I created the Bureau of Anomaly Control

Tang Xueluan opened the door and led Mann into the room, where the other three members of the advisory group were already waiting for him.

“Mr. Mann, long time no see.” Seeing Mann enter, the boy sitting alone in the corner immediately offered a polite smile, then his eyes immediately shifted to Tang Xueluan standing beside him, “Miss Tang, it's been a while since we last met.”

Wang Yang's seat was not conducive to chatting with the other two, and it was clear that he was sitting there deliberately. Moreover, the other two members also maintained a certain distance from each other, as if the three of them had been forcibly placed in the same room.

Mann nodded slightly to Wang Yang as a greeting, then looked at the other two.

Jiang Yuanda was a thin middle-aged man with a rather listless and gloomy expression, and he seemed a bit neurotic. When Mann walked in, he glanced up at them, but immediately turned his gaze away, and didn't seem to want to greet them.

The last one was a young woman in white – Kania from the research institute. When they walked in, she also looked over with a cold expression. Her eyes didn't seem as "arrogant" as Tang Xueluan had said, but exuded a coldness that went deep into the bone marrow.

Mann could feel that she didn't care about anyone in this room at all, and she didn't intend to hide her attitude.

“Good, everyone's here.” Kania nodded expressionlessly, “Then let's begin.”

Tang Xueluan also walked over and said:

“Should we introduce ourselves first?”

But she didn't expect Kania to reject the suggestion:

“There's no need for that. You must have read each other's information before coming here. That level of understanding is enough. Let's skip the useless small talk, our time is precious.”

Although these words sounded like a "provocation" to Tang Xueluan, Kania's tone didn't have any fluctuations when she spoke. The others present even felt that these were her true feelings, without any personal emotions mixed in.

It was as if she really just didn't want to waste time.

And Tang Xueluan, who came from a political background, didn't show any abnormality, just smiled politely and nodded:

“You're right, I was just worried that some of them might have some estrangement. After all, except for you and me, the others used to be followers of Shenxiao. I thought that chatting for a few words in advance might avoid small problems in cooperation.

“But since you don't think it's a problem, then I'll trust the expert's judgment.”

In fact, saying these words could also give them a heads-up in advance. What Tang Xueluan was really worried about wasn't Mann or Wang Yang, but Jiang Yuanda, who had betrayed Shenxiao under torture. He was the most unstable one among them.

Kania nodded:

“Good, next let's talk about our work. You've all heard about Atlantis, so I won't go into details. And all you need to know about it is this – the sea race that destroyed Atlantis can also destroy the world.

“So, without other options, the Federation has to let Shenxiao come forward to fight them. Only her ability can suppress these creatures that can become stronger as they fight. You don't need to understand the principle behind it, that has nothing to do with us either.

“The truly important work is handled by other departments. What we need to do is simple. We have to get Shenxiao out of prison, so we must first restrain her through other means. This mainly uses our restriction devices and rituals, but those things alone can't trap this Federation's strongest ability user. We also need to use a special contract to achieve the effect of binding her.

“But she wouldn't agree to sign the treaty if that were the case, because she knows very well that this would give us a chance to control her. So she will definitely demand that the influence on her be revoked after the mission is completed, otherwise we will have the opportunity to completely control her.”

Mann asked:

“Aren't you already controlling her now?”

Kania glanced at him:

“No, we are suppressing her now. What I mean by control refers to the influence on the strength of her power. We are still studying this. If you have any questions, you can save them until after I finish speaking.

“Back to the topic, Shenxiao won't give us a chance to completely control her, so she will propose clauses that can effectively prevent this from happening to protect herself. This is also the problem that the Federation most expects us to solve.

“However, neither they nor I have any confidence in this. This is the best-case scenario for us, unless some miracle-like low-probability event occurs, it is absolutely impossible to achieve.

“And our real purpose lies elsewhere. First of all, since she is going to use restriction devices to perform tasks, she will definitely leave behind a lot of important information. These are the things we must strive to obtain. This information can help us with our research on her in the future, so Shenxiao definitely doesn't want us to get it either, but compared to falling directly under our control, this condition is not unacceptable.

“This is a condition that the Federation requires us to obtain, and it is also the most important thing for us.

“Next is her freedom of action during the mission. This may be a bit difficult to understand. Let me put it this way, the Federation wants to demand comprehensive and complete monitoring and strong constraints on her actions, but she will definitely firmly reject us.

“Because she knows very well that this is not the most important thing for me, and the operation of Shenxiao's power itself requires issuing orders that fully comply with her personal will. Therefore, doing so will prevent her from realizing her abilities well.

“So in reality, we won't really influence her behavior. She is not a weapon that can be easily controlled. In fact, what we need is just weak constraints with a low degree of interference. As long as we ensure that the most important conditions don't go wrong, then the other minor details are meaningless to us.

“Moreover, with Shenxiao's power, unless she agrees herself, we don't have any particularly good means of monitoring and strong constraint. Other means can be shielded or destroyed by her. After all, since she is going to deal with the sea race, she will definitely recover part of her power.

“But although this matter seems meaningless, the Federation still hopes we can achieve it, because in reality, if we can deploy advanced monitoring and constraint systems on her, then the value of the information we ultimately obtain will definitely become much higher.

“The purpose of doing this is actually to obtain better research data.

“Finally, the third point is that the Federation hopes that we can take the opportunity to get her to accept a new source of power. This is also an important part of our overall plan for her – we have initially established the Shenxiao Salvation Church, which can directly replace the original position of the Salvation Alliance and provide her with a steady stream of power, but she is also unwilling to accept this condition.

