Chapter 63: Regulation, Property Staff

Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Regulation, Property Staff

Justin Brooks and his teammate Philip Jensen strode into the conference room. All eyes immediately focused on them.

A middle-aged general stood before an electronic sand table, his expression grave. He tapped the tabletop. "The situation is more serious than we anticipated. According to the latest intelligence, the appearance of Players is causing riots in various places around the world."

"Most of these people who’ve become Players are hiding their identities. We understand their concerns." The middle-aged officer’s voice was low and deep. "But if left unchecked, these individuals with Special Abilities will eventually cause the collapse of social order."

He turned to the two of them. "Introduce yourselves."

Justin Brooks stepped forward, his posture ramrod straight. "Justin Brooks, rank of Major. I have completed one Disaster Game instance. My Ability is [Wall], which allows me to create stone walls for attack and defense."

As he spoke, he waved his right hand. A half-meter-high Stone Wall suddenly rose from the conference room floor. With another wave, the floor quickly flattened again.

Philip Jensen followed suit. The lean young sergeant demonstrated his Ability: [Frost Manipulation], which allows him to control ice and freeze enemies.

His pupils flashed blue, and the temperature in the conference room immediately began to drop.

A quiet gasp of awe rippled through the conference room.

The chief of staff frowned. "In the game... have you killed anyone?"

Justin Brooks and Philip Jensen exchanged a glance. Ultimately, Justin Brooks was the one to answer. "In the instances, we’ve only killed monsters. But if anything threatens our safety..." He trailed off, but his meaning was perfectly clear.

The middle-aged officer nodded in satisfaction. "The emergence of Players is both a crisis and an opportunity. The higher-ups have issued new directives. First, establish a Player registration system. We must find as many people who’ve become Players in the real world as possible. Second, form a special response unit. Third, execute swift, decisive strikes against any Players who endanger society."

And so, the government began to implement various policies regarding Players.

Meanwhile, Seraphina Sullivan was preoccupied with a more immediate problem: how to live without electricity.

Seraphina Sullivan took a backup generator from her Space, but quickly shook her head and put it away again.

’If my apartment is the only one in the entire complex with power, it’s a dead giveaway that something’s different about me. I’d absolutely become a target.’

Instead, she took out several thick white candles and used their dripping wax to secure them to the coffee table.

The dim, yellow candlelight flickered, stretching the furniture’s shadows long across the room.

Flora curiously extended a vine, its purplish-red body writhing in the candlelight, casting a monstrous, sprawling shadow on the wall.

"You’re adapting pretty quickly," Seraphina Sullivan remarked, poking its fleshy flower bud.

For the mutant plant, darkness wasn’t a problem at all.

As long as it had enough food, it could thrive in a completely lightless environment.

Speaking of food, Seraphina started to worry again.

She opened her Space to check the food she had prepared specifically for Flora.

Three giant spider corpses, two crates of carapaces from The Swarm, and the various canned goods she had stockpiled.

It looked like a lot, but given Flora’s appetite, it probably wouldn’t last long.

"It’s a good thing I managed to grab a few spider corpses during The Insect Frenzy," she said, poking Flora’s head as she chided it. "Otherwise, you would have eaten me out of house and home by now!"

Flora immediately recoiled, its vines curling up in an aggrieved manner. A pitiful thought reached her mind: ’Master, I’ll be really good at fighting the bad guys... Please don’t let me go hungry...’

The giant Cannibal Flower bud even made a sobbing motion as a few drops of suspicious-looking goo trickled from the edges of its serrated petals.

Watching the grotesque creature try to act cute, Seraphina pressed a hand to her forehead, unable to look directly at it.

"Alright, alright, stop putting on that pathetic act. Tomorrow, I’ll head to a farm on the outskirts and see if I can get you some live poultry for your food reserves."

Flora immediately perked up with excitement.

Seraphina shook her head. ’Flora is even smarter than I thought.’

Just as Seraphina was about to begin her nightly workout by candlelight, a series of urgent knocks suddenly shattered the darkness and silence.

KNOCK KNOCK!

Seraphina froze, her brow furrowing.

’Who would be knocking at a time like this, during a city-wide blackout?’

Stranger still, she could clearly hear knocking on the other residents’ doors all along the floor. The sounds echoed one after another down the pitch-black hallway.

She quickly hid Flora and pulled a flashlight from her Space.

Looking through the peephole, she saw a man in a property management uniform standing outside, flanked by two other staff members in reflective vests.

"Hello, is this the resident of 3204?" When no one answered, the man knocked again, his voice deliberately gentle.

Seraphina cautiously opened the door a crack.

The moment she did, the property manager at the door shone his flashlight beam directly in her face.

Seraphina: ’How rude can you be?’

Seraphina didn’t say a word, simply aiming her own flashlight right back in his face.

Keith Griffith: ...

In the beam of her flashlight, she could see he was a man in his early thirties with a buzz cut.

His uniform sported a name tag that read "Keith Griffith, Property Manager."

When the man saw Seraphina open the door only to shine a flashlight back at him, he actually reached out and tried to pull the door open wider.

The door didn’t budge.

Seraphina had braced the door with her enhanced Power before even opening it.

Keith Griffith clearly hadn’t expected the resistance, and a flicker of astonishment crossed his face.

He quickly plastered on a smile. "I’m the property manager for the complex, and I’m also the resident of 808. With the sudden blackout and the downpour outside, I’m just checking to see if anyone needs help..."

As he spoke, however, his eyes kept darting past Seraphina, trying to see if she lived alone in the room behind her.

Seraphina frowned. She found Keith Griffith incredibly rude, and something about him felt off.

’Wait a minute...’

Seraphina immediately used [Eye of Resume] to check his profile and see if he was a Player.

[Name: Keith Griffith]

[Gender: Male]

[Professional Skills: Theft]

[Weaknesses: Afraid of the police]

Seraphina breathed a sigh of relief when she saw he wasn’t a Player. But when she saw his Professional Skill was "Theft," she raised an eyebrow.

’What’s this guy up to?’

’Is he casing the place?’

’It’s very likely.’

"That won’t be necessary," Seraphina replied coldly.

At the same time, she keenly observed the other "property staff" in the hallway attempting to knock on her neighbors’ doors.

’Their motives might be different from Keith Griffith’s, but I still need to be wary.’

She decisively stepped out over the threshold and pulled the door firmly shut behind her. "I was just about to go see my neighbor, actually."

Keith Griffith’s smile froze. "It’s not very safe during the blackout. Why don’t I accompany you..."

"No need." Seraphina was already striding toward Justin Brooks’s apartment, her flashlight beam sweeping across the other "property staff."

Justin Brooks wasn’t home, only his mother, Miss Webb. She had opened the door and was now standing awkwardly in the entryway.

She seemed flustered by the "concern" of the two staff members.

Seeing Seraphina approach, Miss Webb let out a visible sigh of relief. "Sullivan, you’re here just in time..."