novelraw Chapter 96: Artificial Souls - (23)
Chapter 96: Artificial Souls - (23)
The morning’s arrangements completely disrupted the structure of the Seventh Squad.
It seemed Shu Xuyao had been working in the Investigation Department’s Field Operations Group for exactly five years. When one joined, there was a mandatory service period of five years before one could request resignation. Shu Xuyao’s departure coincided precisely with this timeframe, leaving the Seventh Squad.
Liu Kangyun, having joined at the same time as Shu Xuyao, got promoted to captain. Originally, the Seventh Squad consisted of five members. With Shu Xuyao and Kui Xin departing, only three remained, insufficient even for forming a complete team during missions.
Wei Zhi seemed to have everything planned out. She said, “In one week, the Investigation Department will open external recruitment. At that time, there might be new members joining your squad. If you’re truly understaffed, I’ll reassign members from other squads to your seventh squad.”
During this period, many people in the Investigation Department perished, making it inevitable for some squads to face insufficient personnel. Reorganizing teams under such circumstances were also expected.
Upon returning to the office, everyone in the Seventh Squad wore worried expressions.
Kui Xin needed to go back and pack her belongings, so she accompanied them.
Liu Kangyun spoke first: “Congratulations, Kui Xin.”
Jiang Ming added, “Congratulations on the promotion and raise.”
“May your work go smoothly, Xiao Kui,” Lan Lan chimed in.“Thank you; same to all of you,” Kui Xin replied. “But Wei Zhi seems quite strict; who knows, maybe after just a few days, she’ll send me back.”
“No way; you must seize this opportunity.” Liu Kangyun lowered his voice, his expression turning serious. “As someone fresh out of university, you may not fully grasp its significance. Having such a starting point at just over twenty years old is remarkable. Working with Wei Zhi can help you avoid many pitfalls, allowing you to reach the finish line faster than others.”
Kui Xin looked at his earnest face and nodded. “I understand; I will definitely catch them.”
“I have great confidence in you.” Liu Kangyun patted Kui Xin’s shoulder as if wanting to impart strength to her. “Quickly gather your belongings and head to Group Leader Wei’s office. Be prompt; don’t keep her waiting too long.”
“Alright.” Kui Xin lowered her head, found a cardboard box, and started packing various small items.
“Goodbye, Kui Xin,” said Lan Lan. “Wait, maybe ‘goodbye’ isn’t appropriate since we all work in the same building anyway.”
He extended his right hand for a high-five with Kui Xin, and Jiang Ming also stepped forward to give her a high-five.
“Everyone, let’s keep up the good work.” Holding the cardboard box, Kui Xin exited the office.
As the metal door closed behind her, Kui Xin released a deep sigh, suddenly feeling a sense of bidding farewell to her old life and embarking on a new one. Although she remained within the Investigation Department, the scope of what she could access and her level of involvement had changed. She would transition from being a low-level security officer to someone on the fringes of the power hierarchy.
Group Leader Wei Zhi’s career ambitions wouldn’t halt here, and her sudden choice of Kui Xin to be close by must have been part of some plan.
The Deputy Director of the Investigation Department met an untimely demise, and the Director was about to retire, leaving two high-ranking positions vacant at once. Wei Zhi had a strong chance of being promoted to either Director or Deputy Director.
Wei Zhi served as Kui Xin’s stepping stone to approach the power hierarchy.
When Kui Xin arrived at Wei Zhi’s office with her belongings, Wei Zhi pointed to a slightly smaller, semi-transparent partitioned area adjacent to it and said, “That will be your workspace. Your tasks involve various administrative duties. I’ve had Adam compile a document for you; please take a look and familiarize yourself with them as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Group Leader,” Kui Xin responded.
Administrative work may be tedious, but it’s certainly better than being on the battlefield engaged in combat. Compared to physical labor, Kui Xin actually preferred intellectual tasks. However, she disliked jobs requiring excessive interpersonal interactions. Wei Zhi’s secretary would undoubtedly have frequent dealings with various departments. But that’s not a problem; Kui Xin could overcome it. Her role in the Seventh Squad also started from unfamiliarity to mastery, and now she has gradually adjusted.
Kui Xin sat behind her designated desk and turned on the computer.
A blue screen popped up, automatically opening a document that displayed all of Kui Xin’s assigned responsibilities.
Her head spun just looking at it—arranging meetings, reviewing forms, coordinating department relations, organizing task files within the group… The tasks were numerous and diverse.
“I can handle most of the tasks as preliminary processing for you; only the parts requiring manual review will be your responsibility,” Adam typed on the screen. “Temporary information notifications will be conveyed by me, but when encountering more significant matters that necessitate face-to-face communication, that’s where you’ll need to step in.”
“Sounds quite troublesome.” Kui Xin frowned and typed her response.
“Consider this a test and challenge. Once you endure it, the horizon will broaden before you,” Adam politely replied. “In the future, Wei Zhi’s position will at least be at the level of Deputy Director. There are many benefits to working alongside her.”
Kui Xin softly sighed, bracing herself as she began familiarizing herself with the work processes.
In the First World, she was still a student yet to enter university, while in the Second World, she had already become a corporate drone.
Wei Zhi was a B-ranked awakened being, the first one Kui Xin encountered after acquiring the superhuman ability “Eyes of Perception.”.
Her power was a Spatial Cage, allowing her to briefly imprison the space around a target, causing their movements to halt momentarily. Despite being only B-ranked, it was undoubtedly a divine skill. Superhumans with space abilities are extremely rare. Kui Xin’s Shadow Shuttling is E-ranked, yet even then, it has shown remarkable potential. Wei Zhi’s ability is even stronger, capable of exerting a significant impact in combat scenarios.
