Chapter 57 Personal Connections

Wu Chang followed the two people into the combat club. The interior was professionally decorated, fully equipped with a weight-training area, a mixed-martial-arts ring, and a grappling zone.

A few people were scattered around training. Upon seeing the baby-faced man and his companion return, they actively waved and greeted them.

Everything looked completely natural, with nothing out of the ordinary.

However, nothing being out of the ordinary was the most suspicious thing of all.

Wu Chang whispered to the baby-faced man, "Is this really the Administration?"

"Is there a problem?"

"It's a bit different from what I imagined." Wu Chang made no secret of his disappointment.

Come on, this was the Anomalies Administration, after all—a supreme superpower firmly entrenched in the top three of the Abyss Game.

In his prediction, even if the Administration's stronghold wasn't as exaggerated as the movie *Men in Black*, where creatures from dungeon realms could be seen roaming freely everywhere, it should at least be some fantasy-style secret base.

The crew-cut middle-aged man saw through Wu Chang's thoughts and said, "What the Administration's building looks like doesn't matter. What matters are the people inside."

Wu Chang muttered softly, "So that's why it took you half a month to come looking for me?"

The crew-cut middle-aged man: "..."

"If you're going to chat like that, you're going to kill the conversation stone dead."

The crew-cut middle-aged man led Wu Chang to the resting area and beckoned to a young man in sunglasses who was hitting a punching bag nearby. "Erhus, come over and do a registration."

The crew-cut middle-aged man turned to Wu Chang and said, "He'll be responsible for your debriefing. We still have to go find the next fellow. As someone who has been through this, I advise you to cooperate and answer all his questions. It'll be good for you."

With that, he and the baby-faced man left the club.

The young man responsible for Wu Chang's debriefing sat down opposite him. He took off his sunglasses and squinted as he sized Wu Chang up.

"You're Wu Chang?"

Wu Chang skillfully rattled off a string of ID numbers. "If the person you're looking for is this one, then yes, that's me. Officer, how should I address you?"

<div>Zhao Yan. Two fires for Yan.</div>

Wu Chang pursed his lips, fighting down the urge to smile. So the crew-cut man had actually called him Erhus just now. He had almost thought this guy's nickname was "idiot" [Erho], and had nearly slipped up and called him that.

"Officer Zhao, regarding that act of heroism the other day, is there anything you need my cooperation with?"

"Since Flat-top was able to bring you here, he should have already confirmed your identity as a player. The debriefing can wait; let's do a simple registration first."

"Every player has their own secrets, which we understand. When asked something you don't want to talk about, you have the right to remain silent."

Wu Chang had been mentally prepared for what Zhao Yan called registration.

What happened on the bus was extremely simple; they only needed to pull up the surveillance footage to figure out the whole story in a few minutes. There was no need for him to give a statement half a month later.

With the Administration's capabilities, investigating Blood Thorn's identity couldn't be easier.

Being able to knock down Blood Thorn with a single elbow meant the Administration definitely considered him a player as well.

The debriefing was just an excuse; the Administration's true purpose was to put him on official record.

Every Abyss Game player possessed abilities surpassing ordinary people. They could be considered mini-supermen, or ticking time bombs that could detonate at any moment.

He who holds a sharp weapon develops a murderous intent.

Ordinary people who suddenly acquire supernatural powers, especially after experiencing life-or-death dungeons, easily grow numb and indifferent toward human life.

Some even begin to believe they have become members of the privileged elite, possessing both the ability and the right to determine the fates of others.

To take it to an extreme, if they end up believing in some evil god like Blood Thorn did, they would turn into anti-social terrorists.

As maintainers of social order, the Anomalies Administration naturally could not allow rogue players to act as they pleased.

Seeing that Wu Chang offered no objection, Zhao Yan began to ask:

"What is your current level?"

"Level 7."

"When did you enter the Abyss Game, and how many dungeons have you experienced?"

"I became a player about eight months ago, and I've been through 13 dungeons."

Zhao Yan inputted the data into his tablet and offered a word of praise: "Your leveling efficiency is quite good; you've already surpassed ordinary solo players."

"Thank you."

Wu Chang employed the phantom avatar ability of the Calamity's Incarnation, using the phantom's perspective to see that Zhao Yan had rated his potential as a B.

Ever since he learned of the Administration's existence, he had known this day would come, which was why he had prepared this narrative long ago.

Before joining the Administration under the identity of a player who had cleared the Moonlight Sanitarium, he needed to "sneak into" the Administration to understand its true face.

Since it was infiltration, the key was to remain inconspicuous and keep a low profile.

In the Abyss Game, every 5 levels served as a threshold. Level 7 was just past the fledgling stage, yet still remained within the novice category—not yet reaching the veteran tier above level 10. It was the most suitable level for experiencing things and gathering intelligence.

However, according to his plan, he didn't intend to join the Administration right away. Instead, he planned to establish a connection with them first and gradually make contact.

Only by starting his contact as an outsider could he see the full picture of the Administration.

Right now, this was both a registration and an evaluation; he needed to lower his rating a bit.

Officer Zhao continued to ask, "Would it be convenient to disclose how many skills you have?"

Wu Chang said very naturally, "Two."

"How many?"

"Two."

"I'm asking about all your skills, passives count too," Zhao Yan emphasized, afraid Wu Chang hadn't understood him.

