The System’s words practically stamped the word “Werewolf” right onto Chen Anzhi’s forehead.

“How are there already traitors?” Lu Yan murmured in his mind. “I assume it won’t affect me getting my graduation certificate, right?”

The System:

[Given that the host’s current spiritual energy threshold is too low, disclosing everything could carry a risk of brain death. Do you accept the relevant data: Yes/No?]

Lu Yan: “Yes.”

The System:

[……You are just speaking out of spite; I do not believe you.]

Lu Yan smiled slightly and did not pursue the topic further.

He didn’t know what to eat for breakfast, but the cafeteria had prepared meals full of meat and fish—high sugar, high protein, and high fat. Lu Yan reasonably deduced that the entire day of training would likely not be easy.

After his mutation degree rose, he could indeed sense that some of a normal person’s desires were fading, such as appetite, sleep, and libido. This made Lu Yan reasonably doubt whether there actually were any “second-generation Awakened” in the world.

Fortunately, the cafeteria chef’s culinary skills were genuinely excellent. If placed in the outside world, they could easily be rated three Michelin stars. Consequently, everyone’s enthusiasm for eating remained very high.

Lu Yan casually grabbed an apple and took a bite. Two rows of teeth left four rows of imprints on the surface of the apple. He then picked up a plate to load up on his favorite dishes.

The cafeteria servers were also extremely warm and enthusiastic, stating that if there was a dish someone wanted to eat but wasn’t available, they could leave a name, and the head chef would prepare it the following day.

The new employees gathered together in small groups. Lu Yan glanced over; Chen Anzhi seemed able to chat a few words with just about anyone, the smile on his face gentle and cordial.

Among this crowd of people, Lu Yan actually spotted an old acquaintance.

It was Director Hu, who had previously fled K City by plane overnight and had also participated in the parasitic fish surgery.

The other party clearly spotted him as well, waving excitedly: “Xiao Lu!! You’re here too!”

Director Hu ran over to Lu Yan’s side holding his plate: “Ah, K City was cordoned off before, and phone calls couldn’t get through. It’s so good to see you’re alright. I didn’t expect you to become an Awakened too—such a huge matter, why didn’t you post about it on your Moments? By the way, I’m in the support category; my talent is Cell Division. What about you?”

“I’m also in the support category. Early Warning.”

“Early Warning is great! When there’s danger, you can run early.”

Meeting an old friend in a strange land made Director Hu so excited that he rattled off a whole stream of words.

[Cell Division, Talent 432. It can accelerate the differentiation of cells inside the human body, having a miraculous effect on certain external injuries.]

[The top-tier talent of this sequence is called ‘Gene Recombination,’ sequence number 13. Unfortunately, the only human who ever mastered it has already passed away. The dragon wings on Tang Xun’an’s back are the result of Gene Recombination. Since that person passed away, there has never been another ‘perfect synthetic human’ like Tang Xun’an in the world……]

“Are you talking about Qiao Yu, who compiled the Talent Sequence Periodic Table?” Lu Yan asked. “Don’t Awakened have very long lifespans?”

Lu Yan studied medicine and had seen Qiao Yu in textbooks. He lived to the age of seventy, passing away in the year 2067, which was already half a century ago.

The System fell silent for a moment:

[Some humans, when their mutation degree is too high and irreversible, will actively choose euthanasia to avoid becoming Pollutants. Some pseudo-concepts created by you humans, such as ‘conviction,’ ‘dedication,’ and ‘sacrifice,’ are truly very interesting—even more effective than the talent Hypnosis.]

At the entrance of the multimedia classroom, the teaching assistant responsible for checking tardiness and early departures wore an excited smile on his face.

“Have you heard? The Chief Instructor this time is Captain Tang!!”

In the entire Special Operations Department, quite a few people shared the surname Tang. But calling someone “Captain Tang” usually represented only one single person.

“Knew it long ago,” another teaching assistant replied. He was a C-grade Awakened from Squad 1, and a benevolent smile appeared on his face. “My Chief Instructor back then was also Captain Tang, though that seems to have been forty years ago.”

