181: Chapter 180 Strange Tales (Part 2)

Alienation-type Superhumanss refer to individuals whose bodies undergo physical mutation toward a certain powerful direction. Examples include the legendary Western vampires and werewolves. These users share a common trait: they possess a mysterious inherited bloodline. A very small, specific group of Alienation-type users awaken their abilities through stimulation under certain peculiar conditions; they lack inherited bloodlines, whether through genetics or infection. However, while they undergo alienation, their own bloodline is highly likely to change, with a certain chance of passing it on to the next generation. Excluding those with malignant mutations, this type of Alienation-type Superhumans is far more powerful than those with inherited bloodlines.

Support-type abilities refer to mastering powers that lack direct combat capability. In fact, Support-type abilities can be categorized into other ability systems; the only difference is their combat power. However, Support-type abilities are quite peculiar, as in certain situations, they can play a role far more powerful than combat abilities of the same level. A good example is the investigative ability Cao Xiao fabricated; its effectiveness was well-proven during yesterday's sweeping 'autumn leaves' operation.

The Supervision Department does not use the term 'superpowered person'; they are all called Ability Users. An Ability User's power can be divided into nine levels based on combat strength, from lowest to highest: E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS, and X. An E-rank Ability User is equivalent to the Initial Realm of a martial artist; in the world of abilities, an E-rank is someone who has just awakened. D-rank corresponds to Obvious Power; strictly speaking, D-rank is considered a true Ability User. C-rank corresponds to Hidden Power; C-rank Ability Users are considered minor experts within the Supervision Department. B-rank corresponds to the Realm of Transforming Power, though the files did not provide much detail. As for A-rank, it corresponds to the Half-step Innate Realm, which Cao Xiao had never heard of. There were no records for S-rank and above; logically, S-rank would correspond to the Innate Realm, and he couldn't even guess at the three ranks above that. Forget the Innate Realm; even the Transforming Power Realm seemed light-years away for him, which left him feeling a bit discouraged. The only silver lining was that while abilities were miraculous, they weren't like the world-shaking, landscape-altering powers he had imagined—at least not at lower levels. Ability Users below S-rank cannot withstand direct hits from firearms, and even an A-rank Ability User would meet their end if faced with a coordinated military strike.

He couldn't imagine how powerful an S-rank or higher Ability User could be, but on second thought, he felt relieved. The world was still dominated by ordinary people, which meant that even an X-rank Ability User would have to kneel before a nuclear bomb! This realization eased the sense of oppression in his heart. Although the existence of abilities was a paradox in itself, they were still supported by certain scientific theories. If they were so powerful and miraculous as to have no limits, it would violate the basic laws of the universe, and science would have no reason to exist. All natural laws would be negated, and if the entire system of knowledge were overthrown, abilities would lose their meaning for existing.

After reading the basic situation of the ability world in the files, Cao Xiao's mind remained unsettled for a long time. In ancient times, under harsh natural conditions, humans worshipped and yearned for powerful strength to survive. When that strength was out of reach, this pursuit turned into faith, giving rise to myths, legends, and eventually, religion. Many people developed the emotion of faith and became irrationally obsessed with it, which was also one of the driving forces of human progress. In today's modernized age of technology, many still hold onto faith, but its essence has changed. It is no longer about a single power, but more about wealth, ideals, freedom, or even oneself. Cao Xiao was such a person, though he believed he had no faith—or rather, a different kind of faith—because he believed that any form of obsessive pursuit created shackles for the soul. It wasn't that he had no goals, but rather that he was unwilling to run too fast in pursuit of them; he preferred taking it one step at a time, not thinking too much or too far ahead, letting everything happen naturally. Thus, after clarifying these thoughts, he no longer held such high expectations for the ability world, nor did he view it as separate from the real world.

Mysterious events refer to various supernatural phenomena and strange occurrences that common sense cannot explain. Throughout five thousand years of Huaxia's history, there have been far too many unexplained mysterious events. Of course, they were only unexplainable to ordinary people using scientific theories; in the eyes of those with abilities, these so-called mysterious events weren't all that mysterious. The function of the Supervision Department was to handle these phenomena that transcended common sense. Unsolved mysteries in the eyes of ordinary people could all find reasonable explanations within these archives of the Supervision Office, complete with appendices on the handling process and results.

