Chapter 1408: Genius and Trauma
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
After he was done being questioned, Xia Fan left Jiang Yusheng’s office, but the shock he had given to everyone present persisted for quite some time.
No one dared believe that Xia Fan’s grasp of and judgment toward danger had already reached such a level.
He had noticed every single flaw on Vivian, discovered all the dangerous explosive devices in the entire auditorium, and had the people around him not interfered, Xia Fan could have used his advantage in speed and resolved all the problems in one go.
His ability to find and solve problems had left the teachers of the training camp in shock.
Combat Division Head Lin Xiaowu shook his head and laughed, “I’ve never seen someone use a non-combat perceptive special ability of Scent to such an extent! This Xia Fan’s sense of smell is even keener than a dog’s! For him to uncover the bombs in such a huge auditorium with so many gathered, he must surely know what I ate yesterday, and what perfume my wife uses!
!!
“It’s scary if you just think about it; it is like everyone is stripped naked and scrutinized in front of him. At this rate I would not dare to have a tryst if I had a mistress with him around, since I’d be afraid of a day when Xia Fan dislikes me, revealing my indiscretion to my wife. She would definitely hack me to death!”
Though Lin Xiaowu was joking, no one could still find it in them to laugh along after hearing what he said.
If his Scent special ability had really been honed to a degree similar to Xia Fan’s, it would indeed be quite frightening, as no one would be able to hide any secrets in front of him!
Mussen spoke up, “Even more importantly is that Xia Fan is a rare dual ability user. Aside from his sense of smell, he also has Speed, and everyone here should know that speed-type special abilities are the most ridiculous and unreasonable special power in this world. Able to be used for both attack and defense, if anyone cultivates their speed to a high enough rank, they become a force to be reckoned with. Any special ability user facing a speedster would die the moment they met. Even the Ashen Dragon and Hidden Moon who once dominated the universe were done in by a group of speedster thugs!
“Furthermore, not only was Xia Fan intelligent, he has also shown an exceptional knack in both learning and observation skills. You’ve all read the letter of recommendation that came from Jerry, clearly stating that aside from his two special abilities of Speed and Scent, he also has a grasp of beast control techniques, disguise, and tracking skills, etcetera. Basically, Xia Fan is someone with plenty of technical abilities, so many that even a Gold Investigator like Dad could not figure him out.
“The way I see it, for this semester of the training camp, Xia Fan might just be the most outstanding, definitely nowhere worse than Soul Flying Bird from the Martial Heritage family.”
As everyone engaged in avid discussion, Jiang Yusheng suddenly cleared his throat and said, “Though we of the Blue Boiling Point Camp have strict requirements, our ultimate goal is still to pick out the most talented individuals for the Union.
“Xia Fan is different from those before. Whether it is Hei Bolong or Soul Flying Bird, all of us are clear as to what we should focus on while training them. But the problem for someone like Xia Fan is, what should his focus be?”
The office went silent for a good while. The Blue Boiling Point Training Camp had five important divisions: combat, technical, reconnaissance, auxiliary, and command.
The five divisions represented the five major avenues of study.
If the focus was on combat, then they would be a combat expert for the Special Bureau in the future. They would be tasked with ensuring their squad’s safety and directly confronting powerful enemies head-on.
If the focus was on technology, then they would become technical experts in the future. Things like scene investigation, criminal profiling, stalemated negotiations, and drug testing were all important avenues of study.
Reconnaissance experts would be investigators in charge of assignments involving disguises, stalking, and infiltration.
Auxiliary experts required jacks of all trades, providing the entire squad with the necessary support when the investigation team went to work.
The hardest would be command, as a commander needed to be in charge of an entire Bureau, requiring a good grasp of both focus and intensity. However, command courses were not available at the novice and intermediate ranks, and were something only advanced cadets had access to.
Combat Division Head Lin Xiaowu slapped his thigh, “Is there even a need to discuss this? Of course he should be placed on the combat track. For a Speed ability-user to not be used to fight, that’s simply unreasonable! After all, the combat strength that speedsters possess is the most lethal out of all the special abilities!”
“I disagree!” Vivian immediately refuted. “Speedsters are also suited to be trackers, and the Special Bureau has no lack of experts who excel in combat. However, an outstanding reconnaissance investigator is much harder to groom than an combat-focused investigator. After all, investigative reconnaissance work does not require only combat capabilities, but also smarts and the ability to think both fast and calmly. I feel like Xia Fan ought to focus on reconnaissance!”
