you need to travel

"How come I don't feel any changes?" Lin Feng pinched the muscles on his own arm, realizing that he had neither become immensely powerful nor immune to pain. He even strained against the distant corner of the wall for a while, but to no avail—he didn't unleash any spherical lightning bolts. In summary, he still felt like an ordinary person, perhaps with enhanced regeneration abilities? Unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to give himself a ruthless cut then and there...

"What else do you want?" Raven12345 adjusted and restored the enhancement chamber according to the manual, without even looking up, she retorted, "What, do you expect to conjure up a triple fireball on the spot?"

"Uh, didn't we agree that you'd give me some combat capabilities?" Lin Feng felt once again deceived by his unreliable female superior, "I mean, you toss me together with a bunch of superhumans who can kill people with a wave of their hands all day, couldn't you at least give me some self-defense skills? What exactly did this adjustment achieve?"

"We regulated your endocrine system, removed the scars on your elbows, and incidentally got rid of your white hair," Raven12345 replied earnestly, "at least that's the current state of affairs."

Lin Feng: "..."

"Aha, your expression is quite amusing!" Raven12345 seemed quite pleased to see Lin Feng's colorful expression. It took her a full ten seconds before she burst into laughter, "Don't overthink it, don't be too greedy. I know what you want. I've brought in plenty of newcomers, and we are professionals. You rookies spend your days dreaming of becoming superheroes overnight, but have you ever thought about the consequences if I were to grant you such great powers, even just the ability to leap twenty meters in place?"

Lin Feng pondered for a moment, somewhat uncertainly saying, "So I won't be afraid of elevator outages in the future? Can I sign up to be Spider-Man's stand-in?"

Raven12345 stared at Lin Feng, "Hey, your mind reminds me of someone... but you're stretching it too far. The only result of you becoming a superhero outright would be you spending over twenty hours a day crashing into walls or hanging from the ceiling. Physical enhancement is a gradual process—" Raven12345 patted Lin Feng's shoulder, "You've been given what you need for now, but it's currently restricted by a set of mental conditioning programs. They ensure you won't prematurely use abilities beyond your capacity. Through experience and completing tasks, your physical potential will gradually unlock."

Upon hearing this, Lin Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he hadn't been swindled, just put on a layaway plan. Moreover, Raven12345's explanation seemed quite reasonable: for a twenty-five-year-old Earthling bound by gravity all his life, suddenly gaining the ability to fly or burrow underground wouldn't be a fun experience. Thinking optimistically, it would be too easy to accidentally demolish one's own house. Hence, temporarily adding a safety lock was necessary.

Lin Feng was well aware of his character; he was generally steady, but his curiosity tended to be overly zealous in special circumstances. If he did acquire any superpowers, the first thing he'd do when he got home would surely be to test the light switch...

"So, what aspects have been enhanced in my physicality?" Lin Feng looked at Raven12345 with great anticipation, "I hope this question isn't against the rules. It's just to give me a rough idea and set some expectations."

This time Raven12345 explained seriously, "Reaction speed, strength, recovery ability, adaptability to extreme environments, resistance to toxins, radiation, temperature extremes, corrosion, and anything else that needs resistance. However, it's mostly based on human capabilities, and there will be other adjustment projects after you pass the assessment. But there are strict standards, and even after enhancements are complete, you won't be allowed to use dangerous powers recklessly. You must first prove that you can handle the power of a superhero, do you understand?"

Lin Feng nodded, checking his body all over. He believed his mentality would pass the assessment without a problem: like his name suggests, he's a good person. However, as Raven12345 said, everything still needed practical testing. From today onwards, his career as a "Ground-Level Employee of the Temporal Management Bureau" officially began.

"Well, your insurance is settled, and your onboarding enhancement is done. You can go back and slowly learn the employee regulations and such. But remember, the most important rule is: do not disclose anything about the Temporal Management Bureau to unrelated parties. 'Unrelated parties' means anyone besides your tenants. And even with your tenants, you can't casually reveal everything; just let them roughly understand why you're protecting them. Although your tenants are specially selected by me, it doesn't mean they're part of the Temporal Management Bureau circle, at least not yet. It's a delicate balance you need to maintain."

Lin Feng looked at her unexpectedly, "Confidentiality regulations? The Temporal Management Bureau... So, according to you, this is like an organization of 'gods,' right? Why would you gods be afraid of people knowing about your existence? The gods I've heard of are all very high-profile, eager to have the entire human race come and worship them, always busy studying how to expand their religions..."

"We do engage in publicity at times, but it's only done when necessary," Raven12345 shook her head, "For the Temporal Management Bureau, such publicity is unnecessary. Remember, the regions managed by the bureau have their own developmental trajectories, with local indigenous civilizations evolving normally and independently. Even if we become gods, we can't casually disrupt the normal evolution of a civilization. Revealing to a group of sentient beings that there's a bunch of superbeings manipulating universal constants outside their familiar world, and that their entire world can be rewritten or deleted by 'divine beings,' would be a catastrophic blow to most civilizations—of course, disclosing Temporal Management Bureau affairs won't lead to such dire consequences. Most people won't believe you anyway, but it's a matter of principle."

Lin Feng nodded, somewhat understanding, "I see... So, the Temporal Management Bureau is actually a secretive organization? Only we... ourselves know about it, and no one else?"

"Not entirely. The macroscopic world's structure isn't fixed," Raven12345 continued, shaking her head, "The macro world is a vast system established by His Majesty, a colossal network connecting all universes within the empire's territory. This network is constantly growing, and the Temporal Management Bureau serves as its control system. Therefore, we encounter all kinds of situations. Sometimes, a civilization or a group grows to the point of contacting the empire, or some areas face significant disasters, forcing the bureau to intervene comprehensively. In such cases, we can't continue to maintain secrecy. After approval, the bureau can decide to reveal the empire's existence to a certain group, and afterward, that group becomes an official member of the empire. But these matters are distant from you—focus on managing your own little patch of land. To be honest, nowadays, the scrutiny for newcomers like you is already quite lax. Back when the bureau was just established and the empire's situation wasn't stable, the confidentiality regulations were much stricter. We used to apply military standards to civilian departments, executing anyone who leaked any information, but now, as long as no tangible harm is caused, it's all fine. So, just enjoy yourself secretly!"

Lin Feng suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, realizing behind his seemingly absent-minded female superior lay a vast and solemn organization: they casually brought up execution regulations!

But at the same time, he discerned immense opportunities from Raven12345's words: even though he still didn't fully grasp the temporal network and the Temporal Management Bureau, he could vaguely imagine the magnitude of this entity. And now, he had become a part of it. How insignificant was his knowledge of this planet, this galaxy, or even this universe, in the grand scheme of the "macro world"?

Just thinking about it fueled his drive!

At that moment, Raven12345 had already tidied up the equipment in the room and was leading Lin Feng out. "Don't think too much for now. The necessary procedures for you have been completed. I have a task for you."

Upon hearing this, Lin Feng instantly perked up: the organization needed him!

"In a couple of days, you'll be heading to Europe," Raven12345 mentioned casually, "to pick up a new 'tenant.' It took quite an effort to bring him here, but that idiot landed in the wrong time zone by a whopping eight hours! Handling these trivial matters is beneath me, so it's a perfect opportunity for you to gain some experience."