“Because this organization itself can also impose constraints on her, but we can claim that if she doesn't accept this source of power, she won't be able to leave while ensuring constraints. Of course, in reality, we can do it, and according to calculations, we don't need to let Shenxiao reach our limit of constraint to solve this problem.

“So, we have two goals in front of us: to get Shenxiao to accept comprehensive monitoring and to accept the Shenxiao Salvation Church as a source of power.

“Do you have any questions about this?”

When she said this, she looked like a teacher preparing to answer a child's questions.

The others shook their heads, only Mann asked:

“So this is why you demanded the dissolution of the Salvation Alliance in the first place?”

Kania answered very honestly:

“That's right. If you hadn't disbanded, we wouldn't have been able to get Shenxiao to accept a new source of power. And even if she is still resisting after you disband, we will eventually be able to find a way to make the Shenxiao Salvation Church a part of her.

“And at that time, we unanimously agreed that a ceasefire agreement was a better and faster solution than completely destroying you.”

Mann nodded:

“Then I have no other questions.”

She nodded in satisfaction:

“Good, then it's my turn to ask questions.

“I already have a basic judgment on Shenxiao's bottom line, but I still need some reference materials. After all, I haven't really dealt with Shenxiao head-on, and you, except for Mann, have had a lot of communication with Shenxiao.”

In fact, Kania wasn't very satisfied with Mann as a sample of someone who still followed Shenxiao, but the situation was harsh, and this was already the best candidate the Federation could find. Other Salvation Alliance members who were still following Shenxiao would never cooperate with them.

She first looked at the boy:

“Wang Yang, can you tell me your impression of Shenxiao? What kind of person do you think she is?”

The boy showed a thoughtful expression. He usually didn't really think about this question, and if the Federation didn't need him to do this this time, he probably wouldn't have actively thought about it in his life.

“Let me think…” Wang Yang pondered, “Actually, if you suddenly ask me, it's difficult for me to say clearly what kind of person she is. In the beginning, I thought she was a madman, and when I thought I was familiar with her, I felt that she was actually a so-called good person.

“But when I really got to know her a little, my view of her went back to the beginning.

“She's a madman.”

Kania nodded:

“If I say the words Shenxiao, what is your most instinctive emotion?”

The boy hesitated for a few seconds, but still said it:

“Fear, not the common kind of fear, but…”

“Good.” Kania nodded and interrupted, “You don't need to explain.”

Wang Yang said in confusion:

“But I haven't gotten to the point yet?”

Kania still said with a cold face:

“I know what you want to say, and I know very well that you can't really explain your awkward true feelings, but I don't need you to explain this clearly. I asked you this question just to verify my own judgment, and your reaction is enough for me.”

At this time, Mann finally understood why Tang Xueluan said Kania was arrogant. This could even be said to be arrogance. She didn't care at all how Wang Yang described his feelings towards Shenxiao, because she believed her own judgment of him more than Wang Yang's views.

And it seemed that everything Wang Yang said was completely within her expectations.

Kania then looked at Jiang Yuanda, who had been silent all along:

“Tell me your opinion of Shenxiao.”

The mentally listless middle-aged man raised his head somewhat slowly, looking at Kania with a rather numb gaze, and his voice also carried a certain tired neuroticism:

“I, I don't know, maybe, she's a great leader, or a kind savior, but it's also like a disguise, I can't tell, I can't distinguish whether she's truly kind or hypocritical, she's too far away from me, I can't see at all…”

He spoke intermittently, and his logic was completely incoherent, but Kania instead showed a satisfied expression.

“Good, now tell me your most instinctive reaction.” She said like she was testing a lab rat.

Jiang Yuanda said somewhat sluggishly:

“I, I…”

Kania asked with considerable certainty:

“Guilt?”

He lowered his head.

Seeing this, Kania nodded decisively, then shifted her gaze to the last “Shenxiao follower”:

“Mann, you were the last to join the Federation. According to the information they gave me, you don't seem to have had any contact with her, but theoretically, it's entirely possible that you've met in private, and my intuition tells me that this possibility is actually very reasonable.

“But none of this is important. I don't think understanding Shenxiao requires seeing her.

“Just like I've never met her, but I'm very confident that I understand Shenxiao better than all of you, because when you're in her surroundings, it's difficult to ignore the existence of her power, unless you really don't have the basic perception of it.

“But I heard that you're not the stupidest of the stupid, so tell me…

“What is your impression of her?”

Mann thought for a while and said:

“You're right, when I'm in the vortex related to her, I can also vaguely see her outline. The most direct feeling she gives me is not the good and evil that they often discuss, but that unquestionable power.

“She's like a steep mountain that humans can't possibly successfully challenge. You can see her existence everywhere, and you will also have the idea of wanting to climb this mountain, but your reason will constantly remind you that this is impossible.

“At least that's what I used to think of her, but now you've won.”

Hearing these words, Kania frowned, paused for a few seconds, and then said in a somewhat impatient tone:

“Tell me, what is your instinctive emotion towards her?”

Mann answered with a sincere expression:

“Admiration.”

“Tell the truth.” Kania demanded without changing her expression.

Mann blinked, and paused for a few seconds before saying:

“I do admire her very much…

“But maybe there's also a little worry.”

Kania finally nodded in satisfaction:

“That's right, deep down in your heart, you've always been wary of her, which is why you're cooperating with the Federation.

“Because you just found companions who have similar ideas to you.”