Chapter 1407: a.s.sessment Begins
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Xia Fan had unexpectedly attacked a girl seated beside him, shocking the people around him. None of them could understand why he had done so.
Even more interesting was the fact that Xia Fan was not the only one who had suddenly attacked. Not far in front of Xia Fan was the teenager with squinted eyes, who had sent a middle-aged man with a benign countenance flying with a punch. To his left, a skinny monkey-like bald young man used both hands to hold down a beautiful young woman in her thirties as he s.n.a.t.c.hed away the handbag she had carried around with her.
“What are you doing?!”
“Quick, let her go!”
“To think a big bloke like you would bully a defenseless little girl! What kind of man are you!?”
!!
The cadets around Xia Fan yelled as they dove toward him angrily, but Xia Fan had already pinned the pretty little girl under him, and was in the process of taking away the schoolbag she carried on her back.
Facing the fellow cadets who were making their way toward him aggressively, Xia Fan did not waste a breath on them and continued to keep the young lady pinned down, ensuring she couldn’t move and he thrust his free hand out.
*Bis.h.!.+*
The punch struck a stocky young man right in the head. The fast and powerful blow immediately sent him flying, and he crashed heavily into several innocent cadets.
The crowd became even more angered as they glared at Xia Fan, thinking of trying to take him.
That was when Xia Fan heard a sonorous voice ring out, “All of you stop right this instance!”
This voice carried an irresistible majesty, and the chaos in the auditorium came to a stop. Xia Fan looked over; he did not know when, but a rather plump elder was now standing on the rostrum, sweeping his sharp gaze across everyone present.
“All of you, stop right now! This has been a drill arranged by this academy!” the plump elder announced.
…
…
This plump elder went by the name of Jiang Yusheng, and after his introduction, Xia Fan learned that he was the second-in-command here at Blue Boiling Point Training Camp, the Vice Camp Commander!
There was an ion bomb inside that schoolbag. The young lady whom Xia Fan had done a hip toss on and subsequently pinned on the ground was named Vivian. She and Xia Fan were both called up onto the rostrum by Jiang Yusheng.
Aside from Xia Fan, there were another five others who had similarly discovered that the people beside them had explosives hidden on them, and had proceeded to swiftly apprehend the suspects.
Vivian was pouting and glaring fiercely at Xia Fan with her big eyes from the very beginning. The girl looked rather cute when angry, perhaps even cuter than before, like a small airbag.
“Pervert, why did you strike me with such force? My back is still hurting from what you did, and even my skirt was torn by you!” Vivian said angrily.
Xia Fan smiled as he scratched his head, “Who asked you to carry an ion bomb in your bag. Had it exploded, not just this auditorium, but the entire camp might have been gone in a flas.h.!.+”
Vivian had her hand on her waist as she demanded, “What teacher taught you? What would you do if your heavy-handedness ended up causing the ion bomb to accidentally detonate from the jostling?
Xia Fan froze, staring at Vivian like she was a fool for a moment before chuckling, “How could that be possible? According to the principle of ion fusion, a super-pressured electromagnetic force first has to be released to cause wide fluctuations in the ion particles. To put it simply, there’s no way an ion bomb would be detonated through the strength of a human alone, even if the bomb was smashed in the process.”
“You! You’re just making an unreasonable argument!” Vivian stomped her feet angrily, raising her slender blonde eyebrows, “Pervert! Pervert! Huge pervert!”
Jiang Yusheng glanced at Vivian out of the corner of his eye, and she promptly settled down, though the expression on her face was still one of distaste.
Intentionally coughing twice, Jiang Yusheng said in a deep voice, “To become a qualified investigator, you need to first be observant of everything around you, and to never let your guard down, no matter the time or place.
“These people were attacked because they were carrying hidden miniature ion bombs. Had these few students not discovered them in advance and done everything they could to stop them, you would have all been dead already.”
The faces of the cadets all went pale. Vivan and the others had each opened their bags, and everyone was shocked to the extreme, as they saw that what the six people carried were not props, but real ion bombs! Even the super-pressured fuses had been fitted into them!…
The students all swallowed loudly and shuddered for a moment. They had already heard that Blue Boiling Point Training Camp was a place that was strict to the point of being cruel, but today’s show had proven that even on the very day they were being inducted, the Camp did not hesitate to unsettle everyone in one grand gesture.
