The morning sunlight fell on Chen Yifei's face, his eyelashes fluttered lightly, and he slowly opened his eyes...
"I'm back..." He rubbed the corners of his eyes and exhaled deeply.
After the prize draw, he wandered around the stage for a long time but still couldn't find any exit. It was only after the stage bell rang and the curtain opened that he automatically returned.
"Current expectation value is 23%... It's getting close to the life-and-death line again." Chen Yifei recalled the screen characters before he left and muttered, "I have to do something quickly..."
"Brother..."
The bedding was pulled aside, and Chen Muyu sat up from the bed, rubbing his red eyes. "Good morning."
"Good morning." Chen Yifei glanced at the clock on the wall, took out the last few copper coins from his pocket, and handed them to Chen Muyu. "I'm going out for a while. I don't know what time I'll be back specifically, so you eat something yourself today..."
"Brother, where are you going?"
"To catch myself."
"...?"
Chen Yifei put on a cotton coat, stuffed the envelope given by the enforcer yesterday into his pocket, turned around, and rubbed Chen Muyu's head. "Don't ask too many questions. Just stay home and wait for me to come back, understand?"
"Understood." Chen Muyu nodded obediently.
After seeing Chen Yifei off, Chen Muyu got out of bed and looked at the two big holes in the door of their house, his eyebrows immediately furrowed.
"How should I fix this..."
He looked at the few remaining copper coins in his hand, silently put them away, and took out a heavy hammer and wooden board from the house to start comparing sizes.
Just then, a figure appeared behind the big holes, startling Chen Muyu.
It was a man wearing a wool coat, with a dark blue scarf around his collar and a pair of silver-wired glasses on his nose bridge, looking literary and wise.
But at this moment, as he looked at the house with just two big holes left, a look of confusion also emerged in his wise eyes...
He wanted to say something but felt it was impolite, so he tried to knock on the door. However, he walked around the house and couldn't find where the door was.
He returned behind the holes and looked inside.
"Is there something you need?" Chen Muyu tilted his head.
"Is Mr. Chen Yifei here?"
Hearing his brother's name, a trace of vigilance flashed in Chen Muyu's eyes. He looked at the man for a few moments and asked again, "Is there something you need?"
The man took off his white gloves, took out a letter from his coat pocket, unfolded it, held it in his hand, and spoke calmly to the room:
"I heard that Mr. Chen needs a [doctor]."
"So, I'm here."
...
The shivering cold wind blew into his collar, making Chen Yifei couldn't help but shiver.
"Hey, where are you going? Can I give you a ride?" A lean and dark-skinned man dragged a rickshaw and hurried to Chen Yifei's side, revealing a row of yellow teeth as he grinned.
Chen Yifei looked at him and said, "The enforcer headquarters."
"Oh, I'm familiar with that. I just sent two people there. Are you all going to be alternates? Well, I see that you have a connection too. I charged them ten yuan, but I'll charge you seven. Want to go?"
"... Forget it."
"Six yuan, six yuan. That's the lowest I can go."
"I don't have any money on me."
"No money?" The man's eyebrows furrowed as he glanced at Chen Yifei, then grumbled and left, dragging his rickshaw behind him. "What kind of enforcer is he without any money... What a bad omen."
Chen Yifei: ...?
Chen Yifei thought that the people in this world really had poor manners. He rubbed his frostbitten hands and couldn't help but加快 his pace towards the center of District Three.
Until yesterday evening, Chen Yifei had been thinking about how to avoid the enforcers from discovering any clues and tracing them back to him... Now, he had an answer.
That was to become an enforcer.
Become an enforcer, participate in all investigations related to disasters, and then disrupt them so they could never pinpoint him.
"I become one, I participate, I disrupt, and I run away."
This was Chen Yifei's current plan.
Chen Yifei walked through several streets and arrived at a massive building with a dome-like ceiling that resembled glass. He finally stopped.
"What a magnificent building..." Chen Yifei looked up at the dome and couldn't help but exclaim, "How much funding did it take to build this?"
In this neighborhood filled with two-story earthen houses, the appearance of such a unique building was as conspicuous and突兀 as suddenly building an art museum in a rural area in his previous life.
At this moment, several young people, each holding a letter, were also hurrying into the headquarters. They exchanged glances and politely smiled and nodded at each other.
There were roughly over seventy people who passed the written test in District Three. Generally, the elimination rate for the physical test was also 50%, so only about thirty people could become enforcers each year. Although the format of the physical test had changed this year, the final elimination rate would remain the same.
In short, everyone who entered this building now was actually a potential competitor.
Chen Yifei walked into the headquarters, and under the glass dome, several rows of people were already standing neatly.
These people, like Chen Yifei, were dressed in ordinary civilian clothing. They stood in rows of ten, each with their heads held high and their chests puffed out, every muscle in their bodies tightly tensed, looking like warriors ready to be summoned at any moment.
Chen Yifei had arrived late and could only stand at the edge of the last row. After he took his position, an enforcer glanced at the list and nodded slightly.
"Everyone is here."
Another enforcer picked up a prepared speech and was about to speak when the headquarters door was forcefully pushed open, and two figures walked in slowly.
Han Meng tossed the burnt cigarette butt under his foot and crushed it. The four silver patterns on his black windbreaker gleamed, and his gaze calmly swept over all the alternates, instantly casting a strange sense of oppression over everyone...
Except for Chen Yifei.
Chen Yifei raised his eyebrows in surprise, and his gaze subconsciously fell on Han Meng's back of the head...
Did he hit him so hard yesterday that he recovered today?
Was this guy's head so hard?
"It's Han Meng!"
"It's really him... He's here too?"
"Who is Han Meng?"
"He's the chief enforcer of our District Three and the only four-pattern enforcer in the district."
"It's said that he's a super genius who was promoted to four patterns at the age of 24. He even outperformed all his contemporaries in the Aurora City... He's the pride of our seven districts!"
"Outperformed all his contemporaries in the Aurora City? Is that true? If he's so good, why wasn't he recruited into the Aurora City?"
"I don't know... It's said that he had some conflicts with some important figure in the Aurora City."
"I heard he's very skilled in combat. My mom really likes him."
"... How old is your mom this year?"
"Almost fifty."
"..."
With Han Meng's arrival, the alternates immediately started whispering to each other. Even the many enforcers standing aside subconsciously straightened their backs and looked serious and solemn.
Han Meng stood under the dome and suddenly felt a chill on the back of his head, as if someone was examining his weaknesses...
He subconsciously turned around and found that all the alternates were secretly looking at him.
After making eye contact with Han Meng, all the alternates lowered their heads and stopped talking. The entire headquarters was extremely quiet.
"My name is Han Meng, and I am currently the highest-ranking officer in District Three." Han Meng adjusted his mindset and spoke slowly, "The next three days will be your physical test evaluation. Out of the 72 of you, only 30 will remain..."
Thirty people... Even lower than the expected pass rate. Chen Yifei thought to himself.
This ratio also surprised the other alternates. They couldn't help but start discussing again, with puzzled looks in their eyes.
"However, among these 30 people, three will be granted early access to the 'Ancient Martial Arts Treasury'..."
Upon hearing Han Meng's words, the entire headquarters was filled with commotion, even the enforcers standing aside widened their eyes.
Chen Yifei didn't understand.
Among the many alternates present, more than half didn't understand as well.
Seeing this, Han Meng calmly explained, "Do you know the difference between an enforcer and an enforcer officer?"