Chapter 61

Chapter 61: If you miss me, I’ll come.

The Bureau’s underground office building is surprisingly vast.

They hadn’t even reached the containment area, and it was already ten at night.

Lin Jianyuan had already worked a full day, and he hadn’t slept well the last couple nights.

He was starting to feel drowsy.

But the moment Shi Shaoning led him into a special section, Lin Jianyuan snapped awake.

The layout here was bizarrely complex.

At a glance, it looked like an upside-down spire.

Each level was isolated, linked only by twisting, tangled paths.

It was like a web spun by a mad spider, shrieking and cackling as it worked.

“Containment area.” His roommate smirked. “You’re really okay with me guarding Aberrants?”

Shi Shaoning: "Why not? Lin Jianyuan works here, so we’re not worried about you rebelling. Or do you have friends inside?"

Lin Jianyuan cut in, “It’s not that he’s got friends here. He’s just worried he won’t be able to resist eating everyone.”

Roommate: "~"

Shi Shaoning: "..."

Shi Shaoning paused, then said, “Fine. If any of them run or act up, you’re allowed to eat them.”

Lin Jianyuan and his roommate had gotten two different offers.

His roommate was in Containment, while Lin Jianyuan was in Field Operations.

The Bureau was split into three main divisions.

Field Operations, Internal Affairs, and Containment.

In a way, Containment was a kind of Internal Affairs, since its staff rarely worked outside.

But because Containment was so central to the Bureau’s mission, it stood as its own department.

Before coming here, Lin Jianyuan had studied his contract closely.

His job was pretty much the same as Shi Shaoning’s: fight monsters, save the world.

In principle, all Aberrants had to be contained.

Beating one senseless and then containing it also counted as containment.

In other words, alive or dead, they needed to be brought in.

The “beat down and neutralize” part was Field Operations’ job.

Once Field Ops caught an Aberrant, they handed it off to Containment.

It was like the difference between detectives and prison guards.

Shi Shaoning led the way, saying, “The containment area is really the heart of the Bureau. It’s divided by Aberrant class. Easy to get lost here, so keep your map open on your terminal.”

Lin Jianyuan pulled up the map on his wrist device.

A soft chime, and a projection appeared in front of him.

Shi Shaoning kept talking, “The map doesn’t have navigation yet, but in the next update—”

Lin Jianyuan was already saying, “Eyeball, memorize this map. Navigate for me next time.”

Angel Eyeball: "Got it."

Shi Shaoning: "..."

Lin Jianyuan finished giving orders and blinked. “Hm? What did you just say?”

Shi Shaoning fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Nothing. Just keep up.”

Lin Jianyuan: "Okay."

Roommate: "~"

He tried to hide a smile.

They stopped in front of a massive black machine. Shi Shaoning said, “Xie Yu, register here.”

Lin Jianyuan craned his neck. “What is this thing?”

It was a huge, oddly shaped machine, like a printer on steroids.

Shi Shaoning: "It's a printer."

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

Shi Shaoning: "With PUA tech, you can—"

A staffer by the printer shouted, “It’s PCR! PCR!”

Shi Shaoning smoothly switched gears: “PUR tech copies the Aberrant’s imprint and adds it to the whitelist. That way, Xie Yu won’t fry a bunch of sensors every time he moves.”

Lin Jianyuan: "."

He was too tired to process this babble.

He’d worked all day, and now it was ten at night and he still had to listen to Shi Shaoning talk about some PAR tech.

Enough already.

“Mm.” Lin Jianyuan nodded along, half-zoned out.

Shi Shaoning wrapped up and told the staffer, “Register Xie Yu.”

Then, without looking back, he said quickly, “Lin Jianyuan, keep up.”

But Lin Jianyuan eyed the buzzing machine and frowned. “Does this hurt? Is it safe for Aberrants? How long does it take? I’ll just wait here.”

His roommate’s appendix swayed from side to side.

