Chapter 42: Start of the a.s.sessment
Night descended. Xiao Yu had already fallen asleep, though Xia Fei was still tossing and turning in his bed, unable to do the same.
Wearing his combat suit, Xia Fei pushed open the door and headed out, wanting to familiarize himself with the environment around the a.s.sessment venue.
There were quite a number of candidates out in the clearing beyond the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps, and these people were all huddled up in groups of two or three chatting with each other, or just sparring with one another.
The next day was the day of the a.s.sessment, and it seemed like Xia Fei was not the only one who had trouble falling asleep.
Xia Fei ran 100km in a single breath with his feet flying, arriving upon an earthy mound that looked relatively quieter than anywhere else, as there was hardly anyone around.
Getting into stance, Xia Fei practiced his Crafty Thrust twice under the moonlight, when he suddenly heard a loud bout of music from the foothills not too far away.
The music was melodious, occasionally peaking like tall mountains and waxing like a flowing river, at times soft and light like a cloud floating along with a whispering breeze.
It sounded like it came from a flute, yet the sound was a lot heavier than that of a flute as if he were listening to a memory from a long time ago.
When the touching melody filled his ears, he could not help but feel intoxicated from it.
Xia Fei knelt on the ground and lit up a cigarette as he quietly listened to it.
The music stopped after a while, and Xia Fei, enraptured from what he had heard, could not help but applaud when it ended.
“Who’s there?” A cold female voice asked uneasily. Xia Fei felt it sounded somewhat familiar, but he could not put a finger on who she could be at that moment.
“No one.” Xia Fei casually said, but immediately regretted doing so. ‘What kind of answer was that? If there wasn’t anyone around, who the heck was I?’
*Whoos.h.!.+*
Instantaneously, a woman appeared right in front of Xia Fei, her speed much faster than him. It was at least over 1000 m/s, so she must also be a Speed Ability User.
The woman was wearing an Adjudicator Union uniform, her blonde hair looking extra pretty under the moonlight. Her figure had curves in all the right places, especially that pair of long and slender legs that looked like two white lotus roots; anyone who saw them would wish to feel them.
Xia Fei could make out her face in the spa.r.s.e moonlight. She turned out to be that 4-star Adjudicator who received Xia Fei and Xiao Yu earlier, Ye Xiaohan.
“Oh, it’s you.” Ye Xiaohan said. “No wonder your Earth is designated as a 0.5 civilization. Do you not know that eavesdropping on someone playing on the Sky Flute is extremely impolite?” Her voice was still as cold as ever, but it was unlike the impression she gave off in the day, which kept people at bay for thousands of miles.
Xia Fei flashed a faint smile as he stood there, brus.h.i.+ng the dirt off his hands.
“I swear on heaven’s conscience, but I really had no intention of eavesdropping. I had merely chanced upon it.”
Ye Xiaohan saw the Windshade Mark IV combat suit that Xia Fei was wearing and was suddenly stunned, her eyes turning a little moist.
She immediately took two steps forward and was now right in front of Xia Fei, repeatedly stroking Xia Fei’s body with her slender and elegant hand.
Uhmmm…
Xia Fei felt very awkward, so all he could do was stand there as he let the beauty wantonly explore his body.
Although the social mores between men and women were becoming more liberal in this day and age, Ye Xiaohan had immediately started touching him without saying a word when they met. Xia Fei found this somewhat unbearable; after all, he was still a man, and he was more than functional in the areas that matter.
Xia Fei could feel his blood begin to pump as his body struggled to release the heat that was building up, making it hard for him to remain still.
(TL note: I am not apologizing for this pun.)
He secretly began to use his Breath Control technique, allowing him to become silent, so his brain would also calm down along with it.
His impulse finally relaxed after going through several cycles of this.
But he couldn’t continue to be caressed in such a manner like this. Xia Fei pondered if he should reciprocate, hence his two hands reached out toward Ye Xiaohan, aiming to place them on her supple and round hips.
*Whoosh*
Ye Xiaohan sensed Xia Fei’s irregular motion, and like a startled rabbit, she immediately retreated several dozen meters away, no longer regarding Xia Fei in a friendly manner.
Xia Fei’s two hands were still awkwardly suspended in mid-air, so he stretched them out, stating rather blandly, “Tonight’s moon is so round.”
Ye Xiaohan had originally prepared to bristle with rage, but she quickly realized how a lady like her had just spent a good while touching Xia Fei’s body and also realized that it was hardly acceptable; it would be impossible for any man to not have any wild thoughts from that.
Xia Fei also held himself from doing anything further, which showed that the teen wasn’t bad-natured, while she had been the one acting frivolously.
