Chapter 127: The One Above

At the headquarters of the Evolution Organization, before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, stood the same silhouette, and before him, the same subordinate reporting. Yet, the atmosphere had grown significantly heavier.

This was the leader’s office—vast and cavernous. Apart from the large desk by the window, the room was occupied only by colossal statues lining both sides. Like a grotesque temple, these statues were carved from an unknown black material. They all took the form of monsters, at least five meters tall, their hideous faces fixed upon the desk—or rather, upon the figure standing behind it, who was less than two meters tall.

Whenever the subordinate entered, he always suffered from a strange illusion: the five-meter-tall monsters seemed less imposing than the leader’s two-meter frame. It felt as if the leader were not two meters tall, but twenty.

However, he dared not look at that figure now. After finishing his report, he kept his head bowed.

*Tap, tap, tap.*

He heard the sound of leather shoes striking the floor drawing closer. Knowing the leader was approaching, his heart leapt, filled with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

When he looked down and saw a pair of shoes stop before him, he heard the leader’s gentle voice: "Tom, look up."

"Yes."

Tom lifted his head and saw his leader: silver hair groomed meticulously, a kind expression, resembling a traditional old gentleman. He was not twenty meters tall.

"So you are saying our plan in the Qin Kingdom failed? Not only did it result in the loss of a Silver-rank supervisor in District 11, but half of the few Bronze-rank supervisors in the Qin Kingdom were also lost?"

"Yes, Leader," Tom replied respectfully.

"The clash between the Demon Suppression Bureau and the Ascension Society was a crushing victory for them. They lost very few personnel; they are far more powerful than we estimated. The 'Super Vanguard' armor played a significant role. If nothing goes wrong, this armor will enter mass production after this battle."

"Most importantly, the inventor of the armor, named 'Zhou Shu,' did not die. His combat power far exceeded our estimates. He cooperated with an S-rank superhuman from the Qin Kingdom to take down the leader of the Ascension Society."

"According to intelligence from our field agents, the Ascension Society leader’s combat form was incredibly powerful, ranking among the best even for our Gold-rank supervisors, nearing the level of the 'Superiors.' Yet, he was gunned down, shot by shot, by the opponent’s sniper rifle."

"Although the S-rank superhuman blocked attacks for him, our intelligence assessment indicates his base combat power is at least A-rank. With the right weaponry, however, his combat power skyrockets to the S-rank."

Hearing this, the leader of the Evolution Organization was not angry; instead, he smiled and complimented Zhou Shu: "It seems he is truly a formidable young man."

"Yes, Leader," Tom continued. "The opponent is very capable. Our intelligence department suspects that the Demon Suppression Bureau intentionally hid his true strength, causing our department to receive false information. We made the wrong judgment based on that, leading to the plan's failure."

"The intelligence department has discussed this. To prevent Zhou Shu from growing further and affecting our grand plan, they suggest you send a 'Superior' to eliminate him."

"That is a good suggestion. We can send a Superior, but do not kill him yet. Bring him to me. I would like to meet this interesting young man."

"As you wish."

***

On the other side, Zhou Shu was unaware that he had become a target again; he had already returned to school.

He had said what he said before, but school was still school. With only a few days left, he couldn't just cut off his high school life entirely. Besides, he had been "fighting" everywhere these past few days—either building armor with elderly experts decades his senior, or fighting monsters with professional teams—that he had almost forgotten he was only eighteen, a high school student about to graduate.

If he didn't return to school, he would be completely out of touch with his peers. He was still young; he didn't want to become an "old man." Even if his hobbies had become incompatible with some of his peers—making him feel like a fake teenager—at least there were still some who were similar. If he kept hanging out with the likes of Li Decai and his crew, he would truly be "finished."

He had returned to the Demon Suppression Bureau in the morning and gone to school in the afternoon. Resources for designing and manufacturing the small-scale mecha were being gathered, as was the manpower. Starting from scratch would take at least a week or two, giving him just enough time to take an exam.

"Hey, Brother Ren is back! I missed you so much, come here for a hug!"