Shi Shaoning rolled his eyes so hard it was almost visible, then forced himself calm. “It doesn’t hurt. It’s safe. Ten minutes. Stop talking and hurry up, or I’ll drop dead right here.”

His roommate said gently, “Go on. If anything happens, I’ll come running.”

Shi Shaoning: "?"

Lin Jianyuan: "Alright."

Lin Jianyuan reluctantly left his roommate behind.

It was only ten minutes, but this place was unfamiliar.

And this was the Bureau.

Strictly speaking, the Bureau and Aberrants were mortal enemies.

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t shake his unease. After a few steps, he blurted, “You’re not sending me away so you can ambush my wife, are you?”

Shi Shaoning: "You think we need to send you away to ambush her?"

Lin Jianyuan relaxed. “True. Not like you could beat her anyway. She’s the best. Heh.”

Shi Shaoning: "..."

Eye roll meter: 70 percent.

They passed through another stretch of mad spider web, and Shi Shaoning led Lin Jianyuan into a new area.

The Labor Reform Zone.

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

It really was a prison!

Shi Shaoning: “This is the Labor Reform Zone. Just like it sounds. Once we figure out an Aberrant’s weakness, they can choose to come here for labor reform.”

“Weakness?” Lin Jianyuan caught the word instantly.

“Right,” Shi Shaoning said. “We sometimes take them out on assignments, so to keep them from escaping, the handler has the right to neutralize them on the spot.”

Lin Jianyuan: “Got it. Like a prison guard taking inmates out with a bomb collar around their neck.”

Shi Shaoning: “Not for fresh air.”

Lin Jianyuan: “Labor, then.”

Shi Shaoning looked too tired to banter. “Alright, last step. Go pick your Pokémon. You’re new, so you’re D-rank. Only D-class Aberrants for you.”

Lin Jianyuan: "?"

He glanced blankly at the toys in his pockets.

Squish toy, A-class.

Little rock, A-class.

Fluttering big eyeball, A-class.

Wicked big mouth, A-class.

Blood Thread, the stress-relief punching bag at work, B-class.

And an Eye Vine, useless enough to leave at home.

C-class.

Wait, maybe it was B now, since it’d been soaking in goji chrysanthemum cassia tea.

Lin Jianyuan: "."

Lin Jianyuan fell into a subtle silence. Shi Shaoning read the boredom on his face and exploded, “Go! You have to pick! Once you’re done, we can leave!”

Lin Jianyuan dashed inside.

Face scan, biometric check, browse the list, tour the shelves.

A crowd of Aberrants on the shelves called out to him, eager for freedom.

Their voices brimmed with longing.

Lin Jianyuan rushed in.

He rushed right back out.

“Let’s go.” Shi Shaoning looked ready to drop dead if he didn’t get off work, and didn’t care what Lin Jianyuan had picked. “Move! Go! Off work!”

Lin Jianyuan hurried after him.

They crossed another stretch of spiderweb and finally returned to the entrance and the big black printer.

His roommate had just finished registration.

Shi Shaoning’s boots clicked as he led the way.

He was desperate to get out.

The newlyweds whispered together in the back.

“Babe, there’s a labor zone inside. You can take a reformed Aberrant out as your sidekick,” Lin Jianyuan told his roommate, excited.

“I’ve heard about that.” His roommate’s smile never faded when Lin Jianyuan was around. “So who’d you pick?”

“Guess.”

“I can’t.”

“Really? Can’t guess? I’ll give you a hint: it’s D-class.”

“There are tons of D-class. That’s too hard. Tell me.”

Shi Shaoning: "..."

Eye roll meter: 80 percent.

“Come on, guess! Here’s another hint: buzz buzz buzz…”

“Buzz buzz? Hm…”

“It’s summer! What else goes buzz buzz?”

“I really don’t know. Tell me, don’t tease me.”

“That’s teasing? I’m not teasing, I just want you to guess.”

