Chapter 1 Nan Jin

Nan Jin brought Gu Shen to the second basement level of a building in the city center.

This was one of the detention facilities of the Tribunal.

In the prison cell, the lights were blinding.

Several burly men in vests were tightly bound, their muscles bulging.

From the moment they were subdued until now, they were still struggling, and their strength was astonishing. The sounds of their impacts could be heard through the walls.

Gu Shen immediately recognized these people... judging from their physiques, they were the "fake researchers" from last night!

He asked, "Are these the suspects caught last night?"

"Yes, and no..." Nan Jin shook her head. "They are actually football players."

Football... players?

No wonder!

Gu Shen recalled the scene from yesterday. The way these people broke through the security line was like wild beasts!

Nan Jin opened a holographic screen.

The information files of these people appeared one by one.

She sighed. "These people are all amateur football players from Da Teng City, and they have always been good citizens with no criminal records... They were hypnotized by a mental-type esper, so they developed cognitive impairment..."

"Mental-type esper?" Gu Shen frowned. "Cognitive... impairment?"

"They believe they are angry bulls."

An unfamiliar female voice said leisurely.

Gu Shen perked up and looked in the direction of the voice. There was still one esper who hadn't shown up last night. This should be the "Senior Sister" Nan Jin mentioned.

He saw a short girl in a gray hooded sweatshirt and skirt slowly walking out from the corner. She wasn't tall, her face was young and tender, with a chubby baby face, and she looked only fifteen or sixteen years old.

"The guy hiding behind the scenes is very clever." The baby-faced girl chewed her gum unhurriedly. "The interrogation over there just ended. Unfortunately, the guys you and Zhong Wei caught are just hypnotized pawns."

The girl in the gray hooded sweatshirt blew a large bubble with her gum. She sized up Gu Shen with interest. In the shadows behind her stood a somber and handsome young man, also giving Gu Shen a kindly scrutinizing look.

The girl smiled. "This is the S-rank rookie who was saved by using the 'Special Pardon Order'?"

"Yes." Nan Jin nodded and solemnly introduced Gu Shen: "These two are Senior Sister Luo Er and Senior Brother Zhong Wei."

"Is this really Senior Sister..."

Gu Shen raised his hand to compare heights and mumbled in a very skeptical voice, "She clearly looks younger than me. She's so small, isn't she even an adult yet?"

Pop.

The gum bubble burst.

Luo Er's forehead showed signs of dark lines.

Her height was despised... The handsome young man Zhong Wei placed his hands on his senior sister's shoulders and said softly with a smile, "Alright, alright, with your appearance, it's no wonder the rookie would misunderstand..."

Zhong Wei smiled and looked at Gu Shen.

The moment their eyes met, a voice suddenly appeared in Gu Shen's mind.

It was Zhong Wei's voice—

"Many years ago, because of a certain 'extraordinary event,' Senior Sister Luo Er's body became like this. Her bone age will forever remain at fifteen years old. In fact, she has been studying and cultivating with Teacher Shu for the longest time, and her strength is the strongest. She is recognized and respected by everyone. She is a genuine Eldest Senior Sister."

Is this voice another application of extraordinary power?

Besides being surprised, Gu Shen... realized that this handsome young man was completely different from the fierce appearance he had spied on last night.

Zhong Wei's performance when chasing the magician was quite swift and decisive, like a cheetah—fast, accurate, and ruthless, making people palpitate.

He is a ruthless character who shows no mercy to his enemies!

But he is incredibly gentle towards this newcomer taken in by Teacher Shu.

"Because of the influence of extraordinary power, Senior Sister Luo Er's temper sometimes gets out of control, so try to be careful in the future." The mental message Zhong Wei sent was unusually serious: "...But if you make her angry, the solution is very simple."

The mental message ended.

"Senior Sister, here, have some candy!"

Zhong Wei smilingly took out a lollipop from his pocket.

Three seconds later.

Luo Er, holding the lollipop in her mouth, was obedient and docile like a small animal, but her voice was slurred. Her originally fierce face was full of disdain: "Who would bother with a rookie... Besides, this kid hasn't passed the assessment yet. It's still up in the air whether he can become a rookie."

