Chapter 405: What Is He Capable Of
There was no way that Xiao Luo could not have heard what Luo Shuang said. It had been a while since his hearing ability had been enhanced to such a heightened level, way beyond ordinary people’s abilities. He could even hear mosquitoes beating their wings three meters away. With calm confidence, he amicably greeted Tian Zhenxing, “Nice to meet you, Chief Tian!”
“Mmm, not bad, neither obsequious nor arrogant. People from the NSA are indeed different. Your temperament is extraordinary.”
Tian Zhenxing’s eyes were filled with admiration. He turned to smile at Qiu Yuanjie and said, “Yuanjie, this is a joint operation between the police force and the NSA. As this is cooperation, there will be no difference in rank. You and Mr. Xiao are of the same position, but if the team encounters a critical situation, Mr. Xiao’s orders must be given priority, do you understand?”
What?!
All the team members thought they had misheard the chief. Already, they didn’t raise any issues about someone from the NSA being included in their operation for no discernable reason and disrupting their usual rhythm, but now, when encountering critical situations, they even have to obey his command? Had the chief gone nuts or something?
Qiu Yuanjie, likewise, couldn’t hide his pique on hearing the chief’s order. It was a known fact that he had been watching over Xiahai for some two to three years by deploying watchers all over the city and had a deeper understanding of the MLM organizations in Xiahai than anyone else. The bureau should have stood unswervingly in making him commander, but why was the power to command suddenly shared with the NSA?
“Chief Tian, I think your decision is biased.”
Luo Shuang took a step forward boldly, saluted Tian Zhenxing, and voiced her dissatisfaction without fear of consequences.
Shocked by her unguarded candor, Qiu Yuanjie hurriedly reprimanded her, “Chief Tian has his own intentions and reasons for such an arrangement. Luo Shuang, do not talk any nonsense!”
Qiu Yuanjie was somewhat dissatisfied, but, as it was Tian Zhenxing’s instruction, he accepted it unconditionally. Even if he had objections, he would keep it to himself.
Then, Luo Shuang revealed her stubborn nature. “Chief Tian’s decision is inherently biased,” she said, pointing at Xiao Luo, “Allowing him to join us is already causing us trouble, and now he’s even allowed to give us orders? If we really b.u.mp into a critical situation, I am afraid that all of us will die because of his wrong decisions.”
“Luo Shuang…”
Qiu Yuanjie was about to rebuke her, but Tian Zhenxing interjected with a wave of his hand.
Tian Zhenxing smiled as he looked at the other team members and asked, “Do the rest of you think the same thing?”
Out of respect for his position as their chief, none of the others dared to admit it. They shook their heads.
“What I want now is what you truly have in your mind,” Tian Zhenxing said.
Everyone looked at each other, then nodded, acknowledging that their thoughts were the same as Luo Shuang’s.
Luo Shuang became even more emboldened. She puffed her chest confidently and said, “Chief Tian, we all know that he is from the NSA, but none of us knows what he is capable of. In other words, his capability is still questionable, so how can you allow him to command us?”
In her eyes, Xiao Luo was merely someone who had good connections and had no unique ability whatsoever—he was just here as a freeloader. She could accept it if all he wanted was to gain some merit at their expense, but giving him the authority to command simply wasn’t right.
Tian Zhenxing nodded calmly and responded, “Mmm, makes sense. Okay, so here is what I’ll do. I’ll give you all a problem to test your inferential comprehension. If you can answer it, then I will put Mr. Xiao under your command for the mission. How about that?”
These words aroused the fighting spirit of the team as they were all veterans in crime investigation. For them, logical reasoning was as easy as ABC, and there was nothing complicated about this test.
Luo Shuang answered with conviction, “Fine, we agree.”
With hands behind his back and unhurried in his speech, Tian Zhenxing said, “A precious diamond was stolen from a jewelry store. After investigation, it was found that the perpetrator must be among A, B, C, and D. Hence, the four main suspects were interrogated. Their statements are as follows.