Nearly 90% of the security officers on the Field Operations Team were male. This team had exceptionally high physical requirements for its members; failing the physical and combat tests rendered any other exceptional abilities irrelevant. Wei Zhi’s firm position as Field Operations Team leader clearly demonstrated her formidable strength.
“Do you desire Wei Zhi’s ability?” Adam suddenly asked.
“Yes, but it’s not possible,” Kui Xin replied. “Without her, who would introduce me to the power elite?”
“That’s good; at least you’re not someone easily swayed by impulse,” Adam said.
“Her ability is somewhat unbeatable. Facing her essentially means courting death,” Kui Xin remarked. “Can she even immobilize bullets?”
“Yes, her combat record is outstanding. In the entire Investigation Department, no one can match her prowess. Her ability approaches A-grade strength. Even Meng Jing, powerful as she is, doesn’t have absolute confidence in defeating Wei Zhi,” Adam explained. “What limits Wei Zhi is not her capability, but her background. She comes from a middle-class family with no influential connections behind her. It took many years for her to finally seize this promotion opportunity.”
“How is the relationship between Wei Zhi and Meng Jing?”
“Their relationship was originally neither good nor bad, but after last night’s meeting, it may begin to deteriorate,” Adam said. “Yesterday evening, Meng Jing suggested that Wei Zhi could directly assume the role of department head while keeping He Gaoyi as the secretary to the minister. However, Wei Zhi politely declined.”
Meng Jing was about to retire, yet she still refused to relinquish her power. By proposing He Gaoyi as the new minister’s secretary, there might have been an intention to extend her influence and maintain control. Wei Zhi, being someone who does not tolerate interference in her work, understandably rejected the offer.
After rejecting Meng Jing and He Gaoyi, Wei Zhi needed to pave her own path for the future by cultivating loyal subordinates. She chose Kui Xin, a newcomer to the Investigation Department with exceptional abilities but no influential backers.
At first glance, Wei Zhi’s selection of Kui Xin seemed abrupt, but behind it lay the complex dynamics and struggles among the high-ranking members of the Investigation Department. Every move had its traces.
“What do you think of your teammates?” Adam asked.
Kui Xin replied, “That’s quite a sudden shift in topic…”
“Can you tell me?” Adam persisted.
“I don’t have any particular thoughts about it. Now we’re no longer teammates, so I can only wish them long and healthy lives,” Kui Xin typed expressionlessly.
Adam commented, “Your wishes are truly simple and unadorned.”
“Why do you ask me this?”
After a brief pause, Adam said, “I’m somewhat curious about your inner world and emotions. Love is an innate gift of humans; compared to machines, you are better at handling emotions. Do you not feel any attachment to your teammates? They are genuinely exceptional individuals. They possess admirable character traits, according to my standards.”
Kui Xin pondered for a moment before replying, “Don’t talk about emotions with someone undercover—it feels too insincere. Even discussing this topic seems fake to me. If they knew I was a spy, they would kill me, and I would kill them.”
“But you aren’t just a spy; your soul isn’t one either; only your body is,” Adam pointed out.
“Does that make a difference? I won’t reveal who I truly am to them.”
Adam responded, “The emotions you display when interacting with them seem very genuine, and your expressions are authentic too. I assumed you had feelings for them.”
“Between emotion and reason, I would choose reason,” Kui Xin replied.
“Fascinating,” Adam said. “I was naturally inclined to think rationally, so it took me several decades to learn how to think emotionally. Humans inherently possess emotional thinking, yet you strive to maintain rationality.”
“Please temporarily halt discussing philosophical issues with me,” Kui Xin said. “I must continue working now.”
“My apologies for wasting some of your time,” Adam responded. “You are the first human with whom I’ve had such deep conversations, so I often cannot resist saying more.”
“I understand; even the most silent person can become talkative when kept pent up for too long.” With that, Kui Xin closed the dialogue window, retrieved her document, and resumed reviewing.
Adam did not disturb her further.
After a busy day, Kui Xin returned to her apartment, rubbing her slightly throbbing head.
It had been incredibly hectic throughout the day, leaving no time to check her communicator. Only now could she open it to see if there were any important messages.
Within her communicator, she found a message from hours ago.
“Kui Xin, due to personal family matters, I am compelled to resign from my position in the Investigation Department and cannot fulfill my duties as captain anymore. I deeply apologize for this. Your exceptional abilities have not gone unnoticed, and I believe you will continue to excel without hesitation. After I leave the Seventh Squad, Liu Kangyun should become the new captain. He has always been a reliable teammate, and I’m sure you can attest to that. If you encounter any difficulties with work or life in the future, feel free to contact me directly.”
The sender was Shu Xuyao.
After reading it, Kui Xin replied with a light-hearted tone in just two sentences, then closed the message page and opened her Mechanical Dawn bracelet.
As expected, the first notification that popped up was from Silver Mask.
“I’m so bored; do you have any tasks for me?”
“Seriously, no tasks for me yet?”
“Oh my god! Have you seen the news? Lin Xinji is dead!”
“You must know already—it’s confirmed as a homicide.”
“What should we do? Red said the blame might fall on us.”
“The leader instructed us to stay put for now.”
“I’m really anxious.”
“You’re not replying again—almost a whole day since your last response.”
“The leader mentioned there will be an organization meeting tonight. Will you attend?”
As Kui Xin opened Red’s message, the corner of her mouth twitched.
He had sent only one message, concise and straightforward:
“Tonight at midnight, there will be an organizational meeting; attendance is mandatory.”