Chapter 57

Wu Chang followed the two into the boxing club; the interior was professionally decorated, with fully equipped strength training, combat, and grappling areas.

A few scattered individuals were training; upon seeing the two with the baby face return, they waved greetings voluntarily.

Everything appeared perfectly natural, with nothing amiss.

But the absence of anything amiss was itself the greatest sign of something wrong.

Wu Chang whispered to the baby-faced man: "Is this really the Bureau?"

"What's the problem?"

"It's different from what I imagined," Wu Chang said without hiding his disappointment.

Come on, this is the Anomalous Phenomena Bureau—the super faction that consistently ranks among the top three in the Abyss Game.

In his expectations, even if the Bureau's outpost wasn't as extravagant as the movie "Men in Black," with creatures from other dimensions freely walking around, at least it should've been a fantasy-style secret base.

The buzz-cut middle-aged man saw what Wu Chang was thinking and said:

"The appearance of the Bureau's building doesn't matter; what matters is the people inside."

Wu Chang whispered: "So this is why you only came to me half a month later?"

The buzz-cut middle-aged man: "..."

"If you talk like this, you'll kill the conversation dead."

The buzz-cut middle-aged man led Wu Chang to the rest area and waved to the sunglasses-wearing youth nearby punching a heavy bag: "Erhuo, come do the registration."

The buzz-cut middle-aged man turned to Wu Chang and said:

"He'll handle your statement. We still have to find the next guy. As someone who's been through it, I suggest you cooperate fully with all his questions—it'll benefit you."

Then he and the baby-faced man left the club.

The youth assigned to take Wu Chang's statement sat across from him, removed his sunglasses, and squinted as he sized Wu Chang up.

"You're Wu Chang?"

Wu Chang recited a string of ID numbers skillfully: "If you're looking for that person, then yes, it's me. Officer, may I ask your name?"

"Zhao Yan, double-fire Yan."

Wu Chang pressed his lips together, suppressing a grin—he'd thought the buzz-cut man had called him "Erhuo" as a nickname for "idiot," and he'd almost called him that himself.

"Officer Zhao, what do you need me to clarify about the act of bravery that day?"

"Since Pingtouge brought you here, he's already confirmed your player status. The statement can wait—we'll start with a simple registration."

"Every player has their own secrets; we understand. If you don't want to answer something, you have the right to remain silent."

Wu Chang had already anticipated what Zhao Yan meant by "registration."

What happened on the bus was simple—pulling up the surveillance footage would clarify everything in minutes; there was no need for him to give a statement half a month later.

With the Bureau's capabilities, uncovering Blood Thorn's identity would be effortless.

Someone who could knock Blood Thorn out with a single elbow strike would, in the Bureau's eyes, surely be a player too.

The statement was just an excuse; the Bureau's real goal was to register him.

Every Abyss Game player possesses power beyond ordinary humans—they can be called minor superheroes, or alternatively, ticking time bombs ready to explode.

When one wields a sharp weapon, murderous intent naturally arises.

Ordinary people who suddenly gain extraordinary power, especially after surviving life-or-death instances, often grow numb and indifferent to life.

Some even come to see themselves as celestial beings, believing they have both the ability and the right to decide others' fates.

More extreme cases, like Blood Thorn, who worshiped some dark deity, become antisocial terrorists.

As guardians of social order, the Anomalous Phenomena Bureau could never allow wild players to act freely.

Seeing Wu Chang offered no objection, Zhao Yan asked: "What's your current level?"

"Level 7."

"When did you enter the Abyss Game? How many instances have you completed?"

"I became a player about eight months ago and have completed thirteen instances."

Zhao Yan input the data into his tablet and complimented: "Your leveling efficiency is impressive—you've surpassed the average free player."

"Thank you."

Wu Chang activated his Calamity's Spirit Form ability and, through the spirit's perspective, saw Zhao Yan mark his potential rating as B.

Since learning of the Bureau's existence, he'd known this day would come, so he'd long prepared this script.

Before joining the Bureau under the guise of a Moonlight Sanatorium clear player, he needed to "infiltrate" the Bureau and understand its true nature.

Since this was infiltration, he needed to be unremarkable, unnoticeable.

In the Abyss Game, every five levels is a threshold; Level 7 has just escaped the newbie stage but remains within the novice range, not yet reaching the experienced zone above Level 10—the ideal level for gathering intelligence.

However, in his plan, he didn't intend to join the Bureau right away; he planned to first establish contact and gradually build familiarity.

Only by approaching from the outside could he see the Bureau's full picture.

This registration was also an evaluation—he needed to lower his rating slightly.

Officer Zhao continued: "Can you reveal how many skills you have?"

Wu Chang replied naturally: "Two."

"How many?"

"Two." "I mean all skills—including passive ones," Zhao Yan emphasized, fearing Wu Chang hadn't understood.

