43. Contact (Please Follow~)

In front of an ordinary government agency, a few plain cars were parked casually within the gates. Across the street stood unhurried commercial shops, and pedestrians of all ages could occasionally be seen walking by, though few actually lingered.

En walked up to the security booth and greeted the leisurely-looking elderly man inside:

"Hello, I am En..."

The elderly security guard glanced up at En, and the metal barrier blocking the way slowly slid open:

"Go on in."

After taking just a few steps inside, En saw Qin Lan arguing with a man in his thirties. However, the moment they noticed En's arrival, both of them instantly fell silent. The man looked over with a friendly smile, gave a nod, and then turned and walked away.

Qin Lan walked up to En:

"That asshole you just saw is Ren Shizhi. I am the general director of the East New State Coordination Bureau, and he is the second-in-command here, mainly responsible for communication with higher-ups. We frequently have differing views on various matters.

"However, you won't need to deal with him much; he isn't even an Esper. Oh, by the way...

"I've taken care of the company matter."

En followed her as she walked inward:

"They won't come looking for me anymore?"

Qin Lan nodded:

"That's right. We have professional negotiation personnel, and the biopharmaceutical company's main operations are concentrated within these few neighboring states, making them quite easy for us to locate. Therefore, the East Federal Pharmaceutical Company would never dare to do anything to our employees.

"Let's go. Today, calling you here is mainly to conduct some basic testing. Before your official duties begin, we want to figure out the extent of what you can do, and by the way, introduce you to the other staff members and explain the benefits of being a member of the Coordination Bureau.

"Also, how much do you know about the factions in our vicinity?"

En replied:

"You mentioned the East Federal Pharmaceutical Company last time, and also the Church..."

She led En into a seemingly ordinary building:

"Mm, we deal frequently with both East Federal Biopharmaceuticals and the Church. You might hear different people use the word 'Company'; in the past, that usually referred to the East Federal Corporation."

Qin Lan paused:

"What I'm talking about is the East Federal Corporation, minus the biopharmaceuticals. The East Federal Corporation is the predecessor to East Federal Biopharmaceutical Company and quite a few organizations that call themselves things like the East Federal Company. For example...

"The East Federal Toy Company, the East Federal Communications Company, the East Federal Electronics Company—they all split off from the original East Federal Company founded in 1892. They all produce and sell anomalous goods across various fields, frequently causing us minor troubles.

"However, although their products cause various accidents, they rarely result in truly irreversible disasters, so our relations with the various East Federal companies are considered reasonably good."

Qin Lan greeted passing colleagues as they walked:

"Then there is the Church where your sister currently resides. I think it's necessary to mention this to you early on. First of all, the deity they worship truly exists.

"However, we and the Church hold differing views on this.

"The Coordination Bureau believes that the figure destined to return mentioned in their mythology is actually just an incredibly powerful Esper, not some special lifeform fundamentally different from us.

"That being said, the core members of the Church have indeed mastered certain divine arts. The bishop of East New State is a Tier-III Divine Arts Practitioner. Your sister's current position is that of a formal priestess, which hasn't reached the level of touching upon divine arts. If you have the opportunity, you can talk to her in detail about this.

"Aside from that, according to the Church's clergy, they can see legendary angels. There are also sporadic eyewitness accounts within the Coordination Bureau, but none have particularly detailed descriptions, and we have never had official contact with this race."

En, however, had actually seen an angel.

Yet according to the Control Bureau's descriptions, those angels would attack any entity that laid eyes on them. Perhaps that was why the Coordination Bureau lacked detailed reports.

Then again, her superiors might know a bit more.

"In any case," Qin Lan said, "although the Church is powerful, we have no conflict with them and even frequently cooperate in certain operations targeting demons. Therefore, in our daily work, we basically don't have to deal with their problems.

"By the way, we have already encountered quite a few demons."

En asked:

"Is the bishop of East New State only a Tier-III?"

Qin Lan raised an eyebrow:

"Although there are still some Tier-IV Espers within the Coordination Bureau, I would probably have to submit a request in advance just to meet them. The chairman of the East Federal Pharmaceutical Company is also merely a Tier-IV Esper.

"Tier-III Espers are no small fry.

"Speaking of which, I might as well introduce my own ability.

"I am a Speedster. Simply put, you can understand that I can run very fast, or rather..."

Qin Lan suddenly spread her hands toward En. A coin materialized in her palm, only to vanish into thin air the very next second, resembling some sort of magic trick.

Only a faint afterimage lingered on En's retina.

"I just took that coin out of my pocket and put it right back."

En said in astonishment:

"I couldn't see what you did at all. If you wanted to, you could easily plunge a dagger into another Esper's neck."

"That is indeed true if they are unprepared," she shrugged. "However, when it comes to eliminating enemies, I usually just shoot them directly."

Her ability was indeed powerful enough to exceed En's expectations. Had he not possessed a psychic barrier, fighting such an Esper would leave him clueless as to how he died.

Qin Lan was simply not on the same level as the other Tier-III Espers En had faced before.

"My ability is the type particularly adept at combat among peers, and unless hard-countered, I virtually never encounter rivals," she showed no sign of modesty. "Combined with the equipment of the Coordination Bureau, I even have the potential to ambush and assassinate certain Tier-IV Espers under specific circumstances.

"That is also why I obtained this position.

"Yet, come to think of it, I am an administrator here, not a soldier; combat is not my primary duty. Therefore, the strength of my ability is not the main point.

"Even if a Tier-IV Esper who happens to be countered by me is running amok, dealing with them would fall to other powerhouses capable of guaranteeing absolute victory.

"Furthermore, combat isn't actually very common in our line of work.

"Most of the time, we mediate the interests of different Espers, and preventing conflicts from happening in the first place is what we are meant to do.

"Your future job will be even simpler than this. You just need to come here and erase the memories of a few witnesses. Occasionally, there might be other Espers involved, but whenever you work, other Espers will be watching to guarantee your safety, and our prisoners are also fitted with specialized handcuffs.

"In other words, working here with us is safer than going to work at a normal company."

Two metal doors appeared before them.