I created the Bureau of Anomaly Control

Inside the Federation training ground.

Having just finished his training, Ma En took off his armor and placed the Saint Slayer Spear beside him.

After selecting the magical armor, he basically finalized his combat style. Since he wasn't wearing mental enhancement armor, he would have to rely on pure physical ability to defeat his opponents, which was actually a quite reasonable choice.

Although his opponent's close combat ability was stronger, the weapon he could use was even stronger in close combat. The Saint Slayer Spear, personally forged by Shenxiao, was obviously much stronger than the Tears of the Siren, and it was specifically designed to counter these heavenly powers.

Since the other party was aware that this was her weakness, and would definitely be able to gather information about his strengths, there might be some specific countermeasures against abilities like memory erasure. Memory erasure at his level could be prevented with enough resources if they knew its effects in advance; at least, he could think of several ways to do so himself.

Moreover, without the intention of using mental enhancement armor, it wasn't realistic to win solely through the mental domain. He ultimately decided to use the mental domain as a means to assist close combat, and to completely suppress his opponent through close combat.

And he selected three auxiliary anomalous items.

One was a necklace made of insect specimens used to enhance sensory functions, which could provide the wearer with a sensory system beyond that of humans, and could also help the wearer quickly adapt to the new sensory system. However, it had high requirements for the wearer's spirit and body. If someone who didn't meet the standards forcibly wore the necklace, their body would slowly begin to mutate into something resembling an insect structure.

The main purpose of this item was to allow him to keep up with Ivani's combat speed. Although Ma En wasn't weak in this aspect, thanks to his telepathy and divine body, he was indeed not as good as Ivani.

As an Inquisitor, she had considerable high-level combat experience and mastered very strong close combat skills. According to the Federation's video data, she could often react before seeing her opponent, and she would also have stronger sensory abilities after summoning an angel to possess her.

And although he had diverse and strong abilities, he hadn't controlled them for very long. After all, he had only been discharged from the hospital not long ago, and his control over abilities other than his main telekinesis was far inferior to Ivani, who had been training for over twenty years.

Actually, this was also related to their combat styles. If it were a real battle, he definitely wouldn't need the extra senses provided by the necklace, because in that case, he wouldn't engage in direct combat, and he might not even show up in person.

But this time, they were directly dueling head-on with various restrictions. Although the duel arena was quite large, it definitely couldn't compare to a truly free battle, and there would be many times when direct, close-range, high-intensity combat would be required.

This necklace could make up for the new shortcomings caused by the change in combat style.

The second item was a weapon called the Dark Dagger.

This was a weapon of unknown origin. Its most basic characteristic was that it would negate the surrounding "light," and what was affected would definitely not be just so-called natural light, including heavenly holy light, the light of the sun god, and most abilities with the attribute of light would be affected by this weapon, and their supernatural power would be negated.

Simply touching it would leave dark power on the contactor, which, in addition to suppressing powers like holy light, could also cause relatively serious corrosive damage to the body, and most ability users were not very good at resisting this power.

But this weapon also had many shortcomings. The most serious was that its hilt itself had been completely infiltrated by dark power, which meant that normal people couldn't grab this dagger to attack, because they would also be affected and harmed by it.

However, after trying it out, Ma En determined that his telekinesis could perfectly control this dagger. Although the speed and force of the attack might not be particularly strong, he didn't choose this weapon for direct combat.

The Dark Dagger could never compare to the Saint Slayer Spear. Ma En brought it to find an opportunity to sneak attack his opponent.

The third item was an anomalous paralyzing toxin from the Eastern Federation Biochemical Company, but even the Biochemical Company's annual production and sales were very limited. The Federation could only buy a very small amount, which might be the main reason why they didn't directly recommend it.

This toxin could slowly paralyze creatures after seeping into the blood. Its strength was that there was almost no antidote or way to deal with it, and it would definitely immobilize Ivani completely after it took full effect. The purpose of his choosing this item was naturally to avoid killing her.

But the shortcomings of this item were particularly serious. The amount needed for it to take effect was quite large.