A delighted expression appeared on Jiang Yusheng as he raised his voice, “Did you think we’d congratulate you on your results and had gathered you all here so as to encourage you to work even harder?
“If that’s the case, then you’re all wrong. The Blue Boiling Point Training Camp only welcomes those who are capable, and only those who pa.s.s all their subjects and obtain their badge deserve my blessing!
“Our rules are very simple: acc.u.mulate points! Novice cadets need to collect a thousand points in order to rise to the intermediate rank. Ten thousand points are needed to be promoted to the Advanced rank, before finally graduating and being awarded your badge once you acc.u.mulate a total of one hundred thousand points!
“The harsh a.s.sessment began the moment you entered the camp. The six cadets up on the rostrum with me successfully discovered the ion bombs, and are all awarded five hundred points. As long as they obtain another five hundred points, they will be promoted to the intermediate rank, a huge step forward on the road to success!
“Meanwhile, all of you who are not on the rostrum will be given minus one hundred points!”
At this point, Jiang Yusheng changed to a mocking tone, “To start your time in the Blue Boiling Point Training Camp with negative one hundred points is already showing you all plenty of face. If you don’t wish to be eliminated, then you all better buck up!
“Dismissed!!!”
This was the new student welcome a.s.sembly? More like a face-slapping a.s.sembly!
The students were all dumbfounded, especially those who had tried to attack Xia Fan when he was trying to restrain Vivian, making even more trouble for him. All they felt was complete embarra.s.sment after they learned the truth.
“Five hundred points? Not bad, not bad,” said the slimy-looking short teenager with squinty eyes as he rubbed his hands excitedly. As a student, he should not be too old, yet he looked very mature, as if he was in his thirties.
Hearing that, Jiang Yusheng laughed as he was about to leave the rostrum. “Don’t be too happy just yet! The people who were acting as terrorists will all be your teachers in the future! If you’ve offended any of them today, you won’t be having a good time in the future, either!
“Remember, Blue Boiling Point is a cruel place! But right now, I’d like to invite you all to join me in my office for a moment.”
Vivian waved her little fist at Xia Fan as she walked off, indicating that she was going to get even in the most ruthless manner. Xia Fan found himself somewhat speechless in the end.
…
…
The six cadets waited outside Jiang Yusheng’s office. The Vice Camp Commander seemed to have called a meeting, as people wearing a training camp instructor badge would enter his office from time to time.
Vivian arrived as well, except she no longer looked like a little girl like before, and had turned into a bonafide beauty.
Standing over 1.7 meters with high heels on, she carried herself gracefully, thick at places that required thickness, and then where it mattered the most. Her golden blonde hair flowed behind her as she strode ahead, her long and slender legs generously revealing the black stockings underneath her short skirt, even her spectacles framing her face perfectly.
Though Vivian did not address Xia Fan in any way, he could easily tell who she was just with his sense of Smell alone.
Xia Fan could not resist pinching himself. He simply could not believe his eyes! What an amazing ability! Could Vivian actually change her looks and age at will?
Someone beside him chuckled, “Vivan is the disguise teacher at Blue Boiling Point Camp. She’s from the Thousand Nights race, so you better be careful from here on out after offending her.”
Xia Fan followed the voice and saw that it came from a young man with rare green hair. His looks were actually fairly ordinary by comparison, but his head of gra.s.s-like green hair was simply too eye-catching. It would be hard for him not to leave a deep impression on anyone. When the six of them were introducing themselves just now, he had said his name was Flying Bird; quite a strange name, too!
Xia Fan nodded understanding. “Oh, so she’s a Thousand Night Demoness. The Ashen Moon Grand Encyclopedia, in its seven thousand four hundred and sixty-seventh volume, devoted a large section to them.”
Hearing that, the eyes of Flying Bird and the other teenagers sparkled. The Ashen Moon Grand Encyclopedia was long and dry. It was largely viewed as the most boring book in the universe. Forget the fact that it was over forty thousand volumes long, the language it used was extremely obscure and difficult to understand. That was why, even though the encyclopedia enjoyed an extraordinary status in academia, few would actually really go read it. After all, the entire set was simply too boring, and only old pedants who had nothing to do would waste their time with it.
