Anomalous Creatures

"Say, why don't I feel any different?" Kevin pinched the muscle on his arm and found that he hadn't become infinitely strong or invincible to pain. He strained his might towards a distant corner of the wall for a long time, but failed to release a spherical lightning bolt. In short, he still felt like an ordinary person. Perhaps his regenerative abilities had been enhanced? Unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to stab himself on the spot...

"What other changes do you expect?" Raven 12345 replied without lifting her head as she followed the instructions to reset the adjustment and enhancement pod. "Do you want to unleash a triple fireball on the spot or something?"

"Er, wasn't it agreed that you'd give me some combat capabilities?" Kevin felt cheated by his unreliable female supervisor again. "You make me spend all day with a bunch of superheroes who can kill people just by waving their hands. At least give me some self-defense abilities! What exactly did this adjustment do?"

"I adjusted your endocrine system, removed the two scars on your elbows, and eradicated your gray hairs," Raven 12345 said seriously. "At least, that's the case for now."

Kevin: "..."

"Ah ha, your expression is really interesting!" Raven 12345 seemed quite amused by Kevin's facial expression. She held it in for ten seconds before bursting into laughter. "Don't think too much or be too greedy. I know what you want. I've brought in plenty of newbies before. We're professionals. All you new recruits think about in the first month is becoming superheroes overnight. But think about it, if I really gave you such great abilities this time, or even just the ability to jump twenty meters in place, what would be the consequences?"

Kevin thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "I won't be afraid of elevator outages anymore? I can sign up to be Spider-Man's stunt double?"

Raven 12345 stared at Kevin with wide eyes. "Wow, your brain reminds me of someone... But you're really stretching it. If I really turned you into a superhero, the only result would be that you'd spend over twenty hours a day smashing yourself into walls or hanging from the ceiling. Body enhancement is gradual." Saying this, Raven 12345 patted Kevin on the shoulder. "Everything you need has already been given to you, but it's temporarily locked by a set of mental suggestion programs. It ensures that you won't use abilities beyond your handling capacity prematurely. Go through more experiences and complete a few small missions to hone yourself. Your physical potential will gradually unlock."

Upon hearing this, Kevin finally sighed with relief. He thought to himself that he hadn't been cheated; it was just that the payment had been deferred. Moreover, Raven 12345's explanation made perfect sense: For a human who had been bound by Earth's gravity for twenty-five years, suddenly gaining the ability to fly and roam the earth wouldn't be a fun thing. In the best-case scenario, you could easily demolish your own home. Adding a temporary safety lock was very necessary.

Kevin was well aware of his personality. He was usually calm and composed, but his curiosity flourished under special circumstances. If he really acquired any superpowers, the first thing he would do when he got home would definitely be to touch the electrical outlet and try it out...

"So what aspects of my body have been enhanced exactly?" Kevin looked at Raven 12345 with anticipation. "Asking this shouldn't be against the rules, right? Knowing the situation roughly will give me some psychological preparation."

Raven 12345 explained seriously this time: "Reaction speed, strength, recovery ability, adaptability to extreme environments, resistance to poisons, radiation, high and low temperatures, corrosion, and everything else that needs to be resisted. However, it's basically an enhancement based on human capabilities. In the future, after you pass the assessment, there will be other adjustment projects, but they all have strict standards. Moreover, even after the enhancement is complete, you won't be allowed to use various dangerous powers casually. You need to prove first that your will can control the power of a superhero. You understand that."

Kevin nodded and examined his entire body. He felt that his mindset would definitely pass the assessment: a good person, just like his name. However, as Raven 12345 said, everything still needed practical testing. Starting today, his special career as a "grassroots employee of the Temporal and Spatial Administration Bureau" officially began.

