"We're a doomsday squad that was formed just a year ago. Right now, we have five members, but we need one more!" Whitney continued.
Just like the Infinite Life Simulation had shown, pretending to have prophetic abilities had actually worked—he really caught the attention of Whitney's doomsday squad.
But why did she specifically mention they were missing one member?
Could it be...?
"Bertram, those occasional special information fragments you see—we've already verified them. There's over a 90% chance you actually have prophetic abilities!"
This wasn't something you could deny. Bertram had successfully predicted the person behind his sister's kidnapping and where she was being held.
Even the Olson Family had been searching for a while with no results.
"Am I really someone with prophetic abilities?" Bertram asked, looking confused.
"You don't need to doubt it. We looked into your background—normal parents, normal life for over a decade. But prophecy is one of those weird powers. It can show up in anyone out of nowhere."
"The last three people with prophecy powers had completely normal backgrounds too!"
"So, our doomsday squad wants to invite you to join us and become a member!" Whitney said.
"Join you?" This time, Bertram was honestly shocked.
Sure, he thought they probably saw value in him... but joining them? That never crossed his mind.
The doomsday squad was made up of the most talented geniuses in the human race. Just take Whitney's team for example—every single one of them had A-level talents.
The lowest cultivation level among them was C+.
And him? He was just stuck at F+.
"I'm only at F+ rank. If I join you guys..." Bertram trailed off, obviously thinking he'd just drag them down or get himself killed.
"You don't need to worry about slowing us down!" Tristian said, already starting to feel some respect for the kid they just met.
Bertram hadn't even officially joined yet, and he was already considering their team's safety first.
"Our team's actually really balanced. I'm in charge of frontline combat, Whitney does support, Tevin's our assassin, Ryder handles recon, crowd control, and he's also our medic. Tabitha brings long-range firepower. We've got both physical and energy damage covered! Adding someone with similar skills wouldn't really change much."
"So honestly, this last spot is more of an extra. But your prophecy power? That's unique. It could seriously give us an edge in unexpected ways."
"In fact, you're the best fit for this last position!"
"And don't worry about safety. We won't be bringing you into combat missions. Your prophecy ability seems to work best when it involves people close to you. So, as long as you're one of us and we show up in your life often, the chance of you receiving prophecies about us increases. When you get those, just tell us."
"Basically, you don't need to fight. You just stay safe and be our squad's good luck charm!"
"That's a relief. I was really worried I'd be holding you guys back with my low rank." Bertram let out a huge sigh of relief, going along with everything naturally.
Not having to go on dangerous missions? No life-or-death situations?
This was literally the perfect gig.
A lucky mascot role? I'll take that in a heartbeat!
Because of their mind connection, Bertram's thoughts were faintly picked up by the Seven-Star Phantom Death Butterfly in his arms.
Dina, the butterfly, gave off a small wave of disdain toward her so-called "father."
Bertram quickly started mentally coaching her, trying to explain his logic.
"Dina, whether you're a person or a butterfly, you've gotta stay humble.
Today's low-profile is for tomorrow's comeback. Whether you're human or not, as long as you survive, your time will come."
After some solid psychological pep talk, Dina seemed to finally get it. She looked at Bertram with deep admiration, like she finally understood.
Bertram let out a small sigh of relief.
After all, Dina's mind was still as naive as a child's, making her easy to deceive.
"Since you have no objections, I'll report it to the organization. All new members of the Doomsday Squad have a one-month evaluation period. However, considering your special situation, as long as you successfully make one prophecy within this month, you'll pass!" Tristian said with a smile.
The fact that their squad had secured someone with prophecy abilities must have made other Doomsday Squads envious.
"Have you had any other prophecies recently?" Tristian asked instinctively.
"Yes!"
Oh, there were plenty!
Bertram's mind flashed back to the scenes of being shot by the Jackson Family's young master.
Now, it was time for him to turn the tables!
---
Outskirts of the city, at the coal factory.
"Damn it! Why did my flawless plan fail?" The young master of the Jackson Family, dressed in white, looked extremely displeased.
At this moment, everyone around him was silent, afraid to provoke his further anger.
Otherwise, they'd be thrown into the Jackson Family's young master's crocodile pit.
"One B-level, three C-levels, and fourteen D-levels, all dead in an instant. And Vanessa was taken back to the Olson Family. Only the Olson Family could pull off something like this!"
"Who leaked this to the Olson Family?" The young master of the Jackson Family's eyes were practically blazing with fury.
What made it even more infuriating was that after analyzing the situation for a long time, he couldn't figure out who the informant could be.
The only people who knew about this were the guards at the underground coal plant and himself.
All those guards were dead.
After all that analysis, it seemed like the informant was... himself?
The entire plan's failure seemed to hinge on these informants, making the young master of the Jackson Family particularly hateful toward them.
If he couldn't catch the one who leaked the information about the underground coal plant, he would first catch the student who reported it to vent his anger.
The young master of the Jackson Family looked toward the end of the road.
At this time, they should have driven that student here.
Gradually, he saw a figure appearing at the corner.
The figure was quite burly!
Bertram felt it was a pity.
After all, the young master of the Jackson Family was still the young master. Even the Doomsday Squad couldn't easily kill this guy; they could only teach him a lesson.
Unless they caught this guy doing something truly harmful to humanity, there wasn't much they could do.
In the apocalypse, unity among humans was the main theme, and no one could openly go against it.
What happened in the shadows, however, was another story.
Even the young master of the Jackson Family had to lure Bertram, an ordinary person, outside the city if he wanted to kill him.
At this moment, another issue was brewing.
The officer, Jack, who Bertram had killed in the alley last night.
Bertram, unaware of this development, was on his way to the martial arts gym to meet the mysterious girl.