?"

"I don't know... Rumor has it that he had a feud with someone important in Aurora City."

"I heard he's a great fighter, my mom really likes him."

"...How old is your mom this year?"

"Almost fifty."

"... "

With Han Meng's appearance, the reserve members immediately began whispering to each other. Even many enforcers nearby instinctively straightened their posture, looking serious and solemn.

As Han Meng stood under the dome, he suddenly felt a chill at the back of his head, as if someone was scrutinizing his weaknesses.

He subconsciously turned his head and found a group of reserve members discreetly looking at him. After locking eyes with Han Meng, all the reserve members lowered their heads. No one dared to discuss any longer, and the entire headquarters became incredibly quiet.

"I'm Han Meng, currently the highest-ranking official in Zone Three." Han Meng adjusted his mindset and slowly spoke, "The next three days will be your martial test assessment. Out of the 72 of you, only 30 will be able to stay..."

30 people... Lower than the expected pass rate. Chen Ling pondered.

This ratio also surprised the other reserve members, and they couldn't help but exchange puzzled glances.

"Yet, out of these 30 individuals, three will be granted early qualification to enter the 'Ancient Arsenal of Warfare'.."

With Han Meng's words, the entire headquarters erupted in astonishment, even the enforcers standing nearby widened their eyes.

Chen Ling didn't understand.

Neither did most of the reserve members who were present.

Seeing this, Han Meng calmly explained, "Do you know the difference between enforcers and enforcer officers?"