“Our batch was the one with the lowest final practical death rate, but the highest number of mid-way dropouts.”

Out of thirty people, ten dropped out because they couldn’t bear the overwhelming burden. The final practical test yielded zero deaths, and they even historically cooperated to hunt down a C-grade Pollutant.

Later, the 20 people who graduated all became the core backbone of the current Special Operations Department, including the current leader of Squad 2, Bai Qiushi.

The young teaching assistant beside him shuddered: “That sounds terrifying, brother.”

The newly recruited, adorable novice Awakened had no idea what kind of hell mode they were about to face.

Lu Yan had very good grades when he was in school, but he habitually sat toward the middle-back of the classroom.

Living in groups is human nature. Merely a single night had passed, and many people had already chosen to gather in twos and threes to huddle for warmth, especially those whose dorms were relatively close to each other.

This place closely resembled the classroom of some highly expensive private high school.

The fifty-something Hu Youbang naturally sat right next to Lu Yan. Back at the hospital, they were still supervisor and subordinate, colleagues. Having spent several years together, their relationship was far more solid than anyone else’s.

Lu Yan didn’t reject him either.

At 8:00 AM, the class bell rang precisely on time. This bell was so piercingly loud that the classroom instantly fell dead silent.

Lu Yan had excellent hearing. He could clearly hear footsteps approaching from far to near, the rhythm between each step perfectly precise.

But what puzzled him was that he constantly felt these footsteps didn’t sound human…… they sounded like some four-legged animal.

Unsure if it was Lu Yan’s illusion, the ambient temperature seemed to turn a bit colder, and the King Fish inside his body quietly went into hiding as if sensing danger.

The metal door sensed the arrival and opened automatically. Subsequently, a tall man walked in leading a dog.

He wore a pitch-black uniform, the collar fitted tightly without a single gap, and his eyes were a pure, brilliant gold.

But what drew the most attention was likely the rather strange object on his face…… a mask?

It was a bark collar muzzle that only dogs would use.

In fact, even the dog he was leading didn’t use one.

Among the newly recruited Awakened, not everyone was completely ignorant. Someone instinctively gasped in surprise: “Is that the Tyrant?”

The German Shepherd jumped onto a chair to the side and let out a cough: “Hello, everyone. I am the dog of the Chief Instructor for this new employee training session. You can call me Xiao Tian. Cough, cough, the Chief Instructor doesn’t quite like to talk, so today’s speech will be delivered by me on his behalf.”

“This new employee training session lasts a total of three months. The first two months will involve learning at the base, and the final month will be the practical combat assessment.”

“The current curriculum is arranged with theoretical teaching in the morning and practical application in the afternoon. Evening classes will be added depending on the situation. Starting from the second month, everything will shift to practical teaching.”

Xiao Tian let out a howl and continued: “First, let me introduce the ‘Trainee Points System.’ Every trainee starts with an initial score of 10 points; if the points hit zero, you will be dismissed by headquarters. We will not allow any Awakened with insufficient professional knowledge who just drifts along to go to the frontlines. However, after being dismissed by the Special Operations Department, you can still choose to join the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center.”

“Upon graduation, trainee points can be exchanged for contribution points. The ratio is 1:1,000.”

“The Chief Instructor for this employee training is my handler, Tang Xun’an. You are very fortunate, completely without need to worry about the final death rate. Because my handler is the only documented S-grade Awakened on file. His achievements are too numerous, so I won’t say much more. Those interested can search the Awakening Forum on their own.”

“Aside from this, the headquarters has also equipped you with six teaching assistants, adopting an ‘assistant responsibility system’ where each assistant is responsible for 10 to 11 newcomers. During the training period, the teaching assistants will live on the same floor as everyone.”

Part-time dorm managers. Before coming to headquarters, every new employee had already been assigned a dormitory floor. It was roughly 7 combat-type Awakened paired with 3 support or special types on each floor.

“Of course, we are not monsters either. At the end of every month, outstanding trainee rewards will be issued to the top three trainees in points! Other trainees can also receive a special allowance.”