"Did Old Zhou get a circumcision? Why did he ask for so many days off?"

"What? Old Zhou is missing his 'downstairs'? Poor guy. Brother will treat you to snacks this afternoon to help you recover."

His roommates, who were taking a lunch break, saw the dorm door push open and realized Zhou Shu was standing there. They immediately began to shout.

Ah, the familiar scent of idiocy. Zhou Shu felt comforted.

He threw his backpack onto his bed, kicked off his shoes, climbed up to his bunk, and shouted, "Idiots."

Having been cursed by their dear roommate, the others seemed satisfied and continued their previous discussion.

"I heard someone in Class 182 was detected with superpowers. It sounds like they're going to become a super-powered individual."

"Is that for real? Our school has a super-powered person now?"

"It should be true. I heard students from their class talking about it when I went to the restroom. Apparently, people from the Police Guard went to their class."

Zhou Shu caught that—his school had produced a super-powered person? He had scanned the school before; although there were many blind spots, he had scanned the attributes of most people, and there hadn't been anyone with abnormally high stats. Could it be that one had slipped through the cracks?

"Is there really a super-powered person in Class 182? Do you know the name?" Zhou Shu asked from his bed.

"Not really sure. It seems a few names came up most often, but their reputations aren't very good."

"Bad reputations? Then it's fine."

Hearing this, Zhou Shu relaxed. If their reputations were poor, no matter which of them was the super-powered one, the Demon Suppression Bureau certainly wouldn't let them join. As an absolute institution of force, the Bureau’s ideological screening was extremely strict. If they couldn't become executors of justice, the organization would eventually be corrupted from within.

As for whether they were actually people from the Bureau, Zhou Shu could just go and see for himself. Since he had nothing to do this afternoon, he might as well conduct a special inspection of the school.

After pondering these questions, he asked, "Do you guys know any recent news about super-powered people? Other than our school, is it the same for others?"

"Don't know about the others, but I know there are two super-powered people at the Second High School, and they've already joined the Dongyuan City Demon Suppression Bureau."

"That's amazing. Two in one school, and they've already joined the Bureau. Our First High School has actually been surpassed by the Second; I can't take this!"

"Exactly, I wish I could mutate on the spot and get into the Bureau!"

"Hahaha, if you mutated on the spot, you'd definitely be suppressed by the Bureau."

"Damn you, you're just jealous that I have a girlfriend..."

Zhou Shu wasn't very interested in the beginning—the super-powered people from the Second High School were likely Ren Guang and Lin Tianjing—but he gained interest at the end.

What did that mean? His "Brother Kun" had actually found a girlfriend? That didn't make sense!

"Hey, hey, when did Brother Kun get a girlfriend? How come I didn't know?"

"You wouldn't know, it just happened these past two days..."

Zhou Shu learned a lot from his roommates. They were envious of the super-powered... apprentices in other schools, and they talked about how First High was surpassed by Second. They didn't know that right there in their dorm was a "Celestial Master" level super-powered person, and their homeroom teacher was also a super-powered person with a rank and position far higher than those two apprentices.

This was a real-life version of "The super-powered person is actually right beside me."

Beyond that, he learned their perspectives on super-powered individuals, the Demon Suppression Bureau, monsters, and the Bureau's forceful suppression of the Ascension Society. Perhaps because they were students, they didn't feel much panic; instead, they felt it was quite exciting.

They wanted to become super-powered. They wanted to join the Bureau. They weren't afraid of those monsters; they even despised them. They applauded the Bureau’s suppression of the Ascension Society because the success of the operation meant the college entrance exam would go on as scheduled. This allowed them to take the exam smoothly without having to inexplicably repeat a year.

He heard that some universities had already opened courses related to super-powered people and monsters, and they were very eager to check them out.

In fact, the fame of Ren Guang and Lin Tianjing at the Second High School was due to the original "Idol Project." If Zhou Shu hadn't left in such a hurry—and because there were already "protective suppression" measures in place for him—he wouldn't have appeared either. Later facts proved that the authorities' approach was correct; if the outside world had known of Zhou Shu's "true ability," he would have been in real danger.

