A Guide to Surviving the Mysterious Dungeon and the Twelve Talismans

Zhou An then selected the remaining eleven people.

Of the eleven people, four were women and seven were men, all of whom were from the military and were efficient and capable.

There were two players, one male and one female.

The man's name was Chang Yu, he was about thirty-five years old, with a buzz cut, dark skin, and was a Level 4 player who had become a new player using a login bracelet.

The woman's name was Wang Hong, she was about twenty-five years old, with short hair and somewhat dark skin. She was LV3 and also a new player who had logged into the bracelet.

These twenty new players were all around the same level and had only completed their first dungeon run.

But no matter what, they are already a little bit better than the average person.

Some lucky ones have already obtained some good items.

The other veteran players have also chosen their subordinates.

Those who weren't selected were somewhat disappointed.

"Director Wang, didn't we say before that it would be best to wait until May to start awakening abilities?"

"It's already May, is there any explanation for this?" Zhou An asked as he approached Wang Ling.

"This question was originally going to be sent to your phones, but since you asked, I'll mention it in advance."

Wang Ling composed himself and immediately said, "Under normal circumstances, the abilities you awaken will be divided into six categories: attack, control, defense, healing, elemental, and spiritual."

"After the worlds overlap, the rules of the strange world will be strengthened, and your awakened abilities will become stronger."

"Most importantly, among the six categories, there will be rule-based abilities, although the probability is very small, but it will happen."

"A rule-based ability?" Zhou An's eyes lit up.

Rule-based abilities are roughly equivalent to rule-based skills without any cost.

Moreover, once awakened from the category, the awakened rule ability will definitely result in a huge increase in strength.

"He can actually awaken a rule-based ability?"

"My God, what a loss, what a loss! I reached level 20 in the last dungeon and had already awakened. To advance to the next tier, it would take at least five more dungeons."

Suddenly, all the veteran players looked regretful.

"Alright, the regional branch you are responsible for has been selected, and the address will be sent to your mobile phone."

"From now on, you will officially begin your work and deal with strange incidents. Thank you all for your hard work tonight."

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. You no longer need to hide your identities as Spirit Pact members."

“Keeping your identity a secret will hinder your future work,” Wang Ling said in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, everyone was immediately astonished.

“Director Wang, if our identities are exposed and people find out, they might come after our families…” a Spirit Contract practitioner asked worriedly.

"Those who want to kill you are nothing more than those wild players, and wild players are under our control."

“There will be more and more new players in the future, and fewer and fewer old players.” Wang Ling’s gaze swept over the crowd.

Because the Bureau of Strange Affairs has expanded its recruitment and begun to open its doors to the public, its power has become extremely inflated.

Incidents of unauthorized players attacking official players will only decrease, not increase.

Therefore, it makes no difference whether one's identity is exposed or not.

Those who were spiritually connected felt that this made sense.

Several Spirit Pact members immediately removed their disguises, revealing their true faces.

After that, no one stayed at the Bureau of Strange Affairs any longer and they all left.

Zhou An and his group of fourteen people traveled in three company cars towards Furong District.

In the car, Li Shengsheng took off her stone hat.

He Yuqiang, Chang Yu, Wang Hong, and the driver inside the car were all horrified.

"Don't panic, this is my spirit bond master," Zhou An reassured everyone.

"Hello, I am Li Shengsheng, you can also call me Captain Li." Li Shengsheng took off her mask, her expression indifferent, revealing a cold and aloof demeanor that kept people at arm's length.

"Hello, Captain Li," the group greeted him quickly.

Especially He Yuqiang, whose squinty eyes were practically glued to Li Shengsheng's face.

However, he still restrained himself and withdrew his gaze, instead focusing his attention on Zhou An, constantly giving him meaningful glances.

"Fatty, do you have sand in your eyes? You keep blinking like that," Zhou An said irritably.

He Yuqiang is good in every way, except he likes to stir up trouble and admire beautiful women.

"Yes, sand got in." He Yuqiang was stunned for a moment, then quickly seized the opportunity to back down.

"Chang Yu, you all know the procedures for handling strange incidents, right?" Zhou An got down to business and asked Chang Yu.

Upon hearing this, Chang Yu nodded: "The Bureau of Strange Affairs has already issued a procedure, which we are all familiar with."

"Including instruments for testing ghostly energy fluctuations, communications, etc., we can detect any strange events that occur immediately."

