Chapter Fifty-Four: The Birth of the Awakened

“Aren’t these lists all for selection? There should be some screening, right?” Wu Ming looked at the seemingly absurd special abilities and began to worry.

“The captain instructed the instructors to pick their own. This is merely a list of confirmed individuals with special abilities. Since we don’t know what kind of team members each instructor needs, we brought over the files of all two thousand of them,” Long San replied with an embarrassed, sheepish smile—quite unlike his earlier big brother demeanor when scolding Long Qi.

“Amitabha, good morning, oh, I mean good afternoon, everyone. This humble monk, Kong, greets all the benefactors!” Monk Kong performed a Buddhist salute as Director Baolong and others followed him out to greet everyone. Ling Mei had already changed into more formal attire—a ladylike dress that gave her a unique charm. Xiao Mei remained in her professional secretary outfit: black suit, short skirt, black stockings, and high heels.

“Greetings, masters of the Dao, instructors!” Long San and Long Wu stood to salute, their posture as upright as two spears.

“No need to stand on ceremony, everyone. Take a seat; there’s plenty of work ahead. We still have a pile of special ability files to sort through. Everyone, take a look and select the personnel needed for your teams. Comrade Long San, how many are we supposed to pick?” Wu Ming hurriedly called out, as a crowd standing around idly was hardly efficient. Moving around, they kept bumping into each other, making things inconvenient.

Xiao Mei immediately sprang into action, bringing over stools, arranging each person at suitable spots, serving tea one by one, and finally sitting herself down to begin reviewing the documents.

“I never realized it before, but among us, Xiao Mei is the most diligent and practical. Whoever marries her will be blissful, enjoying a life where food and clothing are always at hand—a truly imperial existence!” Wu Ming teased.

“That’s right! When I chose Xiao Mei as finance and office assistant, it was precisely for these qualities!” Director Baolong patted his belly, laughing as if Wu Ming’s praise was for him.

“Thank you, Director Fang, for your appreciation and care,” Xiao Mei blushed slightly. A ray of sunlight shone through a slit in the curtains, casting a glow on her reddened cheeks and making her look utterly enchanting.

“Come on, I know your ways. A finance officer who also doubles as cleaning lady and tea server—where else would you find that? You’re a thorough exploiter, no doubt!” Ling Mei turned and exposed Director Baolong’s boasting, leaving him flushed and unable to retort, genuinely afraid of Master Ling Mei—she was simply too formidable to provoke.

Everyone burst into laughter.

“Let’s start by sorting these out: divide them into strength-type and spell-type first, then weed out the useless, ordinary abilities. For example, this one—approaching a beehive within fifty meters draws the bees out and ends up getting stung into a pig’s head! That’s hilarious!” Ling Mei couldn’t hold back anymore, abandoning her ladylike persona, propping a leg on a stool and laughing wildly, only resuming her composure when she noticed everyone staring.

Wu Ming nearly dropped his jaw, and after he finally steadied himself, he saw the others just as dumbfounded.

“All right, let’s get to work!” Wu Ming pulled out a chair, grabbed a stack of files, and began reading carefully, but before long, the strange abilities had him chuckling. It was simply too amusing.

“I’m dying of laughter—this person’s nose turns into a bull’s nose when angry and can spit sparks… and this one snores bubbles while sleeping, so every morning the room is full of bubbles spilling out the door! Hahaha, it’s hilarious!” Director Baolong laughed until tears streamed down his face.

“The key is, those bubbles from the nose oxidize in the air and become incredibly tough—not easy to break. Their neighborhood streets end up covered in bubbles, and the property management is constantly troubled. Needles won’t puncture them, fire won’t melt them quickly, and after a long time, they’ll explode.”

“Baolong, how did they finally deal with them? Those snot bubbles sound filthy! It’s disgusting…” Music looked at Director Baolong with contempt, as if another glance would get snot on herself, even refusing her favorite lollipop.

“In the end—hold on, let me check.” Director Baolong flipped through several pages.

He took a sip of water to clear his throat. “Finally, by chance, they discovered the bubbles dissolve in water. So they brought in fire trucks and sprayed water for three days straight, eventually solving the problem!”

“There’s something I’m curious about—did you notice that from a certain time onward, there was a surge of special ability users? Not that there weren’t any before, but usually, they arose in near-death experiences or intense emotional upheaval. However, these files show a mass emergence in the same period, with wildly different abilities.” Wu Ming seemed to have spotted a peculiar pattern.

“It was after the Jianmu was fully sealed off, right? When the human world could no longer interact with the spirit realm!” Xiao Mei recalled.

“That was when we dealt with the Nine Infants. I remember asking around, and those drunkards said that when the serpent monster appeared, a blood moon hung in the sky!” Director Baolong reminisced.

“That makes sense. A few elders sacrificed themselves to seal Jianmu, preventing it from absorbing strange spiritual energies from the human world. So the energies accumulated, eventually forming spiritual aggregates, which were absorbed by these people, turning them into special ability users. Have you noticed? Many files note that the ability user absorbed a strange light orb, bumped into something invisible, or ate something odd—only then did they become ability users!” Wu Ming took out several files, opened them to a page, and lined them up on the table for everyone to see.

“Instructor—oh, I mean, Master Wu Ming, can we report this to the captain?” Long San asked Wu Ming for instructions.

“That’s up to you, but my conclusion is just a hypothesis, not a confirmed fact. Is it okay to report it as such?” Wu Ming wondered.

“No problem. I’ll just say the master noticed this phenomenon. The base’s scientific team will conduct their own research and verification. Please rest assured, instructor!” Long San explained.