The "Celestial Master" was indeed formidable, and Tong Tianhua was even more so, yet he was still beaten to death by the "Celestial Master" and Zhou Shu.

Regardless, as far as his roommates were concerned, they had fully accepted the shift in their worldview, especially since the Bureau had directly severed the largest illegal super-powered organization in the country.

***

Current super-powered individuals were treated like celebrities, though everything remained under the state's control. Compared to the domestic situation, things abroad were a bit chaotic. Because of the "freedom" mindset, foreign super-powered individuals were very resistant to the discipline of professional agencies. Naturally, it also had to do with them being constantly scammed by those agencies, leading to an innate "anti-authority" sentiment.

Thus, the situation abroad was that the professional agencies weren't fighting illegal organizations, but rather fighting the "free" super-powered individuals. It was absurd!

In truth, Zhou Shu didn't know that this was the "norm" for the world; the Great Qin Kingdom was often in a state of "being out of step with other nations because I'm not crazy enough." There was no helping it.

Just as Zhou Shu was rediscovering school life, the Evolution Organization in the Eagle Federation dispatched a "Superior."

He was blonde, blue-eyed, very handsome, and possessed great charisma. Carrying a travel bag and holding a sports camera, he boarded a plane to the Great Qin Kingdom with a smile on his face.

After stowing his travel bag, he helped the black-haired woman next to him with her luggage. After she thanked him, the two began to chat happily. The handsome blonde introduced himself as Benson Politt, a travel vlogger. He admired the natural beauty of the Great Qin and had always wanted to visit. To better tour the country, he had learned Chinese and could now communicate a little. The sentence he said most fluently was, "I love Great Qin."

Because they had such a pleasant conversation, the black-haired woman acted as Benson's guide, at least for the first day, taking him to see the ancient sites in Hudu City.

Yes, although Benson Politt’s target was Zhou Shu, he would not go directly to Dongyuan City; instead, he would slowly close in on the target as a tourist. Although he was a "Superior" of the Evolution Organization—far stronger than any S-rank or Level 4 super-powered person—this was the mysterious Great Qin Kingdom. Every one of their plans had hit a snag here, so it was best to be cautious.

Meeting a foolish woman who volunteered to be his guide as soon as he boarded the plane would certainly lower his suspicion level further. After getting off the plane, the woman enthusiastically took Benson to a hotel, and he politely treated her to a meal as a gesture of thanks.

Everything was proceeding smoothly. The local Demon Suppression Bureau showed no abnormal reaction.

On the other side, Zhou Shu, who had just started class again, still felt a bit unaccustomed to it. Fortunately, there was nothing to lecture on in these final days; it was all self-study. He quickly flipped through his textbooks and, satisfied that he knew the material, began to play with a coin.

Or rather, he was training his psychokinesis. This would be the focus of his training hereafter.

He felt that relying on his fists wouldn't kill the Monstrosity Queen. Other conditions there were also limited, and he couldn't inflict any effective damage. So, he thought, if he increased the power of his psychokinesis, could he crush the Monstrosity Queen into a pulp? If he could squeeze such a massive queen into the size of a soccer ball, even the most formidable cells should be crushed to death, right?

If that still didn't work, he would truly be out of options.

"Old Zhou, what are you doing? Testing your superpowers too?" his deskmate asked.

"Yeah," Zhou Shu said, his hands vaguely surrounding the coin on the desk. "If I can make this coin float, wouldn't that prove I have superpowers?"

"You really are a genius," his deskmate said (in the tone of Brother Yunlong).

"But as far as I know, the superpowers the Bureau talks about are all physical enhancements, not some messy abilities. It’s not like the movies."

"Oh, but I believe I will succeed," Zhou Shu said earnestly.

"Fine, you always come up with some new tricks," his deskmate said (in the tone of Brother Yunfei).

He felt that Zhou Shu wasn't necessarily trying to practice superpowers but was just playing around to relax his mood. After all, the college entrance exam was approaching. In truth, his deskmate was also a bit worried. With such a massive change in the world, he wondered... was the college entrance exam still useful?