Chapter Seventeen: The Gifted Evaluation

"Self-defense?" The girl was momentarily taken aback by Lin Lei’s answer, then a subtle tone crept into her voice. "Actually, you don’t need to be so nervous. In your neighborhood, although there have indeed been multiple cases of attacks and disappearances, the only ones confirmed to be the work of ghouls are you and a homeless man..."

"The Bureau believes that even if there are ghouls near your home, it’s likely just a small nest — the number shouldn’t be large."

"As long as you don’t go out alone at night, there’s really nothing to worry about. Ghouls are quite weak."

Lin Lei gave a noncommittal "oh," but thoughtful doubt flickered in his mind.

After all, he had personally raided a ghoul nest, and he knew well that there had been more than two hundred of them in that warren.

How could that possibly be considered few?

He pondered silently: "The actions of these ghouls seem extremely cautious. If I hadn’t taken the initiative to seek them out, they might never have been exposed..."

He was beginning to sense that something was off.

It seemed there was more to the situation than met the eye.

...

In less than half an hour, the car came to a stop.

When Lin Lei got out, he found himself in a pitch-black underground parking garage.

The driver, still wearing sunglasses, got out with a cool demeanor. "Follow me."

Lin Lei and Li Xueshu trailed behind the driver to a metal door.

The door slid open sideways, and Chen Fan stepped inside. The narrow steel corridor was completely enclosed, only a few meters long, and at the end was another tightly sealed metal door.

A hiss sounded above his head as a white mist descended — no doubt a disinfecting process.

Once the mist had cleared, the door before them slid open.

As the metal door swung wide, Lin Lei’s eyes were dazzled by a brightly lit corridor, the floor covered in green anti-static tiles.

On either side were rows of closed rooms.

Once inside, the driver finally turned, extended a hand to Lin Lei, and said, "Welcome to the Bureau of Investigation. Let’s get acquainted — my name is Hodge, Consultant Investigator for the Biyang City Sub-branch, Grade Three Investigator, and your examiner for joining the Bureau."

Lin Lei’s mouth twitched.

So he wasn’t just a driver after all?

Suppressing his urge to retort, Lin Lei raised his hand solemnly and shook Hodge’s.

"Hello, Consultant Hodge."

...

The so-called assessment was divided into two parts: the first was a physical test, and the second, an interview.

The physical test wasn’t an ordinary examination, but rather a measure of Lin Lei’s physical abilities, strength, and the specific characteristics of his Gift...

After rounds of blood draws and various machine tests, Hodge brought Lin Lei before a metal device.

"This is a punch-force tester. In a moment, strike this pad with your fist — use your full strength..."

"Punch-force test?" Lin Lei licked his lips.

His strength had grown considerably, but he’d never had a concrete sense of just how much. The "power of five ghouls" was only a crude metric he’d devised based on the number of ghouls he’d absorbed.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward, swinging hard at the pad.

Boom!

A number flickered rapidly on the LCD screen beside him.

It finally settled at "533."

He glanced at Hodge, who seemed genuinely surprised.

"Over five hundred kilos of force. Impressive. Your strength is already greater than that of many physical-type Bureau agents with years of experience."

Hodge’s expression quickly returned to its usual calm — while the result was good, it wasn’t outlandish in his eyes.

...

Half an hour later, the tests concluded.

Hodge flipped through a thick stack of reports. Even indoors, he still hadn’t removed his sunglasses.

"Interesting. According to these results, your body — especially your skin — is now completely inhuman. Quite similar to a ghoul, but much stronger than the average one..."

"Also, your Gift doesn’t match any of the 179 known physical Gifts. It must be a new type!"

One hundred seventy-nine?

Lin Lei was startled. So many abilities just in the physical category?

How many Gifted must there be in the world?

Still, it wasn’t surprising he hadn’t encountered a duplicate — his ability wasn’t truly his own, after all, but that of the ghouls.

Hodge looked at Lin Lei. "I’ve already reported the observable effects of this Gift. With one more ability in the physical category, let’s tentatively call it ‘Rubber Skin.’ What do you think of the name?"

Lin Lei’s mouth twitched again. Apart from his claws and fangs, his skin was his most obvious feature — "Rubber Skin" was accurate, but it sounded terrible.

He hesitated a moment. "How about ‘Rubber Man’?"

Hodge shook his head. "There’s already a ‘Rubber Man’ in the physical system. Besides, your Gift only makes your skin rubber-like — the name doesn’t quite fit. Even if there wasn’t a duplicate, it wouldn’t pass approval."

Li Xueshu cleared her throat. "Since Lin Lei’s ability is similar to a ghoul’s, why not just call it ‘Ghoulification’?"

Lin Lei was taken aback.

The name sounded mysterious and impressive — not easily deciphered — and Li Xueshu’s explanation made sense.

Hodge raised an eyebrow. "There are already many abilities with ‘ghost’ in their name. ‘Ghoulification’ might cause confusion. What about ‘Corpse Ghoulification’ or just ‘Ghoul Transformation’?"

None of the names sounded very pleasant, but Lin Lei said, "Let’s go with ‘Ghoul Transformation.’ It’s better than ‘Rubber Skin.’"

Li Xueshu nodded, then asked, "So what’s his Gift level?"

A smile broke across Hodge’s face as he produced another document and turned to Lin Lei.

"Your physical strength and durability far exceed the average Awakened, and you even surpass some second-tier non-physical Gifted..."

"Combined with your much higher than average Source Energy reserves..."

"Your Gift level is temporarily rated as C+."

With the strength of five ghouls, Lin Lei’s power was far beyond that of an ordinary person.

"Second tier? Gift levels?" Lin Lei was puzzled. "What do those mean?"

Hodge explained, "The second tier refers to the Source Energy rank. The higher the rank, the stronger and more effective the Gift."

"And the Gift level measures potential. Some people awaken with powerful abilities, and as their Source Energy increases, their Gifts grow stronger still..."

Lin Lei’s expression became complex as he listened.

"My ‘Gift’ is only C?"

Only he knew that it wasn’t just awakening that made him so powerful in such a short time, but his consumption of five ghouls!

This wasn't even his own ability — so the rating was meaningless to him...

But if devouring five ghouls only earned him a C, didn’t that mean some high-level Gifts could surpass his current strength right from the start?

Hodge chuckled. "C+ isn’t just C — there’s a big difference. And do you think that’s low?"

"In all of Biyang, only a few C-level Gifted emerge each year!"

"Besides, you’re a physical-type natural Awakener with excellent energy compatibility. A C+ Gift makes you one of the Bureau’s rare talents in years!"

Li Xueshu explained, "Physical abilities generally aren’t rated as highly in terms of potential. Achieving C+ is already outstanding, not inferior to a B level in other categories. Frankly, I thought you’d be a D at best — maybe even an E..."

"And this is only a provisional rating. With skilled use, further development, and increased Source Energy, your Gift level could rise still higher!"