Chapter 1 The Siren's Scale

"Oh," Xiao Tan responded, returning to the main topic. "That…" He quickly remembered where he'd left off. "I followed Agent Zhang through what looked like an ordinary door, then through a corridor that was probably a security checkpoint, before reaching the 'real door.' The real warehouse door looked like any other security door at first glance; it had a keyhole and a numeric keypad, but actually… this door…"

"Hey~ hey~ What are you doing?" Bao Qing interrupted Xiao Tan again. "Why are you being so detailed?"

"Huh?" Xiao Tan was taken aback. "Didn't you tell me to 'be specific'?"

"Not *that* specific," Bao Qing drawled.

"Why not?" Xiao Tan asked, puzzled.

Before Bao Qing could answer, Feng Bujue jumped in. "Because the way you're describing things… the level of detail is enough for me to deduce some substantial intelligence." He paused and chuckled. "Heh… if I ever find out the warehouse's address, I could potentially pose a threat to it based on the information I'm getting today."

"Right, exactly," Bao Qing confirmed.

"Oh…" Xiao Tan thought for a moment. "Okay… I'll skip similar 'details' then." He paused for a second, then continued, "Anyway… I followed Agent Zhang inside the warehouse; as soon as I entered, I was shocked. The space inside was super big, obviously exceeding the building's external dimensions. Although seeing stuff like this isn't strange in games, it was my first time seeing a facility using hyperspace technology in real life, so I was pretty excited. Little did I know… that was just the beginning. In the next half hour, I saw a bunch of mind-blowing stuff…"

Here, Xiao Tan looked at Bao Qing. "By the way, can I talk about what's inside the warehouse?"

"Yes," Bao Qing replied. "There's no problem with you saying it like this, just don't describe the entrances and exits as meticulously as you did before."

"Okay, okay," Xiao Tan nodded, took a sip of his drink, and went on, "For example, I found out that the entire warehouse was powered by a human-powered generator…"

"Are you sure the person generating the power is still a person?" Feng Bujue couldn't resist interrupting after hearing the first example.

"Of course I'm sure," Xiao Tan replied. "The generator was manned by an agent who looked about my age… oh, that's Li Leyi. I even chatted with him for a bit. He said he was a rookie who just graduated from the police academy this year."

"Your Ninth Division really recruits all sorts of people, huh?" Brother Jue immediately turned to Bao Qing.

"Personnel matters… are basically handled single-handedly by the Division Chief," Bao Qing shrugged in response. "His standards are still a mystery to this day."

"Hmm…" Feng Bujue pondered for a moment, then looked back at Xiao Tan. "Okay, so it's not the person… then the generator itself is extraordinary, right?"

"Definitely," Xiao Tan replied. "Of course, they wouldn't tell me the principle behind the machine, but they did tell me… that having someone with slightly above-average physical fitness pedal that machine for eight hours would generate enough power to supply the entire East Coast of the United States for five minutes."

"What are these guys doing? They could have just used our country's power supply to illustrate," Feng Bujue said. "Why bring up that damned American empire?"

"We generally don't use this kind of data from our own country as an example, because the power supply data for each province and city here has been 'modified.' Even those of us on the inside might not be able to get accurate numbers," Bao Qing explained on Xiao Tan's behalf. "If the real numbers were made public… it might allow the public to deduce some information they shouldn't know."

"Huh?" Feng Bujue interjected casually. "What do you mean? Are our cities all designed like 'Third New Tokyo' where they can sink underground when necessary?"

Brother Jue didn't expect that Bao Qing would freeze upon hearing this.

After a couple of seconds, Boss Bao clicked his tongue. "Tch… I think I misspoke…"

"What! I guessed right?" Feng Bujue widened his eyes in shock. "Really?"

