How Am I Still Alive?

The funeral procession became increasingly silent, with faint sounds of painful and hoarse sobbing in the background.

No one looked back, nor did they blame or scold. The two teams simply walked their separate ways.

Some people continued to move forward, while others stopped in their tracks after crying in pain.

Xia Qin took a deep breath and continued to walk.

"Captain, we need to talk about the person you're monitoring."

Someone came to speak with her as soon as she returned to the office.

It was Lei Huoren, one of the only three remaining members of her team.

At the same time, he had always opposed her suggestion of "monitoring".

"He's very dangerous, extremely dangerous. I'm not talking about his ability, but being able to survive in that Secret Realm means that his ability must be very exceptional. But the most dangerous thing is him."

Xia Qin still remembered when she had vouched for the "life-saving benefactor" at the meeting.

The fast-paced man in front of her had vehemently opposed it at the first opportunity.

This time, it seemed no different.

"Captain, you know my ability. I act quickly because my Abnormal Ability allows me to instantly see through a person's hidden emotions and make decisions and reactions in an instant. But in that desperate situation......"

Unable to understand, unable to read, unable to empathize.

Whenever he thought of that young man, Lei Huoren felt anxious and uneasy.

"I've seen many dead people, whether they were saints or villains, whether they made generous speeches or begged for mercy. At the moment of death, they were all filled with negative emotions—anger, unease, hatred, at least attachment and fear—attachment to this world and fear of the unknown in death. But that young man... he only had joy, pure joy."

"Haven't you seen his file? He was a terminally ill patient and probably relieved at the thought of receiving compensation. Death was a release for him at that time."

Xia Qin didn't want to discuss this topic anymore, as she had repeated it many times.

"No, in order to temper my ability, I have observed countless terminally ill patients at their last moments. As long as they are human, they have negative emotions in the end, no matter how good their previous words were. Death is the unknown, and fearing death is the instinct of life. But he is different; he only has joy and happiness. It seems that he already knows what lies beyond death, and I have never seen such a person going through their final moments before..."

Lei Huoren couldn't understand, so he worried and was even frightened by it.

"Pollutants can only be covered by even stronger pollutants." The victor of that crazy Secret Realm, the Abnormal Ability he held in his hand, was definitely not as simple and harmless as he appeared. And besides... every subsequent contact with him only revealed his immense joy - it was simply abnormal, too abnormal. His current obedience was just because he was still weak, merely a seed."

"In our world, the crazier the person, the stronger they are. When normal people step on the brakes, they step on the accelerator. Lu Ping'an is dangerous; he's completely removed the brakes and will drag everything around him into the mess. He reminds me of the 'Sophist,' someone who always wants to see everything burn to the ground. But even he doesn't compare to Lu Ping'an..."

As the topic of the agreement went unmentioned, Lei Huoren's voice became softer and softer until both of them fell silent.

The memory of that code name, that former teammate, was too painful to recall.

That A-class wanted criminal had inflicted a catastrophe upon this city; no less than the ZZZ-class pollution this time.

Was it the painful past that caused Lei Huoren to worry excessively? Well, not really.

In Lei Huoren's eyes, merely extreme and crazy personalities weren't necessarily that dangerous; possibly a lone police officer could handle it.

Monitoring Z-class and higher pollutants was doable, as the Administration Bureau Archive Room was full of sealed items with code numbers.

But when the two came together, dangerous abilities meeting a holder with no limit, it was like a nuclear bomb falling into the hands of terrorists, reminding everyone of the man behind countless tragedies.

Xia Qin knew that superficial explanations were useless.

Perhaps it was time to give him an explanation; after all, the number of capable people in the team was dwindling.

"Lei Huoren, do you know how much the number of third-level and above pollution incidents have increased this year?"

"...It seems like quite a lot, our deployment frequency has increased a lot."

"It is 35% more than last year and 300% more than twenty years ago. In recent years, the annual growth rate has been over 30%. If I remember correctly, this is the fourth collective funeral we've attended this year. Right now, the Administration Bureau has two teams without even a Deputy Captain to lead, so they can only stay in the administration office and handle logistics."

The facts were clear: The environment has deteriorated while the workforce is more and more scarce.

Three years ago, the captain level of the Ancient City Administration Bureau's Special Service Teams averaged 3.2-tiers; now it's only 2.5-tiers.

Although tiers cannot be equated with combat powers, the fact that many teams have lost their pillar members is true. The decline of deputy captains and team members is even more serious, with many low-threat cases handed over to the police, resulting in a large number of polluted or permanently retired officers.

"Barring any accidents, in addition to the normal expansion and introduction of social forces, the Ancient City Administration Bureau will apply to Ancient City University and several other top colleges to send more students to the front lines for internships. In our Zion District alone, the number of Special Service Teams will increase from seven to ten."