Chapter 3: The Control Bureau

“Are you here to see her?” The woman glanced sideways at Xia Shou.

“No, I just heard about her. By the way, how should I address you?” Xia Shou asked.

“I’m Li Luo from Department One,” the woman replied.

A leader, Xia Shou thought to himself.

“I do the same work as Shangguan Yan. Why are you suddenly asking about her? Are you here to seek her out?” The red-haired woman’s curiosity grew as she looked at Xia Shou.

“No, just asking casually. What do you think of her?” Xia Shou probed indirectly.

“Hmm… it’s hard to say.” She tilted her head slightly, stroked her chin thoughtfully, and after a long pause, cautiously commented, “Although she has impressive skills and a solid reputation, and I get along with her quite well, to be honest, she violates so many work procedures. Plus, she severely exploits the labor under her command. Working for her is a hundred times more painful than anywhere else—it’s almost like selling your soul to a demon.”

“People still want to work under her despite that?”

“Because she manages loosely. As long as you obey her personal will, she even approves subordinates’ violations. So there are always some obsessed folks willing to board her runaway ship. But just like a corrupt official can never be truly clean again, those who deal with demons lose their freedom forever. Joining her department is truly a terrible choice!”

“So she’s definitely not a good person.” Xia Shou started to understand the meaning behind the notes. “But aren’t you afraid to talk about her like this behind her back?”

“Oh, don’t worry. We’re at the same level, and we’re actually quite familiar… at least, I think we get along well. She won’t mind.”

Getting along well but badmouthing her behind her back? And saying she wouldn’t mind?

Is this what they call a two-faced ‘green tea’ friend?

Xia Shou felt he was beginning to grasp the office politics of the Control Bureau.

The elevator finally stopped on the seventh underground level.

When the doors opened, a vast, empty corridor stretched before them.

The woman walked ahead with her hands behind her back, the rhythmic tapping of her heels echoing on the floor.

“Today’s your first day. Let me give you a detailed introduction to the key functional divisions.

“First is the choice of role. After entering the Control Bureau, you can take on safe clerical work, or become a terminator responsible for investigating, controlling, and hunting anomalies.

“The former is generally very safe, while the latter…”

“I’ll choose the second,” Xia Shou said without hesitation; his purpose here was to devour anomalies.

“You’re impatient. Don’t rush to decide. After seeing those anomalies, 90% of new recruits change their minds and opt for the safer clerical work.”

She stopped in front of a wall fitted with a control panel.

After a few taps on the panel, the wall slowly slid open, revealing a pristine white room.

Through a massive blast-proof glass, Xia Shou saw a gigantic creature crouching on the floor.

He inhaled sharply, his gaze drawn to the jagged, flint-like bone protrusions. The jet-black bone spines covered the massive “giant lizard” like scales, but its twenty-meter length imposed an overwhelming presence and an indescribable visual shock.

He was unwilling to associate the beast before him with an ordinary lizard.

More than a lizard, it resembled a Western dragon stripped of its wings.

The enormous reptile seemed aware of the gaze beyond the glass. It slowly turned its neck, the scales scraping together with a metallic screech. The giant beast locked eyes with Xia Shou, its glowing vertical pupils molten gold.

From its eyes, Xia Shou saw a distinctly human emotion.

Contempt.

“Will this blast-proof glass hold?” Xia Shou swallowed hard.

“Under normal circumstances, it’s absolutely secure,” the woman replied with a smile.

Normal circumstances—meaning accidents could still happen.

“Take a look at this introduction first.”

She waved her hand, and a sapphire-blue screen appeared on the glass surface, displaying a brief description of the anomaly:

[Name: Disaster Crystal Dragon Lizard]

[Hazard Assessment: High Risk]

[Anomaly Level: Level Five]

[Code: 53-678]

[Control Risk: Low]

[Description: This creature excretes ingested anomalies in crystalline form. As long as the crystals remain intact, the anomalous curse remains contained.

Besides consuming special items, it also requires intelligence in its food source.

It needs to be fed a death row inmate at least once every 24 hours, with the inmate having at least a university-level education.]

“High-risk sealed anomalies and entities, if left unchecked, can cause thousands of deaths in a short time.

“And a Level Five anomaly is nearly the highest the Control Bureau can confidently manage.

“The higher the anomaly level, the higher the priority of its supernatural power activation, and the stronger its immunity to external supernatural forces. Humans reaching Level Five anomaly status could justifiably be called monsters,” the woman explained.

Xia Shou nodded, then heard mechanisms whirring inside the glass room.

Suddenly, a human scream pierced the air.

“Ahhhhh!”

The ceiling of the inner room snapped open, and a man in prison garb fell heavily to the ground.

His legs broke at horrifying angles, and he writhed in pain, desperately calling for help.

Then he saw the twenty-meter giant beast and his cries turned into hysterical screams.

“Ahhh! Ahhhhhh!!!”

“Shut up!” The lizard spoke in human language, raised a claw to pin the struggling prisoner, and opened its bloodthirsty maw.

Limbs flew, blood splattered, and gore mixed with flesh sprayed onto the glass before Xia Shou.

The massive reptile tore into the corpse with sharp teeth, emitting a cruel, grating laugh as it recited Nietzsche’s words loudly:

“Among men who refuse to thirst for water, one must learn to drink deeply from every cup; to remain clean among men, one must know how to wash with dirty water… Hahaha!”

Behind the glass, Xia Shou witnessed the entire brutal slaughter of the man by the giant lizard.

“How do you feel?” the red-haired woman asked.

“Not great. It can talk, and it seems very defiant,” Xia Shou replied.

The woman paused briefly, then smiled: “Looks like there’s no need to show you more. You’re definitely suited for terminator work. Now fill out this form—just tick the box for Department Three Investigation and put my name as the referrer.”

She handed Xia Shou a form for his intention to join.

Xia Shou quickly filled in his basic information, ticked Department Three Investigation, and paused as he reached the referrer section.

“Wait… aren’t you from Department One?”

“Oh, I was joking earlier. I’m not Li Luo—I’m actually Shangguan Yan,” the woman said with a smile.

Xia Shou looked up sharply, shocked.

“So everything I said before was self-mockery. My department is actually pretty good,” Shangguan Yan said, smiling as she looked at him. “Come work with me.”