Chapter 3: MD

Ji Anping continued, his eyes sparkling. "Uncle Fu told me that when he first joined GEMA, he was ranked seventh among China's Ability Users. But as you can see, our country's technology has developed rapidly over the past decade, and our manufacturing industry has become the world's leading force. The global market can't do without Chinese products anymore."

Xie Sheng understood.

Made in China products were everywhere these days, even his own Apple phone. The sheer number of things he could manipulate was overwhelming.

"Birthplace still matters," Ji Anping said. "If his Ability was Made in America, he'd probably be completely unknown by now."

"Hmm."

Fu Hanhai remarked casually, "But he's never shown any prophecy-related abilities. I don't know how he found out your Ability is different from others. We'll discuss it later."

This cut off Xie Sheng's urge to press further.

If they weren't going to talk about it, he wouldn't ask. Xie Sheng had always been laid-back, his gaze returning to the leaderboard.

"Our number one is an anime character?"

"Yes."

"Our number three is a cat lover?"

"Yes."

"Haha."

China's top three were all truly God-tier.

"You two go rest in my dorm. I'm pulling an all-nighter writing the meeting proposal."

Fu Hanhai said to Xie Sheng, "There's an Ability User training session next week. I'll have Yin Lanxing sign you up. In the meantime, you can review the basic knowledge on the forum. You can also pick up any GEMA Credit Missions that interest you. I'll take you to experience the real, dangerous world of Ability Users."

Fu Hanhai felt like the perfect father. Xie Sheng was at that age—the cusp of adolescent rebellion and Ability Awakening. At least that's how he'd been at that age. So Fu Hanhai decided not to overprotect or completely restrict him from the world of Ability Users, but instead to teach him by example and personally guide him through missions.

So cool.

Fu Hanhai felt immensely proud of himself.

But Xie Sheng remained impassive. "Will our house be fixed by tomorrow? If not, I'm not going back."

He'd just finished his final exams and only had the final project left. It didn't matter where he wrote it. Anyway, his house had been wrecked by those two troublemakers, and he wouldn't set foot in it again until it was completely cleaned up.

Fu Hanhai said, "If my analysis is correct, your Ability must have a unique and powerful attraction to Xenogeneics. So stay at GEMA these days and don't go out. I have a lot more to teach you anyway."

"Fine," Xie Sheng replied.

Fu Hanhai transferred dormitory access to Xie Sheng's watch through the GEMA System, gave him a few more instructions, and sent them on their way.

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GEMA regulations require each regional headquarters to maintain a round-the-clock duty roster of at least one A-rank or higher Ability User and three B-rank or higher Ability Users to respond to Xenogeneic Incidents.

A-rank Ability Users are already scarce, and most are constantly deployed in the field. Fewer than ten remain stationed at the Yicheng Headquarters at any given time. Consequently, all A-rank Ability Users are assigned private one-bedroom apartments at the headquarters, facilitating rotation and readiness, and Fu Hanhai was no exception.

Passing through the brightly lit building, which remained illuminated even at night, the two arrived at the separate living quarters at the rear.

Pushing the door open, Xie Sheng said, "You take the bedroom. I'll sleep on the sofa."

Ji Anping was taken aback. "That won't do. Let's share the bed—it's quite large."

"I'm a light sleeper," Xie Sheng explained. "Even the slightest noise wakes me up. I've stayed here with Old Fu before, and I always slept on this sofa bed. I'm used to it."

Ji Anping scratched his head.

By then, Xie Sheng had already entered the bathroom to wash up.

Not wanting to argue further, and utterly exhausted, Ji Anping simply collapsed onto the bed in his clothes and fell asleep.

Just as I expected.

He'll be like Fu Hanhai, Xie Sheng thought. Too tired to wash up and will just crash.

Xie Sheng's mysophobia wouldn't allow him to sleep with such a person; otherwise, he'd probably end up kicked out of bed in the middle of the night.

After changing into his pajamas and reclined the sofa, Xie Sheng settled down comfortably.

But the coffee he'd had earlier was too strong. He stared at the ceiling for nearly half an hour, completely unable to fall asleep. Resigned, he got up and started browsing the forum.

The "Announcements" section contained a lot of files. Xie Sheng opened one titled "Newcomers Must Read."

1. Ability Overview:

Abilities aren't miracles born from nothing. At their core, they arise from the interaction and transformation between the human body and energy fields.

An individual's adaptability to abilities depends on three key factors: Mental Threshold, Energy Capacity Value, and the inherent strength of the Ability itself.

The balance between these three factors determines a person's Ability rank (S, A, B, C, D, E, F).

(See details for: 1. Mental Threshold; 2. Energy Capacity Value; 3. Inherent Ability Strength)

2. Ability Classification:

GEMA categorizes Ability Users into five main directions: Attack, Control, Support, Defense, and Special.

These are further divided into more specific categories: Spatial, Mental, Healing...

*

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...

Xie Sheng yawned.

The text was a bit blurry.

He'd look at the theoretical knowledge tomorrow.

He exited the section and clicked on GEMA Credit Missions.

At the top was Exchange Rules for Credits, Empowerment Objects, Currencies, Annual Leave, Housing Provident Funds, etc..

