Chapter 38: The Assessment
by xennovel“Colonel Chen sent you here because…”
Lu Xin sat down in a small abandoned garden nearby and started questioning Gecko.
“It’s important!”
Gecko, though annoyed that Lu Xin hadn’t invited him upstairs and instead made him sit in this desolate, broken garden, seemed like a forgiving sort. His mood quickly brightened and he leaned in conspiratorially, “Brother, you’ve got some serious face. This time, the Qinggang Six Monsters have all come to the Second Satellite City just for you…”
“Seriously, you carry a lot of weight. This time, the entire Qinggang Six came to the Second Satellite City just for you…”
“Qinggang Six Monsters?”
Lu Xin found the name a bit strange.
“Yeah, six monsters!”
Gecko said with a straight face, “Really, really weird monsters!”
“What are they here for?”
A jolt went through Lu Xin, and he asked urgently, his expression serious.
“To run an assessment on you…”
Gecko looked surprised. “Headquarters didn’t notify you beforehand?”
“Assessment?”
Lu Xin paused for a moment before realizing. Of course, he had been notified; he’d been waiting for this. He clearly remembered Han Bing saying that only after the assessment could he be officially recruited and become a real Pollution cleanup personnel…
Though it seemed like becoming official didn’t come with any better benefits…
But that didn’t matter. The words ‘becoming official’ themselves offered a sense of security.
…
…
A flicker of joy appeared in his heart, quickly followed by concern. “Why do monsters have to do the assessment?”
Seeing his confusion, Gecko looked rather pleased and grinned mysteriously. “You’ll know when you get there…”
“Alright.”
Lu Xin had no choice but to agree. He then added, “Sister, don’t gesture at his neck!”
Gecko jumped. “Who are you talking to?”
“My sister!”
Lu Xin felt there was no need to hide things like usual in front of someone who had also undergone mutation.
So he answered honestly, “She’s gesturing at your neck right now, seems like she wants to twist it off…”
Gecko shivered slightly, the hairs on his neck standing on end.
Lu Xin had to reassure him, “It’s okay, she usually listens to me!”
Gecko instinctively shifted away. “And when things aren’t usual?”
Lu Xin glanced at him and nodded silently.
…
…
“You really live up to your reputation…”
Gecko, who had been about to crack another joke, stood up abruptly, subconsciously moving a little farther from Lu Xin. “I’m someone who loves joking around, and I like it when people joke with me. But why do I feel so creeped out joking with you?”
“Maybe because I wasn’t joking?”
Lu Xin thought to himself, then asked curiously, “What do other people say about me?”
“Your confidentiality level is very high!”
Gecko grinned. “But everyone says you’re very dangerous.”
“Just as I thought, rumors in any company are unreliable and full of prejudice…”
Lu Xin mused internally, then dropped the subject. “So… when is the assessment?”
“Waiting for notification!”
Gecko glanced at the black electronic watch on his wrist. “But it should be soon!”
Lu Xin heard this and felt a bit confused. “Something like this has to be decided last minute?”
“Heh heh…”
Gecko suddenly laughed. “Do you think it’s a small matter for the Qinggang Six Monsters to leave the Main City?”
Just as he spoke, the screen of his watch suddenly lit up. Gecko’s expression immediately turned serious.
“It’s time!”
Lu Xin quickly asked, “When?”
“Fifteen minutes, Qingzhuo Building, east side of the city!”
Gecko reported a time and place, his eyes shining slightly. “Brother, those monsters have terrible tempers and hate people being late. But we’re quite far away. This is the perfect time to see what you’re capable of…”
Before he finished speaking, he was already backing away. When his back hit the wall of the apartment building behind him, he continued moving backward, actually walking backward up the wall. After four or five steps, he pushed himself upward and stuck tightly to the wall.
He grinned at Lu Xin. “Come on, brother! Let’s see who gets there first…”
As he spoke, his body scrambled rapidly up the wall like a phantom, instantly disappearing over the rooftop.
“This…”
Lu Xin watched Gecko vanish, looking somewhat stunned.
He estimated the time, then silently got up, walked to the stairs beside the garden, and headed down into the subway station.
*Rumble rumble!*
Just then, an old subway train covered in colorful graffiti pulled into the station.
Lu Xin silently swiped his card and entered the station, thinking, “Doesn’t he know this last train goes directly to the Qingzhuo Building?”
…
…
When Lu Xin slowly emerged from the subway exit, he saw Gecko panting as he climbed down the wall of a nearby building. Since it wasn’t very late yet and there were quite a few pedestrians on the street, he had to somewhat avoid their gazes, constantly hiding and seizing moments when no one was looking to quickly dart over from secluded corners.
“I didn’t lose, okay…”
Meeting Lu Xin’s strange look, he explained somewhat indignantly, “It’s mainly because I saw you weren’t following me at first, so I went back to look for you. Who would’ve thought you’d take the subway… If I didn’t care about what others thought, I would’ve arrived much earlier too!”
Although his explanation might have been perfectly reasonable, Lu Xin still felt a bit speechless.
“Is the assessment location upstairs?”
Lu Xin changed the subject, looking up at one of the tallest buildings in the satellite city.
“Yes, they should be ready. Let’s go up!”
Gecko said helplessly. Gazing at the building, which seemed ridiculously tall from directly below, his eyes suddenly lit up.
“Should we just climb straight up?”
Lu Xin gave him a long look and obediently went inside to take the elevator.
The entire building felt exceptionally quiet, with no idle people in sight. Only in the lobby and at the stairwells could one see guards armed with loaded guns, standing like rigid nails, lending a serious atmosphere to the building.
This was the first time Lu Xin had seen such tight security in the satellite city.
From memory, not even the Security Hall, the Administration Hall, or even the City Patrol Army barracks had such a large-scale deployment.
Led by Gecko, Lu Xin easily entered the building. After registering, they took the elevator to the nineteenth floor.
“Come on over, the Professors have arrived!”
Chen Jing was already waiting at the nineteenth-floor stairwell. Dressed in a black suit, she looked sharp and capable.
“Okay!”
Lu Xin, somewhat unaccustomed to it, shook her hand briefly and followed her towards the main office on this floor.
“This assessment is standard procedure before official onboarding!”
“Once you pass the assessment, you will receive your own codename and formally gain the opportunity for Guidance!”
“…”
“Official onboarding…”
Lu Xin keenly caught the key point in Chen Jing’s words, and his steps instantly felt lighter.