Chapter 79

Chapter 79: Humans, maybe you should just stay bald (Hiiing...

What's going on?

Lin Jianyuan tapped his mobile terminal, but the detector still showed zero Aberrants nearby.

So what the hell are all these black sesame seeds in front of me?

First, it can't be actual sesame seeds. Sesame seeds don't march in formation.

And they're not army ants either. Army ants don't look like sesame seeds.

So they have to be Aberrants.

Case closed.

No wonder everyone's been losing hair lately.

Turns out there's a new Aberrant in the office stealing people's hair!

But why didn't the Aberrant trigger the terminal's alarm?

Lin Jianyuan frowned.

The last time this happened was with Remorse.

S-class Aberrants can hide their marks, making them invisible to detectors.

But these sesame seeds in front of me—are they S-class Aberrants?

They sure don't look like it.

Besides, an S-class going around stealing hair? That would be pathetic.

Aren't higher-level Aberrants supposed to look more human? S-class Aberrants are supposed to have human forms, right?

Lin Jianyuan quickly said goodbye to everyone and followed the trail of marching sesame seeds out into the hallway.

There were several other companies on this floor besides theirs.

An interior design firm, a real estate agency, a new media startup, and a software company.

Right now, each company had its own swarm of black sesame marching ants, each one carrying a strand of hair, streaming out in a grand procession.

Makes sense.

We're all in this misery together...

The army of sesame seeds marched straight through the walls, hauling strands of hair as they left the building.

Lin Jianyuan walked over to the window for a look.

The sesame seeds and the hair all dissolved into the wind.

Wait, that's it? They're just gone?

My hair is just... gone?

That’s inexplicably depressing.

Lin Jianyuan said, "Squish toy, what are these things?"

Squish toy replied, "What things?"

Lin Jianyuan stared in disbelief, pointing at the dense swarm of sesame ants on the floor. "These! These black sesame seeds—can't you see them?"

Squish toy: "?"

Lin Jianyuan: "?"

Lin Jianyuan scratched his head. "Am I seeing things?"

No way. In a world full of Aberrants, there shouldn't be ghosts too, right?

Wait, why does that sound so familiar?

Lin Jianyuan frowned, thinking as he scratched his head.

The more he scratched, the itchier his scalp became.

Lin Jianyuan looked down.

A clump of hair had fallen into his palm.

And inside the hair—packed tight—were black sesame seeds.

"Holy shit!" Lin Jianyuan turned pale on the spot and bolted to an empty corner, yelling, "Babe! Babe!!!"

"Hmm?"

Almost before he finished shouting, the familiar pink digestive system appeared in front of him.

Lin Jianyuan shoved his palm out, terrified, showing the black sesame seeds. "Can you see this? Babe, can you see them?"

But the moment his roommate appeared, the black sesame seeds in Lin Jianyuan's palm suddenly flared up—

—and vanished in a puff of ash.

Lin Jianyuan: "???"

Lin Jianyuan stared, completely lost.

Only the fallen hair remained in his hand.

This was beyond bizarre.

Lin Jianyuan said, "Babe, I don't even know how to explain... just now..."

His roommate said, "I saw it."

Lin Jianyuan felt the instant relief of seeing a Taoist priest in a horror movie.

He asked, "What the hell are these things?"

His roommate tilted his "head," thinking. "I don't know what they're called. Probably a D-class Aberrant."

"I figured they were Aberrants too," Lin Jianyuan said. "But why can't the terminal detect them?"

Other D-class Aberrants always show up on the detector.

Roommate: "That, I don't know. The terminal stuff."

According to his roommate, the black sesame seeds vanished because he showed up.

S-class Aberrants naturally suppress lower-level Aberrants, so even without trying, his presence wiped out those weak sesame seeds on the spot.

Lin Jianyuan suddenly understood. "No wonder Eye Vines always shakes when it sees you. It's the power gap."

But lately, it hasn't been trembling as much.

Maybe it's getting used to him.

Or maybe it's about to level up again?

There were way too many sesame seeds for Lin Jianyuan and his little toy army to handle alone.

So Lin Jianyuan went to the meeting point and reported everything to the instructor.

He never expected the instructor to look so shocked.

Five minutes later.

In the Bureau Chief's office.

Lin Jianyuan was stunned. "So you guys really had no idea there were Aberrants the detectors can't pick up?!"

"That's right." The chief sat behind his desk, hands folded under his chin, face grave. "These Aberrants have such low contaminant levels that they're far below the detector's minimum threshold. Even field agents can't see them with the naked eye. If it weren't for you, we would never have known they existed... Lin Jianyuan, you did excellent work!"

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

No one else can see them at all?

Come to think of it, neither Squish Toy nor Little Rock could see them either...

"But Xieyu can see them," Lin Jianyuan frowned. "And so can I."

Why?

The chief said, "I'm curious about that too, but that's not our top priority. The real problem is, how do we contain an Aberrant so small that it can't be detected or seen by our agents? We can't just let them run wild, ripping out people's hair."

Lin Jianyuan felt a chill in his gut.

It's over.

Totally screwed!

These sesame seeds can't be detected, and no one else can see them!