A said: ‘I did not do it,’ B said: ‘D is the perpetrator,’ C said: ‘B is the perpetrator who stole the diamond,’ and D said: ‘It wasn’t I who did it.’ It was verified that only one of the four confessions were false, so…”
“A is the perpetrator!”
Luo Shuang replied as if she was racing to be the first to answer, and presented her own rationale, “a.s.suming that A is telling the truth, then the other three will be telling lies. From those few sentences, we can presume that A is false, B is false, C is false, and D is true. The second sentence contradicts the fourth sentence. Thus, the hypothesis does not hold. If B is telling the truth, it can be presumed that…”
Tian Zhenxing waved his hand to stop her and said, “No, no, no, I am not asking who committed the crime. What I want to ask is, in the narrative, what are the twenty-first and thirty-fifth word that I said?”
As soon as the intended question was asked, all the team members were stunned, including Qiu Yuanjie. They never expected that Tian Zhenxing would ask such a problem.
Luo Shuang was even more dumbfounded, and her brain went completely blank. She had been focusing on the critical points of Tian Zhenxing’s description just now, and there was no way that she could possibly remember his entire statement. What was the twenty-first and the thirty-fifth word? She carefully recalled in her mind several times, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Answer in 5,” Tian Zhenxing said.
Subsequently, he began the countdown.
“5…”
“4…”
“3…”
“Chief Tian, you are deliberately making things difficult for us, this problem is not right,” Luo Shuang complained.
“Do you think no one can answer?” Tian Zhenxing said, looking at her with irony.
Luo Shuang was a little unsure of herself, but after some thought, she said, “It is absolutely impossible for anyone to answer that question.”
As soon she said that a faint voice responded, “The twenty-first word and the thirty-fifth word are ‘A’ and ‘are’ respectively.”
Eh?
The crowd looked at Xiao Luo all at once.
“‘A precious diamond was stolen from a jewelry store. After investigation, it was found that the perpetrator must be among A, B, C, and D. Hence, the four major suspects were interrogated. Their statements are as follows.’ These are the exact words that Chief Tian said just now,” Xiao Luo said.
“…???”
Everyone widened their eyes as if they were looking at a monster. What a freak, how could this NSA agent even remember all the wordings?
Luo Shuang felt her face burning like she had been slapped in the face. She couldn’t accept the fact that Xiao Luo had immediately proved her wrong and sneered, “Who can prove that this is the chief’s original statement? It merely has the same meaning, so he is free to say whatever he wishes to say.”
“Luo Shuang, Mr. Xiao really remembered my question without missing a word.”
Tian Zhenxing took out the recording device in his pocket and played it for everyone to listen to, which was the content of the inferential problem he earlier gave. He then compared it with Xiao Luo’s sentence and noted down the twenty-first and thirty-fifth word separately. It was indeed the words’ A’ and ‘are,’ that was to say, Xiao Luo had memorized his narrative without missing a single word.
What the… is this guy ‘The Brain’ [1]?
The team members suddenly looked at Xiao Luo through a different lens, and even Qiu Yuanjie dared not look down at Xiao Luo anymore. He no longer felt offended about Xiao Luo being given the authority to take command. If the question was told in advance, everyone would be able to answer it. But the psychological hint everyone got in advance was to determine the criminal, and so everyone’s focus was not on the original words. That made it even more incredible that anyone was able to answer that question.
Having been figuratively slapped in the face, Luo Shuang dared not utter another word. Indignantly, she returned to her position.
“Mr. Xiao Luo, I’ll be leaving them in your hands,” Tian Zhenxing said, patting Xiao Luo’s shoulder.
“With Captain Qiu here, I should have nothing to worry about.”
Xiao Luo wisely handed back the responsibility of the personnel to Qiu Yuanjie. His task was to eradicate MLM organizations, and there was no need for him to be responsible for these people. For him, such responsibility was a constraint.
Footnote:[1] The Brain is a Chinese scientific reality and talent show originating in Germany. The show’s aim is to find people with exceptional brainpower.
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