The Reconnaissance Division Head agreed with Vivian’s words, nodding his head repeatedly.
But Technical Division Head Lu Xiangyang was dissatisfied, saying in a tone that hinted at slight grievances, “Can all of you consider on behalf of us, the technical division? We have a greater lack of manpower than either of you! Xia Fan’s Scent special ability is both remarkable and uniquely suited for our role. Meanwhile, the auxiliary division requires candidates that are all-rounders. After all, in a standard investigation squad, there will be only one who fills the role of the support, just one person to fulfill the demands of all the other investigators. They need to be versatile in all things!”
As each and everyone shared their thoughts, the discussion slowly descended into an argument, with all four divisions wanting Xia Fan, but there was only one of him.
“STOP!” Jiang Yusheng slapped the table hard, his gaze turning toward Command Division Head Ning Changkong, who had not spoken a word the entire time.
In the Blue Boiling Point Training Camp, the area with the greatest influence was actually the Command Division. After all, it was like how the old saying went: it’s easy to raise a good army, but one can only hope for a good general. The Command Division was precisely the key division that would nurture future leaders for the Special Bureau, so Ning Changkong was by no means lower in status than Jiang Yusheng!
“What do you say, Changkong?” Jiang Yusheng asked him.
Ning Changkong drummed his fingers rhythmically on the table and unhurriedly said, “I think it’s best to wait a while before deciding. Arrange for some classes with each of the four courses. There’s no need to hurry. Let’s wait and see how Xia Fan performs after this.”
That was a good solution, and Jiang Yusheng nodded slightly.
Ning Changkong quickly continued, “Camp Commander, I remember the arrangement was for fifteen teachers to carry bombs, yet Xia Fan said there were sixteen of them. It seems his judgment skills aren’t a hundred percent accurate.”
After hearing Ning Changkong’s words, Jiang Yusheng shook his head and laughed bitterly. He reached into his coat pocket and retrieved an ion bomb about the size of his fist and placed it on the table.
Ning Changkong widened his eyes incredulously as his heart raced. It turned out Xia Fan was actually correct. Jiang Yusheng was carrying an ion bomb himself, which was something outside of the plan!
“How should I say this… Xia Fan is quite the amazing young man, for him to have even discovered my presence. After all, I was backstage when it happened,” Jiang Yusheng said softly.
…
…
Life at the Blue Boiling Point Training Camp began, just like that.
Every day in the early morning, cadets would attend a combat lesson from 5 in the morning until 8 AM, before taking a reconnaissance class from 9 AM to 12 noon. At 2 PM till 5 PM, they would be off to take a class in logistics support, while the technical class was from 7 PM to 10 PM.
Constantly busying themselves from day to night made many of the young cadets who once fantasized about the training camp cry out in misery. Between studying, eating, and sleeping, none of them were given any time to complain, not to mention any leisure activities like shopping or watching movies.
Xia Fan was actually well suited for that kind of life. He had dozens of teachers back when he was on the Holy Tomb planet, always busy learning from the break of dawn until deep in the night. In terms of learning intensity, life here was nowhere as hectic as it had been in the Holy Tomb.
Even harsher than the intense studying were the brutal exams, with three small tests every week and a big exam at the end of every week.
The tests were normally ten points; those who passed earned ten points, while those who failed would have ten points taken away from them. The moment anyone’s total points dropped below negative one thousand, they would immediately have to pack up their bags and leave.
Everyone said that the pressure in Blue Blood Point Training Camp was great. It was no wonder the campgrounds were always empty, no one was seen playing basketball on the courts, and no one was idly strolling in the gardens. It was because no one had any free time, every one of them overwhelmed by the pressure of studying.
But there were always exceptions to everything. Xia Fan discovered that Soul Flying Bird, Hei Bolong, Jaden, Du Xue, and Sa-Ning had plenty of time. Soul Flying Bird and Jaden only took combat classes, while Du Xue was focused solely on technical classes. Sa-Ning and Hei Bolong only attended reconnaissance lessons, so aside from the three hours of classes, they had another three hours of a smaller class and the day was over for them. They did not spend time like himself and the other students, who were spending over twelve hours a day going to classes.