Even the toy army can't see them!

So who else could be sent to catch them?

Who else?!

Just thinking about all those swarms of sesame seeds in every corner of the building made Lin Jianyuan's vision go dark.

"I..." Lin Jianyuan said weakly. "I can't do it."

It'll kill me.

Sending him to catch an endless sea of sesame seeds by hand—he'd die!!!

He'd really die!!!

"Oh, no, don't get the wrong idea," the chief said quickly. "We're not asking you to catch them, and definitely not your partner either. Don't worry."

A flicker of hope lit in Lin Jianyuan's chest. "Then who are you sending?"

Chief: "We don't have to catch them. Extermination on the spot is fine too."

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

Lin Jianyuan almost coughed up blood.

Lin Jianyuan muttered "We'll see," in despair and left the chief's office.

But Lin Jianyuan knew "we'll see" meant nothing.

No one but him and his roommate could do this.

Maybe just let it go.

Humans...

Maybe you should just stay bald.

Lin Jianyuan felt a little down.

But as soon as he saw his roommate coming toward him, his mood lifted.

All his worries faded away.

It's great working at the same place as his partner.

This is what it means to run into love around the corner~

His roommate was free too, so Lin Jianyuan found a quiet spot to cuddle for a while.

The D-team members from Field Operations were back as well.

Lin Jianyuan got a message from the instructor, telling him to eat first and meet in the conference room at 7 p.m.

If Jiang Chen had sent a meeting notice for 7 p.m., Lin Jianyuan would be cursing him out right now.

But this was the Bureau.

And usually they got off work before five—today was only late because of the field assignment.

With a 200,000 monthly salary, what's the big deal about a rare 7 p.m. meeting?

Seems fair.

He could live with it.

Lin Jianyuan turned to his roommate and said, "Babe, I have to work late tonight."

Roommate: "Okay~ Who are we killing this time? I'll go with you."

Lin Jianyuan couldn't help but laugh. "How can you say something so scary in such a cute voice? No killing, no catching Aberrants tonight. Just a meeting with the field team."

"Oh..." His roommate instantly deflated.

Lin Jianyuan pinched his gallbladder. "You can still come. Want to keep me company at the meeting?"

His roommate's little tail started wagging again. "Okay~"

So the legendary S-class Aberrant from Containment tagged along with Lin Jianyuan to the D-team.

The D-team: "..."

Everyone made noises like they'd never seen anything like this before.

Luckily, everyone was well-trained. After a brief shock, they quickly accepted the reality that the pink digestive system was now a colleague.

After all, Field Operations and Containment worked together all the time.

Like detectives and prison guards.

No big deal for Containment to sit in on a Field Ops meeting.

Turns out, Lin Jianyuan had misunderstood.

The instructor hadn't called him for a meeting, but for a lesson.

The instructor was teaching everyone how to write containment reports, step by step.

"Everyone, take a look at this sample template..."

The instructor pulled up the template and displayed it for everyone.

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

Then came a detailed lesson on the 230-page "Containment Report Writing Guidelines."

They walked through every step, matching it to today's field containment, explaining everything like a parent to a child.

Only now did Lin Jianyuan realize that not knowing how to write a containment report wasn't his fault for not paying attention in class.

It was because the basic theory class had glossed over everything, barely scratching the surface.

To really cover containment report writing, five or six full classes wouldn't be enough.

There were way too many details to keep track of!

No one could remember it all in one sitting!

But it wasn't the Bureau's fault for the way they scheduled classes.

Normally, things went like this:

First, a theory class to give a rough idea of the Bureau's workflow.

Then physical training and Aberrant basics to prep for fieldwork.

Then a real-world mission with the instructor, something totally safe.

Then, under the instructor's guidance, write your first containment report.

And it's done as a group project!!!

You can discuss, split up the work, even use AI!

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

So I was the only one who got the sneak preview, huh.

But what can you do.

That's just "with great power comes great responsibility."

His roommate was S-class, so of course he could see those sesame seeds.

But why could he, an ordinary human, see them too...?

"Instructor, we found the source of those frogs! It's the trendy toy studio on the eleventh floor."

A member from another team spoke up, making Lin Jianyuan look up.

The guy went on, "That studio boss loves making empty promises. Every time he does, a mouth opens up on his throat—and frogs come hopping out."

Lin Jianyuan: "?"

Just then, someone from another group raised their hand. "Wait, we saw the same thing. I thought ours was the source?"

More and more people started raising their hands.

"What? We had one too! I even got excited, thought we'd found a boss-level Aberrant. But after every test, the boss was just human... Only when he was gaslighting his employees did the detector pick up an Aberrant reaction..."

"Yeah, same here!"

"Us too!"

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

Damn.

Turns out every company boss coughs up frogs from their throat!

Makes sense.

Jiang Chen wasn't special after all.

He was just one of countless shitty bosses.

Now Lin Jianyuan finally understood why the whole office building was crawling with frogs.

It wasn't that he forgot to contain Jiang Chen's frogs.

It was that every minute, on every floor, in every company, some asshole boss was churning out frogs.

Those heartless capitalists really ought to be strung up from the streetlights!!!