"Ah…" Bao Qing felt there was no point in hiding it now, so he replied, "It's true that they can, but not all buildings and facilities can 'sink' or 'flip,' after all… the cost and construction difficulty are there; therefore, at this stage, we are still prioritizing the completion of the transformation of some strategically important cities… landmark, functional buildings. And the main purpose of the transformation is nuclear defense, the other forms of attack… are manageable."

"Other methods are manageable?" Feng Bujue squinted. "What about the Apostle attacks?"

"They can attack if they want," Bao Qing said. "As far as I know, before Chief Gu took over the Ninth Division, he had already participated in resolving several crises caused by quasi-divine targets, even if some kind of Apostle attacks, he can deal with them."

"Phew…" Feng Bujue breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. "The more I know, the more dangerous I feel the world I live in is…"

"Yeah," Xiao Tan chimed in. "I had a similar feeling when I was in the warehouse."

"I guessed as much…" Brother Jue continued. "That warehouse is full of things like 'pedal-powered nuclear generators,' right?"

"Yes, the 'warehouse' is used to 'contain' those things," Xiao Tan replied. "By the way, the official name of that generator when it was contained by the warehouse was 'Tesla's Afternoon Workout Buddy.'"

"Still 'contain'?" Feng Bujue turned to Bao Qing again. "So your Ninth Division even does the work of 'Warehouse 13' (a US TV show about containing special items) and *******?"

"That's right… who else would do it if we didn't?" Bao Qing replied. "You know… half a century ago, when there were no organizations to contain these things, all of these things that could cause chaos in the world were directly circulating in the 'underground world' through currency; the people of that time were truly 'living in danger, not knowing how they would die.'"

"Hehe…" Brother Jue chuckled dryly, and recited in a complex tone, "Too bad, I didn't make it to those good old days…"

"What's so good about it?" Xiao Tan retorted. "Let alone that time, even now… even though most of those things are already in the warehouse, I still deeply feel… that it's a miracle the world hasn't been destroyed yet."

"What else is in there?" Feng Bujue raised his eyebrows and asked. "Newton's leftover apple? Archimedes' lever?"

"I don't know if they have those things you mentioned," Xiao Tan replied. "I just visited a part of the warehouse where 'safe items' that have already been used in the warehouse's operational processes are stored, such as the 'Mo Family Divine Jar,' the 'Armillary Sphere,' and the 'Hubble Microscope'; as for 'dangerous items'… while walking through the 'dangerous goods area,' I did see many signs with the names of the contained items… I can't remember too many, but the most impressive ones were—'Orion's Alpha Crown,' 'Tui Bei Tu', and something called 'Sulfur-based Lifeform'… which seemed to be alive."

"Hmm… you're making me want to go visit…" As he said this, a gleam flashed in Feng Bujue's eyes, enough to make people feel uneasy.

"Great… because of what you just said, I'll have to go back to the office in the sleet today and write a report." Bao Qing's "undercover" status has already been made public, so he always speaks bluntly to Brother Jue.

"Report away, I don't care anymore," Feng Bujue said indifferently, immediately saying to Xiao Tan, "Continue, why did you go to the 'dangerous goods area' of the warehouse?"

"This is where I have to talk about why Chief Gu asked me to go…" Wang Tanzhi's expression suddenly became serious. "He told me on the phone… that the warehouse recently contained an item that had a 'deep connection' with our Wang family, and he needed me to help 'test' it."

"Oh?" Feng Bujue asked suspiciously, "What is it?"

"Siren's Scale," Xiao Tan replied with five words.

And Feng Bujue spent five seconds wandering around the memory loft in his mind, which was full of various myths, urban legends, and supernatural stories, to find a series of knowledge related to it.

"It's the scale from a sea monster?" Five seconds later, Brother Jue asked very pointedly.

"I didn't see any sea monsters, I only saw scales," Xiao Tan replied. "But I think it should be."

"Heh…" Feng Bujue chuckled. "What's up? Your family has a connection with the Siren? Do you have Siren blood?"

