Temporary Supervision

“An Yu, temporary‍​‍‌‌​‍‌‍‌‌⁠​‌‌‍‍‌​⁠‍‌​⁠ identifier #1222. According to the trial results, the High Peak’s decision is—”
The verdict was loud and clear.
“Execution.”

Several people barged in, tying An Yu’s hands behind his back and covering his head with a hood, dragging him out of the room.

In the darkness, An Yu screamed, “Why? I haven’t mutated!”

A voice replied back, “Genetic entropy is just data, but it’s a fact that you possess abilities. Unfortunately, with the current human technology, we cannot induce you to manifest your abilities again. The Brain suggests more research, but this year… humanity can no longer bear any risk.”

An Yu’s teeth chattered, “If there’s a risk, does that mean I should die?”

“Unfortunately, in this era, yes.”

An Yu was hauled out of the Main City by a vehicle and thrown into the snowy wilderness.

The cold wind pierced him to the bone and he struggled to his feet, tentatively moving half a step forward.

It seemed like someone was standing not far away from where he was, and the faint smell of leather was very strong in the snowfield.

The sound of boots crunching the snow suddenly approached him.

“Name.”

The voice sliced through the cold wind, chilling him to the bone.

An Yu also heard a rustling sound, like leather brushing against metal.

A cold and hard gun barrel suddenly pressed against his forehead.

“Name.”

The icy wind instantly swept away his body’s cold sweat and he tremblingly said, “An Yu…”

The gun barrel pressed harder.

An Yu opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything.

Fear immediately engulfed all of his senses; this gun seemed to have already forced down death into his head.

His chest heaved uncontrollably, and a tear rolled down from under his hood, soaking his prison uniform.

The gunman looked down at the small wet spot.

“Where are you from?”

“District 53…”

“How did you kill the giant mantis?”

“I don’t know…”

“Liar.”

The safety pin clicked off.

“No!” An Yu sobbed, “I’m sorry, no, please! Please… I didn’t… I’m not lying.”

His hood was suddenly ripped off!

The blinding snow light was absorbed by the black figure standing before him, standing like a sculpture on the snow, invulnerable to the howling snowstorm.

His black eyes were heavy and cold, and there was a barely noticeable scar on his upper lip corner.

All in all, he looked like a tough guy who was not easy to mess with.

And just as An Yu guessed, he wore a pair of leather gloves.

“Qin Zhilu, the one who will execute you.”

The leather-gloved hand grabbed the knot on An Yu’s chest, dragging him closer. The cold barrel of the gun pushed against his jaw, forcing him to tilt his head back.

Qin Zhilu stared into his terrified, flickering golden eyes. The High Peak wasn’t wrong; the eyes of this unknown aberrant person were deceivingly deceptive, making one instinctively lower their guard.

Under intense pressure, An Yu couldn’t manage Ling Qiu’s usual rhetoric and trembled as he asked, “Is the High Peak really going to kill me?”

The gun barrel suddenly withdrew half an inch.

Qin Zhilu’s gaze swept over the red marks on his neck. “Why do you doubt it?”

An Yu choked, “They said my genetic entropy is zero, but I wasn’t infected by the mantis. This undermines the foundation of human genetic classification… The Bait City will surely riot! If they wanted to kill me, they wouldn’t have dragged me out here in the open…”

Qin Zhilu raised his eyes slightly, “Is that all?”

“And… you could have just shot me directly, no need for intimidation…” He was nearly out of breath, “Even though…”

“Even though what?” Qin Zhilu loosened his grip slightly.

“Even though…” His voice softened, almost being blown away by the wind, “I am indeed very scared.”

An Yu lowered his head, his shed tears forming a thin layer of frost on his eyelashes.

Everything fell silent, except for the wind singing on the snowfield.

Qin Zhilu remained silent for a long time.

An Yu thought back to his performance in palpitations—he wasn’t sure if he had misspoken in his panic, but he tried his best to appear weak. According to Ling Qiu’s theory, this person should lower his guard and perhaps even soften his heart.