"Yes, including passives, exactly two skills in total." Wu Chang repeated it once more.

He wasn't lying. The Lightning Technique Fragment was a cultivation method, and the Calamity was counted under his talents. His attribute panel's skill slots truly only contained two skills.

At this, Zhao Yan's smile grew somewhat rigid. He tapped his finger and changed Wu Chang's potential rating to C.

The difficulty design of the Abyss Game was extremely smooth. To make it easier for novices to adapt to dungeons in the early stages and possess self-preservation abilities, F-rank and E-rank dungeons offered plenty of opportunities to learn skills.

Precisely because of this, F and E-rank dungeons were known as the Novice Incubator.

According to statistics from various factions, in the Novice Incubator, a learnable skill would appear on average every two dungeons.

For certain lucky bastards, learning two to three skills in a single dungeon wasn't considered rare at all, and some had even learned C-rank skills in E-rank dungeons.

Given Wu Chang's level, at least 9 to 11 of his 13 dungeons must have been F or E-rank.

Zhao Yan couldn't fathom how unlucky one had to be, or how gloomy their clearing methods had to be, to only learn two skills across so many dungeons.

"Would you mind sharing what types of skills they are?"

Wu Chang shrugged and said quite relaxed, "One utility passive skill, one control active skill."

"What about damage-dealing skills?"

"None."

"..."

Zhao Yan fell silent for a moment, then probed tentatively, "Your method of clearing dungeons wouldn't happen to be cowering, would it?"

Wu Chang raised a thumb and gave a thumbs-up. "Officer Zhao truly understands the game!"

Zhao Yan slapped a palm against his forehead; he seemed to realize just how Wu Chang had been clearing his runs.

Wu Chang's utility passive must have been survival-oriented. Once he entered the dungeon, he began avoiding frontal combat, relying on survival skills to hover at the edges of the dungeon.

He would occasionally ambush a few mooks, gather intelligence, and clear the dungeon right at the 40% completion mark every single time, never taking the slightest risk.

There were indeed players of this style, and their early-stage survival rate was indeed high.

However, the price was that once they left the Novice Incubator and encountered the sharply increasing difficulty of D and C-rank dungeons, they would find things extremely grueling.

Unless they acquired some powerful skill, players who only knew how to cower typically died miserably.

Zhao Yan adjusted Wu Chang's rating once more, changing C to C-.

He was somewhat unwilling to give up, as if he absolutely had to find a single redeeming quality in Wu Chang. He asked:

"What about your attribute allocation preference?"

"I take a balanced route with no shortcomings."

*Tui!*

At level 7, he only had 30 skill points, yet he chose a balanced build. To put it nicely, it had no shortcomings; to put it bluntly, it was good for nothing at all.

His rating dropped from C- to D.

Refusing to believe it, Zhao Yan was determined to drag a merit out of him. "Then do you have any personal specialties?"

Wu Chang said with confidence, "I'm fiercely good at playing ball, and my physical contact is especially fierce."

"Are you being serious?" The corners of Zhao Yan's mouth twitched, and he suppressed the urge to curse out loud.

"If you don't believe me, we can play a one-on-one."

Zhao Yan seemed to have completely given up. His hand hovered over the rating, as if he wanted to lower it again, but in the end, he didn't pull the trigger.

"I have some business to attend to. Wait here for a moment, I'll be right back."

With that, he hurried off in a rush, heading straight for the resting area.

Curious about what Zhao Yan was going to do, Wu Chang transformed into a phantom and squatted by the door of the resting area.

As soon as he got close, he heard Zhao Yan pouring out his grievances.

"Big Sis, I'm truly out of options. This kid is simply good for nothing. If I recruit him into the bureau, my conscience is going to hurt."

Peering through the crack in the door, Wu Chang discovered that the person sitting opposite Zhao Yan was actually an acquaintance.

Fang Hui's girlfriend, Meng Yawen.

Ignoring Zhao Yan's complaints, Meng Yawen spoke in a formulaic tone:

"Leveling to 7 through 13 dungeons, and even capturing a Class-1 wanted criminal like Blood Thorn—both your level and your contributions meet the requirements to enter the Administration."

Zhao Yan: "But looking at the rating..."

Meng Yawen stretched out one hand and slowly clenched it into a fist, her knuckle joints popping like firecrackers.

Two Fires, does your conscience hurt, or does everywhere hurt? Which one would you like to choose?

Zhao Yan gave a start and immediately said, "I choose Wu Chang! The first time I laid eyes on this kid, I felt he was a talent. The future of the Administration cannot do without him!"

Meng Yawen was quite satisfied with Zhao Yan's perceptiveness.

"I promised a... a relative of mine that I'd look out for Wu Chang if the chance arose. Keep an eye on him when I'm not around. If anything happens to him—"

Zhao Yan snapped to attention and said, "Rest assured, Instructor! Zhao Yan will definitely complete the mission!"

Seeing that the conversation inside was about to end, Wu Chang drove his phantom back to his physical body.

Fang Hui's weird-magnet constitution was steadily scoring points, but he hadn't expected this kid's new girlfriend to actually be a member of the Anomalies Administration, and judging by the sound of it, her position wasn't low either.

He rubbed his nose. He never imagined that one day he would also become someone with connections.

Anyway, given his registration file, he wouldn't stand out in the Administration. Should he just join and give it a try?