Selena pushed the door open, and Byrne followed her into the conference room.
Inside, a single man sat alone. He looked to be in his thirties, wearing standard office attire instead of a Tax Collector's uniform. To an outside observer, he appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary salaryman wearing glasses.
In Byrne's eyes, this was worlds apart from the image of a "Captain" he had envisioned.
Seeing them enter, the man gestured for them to sit and introduced himself: "I am Marco, Captain of the Third Squad, Seventh Action Group. From today on, you are my subordinates."
Marco picked up a water cup beside him, unscrewed the lid, and took a sip. Once they were seated, he set the cup down and leaned forward slightly. His previously lazy eyes instantly sharpened, locking onto Byrne and Selena.
"Before we talk officially, I must clarify three points with you."
"First: In the Bureau, strength is the only passport. Do not expect special treatment from me just because you are rookies. If you screw up a mission, you bear the consequences yourself."
"Second: The core principle of our squad is 'Act in Secrecy, Resolve with Efficiency.' Any behavior that exposes your identity as an investigator or slows down mission progress is forbidden."
"Third—and most importantly: If you discover obvious traps or anomalies during a mission, you may apply to me to abort the operation. Remember, investigating heresy is not about playing the hero. Only by staying alive can you complete more missions."
Marco's words were forceful and direct.
Byrne nodded. "Understood, Captain Marco. What is our first mission?"
Marco shook his head. "No rush. Before that, we need to conduct a psyker test."
A psyker test?
Byrne asked with some surprise, "Are you measuring our psychic intensity?"
"Exactly. This determines what kind of equipment you can access and the difficulty of the missions you can accept."
Through Marco's explanation, Byrne learned that the Bureau of Heresy Research classifies psychic intensity into six levels. From lowest to highest, they are: Moss (苔芽), Lambda (蘭姆達), Delta (德爾塔), Gamma (伽馬), Beta (貝塔), and Alpha (阿爾法).
This was not just a scale of power, but a scale of risk management. The lower the level, the more stable the psyker, and the lower the risk of Warp corruption. Conversely, as the power level increased, the risk of encroachment climbed exponentially. A psyker at the Alpha level was a subject of extreme monitoring even within the Inquisition.
"For rookies, reaching the Early Lambda stage is considered a pass. Moss level is stable, but the power is too low; access to resources and mission permissions would be severely restricted."
After explaining, Marco pulled a glass orb from his pocket. "Take turns injecting your psychic energy into this orb. Maintain it for ten seconds."
The glass orb was perfectly transparent, about three fingers wide. A faint sliver of silver light hovered at its center. It looked ordinary while stationary, but it emitted a subtle, strange energy fluctuation.
"Who goes first?"
"I'll try first." Selena glanced at Byrne, reached out to take the orb, and began injecting her power.
Her movements were gentle. The moment her fingertips touched the glass, her expression focused, and a very faint aura of energy radiated from her body. The aura was pure and mild, without any chaotic fluctuations; she was clearly confident in her control.
As the energy flowed in, the silver light in the center began to rotate slowly. The faint glow brightened and transitioned from silver to pale blue. The light expanded steadily, maintaining a perfect sphere without any signs of instability.
Marco sat opposite them, staring intently at the orb while tapping his fingers rhythmically on the desk, seemingly timing her. Ten seconds passed in a flash. When the time was up, Selena withdrew her energy and placed the orb back on the desk.
Marco picked up the orb, sensing the residue with one hand. He gave a nod of approval. "Not bad. A pale blue glow, stable and without turbulence. You've reached the Mid-Lambda level."
Selena let out a small sigh of relief, a faint, barely detectable smile appearing on her face. She had always been confident in her control, but reaching Mid-Lambda exceeded her own expectations.
"Your turn." Marco reset the orb to its initial state and pushed it toward Byrne.
As a rookie who had stood out during the desert test, Marco was curious to see what level this seemingly ordinary kid from the Lower District would reach.
Byrne nodded, gripped the orb, and slowly channeled his psychic energy.
Unlike Selena's pure and mild energy, the moment Byrne's power entered the orb, it displayed entirely different characteristics. The silver light at the center began to spin violently. The brightness surged at a visible rate, the color racing past pale blue and heading straight toward deep blue.
More strangely, the glow was not a perfect circle; it moved in an irregular, flowing state, with flickers of dark gold veins appearing at the edges—like the sweep of raven feathers in the dead of night.
"Hmm?"
Marco's brow furrowed instantly. His finger-tapping stopped, and his eyes turned razor-sharp as he stared at the light swirling inside the orb. "This energy fluctuation... interesting."
When the ten seconds were up, Byrne promptly withdrew his energy. His fingertips felt slightly numb. During the process, he had vaguely felt another unknown power stirring within him, as if wanting to surge out along with his psychic energy. Fortunately, he had sensed it in time and suppressed it.
Almost the instant Byrne let go, Marco snatched the orb. He held it with both hands, bringing it close to his eyes to examine it. Then, he closed his eyes, extending his own psychic sense into the orb to feel the residual energy trails.
The conference room fell into a brief silence, broken only by Marco's slightly heavy breathing.
Selena looked at Byrne with curiosity and then glanced at the focused Marco. Her lips moved, but she ultimately didn't ask. She had felt the restless, strange energy fluctuation when Byrne injected his power; it was completely different from hers, even carrying a faint, indescribable sense of pressure.
Byrne sat with his head down, thinking about that restless unknown power. Although he couldn't figure out where it came from, he suspected it might be related to the suppression of the Chaos curse in "Old Man's" body that Joralan had mentioned.