I adopted a child demon from the Gap, and I'm a special agent for the Bureau of Supernatural Ab

…………

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Chapter 4, Section 201: The Dream of Obsession

"How do you discipline your own child? How could you be so harsh? Are you trying to kill my child?"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Pay up! You have to pay up! My child is so badly injured and needs surgery, you have to pay up! This isn't over until you give us a satisfactory answer today!"

"We will compensate you, we definitely will, please don't worry."

"What is this kid? He's so fierce at such a young age. What will he be like when he grows up? I bet even murder and arson won't be enough for him."

"We are so sorry, we will make it up to you."

……

In his uncle's living room, the boy sat quietly on the sofa, watching his usually serious uncle repeatedly apologize to a middle-aged woman who was spitting everywhere, while he himself did nothing.

That morning, the boy knocked a child who was a head taller than him to the ground and beat him mercilessly.

The hospital diagnosed the child with a concussion, a broken nose, and multiple contusions. The boy wasn't just randomly beating the child; he was calmly and methodically striking the child's entire body. Lifting the child's clothes revealed that almost every inch of the child's skin was covered in bruises.

The child's mother stormed in, berating the boy and his uncle's family. The boy, suppressing his anger, simply sat on the sofa without reacting. The uncle, on the other hand, kept apologizing, constantly saying "I'm sorry" and "I apologize."

The obese woman continued cursing while giving the silent boy a disdainful look. Seemingly unsatisfied, she then spoke again:

"Raising such a good-for-nothing child, no wonder his mother was..."

"Try saying it."

This time, the uncle, who had been bowing his head and apologizing, suddenly stood up. He was already quite burly, and compared to the short, fat woman, he looked even bigger. He stood there with an icy expression, staring straight at her, instantly silencing the previously arrogant woman.

"...You, you, what do you want to do? You want to hit someone, right? Ha, the young one is like this, and the old one is like this too. You're all shameless, aren't you?"

Under such gaze, the woman, though seemingly frightened, paused for two seconds, swallowed, and forced herself to continue cursing.

"Aren't you the SWAT team captain? You dare hit me? You dare? Like father, like son. The kid's a scoundrel, and the old man's a disrespectful old man too. I'm telling you, that woman is alive..."

Boom!

A heavy punch slammed into the wall beside the woman, leaving a deep dent. Startled by the sudden blow, the woman fell to the ground, almost frozen in place. Xu Ling slowly squatted down, his gaze towards the woman icy cold.

“Xiao Cheng hit your son, that was wrong of him. We will make sure he pays the compensation and apologizes as he should. But if you dare to mention that incident again, I'll make sure you come in upright and leave horizontally. Anyway, you've already hit someone, whether you hit one or two, it makes no difference.”

"you you……"

"What do you mean 'what ...?' At worst, I'll just quit my job after I'm done beating him up. Don't forget I'm a C-level martial artist. With my physical abilities, I could earn more money even if I were just doing manual labor than you."

The woman stared at the indifferent man before her, her expression a mixture of shock and anger, unable to utter a single word. At that moment, she finally remembered: the man before her was no ordinary person, but a formally registered C-rank martial artist. While this rank was meaningless in the face of true power, for a village woman like her who hadn't even finished junior high school, it represented overwhelming strength.

The conversation ended unhappily; the woman left grumbling, but dared not hint at anything further about the boy's mother. Xu Ling watched her leave, closed the door, and looked at the boy who sat silently on the sofa. After a moment's thought, he went over and sat down beside the boy, keeping him company in silence.

"...Did I do something wrong?"

After a long silence, the boy uttered a single sentence devoid of any emotion.

"Wrong."

The uncle answered calmly.

"..."

The boy didn't speak, but his hands, which were originally resting flat on his knees, slowly clenched into fists.

“You shouldn’t have hit so hard from the start, and you shouldn’t have hit so hard,” the uncle continued, his tone calm. “Fighting is about money. If you want to teach someone a lesson, you should hit them hard enough to hurt them, but not hard enough. If I were you, I would have thrown that kid to the ground and given him a good slap in the face. That way, he would have lost face and been beaten, but it wouldn’t have come to this point where we have to pay a lot of money.”

"……what?"

The boy was surprised by his uncle's answer and looked up at his uncle, who was smiling beside him.

"And you, if you wanted to teach him a lesson, you had to make him feel the pain properly. But you knocked him out with the first punch, so he couldn't feel any of the subsequent punches. It was all for nothing."

The boy's eyes widened, his expression one of disbelief at the behavior of his usually stern uncle.

"Alright, don't worry, I won't blame you this time. Sometimes, you have to use your fists to reason with unreasonable people."

Reaching out, Xu Ling patted the boy's head, her expression turning serious, and then she spoke.

