Chapter 38: The Appointment Inspection

“The reason Colonel Chen sent you here was…”

Sitting down in a nearby abandoned small garden, Lu Xin asked Gecko.

“It’s important business!”

Although Gecko was quite displeased because Lu Xin was very rude—inviting him not upstairs to sit, but to this desolate, broken garden—he seemed big-hearted. His mood quickly improved, and he leaned in mysteriously.

“Bro, you’ve got major face. This time, it’s the Six Freaks of Qinggang, come together to Satellite City No.2 just for you…”

“Six Freaks of Qinggang?”

Lu Xin heard this and felt slightly puzzled.

“Yeah, six monsters!”

Gecko said with complete seriousness. “Very, very strange monsters!”

“What are they here for?”

Lu Xin was startled internally and asked urgently and earnestly.

“To conduct your inspection…”

Gecko seemed surprised. “Didn’t Headquarters notify you beforehand?”

“Inspection?”

Lu Xin paused for a moment before understanding. Of course, this matter had been notified—he had been waiting for it. He remembered deeply Han Bing’s earlier words: only after passing the inspection could he be officially recruited and become a real Contamination Cleaner…

Granted, it seemed there were no actual benefits to becoming ‘official’ in this department…

But it didn’t matter. The words “official position” themselves brought a sense of security.

…

Feeling a slight inner joy, he then asked with some worry, “Why must monsters conduct the inspection?”

Seeing Lu Xin’s confused look, Gecko appeared somewhat smug and deliberately mysterious. “You’ll find out when you get there…”

“Alright.”

Lu Xin could only agree, then added, “Little Sister, don’t gesture at his neck!”

Gecko started in surprise. “Who are you talking to?”

“My little sister!”

Lu Xin felt that in front of others who had also undergone changes, there was no need to hide like usual.

He answered plainly. “She’s gesturing at your neck right now, seems like she wants to pull it off…”

Gecko shivered slightly, goosebumps rising.

Lu Xin quickly tried to reassure him. “It’s alright. She usually listens to me!”

Gecko instinctively leaned away. “And in unusual circumstances?”

Lu Xin looked at him and silently nodded.

…

“You really live up to your reputation…”

Gecko, who had been about to make another joke, stood up directly and instinctively moved further from Lu Xin. “I personally love joking around and like others joking with me too. But when I joke with you… why do I feel uneasy inside?”

“Maybe because I’m not joking?”

Lu Xin thought to himself while asking curiously, “What do others say about me?”

“Your information clearance is very high!”

Gecko laughed. “But everyone says you’re dangerous.”

“It’s true the rumors in any organization are unreliable and full of prejudice…”

Lu Xin considered this internally but didn’t dwell on it further. He asked, “So… when is the inspection?”

“Waiting for notification!”

Gecko glanced at the black digital watch on his wrist. “But it should be soon!”

Hearing this, Lu Xin was puzzled. “These things are decided last minute?”

“Haha…”

Gecko laughed out loud. “Do you think the Six Freaks leaving the Main City is a small matter?”

Just then, the screen of his digital watch lit up faintly. Gecko’s expression immediately turned serious.

“It’s here!”

Lu Xin asked urgently. “When?”

“Fifteen minutes later, the Qingzhuo Tower in the East City!”

Gecko announced a time and location, his eyes appearing particularly bright at that moment. “Brother, those Monsters have terrible tempers and hate tardiness most, but we’re quite far away. It’s a good chance to see those skills of yours…”

Before he had even finished speaking, he had already begun stepping backward. As his vest made contact with the wall of the apartment building behind him, he continued retreating, somehow walking backward up the wall. After five or six steps, he flexed his body upward and clung tightly to the surface.

He grinned at Lu Xin. “Come on, brother. Let’s see who gets there first…”

As he spoke, his figure rapidly ascended the wall like a ghost, vanishing over the rooftop in an instant.

“This…” Lu Xin stared at the spot where Gecko had disappeared, a look of surprise on his face.

He estimated the time, then silently stood up and made his way to the staircase beside the garden, descending into the Subway Station.

Rumble!

Right on cue, an aging train car covered in colourful graffiti pulled into the station.

Lu Xin swiped his card and entered the station calmly, musing in his mind: “Doesn’t he know the last train goes straight to the Qingzhuo Tower?”

……

By the time Lu Xin leisurely emerged from the subway exit, he saw Gecko panting heavily as he climbed down from the wall of an adjacent building. Since the night wasn’t deep yet and pedestrians crowded the street, Gecko had to avoid their notice. He kept ducking for cover, seizing moments when no one was looking to dart quickly from shadow to shadow.

“I didn’t lose, okay?!” Addressing Lu Xin’s peculiar expression, Gecko explained indignantly. “I mainly turned back to look for you when I saw you didn’t follow me at the start! Who knew you’d take the subway… If I didn’t care about people seeing me, I’d have been here ages ago!”

Though his explanation might have held water, Lu Xin still felt a bit speechless.

“Is the testing facility upstairs?” Lu Xin changed the subject, looking up at one of the tallest buildings in the Satellite City.

“Right, they should be ready. Let’s go up!” Gecko said helplessly. Staring up the sheer height of the colossal Tower from street level, his eyes suddenly gleamed. “Want to just climb up?”

Lu Xin gave him a long look, then turned and walked steadily through the main entrance to take the elevator.

The interior of the Tower was unusually quiet, devoid of any casual bystanders. Only in the lobby and near the stairwells could stern-looking soldiers from the City Patrol Army be seen holding position, motionless as nails, drawing the building’s atmosphere into stark focus.

It was the first time Lu Xin had witnessed such a heavy presence within the Satellite City. Even the Guard Bureau, the Administrative Hall, or the main camp of the City Patrol Army in his Memory hadn’t displayed this level of formidable show of force.

Led by Gecko, Lu Xin entered the building without issue. After checking in, they took the elevator to the nineteenth floor.

“There you are. The professors have already arrived.” Chen Jing waited at the nineteenth-floor stairwell entrance. She wore a sharp black suit, looking efficient and composed.

“Alright.” Lu Xin shook her hand with slight awkwardness, then followed her toward the main Office on that floor.

“This test is a routine procedure before formal onboarding,” she explained as they walked. “After passing, you will receive your own designation code and officially obtain an opportunity for guidance.”

“Onboarding…” Lu Xin instantly latched onto the key phrases in Chen Jing’s words, and his steps noticeably lightened.