Whoa.

Credits were this useful?

He remembered Little M mentioning when he registered his code that GEMA officially granted 100 credits to all newly registered Ability Users.

The posts below were categorized by Xenogeneic rank, from F to C, in increasing order.

A-rank and higher missions required special approval from Headquarters, while B-rank missions could only be undertaken by certified GEMA Ability User teams acting collectively, with no solo operations allowed.

Fu Hanhai had asked Xie Sheng to pick a mission that interested him. So, he filtered by location (Yicheng) and timeframe (within the last two years), and randomly clicked on a few.

Before accepting a mission, only partial summaries were displayed.

**ID:** 2025041908

**Target:** Hallway Passenger (F-rank Xenogeneic)

**Location:** Building 4, Guanyue Residential District, Yicheng

**Reporting Party's Description:** My old, five-story apartment building has no elevator, but the hallway lights flicker every time I reach the fourth floor.

A neighbor told me, "Don't look back when the lights flicker."

That day, I couldn't resist. When the light went out, I turned around. The next instant, it flickered back on, and I saw—a dense crowd of people standing behind me, their faces pressed against the wall.

**Note:** The reporting party was an official GEMA F-rank Ability User, now deceased. This message was stored on their smartwatch.

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**ID:** 2025072604

**Target:** Night Cooker (E-rank Xenogeneic)

**Location:** Building 5, Unit 2, Cuihu New Village, Yicheng

**Reporting Party's Description:** I live in Building 5 of Cuihu New Village. This summer has been exceptionally hot.

Early on the morning of the 24th, I was woken up by an overpowering, suffocating smell of gas.

At first, I thought someone in the building had forgotten to turn off their stove. But the more I smelled it, the more I realized the smell was coming from my own kitchen.

I got out of bed and walked over. The kitchen light was off, the window was tightly locked, and the stove was properly turned off. The gas valve hadn't been touched.

Yet the smell didn't dissipate; if anything, it grew stronger, so strong I felt my head grow heavy.

Just as I was about to turn on the light to investigate, a voice spoke from the darkness—

"Go back to sleep. I'll be out of here soon."

The voice was soft, as if coming from the stove, and carried a familiar, intimate tone.

But I live alone.

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**ID:** 2025020821

**Target:** Midnight Convenience Store (E-rank Xenogeneic)

**Location:** 24-Hour Happy Convenience Store, No. 24 Beiyan Street, Xihe District, Yicheng

**Complainant's Description:**

I work the night shift at Happy Convenience Store, from 1 AM to 7 AM.

The store is across the street from an abandoned subway entrance, and there's almost no one around.

But every night at 3 AM this week, strange customers have been coming in.

They're covered in dust, wearing hard hats, and look like construction workers.

They never speak, never look at me. They just walk in, grab a pack of cheap cigarettes, and pay and leave.

When I scan the barcode, the screen never shows a price. It only says: "Please remain open."

At first, I thought it was a system error. But I checked the register carefully and found it wasn't even connected to the internet.

On the fifth night, I greeted them as usual: "Welcome."

One customer finally looked up.

His face was flat.

His features were like a photograph pressed under glass, and when he spoke, the dry, cracked skin around his mouth trembled.

"Are you free tomorrow night?"

I refused.

I have to work, I have to work, I have to work, I want to work, I want to work, I I I work, I want work, I want work, I work, work, work, work, work...

**Note:** The complainant was a GEMA official C-rank Ability User, now deceased. This message was found on their watch.

*

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**Mission ID:** 2025011200

**Target:** Toilet Water Ghost (D-rank Xenogeneic)

**Location:** Building 1, Heshunli Residential District, Yicheng

**Reporter's Description:** I live in an old apartment complex where the bathroom is right next to my bedroom.

-A few nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night needing to use the toilet. As soon as I opened the door, I heard a tap, tap, tap of footsteps coming from inside the bathroom, as if someone was pacing back and forth in the confined space._

I froze for a moment, thinking it might be noise from the upstairs apartment, but the sound was coming from the tiles in my own bathroom—clear and right beside my ear.

I turned on the light, but the room was empty.

When I looked down, I saw standing water in the bathroom. Wet footprints led in a trail to the toilet, then stopped.

The next second, the toilet water suddenly started bubbling and gurgling, as if someone inside was trying to hold back a laugh.

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**ID:** 2025091304

**Target:** Camera Wraith (C-rank Xenogeneic)

**Location:** Major tourist attractions in Yicheng

**Reporter's Description:** I went on vacation during my annual leave. My best friend and I love taking pictures, so we took a lot.

But when I got home and was organizing the photos, I noticed the same figure in the corner of every picture—wearing the exact same clothes as me, its expression becoming clearer with each shot.

In the last photo, the figure was standing right behind me, its hand resting on my shoulder.

I took the camera to get it repaired. After a few glances at the screen, the repairman pushed it back and said, "I can't fix this kind of problem." That night, I locked the camera in the cabinet. But the next morning, there was a developed photo on my nightstand—

It showed me asleep, with a grinning version of "myself" lying right beside me. Xie Sheng: "......" His hand trembled as he clicked "Accept Mission."