For a young woman to be bold and meticulous enough to set a trap and kill an Alien Species in such a critical situation was quite remarkable.
He continued, "After the Alien Species died, did you see anything that looked like a Card? Based on our analysis of the road surveillance footage, that Alien Species should have had at least two Cards inside it."
Feng Ling: "..."
She wasn’t sure if the drone had captured what happened, but if she didn’t tell the truth, it would be hard to explain where the Cards went.
Perhaps sensing her hesitation, Su Yuqing lowered his voice, a note of sincerity entering his tone. "Feng Ling, you can trust me."
Feng Ling considered for a moment, then replied, "One Killing Bee, and one Mantis."
Su Yuqing got the answer he wanted and drew in a quiet breath. "Feng Ling, your survival is truly a miracle. On behalf of the Alien Species Safety Inspection Bureau, I would like to formally extend an invitation to you. Are you willing to join the Inspection Bureau and become one of us, fighting Alien Species and maintaining world order?"
Feng Ling raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"What is it?" Su Yuqing asked with a smile.
"Nothing..." She thought for a moment. "I just thought there’d be an evaluation, or an interview process of some kind."
"Two Cards are more than enough to pass the interview. Of course, once you join the Inspection Bureau, we will arrange for training and further assessments to enhance your ability," Su Yuqing said with a gentle smile. "For now, do you have any questions for me?"
"I do." Feng Ling nodded.
Su Yuqing sat up straight, ready to listen intently.
Feng Ling asked him, "When can I collect the reward money?"
Su Yuqing froze at her words, taking a few seconds to process them. "...The reward money. You can apply for it anytime. The current base reward for killing an Alien Species is one million. If this particular Alien Species was on a bounty order issued by the local government, there will be an additional bounty on top of that."
He pondered for a moment, then asked Feng Ling, "What’s your bank account number?"
Feng Ling answered quickly, "683263950."
Su Yuqing took out his phone, tapping on it as he spoke. "I’m submitting the application for you now. The money will be deposited into your account within three to seven business days."
He glanced at Feng Ling, a faint smile playing in his eyes. "I thought you would ask questions about the Alien Species."
Feng Ling answered candidly, "I’ve learned a few things online."
"Oh? Where online?" Su Yuqing asked.
"Message boards, discussion groups about Alien Species, and a forum called Alien Star," Feng Ling said thoughtfully. "There’s an expert on the forum who collects all the online data on Alien Species every day, organizes it, and posts it for easy searching. It even includes some internal information from the Inspection Bureau."
Su Yuqing nodded in understanding.
He knew of that forum; it had indeed attracted a large number of users who followed news about Alien Species.
He was a regular on the forum himself. In fact, when the Alien Species Safety Inspection Bureau was first established, its organizational structure was even based on suggestions from some of the forum’s users.
"But I do have a question that no one on the forum could answer," Feng Ling said.
Su Yuqing: "What is it?"
Feng Ling asked him, "Do you have any way to tell the difference between an Alien Species and a normal human?"
Su Yuqing’s expression stiffened. After a moment, he replied in a low voice, "Regrettably..."
Feng Ling asked again, "Can Alien Species tell the difference between ordinary humans and humans who possess Cards?"
"They can," Su Yuqing said, his tone heavy.
He explained, "To this day, we still don’t know how Alien Species take over human bodies. Our research teams have tried to develop a device to detect whether a body has been taken over, but unfortunately, they’ve made no progress. Currently, aside from a very small number of Inspectors who have an Investigation Ability, we have no other effective way to tell humans and Alien Species apart."
"But Alien Species can easily pick out humans holding Cards from a crowd." Feng Ling paused to think. "We can’t find them, but they can find us. Every Inspector is an Extraordinary Ability User who possesses Cards, which means the Inspection Bureau is a prime target for Alien Species."
Su Yuqing nodded slightly. "That’s correct. However, in most cases, Alien Species won’t pick a direct fight with an Inspector. After all, they need to operate in society as humans, and exposing their identity would be a huge hassle. The exception is if an Inspector possesses Cards so tempting that they’re willing to risk everything to steal them."
Feng Ling fell into thought, not saying anything for a moment.
She needed to weigh the pros and cons of joining the Inspection Bureau.
Su Yuqing looked at her earnestly. "Feng Ling, any human who possesses Cards faces the same danger, regardless of whether they join the Inspection Bureau. I hope you’ll consider this carefully and make the right choice."
"I refuse," Feng Ling said abruptly.
Su Yuqing was taken aback. "And your reason is?"
There were, of course, many reasons...
But after a moment’s thought, Feng Ling only said, "I don’t like being a target."
A flicker of confusion crossed Su Yuqing’s eyes. He was silent for a moment before saying, "You don’t have to make a decision so quickly. Think it over. It’s getting late, so get some rest. I’ll come see you again tomorrow."
Feng Ling nodded.
Su Yuqing left the hospital room.
He still had several meetings to attend that day. On his way to the elevators, he encountered a nurse and an unfamiliar woman.
"Captain Su, Feng Ling’s mother is here to see her," the nurse explained.
His phone rang. Su Yuqing answered it, giving the woman a slight nod.
The call was from a colleague in the personnel department. "Captain Su, are you finished with your meeting?"
"Yeah." Su Yuqing stepped into the elevator. "She’s young and extremely cautious. I don’t think she trusts us. She refused the Inspection Bureau’s recruitment offer."
"She refused?!" The voice from Personnel was anxious. "How could she refuse? Captain Su, should we send someone else to try and persuade her? Or maybe talk to her parents? You and Zhou are the only Inspectors left in the city, and the number of Alien Species is growing. If we don’t bring in new members soon, we’re going to have a serious problem!"
Playing the family card was certainly an option.
Su Yuqing thought back to the woman he had just seen, a vague sense of unease washing over him.
He pulled up Feng Ling’s personnel file on his phone, and his face instantly paled. "Oh no..."
"What’s wrong?"
Shedding his usual calm demeanor, Su Yuqing frantically jabbed the ’open door’ button on the elevator!
"She doesn’t have any parents! She’s an orphan!"
’Then who was that woman just now?!’