Chapter 51: The Game of Strategy

Vena idly flipped through the documents and statements, looking at the young man before her. “There are a few questions I need you to answer truthfully.”

Li Nanke knew the clues he had left behind had finally taken effect. “Go ahead.”

“Although Halston, the leader of the Foundation's rescue team, tried to cover for you, his testimony was inconsistent and riddled with inaccuracies. After being questioned by specialists from the task force, he provided a new statement and revealed everything.”

“You secretly obtained a fragment of a forbidden item, didn’t you?”

“Halston…” Li Nanke’s expression shifted repeatedly. After a long pause, he sighed, clearly realizing he couldn’t hide the truth any longer. “Since you already know, why bother asking?”

Vena smiled faintly and continued, “So your reason for coming to the A91 Safe Zone wasn’t simply for rescue, was it? In fact, you came here precisely for the forbidden item, didn’t you?”

“That’s right… It’s just as you think.”

Vena had expected him to defend himself, to claim the moral high ground by saying that his main purpose was rescue and that the forbidden item was only an afterthought. She was surprised at how frankly he admitted it.

According to the files and statements, Li Nanke’s true identity was clean; he was not a notorious criminal. If he were truly a ruthless outlaw, he could have eliminated Halston, turning him into an aberrant being and leaving no evidence behind.

Judging by actions rather than intentions, even if Li Nanke had come for the forbidden item, his previous donations, the lives he saved as a member of the rescue team, and the nearly forty people he rescued after the catastrophe, all spoke of a fundamentally decent person.

The incident arose because newly awakened supernaturals from civilian life, unfamiliar with the rules, recklessly pursued forbidden disasters and absorbed their information essence, thus violating the Bureau’s explicit prohibitions.

The next step was to proceed according to protocol—after confirming that Li Nanke was ‘neutral good,’ they needed to determine if he was worth cultivating. If not, then regretfully, a mistake meant prison time; saving many lives would only earn a lighter sentence.

Vena continued leafing through the statements, her questions seemingly casual. “So, you absorbed the information essence from the forbidden item to break through the bottleneck in your electromagnetic supernatural abilities, and then discarded the fragment afterwards, which is why the task force found no evidence on you… Is that correct… hmm?”

Vena suddenly paused, as if struck by a thought, and immediately used her authority to call up the file for Forbidden Item 3-626—the very one involved in Li Nanke’s disaster eight years prior.

This forbidden item belonged to the telekinesis, psychic, and illusion categories, meaning that even if Li Nanke had awakened supernatural abilities, it would only be one of those three types.

But this time, the forbidden item had electromagnetic properties. If Li Nanke was of the psychic type, why would he need electromagnetic information essence?

Vena quickly scanned the statements of the other survivors, reading every word with care, and soon uncovered a startling secret hidden between the lines.

Li Nanke shook his head. “Ms. Vena, you’re mistaken. I’m not just electromagnetic… More accurately, I’m not limited to electromagnetic powers.”

Based on the information he had, since there were no secrecy rules in the Other Shore, and dreamers were clearly not unique, there must have been dreamers who contacted the Bureau, either proactively or by being discovered. The authorities were likely aware of their existence.

From this, it was logical to infer that some dreamers had cooperated with the Bureau, trading advanced dream technology or supernatural resources for the forbidden information essence they needed.

Of course, all this was speculation on Li Nanke’s part; he couldn’t treat it as established fact, so his answer was deliberately ambiguous.

His original self had once been tested by the Bureau. Though his understanding of supernatural powers was limited, he still had some vague knowledge of related matters.

In reality, supernaturals seemed to possess only one type of power each. Multi-type supernaturals were exceedingly rare, and only the Other Shore could grant dreamers the ‘four fundamental matrices’—a universal supernatural system.

If the Bureau had already encountered some dreamers, their first reaction to his answer should be: Oh, so you’re a dreamer—will you cooperate?

If their reaction was off, then his assumption was wrong; dreamers—or rather, Nightmares—might be unique, or so rare as to be unknown to the world at large.

In that case, as a rare multi-type supernatural, he likely faced no danger; the Bureau would probably even try to win him over.

As Vena interrogated him, he was probing the Bureau just as much.

Before Vena could respond, Matthew, who had been leaning back in his chair, suddenly sat upright and gave a slight cough. “Li Nanke, you say you’re a dual-type supernatural? Show us.”

Vena, reading the survivors’ statements, noted the descriptions of Li Nanke’s battle with the aberrant. He appeared to possess abilities suspiciously akin to those of the spatial or illusion type as well.

Matthew and Vena exchanged glances, both seeing surprise and excitement in each other’s eyes.

Dual-type supernaturals were already rare enough in the world. As for triple-type, that was almost unheard of… except for one uniquely exceptional kind.

The Omnitype supernatural ability, as the name implied, encompassed all; it allowed the wielder to master and develop any kind of supernatural power. Such rare individuals had disappeared from the world for countless years, surviving only in ancient records.

Seeing their reaction, Li Nanke’s heart skipped a beat. Damn, what was going on with the Other Shore? Clearly there had been other dreamers guiding dreams before, yet the Bureau in the real world seemed entirely unaware. Was he truly the only Nightmare?

Or were Nightmares so vanishingly rare that their existence was a top-tier Bureau secret, and these two before him were simply too low-ranking to know?

Having grasped the situation, Vena’s expression softened into a warm smile. “Li Nanke, there’s no need for concern. The Bureau of Crisis Control’s mission is to contain, secure, and protect.”

“If you can demonstrate your exceptional supernatural potential, the benefits you’ll receive far outweigh anything you could gain by hiding among civilians under supervision.”

Li Nanke replied without betraying any emotion, “Benefits? For example, forbidden item information essence?”

Vena nodded. “That’s part of it. Specific information essence can help supernaturals break through their limitations. Beyond that, there are many advantages you can hardly imagine. After all, the Bureau is backed by the might of major corporations and family conglomerates.”

Matthew was more direct. “Would you like residency in the High Precision Zone?”

“Of course I would.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Show us.”