Suddenly, the leather-gloved hand gripped his chin.

This time, the gun barrel pried his teeth apart, sending chills down his spine as if he were falling into an icy cave.

“The distortion catalyst test couldn’t make you replicate your abilities, and even this death threat didn’t work on you either. It seems I have no other choice.”

“Mmm… mmm…!!”

The gun was shoved into his mouth, depriving him of any chance to argue. Death was knocking at his door, and An Yu finally closed his eyes in despair.

The wind’s noise faded, leaving only the sound of heavy heartbeats and the leather rustling against the trigger.

However, no gunshot echoed across the snowfield.

An Yu was suddenly yanked away, falling to the ground and immediately retching uncontrollably.

Qin Zhilu pulled out a terminal. “This is Qin Zhilu. Connect me to Apex.”

The Apex was said to be the highest decision-maker in the Black Tower.

Anyone in the Black Tower was a High Peak, but there was only one Apex.

“Yes, I haven’t killed him yet.”

“I’m not going to.”

An Yu abruptly looked up, the snowstorm stinging his eyes as he gazed at the figure in the blurry distance.

“The reason?” Qin Zhilu paused. “For any life-and-death judgment related to aberrants, I have the veto power. Did you forget?”

“Indeed, I’ve never used it, but fortunately, I still remember it.”

This person’s authority surpassed An Yu’s understanding, but he still grasped one thing—it was Qin Zhilu who had spared him.

A glimmer of light appeared in his golden eyes.

“The mantis’s death is indeed strange. There wasn’t even a trace left, dead without any evidence.” Qin Zhilu glanced at him suddenly. “Rest assured, if there’s any anomaly, I’ll make sure he dies a cleaner death than that aberrant.”

“…”

The light in An Yu’s eyes faded again.

The call ended. Qin Zhilu looked over at him and said, “The execution has been postponed. From today onwards, I will temporarily supervise you on behalf of the Spire.”

An Yu was stunned, “You… can protect me?”

Read at Mizushi Novels

Visit Mizushi Novels

Qin Zhilu glanced down at him from above, “Call me sir.”

Support the original translation

Read on Mizushi Novels

A black card was tossed into An Yu’s lap, with a line of small text engraved in the bottom right corner: 【Qin Zhilu · Order Spire’s 199th Floor Access】.

Ling Qiu had educated him about the mysterious “Order Spire.” The majority of humans lose their will after distortion, but there are a few who maintain their humanity. This group, possessing aberrant abilities yet adhering to human beliefs, formed the “Protectors” and resided in the Spire.

Don't scrape

Qin Zhilu interrupted his thoughts, “A new space-time disorder zone has appeared in Bait City. Prepare for the mission.”

Don't copy

Read at Mizushi Novels

“Money?” An Yu, who was thinking of declining, paused, “How much?”

Visit Mizushi Novels

Support the original translation

Qin Zhilu added: “Of course, I’m talking about ensuring basic food and clothing.”

Read on Mizushi Novels

Don't scrape

A small spark of greed ignited in his golden eyes, but it was quickly suppressed.

Don't copy

Read at Mizushi Novels

An Yu was stunned, “Where?”

Visit Mizushi Novels

Support the original translation

In the center of the lobby was a statue of a man, with a few lines of small text engraved on its base. An Yu didn’t have time to read them as he followed Qin Zhilu into a transparent elevator.

Read on Mizushi Novels

Don't scrape

An Yu immediately asked, “What are the survival rules here?”

Don't copy

Read at Mizushi Novels

This seemed a bit far-fetched.

Visit Mizushi Novels

Support the original translation

Qin Zhilu turned around, “How long?”

Read on Mizushi Novels

Don't scrape

Qin Zhilu neither agreed nor disagreed, “Prove your value first.”

Don't copy

Read at Mizushi Novels

An Yu didn’t respond. As soon as he entered the room, he stared dumbfoundedly at the dining table.

