44. Testing and Commands (Monthly Ticket Bounty Initiated)

Click.

Maine walked through the first door.

A standard institutional long table stood before him, and sitting in the high-backed chair on the opposite side was Hu Weifeng—the young man who had accompanied Qin Lan to find him.

"Hello. I am in charge of your ability test. I haven't introduced myself yet; I am Hu Weifeng, one of the six Tier III paranormals in the East New District Coordination Bureau." He wore a smile, his eyes carrying the polite professional distance and friendliness of a colleague. "I am a telepath."

Maine pulled out the chair and sat directly opposite him, observing Hu Weifeng unobtrusively. The young man looked to be about twenty-three years old, and standing behind Qin Lan, he had resembled a fresh graduate just entering the workforce.

Now, facing him alone, Maine could sense a trace of slight tension in the other man, though it did not quite look like fear.

"A telepath?" Maine asked curiously. "Can you read minds?"

Hu Weifeng nodded, saying with a hint of pride:

"Mind-reading is just one of my many skills. To be precise, I can influence the conscious minds of others.

"Therefore, I can actually erase shallow thoughts, and I'm quite skilled at calming hostile paranormals. My original job was actually as a psychologist, but I really couldn't get into reading those heavy books..."

He suddenly realized something:

"Apologies, I'm rambling a bit.

"Actually, different telepaths have their own areas of expertise. I'm actually not very good at intrusion and offense. While simple thought-reading is no problem, my true forte is easily making enemies lower their guard, as well as neutralizing intrusions from other telepaths.

"As long as I am here, no mental paranormal can extend their tentacles in here."

Maine asked curiously:

"Is that why she brought you to me?"

Hu Weifeng said:

"If we encounter other types of paranormals with unstable emotions, I can banish all their negative feelings and help them calm down.

"And if the target is a malicious telepath, I can render their abilities completely useless.

"However, the moment I arrived at your door, I could sense that your mental power is much stronger than mine. When I stood outside, I was actually on guard against a potential mental attack.

"In truth, our abilities are both related to the mind and consciousness, but yours is far more specialized than mine. This is a common issue with telepaths: being able to do everything means not being able to do anything to absolute perfection."

Maine said:

"So they sent you to test my ability."

The young man nodded.

"Yes. I'd like to ask first, how does your ability operate? Can you read memories, and to what degree of precision?"

Maine said:

"No, I cannot read memories.

"The way my ability operates when erasing memories is close to instinct, much like a beast knowing how to bring down its prey. However, if I know what needs to be erased, I can locate those fragments, but I cannot see the specific contents within them.

"It's as if I can see a hazy red color, but cannot make out the words composed of that red. As for the degree of precision...

"In theory, memory erasure can be as precise as a scalpel: a single thought, a sensation, or a fragment lasting a few seconds."

Hu Weifeng said with some excitement:

"Then is there any way for them to remember?"

Maine had already briefly tested this on Xu Wen.

"No, they won't," he said. "The extent of the erasure is controllable. I can allow a memory to resurface after a few hours, but I can also push it to a point where a normal person can never remember it, even to the extent that no telepath can find it.

"And if necessary, I can perform destructive memory erasure, though doing so even on a normal person takes a fair amount of time and might cause some side effects."

Hu Weifeng pointed to a card on the table:

"Then let's conduct a concrete experiment.

"There is some text on the face of this card that I haven't seen yet. Next, I am going to look at it, and you will try to erase that memory. Is that alright?"

Inside the second door.

Qin Lan, Ren Shizhi—who had just been arguing with her—and several other members of the Coordination Bureau management under their supervision were all gathered here, listening to the conversation between Maine and Hu Weifeng.

Beside these individuals, a display screen flickered with the stern face of a middle-aged man.

Huang Qingfeng, a member of the Oversight Department. Most major and a few minor procedures of the Coordination Bureau had to be conducted under his observation. He possessed the authority to offer suggestions and impose constraints on Qin Lan's actions, and he was also Ren Shizhi's direct superior.

At the doorway earlier, the argument between Qin Lan and Ren Shizhi had been precisely about this matter; Ren Shizhi had expressed strong "dissatisfaction" that she had granted Maine such treatment without a detailed evaluation.

Yet Qin Lan knew that, in reality, Ren Shizhi had no objections to Maine or the arrangement.

He was simply making trouble for her—that was Ren Shizhi's job.

Of course, their mutual animosity was also genuine.

Many of Qin Lan's decisions impacted Ren Shizhi's interests, and the man frequently presented her with unreasonable demands.

"Why is little Hu wasting so much time?" Ren Shizhi frowned.

Qin Lan knew what he was implying; among the people present, only one person's time was considered truly precious.

"This is a new Tier III paranormal," Qin Lan left him no room to save face. "Do you perhaps think he isn't worth our careful caution?"

Ren Shizhi did not take her sharp words to heart. His goal was not to argue right from wrong.

His superiors did not care whether his actions were right or wrong; the key lay in displaying his attitude.

Furthermore, Qin Lan's defensive response would naturally displease Huang Qingfeng.

Huang Qingfeng spoke up:

"What do you think of this paranormal's value?"

He was addressing Qin Lan.

"Very high," she said solemnly. "With his assistance, our work will become streamlined immediately. Many problems that previously had no solutions will no longer be a burden, and he can even help with the issue we are currently facing.

"We have already captured a fanatical demon worshipper, and Maine's ability happens to be of direct use here."

The man on the display screen asked in an indifferent tone:

"If that is the case, why not leverage the dangers he faces to make him join the Coordination Bureau first? What will we do if this precious paranormal decides he doesn't want to work?"

Protecting these paranormals was their fundamental duty!

Yet Qin Lan knew she could not answer that way:

"My thought was to first make him grateful to us, and slowly cultivate trust and affection. Employees nurtured this way will develop a true sense of responsibility toward our cause."

Huang Qingfeng said emotionlessly:

"I give you and Xiao Ren half a month to find a way to make this paranormal sign a formal contract. You may employ some less-than-clean methods if necessary, because once the 'contract' is signed..."

"His opinion ceases to matter."

Qin Lan wanted to say something more:

"But—"

Huang Qingfeng interrupted her:

"This is an order."