Dude, something's really wrong with your abilities.

Chapter 7 Run, Boy!

Old Zheng was looking at the fifth group's action report for tonight with a serious expression.

The report was written by Chen Shi. He originally wanted to revise it before submitting it, but under Sun Tiemei's unyielding gaze, he reluctantly handed over the notebook. However, he felt a surge of embarrassment, like when he was a student and was caught red-handed scribbling on his textbook.

He would write on the paper and then cross it out, making numerous corrections. Some notes even included his annotations and personal thoughts. For example, the crossed-out sentence "It's a bit cold here" was followed by his question, "Is it okay not to write about the weather?", and "Wherever the team leader goes, nothing grows." This sentence was followed by his bizarre comments such as, "Should this sentence be left? Will the team leader be angry?"

Old Zheng barely suppressed the urge to tear the report to shreds and throw it back at Chen Shi's face: "Newcomers still need to be taught. What kind of nonsense is this?"

He rubbed his temples and steered the conversation back to business: "You mean, this Old Yuan has precognitive abilities?"

"I sensed danger. I've reviewed the six teams' operation reports, and considering tonight's events, this is the only explanation at the moment."

"That's troublesome." Old Zheng leaned back in his chair. "Old Yuan has been in the underworld for many years and has never been caught. I thought he was a cautious person, but it turns out that's the reason."

"Yes."

"What are the next steps for those five groups?"

Sun Tiemei didn't speak directly, but paused for a while.

"Wei Sheng was apprehended by Chen Shi."

Old Zheng looked at her, puzzled, wondering why she brought this up.

"Wei Sheng had received specialized counter-interrogation training, and even the most experienced interrogators were helpless against him. But when Chen Shi went in and talked about things unrelated to the case, Wei Sheng himself revealed Lao Yuan's whereabouts."

Old Zheng sat up straight: "What do you mean?"

"Old Yuan's precognition is a passive ability. He can sense fluctuations in supernatural abilities and detect approaching danger. But he can't predict things that aren't dangerous," Sun Tiemei paused.

Old Zheng began to understand what she meant.

"According to Zhuang Wen's report, Chen Shi's ability is to create an emotional field that causes the target's psychology and defense to continuously decline, but he himself does not have any supernatural fluctuations," Sun Tiemei continued. "Old Yuan can defend against attacks, but he can't defend against chatting."

Old Zheng frowned. He wanted to say, "Why do you Fifth Group handle things like it's a joke?" but he swallowed the words. Because, just like the last time he interrogated Wei Sheng, he was out of ideas. That time, Sun Tiemei told him to let Chen Shi try, and it worked. This time might be the same… and it was currently the only way, except for the issue of his personal safety.

"Chen Shi won't participate in the battle," Sun Tiemei explained, "but he can make contact with Lao Yuan and render Lao Yuan's sense of danger ineffective. The assault will still be Chang Biao and Pang Daqiang's job."

"It's still too dangerous," Old Zheng said, looking down at the ability rating file on the table. "His ability is not offensive at all, and I've heard that his physical strength is also very poor. You know, Old Yuan probably carries weapons with him at all times. If he senses something is wrong, he can kill Chen Shi at any time."

"I will take responsibility for his safety."

Old Zheng knew her temperament. Sun Tiemei was a woman of her word; once she said "I'll take responsibility," she meant it. He sighed, remained silent for a few seconds, and finally nodded.

"Alright. Follow your Group 5's plan for now. The most urgent task is to find Lao Yuan's hiding place, and then create an opportunity to make contact with him."

Sun Tiemei stood up.

"Wait a minute." Old Zheng called out to her, thought for a moment, but couldn't think of anything serious to say, so he could only say, "Tell him to write a better report next time."

Sun Tiemei returned to her office.

She walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. Outside was the bureau's testing ground. Unlike its usual tranquility, a solitary figure moved across the track tonight. It was Chen Shi.

He must have only been running for a short time, because his posture was still relatively normal. However, he swung his arms a bit too high and took very long strides, making each step look like he was arguing with the ground. After running about one lap, his posture began to collapse. His arms stopped swinging and instead drooped at his sides, and he leaned forward like a willow branch bent by the wind.

After running another half lap, he stopped, bent over, held his knees, and lowered his head as if whispering to the ground.

But after a while, perhaps having finished talking, he straightened up and continued running forward.

Sun Tiemei looked at that figure.

She didn't smile. But the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.

She turned around, her gaze falling on the desk. On the desk sat a framed photograph containing an old picture of a middle-aged man in an old-fashioned uniform, standing somewhat slender but with a hearty laugh. Beside him stood a young girl with her hair in a ponytail, her face also radiating a bright smile.

Sun Tiemei stared at it for a long time.

Then she reached out and gently placed the photo frame on the table.

The moment her fingertips touched the photo frame, the teacup in her other hand made a soft sound as ice crystals condensed, and the tea instantly turned into a dark green block of ice.

Outside the window, the running figures were still moving slowly.

Chen Shi didn't actually know why he was still running.

When he said "I'm sure" in the car, he truly didn't hesitate at all. Everyone was watching him then; he couldn't back down, and he didn't. But that energy was burning hot, scalding hot, and his blood was boiling. But now that the heat has worn off and he's cooled down, he's realized what he said back then: he was going to confront a fugitive head-on, someone even Sun Tiemei couldn't catch.

What was I thinking at the time?

He ran while mentally reviewing the events. After reviewing them, he realized that he had indeed thought things through; no one had forced him, and he had brought it up voluntarily. This conclusion left him very frustrated.

