Chapter 034: The Truth of the World - Part 3

These awakened individuals could be students in schools, or they might be loafers wandering the streets. They could be vendors selling vegetables in the market, or meddlesome women in the neighborhood committee. They blend in among ordinary people, like a drop of water merging into the sea—imperceptible when they keep to themselves, but once trouble arises, they become impossible to guard against.

It’s akin to an elephant fighting mosquitoes: no matter how mighty the “elephant” of official authority is, it first must find these “mosquitoes” with supernatural abilities. Surely, one cannot mobilize an army every time a single individual is discovered—what would become of social order and harmony then? Yet if not enough people are dispatched to apprehend them, these individuals with formidable powers are nearly impossible to catch. Press too hard, and it’s easy to provoke those who, after gaining extraordinary abilities, become radicalized and driven to desperate acts. Some may even take on an attitude of “the barefoot fear nothing” and launch activities to “restore society,” causing even greater headaches for government managers.

With the increasing frequency of “overt dimensional convergence points” and “multidimensional spatial rifts,” the numbers of native mutant creatures (EN-UMA), multidimensional beings (MS-UMA), and people with extraordinary powers surged at an explosive rate, pushing the situation ever closer to the brink of chaos.

This forced nations worldwide to establish various official agencies to manage and respond to incidents caused by supernatural individuals. They had to compromise, to some extent, with large, established supernatural organizations, recruiting them under official auspices as much as possible. On the premise that these organizations accept national regulation, their existence is recognized as legitimate and lawful. Some of the more benign groups are even supported and partnered with, allowing for self-governance and cooperative management among those with extraordinary abilities.

This could be called a kind of “using the barbarians to control the barbarians” strategy. After all, the vast majority of supernatural individuals were formerly ordinary people, mere small figures in the grand scheme. Under the carrot-and-stick approach of state power, most supernatural organizations either bowed their heads and accepted official recruitment—becoming, as Willy joked, “upright and orthodox sects”—or quietly slipped underground, forming the so-called “Black Supernatural World” lurking in the shadows...

Thus the supernatural world followed the three developmental stages known as “origin, chaos, and compromise.” Though Willy had not explained the details at length, Bai Yuxi could already imagine, simply by filling in the blanks, how tumultuous and bloody the events between the various factions with opposing stances must have been.

“For those of us with extraordinary abilities, who are unwilling to let our freedom be restricted,” Willy continued, “if you don’t want to join an official group, all you have to do is register as a supernatural individual with the local ‘LDH Extraordinary Management Division.’ Then you sign a confidentiality agreement not to expose your powers or reveal information about the supernatural world to ordinary people, and you’re free to go about your life.”

Willy spoke so quickly that no one could get a word in edgewise. Perhaps he was parched from talking, because he gulped down a bottle of beer in one go, wiped his mouth, and went on: “You can continue your ordinary life if you wish, or you can join an ‘Extraordinary Task Force’ to hunt monsters and gain experience. Generally speaking, unless someone’s powers or temperament are truly unsuited to battle, most awakened individuals will join a task force—even if only to work in logistics. For example, those ‘Black Box’ taxi drivers you saw earlier, or the bartenders here in the Hellfire Bar. Even the so-called ‘cleaner teams’—who handle PR, tidy up after battles, and collect bodies—are actually made up of non-combat supernatural personnel.”

Before Bai Yuxi could ask why, Willy explained, “After all, we’re no longer ordinary people. Just because you don’t want trouble doesn’t mean trouble won’t find you!”

The members of Squad Seven all wore expressions of shared understanding, as if each had their own unpleasant memories.

“The environment in the supernatural world is far more perilous than you imagine,” Willy sighed. “Who would willingly abandon a stable and peaceful life to spend their days risking everything against murderers and monsters from other realms?”

He went on, “But supernatural creatures carrying ‘multidimensional energy information pheromones’ develop a very special ‘bio-magnetic field’ within their bodies. This field not only combines with ‘hyperactive bio-energy’ to form a protective ‘bio-energy shield’ during battle, but also allows supernatural beings to instinctively sense the presence of others carrying these pheromones within a certain range.”

“We call this sense ‘hypermagnetic induction’ or ‘biological radar.’ Moreover, when a supernatural creature dies, the hyperactive particles and accumulated X-energy within their body, no longer constrained by consciousness, erupt and are instantly released—only to be absorbed by other supernatural beings to enhance themselves.”

Willy, uncharacteristically solemn, said seriously, “Because of this inescapable bio-magnetic field sense, different supernatural individuals develop a peculiar ‘food chain’ relationship—at once repelling and attracting each other...”

Though Willy’s account was rife with supernatural jargon, Bai Yuxi nevertheless grasped the meaning he wished to convey. A chill ran through him, and he blurted out, “Predator Hunters?”

“Oh? You know of them?” The squad members were surprised that Bai Yuxi knew of the Predator Hunters.

“The member of the River Viper Society I encountered before,” Bai Yuxi replied after a pause, “intended to steal the multidimensional hyperactive bio-energy from my body.”

Willy and the other squad members exchanged a glance, all curious as to how Bai Yuxi had survived an encounter with a Predator Hunter, and even managed to strengthen himself enough, in such a short time, to face a Level 5 Extraordinary Warrior, kill him, and seize all his combat gear.

“That’s right!” Willy said. “Since you already know about the Predator Hunters, let’s skip ahead to what comes next.”