Moreover, it was not suitable to be applied to weapons. Doing so would be far less effective than direct injection. If he wanted to subdue Ivani by accumulating enough paralyzing toxin through applying poison, he would probably have to create enough wounds near her heart or head, almost to the point of being able to kill her. He might have to inflict near-fatal injuries to secure victory.

But this was enough for him. After all, this would allow him to let go a little, and this thing was not originally used for combat. It also had many additional functions with medical value, including very strong healing properties.

After it took full effect in the organism, in addition to total paralysis, it would also be accompanied by a very strong healing effect, so that he could ensure that he would not kill Ivani even if he was a little too ruthless.

These were the two items he had now determined that he would definitely take away. He was still selecting other things, but he had not seen any other items that could significantly increase his chances of winning, and with the close combat of the Saint Slayer Spear, he didn't need any other messy anomalous items. He just needed to prepare these basic things.

In fact, Ma En also had other ways to improve and target his enemies. For example, he could completely replace all of his targeted abilities through the Anomaly Control Bureau, and then choose a few abilities suitable for this battle.

Doing so would definitely make the battle particularly stable, but Ma En would never really do this even if he lost, because that would be directly exposing his other cards to the Federation and the anomalous world again, allowing them to completely understand or even overestimate his combat power, and he might even be noticed by clever experts about some of the truth about his abilities.

Rather than doing so, he would rather find an opportunity to snatch the telepathic armor. Of course, he didn't really need to do so. Even if he really lost, he could easily get the armor. After all, Shadow still owed him a favor.

So, in fact, he was fully prepared. If he was really forced to the point where he couldn't defeat Ivani with these things alone, then directly admitting defeat was not an unacceptable outcome. After all, the Federation didn't have much restraint on him, and he didn't really want to pursue an official career in the Federation.

If it weren't for Shenxiao's prophecy, he basically wouldn't have gotten involved in this matter, let alone put himself in danger because of it.

Just as Ma En was about to stop his basic training and return to the room arranged for him by the Federation, the sound of a door opening suddenly came from the viewing platform on the second floor, followed by the crisp sound of high heels walking unhurriedly, and finally, the person leaned against the railing a few meters behind him and stood firmly.

Ma En put the insect specimen necklace into his arms, and then looked up at the woman who was looking at him with great interest:

"I've already said that I'm not interested."

Tang Xueluan, dressed in business attire, said politely:

"I understand. Actually, I'm not here out of my own will, so if you still have no interest this time, I won't bother you again, but it shouldn't be a problem to listen to a few words from me, right? The Federation can't hurt you.

"Are you afraid of me, an ordinary person independent of the Federation?"

Ma En said:

"You don't look like an 'ordinary person'."

She said with a smile:

"Compared to you, aren't we ordinary people?

"Do you know how envious I am of you talented guys? Although we can become you in various ways, we can never become as eye-catching as you."

Ma En replied:

"Most ability users are not like me, just as most ordinary people's lives are far better than yours."

Tang Xueluan admitted with a smile:

"Okay, I'm indeed a bit greedy. Actually, our situations are very similar, all depending on luck, but I always feel that your talents are more fortunate than our backgrounds, which is why I didn't follow my parents' old path.

"Compared to power, authority always makes me feel more unreal."

Ma En continued:

"You can also try to pursue power, after all, you already have better conditions than most people."

"I will consider your suggestion." She smiled and then said, "But I also hope you can consider my suggestion. Although the conditions we proposed last time were a bit excessive, they always like to propose exaggerated conditions after staying in the Federation for a long time.

"Actually, you can freely haggle, and what we said at the time wasn't as excessive as you think."

Ma En raised his eyebrows slightly and said:

"You mean I can kill this Tier V ability user's lover, and then foolishly believe that the Federation will protect me for the rest of my life."

He highly suspected that this sentence could only be said by someone like Tang Xueluan who was outside the Federation.

Tang Xueluan said:

"I didn't finish what I wanted to say last time. What I meant was that doing so would force her to admit defeat."