—
A week later, two more individuals were given a reduced load of classes: Browning and Xiao Yixi.
Xia Fan would go feed the fishes in an artificial lake between his afternoon and night classes. First, it was his way of alleviating his mood, and second, it worked as a form of training. The Beast Control Technique had an Advanced skill that allowed the user to control fish, but the difficulty of controlling aquatic animals far outstripped that of land animals like mice and wild cats. It was a skill that Xia Fan had yet to master.
Spending thirty-five Union dollars to buy fish food, Xia Fan sat by the banks of the artificial lake, soaking his feet in the cool water as he whistled freely, scattering fish food on the water at the same time.
Goldfish gathered very quickly, circling around Xia Fan and not leaving for a long time. Affinity-wise, Xia Fan had already done very well for himself, as he was now able to call these goldfish whenever he wanted. The problem was communicating; Xia Fan still had no idea how to get them to reply to his questions.
“You seem to be at ease.”
Soul Flying Bird had appeared from who knew where, and mimicked what Xia Fan did, rolling his pant legs up and sitting by the lake.
Xia Fan had learned through the grapevine that Flying Bird seemed to be a descendant of some family with a great marital heritage in the Alliance. He had remarkable individual strength, and his family’s strength was even greater.
Speaking of which, Xia Fan was also a descendant of a martial heritage family; the Demon Sealing Fiendish Blade and Skywing Clan, the Xia Family where speed ran through their bloodline!
Unfortunately, no one knew of the Skywings in the Ashen Moon Universe, and the only ones who had come into contact with them were the Ashen Dragon and Hidden Moon organizations, who had been eradicated forty thousand years ago.
Xia Fan was very depressed about that. Not only did his ancestors not leave him any network, they had even made plenty of enemies for themselves. If any descendant of the Ashen Dragon and Hidden Moon were to learn that Xia Fan was a descendant of the Skywing Clan, he would surely be in deep trouble!
Xia Fan and Soul Flying Bird casually chatted a bit when all of a sudden, Flying Bird asked him quietly, “How did you offend Jaden?”
Xia Fan was visibly startled and confused at the question.
“He’s the baldie, the one we went to Old Jiang’s office with. He also uncovered a bomb,” Flying Bird explained.
Xia Fan was even more confused, “I know who Jaden is, but I haven’t offended him. In fact, I’ve not met him once since the opening assembly, nor have I spoken a word to him!”
“Is that so?” Flying Bird stroked his chin. “Then that’s odd. Yesterday I inadvertently heard him mumble, saying that anyone with the surname of Xia isn’t a good person. During this weekend’s big exam, he would have to show you what’s what. Even stranger, it seems that aside from Jaden, there’s also a bunch of people who aren’t exactly fond of you. The moment they hear that you’re called Xia Fan, and that your special ability is Speed, their expressions instantly change.”
Uhhh…, Xia Fan laughed awkwardly. Truly this was a case of speaking of the devil! Jaden could not possibly be a descendant of the Ashen Dragon or Hidden Moon, right?”
With that thought in mind, Xia Fan looked at Flying Bird and said, “Do Jaden’s ancestors have ties with people from Ashen Dragon and Hidden Moon?”
Flying Bird was stunned and gasped, “You know about Ashen Dragon and Hidden Moon?”
Xia Fan nodded with a smile, “I know a little. They were the tyrants of the universe forty thousand years ago. There are plenty of records about them in the history books.”
Flying Bird thought about it, “A big group of people from Ashen Dragon and Hidden Moon disappeared back in the day, and those that are left have long since disbanded. I’m actually not sure if Jaden’s family has any ties to either of those two organizations, but I know that my clan once counted themselves among them.”
Xia Fan was speechless. Soul Flying Bird probably had no idea that his ancestors had been abused by people with the surname of Xia. Had he been made aware of that, he might not be chatting so happily with Xia Fan like this today…
After all, a surname of Xia and possessing a Speed special ability were two very obvious indicators of his heritage. It was very easy to connect the dots and associate Xia Fan with the Skywing Clan that had swept across the Hidden Moon Universe a long time ago.
Xia Fan was helpless. All he could do was chuckle bitterly as he moaned to himself, ‘My dear ancestors… Just how did you bully those people back then? It has been forty thousand years since all of you had happily left without so much as a hint of worry, but I’m afraid others will be coming to find revenge through me now…’
