Chapter 2: The Bounty Squad

A series of exuberant shouts drew the curious glances of passersby along the road. At that moment, Shen Xin had no mind for attending class. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Yu Yanan, help me take a leave of absence. I have something to deal with this morning."

Without waiting for a reply, he hung up and quickly called Sister Dan.

"Sister Dan, I've awakened!"

A lazy voice answered from the other end. "What type is it?"

"I don't know," Shen Xin replied, and then carefully explained his situation in detail.

There was a moment of silence before the voice returned. "Not bad. Come over when you have time."

"Alright, I'll come right away!" Shen Xin hung up, hurried back to his rented room, washed up again, and then rode his bike straight toward the dilapidated compound.

Perhaps it was his mood, but even the mountain road that had frightened him the night before now seemed perfectly agreeable. As he rode along, he realized the compound wasn't as far as he'd thought, nor particularly remote. The university town nestled at the foot of the mountains—just a few miles further and the landscape turned hilly.

Soon he arrived at the compound with its crumbling outer walls. Sister Dan and the others were already waiting for him by the gate.

"Sister Dan, I really awakened a superpower!"

"Show us," she said.

"Alright." Just then, a stray cat darted out from the grass. Shen Xin fixed his gaze on the animal, then glanced at his own feet.

In the next instant, the cat appeared at his feet.

Sister Dan nodded coolly. "Not bad. Our squad happens to be short a support. Stay here. If there's bounty, you'll get a share."

"Bounty? What bounty?"

Chen Jiawang explained with a sly grin, "Kid, we’re a bounty squad. We take on bounty missions for a living."

"Oh," Shen Xin replied, his mind still awash with the thrill of awakening his power.

"Jiawang, Old Mo, you two show him the ropes, get a feel for working together. I’m going to catch up on some beauty sleep," said Sister Dan, yawning. She was about to turn away when she paused and asked, "By the way, what’s your name?"

"Shen Xin."

"Shen Xin, good. You all get to training."

“Don’t worry, Sister Dan, leave him to me.” Chen Jiawang beamed, escorting Sister Dan into the compound before returning to Shen Xin. Old Mo followed silently, a man of few words.

Once inside, Shen Xin saw that the compound held a rather sizable building. Though it looked ramshackle from the outside and rose only three stories, stepping inside revealed something quite unexpected.

The entrance led into a large hall—unfinished, really, just bare concrete, but spacious, more than a hundred square meters by his estimate. It was sparsely furnished with a few wooden tables and chairs.

Chen Jiawang grinned, “Don’t be fooled by appearances. Our basement will really surprise you.”

He led Shen Xin down into the basement. Brightly lit, the ceiling rose four or five meters, and like the hall above, the walls were bare gray concrete. Shen Xin couldn’t see what was so surprising about it.

If anything stood out, it was the abundance of exercise equipment—like a fitness center. And the sheer size—spacious, some four to five hundred square meters.

“Heh, when there’s no job, we train here,” Chen Jiawang explained.

“Not bad,” Shen Xin said with a nod.

Seeing Shen Xin’s calm demeanor, Chen Jiawang hesitated, wanting to say something, but finally said, “Shen, let’s begin training. Use your power to move me. Try several times and see what your limit is.”

“Alright.” Shen Xin glanced, and Chen Jiawang instantly appeared ten meters away.

Old Mo nodded quietly in approval.

“Again, let’s see your maximum range,” Chen Jiawang urged.

Shen Xin concentrated, trying repeatedly, and found he could send Chen Jiawang up to twenty meters away at most.

“So that’s your current limit. Don’t worry—the power can grow. Let’s see how many times you can use it in succession.”

Once training began, Chen Jiawang’s demeanor shifted—focused and meticulous.

After thirty rounds of teleportation, Shen Xin’s eyes and head throbbed with pain. He bent over, eyes tightly shut, and groaned, “That’s my limit.”

“More than I expected. Rest up. Watch me and Old Mo train for a while.”

Shen Xin shuffled to a bench by the wall, closed his eyes, and leaned back to recover.

About ten minutes later, feeling somewhat better, he opened his eyes to see Chen Jiawang lifting weights and Old Mo practicing his twin-blade technique. Especially Old Mo—his movements were swift, his blades flashing with cold light.

The two showed no sign of stopping. At that moment, Sister Dan slipped in quietly, wearing a pink onesie. She sat beside Shen Xin and introduced, “Old Mo’s power is mastery of the blade. In ancient times, he’d be a top-tier expert. Jiawang, you already know—his power is strength; lifting a ton or two is nothing for him.”

“And you, Sister Dan?” Shen Xin asked curiously.

“Me? Let’s just say, compared to me, they’re both rookies.”

“Sister Dan, you’re that strong?” Shen Xin couldn’t help studying her. She didn’t look particularly robust—good figure, pretty face, but nothing about her suggested overwhelming power.

“Don’t believe me?” As soon as she finished speaking, she blurred into motion. In the blink of an eye, Old Mo, more than ten meters away, was sent flying. A gust of wind, and Sister Dan returned to her seat.

“They’ve only been awakened a few years. I’ve been awakened for over a decade,” she said, her tone at turns cold and imposing, oddly affecting.

“Impressive, Sister Dan,” Shen Xin said sincerely.

“I’ll transfer you some money. From now on, you’ll be in charge of our meals. I don’t want too many people knowing about this place.”

Just then, Shen Xin’s phone chimed—a friend request. After adding her, he immediately received a transfer of one hundred thousand.

“Sister Dan, isn’t that too much? Is this our food budget for a year?”

“A month! Keep an eye on it. Go order food now. I haven’t had breakfast yet.”

“Alright!”

Shen Xin was so excited that he’d forgotten breakfast himself—his stomach was growling.

He jogged out of the compound, hopped on his beloved scooter, and started calculating: three meals a day, a thousand per meal, that’s only ninety thousand a month. Breakfast wouldn’t cost a thousand, surely. Plenty of room for profit, he mused.

Still, not daring to decide on his own, he went to Hualong Grand Restaurant where he’d picked up food the day before, ordered the same dishes as before plus an extra soup—five dishes and a soup, all hearty and substantial. The bill came to 1,260.

Thinking quickly, Shen Xin found the owner and smiled, “Boss, I’ll be ordering regularly from now on. Can you give me a discount?”

The owner, a sharply-dressed man in his forties, gave Shen Xin a once-over and replied, “If you get a VIP card and deposit thirty thousand at once, you can get twenty percent off.”

“I won’t be dining in. How about thirty percent off?”

“Deal!”

Delighted, Shen Xin carried the food back to the compound, confident it would be more than enough. Each dish was generous—just the braised beef alone weighed at least three jin.

As he reached the gate, Sister Dan was already waiting, urging, “Hurry up and eat. We’ve got a job.”