Chapter 71: Physical Examination

Han Hao led Chen Meng out. Glancing back at him, he remarked coolly, “You’re someone with strong opinions—and no shame. Maybe only someone like you can go farther.”

“What brings on that kind of sentiment, Captain Han?” Chen Meng smiled, guessing Han had once been battered by society.

“Enough about that. I could never be like you.” Han Hao spread his hands helplessly. “Let me explain the process for becoming a Divine Body. First is a physical examination—you’ll have one for the college entrance test as well. If there are physical issues that make you unable to take the Divine Body serum, then no matter how good your scores are, the top universities won’t admit you.”

Chen Meng could understand that. Key universities were dedicated to nurturing Divine Bodies. If someone couldn’t become one, what would be the point of admitting them? As a mascot?

“The test isn’t complicated. Decades ago, we developed a reagent for this. You just have to put a drop of blood in; after an hour, you get the result. If nothing’s wrong, the next step is to take the Divine Body advancement serum. There are lots of things to watch out for in this process…” Han Hao explained as he led Chen Meng into the elevator. He pressed a few buttons, and the elevator began descending. But when it reached the first floor, it didn’t stop—instead, it continued down more than a hundred meters before finally coming to a halt.

Chen Meng was stunned. The law enforcement bureau’s underground was an entirely different world.

“This is the real heart of the bureau. The tall buildings above are just for offices. Down here is where the enforcers advance, train, and heal,” Han Hao said evenly. “It’s not much of a secret—anyone with common sense among Divine Bodies knows this.”

With that, the two of them stepped out of the elevator.

Chen Meng looked around. His first impression was: immense. The ceiling soared more than five meters high.

“There are three underground levels. We’re on the first,” Han Hao said, leading Chen Meng to a room labeled ‘Testing Room.’

“Go in.”

Han Hao knocked, but didn’t bother waiting for a response before pushing the door open.

“Captain?” A woman inside stood up. She looked to be in her thirties, but sat in a wheelchair—her legs were gone.

“Hello, sister,” Chen Meng greeted immediately.

She smiled. “Hello to you too, little one!”

Chen Meng was a bit embarrassed. Who’s she calling ‘little one’?

Han Hao introduced her calmly. “Her name is Liu Xue, a graduate of Jiangzhou Medical University. She used to be on my team. During a cultist raid, the cultists ran over her legs with a truck.”

Chen Meng understood at once. With her legs gone, Liu Xue was no longer combat-capable, so Han Hao had assigned her to logistics here.

“Thank you, Captain. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t know what I’d do outside,” Liu Xue said.

“You’ve thanked me enough—I’ve heard it a dozen times. All right, fetch a test kit and check if he has any hidden risks for Divine Body advancement,” Han Hao instructed. “I need to interrogate the two cultists we just caught. I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Okay,” Liu Xue replied.

Han Hao pushed the door open and left. Liu Xue moved to the storage cabinet and took out a box of white liquid reagent. She asked, “You must be someone special to have the Captain personally escort you for Divine Body advancement. Are you his new recruit?”

“Not exactly—actually, I’m his nephew,” Chen Meng improvised.

Liu Xue paused, eyeing him skeptically.

She deftly opened the kit and said thoughtfully, “Becoming a Divine Body is a sacred thing—a step up in life. But it can be cruel too. Statistically, about three out of every thousand people aren’t eligible for advancement.”

Three per thousand?

Chen Meng drew a sharp breath. That wasn’t a high number, but if it happened to him, it would mean all his efforts had been for nothing.

Surely luck wouldn’t be that bad.

“All right, just put a drop of blood in. If the reagent turns black within an hour, it means you’re ineligible to become a Divine Body. As for exactly which criteria you fail, further genetic screening is needed,” Liu Xue said.

Without further ado, Chen Meng pulled out a dagger and sliced his middle finger. A drop of blood fell into the vial, quickly staining the ten milliliters of reagent red.

“Now we wait,” Liu Xue said, picking up a fresh newspaper to read—her daily routine: work, and reading on the job.

Only here, in places like this, did newspapers still exist.

Chen Meng, by contrast, was far from at ease. Watching the reagent, he felt his heart pounding faster and faster. With only the two of them in the room, the silence was oppressive—he could even hear his heartbeat.

Time ticked by: ten minutes, twenty, fifty minutes.

The reagent remained red. Chen Meng finally let out a breath.

“It only counts as a pass if it doesn’t turn black after an hour. Quite a few failed cases changed color in the last ten minutes,” Liu Xue remarked, flipping the page.

Chen Meng was speechless. He’d just started to relax, but Liu Xue’s words made him even more anxious.

Luckily, after the full hour, the reagent’s color still hadn’t changed.

“You passed,” Liu Xue said, and Chen Meng exhaled deeply, as if he’d fought a great battle.

Liu Xue smiled. “Congratulations. You’re qualified to become a Divine Body.”

Chen Meng had nothing to say. Twenty minutes later, Han Hao returned, holding an interrogation report.

“No problems? Then let’s go,” Han Hao said, glancing at the test kit.

Chen Meng nodded and followed him. As they left, Liu Xue asked, “Captain, since when do you have a nephew? When you wanted to adopt me as your niece, you said you didn’t have any children or nephews.”

Han Hao eyed Chen Meng suspiciously. “What nonsense. Do you really think you’d get special treatment here by pretending to be my nephew? Why not say you’re my son?”

Chen Meng grinned shamelessly. “Why not? Pretending costs me nothing—if there’s an advantage, I win, if not, I lose nothing. As for pretending to be your son, forget it. We don’t even look alike. Besides, Liu Xue, you should’ve caught on—if I really were his nephew, I’d have his surname.”

Liu Xue stared, finding his logic oddly convincing.

Once outside, Chen Meng changed the subject. “What exactly did that woman steal? I saw it—looked like a few sheets of paper.”

“Nothing important. Just some research notes left by Deputy Director Qian Yanjiao after her death. They were sent to the Jiangzhou Academy of Sciences. That woman posed as a cleaner to steal them,” Han Hao replied coolly. “By the way, she was yelling she’d kill you once she got out.”

“Seriously? I didn’t even do anything to her,” Chen Meng protested.

“You burst her son’s eye. The one who died was her son; the one you injured was her husband,” Han Hao said calmly. “The whole family are New Moon cultists. This time, they risked stealing the research so her son could advance to Second Tier Divine Body. Who’d have thought it would all end in your hands? So, do you think she hates you now?”

“I guess so,” Chen Meng muttered. Earlier, Jiang Feiyu had guessed the dead man was the woman’s brother—he hadn’t expected it to be her son.

He turned, suddenly doubtful. “Is there any chance a cultist like her could get out?”

Han Hao looked back at him. “Not a chance. Don’t worry.”

Chen Meng breathed a long sigh of relief. Thank goodness. That would have been terrifying.

“Come on, let’s go get your advancement serum,” Han Hao said, leading him to the serum vault—a sealed chamber inscribed with dense runes, with two law enforcement guards on duty.

Han Hao produced a document stamped with the bureau’s seal, authorizing Chen Meng’s advancement to Divine Body.

“I’m finally going to become a Divine Body,” Chen Meng murmured, excitement welling up. Inside the vault, an attendant was already retrieving the serum for him.