"Okay, that's good. Once you get to the branch, you can set up the framework first. Handle what you can handle, and leave the rest to me and Sheng Sheng," Zhou An said in a deep voice.

"Yes, Captain." Chang Yu nodded repeatedly.

At this moment, Zhou An looked at He Yuqiang again: "Qiang, do you want to work under me as an ordinary clerk, or do you also want to become a player?"

“Brother An, of course I’ll become a player.” He Yuqiang chose to become a player almost without hesitation.

"Qiang, you need to think this through. Going to the strange world to clear dungeons is very dangerous. The death rate in difficult dungeons can even reach 100%," Zhou An said in a deep voice.

“Brother An, I used to think that even if the sky fell, there would be tall people to hold it up, but things are different now.”

“I encountered supernatural events that I had never encountered before, things I had always wanted to do, even if it meant death.”

“And now, I have this opportunity, and I want to be that tall guy.” He Yuqiang looked at Zhou An solemnly.

“Okay.” Zhou An nodded.

He already understood He Yuqiang's thoughts.

An hour later, they arrived at their branch of the Bureau of Mysteries.

This place is very close to the Wuyi Square business district, about one kilometer away.

The surrounding area was relatively quiet, as it was near an overpass.

Their branch office is a twelve-story hotel.

However, the hotel has been bought and renovated.

Two of the floors also served as dormitories for Zhou An and his colleagues.

There are also two underground levels; it used to be an underground parking garage, but now it has become an underground base.

Furong District Bureau of Strange Tales Branch.

The sign is prominently displayed on the side of the main entrance.

There were already many staff members inside, all of whom were ordinary staff members who had been assigned there, in order to keep the branch running.

As soon as Chang Yu and Wang Hong entered, they immediately took over the entire branch.

At the same time, Zhou An was led to the office of the action team leader on the top floor.

Judging from how familiar Chang Yu and Wang Hong are, they had obviously been doing this work beforehand.

That's good, Zhou An won't have to go through so much trouble.

Chang Yu and Wang Hong spent some time taking full control of the branch and finally prepared a written report on the specific situation of the branch.

Zhou An flipped through these documents and gained a general understanding of the branch.

Putting aside other matters, they wield considerable power.

It can unconditionally mobilize all units within its jurisdiction to cooperate with its actions.

There are also various funds available, with no upper limit; as long as there is a legitimate reason, they can be approved.

From that moment on, Li Shengsheng was free from financial worries.

"By the way, Sheng Sheng, you don't need to go to school anymore. Whatever university you want to go to, I'll have them send you a guaranteed admission letter directly."

"This only applies to Changsha, we can't leave there either." Zhou An looked at Li Shengsheng.

"Huh? You can do that?" Li Shengsheng's eyes lit up immediately.

"Then let's go to Sifangping Vocational and Technical College." After being exposed to supernatural powers, Li Shengsheng had lost interest in studying.

Not to mention she's a top student, so she'd be even less inclined to waste time in the classroom.

"The Bureau of Strange Affairs does have this kind of privilege. Besides, you're a top student," Zhou An said with a faint smile.

Sifangping Vocational and Technical College, abbreviated as National University of Defense Technology.

"Yay, yay, no need to waste time in the classroom!"

"Hurry up and get them to send me a notification letter so I can share the good news with my uncle and aunt." Li Shengsheng would call Zhou An's parents every few days.

“Okay.” Zhou An nodded slightly.

"Chang Yu, did you hear that?" Zhou An looked at Chang Yu.

“Okay, Captain, it just so happens that I graduated from Sifangping Academy. My admission notice will arrive first thing tomorrow morning,” Chang Yu said, patting his chest.

"Okay, that's good. You can go and get back to work." Zhou An waved his hand.

Chang Yu and Wang Hong nodded and left the office.

"Qiang, here you go." Zhou An handed a login bracelet to He Yuqiang.

"Brother An, thank you. I will definitely become a player." He Yuqiang excitedly accepted the login bracelet.

"Don't rush into the dungeon yet. Ordinary people will feel weak in the knees when they see something strange for the first time."

"You can watch the video first, and then check out some information about the dungeon. Once you're confident, then you can enter the dungeon," Zhou An advised.

"Brother An, I haven't slacked off this week. I've been training at the base the whole time, and I'm used to it now," He Yuqiang quickly said.

"Alright, you can keep these two items; they'll provide some security." Zhou An took two items out of his inventory and tossed them to He Yuqiang.