The fat man's words floated into his mind again: "With your current useless physical abilities, if the enemy wants to chase you, you won't even be able to run away."

What to do? Run, of course. But he'd just tested that running plan himself; it wasn't going to work. He hadn't even run two laps yet, and his lungs were already about to jump out of his throat. If he tried to catch Lao Yuan in this state, Lao Yuan would think he was trying to scam him.

He stopped on the track again and asked the earth once more.

Why do people run?

This wasn't a philosophical question; it was a question emanating from his very soul. He thought about it seriously for a while and concluded: because it would be very embarrassing to get caught. Then he kept running.

He ran very slowly. But he kept running.

He had thought it through very clearly. His superpower was innate, and he had no choice in that. But even if his physical abilities were terrible, running was better than not running. When being chased by enemies, the difference between running slowly and not running at all might just be the distance a fat guy could come to his rescue.

Chen Shi decided to run every day.

"At least run five... thirteen laps," he hesitated before setting himself a small goal.

Chang Biao was dragged here by Pang Daqiang.

"That idiot's running," Pang Daqiang said on the phone, "running alone on the track, it's terrifying. Come quick."

Five minutes later, Chang Biao appeared at the edge of the playground carrying a towel and water. The fat man squatted on the bleachers, his eyes fixed on the swaying figure on the track.

"How long has he been running?" Chang Biao asked.

"It's been twenty minutes," Pang Daqiang said. "I've run about 1000 meters. I stopped three times in between."

"Isn't walking faster than running?"

"Yes, that's why I'm worried he'll run himself to death."

The two men watched Chen Shi run in silence for a while. Chen Shi's running posture could no longer be described as "running"; it was more like he was fighting against gravity, which was desperately pulling him down while he was desperately trying not to be pulled over. There was a sense of solemnity, but also a sense of absurdity.

"Daqiang," Chang Biao suddenly said, "is it because of that 'I'm sure' he said in the car?"

"What else?" the fat man said. "He feels like he's holding everyone back. Hey... that kid."

Chang Biao did not respond.

Chen Shi finally finished running three laps. He looked up and saw Fatty and Chang Biao sitting by the stands, and paused for a moment.

He was panting heavily: "Why are you all here?"

"I'm afraid you'll die on the track," the fat man stood up, took a bottle of water from Chang Biao's hand, and threw it to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi took the water and drank half a bottle in one gulp, then continued to pant.

"I'm telling you," Pang Daqiang looked him up and down, "you think you can avoid getting caught by running, right?"

Chen Shi nodded.

"Let me tell you the truth. Even if you train 24 hours a day, it won't help. If you don't want to get caught, you can't let him think of you as his enemy. You are your core competitive advantage. You should give up running now. You two are just not compatible."

Chen Shi had a sudden realization, but then said indignantly, "How could it be completely useless? Then all those three rounds of practice were for nothing."

"It wasn't a waste of time," the fat man comforted him. "At least you proved that you really are physically useless. Some struggling online writers write a million words but still can't recognize their own incompetence. You proved it in just three laps, which is very efficient."

Chen Shi glared at him.

"Besides, it's not entirely useless. With the way you ran over there, most people would think you were trying to scam them and would just avoid you."

Chang Biao covered his mouth and laughed again.

"Most importantly, what are you afraid of? With the boss, with me and Biaozi here," the fat man patted Chen Shi on the shoulder. "Would you let someone beat you up?"

"Then I won't practice running anymore," Chen Shi straightened up. "I'll practice my public speaking skills."

The fat man thought he had misheard.

Chen Shi said seriously, "The ability to talk. You all agreed with my plan in the car just now, which shows that my core value is not fighting, but dealing with the enemy through conversation. Since I managed to talk Wei Sheng into submission, and I can talk Lao Yuan into submission as well, if there is any real danger, you can come and save me."

Fatty and Chang Biao looked at each other, "This kid actually makes a lot of sense."

"So how do you plan to train?" they both asked in unison.

Chen Shi responded with a smile.

The next day at noon, many people witnessed a strange scene in the cafeteria.

A young man stood at the food serving window, not ordering any food, but just trying to get close to the cafeteria lady.

If someone behind him wants to get food, he will step aside and continue chattering while the auntie is serving the food.

The lady serving food at the window was in her fifties, with a robust build, and wielded a large ladle with unparalleled skill. She also had an exceptionally fiery temper.

Chen Shi began to put his oratory training into practice. He wanted to start with praise to gain the other person's favor.

"Auntie looks great today."

"Whether to fight or not, we won't fight the next one."

Chen Shi was momentarily speechless, but he wasn't discouraged and decided to try a different approach: "Auntie, do you know four ways to make braised pork?"

The auntie serving the vegetables banged her ladle against the bowl of vegetables.

The colleagues getting food in the cafeteria looked at each other in bewilderment. A few of them recognized Chen Shi and had seen him run "show" and were filled with anticipation.

After countless failed attempts, the auntie realized that this man was a bit scary. She leaned out of the window, snatched the plate from Chen Shi's hand, filled it with a large plate of braised pork, and then told him to get lost.

When Chen Shi happily walked back to the fifth group's table with the fruits of his victory, Fatty and Chang Biao were both burying their heads in their rice bowls, while Sun Tiemei ate slowly and leisurely, as if everything was irrelevant to her.

Chen Shi didn't look at them; he was still immersed in his joy. He felt that his training had achieved a certain stage of success. This aunt was known for her shaky hands when serving food; who could possibly serve a full plate of braised pork from her hands? Chen Shi had done it.

Then he started to review the training session, and the more he thought about it, the more confident he became.

So he made a terrible mistake.

"Team leader, I want to practice on you."