"However, there are also methods to struggle. You didn't do this very well, which is why things have turned out this way. Of course, you've never encountered this kind of situation before, and I haven't taught you these things. I will slowly teach you how to deal with some difficult people in the future."

The boy nodded, looking at his uncle with a somewhat confused expression. The two sat side by side on the sofa, neither of them speaking again.

"...Cheng, do you really want to become a martial artist and join the Special Science Department?"

After a moment of silence, the uncle suddenly spoke.

The boy was puzzled by the sudden question. He looked up and saw that his uncle wasn't looking at him, but rather staring blankly at the wall in front of him, as if gazing into an incredibly distant place.

Do I really want to become a martial artist and join the Special Science Department?

Subconsciously, the boy wanted to give an affirmative answer. He had persisted in his training until now, never missing a single one of the arduous physical exercises his uncle had devised for him. All of this was to become a martial artist; he had persevered for a long time and never considered giving up.

However, after hesitating for a moment, the boy didn't know how to answer. The words he wanted to say seemed stuck in his mouth, impossible to open.

Do I really want to join the Special Science Department right now?

The promise he made with his mother inside the house seemed to resurface in his mind once more. He couldn't be sure whether he truly cherished that dream or simply didn't want to break his promise to her.

"What was Cheng's initial reason for wanting to join the Special Sciences Department?"

Not getting an answer from the boy, Xu Ling wasn't in a hurry, but instead asked a different question.

"I want to... protect others, defeat the bad guys, and protect everyone."

This time, the boy thought for a short while, but quickly gave an answer.

"Really? You're so young, yet you have such thoughts. You might grow up to be a pushover. This is really a headache..."

A pushover?

The boy frowned, looking very puzzled.

"So, do you still have this wish now?"

Without giving the boy much time to think, Xu Ling immediately asked another question.

"……I guess so?"

The boy answered somewhat uncertainly.

Ultimately, it was nothing more than childhood idolization and imitation of heroes. Having experienced so much now, the boy can no longer return to that carefree state of mind. Is fighting to protect others still truly his desire?

"It seems I went too far with my question."

Seeing the boy struggling to find an answer, Xu Ling smiled, reached out and ruffled the boy's hair, and then continued.

"Want to stop this arduous lifestyle?"

"Do not want to."

This time, the boy's answer was simple and quick.

He was unwilling to stop his current life, no matter how arduous it was, no matter how often he was in pain. But continuing this life had become an obsession; he was unwilling to stop, and no matter what, he would never stop.

“In that case, I’ll continue to teach you something,” Xu Ling said, standing up from the sofa. “No matter what, as long as you still have something to hold onto, something to strive for, life can go on. Just keep trying, Cheng, and you will find what you truly want.”

…………

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Reaching 60 words, this is the first time I've written such a long piece.

Chapter 5, Section 202: The Dream of Justice

"Haa."

With a soft yawn, a small figure entered the quiet room and stood in front of the sleeping boy's bed.

The boy used to be the type who wouldn't wake up even if a string of firecrackers went off beside him. But now, even though the figure hadn't made a sound, he was starting to feel uneasy, as if he might wake up at any moment.

"Sleep well."

tide sighed softly, stroked the boy's forehead, and a faint purple light swept across it. The boy's uneasy expression slowly calmed down, and his even breathing began to fall.

I'm getting more and more bored.

tide thought to herself with a hint of helplessness.

Everything happening before her eyes was merely a replay of Li Cheng's past memories; no matter what she did, she couldn't change what had already occurred. Yet, as an observer, she couldn't help but cast a soothing spell at his bedside every night, hoping to help him sleep better. This was purely self-comforting behavior; in the past, she would have certainly disdained to do it. After all, she was a sage among demons.

So, does that mean I've become a bit childish because of my long-term interaction with this human?

Suddenly, this thought popped into tide's mind.

Upon closer reflection, it does seem to be true.

Being pampered like a treasure every day, being able to eat whatever she wanted and do whatever she wanted, while not having to do anything herself, being able to laze around at home all day and sleep all day—this kind of carefree, parasitic life, coupled with the incomplete memories of that period, inevitably led to a gradual childishness, which seems almost inevitable.

More importantly, Cheng never disciplined her laziness too harshly, unlike a certain servant who would secretly lament her laziness behind her back and occasionally offer some criticism. Although the servant's intentions were certainly good, it seemed slightly less strict than Cheng's absolute and unconditional indulgence.

Well, no, that's not quite right. Although there's a difference in that respect, she cooks better and is more diligent with housework. And unlike Cheng, she doesn't sometimes make you help with the dishes. So, in that sense, she's actually better.

While it's true that maintaining one's authority in front of subordinates sometimes requires paying attention to one's image, it can still be quite troublesome.

But being a little childish isn't so bad.

"Oh dear, it's so easy for you to be reminded of the past. You're such a headache."

Stopping her wandering thoughts, tide sighed softly and quickly disappeared into the darkness.