Wei'en bid farewell to Yuan and returned home. The first thing he did upon entering was turn off the "alarm."
After his Spirit level increased, he wasn't quite used to the dazzling, colorful light of the Rune Array.
After taking care of that, he went up to his bedroom, placed what he was carrying on the desk, and breathed a sigh of relief.
'Yuan is way too perceptive. Saying I have designs on Sister Kali's beauty...'
'How did he know?'
'For a girl as perfect as Kali, it's only normal to have a few fantasies, right?'
After letting his mind wander for a moment, Wei'en focused his attention on the suitcase. It was time to see what kind of "perks" the Secret Investigation Department provided.
The suitcase wasn't large, but it had some real weight to it when he held it.
It was sky-blue, its surface stamped with the Secret Investigation Department's gun-and-flame emblem, which looked a lot like the one on the flintlock Roger carried.
'I wonder what's inside to make Somlay Arias so proud, enough to call it "the finest standard-issue equipment"...'
'I hope that's not an exaggeration.'
CLICK.
Then, he opened the suitcase.
The first thing that met his eyes was a standard-issue, dark green uniform from the logistics department. The style was both sharp and authoritative.
Wei'en had been dying to get one ever since he saw how good it looked on Lisi and Roger that morning.
He set the uniform aside and looked at the items underneath. His eyes immediately lit up. 'A flintlock!'
It was the exact same model as the one Roger had been carrying!
The flintlock was about thirty centimeters long and silvery-white, with a golden line running along the barrel, which was engraved with the Secret Investigation Department's "gun-and-flame" emblem. The grip, made of ironwood, was also carved with the same emblem.
He quickly picked it up, admiring it so much he couldn't bear to put it down. He struck a few poses, feeling its exquisite and unique craftsmanship.
'I didn't expect the Secret Investigation Department to be this generous.'
Satisfied, Wei'en placed the flintlock on the desk and looked through the other items in the case.
A box of ammunition, a sharp dagger, and several small glass vials...
Wei'en carefully took out the small glass vials and examined them. Other than the different colors of the glass, there were no obvious differences between them.
'Magic Potions? Or something else?'
He couldn't figure out their purpose for the time being, so he had no choice but to put them away. He'd ask his captain and the others at the Secret Investigation Department tomorrow.
'But this is supposed to be the "finest standard-issue equipment"?'
Wei'en was a little disappointed. 'In my previous life, weren't fully-equipped combat personnel loaded with all kinds of tactical gear and attachments?'
In comparison, the contents of the suitcase seemed rather meager.
Still, he couldn't complain about free stuff. At least the flintlock gave him a much-needed sense of security...
'I still have to improve my own strength. In the end, this equipment is just an external tool.'
With that in mind, he opened his panel to take a look.
[You were scanned by Yegor Paine's Spirit Perception. Reward: Survival Points +1.]
[You were targeted by Roger Guy's killing intent. Evaluation: A being suffering from spiritual pollution from an unknown entity, on the verge of losing control. Reward: Survival Points +1.]
[You were scanned by Ales Kilibali's Spirit Perception. Reward: Survival Points +1.]
[You were scanned by Andreas Abra's Spirit Perception. Reward: Survival Points +1.]
[You have learned the name "Forbidden Item 1-83, the Demon Clown." Your path of fate has been slightly altered. Current Encounter Progress: 1/100. Evaluation: Hey, congrats on finding a rather spectacular way to die. Special Reward: Resilience Level +1.]
[You were hit by Santiago Montoya's Spirit Shock and fell unconscious (5s). Evaluation: He attacked you. You're not gonna take him out? Reward: Survival Points +3.]
[Meditated for seven hours. Reward: Spirit Level +0.07.]
Wei'en was speechless.
He knew he'd run into danger whenever he went out, but wasn't this a little f*cking much?
Especially the Spirit Perception scans—a full twelve of them.
And aside from Yegor, he'd never even heard of the others.
He had no idea when their Spirit Perception scans had occurred. He could only infer from the order of the notifications that it had happened inside the Secret Investigation Department.
But what surprised him most was that Roger was a Spiritual Polluter on the verge of losing control!
So, when he first met Roger Guy that morning, the killing intent hadn't been a fluke—the man had genuinely wanted to kill him.
He'd also never imagined that the "Fated Glimpse of a Forbidden Item" was a real thing!
And just a single, casual sentence from Lisi during the introductions had been enough to alter his path of fate.
So the question was, had she done it on purpose or by accident?
The answer would be simple enough to find out—he just had to see if she ever brought it up again.
However, the "Fated Glimpse" wasn't what Wei'en was agonizing over.
It was the news that Roger was about to lose control. Should he reveal it to Lisi and the others?
Doing so would inevitably draw attention to him—and possibly even malice.
'I mean, just think about it. Roger had been in the Secret Investigation Department all morning, yet not even Minister Yegor or Captain Lisi had noticed anything was wrong with him...'
'So how could he, a rookie Investigator who'd just been hired, have possibly discovered it?'
'Through his own power? The problem was, he wasn't powerful. He couldn't even sense other people's Spirit scans.'
'Through talent? A talent for sensing Spiritual Pollution in others... Wouldn't they just lock him up and use him as a living detector?'
'What a huge dilemma right off the bat...'
Wei'en wasn't an indecisive person. Most of the time, he was quite resolute.
But after coming to this strange world and learning of its mysteries, he couldn't help but be more cautious.
Whether it was those Abyssal Creatures or the Extraordinaries who bore him ill will, any of them could snuff him out with ease.