“So, even though I haven’t done anything, you want to restrict my personal freedom?
You throw people in jail at the drop of a hat; I’m definitely going to report you.” Luciel said timidly.
“You can’t put it that way.
Haven’t you already been diagnosed with a mental illness?
To ensure you don’t hurt any normal people, we decided to send you to a mental hospital.
That’s perfectly reasonable, right?” Zhao Kongcheng said loudly to the hog-tied Luciel, but he turned his head and leaned close to Luciel’s ear, whispering a different explanation.
“Hold on a second.
Your ability seems to have scared the Captain and Vice-Captain.
Let us talk to them.
Don’t worry, kid.
We checked your past records.
You haven’t done anything bad since awakening your Forbidden Domain; you just didn’t know your own strength when trying to act like a hero.
Old Zhao can tell at a glance that you’re a good seed for martial arts.
It would be a real shame to send you to the Fasting Institute.” Luciel had just triggered the stress response of the Captain and Vice-Captain—who had some past trauma—with a single shout of ‘Whisper’.
The other team members hadn’t even realized what was happening before the newly brought-in Luciel was hog-tied.
Now, the reticent Leng Xuan and the combat support/part-time military medic Si Xiaonan were trying hard to calm the suddenly irritable Captain and Vice-Captain, whose emotions were running a bit too high.
“The Devil’s Whisper scared them, so why tie me up?
I should have hidden earlier.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been kicked out to take the fall.” Luciel’s current appearance was still too authoritative.
Being good-looking naturally earned innate goodwill, not to mention the ‘minor’ buff.
The only serious ‘bad thing’ on his record was for the sake of acting like a hero.
A teenager gaining superpowers and acting like a hero—this hit Zhao Kongcheng’s sweet spot perfectly.
It was a scenario that almost every chuunibyou teenager fantasized about.
“Don’t worry.
Although your ability doesn’t seem very proper, how an ability is used depends on the user.
After you finish your one-year intensive training, there will definitely be many people fighting over this crowd-control type ability.” Hong Ying was also squatting nearby.
According to her, two people were enough to persuade them, and as a frontline combatant, she should keep an eye on the current unstable factor.
The facts proved this to be true.
After being triggered by the stirring of evil thoughts in his heart, Vice-Captain Wu Xiaonan quickly calmed down.
After all, the aspect of inducing depravity was too obvious in its immediate effect.
But on second thought, it wasn’t clear if the ability could be controlled—was it a large-area group effect, or could it target specific individuals?
The most straightforward perception of this ability was that it stirred up malice in the heart, but a more nuanced understanding was that it caused latent emotions to erupt, making people lose their composure.
If it were a large-area effect, as long as teammates were prepared, they would definitely be able to react faster than their opponents.
If it could target specific individuals, then this ability would be godlike.
Most people, when anger rushes to their brain, have no intention of executing or formulating plans.
Against Mysteries, Luciel’s ability was slightly lackluster, but against the rampaging Ancient God Church, this ability would be very useful.
Just imagine: when Ancient God Church members are fleeing and being pursued by a special squad, Luciel triggers an emotional explosion, causing the Ancient God Church members to lose their heads, turn around, and crash right into the squad to start a fight.
The ‘taunt’ role that hadn’t been filled by hundreds of Forbidden Domain had finally been found by their 136 Squad today.
After thinking of this point, Vice-Captain Wu Xiaonan’s attitude had already shifted towards recruiting him.
After all, there was a special squad that had been held back for years by a high-ranking member of the Ancient God Church.
Whisper was often pursued by a psychic squad, but that guy was as slippery as a loach and could run too well, often wasting the special squad’s time and energy.
Vice-Captain Wu Xiaonan quickly convinced himself.
Now, the only one who still had some doubts was Captain Chen Muye.
He didn’t care about his loss of composure earlier, but he was indeed harboring concerns.
Just a moment ago, for a very brief instant, Captain Chen Muye had wanted to release the suppression of the Forbidden Domain and stop caring about Shivas Resentment and the survival of Cangnan City.
Although this thought was quickly suppressed, if it happened a few more times, all it would take was one moment of mental instability for a trace of Shivas Resentment’s aura to leak out, and I’m afraid Cangnan City would see a repeat of the divine war from ten years ago.