With that last thought in mind, she could feel her cheeks flush like two beautiful peach blossoms.
“How did you get a hold of that combat suit?” Ye Xiaohan asked gravely.
“I bought it. I couldn’t have possibly stolen it, right?”
“But you’re just a citizen from a 0.5 civilization planet. How were you able to afford such an expensive combat suit?” Ye Xiaohan asked as she knitted her eyebrows.
Xia Fei was speechless. It was not easy to explain this question of hers. Tell her that he had sold poems to earn his fortune? That would be inappropriate; the original copyright of those poems did not belong to him, after all, so it was better to keep a low profile on this. Say that this was the haul he got after exploring the Atlantis civilization? That would not be good either. The Atlanteans had animosity with some unknown cosmic powerhouse, disclosing it he might find himself being dragged down along with it.
“So what if I’m from a 0.5 civilization planet? Who set the rule that people from a 0.5 civilization planet have to be paupers? I bought this combat suit several days ago from the Masterpiece Auction. You can check for yourself if you don’t believe me,” Xia Fei said. He had simply dodged the question of his funds directly, changing the topic by revealing where he had gotten his Windshade Mark IV as proof of his legitimate owners.h.i.+p.
Masterline Auction was fairly renowned in the Endaro Star Region, so Ye Xiaohan had heard of it as well. Seeing how calm Xia Fei appeared when he said that, she also accepted that Xia Fei was a wealthy individual from his backward planet as a fact.
“That combat suit is very valuable, so you better look out for yourself,” Ye Xiaohan looked at the familiar suit on Xia Fei longingly as he offered that line icily. She then disappeared into the boundless night, her speed was extremely fast, almost like a pa.s.sing light.
Xia Fei was a little vexed as he looked down at his thighs, “d.a.m.n! I’ve actually been taken advantage of by her.”
A dark cloud seemingly floated across the sky from out of nowhere, covering the originally bright moonlight of the night. The black cloud roiled as if it were about to rain.
After having been teased by Ye Xiaohan for no reason, Xia Fei was no longer in the mood to continue his training so he made his way back to his cabin.
Just as Xia Fei departed, a figure slowly paced out from the shadowy parts of the foothill. He had been hiding there the whole time, and neither Xia Fei nor Ye Xiaohan had even sensed his presence
This man was approximately 24 years old, and the handsome mug on his face had turned nasty from his rage. It was unclear what he was mumbling under his breath, but it seemed vulgar and expletive.
*Boom!*
A fist of his violently slammed into the side of the hill as an over 1-meter deep hole was left in that originally flat surface, causing countless rocks and dirt to scatter all over.
…
Early in the morning before the sun had not yet fully risen, the speakers in the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p began to make a series of announcements.
“Candidates partic.i.p.ating in this Crisis grade a.s.sessment, please take note. Head out and gather by the clearing outside within 30 minutes, and this a.s.sessment will promptly begin.” A cold and mechanical electronic voice could be heard, which Xia Fei felt contained the same coldness as Ye Xiaohan’s voice.
He shook his head and sat up on his bed. But he soon laid back down, huddling under the covers for quite some time before finally getting out of the bed when safe.
Xia Fei had a habit of sleeping in the nude, and while that did not usually matter, today, he was sharing a cabin with a little girl.
He could only tug on Xiao Yu’s hand and made their way off the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p after a full 40 minutes had pa.s.sed. Mingling in with the crowd, Xia Fei had only spent one minute was.h.i.+ng his face and brus.h.i.+ng his teeth, while Xiao Yu had hogged the remainder of the time.
Xia Fei was helpless to this as well. All he knew was that there were women who needed to dress themselves up over and over again, and that was a very troublesome matter.
Who would have thought that the trouble that the 12 years old girl Xiao Yu would not be any different from those women!
She needed to wash her face and use the facial cleanser twice with the moisturizer and sunscreen. There was even a whole section of creams that Xia Fei could not even p.r.o.nounce that she used, making it seem like she was opening a skincare exhibition.
Xiao Yu’s figure was already vaguely showing some signs of p.u.b.erty, and adding to the fact that she already had a pretty face, she would most definitely become the type who would bring about disaster to her country when she becomes older.
After looking around his surroundings, Xia Fei realized that the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p had already left their original base camp and had relocated to a completely foreign land.
There were boundless hills to the east and the endless desert to the west. To the north was the flat and arid rain shadow, while to the south were piles of boulders and scattered huge rock formations.
A rough estimation of the number of candidates present would come up to be around 80,000 – 100,000, and a large proportion of these numbers had formed groups together, most likely hailing from the same planet or the same clan.