Unidentified objects, unidentified creatures, supernatural ghosts, human forbidden zones, extraterrestrial civilizations, folk legends, and other mysterious events were all recorded with actual examples, which opened Cao Xiao's eyes. There were even records of extraterrestrial civilizations, which he had always been curious about. However, there weren't the extraterrestrial beings he had imagined—or rather, not exactly. There were no living ones, but humans had acquired more than one extraterrestrial corpse. The Supervision Department possessed two, and while other countries' files didn't have detailed records, it was certain that the US had them too—not just corpses, but also wreckage of the crafts they traveled in. The actual level of technology currently possessed by mankind was not just what had been displayed; what ordinary people knew was merely the surface. Many achievements that could be called 'black technology' were already being applied in secret departments. This was evident from the weapons and equipment used by the Supervision Department that Cao Xiao learned about from the files: smart weapons, sonic weapons, electromagnetic weapons, particle pulse weapons, laser weapons, nano-weapons, and more. There were anti-gravity aircraft, particle communicators, exoskeleton armor, and first-generation artificial intelligence. Although these weapons had single functions, unsatisfactory power, various flaws, and were somewhat impractical, they nonetheless represented a crucial first step. Given the speed of human development, Cao Xiao could foresee that in the near future, human life and the nature of warfare would undergo massive changes. Furthermore, it was somewhat comical that many sightings of unidentified objects thought to be extraterrestrial were actually caused by humans conducting secret scientific experiments.

If he hadn't joined the Supervision Department and seen these secret files, Cao Xiao wouldn't have known that the world he lived in truly had so many miraculous things. He used to think they were just the result of rumors and exaggerations. Although he had prepared himself mentally beforehand, seeing the full details of these mysterious events was still a bit hard to accept. If a scientist suddenly told you with absolute certainty that ghosts exist in this world, what would you think? A good portion of his worldview had abruptly collapsed!

In fact, 'ghosts' really did exist in the world, and Cao Xiao saw an introduction to 'ghosts' from a scientific perspective in the files. It stated that a 'ghost' is actually an unknown, invisible, stable negative energy field formed under certain special conditions after a life form dies and its spirit or soul leaves the body. The strength of this stable negative energy field depends on the spiritual power of the being when it was alive; the stronger the spiritual power, the more powerful and stable the energy field after death. Conversely, it would be weak or even fail to form an energy field and dissipate directly. Besides having sufficient spiritual power and requiring specific environmental conditions, there was one more decisive factor for forming an energy field: the person must hold a strong obsession at the moment of death, whether it be a good or evil thought. Otherwise, even if a negative energy field formed, it couldn't be called a 'ghost'; it would merely be a mass of energy commonly found in nature. Without autonomous consciousness, it had no meaning. Therefore, not every life form becomes a 'ghost' after death. In particular, the spiritual bodies of animals dissipate directly. Humans possess intelligence, so the chance of forming a 'ghost' after death is much higher. However, compared to the massive human population, the proportion is negligible. Unless artificially constructed, natural environments with the special conditions to form 'ghosts' are very rare; otherwise, even the most overwhelming resentment at death would be in vain.

Without special opportunities to become very powerful, 'ghosts' pose very little harm to humans because the human body itself carries a positive energy field. In crowded places, even a powerful 'ghost' will have its energy eroded by the massive positive energy, leading to the instability and collapse of the negative energy field, causing the ghost to be annihilated. Consequently, there weren't many supernatural incidents involving 'ghosts' recorded by the Supervision Office in this city. However, those that required the Supervision Office to intervene were extremely troublesome. In fact, forty years ago, the Supervision Office nearly suffered total annihilation while handling a ghost-related incident. The specific details were not recorded, but it was said that the Supervision Department headquarters eventually ordered the blockade of all access to that place. To this day, it remains a forbidden zone for the Supervision Office.

