I write obituaries for the gods.

Chapter 29 Classic Workplace Bullying

"Excuse me?"

Seeing Lin Chen's expressionless face, the man turned around and burst into laughter with his companions behind him:

"Kid, you should at least show some appreciation to your seniors, right? Louis, who joined before you, at least offered you a pack of cigarettes."

"You dare bring that up again?" Li Zhanyi frowned. Lin Chen saw a trace of anger on the girl's face for the first time. "I already told Section Chief Jiang!"

"Little Zhanyi, why are you so angry..."

The man looked at Lin Chen, his eyes darkening slightly.

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Marcus, the head of the Second Section," the man introduced himself. "Young man, what's up? How about buying me a drink tonight?"

"..."

Lin Chen was really too lazy to deal with this kind of person. He could easily figure out why the other person was so hostile: the first job offered flexible hours, better benefits, and more flexible working hours, and the second job even allowed him to work while attending university.

To put it bluntly, they want to use their seniority to put pressure on newcomers, gain some benefits for themselves, and subconsciously cultivate their own status in the newcomers so they can be easily bossed around in the future.

Commonly known as workplace PUA.

If you give in to this kind of person, you'll only be seen as an easy target.

"Let's go, Zhanyi," Lin Chen said, not really wanting to pay attention. "Let's go practice shooting."

Just as Li Zhanyi was about to follow, Marcus reached out to stop her.

"......!"

Before Lin Chen could react, his hand had already grabbed Marcus's wrist and stopped him next to Zhan Yi's arm.

My reaction... was that fast?

Lin Chen paused for a moment, then immediately spoke calmly:

"Don't rush, senior teacher."

Marcus seemed taken aback by the fact that "this greyhound grabbed my wrist?"

He froze for a full two seconds, his arm muscles throbbing with blood, only to find that Lin Chen's hand was like an iron claw, impossible to break free from.

Unable to move an inch.

"..."

Marcus tried and tried, but he couldn't move. Beside him, the two staff members from the Second Section were clearly puzzled.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Li Zhanyi lightly leaped up and came to Lin Chen's back.

She was clearly surprised that Lin Chen had managed to subdue the muscular Marcus, and whispered in his ear:

"Alright, let's not make things too tense!"

Lin Chen nodded, then extended his other hand.

Under Marcus's astonished gaze, he bent Marcus's hand into a handshake gesture, and then clasped it with both of his own hands.

The up-and-down motion is a vigorous shaking, like a new employee meeting their boss:

"My name is Lin Chen, I'm a new staff member in the first section. I hope you'll take care of me from now on."

Lin Chen smiled at Marcus, whose expression was tense, let go of his hand, and took Li Zhanyi's hand as they walked away into the distance.

"..."

Watching Lin Chen's departing figure, Marcus rubbed his wrist, trying to suppress the pain from showing on his face.

"Boss, you're not drinking anymore?" The second section clerk asked, somewhat surprised.

This section chief of the second section even gives his own staff members a hard time on their first day of work, let alone those in the neighboring group!

"Damn, this kid's got some interesting skills."

Marcus finally realized what had happened, and looking at Lin Chen's retreating figure, he laughed in exasperation at the way he had been humiliated.

A new oddball has arrived in Department One... much weirder than the previous ones...

"Let's go back."

"Didn't you come here to practice your shooting, boss?"

"Practice my ass! Have you finished writing the report before you start practicing? Go work overtime!"

He hid his reddened wrists behind his back.

......

Lin Chen walked away while looking back, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he was sure that Marcus was not following.

He felt his hand being gripped slightly tighter. Looking down, he realized that Li Zhanyi, whose hand he had been holding, was squeezing back forcefully.

"You have such a strong hand?" she exclaimed in amazement.

Lin Chen quickly let go of Li Zhanyi's hand. He felt a little uncomfortable: he had just done it subconsciously. It was not very polite to grab a girl's hand directly!

But Li Zhanyi seemed indifferent. She took small, quick steps, circling Lin Chen a few times, sizing him up:

"Do you also have a psychic ability that's... particularly energetic or something?"

"I just work out regularly." Lin Chen felt that his excuse was utterly weak.

"But you caught Qingtian's fist that day, didn't you?" Li Zhanyi pinched Lin Chen's arm. "And you're not that big...wow, but your muscles are very firm."

Meat...meat texture...?

Lin Chen looked at the clown in front of him with some helplessness, then looked up at the spot where Marcus had disappeared, changing the subject:

"That guy, he caused trouble before too?"

"It happens all the time. He thinks Section Chief Jiang is neglecting his duties and that the management of Section One is too lax," Li Zhanyi shrugged slightly. "But the problem is that we always rank first in performance every month, which makes him furious... but there's nothing he can do, we're just that good."

Li Zhanyi gave a thumbs up.

"Come on, now that the bad guys are gone, let's practice our shooting!"

Li Zhanyi pulled out his pistol from inside his trench coat and released the safety.

"Let me demonstrate the movements for you first. Come on, watch me..."

Lin Chen watched Li Zhanyi's earnest demonstration and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

A sense of satisfaction he had never felt before welled up inside him: ever since he came to Yudu, he had encountered setbacks in everything he did, nothing went smoothly, and he almost became a victim of the foundation's propaganda war.

Now, everything is different.

No one can bully him anymore.

"You're daydreaming!" Li Zhanyi pinched Lin Chen's arm.

It hurts a little...!

......

High-Risk Containment Object Analysis Department, Anomaly Division.

Jiang Zhengge and Hua Molan stood together next to the heavy-duty shielded window, which was about 1.5 meters thick, looking into the laboratory.

Several researchers had finished their work and were now organizing documents, the complex and sophisticated instruments humming softly.

Jiang Zhengge looked at the object on the test table: it was an ordinary-looking pistol.

That was his sidearm—or more precisely, the sidearm that Lin Chen "mimicked".

Yesterday, after Lin Chen left, Jiang Zhengge had Li Zhanyi take the gun and hand it over to the High-Risk Containment Item Analysis Department.

For new insights whose spectra are "unknown," careful analysis is certainly the right approach.

"The analysis is complete." Hua Molan picked up her phone and looked at the report on it.

"How so?" Jiang Zhengge turned his head.

"The physical structure of this gun is no different from your sidearm," Hua Molan said in a low voice, "except for one thing."

"Which point?"

"This gun is a standard 'subspace recyclable,' with trace amounts of subspace radiation remaining on it for about three years."

"In other words, this gun has been in the subspace for about three years, but it was only recently retrieved."

"Three years..."

Upon hearing this number, Jiang Zhengge frowned slightly.

He remembers clearly that the pistol he has now is the one he changed to three years ago.

In other words, the moment he switched guns, an identical gun appeared in the subspace...

Then Lin Chen took it out yesterday?

"The secrets that newcomer is hiding may be far beyond our imagination," Hua Molan said softly. "I may have to consult the 'Secret Party'."

"Let's ask for permission. We can't take any risks," Jiang Zhengge said. "But tell them that I've taken a liking to this kid. He's a promising talent, not a bad person."

"Don't be too confident in your judgment, Jiang Zhengge," Hua Molan reminded him. "Don't forget the pain once the wound has healed."

Hearing this, Jiang Zhengge gave a wry smile:

"At least Zhanyi is a good kid."

"Of course, I have no ill intentions towards that newcomer, but we need to be careful," Hua Molan said. "Don't use your sidearm for now. I'll get you a new one as an early birthday present."

"OK."

The two stood by the window, speechless for a long time.

......