Chapter 53: I’m Just Looking
Traveling with a convoy wasn’t as convenient as moving alone. It wasn’t until around 5 p.m. that Xu Zhi finally returned to the old residential district.
Since she had sent word ahead of time, Shen Jinwen was already waiting outside. After getting out of the car, Xu Zhi briefly introduced her to Zhong Lingfan: “She’s the one in charge of collecting rent. From now on, you two will be working together. I only care about getting my weekly share of cores.”
She didn’t want to concern herself with anything else.
Shen Jinwen, who had somehow gotten her hands on a large ring of keys, led Zhong Lingfan and her group to the local administrative office to get registered.
Xu Zhi didn’t immediately become a hands-off manager either. She followed along until all 40 or so people had been settled. Only when only Zhong Lingfan and Shen Jinwen were left did she prepare to leave.
Before she left, she paused and said to the two of them, “Once this group is settled, start recruiting newcomers again. Don’t turn anyone away. But—if someone disturbs the peace here, kill them on the spot.”
“I don’t care what people do outside, but in my place, no one’s allowed to break the rules.”
Everyone here was her “crop” to harvest—she couldn’t afford to lose a single one.
“As for the rules in the residential area, you two can draft up a set of regulations and show them to me.”
“When there are enough people, you can also assign some official positions. Anyway, Zhong Lingfan, just do as you see fit.”
She knew Shen Jinwen didn’t like handling this sort of thing, so she didn’t give her any responsibilities.
“If you think you can handle something, then do it yourself. If not, come to me.”
Xu Zhi delegated authority freely because she had no desire to manage these petty affairs. All she needed was for the cores to be handed over to her weekly.
Her statement about not refusing anyone meant this place was different from Zhong Lingfan’s former “Garden,” which only accepted relatively well-behaved members. Xu Zhi didn’t mind letting even ruthless criminals in, as long as they behaved within the residential area and quietly produced cores for her. What they did outside wasn’t her concern.
Zhong Lingfan understood Xu Zhi’s intent. Though it was contrary to her previous approach, Xu Zhi had the power to make the rules and enforce them. As long as she could punish anyone who broke order, then this method wasn’t necessarily bad.
In fact, it might even help more people survive—which aligned with Zhong Lingfan’s ultimate goal.
And so, Zhong Lingfan became the administrator of the residential area, Shen Jinwen remained the only street office worker, and Xu Zhi stood above everyone, with no clear title and no consensus on what to call her. People referred to her in all sorts of different ways behind her back.
By the time everything was taken care of, it was already nearing 9 p.m.
Xu Zhi read through the research data Zhong Lingfan had given her and gained deeper insight into the “old” Ability-users.
In the past, old ability-users always suddenly discovered one day that they had a supernatural ability. Their awakenings followed no pattern, and their powers varied widely in type and strength.
But no matter how strong they were, their abilities were locked to the moment of awakening.
In other words, the strength of an old ability-useral was determined at the moment of awakening. They had no growth potential and retained only the ability they had upon awakening—99% of them had just one ability.
In those days, even that was enough to be enviable—they were still ability-users, after all. But compared to the newer, evolving ability-users, their status now seemed awkward.
The report also contained observations Zhong Lingfan had made about the new ability-users. For example, all new ability-users seemed to continuously accumulate supernatural energy over time. She theorized that it wasn’t being generated from nothing, but rather, they were unconsciously absorbing supernatural energy from their surroundings.
There was more information in the report, but this part especially caught Xu Zhi’s attention.
“So my guess was probably right.”
Xu Zhi put away the report, picked up her game console, and opened the Spirit Body interface. After checking the time, she directly invested two hours’ worth of core energy.
The three attributes she invested in were [Forge], [Inspiration], and [Moth]—she still found chaotic attributes quite useful. She also paid extra to equip this Spirit Vessel with [Eye of Secrets].
Once everything was ready, Xu Zhi re-entered her Spirit Body.
She found herself in the “usual spot” again, which she figured was some sort of tacit agreement between her and the Special Investigation Division. Within three minutes of opening her eyes, a man in a suit approached her to greet her.
“Do you have people stationed here every day?” Xu Zhi asked the man in front of her.
“Yes, to make sure we never miss the chance to trade with you,” he answered honestly. His attitude had changed slightly from last time—more respectful now.
It seemed they’d confirmed something that made them take her even more seriously.
“I’ve reserved two hours for you this time, but I’ll only accept trades for four types of cores. Also, I’ve found the answer to the question you left me last time.”
“This time, I want to visit your headquarters. I’d like to look around, is that okay?”
Xu Zhi asked with a smile. The man hesitated briefly, received approval from “above,” and then nodded. “Very well, Miss Xu. A car will be here in five minutes to take you to our main office building.”
It was called the “main office,” but it was only the headquarters for this city. The central headquarters of the Special Investigation Division was still in the capital, far from here.
When the car arrived, the person inside wasn’t the familiar stern-faced woman Xu Zhi had met before, but an unfamiliar man in uniform. Xu Zhi raised an eyebrow and asked directly, “Where’s the sister I spoke with before?”
“She’s on assignment,” the man explained. Afraid she wouldn’t understand, he added, “She’s part of the operations division. Things are chaotic lately due to various reasons, and the operations team is understaffed.”
After speaking, the man briefly introduced himself: his name and title.
Lin Zizhen, Director of the Inspection Division of the Jincheng Special Incident Response Department.
His explanation was reasonable and likely true—but Xu Zhi still felt he was trying to mislead her.
This guy was a cunning old fox. His expression didn’t betray anything while he spoke—unlike the woman from before, whose face often gave her away. Maybe that was exactly why the division had changed who they sent.
But it didn’t really matter—whoever negotiated with her wasn’t important.
“Can you show me around your facility first? I was in such a rush last time that I didn’t get to see anything.”
When the car stopped in front of the Special Investigation Division building, Xu Zhi wasn’t in a hurry to start trading.
“Sure,” Lin Zizhen agreed without any sign of reluctance, and even began explaining the different departments in detail.
“In general, we’re divided into Information, Operations, Logistics, Oversight, and Regulation departments.”
“The Operations Department is made up mostly of ability-users and is further split into several teams. The person you met before was the captain of Team 3.”
“Can you take me to see your ability-users?” Xu Zhi requested.
Lin Zizhen hesitated for about a second before replying, “Sure.”
“But we really are short-staffed right now. The only ability-users left at headquarters are either here to submit a mission report or are recovering from injuries.”
Xu Zhi nodded in understanding. “That’s fine. I just want to take a look.”