Aside from that, there was also the Ashen Moon Chronicles and the Ashen Moon Geographical History. The trio were infamously known as the universe’s three most boring books!
The moment Xia Fan heard of the Thousand Nights Demoness, he immediately recalled the exact volume they were mentioned in the encyclopedia, making all the other young lads both excited and curious.
The green-haired Flying Bird smiled and asked, “So, do you mean to say you’ve read the entirety of the Ashen Moon Grand Encyclopedia?”
Xia Fan hurriedly waved his hand, “Oh no, not that much. I only read the parts I was interested in, so approximately just a hundred or so of them.”
“That’s more like it,” Flying Bird stroked his chin and said. “There’s no way anyone at our age could read everything. Being able to read over a hundred volumes is already very remarkable. I only read sixty-five volumes of them after I was forced to do so by my family.”
Xia Fan nodded, but what he did not inform Flying Bird of was that he had completed those volumes across a four-month period, since he had gotten off the Holy Tomb planet less than half a year ago!
It seemed like the office was finally ready. They began to call in the six cadets who had been waiting outside. The first was Bolong, who was none other than the shady short young teenager with the squinted eyes.
The process progressed fairly swiftly, someone called in every ten minutes or so. The people who made their way in never came out, most likely because there was another exit inside the office.
—
Xia Fan was the last to enter the office. What greeted him was striking. Jiang Yusheng was seated in the center, and there were instructors and teachers from the training camp gathered all around him. Their expressions were stern as they each held their own computer tablet, writing things quickly on them with electronic pens.
Jiang Yusheng lifted his head and pointed to a chair in the center. “Sit.”
Xia Fan did as he was told, while the people around read Xia Fan’s personal data.
Xia Fan saw Jiang Yushen wrinkle his forehead slightly. “So it was Candy Dad Jerry who recommended you. A 100% case closure rate, with three Tier C big cases under your belt. A dual ability user with both the Speed and a perception-type Scent special ability. Interesting.”
Lifting his head, Jiang Yusheng asked rapidly, “So tell us, just how did you discover Vivian was carrying an ion bomb? Was it with your keen sense of smell?”
Xia Fan smiled and replied without any hesitation, “That’s not all. Vivian’s skirt was embroidered with the school emblem of New Star Elementary School, while her schoolbag had the emblem of Dingxin Middle School: that was the first abnormality I detected. There was also not a single strand of hair on Vivian’s legs, appearing as if they had been shaved. That was very unusual, since no elementary school student would do something like that. That was the second abnormality. The third was how an elementary school student would appear here in the new student welcome a.s.sembly.
“The moment I noticed those points, I immediately used my Scent ability to make a comprehensive a.s.sessment of those present, only to discover that the unique smell that came from ion bombs was not lingering on Vivian alone, but fifteen other individuals were also carrying ion bombs!
“Thus, I made the snap judgment that it might be a premeditated attack, where the terrorists had snuck ion bombs onto people without their knowledge, and were waiting for the right time to remotely detonate them.
“Just as I was still undecided on how I could eliminate as many as sixteen targets in a swift manner, Bolong, who was seated in front of me, also discovered something was amiss and made the first move.
“As such, I was relegated to pa.s.sivity, so I immediately made my decision. As such, at the same time Bolong struck, I attempted to extract the ion bomb from Vivian, but Vivian tried to stop me with her abnormal reaction speed. Of course, she did not succeed, since my speed was several times faster than hers.
“That was also how I realized that Vivian wasn’t some innocent victim. Seeing as how she could very well be a terrorist herself, I immediately changed to attack her with everything I had, mercilessly slamming her to the ground, and proceeded to remove the bomb from her.
“At that moment, only six individuals had been discovered, so there were still as many as ten other suspects that had yet to be stopped. Just as I was about to accelerate toward them to diffuse the other threats, the students around me instead began to attack me, which once again left me on the back foot.
“Then Camp commander Jiang appeared, and when I realized everything must have been a drill of sorts.”
Xia Fan recounted his actions and gave an account of his thought process without holding anything back.
When he was done, he looked around the room and scratched his head subconsciously. “Teachers, why are you all looking at me like that?”