Gavin also felt quite miserable.
He had come out to showcase his strength, intending to teach Walker and William a lesson by using his telekinetic control of flying knives to thoroughly dominate his opponents. Yet, before he could even enjoy himself, he almost got counter killed by Walker.
Just when someone came to save his life, he realized that his savior was even more monstrously powerful.
“Now do you know who I am?” William glanced at Gavin with a hint of smugness.
“William, I’m sorry. I was disrespectful,” Gavin conceded. His family wasn’t a major force in the Soulmancer world, and in front of a powerhouse like Zoey, he had no choice but to bow his head.
Only now did he realize that William was an employee of the 13th Bureau.
Bullying someone from the 13th Bureau in front of Zoey? That would be courting death.
“Forget it, I’ll forgive you this time.” William waved his hand dismissively, “Go and get yourself patched up.”
Gavin was seething with anger. When did a newbie Soulmancer dare to talk to him like this?
But with Zoey watching over, how could he dare to act arrogantly?
Hadn’t he just seen how miserably Walker had been beaten?
“You joined the 13th Bureau?” Walker was genuinely surprised. He had only been in jail for a month, and William, once a weakling, had become a newbie Soulmancer and even joined the 13th Bureau.
“Yeah, Director Wenzel took a liking to me and offered me this position.”
“Director Wenzel, do you think I could join your 13th Bureau?” Walker, an orphan raised by Bryant without any significant background or power, would naturally prefer joining the 13th Bureau if possible.
Zoey thought for a moment and said, “You would have to go through an assessment.”
Walker smiled, “Of course, it’s a formal institution, after all. It wouldn’t be right without an assessment.”
In his view, if even William could get into the 13th Bureau, the assessment couldn’t be too difficult.
If William could pass, he was sure he could too, without any worry.
Zoey remained silent for a moment, then took out her phone and made a call to Wes: “Wes, come over to Hudson University. Someone wants to undergo a job assessment, and you can also conduct an evaluation for William while you’re here.”
William was exceptionally recruited into the 13th Bureau due to Zoey’s whimsical decision at the moment.
But as Walker pointed out, the 13th Bureau is a formal organization, and the necessary procedures must still be followed.
“Huh? William didn’t go through an assessment?” Walker asked, puzzled. “Isn’t he already a member of the 13th Bureau?”
Zoey frowned and said, “I allowed him to join directly, so there was no job assessment done at that time.”
Walker hesitated, “Uh… so, the assessment is just a formality? Can someone join the 13th Bureau even if they fail it?”
“Not at all! If you can’t pass the assessment, we won’t accept you!” Zoey was blunt, not giving Walker any face.
Thinking he could join the 13th Bureau without an assessment – who did he think he was?
“Then why could William?” Walker felt insulted. Where was William better than him? His strength was certainly higher than William’s.
“Because I felt like it!” Zoey glared at him and said to William, “You come with me.”
Damn it!
Walker genuinely felt the sting of unfair treatment. William hadn’t gone through any assessment and just got into the 13th Bureau. What happened to the formality of a formal organization, and what about transparency?
That was a bit too dark.
Seeing Zoey about to leave, Walker quickly asked, “What about me?”
“You wait here. Someone will come for you.” Zoey didn’t even turn her head back, hardly paying any attention to Walker.
Her way of handling things was always blunt. If she didn’t care about someone, she really didn’t care at all, not even bothering with niceties.
Standing there, Walker felt a cold wind blow through, feeling deeply saddened.
Logically, Zoey should have given him some contact details at least, but she just left after saying those words.
William turned back to Walker and said, “Just wait, Deputy Director Wenzel should be here soon.”
Walker nodded and sighed. It was only when he entered the bookstore today that he truly realized how many strong people there were in this world. It was normal to be looked down upon if one’s strength wasn’t sufficient.
That secret technique that had suddenly appeared in his mind…
Walker clenched his fists tightly, vowing secretly to become stronger, strong enough to make everyone take notice of him.
Strong enough that no one would dare to overlook him like Zoey did!!
William followed Zoey for a while and asked, “Where are you taking me?”
Zoey stopped, took out her phone, and sent a file to William. “Read it yourself.”
William opened the file, which detailed how Evelyn had been aggressively suppressing various industries in New York City. During this time, several Soulmancers had troubled Evelyn, only to be defeated by her and left disabled.
The directive from above was to try and negotiate peacefully with Evelyn, hoping she would leave some room for others to survive.
From the looks of it, Evelyn had been abiding by the law. In her business wars, she hadn’t used her Soulmancer abilities. Instead, it was others who couldn’t restrain themselves. Trying to avoid being swallowed up, they took the initiative to attack and attempted to assassinate Evelyn, only to fail completely.
Now, nearly half of New York City’s industries were under Evelyn’s control, showing a trend of monopolizing power.
Although Evelyn’s actions were legitimate self-defense and didn’t break any laws, if this trend continued unchecked, the entire world might end up under Evelyn’s dominion.
The best course of action in such a scenario was to negotiate with Evelyn, ideally in a way that didn’t damage relations and would allow her to leave some space for ordinary businessmen to survive.
After all, there had never been a case like Evelyn’s before. She was a powerful Soulmancer controlling several demigod-level subordinates. Yet, she chose not to focus solely on enhancing her own abilities but instead, as a regular person, engaged in making money and fighting business wars.
The 13th Bureau was quite helpless in facing this situation.
After all, Evelyn hadn’t violated any regulations regarding Soulmancers. Purely from a legal standpoint, Evelyn even had a powerful team of lawyers backing her, sometimes even exploiting legal loopholes.
The only certainty was that this situation couldn’t be allowed to continue!
“Are you asking me to negotiate?” William realized Zoey’s intention upon seeing the file.
“Who else do you think should do it? Me?” Zoey was a skilled fighter, but having her calmly and rationally negotiate, appealing to emotions and reasoning, was clearly unrealistic.
“I just had a falling out with Evelyn a few days ago,” William said.
“Uh-huh,” Zoey nodded.
William raised an eyebrow, “Did you not understand? I said I had a falling out with her.”
“Then it’s still up to you to talk!” Zoey thought for a moment and said, “I remember you told me you’re good at talking.”
“Believing such a thing, that’s so you!” William expressed his concerns about Zoey’s judgment.
Zoey stared at William and said, “If you don’t go, I’ll have to take action.”
William chuckled, “You might not be able to defeat Evelyn even if you take action. After all, she’s protected by so many people with demigod-level strength.”
“I mean take action against you.”
“…”