Catastrophe Containment Facility
Chapter 306 - 304

Chapter 306: 304

The warm sunlight shone on the golden fields, dazzling at times, and occasionally one could see farmers harvesting ripe crops.

On a road sandwiched between the fields, a bus loaded with passengers moved slowly onward.

Along this stretch of road, many farmers were drying rice on the roadside, and sometimes herds of cows and sheep would cross the road, making fast driving dangerous.

Jiao Xinlei leaned against the bus window, gazing out at the scenery, her eyes slightly blurred, only during such times could she more easily see some beautiful things.

After a long trial period, she had become more adept at using her abilities and was finally recognized by Lin Zheyuan, becoming an official Demon Hunter.

This time, she was assigned to go to the neighboring Songtao City to handle a case involving a sinister parasite that guaranteed the death of its host within twenty-four hours.

But the tricky part was that, before the host’s death, the parasite couldn’t be detected in the body by any means.

Thus, Jiao Xinlei, who could see death, became the best candidate to resolve the case.

For this reason, the captain of the Demon Hunters team in Songtao City had borrowed Jiao Xinlei from Lin Zheyuan to eliminate that parasite.

Jiao Xinlei also took time off with Lin Zheyuan, planning to enjoy a few days in Songtao City after solving the case, and Lin Zheyuan agreed.

Being able to see when ordinary people’s lives would end anytime had really built up a lot of pressure on her, so she needed some relaxation.

Recently, Songtao City had opened a scenic village called Fairy Tale Town, which had received many good reviews from nearby cities; Jiao Xinlei had always wanted to visit but never had the chance. This time was the perfect opportunity to experience it.

So far, the journey had been enjoyable; hope was the color overhead the working farmers, and the bus was full of laughter and cheerful voices.

Now, she could control whether or not to see the colors above people’s heads, but she always couldn’t help wanting to look.

"Hey, Tao Wen, is that Fairy Tale Town really that fun?" a tall youth asked the shorter one beside him.

"Da Zhuang, trust me, we finally have a few days off, why just hang around in Furong River City? The only local attraction we haven’t explored is Fairy Tale Town."

The shorter youth, Tao Wen, assured Li Dazhuang by patting his chest. Li Dazhuang usually enjoyed going out, but for some reason, he had suddenly developed a fear of it lately; still, he couldn’t stand up to his friend, so he reluctantly agreed to go out and have fun.

Tao Wen grew more excited as he spoke: "I heard that inside the town there’s even a Sweet Fortress where visitors can use specially made weapons to shoot candy in a mock battle."

Hearing the two’s casual conversation, Jiao Xinlei learned they also wanted to visit Fairy Tale Town and thought about joining in, but before doing so, she habitually activated her ability to take a quick look at them.

After looking, she immediately lost her interest in conversing with them and, were it not for being on a bus, she would have preferred to stay far away from them.

The young man named Tao Wen had colors like dense storm clouds overhead, not deadly, but he was unlikely to be lucky in the coming days.

As for the young man named Li Dazhuang, his head was simply ink-black, but at the center of that inky color, there was a touch of light, indicating he would face a life-threatening danger in the coming days but might turn the situation around.

Most importantly, even if ordinary people were about to die, the color above their heads would just be a small patch of black, but the grim color over these two was too extensive.

According to Jiao Xinlei’s observations, that person named Tao Wen probably had a cloud of misfortune over his head simply because he was too close to Li Dazhuang, who seemed to be under an unlucky star. She guessed that encountering such a person would certainly not lead to anything simple.

That’s why she decided to stay far away from these two people, to avoid catching something unfavorable.

"This is their fate, and it has nothing to do with me. All I need to do is make sure I don’t get involved with them," she said.

Hence, Jiao Xinlei continued to rest with her eyes closed. After arriving at Songtao City, she still had many things to do.

...

Early the next morning, after washing up, brushing her teeth, and changing clothes, she first went to the Association Center’s barber shop and got herself a nice haircut.

The barber at the Hunter Headquarters had once been a notable figure in the Capital’s hairdressing scene, known as Teacher Tony. As he deepened his understanding of hair during his cuts, he eventually awakened the ability to control hair, rendering him unable to live a normal life. Thus, he worked at the headquarters of the Association.

Indeed, there were many such talents within the Hunters Association. The secondary talents were retained at various branches, while the top talents all came to the headquarters.

After getting himself neat and tidy, Wen Wen went to the Hunters Headquarters, prepared to become a Ranger.

As he passed by the Extreme Flavor Tower, Wen Wen’s steps hesitated momentarily. Ultimately, he continued walking, having never lacked the ability to resist temptation.

When Wen Wen arrived, most of the fifty-six people who had passed the assessment were already there.

Becoming a Ranger involved a much more complicated process than becoming a Demon Hunter, as Rangers held far higher authority than ordinary Demon Hunters.

All information about Rangers was classified as top secret. Even high-ranking officials of the Association would need to follow a certain protocol to inquire about an individual Ranger’s data.

For this reason, there was a lot of verification and scrutiny required, unlike when becoming a Demon Hunter, where one only needed to sign a contract of indenture.

In the midst of these complex procedures, Wen Wen received the Ranger’s uniform. It looked nice and offered some defensive capabilities, but Wen Wen only glanced at it before tossing it aside.

This garment was, at best, only slightly better than a regular bulletproof vest, and it could not compare at all with his Containment Officer uniform.

In fact, almost no Rangers willingly wore their uniform. Some, like Gu Panxi, were even extravagant enough to change their outfit every day.

That’s why the quality of Ranger uniforms was not particularly high. Why waste materials on something that many people wouldn’t wear?

The purpose of distributing uniforms was for taking ID photos. A Ranger’s ID held immense authority within the Federation, which meant a randomly taken photo couldn’t just be used as an ID picture.

The ID allowed Rangers, when necessary, to demand cooperation from most local departments, including Demon Hunter squads, and it also granted passage through controlled areas.

Rangers were only accountable to the headquarters and carried out missions assigned by it. All the cases they dealt with were assessed to be at least Disaster Level, with no obligation for Rangers to assist in cases ranked below Disaster Level.

In addition, Rangers received a 30% discount when purchasing items from the Demon Hunter website, and many resources and information previously restricted were now made available to Rangers.

However, Rangers were not allowed to use these discounts and information to profit from selling the Association’s resources...