"Well, labor protection has been provided, and the new employee induction enhancement is also done. The rest, like employee regulations, you can go back and learn slowly. Anyway, for now, you need to remember the most important point in the regulations: you cannot disclose information about the Temporal and Spatial Administration Bureau to irrelevant people. By irrelevant people, I mean anyone besides your tenants. Remember, anyone," Raven 12345 looked Kevin in the eyes seriously. "And even with your tenants, you can't talk casually. Just let them know roughly why you're protecting them. Although your tenants were specially selected by me, it doesn't mean they've entered the circle of the Temporal and Spatial Administration Bureau, at least not yet. It's a delicate balance, and you need to be careful."

Kevin surprisingly glanced at the other person. "Confidentiality regulations? The Temporal and Spatial Administration Bureau... According to you, this is an organization of 'gods,' right? Why are you gods afraid of letting people know your existence? The gods I've heard of are all very high-profile, wanting all of humanity to worship them. They usually have nothing to do but study religious expansion..."

:"There are times for propaganda, but only when necessary," Raven 12345 shook her head. "For the Temporal and Spatial Administration Bureau, such propaganda is unnecessary. Remember, the regions that the Bureau deals with are all areas with their own development trajectories, where local indigenous civilizations are evolving normally and have strong independence. Even if we become gods, we cannot casually interrupt the evolutionary process of a normal civilization. Suddenly letting a group of intelligent beings know that there is a group of super beings who can manipulate the constants of the universe beyond their familiar world, and letting them know that the entire world they live in can be arbitrarily rewritten or deleted by 'gods,' is almost a spiritual catastrophe for most civilizations. Of course, if you disclose the affairs of the Temporal and Spatial Administration Bureau, it won't lead to such serious consequences. Most people won't believe you, but it's a matter of principle."

Kevin nodded half-understandingly. "I see... But if that's the case, the Temporal and Spatial Administration Bureau is actually a secret organization? Besides you... we know, but no one else does?"

"Not exactly. The structure of the Macro-world is not static," Raven 12345 still shook her head. "The Macro-world is a vast system established by His Majesty the Emperor, a virtual network connecting all universes within the imperial territory. This network grows every day, and the Temporal and Spatial Administration Bureau is the control system for this network, so we encounter all kinds of situations. Sometimes a civilization or a group will grow to the point where they can contact the Empire, or some regions will suffer catastrophic disasters, forcing the Bureau to intervene comprehensively. In such cases, we cannot continue to keep secrets. After approval, the Bureau can decide to reveal the existence of the Empire to a certain group, and then that group will be formally accepted as members of the Empire. However, these things are quite distant from you. You should first take care of your own little patch of land. To be honest, these days, the scrutiny for new inspectors like you is already quite lenient. When the Bureau was first established, the imperial situation was still unstable, and the confidentiality regulations were much stricter than they are now. Moreover, at that time, we were accustomed to using the standards of imperial officials to require civilian departments, and anyone who casually disclosed any information would be executed. Although the execution system is still in place now, as long as it doesn't cause tangible evil consequences, everything is fine. Count yourself lucky!"

Kevin suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, realizing what a huge and serious organization the seemingly carefree female boss in front of him represented: casually mentioning execution regulations!

But he also sensed a great opportunity in Raven 12345's words: Even though he still didn't fully understand the temporal and spatial network and the Temporal and Spatial Administration Bureau, he could faintly imagine just how massive this entity was, and now that he was a member of this giant, how insignificant his knowledge of this planet, this galaxy, or even this universe was in the entire "Macro-world".

Just thinking about this made his motivation soar!

At this point, Raven 12345 had already packed up the equipment in the room and led Kevin outside. "Don't think too much about it now. The procedures for you are all done. I have a task for you."

Upon hearing this, Kevin immediately perked up: The organization needed him!

"You're going to Europe in a couple of days," Raven 12345 casually said. "To pick up a new 'tenant'. I went through a lot of trouble to get him over here, but that idiot messed up and landed in the wrong time zone by eight hours! I won't bother with such trivial matters myself. It's just the right opportunity for you to gain some experience."