In reality, it was just a small orphanage, only named as such.

Brian Carter arrived at the classroom and saw inside a girl sitting in a wheelchair, dressed in a white sweater, playing games with a dozen or so children. Among these kids, the oldest looked about seven or eight, the youngest only two or three. Their clothes were simple, but very clean, and their eyes were especially bright.

Were they playing "Eagle Catches Chicks"?

So childish!

Brian Carter didn’t disturb them. He put the paper bag into the rusty mailbox at the classroom door. Worried that the girl in the wheelchair might not notice it, he picked some wildflowers from nearby and placed them on top of the mailbox, so she would see that he had been there.

Then he quietly left the classroom.

As he passed the security booth, the old security guard reading the newspaper didn’t even look up and said, “Why don’t you just tell her directly? Every time you pick some flowers and put them there. Do you know how hard it is for an old man like me to grow this whole patch of flowers? You’ve almost plucked them all bald…”

Brian Carter felt a bit embarrassed and quickly laughed, “I’ll come by again this weekend and treat you to a drink, sir!”

“No need!”

The old man didn’t even glance at him and said, “When you come by, I’ll treat you to a drink. I still have some peanuts!”

“Alright!”

Brian Carter agreed with a smile, walked out of the elementary school, and slowly made his way to the bus stop.

“Come on, I’ll give you a ride!”

A jeep stopped beside him. In the car, Grace Brooks smiled and helped him open the door.

“Sure!”

Brian Carter agreed—otherwise, it would take at least half an hour to get home.

This time, after getting in the car, Grace Brooks immediately tossed another bag over to him.

Brian Carter opened it excitedly, but was a bit disappointed to find it was full of documents.

Grace Brooks looked ahead and naturally said to Brian Carter, “From now on, the task force is provisionally bringing you on board!”

“Uh, okay…”

Brian Carter was stunned for a moment, not quite catching on right away.

And Grace Brooks, who was driving, didn’t explain further.

The first thing someone does after receiving a “large sum of money” often reveals their true nature. If Brian Carter had taken the money to indulge in food and drink, her assessment of him would have been average. If he had used it for even more self-indulgent things, her assessment would have dropped to the lowest level, and she would never have chosen to bring him in.

But this person had given his first-ever “large sum of money” directly to the elementary school.

Grace Brooks couldn’t imagine what someone like that would be like if he lost control.

Chapter 9: Special Operations Group—Non-staff Member

On the way back to the apartment in Grace Brooks’s car, Brian Carter skimmed through the documents she had given him.

Name: Brian Carter

Age: 23

Ability Assessment: Grade C.

Mental Aberration Type: Spider

Patrol Area: Qinggang Satellite City No. 2

After reading the documents, Brian Carter saw that they basically stated he was being recruited by the Qinggang City Security Division as a non-staff member. Within his scope of duties, he would need to cooperate with the Special Operations Group to investigate and handle “mental contamination” incidents, as well as cleanup work. In return, they would guide him, train him, help him better control his abilities, and prevent him from “losing control.”

The most attractive part was that, even as a non-staff member, the salary was very generous—five thousand per month.

And for each field operation, there would be an additional allowance, the amount depending on the task…

…

“If you agree to be recruited by us, you’ll need to sign this document…”

Grace Brooks kept one hand on the steering wheel and handed another document to Brian Carter, saying, “Once you sign, you’ll be one of our task force members, directly under me. I’ll assign you to handle some mental aberration cleanup work.”

“Of course, for now it’s only a temporary recruitment. Official recruitment requires you to pass a probation period…”

“…”

“I can’t become official yet?”

Brian Carter instinctively felt a bit insecure, but after thinking it over, he still took the pen.

What reassured him was that the document didn’t say he’d only get 50% of the salary before becoming official, which was good.

Although the benefits alone were enough for Brian Carter to decide to sign, before putting pen to paper, he couldn’t help but ask, “Generally speaking, what is the main content of our work…?”

“Investigation and cleanup of special contamination sources!”

Grace Brooks answered seriously, “After the Red Moon incident, many contamination events caused by mental aberrations have appeared in the city. Some have already broken out, some are still under observation, and some we haven’t even discovered yet. Your main job in the future will be, after receiving our notice, to go to these contaminated places, find the source, or directly resolve the contamination.”

“Of course, there may also be other assignments, depending on the situation.”

Brian Carter asked cautiously, “At special times, can I refuse?”

This question made Grace Brooks pause for a moment.

“You’re still just an external member. You can refuse, and you can also accept assignments from others, as long as they don’t conflict with ours.”