Huff... So the solution is so simple.

Gu Shen breathed a sigh of relief and gave Zhong Wei a subtle look of gratitude.

...

...

In the corner of the second basement level, there were two closely guarded prison cells with extremely high specifications.

The "magician" and "infiltrator" from last night were both locked up here.

"Although these two are espers, their strength is very ordinary, and they haven't even undergone systematic training." Luo Er said slowly, "The mental-type esper hiding behind the scenes should possess abilities similar to 'dream weaving'. He cast several layers of dreams on these people, reversing reality and illusion, and then adding subconscious guidance. Until now, these two espers don't even know what they did..."

"Dream weaving?"

"Yes... The method of pulling the other party's consciousness into illusion is called dream weaving. Generally, only mental-type espers can perform it. As time passes, the dream will slowly shatter. The fact that they haven't woken up yet shows that there is a big gap in strength between the two sides."

Seeing Gu Shen's confused expression, Luo Er frowned and asked, "Nan Jin, how come he doesn't know anything?"

"It happened suddenly, and there hasn't been time to teach him." Nan Jin said, "Before the arson case, he was a complete ordinary person."

Actually, he still is... Gu Shen silently grumbled in his heart.

"Time is pressing. We only have fifteen days." She took a breath. "Fifteen days later, Gu Shen will face the Tribunal's 'assessment'. If the assessment results are not satisfactory, the special pardon order may be revoked. This would mean that Gu Shen might face imprisonment, and the teacher's hard work would be wasted."

"The special pardon order has already been used. If the assessment results are not good, we must at least protect Gu Shen." Zhong Wei frowned. "And the extraction and identification of the genetic evidence from the arson case will take at least twenty days according to the procedure... From the perspective of solving the case, it's already too late."

"This layout can already be considered as alerting the enemy." Luo Er said, "After the other party fails, they will know that it's impossible to stop us from extracting on-site information, so they shouldn't risk entering the game again... As for the interrogation of these 'suspects' caught last night, it's all meaningless, unless we catch the mental-type esper behind the scenes."

Gu Shen watched the three of them say one sentence each... The topic seemed to be directed in a certain direction.

It's too late to solve the case.

They can only start with the assessment fifteen days later.

"Everyone, don't be so pessimistic."

Nan Jin cheered up the two senior brothers and senior sister: "This is a rookie that the teacher saved at the cost of using the special pardon order, a future hope with a potential assessment of S-rank... Although he looks a little silly, do we have so little confidence in him?"

"Agreed, he just looks a little silly, that's all."

Luo Er reached out and pressed a switch, saying faintly, "It just so happens that there is a practice field on the second basement level. Let me see how strong the so-called S-rank is."

The wall at the end flipped over.

A heavy metal door opened.

Then the view in front of them suddenly widened. It was hard to imagine that a space as empty as a football field could be carved out under this building. This was a practice field specially prepared by the Tribunal for espers. The eye was filled with gray and white tones, and the room echoed with a chilling atmosphere.

Basic firearms, targets, and melee weapons such as knives and swords were all placed on the shelves.

"I've read that file."

Luo Er smiled. "Indeed... The scene was shocking. Two espers were slaughtered without any resistance, but what is puzzling is that one was dismembered into eight pieces by blades, and the other was burned to ashes by flames."

"Because the extraordinary powers around the world are still constantly reviving... The extraordinary pedigree chart we produce is updated and improved every year, so the Tribunal cannot determine immediately whether your awakened power belongs to a known esper."

"But no matter what the specific power is, it cannot escape the three major categories... the mental type that controls thoughts, the natural type that drives elements, and the strong attack type that evolves the body."

"Judging from the scene, you clearly showed two completely different extraordinary powers... There are not many people in the entire East Continent who have done this. It is truly an amazing miracle. If it is a dual-system awakening, it is indeed worthy of the 'S' rank rating."

"Now... let me see how deep you are."

Luo Er looked at Gu Shen, "Use your awakened power to attack me, don't hold back."