Behind the girl stood another woman, slender and dressed in a suit and trousers. The woman wore a mask with a breathing valve and a pair of frameless tea-colored glasses on her nose. Her silky, thick long hair was tied into a simple ponytail at the back of her head—the most memorable feature about her was probably the several white strands among the black hair, which one couldn’t tell if it was due to congenital pigment loss or dyed afterward.
"Number 116, Cheng Ming, affiliated with the Kuaiji Mysterious Creature Research Institute, a registered Hunter." The burly man dressed in desert-colored camouflage combat gear, sitting to the right of the expressionless girl, spoke. "This information is correct, right?"
"Correct."
"In principle, as a private organization, we are not entitled to inquire about your infection meme and meme ability, but since this involves recruiting hunters for the group, we at least need to have a general understanding of the applicants’ abilities," the burly man continued. "First, we need to determine if your ability belongs to the combat type or the support type... this is important as it will decide the role you’ll undertake in the group. I hope you can be truthful. Combat-type hunters have more dangerous work compared to support-type hunters, but relatively, the extra pay is also higher. However, if you are a support-type hunter, please do not lie about your ability type. From the group’s perspective, this may lead to allocation errors; and for you personally, an incorrect job is more likely to put your life at risk."
Cheng Ming opened his mouth. Just as he instinctively wanted to say "support type," it seemed as if time stopped, and the expressions of the five "interviewers" all froze there.
The next second, the expressionless girl in the middle smiled at Cheng Ming, as if she had changed her face.
This smile was familiar to Cheng Ming—not long ago, that pure white girl who had changed Cheng Ming’s life trajectory had shown him the same smile.
Almost... no, exactly the same!
The girl spoke without making a sound, instead mouthing to Cheng Ming, "Combat type."
Cheng Ming furrowed his brows slightly.
Once again, the girl mouthed, "Follow what I say."
In an instant, everything returned to normal, and the expressionless girl was expressionless again, while the other four "interviewers" regarded Cheng Ming with varied expressions.
"Suppo... combat type," Cheng Ming said.
"You seemed hesitant," a hint of suspicion flashed in the burly man’s eyes, "it seemed like you wanted to say support type at first?"
"Combat type," Cheng Ming repeated in a calm tone.
"I hope you heard what I said earlier. If you lie about your ability type, you might be assigned to a job that is not suitable... in the worst case, it may result in your death," the burly man’s tone became more severe.
"Combat type," Cheng Ming said again, "I didn’t lie."
"Alright, since it’s combat type, we’re going to conduct a simple combat test, any problem?" the burly man said coldly.
"No problem," Cheng Ming nodded.
The floor in front of him split open into two slots, and two rectangular cabinets, one large and one small, rose up from below.
The smaller cabinet was about one meter tall, half a meter on each side, and within reach of Cheng Ming. The larger cabinet looked like a coffin, standing about ten meters away from Cheng Ming.
"The cabinet in front of you contains some simple weapons. You can choose freely according to your combat habits," the burly man said, "Let us know when you’re ready, and we’ll start the test."
Cheng Ming opened the cabinet. Inside were several standard military knives, a nine-millimeter pistol, and a few magazines loaded with bullets.
The weapons and equipment Cheng Ming was carrying before had been handed to the Bai Group’s staff for safekeeping—as per their instructions, it was prohibited to carry any weapons during the selection process. The group would provide everything needed for the selection, including weapons.
"If you have specific weapons, you can apply to us for those," the burly man said, "However, from the weapons you stored, it seems you only carried two military knives and a pistol. The bullet types you used were also conventional. These should be your usual weapons, right?"
Cheng Ming nodded, took the pistol and inserted it into the holster, then selected two knives, one sheathed at his back, the other held in reverse grip in his hand.
"I’m ready," Cheng Ming said.
"Good," the burly man nodded, and the weapon cabinet descended immediately, leaving only the cabinet resembling a coffin. "The test subject is a G09 Special-Purpose Biochemical Robot developed by Bai’s Military Industry. The internal framework of the robot is an artificial mechanical skeleton, but it’s covered with a human-cultivated mysterious creature resembling muscle. The physical strength of this creature will adjust according to the intensity of attacks it receives. If you find you can’t defeat it, please stop attacking immediately and inform me. I’ll end the test at once."
Cheng Ming gripped the knife tightly.
The cabinet opened, and a humanoid figure at least 1.9 meters tall emerged from it.
Although called a robot, the G09 looked identical to a naked adult human male from the outside, its body covered with a layer of muscle that felt very close to rubber. Its trunk and limb proportions were exactly like a human’s. The only visual difference seemed to be the absence of one reproductive organ that a real human would have.
Even on its head, there was a short layer of implanted hair, and its entire face was hidden beneath a metal mask, obscuring its features. Only the pair of cold electronic eyes could be seen.
"Adjust the activity limiter of the mysterious creature cells in G09 to ten percent, and set the power of the mechanical skeleton to twenty-five percent of maximum," the burly man picked up a walkie-talkie and spoke to the technicians backstage.
The next second, the limbs of the G09 made a series of strange yet flexible "warm-up moves," and its entire body’s "muscles" and "joints" emitted a series of crisp crackling sounds.
"Let the test begin!"
With the burly man’s words, the G09 shot towards Cheng Ming like a cannonball at an extremely fast speed!
Cheng Ming instinctively wanted to dodge, but suddenly realized time seemed to slow down significantly. The "begin" in the burly man’s "Let the test begin" stretched into a long echo, and G09’s movements towards him were slowed down countless times—Cheng Ming could even see the distorted air around G09 and the floor beneath its feet slowly deforming under its weight.
What is this feeling?!
Cheng Ming was shocked but casually dodged G09’s first attack and plunged the knife in his hand into G09’s back muscle.
The tip of the knife encountered strong resistance, as if it was cutting into a piece of rubber with an extremely high density.
Cheng Ming and G09 crossed paths; the knife slipped from his hand, hitting the glass wall of the room with a crisp sound.
G09 slowly turned around, its pair of cold electronic eyes fixed on Cheng Ming.
The cut on its back quickly healed, leaving only a barely noticeable scar.
Cheng Ming rubbed his wrist—the impact of that brief clash not only flung the knife from his hand but also sprained his wrist.
"Quick reflexes, but insufficient strength," the burly man whispered in appraisal, "For this type of hunter, the research institute should equip him with weapons that match his abilities..."
G09 didn’t give Cheng Ming much time to breathe; it charged at Cheng Ming again, this time even faster than before.
However, in Cheng Ming’s eyes, G09’s movements were still incredibly slow... the air surrounding it was like a sticky glue, making every move it made full of immense resistance.
Cheng Ming pulled out his pistol and aimed at G09’s head.