33: Chapter 33 Functional Grouping

After the anomaly flow marker in the old warehouse district in the west of the city lit up, Lu Chen did not immediately issue a mission.

He first had Zero pull up all recent mission records.

From the old building house number to the mirror fragments, from the black bronze bell core to the crying face copper coin, and then to the paper figurines, freezers, and red thread catalogs, the Grey Net broke down member behavior in every mission into detailed tags.

Who was responsible for observing rules, who was responsible for frontal suppression, who was responsible for sealing the core, who was responsible for settling ordinary people, who coordinated vehicles on the reality level, and who could organize old object data.

These tags looked fragmented when viewed individually.

But when stacked together, one could see the initial outline of an organization.

Lu Chen stood deep within Xinhuo Hall, his fingertips tapping over the records in the Grey Net.

The Xinhuo Council could not rely on temporary teams forever.

As the number of members increased, mission recommendations, equipment applications, contribution settlements, medical support, and logistical aftermath all required clearer division of labor. Otherwise, every time an anomaly appeared, everyone would have to ask themselves again what they should do.

"Generate a functional grouping draft," Lu Chen said.

Zero responded: "Generated."

Inside Xinhuo Hall, the stone tablet slowly lit up.

This time, it wasn't just the old members who were summoned; it also included Lin Zhao and Xu Minglan, who had just passed their Apprentice applications, as well as Tang Zhiwei and Zhou Yan, who were still under Candidate and peripheral permissions.

[Functional grouping draft opened.]

[Note: Functional grouping is only used for mission recommendations, resource scheduling, and growth suggestions; it is not equivalent to official department appointments. Official department permissions require a higher organizational Rank to open.]

Zhao Ye looked at the last sentence and raised an eyebrow.

"Does that mean we're dividing the work first, not the titles?"

Bai Ya laughed: "Very accurate."

The first group appeared.

[Action Function.]

[Currently adapted members: Zhao Ye, Lin Zhao.]

[Responsibilities: On-site suppression, personnel evacuation, frontline protection, low-Rank anomaly contact.]

Behind Zhao Ye's name, it was noted: Has redeemed a Rank 1 Ability Seed, basic standard equipment has been bound, suitable for serving as the main action force for low-Rank missions.

Behind Lin Zhao's name, it was written: Apprentice, Ability Seed not yet redeemed, suitable for serving as peripheral support, evacuation assistance, and temporary equipment user.

Seeing this evaluation, Lin Zhao's expression did not change.

He knew there was still a gap between him and Zhao Ye. The Apprentice status only allowed him to officially stand inside the door; whether he could truly hold the front line depended on contribution points, mission records, and Ability Seeds to make up for it step by step.

The second group lit up.

[Investigation Function.]

[Currently adapted members: Shen Qinghe.]

[Candidate assistance object: Zhou Yan.]

[Responsibilities: Anomaly rule identification, on-site clue judgment, danger alerts, pre-mission data comparison.]

When Shen Qinghe saw her name, her brows lowered slightly.

It was not the first time she had been recommended as the main taker, but this time it was different. Functional grouping meant that she was not just an investigator in a certain mission, but the most stable rule judgment point of the Xinhuo Council at present.

Behind Zhou Yan's name, it displayed Candidate assistance.

[Note: Zhou Yan possesses value in folklore data identification, but his psychological stability still requires observation; it is not recommended for him to enter high-risk scenes independently.]

Zhou Yan pushed up his glasses and said in a low voice: "This evaluation is quite direct."

Bai Ya said from the side: "It's much gentler than an anomaly writing your name directly."

Zhou Yan stopped talking.

The third group unfolded accordingly.

[Intelligence Function.]

[Currently adapted members: Bai Ya.]

[Candidate assistance object: Zhou Yan.]

[Responsibilities: Grey Net entry, Old Object Chain tracking, anomaly remnant organization, mission intelligence archiving.]

When Bai Ya saw his permission description, his gaze paused for a moment.

[Note: Current Grey Net permission is still at the outer layer. Can view mission-related summaries, cannot view complete member identities, contribution points, ability paths, or equipment details.]

This note seemed to be written specifically for him.

Bai Ya smiled lightly, with no dissatisfaction.

He was indeed used to finding people from information, and used to piecing together a complete portrait when others weren't paying attention. The Xinhuo Council writing the boundaries so clearly instead made him more convinced that this organization did not operate on personal favors and guesses.