Visit Mizushi Novels

Such complete bread had long since disappeared from the slums! An Yu roared in his heart.

Ling Qiu had said that one had to sleep with the resource manager who controlled the welfare supplies to get them. Sleeping was his forte, but unfortunately, before he had time to ask how to invite the resource manager, Ling Qiu went to the Main City.

Support the original translation

Read on Mizushi Novels

The sweet taste of the starch brought him a long-lost sense of security, soothing the repeated near-death fears he had experienced over the past two days.

“Are there any injured people?!” The door was suddenly knocked on. “What’s going on?? Law brought someone to the 199th floor?! Open up! Doctor!”

Don't scrape

“Such a beauty?” He stared at An Yu, dumbfounded. “What’s your relationship with Law?”

Don't copy

Read at Mizushi Novels

Sure enough, a bird.

Visit Mizushi Novels

Support the original translation

“0.2. I’m not from the Main City,” An Yu added. “I haven’t mutated either.”

Read on Mizushi Novels

Don't scrape

“A genetic entropy of 0.2 and you dare enter the Spire; isn’t Law afraid of you getting infected?”

Don't copy

“Tsk tsk.” Billy clapped his hands. “Come on, lift your clothes.”

An Yu obediently lifted his shirt, revealing his body covered in bruises, with rope marks glaringly apparent.

Read at Mizushi Novels

Visit Mizushi Novels

“What do you think?” Billy smirked at him, muttering, “He didn’t even break the skin! Impressive technique.”

“Mm…” An Yu nodded. The interrogation methods of the High Peak were indeed formidable; such intense pain only left some subcutaneous bruising, which really opened his view as a slum dweller.

Support the original translation

“Why?” An Yu pursued, he really wanted to know why Qin Zhilu would protect him, otherwise he would feel a little insecure.

Read on Mizushi Novels

Don't scrape

“A little! Just a little! God, you have some real talent!” Billy leaped up, only to return to that smile. “No wonder Law likes you so much.”

Don't copy

Read at Mizushi Novels

If he is gentle, he may not easily draw his gun again. That gun is the thing that An Yu fears the most about Qin Zhilu.

An Yu’s heart raced. “So he only likes hurting me, but he won’t kill me, right?”

“Of course not. If you’re useful to him, why would he kill you?”

Qin Zhilu had just said the same thing, to be useful.

An Yu felt a profound respect for this bird doctor.

“You’re destined to be a figure of importance,” Billy said eagerly. “If you need anything, just ask me; I will tell you everything I know.”

“Thank you…” An Yu lowered his voice. “Do you know the newly emerged super-aberrant rabbit? I heard that it can blow people to death.”

“Explode and kill people? How can genetic anomalies in rabbits be related to explosions…” Billy paused. “Oh! You mean that one, the highly discussed recent emergence… codenamed what was it? An? Yes! Rabbit An! They say it’s as explosive as a bomb, easily triggered and runs really fast.”

Runs fast, explosive like a bomb—quite fitting with the abilities the second lieutenant accused him of.

An Yu had no understanding of the new types of aberrants emerging daily worldwide, only occasionally hearing some details from Ling Qiu. Coincidentally, the little girl in the train car had just mentioned something relevant.

An? Even their names share the same character. Is this just a coincidence?

An Yu felt a bit anxious. “Does it have any peers? Where did it come from? What color are its eyes?”

Billy frowned. “I’m not a kid; I don’t watch that stuff. I only read that it’s naturally sleepy. Why do you ask?”

Sleepy…

An Yu’s breath hitched. After a long pause, he said, “It’s nothing, just curious.”

Billy pursed his lips. “You should focus more on real life. The survival rules of the Spire are very complex. For instance, especially for you, the first rule is to avoid Jiang Xiao.”

An Yu immediately asked, “Who is he?”

“A madman who wants your Commander but can’t get him,” Billy said, standing up to pack his medical kit. “Apply this medicine in half an hour; it might sting a bit. Oh, and here’s your terminal. You can browse the Ladder and forums if you’re bored.”

