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Chapter 157 is both a written test and an audit.
"It's begun..." Xiao Kanong looked at the test subjects below, who were writing furiously, and slightly curled the corners of his mouth, muttering to himself, "How many bad guys will we be able to catch today?"

"Captain... what bad guy?" Koji, who was helping him distribute the test papers, overheard this muttering and asked in confusion.

“Let’s play a game,” Xiao Kanong beckoned to her, drawing her closer.

"Hey... it's exam time now, isn't it a bit inappropriate to play games?" She glanced nervously at the audience... Fortunately, everyone was focused on their exams and no one noticed their captain's erratic behavior.

"It's alright, it's very simple." Xiao Kanong smiled slightly, picked up a pen and wrote in his palm, "You are not allowed to speak for the next five seconds!"

"Huh?" Kobato was about to ask why, but then realized that this violated the captain's orders, so she quickly covered her mouth.

"Very well, you were late for clocking in this morning," he then said leisurely.

After a five-second pause, Kobato immediately retorted, "I wasn't late! There were still five minutes until 8 o'clock!"

“Actually, I didn’t even look at the attendance record.” Xiao Kanong lowered his palm and opened it, revealing the words “I didn’t” and “I’m sorry” written on his palm.

"Is this what you were thinking?" He clapped his hands. "This is the game of guessing what you're thinking. Sometimes, just emphasizing a single sentence can unconsciously expand people's thinking on that point. When I say I admire honest people the most, they can't help but think about what they would do if they weren't honest, and how they could pretend to be more honest. Don't you think this game is interesting?"

"Uh..." Xiaojiu was speechless. She vaguely understood what the captain meant, but still couldn't figure out what this had to do with the exam. Could he possibly tell whether an applicant was sincere from their written answers?
As Bird Bro was right, Captain Xiao is an eccentric person.

"You can continue with your work, I won't bother you anymore." She nodded as if she understood and quickly slipped away.

Xiao Kanon smiled dismissively and continued to observe the people in the conference hall.

The so-called test paper was just ten questions he made up the day before. He would neither look at these papers nor hand them over to anyone else to grade.

These exam papers will be immediately thrown into the wastebasket after they are collected.

His only concern was the occasion—people were like exhibits in a glass display case, trying to figure out how to present their most sincere selves while being scrutinized by those outside the case.

Of course... the person scrutinizing him wasn't him, but his capable subordinate, Wang Qianduan.

This person's ability is also considered highly confidential within the organization, because he can hear other people's "thoughts".

There are many kinds of inner voices. Ordinary daydreams or subconscious whispers are like background noise, difficult to hear clearly. Only when a person faces a major choice and focuses wholeheartedly on one thing can their amplified inner voice be clearly discerned.

Xiao Canon transferred him to his side so that he could oversee this day.

Not only that, in addition to the entire Jiangcheng branch's executive team, he also specifically requested two additional teams from other branches as reinforcements.

If anyone is planning to cause trouble at a job fair, they've definitely made a mistake.

Of course, Xiao Kanong thought there couldn't be many enemies who were so reckless and foolish.

The primary purpose of increasing security measures is to keep an eye on those who want to infiltrate government agencies with malicious intentions but are forced to act desperately after being exposed halfway through.

Xiao Kanong knew better than anyone that this open recruitment would inevitably attract many corrupt officials, some of whom might have grudges against the organization, while others might belong to other organizations and have conflicts of interest with the organization. Therefore, in order to prevent the recruitment from turning into the recruitment of internal traitors, he decided to personally oversee this process.

Moreover, sometimes the prey becomes the hunter – with his grand publicity campaign, those enemies lurking underwater must find it hard to resist.

……

Fifteen minutes later, Jiang Siqi finished answering all the questions. Like a high school senior taking the college entrance exam, she held up the "sacred" answer sheet and respectfully walked to the front of the stage to hand it to the man in the suit.

"You've made great progress," Xiao Kanong said with a smile as he took the test paper.

"Huh?" She was taken aback. "You know me?"

"It was a battle of abilities, I was watching it too."