The fourth group appeared.

[Medical Function.]

[Currently adapted members: Xu Minglan.]

[Responsibilities: Anomaly wound treatment, contamination delay, post-mission observation, ordinary medical cover.]

[Note: Xu Minglan has been promoted to Apprentice, has not redeemed medical Ability Seeds, can apply for basic standard medical tools.]

Xu Minglan immediately clicked on the tool list.

Contamination isolation box, low-Rank purification patch, anomaly wound seal, basic purification needle kit trial version.

These were not high-Rank equipment, but they were enough to let her fight for a few more minutes in the next mission.

Sometimes, a few minutes is life.

The fifth group lit up.

[Logistics Function.]

[Currently adapted object: Tang Zhiwei.]

[Identity: Peripheral logistics collaborator.]

[Responsibilities: Vehicles, Safe House, funding pool, reality aftermath, casualty transfer, ordinary material procurement.]

There was another restriction below Tang Zhiwei's interface.

[Logistics resources must not be used to purchase core abilities, source essence permissions, or high-Rank Torch permissions. All calls must be recorded by Zero.]

After Tang Zhiwei finished reading, she nodded.

"I need this restriction," she said.

Zhao Ye didn't quite understand: "Is there anyone who complains about too many restrictions?"

Tang Zhiwei said calmly: "Without restrictions, money will start finding cracks."

This sentence made the hall quiet for a moment.

The last group was grey.

[Equipment/Workshop Function.]

[Currently officially adapted members: None.]

[Organizational gap: Sealing apparatus maintenance, basic standard equipment inspection, evil-breaking weapon stabilization and strengthening, anomaly old object analysis assistance.]

Lu Chen looked at this line in the backend and noted a new screening direction.

The Core of the Torch could craft equipment, but if every sealing bag, every jacket, and every purification patch had to pass through his own hands, the organization's scale would never be able to grow.

He needed people who could connect to the workshop process.

Not mastering the source, but completing production, maintenance, registration, and recycling under Torch rules.

Zero generated a suggestion.

[Suggestion: Incorporate workshop-type Candidates.]

Lu Chen did not confirm immediately, just put it into the Candidate pool.

In the hall, the functional groupings were archived one by one.

The members all understood that this was not about promotion, nor was it about dividing territory. It was just telling everyone that the Xinhuo Council was transforming from a few people's temporary actions into a system that could operate.

The basic standard equipment catalog was also adjusted in sync with the functional groupings.

Under the Action Function, what Zhao Ye saw was evil-breaking short staff maintenance, standard jacket lining reinforcement, and low-Rank protective talisman replenishment. Lin Zhao could see the same equipment descriptions, but most were marked as "Apprentice can apply for basic items; Ability Seed not yet redeemed; path-adapted equipment temporarily unavailable for redemption."

In the Investigation Function, Shen Qinghe could apply for remnant marker stickers and low-Rank Spirit Vision auxiliary talismans. Zhou Yan could see the functions of these things, but could only apply for data-type temporary tools.

In the Medical Function, Xu Minglan finally saw the complete basic medical tool description. The contamination isolation box could store low-Rank samples for a short term, the purification patch could delay wound spread, and the anomaly wound seal could suppress the edge of contamination before being sent into Xinhuo Hall.

Not a single item exaggerated its effects.

This made her feel more at ease.

Tang Zhiwei's logistics interface was completely different. What she saw was Safe House level, vehicle registration status, casualty transfer process, ordinary material procurement limits, and funding pool call records. At the bottom of the interface, a line of restrictions was written: Logistics resources must not bypass mission review, must not privately contact anomaly cores, and must not influence ability redemption with reality interests.

Tang Zhiwei looked at this line of text and lowered her eyes slightly.

The clearer the boundaries were, the more she knew what she could do.

Just as the interface was about to close, a new alert suddenly popped up from deep within the Grey Net.

[Concentrated flow of anomalous old objects appeared in the old warehouse district in the west of the city.]

[Suspected pre-transport for a private auction.]

[Involved objects: Old goods dealers, logistics personnel, wealthy collector circles.]

Tang Zhiwei saw the last few words, and for the first time, her expression darkened significantly.

She was very familiar with that kind of circle.

The richer people were, the more they believed that money could buy things that others couldn't touch.

But they didn't know that what was placed on the display stand this time might not be a collection.

It might also be a disaster.