As soon as Billy left, a mission alert popped up on An Yu’s terminal.

[Emergency Summon]

Last night at midnight, District 53 was invaded by a large number of aquatic aberrations. The military went to clear them out, but communication was lost after a few hours. It’s highly suspected that there is a super-aberrant entity causing time and space disorder.

Mission 1: Restore order

Mission 2: Confidential

Team Members: Law, An Yu, Grape, and Billy; 2 positions are vacant.

Application requirements: Top 50 in the Ladder ranking can freely apply and will be selected by Law.

Special Requirement: Large-scale thermal weapons are prohibited unless necessary.

The mission footage showed the aerial view of District 53 shrouded in dark miasma. As the drone attempted to land, the image immediately turned to static.

An Yu awkwardly closed the mission alert and opened the Ladder app Billy mentioned.

The screen displayed a model of the Spire, with numerous white dots flickering inside, each representing a Protector. He observed that the Ladder ranking was based on “comprehensive battle achievements,” and the higher-ranked Protectors often had higher genetic entropy as well.

Ling Qiu had once said that the genetic entropy of a human after their first distortion reflects their “talent,” with the vast majority of people not exceeding 1,000. Protectors above the middle level in the Ladder had an average starting point of 5,000, but this was the result of multiple distortions, making it impossible to determine their initial genetic entropy.

The Ladder stopped at the 190th floor of the Spire, with only a handful of individuals above this level who were marked as “high-level” or “high-level supervision subjects.” These prominent figures had genetic entropies so high that An Yu was shocked to see they were in the hundreds when he checked several profiles.

There was only one black light on the 199th floor of the Ladder.

Although he had a premonition, An Yu was still stunned by the strength of his backer.

His eyes fell on Qin Zhilu’s distortion type and he was a little puzzled.

Distortion Type: Human… After a person’s genes had descended into chaos beyond current technological measurements, they distorted into… a human?

This was too profound. It reminded him of something Ling Qiu had once said in jest: “When someone becomes rich enough, they will eat rough wheat bread like the dumb dogs in the slums, without any expensive frosting or oil, savoring only the coarse, primitive taste. Thus, it is always the dumb dogs who will lead the world.”

Now An Yu had to reevaluate the truth in that seemingly absurd statement.

Suddenly, the Ladder refreshed, and a golden light appeared at the bottom.

The golden dot wobbled as it jumped upward with its low entropy number, arrogantly making its way up to the 199th floor, where it stood alongside the black dot, looking down over everything.

The Spire Forum exploded instantly.

-Did some dirty things sneak in?

-Law opened his supervision position?? Since when!??

-A pure human without any distortion in the Spire? And he went directly to the top floor?

-Only those with an initial distortion talent of over ten thousand can skip the Ladder, and they must be accepted by a high-level individual. What gives him the right?

-The Spire values replacement through elimination. Isn’t this just giving away a subordinate position under Law?

-When he dies, Law’s subordinate position should open up, right?

-Then there might be a bloody internal struggle in the Spire…

Cold sweat broke out all over An Yu as he scrolled down; the comments became even stranger below.

-Shhh, I just got some intel. He’s Law’s plaything.

-I thought so. I saw weird injuries when he came up in the elevator.

-Law likes this type?? No wonder he never opened a subordinate position. It turns out we’ve been aiming in the wrong direction.

-Is the Spire starting this BS now?

-What’s the point of talking? I’ll go kill him!

-Calm down. Protectors can’t kill pure humans.

-Then just infect him first. With a genetic entropy of 0.2, a poke would cause distortion.

-Once he’s distorted, he can be killed. The Spire doesn’t forbid internal fights.

-I agree; I want to kill him too.

-Want to kill.

-Want to kill.

-Want to kill.

An endless stream of “Want to Kill” poured through the screen, overwhelming An Yu, leaving him no time to process these incomprehensible posts.

The screen suddenly flashed, and the mission information popped up again.

The first name filling the vacant spot was added: Jiang Xiao.