"Yes, including passives, I have two skills total," Wu Chang repeated.

He wasn't lying—the Thunder Art fragment was a cultivation technique; Calamity was counted as a talent; his attribute panel truly showed only two skills.

Zhao Yan's smile stiffened slightly; he tapped his fingers and changed Wu Chang's potential rating to C.

The Abyss Game's difficulty curve is extremely smooth; to help new players adapt and survive in early instances, there are many opportunities to learn skills in F and E-level instances.

For this reason, F and E-level instances are called newbie hatcheries.

According to statistics from various factions, in the Rookie Incubator, one learnable skill appears on average every two dungeons.

For some lucky players, learning two or three skills in a single dungeon is nothing unusual—even some have learned a C-rank skill in an E-rank dungeon.

Given Wu Chang's level, at least nine to eleven of his thirteen dungeons were F or E-rank.

Zhao Yan couldn't understand: how black must one's luck be, and how bizarre must one's dungeon-clearing method be, to learn only two skills across so many dungeons?

"Mind telling me what types of skills they are?"

Wu Chang shrugged, speaking with complete ease: "One passive skill for tool usage, one active control skill."

"What about damage skills?"

"None."

"…"

Zhao Yan fell silent for a moment, then ventured: "Your dungeon-clearing method… isn't it just hiding, is it?"

Wu Chang gave a thumbs-up. "Officer Zhao, you really know your stuff!"

Zhao Yan slapped his own forehead—he now understood how Wu Chang cleared dungeons.

Wu Chang's passive tool-usage skill must be survival-oriented: as soon as he enters a dungeon, he avoids direct combat, skirting the edges using survival skills.

He occasionally ambushes weak enemies, gathers intelligence, and always clears dungeons at exactly 40% completion—never taking the slightest risk.

There are indeed players who follow this playstyle, and their early survival rates are genuinely high.

But the cost is that once they leave the Rookie Incubator and face the sharply increased difficulty of D and C-rank dungeons, they become extremely vulnerable.

Unless they acquire a powerful skill, players who only hide usually die horribly.

Zhao Yan readjusted Wu Chang's rating, changing C to C-.

He wasn't ready to give up—he felt compelled to find at least one strength—so he asked: "What's your attribute point allocation like?"

"I went balanced. No weaknesses."

Tui!

At level 7, you have thirty free attribute points. Going balanced sounds nice—no weaknesses—but in reality, it means you're good at nothing.

The rating dropped from C- to D.

Zhao Yan refused to accept defeat—he had to find one strength: "Then what's your personal specialty?"

Wu Chang replied: "I'm amazing at sports, especially physical confrontation."

"You're serious?" Zhao Yan's lip twitched as he suppressed the urge to curse.

"Don't believe me? Let's have a bullfight."

Zhao Yan seemed to have finally given up. He opened the rating interface, as if about to lower it again—but ultimately didn't press the button.

"I've got something to attend to. Wait here. I'll be right back."

He hurried out, heading straight for the break room.

Curious about what Zhao Yan was doing, Wu Chang transformed into a spirit form and crouched outside the break room door.

As soon as he got close, he heard Zhao Yan complaining.

"Big Sis, I'm truly at my wit's end—this kid is utterly useless. If I recruit him into the bureau, my conscience will ache."

Wu Chang peered through the door crack and saw that the person sitting across from Zhao Yan was someone he knew.

Fang Hui's girlfriend, Meng Yawen.

Meng Yawen ignored Zhao Yan's complaints and spoke in a formulaic tone: "Thirteen dungeons, leveled to 7, and captured a Level 1 wanted criminal—Blood Thorn. His level and achievements both meet the requirements for entry into the Bureau."

Zhao Yan: "But his rating…"

Meng Yawen extended one hand and slowly clenched it into a fist; her knuckles cracked like firecrackers.

"Erhuo, if your conscience hurts and every part of you hurts—which one do you pick?"

Zhao Yan shuddered and immediately said: "I choose Wu Chang! The moment I saw this kid, I knew he was a talent—the Bureau's future can't do without him!"

Meng Yawen was very pleased with Zhao Yan's compliance.

"I promised my relative—I'll look out for Wu Chang. When I'm not around, keep an eye on him. If anything happens to him…"

Zhao Yan snapped to attention. "Rest assured, Officer! Zhao Yan will complete the mission!"

Seeing the conversation inside about to end, Wu Chang drove his spirit form back into his body.

Fang Hui's weird attractor trait had steadily boosted his score—but he hadn't expected his new girlfriend to be a member of the Anomaly Phenomena Bureau, and from the sound of it, a high-ranking one.

He rubbed his nose. He never thought he'd become a connection kid.

Since his registration file won't draw attention in the Bureau anyway, why not try joining first?

(End of Chapter)