The first rays of morning sunlight touched Evan Stone's face. His eyelashes fluttered as he slowly opened his eyes...
"Back again..." He rubbed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
After drawing his prize, he had wandered around the stage for quite a while but still hadn't found any exit. It wasn't until the stage bell rang, and the curtain opened, that he was automatically returned.
"Current expectation: 23%... it's nearing the life-and-death line again," Evan Stone murmured to himself as he recalled the screen characters before he left. "I need to do something quickly..."
"Brother..."
The blankets shifted, and Maxe Stone, rubbing his red eyes, sat up in bed. "Good morning."
"Good morning." Evan Stone glanced at the clock on the wall, took the last few copper coins from his pocket, and handed them to Maxe Stone. "I need to go out for a while. I'm not sure when I'll be back. You should eat something on your own today."
"Brother, where are you going?"
"To catch myself."
"...?"
Evan Stone put on a cotton coat, tucked the envelope from the authorities into his pocket, and turned to ruffle Maxe Stone's hair. "Don't ask too many questions. Just wait here at home for me to come back, alright?"
"Got it." Maxe Stone nodded obediently.
After watching Evan Stone leave, Maxe Stone got out of bed, looking at the two large holes in the door. His brow furrowed immediately.
"How do we fix this..."
He looked at the few remaining copper coins in his hand, silently pocketing them. He pulled out a heavy hammer and some wooden boards, starting to measure the sizes.
At that moment, a figure appeared from behind the hole, startling Maxe Stone.
It was a man in a wool coat, a deep blue scarf wrapped around his neck, silver-rimmed glasses on his nose, looking scholarly and wise.
But at that moment, as he looked at the house with only two large holes left, even his wise eyes were filled with confusion...
He tried to say something but felt it would be impolite, so he attempted to knock on the door. But after walking around the house, he couldn't find where the door was.
He returned to the hole and looked inside.
"Do you need something?" Maxe Stone tilted his head.
"Is Mr. Evan Stone here?"
Hearing his brother's name, a flash of caution appeared in Maxe Stone's eyes. He sized up the man and asked again, "Do you need something?"
The man took off his white gloves, pulled an envelope from his coat pocket, opened it, and held it out in front of him. He spoke calmly toward the house:
"I've heard that Mr. Evan Stone is looking for a [doctor]."
"So, I'm here."
...
The cold wind rushed through the collar, making Evan Stone shiver involuntarily.
"Young man, where are you going? I can give you a ride." A slim, dark-skinned man pulling a rickshaw quickly caught up to Evan Stone, grinning to reveal a set of yellow teeth.
Evan Stone glanced at him. "To the Law Enforcement Headquarters."
"That I know well. Just dropped off two people. You're all going to be in the reserve seat, right? Well, I'm feeling generous. I'll charge them ten copper, but I'll charge you seven, what do you say?"
"…Never mind."
"Six copper, six copper. I can't go any lower."
"I don't have money."
"No money?" The man furrowed his brow, glancing at him a few times before muttering and walking away, "No money to be a law enforcement officer... Bad luck."
Evan Stone: ...?
Evan Stone thought to himself, The people in this world really have no manners. He rubbed his cold hands and quickened his pace toward the center of District 3.
Before last night, Evan Stone had been thinking about how to prevent the authorities from noticing anything suspicious and finding out about him again... Now, he had an answer.
That answer was to become a law enforcement officer.
Become a law enforcement officer, participate in all investigations of the disasters, and interfere with them so they can never pinpoint him.
"I become, I participate, I disrupt, I escape."
This was Evan Stone's current strategy.
Evan Stone walked through several streets until he reached a massive building with what looked like a glass dome. He finally stopped.
"This is impressive..." Evan Stone looked up at the dome and couldn't help but marvel, "How much funding must have gone into building this?"
In a neighborhood full of two-story mud houses, such a unique building stood out like an art gallery suddenly built in a rural village in the past.
A few young people were walking briskly toward the headquarters, holding envelopes. They exchanged polite smiles and nods.
There were about seventy people who had passed the written exam in District 3. Generally, the elimination rate for the physical exam was around 50%, so only about thirty people would become law enforcement officers each year. Although this year the physical exam was held differently, the final elimination rate would remain the same.
In short, everyone walking into this building was a potential competitor.
Evan Stone entered the headquarters building. Under the glass dome, several rows of people were already standing in neat lines.
Like Evan Stone, these people were dressed in commoner's clothes, standing in groups of ten, each one standing tall and straight, their muscles tightly tensed, looking like warriors ready to be called at any moment.
Evan Stone arrived a bit late and could only stand at the edge of the last row. Once he took his place, one of the officers glanced at the list and nodded slightly.
"Everyone's here."
Another officer picked up a prepared speech and was about to speak when the doors to the headquarters were suddenly pushed open, and two figures slowly walked in.
Victor Hale, throwing the butt of his cigarette onto the ground and crushing it with his foot, walked in wearing a black coat with four silver threads glistening on it. His calm gaze swept over all the reserve officers, and a sense of invisible pressure instantly overwhelmed everyone's hearts...
Except for Evan Stone.
Evan Stone raised an eyebrow in surprise, his gaze instinctively falling on the back of Victor Hale's head...
He recovered so quickly after the blow last night?
How tough is this guy's head?
"It's Victor Hale!"
"It's really him... he's here?"
"Who's Victor Hale?"
"Our District 3 Law Enforcement Chief, the only four-star law enforcement officer in District 3."
"I've heard he's a genius, promoted to four stars at the age of 24, and even crushed all his peers from Aurora City... He's the pride of our seven districts!"
"He crushed his peers from Aurora City? Is that true? If he's that amazing, why wasn't he recruited by Aurora City?"
"I don't know... I heard he had some conflict with a big shot in Aurora City."
"I heard he's really strong, my mom really likes him."
"...How old is your mom?"
"Almost fifty."
"..."
As Victor Hale entered, the reserve officers immediately began whispering. Even the surrounding law enforcement officers straightened up instinctively, their expressions serious and focused.
Victor Hale stood under the dome, suddenly feeling a chill at the back of his head, as if someone was scrutinizing his weaknesses...
He instinctively turned around and saw that a group of reserve officers was quietly watching him.
After locking eyes with Victor Hale, all the reserve officers lowered their heads, not daring to speak, and the entire headquarters fell into complete silence.
"My name is Victor Hale, and I'm the highest-ranking officer in District 3." Victor Hale adjusted his posture and slowly spoke. "For the next three days, you'll be undergoing your physical exams. Out of these 72 people, only 30 will remain..."
"30... that's even lower than the expected pass rate," Evan Stone thought.
This rate also surprised the other reserve officers, who couldn't help but exchange confused glances.
"But out of these 30, 3 will receive early access to the 'War God Path Ancient Vault'..."
At these words, the entire headquarters erupted into whispers. Even the law enforcement officers standing nearby widened their eyes in surprise.
Evan Stone didn't understand.
More than half of the reserve officers in the room didn't understand either.
Seeing their confusion, Victor Hale slowly explained: "Do you know the difference between a law enforcement officer and a law enforcer?"