"I don't think so," Bao Qing also took the opportunity to joke, "He's not good at music (one of the characteristics of the Siren is having a song that is irresistible to mortals)."

"Can we not mention that?" Xiao Tan quickly stopped the topic and continued, "Let's talk about the 'test'… it's not complicated, it's just letting me cut my hand and drip a few drops of blood onto the scale to activate its special effect."

In the next second, Feng Bujue and Bao Qing asked in unison: "What effect?"

As soon as the words fell, Brother Jue looked at Bao Qing and said: "Hey? Haven't you read the report? Why are you joining in?"

"I have read it…" Bao Qing nodded, "The report only said—'Wang Tanzhi went to the warehouse to help with an experiment, which later caused a commotion, and then the commotion was resolved.' As for the specific content of the experiment and the process of the commotion… none of it was specified; but the warehouse's list of losses was listed in great detail…"

"Damn!" Feng Bujue immediately responded, "What's the point of that kind of report?"

"Ha!" Bao Qing laughed. "Don't you understand?" In this field, he can teach Brother Jue a good lesson, "Writing a report is different from writing a novel, especially the reports of our special organizations, the most standard way to write is: explain the cause, the consequences, and finally calculate the accounts clearly… that's it. As for the middle process, it's as simple as possible, as vague as possible… this way, you can effectively prevent—these things from becoming unfavorable evidence for holding you accountable one day in the future."

Saying this, Bao Qing took a sip of tea, and continued: "Let me give you an example… for example, you are the leader of our Ninth Division, and you have always had a good relationship with the superior departments; but one day, those departments suddenly have personnel changes, and a group of people who don't get along with you are replaced… politicians, you understand, even if their position doesn't allow them to directly interfere with you, they still have ways to find fault with you through various means. What those people do is no different from the methods used in the 1960s and 1970s, they will dig up all the old accounts of your department, and try their best to pick on you… and then impeach you with some 'mismanagement' that is decades late."

"And at that time, you will find… that a 'meaningless report' is like a card printed with the words 'impeccable.'"

Listening to Bao Qing's words, Brother Jue had a look of "I see," as if he had benefited a lot; but Xiao Tan had a look of completely disregarding it, as if he had just heard it and it was over.

"Well… worthy of being someone in the system." After Bao Qing finished speaking, Brother Jue said, "The experience of struggle is really rich."

"Don't praise me." Bao Qing waved his hand. "I'm still young, this is all taught by our Chief, he is really a 'man with a story.'"

"Him…" Feng Bujue sneered, "Hmph… I would believe you if you said he assassinated the President of the United States."

"No, but there is a story circulating in our unit about him going on a business trip to the United States." Bao Qing continued, "The general plot is… once at a US Congressional meeting, Chief Gu used a fake identity to speak on stage, and his opening remarks were—'Good afternoon, everyone, before I start talking about the substance of the content, I have to say a few words first… presumably, you all know very well that at this moment, this room is full of a bunch of conservative fat pigs, when their weight reaches a certain level, they are promoted to congressmen, and the role of these people continuing to sit here is only to reduce the air quality and lower the average IQ here. Here, I am not targeting anyone, I only hope that the kind of people I mentioned… get out by themselves.'"

"Damn…" Even Feng Bujue thought this story was a bit exaggerated, "Then what happened? Did everyone leave?"

"No, he was asked out by the security guards." Bao Qing spread his hands, smiled, "Okay, let's not talk about him…" He paused for half a second, then continued, "In short, what I saw in the report was just that, let's still let Xiao Tan talk about the effect of the scales."

At this time, Xiao Tan was still reminiscing about the story just now, laughing silly, and after a few seconds he replied: "Oh… that… the effect, right…" He also laughed dryly, "Ha… it's really a pit… before I dripped blood, they all equivocated and didn't tell me what the effect was, later I found out… 'Siren's Scale' has the effect of 'guiding mortals to establish communication with the underworld.'"