Main building of the Special Search Team Headquarters, third basement level.

There is a special area with a circular structure here.

The walls are uniformly painted dark green, reflecting a chilling luster under the incandescent lights.

The fluorescent tubes seem to be interfered by some kind of force, occasionally emitting low-frequency buzzing sounds.

The air is filled year-round with an ever-present smell of disinfectant.

There’s also a faint mist of unknown origin drifting across the concrete floor.

Looking around, there isn’t a single window for ventilation.

The building’s inner circle is an arc-shaped wall, evenly inlaid with nine heavy iron doors, marked with conspicuous numerical labels.

The environment appears exceptionally oppressive and closed off.

And yet, the entrance on the east side of the corridor connects to a spacious hall.

The hall is furnished with several rows of cold metal long benches.

At this moment, the benches and aisles are already crowded with candidates.

This is precisely the waiting area for this spring recruitment interview.

As for the rooms behind those iron doors, they’re the Special Search Team’s own "interrogation rooms."

Fang Cheng and Ma Donghe are also seated on one of the benches.

Their interview time is scheduled between nine to ten in the morning.

To avoid missing their slot due to traffic congestion, the two agreed to come early in the morning.

Upon entering, they noticed the ghostly white mist on the ground.

Ma Donghe widened his eyes, thinking a fire had broken out somewhere, letting out smoke.

If it weren’t for the entrance clearly displaying a banner with "Special Search Team Spring Recruitment Interview Venue" in white on red.

This eerie and horrifying setup would likely make many mistakenly feel like they had stumbled into the Underworld.

Fang Cheng surveyed the surroundings, shaking his head slightly.

The decision by the Special Search Team high-ups to build the interrogation rooms in such a place is hardly ambiguous.

It’s nothing more than leveraging the eternally sunless oppressive atmosphere to strip away the prisoners’ sense of safety before formal interrogation.

It’s the psychology tactic of creating dominance from the outset.

And this special treatment aimed at breaking psychological defenses has been transferred to this group of candidates.

Now, it seems the effect is surprisingly good.

Faced with such a powerful institution holding life and death authority, coupled with such a eerie and oppressive environment, almost no one can remain calm.

Some candidates continuously take deep breaths, trying to steady their racing hearts.

Others close their eyes tightly, muttering their self-introductions.

The entire hall, despite gathering hundreds of people, is eerily quiet.

Apart from sporadic whispers and the light scuffling of shoes on the floor, only the clanging of the iron doors opening and closing echoes repeatedly.

Everyone’s nerves are tightly bound to the nine heavy soundproof iron doors of the inner circle.

With the doors repeatedly opening and closing, some enter while others leave.

A total of over two thousand candidates are going to face fate’s selection here.

Even though the Special Search Team has scheduled most of the pure clerical interviews for tomorrow to ease the flow, the pace still remains slow.

Judging by the current throughput, this interview will likely extend deep into the night before concluding.

Fang Cheng glanced at the wall clock, adjusted his sitting posture, leaning his back comfortably against the chair.

After observing for over half an hour, he gradually figured out the pattern.

The candidates applying for the clerical positions have a short stay in the room, typically around five minutes before coming out.

Fang Cheng, with keen hearing, caught a few candidates’ relieved whispers.

The examiners inside seemed to simply ask a few routine questions, verify identity information, and then let them go.

The process appeared extremely relaxed.

In contrast, the candidates for special duty positions had a completely opposite experience.

They stayed inside for at least ten minutes, some even close to half an hour.

When the heavy iron doors opened again, these police academy students and martial arts enthusiasts, usually quite proud, mostly came out with pale faces, drenched in sweat.

A few even stumbled out, legs trembling, needing to lean on the wall, looking as if they’d encountered some horror inside.

Fang Cheng nudged his gold wire glasses and after a bit of speculation, he figured out the operating logic of the Special Search Team high-ups.

Clerical staff are mostly ordinary people.

They had already passed rigorous political background checks when applying.

During the interview, with the sharp eyes of the veteran examiners, a few encounters are enough to tell if a normal person is lying or has ulterior motives. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

As long as their background is clean, there is naturally no need to waste too much time on them.

But special duty positions are different.

These talented Martial Artists and police academy students form the core power for future tasks of the Special Search Team.

To prevent other forces from sending undercover agents, or to weed out dangerous individuals with latent antisocial personality, the Special Search Team must be extremely cautious with each gate.

After all, fortresses are most easily breached from within.

For the Special Search Team high-ups, perhaps this interview is the core assessment of the entire spring recruitment.

Just as Fang Cheng was pondering, the iron door of room five opened.

A candidate, dressed in sportswear and looking delicate, came out.

He loosened his tightly held collar, breathing heavily, his shirt’s back drenched with sweat.

Fang Cheng had glanced at his exam ticket, knowing that he, like himself, applied for a medical position.

Calculating in his mind, this person stayed inside for a full twelve minutes.

Analyzing based on the pattern summarized earlier, does the medical position fall under clerical or special duty?