She definitely didn't mean that at the time, but she didn't think that Ma En would agree to this condition now. Even though the Federation could indeed provide him with enough protection, this matter was actually very dangerous. Originally, her mother just wanted to test whether he would foolishly agree.

Moreover, she had prepared quite amazing rewards, provided not only by the Federation itself, but now there was no need to propose such a possibility. Trying to deceive someone like Ma En was the greatest disrespect.

Whether it was his straightforward refusal at the time, or the few simple conversations just now, had already proved that Ma En was not easy to fool, not to mention that his past experiences and choices also showed what an extraordinary person he was.

If such a guy successfully entered the Federation system, he might also improve very smoothly, and might be able to figure out the rules here and find the most suitable way for him to rise with just a little time to adapt.

This was a smart person, and also a strong person in his own field. The best way to treat such a person was to be sincere.

She said slightly:

"We all know what you want, and Shadow was able to find you because of it, but you don't know that we can actually provide you with much better treatment than him. Although he himself is very strong, and his actual power is higher than anyone in our family.

"But behind me is a family and intertwined forces, and we have more and more flexible interests than him, which can be easily divided to you. For example, we can easily get the reward you proposed this time.

"Moreover, if you work under him, your highest achievement will be the Yin-Yang Twins, but if you work for us, you will have the opportunity to become the second Shadow. As for the reformist members who want to win you over, they are nothing in front of us."

She paused slightly, but did not give Ma En a chance to answer, lest he refuse first:

"Our main request is actually not what I told you. I didn't want to go so far at first, but my mother is still used to the communication methods within the Federation. I apologize for this. I think you should be able to accept our real request.

"You should know that my sister Shuyun died not long ago. My mother is grief-stricken by her death and can only focus on avenging her to divert her attention. And we actually have some suspicions about your former colleagues.

"So we would like to ask you to conduct a simple investigation for us. If the result is that the murderer is not in the Salvation Alliance, it is actually a good thing for you, and if you really find the murderer, we can also promise you...

"We only want the leader.

"If you can find him, we will give you five times the reward you asked for in this battle, and help you gain a foothold in the Federation, providing you with special positions that do not need to be managed by Shadow and others, becoming your most reliable ally and backing, and ensuring that your next life has power and wealth no less than my sister.

"This is a price far above a reasonable level. This is everything a mother can give."

She looked at Ma En with pleading eyes, but in the depths of Tang Xueluan's heart, she didn't think he would refuse, because she had done the most correct thing when cooperating with a smart and strong person like Ma En—giving an offer that could not be refused.

Ma En asked with a puzzled expression:

"Don't you know what she did to us?"

Tang Xueluan said:

"If she were still alive, I definitely wouldn't say this, but she is already dead, and we all know what the Federation has done to Shenxiao and the Salvation Alliance. The crimes they really committed are far more serious than my sister's, but aren't you already here now?

"And all we want is a name. If you don't provide it, we may also find him, it's just a matter of time.

"Aren't these things worth you temporarily abandoning morality?"

Ma En replied:

"This is really a very tempting reward, but please allow me to refuse again."

Tang Xueluan was stunned when she heard this. She completely didn't understand why Ma En would say this:

"Why? I don't think you're the kind of idiot who can't understand the reasoning behind this. You've already cooperated with us. It might have taken you more than a decade to get what you wanted, but now you're achieving it instantly.

"Or are you still not satisfied?"

Ma En shook his head and then said something she didn't believe at all:

"I'm sorry, but you may have misunderstood the reason I cooperated with you."

She asked, somewhat angrily:

"Are you saying that you don't want power and wealth, nor status and strength, but still cooperated with us?"

Ma En nodded, and then said words and phrases she couldn't understand at all:

"Yes, I cooperated with you to stop the conspiracies of the gods and the church, for the sake of our crumbling world. Although you are indeed terrible, I know very well what kind of stuff the church and the gods are.

"My reason for cooperating with you is the same as following Shenxiao."

After saying that, he turned around, leaving Tang Xueluan with a face full of incomprehension.

This, how is that possible, but it seems…

That's the only reasonable explanation.