Jiang Siqi felt her face flush instantly, and she lowered her head awkwardly, "I...I will never be afraid again..."

"What's wrong with being afraid? Everyone gets scared, especially when faced with situations beyond their wildest imaginations." The other person said gently, unexpectedly. "If you join the organization, I think you'll encounter many more frightening scenarios in the future. As long as you still have the courage to stand up again afterward, it's not a problem." Was he... trying to comfort me?
Jiang Siqi wanted nothing more than to yell at those who were mocking her, "Look at her! That's what a real ability user looks like! It's no big deal that the people in charge of the organization are scared; it's just you making a fuss over nothing!"
"Yes!" she replied enthusiastically, "Thank you!"

“You look very energetic. Go wait outside,” said Xiao Kanong, putting away her test paper.

Not long after she left, Wang Qianduan also walked to the podium.

"Have you finished checking?"

“Yes, four people have problems. Among them, the applicant in row five, number four, showed strong hostility towards the Weixian Agency... in his mind, of course,” Wang Qianduan replied.

"So there really are bad guys here." Shawcanon's lips curled into a wide smile. "That's great...you know why?"

"Why?"

“Because hatred doesn’t arise out of nowhere. If no one supports him, encourages him, or stands by his side long-term, that hatred will be hard to sustain.” He straightened his tie, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the job applicant who was furtively looking in their direction. “With this lead, we can find not just one person, but an entire group of people with a history of hatred. As the saying goes, pulling up a radish brings out the mud, and I can eliminate a whole host of threats for the organization, so it’s a really good thing!”

Wang Qianduan remained unmoved. He didn't want to ask how the captain planned to deal with this person, or what supporters he might have behind him. "What about the other four? Their thoughts are mainly focused on concealing their identities and how to deceive us."

"Don't move for now, just keep tracking them," Xiao Kanong said calmly. "Leave these matters to the intelligence team."

"clear."

"By the way, what about number one in the first row and number six in the second row?" the captain asked again. "What are they thinking?"

Wang Qianduan glanced back; the seats for those two were now empty. However, with his exceptional memory, he easily recalled the corresponding individuals. The girl in seat number six of the second row was named Elori, a French girl; the girl in seat number one of the first row was Jiang Siqi, a local from Jiangcheng. Their ability scores were 178 and 145 respectively, making them the top two in the first batch.

It's not surprising that the boss would pay attention to them.

"That French girl wanted to find someone called the Devil, while also concealing her identity as a time traveler."

"Oh?" Xiao Kanong thought for a moment, then suddenly realized, "She's from another world? A non-Wanderer who transmigrated?"

Wanderers certainly wouldn't think that way, because they are born understanding what wandering means and would deliberately take advantage of it.

Aside from Wanderers, ordinary people or other ability users may occasionally enter another world by chance; this is known as "non-Wanderer travel" by the organization.

"It's highly likely," Wang Qianduan said in a low voice. "As for which passage she took, that remains to be investigated."

“It doesn’t matter. Whether that person is called a demon or the King of Hell, as long as she is willing to serve the organization, the organization will not mind giving her a hand.” Xiao Kanong took out her test paper from the table. The answers on it were indeed written in English, and the handwriting was quite fluent, which showed that she had received a good education.

"Where's the other one?"

“The voice of number one in the row was very loud, almost drowning out the voices of the people around him,” Wang Qianduan replied. “And he kept repeating the same sentence: ‘May God bless me so that I may be selected by the Limitation Agency.’”

Xiao Canon was stunned.

Many people want to join government agencies, and their motives are varied—noble or base, for others or for themselves…

But this was the first time Xiao Canon had ever seen someone apply for a job purely for the purpose of passing the interview.

"Ha...hahaha..." He couldn't help but laugh out loud, which made the job applicants who were still answering questions turn their heads.

Wang Qianduan also seemed somewhat helpless.

Logically speaking, someone who lacks ambition would never become a government official.

But Captain Xiao has never been a person who follows common sense.

His favorite thing to watch is farce.

(End of this chapter)