The largest groups almost amounted to 1,000, while the small ones only had 3 to 5 members. Everyone was holding onto all sorts of weapons, an imposing sight to behold.
There was most definitely no team out there that only consisted of a teen holding a child’s hand like Xia Fei among these groups.
Xia Fei furrowed his brow slightly. If the candidates with similar backgrounds were to work together, they were bound to be a force to be reckoned with. Conversely, he was by himself, bringing along a little girl of unknown strength with him. They would be at a clear disadvantage if they were to run into these large groups, so they must avoid such situations. Even if they wanted to make the first move, they must pick on the candidates who hadn’t yet joined any group.
That was when an approximately 24 years old young man standing atop a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p swept his gaze throughout the throng of candidates on the ground. He was wearing a neat uniform with an affable smile, exuding the sense of trustworthiness to others.
“Everyone, settle down. I am the chief examiner of this Crisis grade a.s.sessment, Xiao Haili. I’m here to inform everyone of the rules regarding the first round of this a.s.sessment,” Xiao Haili loudly declared to the crowd.
All the candidates raised their heads up to look at him, and Xiao Haili seemed to be really enjoying having others look up to him like this, intentionally pausing for several minutes before continuing, “We will be eliminating 99% of all the candidates in this first round.”
The crowd began to clamor. A 99% elimination rate was evidently making a lot of the candidates uneasy, and Xiao Haili’s eyes flicked around slightly, relis.h.i.+ng the look of panic from the candidates. He suddenly realized that watching others grapple in agony was a very interesting occurrence.
“There are 1,000 tokens that would grant you access to the next round in the hills to the east. Candidates who manage to get a hold of these tokens would be able to partic.i.p.ate in the second round happening in 10 days. The duration for this first round is 7 days, and the surrounding 3 million square kilometers of land is your battlefield!”
“Your special watches provided for this a.s.sessment would indicate to you the area of operation for this round. If you leave this zone, we’ll immediately disqualify you!”
“You may use any means possible for this round! Even killing your opponents outright! Remember, only people who are still holding the tokens after seven days will have the chance to become an Adjudicator!”
“Alright! The first round of the Adjudicator Union’s Crisis grade a.s.sessment officially starts now!”
The moment Xiao Haili’s voice stopped, an earth-shattering sound suddenly erupted from the four huge s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps as they lifted up to the sky.
The ensuing gale caused the sand to whip up and dance in the wind. The candidates on the ground were all in a state of disarray, covering their eyes with their hands to avoid the sandstorm from a.s.saulting them.
By the time the sandstorm subsided, the candidates suddenly realized that a good portion of them was already gone.
Tens of thousands of candidates finally realized what had happened as they began to sprint out to the east, where the tokens were hidden.
Everyone was on high alert against each other when the a.s.sessment first started, so no one made any move on each other.
Soon after, the super-powerful candidates started to clear out the weaker candidates. After all, these were all enemies, and killing an extra person would only increase their own chances of winning.
These killings swiftly spread, finally transforming into a deranged ma.s.sacre after several minutes had pa.s.sed. There were stumps of broken bones and mutilated carca.s.ses left behind everywhere as the teams pa.s.sed, blood collecting into a flowing river!
In a blink of an eye, the beautiful Australia had descended into chaos!
But at this time, Xia Fei and Xiao Yu were nowhere to be found among the crowd of candidates.
Actually, when Xia Fei heard Xiao Haili explain the details regarding the first round of the a.s.sessment, he took several seconds to make a judgment call. He then utilized the chaos from the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps taking off to immediately implement the plan that he had come up with, without even a moment’s hesitation.
His quick decision-making and subsequent execution of the plan he had in mind without wavering once would have invited an involuntary sigh of admiration even from some powerful experts out there.
After all, this extraordinary a.n.a.lytical ability Xia Fei had demonstrated was not something everyone possessed, and even if someone had such an ability, they might not have the guts to make such an immediate decision.
That was why by the time the ma.s.sacre was in full swing, Xia Fei and Xiao Yu were already dozens of kilometers away from it.
Xia Fei hugged Xiao Yu, a thick overcoat wrapped over Xiao Yu’s body, protecting her from getting hurt from the powerful incoming gust. His legs maintained a 100 m/s speed throughout, running at such a speed maximized Xia Fei’s endurance, so he should have no issues running at this speed for several hours if needed.
“Big brother Xia Fei, the tokens we need to get to the next round is in the east, why are we going north?” Xiao Yu was hiding behind that overcoat, asking Xia Fei, nonplussed.
Looking back and catching a glimpse of the hills to the east slowly get further away, the corners of Xia Fei’s mouth turned in a strange arc, “Keke, East? That’s where all the fools will be headed.”