“Stop it, just tell me.”

“Then give me a secret kiss. Shh, not so loud, don’t let Shi Shaoning hear. Hey, are there cameras here? Normal cameras can’t catch you, but can the Bureau’s?”

“No idea… chu~ Now tell me, I’m dying to know.”

“You really want to know? Hehehe, then I’ll tell you~”

Shi Shaoning: "..."

Eye roll meter: 90 percent.

But he couldn’t take it anymore!

Shi Shaoning stopped, spun around, and exploded at Lin Jianyuan:

“Are you out of your damn mind? All you think about is your boyfriend! I told you to pick a fighter, and you picked that useless ‘Attractor’ thing? What the hell is wrong with you? And you made everyone guess, guess, guess, guess, guess—what is wrong with you!”

Then he turned to the S-class Aberrant whose appendix was practically wagging in the air.

“You’re just as bad! Not only are you lovesick, but you’re playing coy too? You’re an S-class and you can’t even tell a D-class imprint? I can’t stand it anymore! And that cutesy voice, pretending to be curious—curious, my ass!”

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

Lin Xieyu: "..."

All the A-class toys in his pocket: "………………"

A certain D-class veggie that attracted mosquitoes: “Bzz bzz bzz.”

It was too low-level to understand human speech, so it just buzzed.

After Shi Shaoning’s tirade, Lin Jianyuan felt a bit awkward.

Lin Jianyuan explained, “Well, my wife attracts mosquitoes, so I figured if I got something that attracts even more, the mosquitoes would leave him alone.”

Shi Shaoning: "?"

An S-class Aberrant attracts mosquitoes?

What kind of mosquito could get past an S-class Aberrant’s defenses? Are you saying the Bureau is useless?

Say something!

But his roommate suddenly burst out laughing, as if remembering something.

Lin Jianyuan asked, “What’s so funny?”

His roommate laughed, “Attracting mosquitoes, hahaha, I attract mosquitoes, hahahaha…”

Lin Jianyuan: "?"

Suddenly, Shi Shaoning caught on and shouted, “Lin Jianyuan! That’s not insect repellent! Did you think it was insect repellent? It’s not!”

That’s a suppressant for Aberrants, to lower psychic contamination!

His roommate couldn’t stop laughing.

Once Lin Jianyuan figured it out, he doubled over too.

Shi Shaoning: "..."

Eye roll meter: 99 percent.

If nothing else, Shi Shaoning was an idealist.

Even after all this, he managed to pull himself together and scold them, face stern.

“Lin Jianyuan! Take this seriously! Field work isn’t a joke! Just because you have A-class Aberrants doesn’t mean you’re invincible. They’re all support types! Not a single one can fight. If you run into a combat-type Aberrant, you’re done for!”

Lin Jianyuan: "?"

He pulled his wife closer. “I have my wife.”

Isn’t my wife an S-class combat type?

Shi Shaoning roared, “Your wife has to work too!”

Lin Jianyuan froze.

Right. He’d forgotten—they’d be in different departments from now on.

He’d be out catching Aberrants, his wife guarding the prison.

At least four days a month, he wouldn’t see him for a whole day.

Four whole days!

“It’s alright.”

His roommate smiled, stepped close, and took his hand.

Then leaned down and bit his palm.

A gentle bite.

Leaving a mark.

“If you miss me, I’ll come.”

His roommate said.

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

Damn. Something’s not right.

So cool.

My wife is so cool.

He was just a pink digestive system.

How could he be this cool!

Lin Jianyuan stared at the bite mark in his palm, dazed.

His mind cracked open, flooded with wild emotion.

In the end, only two words remained.

So cool.

My wife is amazing!

Shi Shaoning: "..."

Eye roll meter: 100 percent.

I can’t take this! I really can’t!

Lin Jianyuan, I swear, stop showing off your sugar baby life so loudly!

Because I can’t have it!

I’m dying of envy!

Damn it!