Others didn’t understand Captain Chen Muye’s concerns, and Vice-Captain Wu Xiaonan didn’t quite know them either, but there was one thing he did know: if this ability wasn’t kept within the Nightwatchers and properly guided, and it got snatched away by the Ancient God Church, they would be in for a world of trouble.
“This ability is also very special.
After testing its potential to see if it can affect the Boundless Realm or even the Klein Realm, he will likely be assigned to a special squad or teamed up with ability users whose Forbidden Domain involve maintaining emotional states.
After all, Nightwatcher squads in other cities might not be able to take down a furious Mystery, but compared to cat-and-mouse games, special squads are definitely better at handling direct combat.
And compared to both sides losing their minds, we, with the advantage of prior intelligence, will certainly make some adjustments to create some advantages.” “Phew, that makes sense.
As long as we make sure he doesn’t misuse his Forbidden Domain during this time, it’ll be fine.
As long as his talent isn’t bad, he’ll go to a more advanced squad.” Captain Chen Muye seemed to be comforting himself.
After all, having been a captain for so many years, he quickly adjusted his state of mind.
After a brief commotion, everyone was finally able to sit on the sofa and talk without being tied up.
“Sorry, your ability reminded me of some bad things, and I had a bit of a stress response.
I hope I didn’t hurt you just now,” said Captain Chen Muye, who had started by holding a blade to him and tying him up.
Luciel’s lowered eyelashes trembled.
“I wasn’t hurt, but I really don’t like this way of saying hello.
If there’s a next time, it would be better to just use your mouth to talk.” Luciel smiled somewhat reluctantly.
“So, back to the main point: are you willing to join us?” Sensing that Luciel didn’t intend to hold a grudge, Captain Chen Muye chose to be direct and extended an invitation.
“If you don’t plan on holding a knife to my throat, please allow me to refuse.
I don’t think I need to be grateful for being tied up the moment I opened my eyes and then untied, and I certainly don’t think an organization recommended by people I’m meeting for the first time is trustworthy.” Captain Chen Muye didn’t expect Luciel to refuse so decisively, but thinking of his own reaction just now, he awkwardly rubbed his nose.
Zhao Kongcheng, who had been watching from the side for a long time, saw Luciel refuse and quickly stepped forward.
“Kid, we Nightwatchers are an official organization of the Great Xia.
Every one of us is a hero protecting the Great Xia.
Don’t you want to become a hero who fights evil and upholds Justice?
Besides, after joining, you can receive professional training and resources, which will be of great benefit to both the improvement of your abilities and your future life.” Luciel was speechless and gave a half-moon-eyed look: “That sounds nice, but just a moment ago you were thinking about sending me to a mental hospital and some Fasting Institute.
And if you say you’re heroes, you must also bear corresponding responsibilities.
I don’t think I’m some saint with great love in my heart, and even the few others I live with don’t have much ‘Justice’ in them.” At this moment, the silent Leng Xuan spoke up: “Join us, and we can teach you to control your power and abilities.
Also, we are legally allowed to carry guns, and we have shooting classes.” Luciel’s heart stirred.
Honestly, after possessing special abilities, aside from thinking about acting to quickly digest the potion, Luciel just wanted to do some things he hadn’t done before.
Leng Xuan’s words were like a small feather, tickling his heart.
But he was still a bit hesitant.
He was actually tempted, but he was wondering if he should ask for some other compensation.
What was he most lacking right now?
“Does it include room and board?” Captain Chen Muye looked at Luciel’s slightly faded clothes and thought about the kid’s background—life was a bit difficult.
He understood in a second.
I don’t know where Captain Chen Muye pulled a document from, but he handed it to Luciel: “This is some information about our Nightwatcher work content, professional code of conduct, and benefits.
You can take a look.” Luciel took the document and began to read it carefully.
It detailed the various benefits of the Nightwatchers, including room and board, generous salary, professional training resources, etc.
His eyes gradually brightened, and the Balance in his heart began to tip.
“If I join, how long until I can learn shooting?” Luciel looked up and asked.
Leng Xuan replied: “As long as you don’t mind the exhaustion, shooting lessons can be arranged immediately.” Luciel bit his lip, seemingly having made a big decision.
“Then I’ll join.
