Chapter 88: The Ultimate Conversation Killer [Seeking Rewards]

“How is it, Student Tang Shen? Isn’t this building handsome? Magnificent?” A member of the Special Department stood smiling beside Tang Shen, pointing proudly at the structure before them.

He was an old hand. He knew that young people like Tang Shen tended to think in leaps and turns, and speaking to him in a tone that catered to that was exactly the right approach, or so he believed with some satisfaction.

Most newcomers, the first time they saw the style of their department, were struck speechless by it—the grandeur, the singular form, something an ordinary person might never lay eyes on in an entire lifetime. In his view, Tang Shen would be no different.

Tang Shen let his gaze rest on the building in front of him. It was indeed enormous and imposing, but it utterly failed to match his sense of aesthetics.

In his previous life, he had seen no end of masterfully designed architecture. That was what deserved to be called handsome and magnificent. This did not.

So after hearing those words, he curled his lip and said, “Ugly. Though unusual. Unusually ugly.”

He meant it sincerely, and it was the plain truth.

Did they really think he had never seen the world? The things he had seen could be said to outnumber the roads they had walked. A bunch of yokels.

The gene warrior froze in speechless silence.

In an instant, he had no reply.

All the prepared exclamations, the smug remarks, the subtle attempts to extend an olive branch to Tang Shen—snuffed out before they could ever be born.

Damn it, kid, you do not play by the usual rules.

Could they not have a proper conversation? His face had reddened from holding it in, and not a single word would come out.

To make a gene warrior flush red like that was no easy feat.

The others following behind covered their mouths and snickered.

Trying to show off in front of a newcomer, only to fail miserably and get slapped down instead.

They had already learned on the journey over that Tang Shen had a gift for killing conversations. Yet this fool had still tried to put on airs and been choked off for it.

They led Tang Shen toward the building’s facade, and this time even he felt a little surprised.

Checkpoint after checkpoint. If one did not belong here, it would be impossible to enter safely. It was just like the futuristic films he had seen in his previous life: metal-built structures in which one could not even tell where the true path lay.

“See that road?” said the fellow Tang Shen had just silenced, apparently a chatterbox by nature. Even after being shut down, he still stubbornly searched for another topic. “In fact, no one has ever walked that road, because it was never meant for our own people. If an enemy takes that way, there’s basically no chance of walking out alive.”

“Not a bad idea.” Tang Shen nodded. Indeed, even he had failed to notice that behind the seamless metal wall to the side lay the real entrance. People instinctively walked where there seemed to be a path; that was human nature.

“Heh, right? This was our—” the talkative gene warrior began eagerly.

But Tang Shen cut in without warning. “Though it’s still stupid. A place this special—your Special Department, no less—and yet not a single sentry can be seen standing guard. Isn’t that just telling everyone outright that there’s something wrong with that road?”

The chatterbox fell silent again.

Damn it. Could this conversation continue at all? I’m about to flip the table.

The worst part was that Tang Shen made perfect sense. After hearing him say it, everyone looked at that road again and felt that, yes, there really was something suspicious about it.

Hell, there was not even room to argue.

Infuriating.

And they still had to keep smiling.

All along the way, many guards stood watch, metal firearms in hand, fingers resting on the triggers, ready to attack at any moment.

Tang Shen looked on with interest and was soon brought into a luxurious office.

Bai Xue’s bodyguard was already completely dumbfounded, because this was clearly not how one brought in a criminal for interrogation.

Look at this.

Someone immediately came over to brew tea, pour it, and prepare pastries.

What criminal gets treated like this? Come on, tell me.

Then a man in his thirties approached. He wore a white suit, gold-rimmed glasses, and carried a folder. He had a refined, scholarly bearing. If not for the occasional sharp gleam flashing through his eyes beneath those lenses, one might easily have mistaken him for an ordinary man.

He walked up to Tang Shen, who was happily eating pastries, smiled, extended his hand, and said directly, “My name is Ye Ping. Student Tang Shen, your strength has already been acknowledged by our department. I trust the three colleagues who went to fetch you have already explained the generous benefits we offer?”

As he spoke, he looked toward the three seated at the side—the very three who had gone to bring Tang Shen in.

Tang Shen was eating with great enjoyment. Ever since arriving in this world, his money had only been enough for the cheapest nutrient meals on the market. Those things could barely guarantee basic nutrition; as for taste, it was better not to speak of it. Even that nearly ate him into bankruptcy.

But the roasted meats and other foods in the game—those had truly been delicious.

These pastries were not bad either, only a little worse than the meat in the game, and that was enough to make him thoroughly happy.

After all, he was still growing. He needed a great deal of nourishment.

Ye Ping glanced to the side and was startled. He had come in through the door just now and had not looked over there.

What the hell?

What was going on?

Hadn’t he sent only three people?

One, two, three... eight people!

And four of them were dressed quite differently from those who worked here. He had never seen them before. Among those four stood one more person in the same attire as the rest, yet he did not seem familiar either. And Ye Ping’s memory was excellent—he knew every person here, every employee in every post.

New recruits? No, that could not be right. The department had not hired anyone recently.

“Huh?” Tang Shen was startled too. He looked at the man in front of him, reached out to shake his hand, and said, “Hello. By the way, what benefits?”

Benefits? He had not heard anything about benefits. Hadn’t they brought him here because he had killed that Liu Xin? Wasn’t this supposed to prove he was innocent?

He looked at the three gene warriors who had brought him over with equal puzzlement.

The moment Ye Ping’s gaze turned toward them, the three began darting their eyes away. When Tang Shen looked at them, the corners of their mouths started twitching.

The truth was that they had been trying to find opportunities to bring it up the whole time in the car. But there had been gene warriors from other factions sitting nearby, and whenever Tang Shen opened his mouth, he had an uncanny habit of killing the topic outright and leaving them choking in silence. So naturally, they had made no progress at all.

Many of the things they had originally meant to say were swallowed back down on the spot. That unpleasant feeling had not happened merely three times on the way; it had happened over and over. It was agony.

Ye Ping was taken aback as well, but he reacted quickly. Clearly the three had failed to handle the matter, and these five inexplicably appearing people were not part of the plan either.

He immediately said, “It doesn’t matter if they didn’t introduce it. I can explain our department to you again. Our department is called the Special Department. We are chiefly responsible for handling violations committed by gene warriors within the city, and we also oversee special security hazards within the city. Those hazards primarily involve the elimination of ferocious beasts that occasionally appear in urban areas.”