It wasn't just 'ghosts'; even the zombies of legend truly existed. The cause of a zombie's formation is a mutation that occurs when a corpse remains uncorrupted for a long time within a powerful, special negative energy field. The powerful negative energy field, relying on the residual biological information of the corpse, grants it a new energy field similar to a 'ghost.' This energy field allows the corpse to mutate and grow. When the growth and the energy field reach a certain level of strength, the corpse is controlled by the internal energy field and regains the ability to move, thus forming a zombie. A zombie's body is as hard as iron, possessing immense strength and a berserk bloodlust, with lethal corpse poison on its claws and fangs.

Zombies are divided into two major categories. One is naturally formed, which can be divided into nine levels based on the degree of transformation. From lowest to highest, they are: Walking Zombie, Jumping Zombie, Wandering Zombie, Flying Zombie, Corpse Demon, Corpse Nightmare, Corpse King, Hou, and Ba. Their combat power is categorized the same way as Ability User ranks, but no Ability User is willing to fight a zombie of the same rank. If one is accidentally scratched, even if they kill the zombie, the corpse poison is a major problem.

The other category consists of artificially refined zombies. Some Taoist sects have traditions of raising corpses, and some evil practitioners also refine zombies for nefarious purposes. The forms of these acquired zombies differ from naturally formed ones, and their combat power is inferior. They are divided into nine levels: Corpse Puppet, Iron-armored Corpse, Copper-armored Corpse, Silver-armored Corpse, Gold-armored Corpse, Jade Corpse, Flying Yaksha, Corpse Spirit, and Unfettered Bone.

Every regime in Huaxia from ancient times to the present has had an organization similar to the Supervision Department—or perhaps it was the same organization, just under different names. Therefore, the Supervision Department has existed for a very long time. Perhaps due to insufficient clearance, Cao Xiao did not find complete records of the Supervision Department's history in the Supervision Office archives. He wasn't that curious and didn't mind. After finishing all the materials, his direction for work became clear.

His primary duty was to secretly handle supernatural incidents occurring within his jurisdiction. The probability of other supernatural events was not high. Special locations within the jurisdiction were all marked, requiring only periodic patrols. However, he also had to monitor and pay attention to Ability Users within the area. If someone caused trouble, he would be responsible for mediation, arrest, and suppression. Additionally, he had to guard against the intrusion of foreign Ability User forces. If capable, he was also expected to investigate certain mysterious events that had yet to be concluded.

Among these unsolved mysterious events, Cao Xiao saw several related to Baiyun Mountain, one of which was the very incident involving the mutated python that concerned him. However, none of this needed to be done immediately. The current priority was to get the Supervision Office up and running. The first step was to prepare a new base. As for recruiting members, there was no rush. After learning what abilities were all about today, he felt that countering Ability Users didn't necessarily require being one. Technological weapons operated by ordinary people were equally effective. As long as the weaponry was advanced enough, there was no need to fear Ability Users below S-rank.

The Supervision Office base had to be secret, so it needed to be far from the city and residential areas. After much consideration, Cao Xiao decided to place the base within Baiyun Mountain. There were no existing buildings there, but for Cao Xiao, building an underground base was too easy. He could spend a little time designing a simple structural framework and let the Brain refine it; it would take half a day at most to complete. Moreover, it would be large enough that he intended to house some of his company's research departments there as well, not just for the Supervision Department's use.

The second task was recruitment. Of course, he was recruiting ordinary soldiers and certain specialized talents. Trying to recruit established Ability Users to join now was unrealistic. Although the Supervision Office had a roster of Ability Users within the jurisdiction, which of them wasn't arrogant? Who would be willing to serve under a rookie like him? Even with threats and bribes, it would take a massive amount of time and energy, and even if they came, they wouldn't follow orders, making them useless. It was better to wait until the Supervision Office was fully established with powerful combat capabilities and his own cultivation rank had risen. Once he had a certain level of appeal, people would naturally come to him. As for discovering newly awakened Ability Users, that was a low-probability event; finding one or two by luck wouldn't help much. Ability Users with ranks lower than his could only serve as reserves; he couldn't rely on them for work at all and would have to slowly nurture them like a nanny. By the time they could be useful, the seas would have run dry and the rocks crumbled.