But I’ll say this in advance: if you dare to tie me up casually again, I won’t be polite.” Captain Chen Muye also breathed a sigh of relief, turned his head, and nodded with a smile.
“Don’t worry, there won’t be a next time.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhao Kongcheng patted Luciel’s shoulder.
“Welcome to 136 Squad.
From now on, we’re teammates.” Luciel looked at the enthusiastic crowd around him.
He was sometimes quite quiet, but occasionally feeling this kind of enthusiastic atmosphere was actually pretty nice.
The old members and the new member were introducing themselves and chatting, while the Captain and Vice-Captain went to the side.
“You gave him the benefits package for official members; he doesn’t get room and board as a new recruit,” Vice-Captain Wu Xiaonan said in a low voice.
Glancing at the rowdy squad members, Captain Chen Muye responded in a low voice, “If we really say that, he’ll report us for employing a minor.
You’ve seen his file, too.
All in all, he’s a good kid, and at the end of the day, he’s still an immature child.
He doesn’t have anywhere else to go.
Arranging an empty dormitory room and giving him some living expenses is nothing.” “Fine then.
Keep your own salary; I don’t have anyone to support.
Just deduct a portion from my salary for him,” Vice-Captain Wu Xiaonan said after thinking for a moment.
Captain Chen Muye was just about to say something when he was interrupted.
“Alright, we know exactly how much money you have.
We can’t do much more, but the salaries for official members and reserve members aren’t that different.
I don’t have much to spend money on either.
It’s pitiful that a new member has nowhere to live, but isn’t it even more pitiful for the captain to be drinking the northwest wind?” With that, Vice-Captain Wu Xiaonan walked away quickly, looking like he still had a lot of things to do.
But none of this was important.
A girl who wasn’t very tall but looked quite young was the first to come to Luciel’s side.
“Nightwatcher 136 Squad combat support and part-time military medic, Si Xiaonan.
Wow, your skin is great!
How do you take care of it?” The girl looked shy, but she was really quick with her hands; within two sentences, her hands were already touching Luciel’s face.
“I’m Hong Ying, the frontline combatant of Nightwatcher 136 Squad,” said a girl who didn’t look very old and was holding a long spear, smiling.
This girl didn’t look shy at all, and she was very natural with her hands too.
“It really feels very tender, so supple, soft and smooth.” On the other side, a young man who looked like a college student, having been pushed away by Hong Ying with one palm, said, “I’m Wen Qimo, frontline combatant.” “Long-range fire support, Leng Xuan.” This guy was quite aloof.
After speaking, he shifted his gaze indifferently and leaned against the doorpost.
“136 Squad, Watchman, Zhao Kongcheng.
Kid, take care of me from now on.” Zhao Kongcheng, who was on the sofa not far away, said while holding a cigarette, but the cigarette was flicked away by Hong Ying before he could even light it.
She pointed at Luciel, who was now being poked in the face by the two girls.
“He’s a minor, don’t lead the minor astray.” Compared to the girls’ enthusiasm, the men in the squad were actually the shy ones.
However, since everyone had introduced themselves, Luciel naturally wouldn’t assume they all knew everything.
“I’m Luciel, though according to your way of putting it, it should be ‘one of the Luciels.’ I have a small hobby of ‘auto-looting.’ I hope everyone can bear with me.” As Luciel said this, he revealed a shy smile, and at the same time, pulled out three wallets and seven mobile phones.
“This phone looks a bit familiar.” The red pendant decoration on this phone made Hong Ying’s movements slowly come to a stop.
She was a bit dazed.
Her phone seemed to have been swiped by someone without her noticing, and as a combatant of the Pool Realm, she hadn’t noticed it at all.
The others also subconsciously patted the places where they kept their phones or wallets, and one by one, they were stunned.
Their entire combat squad had been stolen from, and they hadn’t even realized it?
“…This little hobby needs to be corrected.” Zhao Kongcheng, who had retrieved his wallet and phone, felt a sense of inexplicable responsibility ignite in his heart.
How could a young kid with so much youth ahead of him get hooked on the bad habit of stealing?
As a senior, this bad habit absolutely had to be corrected!
On the other side, “Eh, where did I put my wallet and phone?” “Mine are gone too.
Could I have lost them outside while on a mission?” “I shouldn’t have lost mine either.”