"Senior, does this mean that the members of Yunlong City have been targeted by a monster called Night Disaster, and we could encounter sudden misfortune at any time?"
Tang Qianqian summarized the shocking news she had just heard. Before today, two members of the organization had already perished.
Ahead lay evil spirits, and behind, Universe Company watched us with covetous eyes, as if the world had spiraled out of control overnight.
Just a day prior, she was an unemployed vagrant who had just completed her resignation procedures, planning to lie on the allowance of 5000 Bei and scrape by on welfare for the rest of her life, freely petting her cat at home every day.
"I only have one question."
Tang Qianqian narrowed her eyes, "Is it still possible to back out now?"
"I'm afraid it's too late for that."
Li Hua replied before Duan Mingyuan could answer, "If Mr. Da Jiang really was killed by Night Disaster once, then our identity information might have already been exposed."
"Save me, senior!"
Tang Qianqian spoke the phrase she most commonly used at work. In her eyes, a senior was an omnipotent being, capable of pulling strings to salvage even her most messed-up spreadsheets, rescuing her from utter chaos.
A saying circulated secretly within the department: "Even my grandmother paired with Duan Mingyuan on a project would achieve the target."
Li Hua's reaction was different, sizing up Duan Mingyuan from top to toe before finally voicing the question it had wanted to ask from the start, "What about you, then? Aren't you afraid of Night Disaster coming after you?"
"That would actually be something I'd welcome."
The appearance of Tang Qianqian triggered painful memories for Duan Mingyuan. Facing Night Disaster was indeed far easier than racking his brains daily over how to help his colleagues, each with only a single point of energy, escape their calamitous trials.
At these words, Jiuyue, who was gnawing on a bone, suddenly lifted his head and glanced at him meaningfully.
Duan Mingyuan was considering a more long-term problem.
Personal strength has its limits.
Whether it's a workgroup, a department, or a company, to grow and strengthen, a cooperative atmosphere must be established. This is like when newcomers become seasoned employees after several years and then pass the baton to the next batch of interns. Although Tang Qianqian is currently just a weakling with an energy level of one, in a few years, she will accumulate enough experience to become an adept old hand.
By then, the person sitting at an outdoor table explaining the ropes to newcomers will be her.
As for the other high school student, Duan Mingyuan's purpose of this trip was to educate him about self-protection measures, then use vivid examples to warn him to study hard, lest he stray off the path and become an unemployed vagrant like he and Tang Qianqian.
Being able to study at Yunlong City No.1 High School indicated that the student had an immeasurable future.
"Does that mean, senior, you've already thought of a solution?"
Truly deserving of being a senior, as reliable as ever even after changing careers.
"The fact that you are still alive and kicking indicates that Night Disaster's ability cannot be activated at will, regardless of time and space."
Otherwise, there'd be no need to wait for him to arrange a meeting with Tang Qianqian – the girl would have already died at home in some bizarre manner.
According to the intelligence we have so far, abilities are born from desire and obsession, but they are not infinitely expansive entities. Even in the wildest of dreams, the human subconscious imposes certain constraints and limits on itself. This is why an ability's activation often requires certain conditions to be met.
The more powerful the ability, the more demanding the conditions tend to be.
Of course, these are not issues Tang Qianqian needs to worry about right now.
First and foremost, she needs to learn how to deal with evil spirits at the "intern" level, or at the very least, how to survive encounters with them.
Da Jiang had mentioned, all the members who tracked Night Disaster had died, and he was no exception. He too had been killed by a steel spike through the head while investigating Night Disaster.
"As long as you don't pursue Night Disaster, its ability won't affect you for the time being, but I had another reason for seeking you out today."
"Another reason?"
"As you can see, there are a large number of evil spirits in Yunlong City. Now that you've entered this line of work, you must at least know how to deal with them."
"Understood."
Tang Qianqian subconsciously sat up straight, crossed her arms over her chest, and, following the most common trope, what should come next would be the classification of evil spirits. A reliable senior would hand her a "Heaven Rank" cultivation technique. Then, she would constantly battle against evil spirits, cultivating step by step to the peak, and finally reaching the origin of the evil spirits' creation.
During this period, she would fully grasp the true meaning of friendship and bonds.
Then, the Spiritual King, that would be her!
Right, this is the story found in those typical hot-blooded, righteous-themed works.
Tang Qianqian loved these kinds of stories, but she never imagined herself as the protagonist. What she really liked was the feeling of whiling away time lying down.
The hot-blooded protagonist's life philosophy was at odds with hers.
"Senior, is there a cultivation method that allows one to grow stronger while lying down?"
"No."
Duan Mingyuan said, wishing he had a one-size-fits-all cultivation method that could make everyone stronger, like exams in "Five-Year Major Exams, Three-Year Mock Tests"—just diligently work on the problems, and one's scores would improve.
He never believed in the vague spiritual doctrines of friendship and bonds either; what he advocated was conclusions with a scientific spirit.
Thinking this, under the expectant gaze of Tang Qianqian and Li Hua, he took out a notebook.
"This is a conclusion I've drawn from my past experiences, the most basic big data analysis."
"...Ah?"
Tang Qianqian and Li Hua exclaimed in unison.
What about the Heaven Rank technique?
The Spiritual King?
"Among the known evil spirits, less than 9% appear during the daytime, and within this 9%, only one case has been recorded where it suddenly assaulted people in a public place."
This lone case was the one from yesterday that infiltrated their company and took control of the section chief.
That special case had now been properly dealt with.
"Evil spirits dislike crowded places. If you absolutely must go out late at night, it's best to go with at least three people. As long as you do this, you will have avoided more than 90% of your chances of being killed by evil spirits."
This was the conclusion Duan Mingyuan had reached after years of scrambling around in the workplace.
The proposed solutions had to be simple and comprehensible, easy to implement, to the extent that "even a fool would understand after looking at it," and there would be no reason for it not to succeed.
He felt that this foolproof package, summarized from big data, was very suitable for Tang Qianqian, whose energy level was only at 1.
"But in rare cases, you might be targeted by some evil spirits with independent thinking. Although they don't strike in public places, they will follow you until you are alone."
Duan Mingyuan paused and then said, "You can think of them as interns who are about to complete their trial period and want to achieve some accomplishments to become regular employees. Once they find an opportunity when you are alone, you will become their accomplishment, and this is the scenario we need to focus on discussing next."
He felt that Tang Qianqian, with her energy level at only 1, would be the best subject for observation in such a situation.
Duan Mingyuan flipped to a blank page and wrote down Tang Qianqian's name:
Tang Qianqian, intern (Energy 1-?).
Her contributions to modern Life Energy science might be even more outstanding than Mr. Lu San's. In this wild frontier with no set rules and no industry training, Tang Qianqian was like a lighthouse, her existence illuminating a path for those who would come after her.
How much energy does an intern need to become a regular employee?
What kind of massive Life Energy would be required for a junior or even a senior professional title?
All these answers were hidden within this clear-eyed girl brimming with question marks.