“When facing Pollutants, any negligence can potentially be fatal. Sweating and crying now is to ensure you won’t bleed at the frontlines later because of it. Since everyone has joined the Special Operations Department, you must have the determination to make sacrifices for it.”

As it spoke, a staff member handed over a sheet of paper.

Lu Yan looked down and found it was actually a class schedule. The first class would start in just a bit at eight-thirty. Each class lasted 1.5 hours, with a 20-minute break in between. The noon and afternoon each had a 40-minute rest period. It was more intense than a high school senior’s schedule.

• Morning: Pollutant Identification, Graphical Distribution of Pollutants.
• Afternoon: Strength Training, Endurance Training, Combat Training.
• Evening: Extreme Temperature Endurance Training (1 hour).

The scheduled classes varied every day, featuring topics like “Weapon Selection,” “Talent Extension Training,” “Live Pollutant Training,” “Hot Weapon Usage and Maintenance”…… and even “Special Transportation Vehicle (Airplane, Ship, Sailboat) Driving.”

According to the curriculum arrangement, there were only two free days each month, uniformly set at the end of the month.

The schedule also marked Lu Yan’s teaching assistant.

Lu Yan lived in Room 3 on the 5th floor. The teaching assistant for this floor was a C-grade Awakened—Lone Wolf.

The first month’s classes belonged to common courses. In the second month, customized curriculum training would be carried out for different employees based on their performance in the previous month.

Looking at the class schedule, Director Hu couldn’t help but wail: “But I’m just a support type! Why do I have to learn this too! I’m already 53 years old this year!”

Xiao Tian’s dog ears happened to catch this sentence, and it said: “When facing a Pollutant, the other party won’t care whether you are combat-type or support-type. They will only look at whether you are easy to kill!”

“To tell you the truth, as an animal Awakened, I have also participated in the new employee training session and received an outstanding certificate upon graduation. I have already lived for forty-two years by this year; one human year equals 18 years for a dog, meaning I am already 756 years old! You guys won’t prove to be even worse than a dog, right? No way, right? No way??”

Lu Yan couldn’t resist asking the System in a low voice:

[Are you and it biological brothers from different parents?]

The tone was truly identical in its punch-worthy arrogance.

The System:

[……Thank you for your sudden concern.]

For the morning theory class, the lecturer was a researcher sent from the Second Research Institute, a capable and stern middle-aged woman.

Many researchers hadn’t managed to awaken into Awakened, but their understanding of Pollutants was not a single shred inferior to front-line personnel, even classifying Pollutants into different classes and orders.

“Research indicates that the mutation direction of Pollutants ultimately converges. Pollutants of different orders will present the same morphology and commonalities at the endpoint of evolution.”

“For Pollutants of the same order, even if we haven’t seen them before, we can deduce similar weaknesses from them.”

If placed on the Awakening Forum, this information would easily be worth over hundreds of contribution points. Therefore, Lu Yan studied very seriously.

Some combat-type Awakened weren’t too interested and spaced out, even secretly playing with their phones underneath the desks. As a result, right when the class ended, the trainees who played with their phones were informed by the teaching assistant that 0.5 points had been docked.

Because the break time was too short, lunch was delivered directly to the teaching area by the cafeteria staff. The expressions on the staff members’ faces were exceptionally benevolent, as if saying eat your fill so you can go on your way.

Inside the office, the teaching assistant Lone Wolf reported his work in a business-like manner, finally saying: “Captain Tang. Are afternoon strength training and physical training really going to be merged? Won’t it be a bit too difficult?”

These two afternoon classes added up to a total of three hours.

According to Tang Xun’an’s instructions, he hoped the trainees would conduct mountain-weighted orienteering cross-country.

To be able to awaken into an Awakened, whether it was physical strength or recovery capacity, both far exceeded ordinary people. Coupled with the ubiquitous real-time surveillance, there was no need to worry about accidents occurring.

Tang Xun’an tilted his head slightly and asked, “Is it hard?”

“Not at all.” A chill ran down Lone Wolf’s back, and he immediately betrayed his delicate trainees, “This is very appropriate!”