Chapter 69#

Wandering Photos 15#

Training ground.

The daily training for each group had just ended not long ago, and even those who liked to add extra sessions were taking a break at this moment.

So the people who stepped onto the field and assumed a sparring posture stood out especially clearly.

When the onlookers saw that it was the newcomers who had recently arrived, many couldn’t help but frown.

These five individuals had been transferred up from a lower-level base a few days ago.

Unlike other newcomers, they had awakened their abilities much earlier, had already undergone extensive training at their original base, and had been selected as the most outstanding “elites” from a group of awakened individuals. They were indeed a bit stronger.

Moreover, since they came from the same place, they had already formed a clique upon arrival. Word had it they had previously teamed up for missions together, so their mindset was vastly different from that of true rookies.

At first, they knew to be cautious, speaking little and observing much. But after two or three training sessions, they quickly became arrogant.

Those transferred from other combat squads in the Central Base were naturally not lacking in skill. However, they had undergone rigorous training and had been on missions of varying scale, so even in a new environment, they habitually followed the rules. They wouldn’t pick fights with their own comrades—at most, they would simply ignore them.

The newcomers who had no prior combat experience fared worse.

It was bad enough that they had to endure disdainful remarks like “So this is the strength of Central Base? Nothing special.” Within just a few days, many had been provoked and pinned down for a beating.

Afterward, they either became lackeys following the clique’s lead or kept their heads down and took a detour whenever they spotted that group.

In short, within a few days, these five had become the tyrants of the training ground, loathed by many yet impossible to deal with.

Now, as they set their sights on someone else, many couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

Especially when they saw the slender, delicate-looking youth they had surrounded.

To most people, Chu Chenli was also an unfamiliar face. A few had occasionally seen him walking with Xiaobai, but he never showed up during training, so they assumed he was an ordinary newcomer from some logistics department.

Some responsible individuals had already gone to find a senior who could handle the situation.

The clique members, confident in their own charm, claimed they would go easy on the pretty young man—at least they’d be careful not to damage his face.

“If we win, how about you stick with us? Don’t worry, we won’t treat you badly. From now on, you can say you’re under our protection…”

“Hmm?” Chu Chenli tilted his head slightly and asked, “Where are you from?”

The other side rattled off their origins like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.

The base they came from was a fairly well-known mid-sized base before being absorbed into the Central Base, and it still stood on the front lines facing hordes of aberrant creatures. Both its overall strength and status were not to be underestimated.

This was also one reason why others chose to avoid them rather than report them.

Some who had initially intended to step in and mediate froze on the spot, hesitating to move forward.

Only Xiaobai, standing at the edge of the field, couldn’t help but cover his face, peeking through his fingers at the group.

The clique members were still rambling on, showering him with flattery. Among the lackeys standing behind, some were clearly captivated by good looks, their eyes and hands twitching with restless intent.

But Xiaobai could tell that Chu Chenli was very unhappy now.

It would have been one thing if they had merely interrupted his training, but they had shamelessly launched a sneak attack. Xiaobai, whose vigilance was already lacking and who wasn’t used to keeping his mind-reading ability active at all times, naturally hadn’t noticed the hidden weapon flying from behind.

If Chu Chenli hadn’t pressed him down in time, he would have suffered at least some physical injury.

Sneak-attacking comrades and bullying the weak—these were actions that invited utter contempt.

And now they even had the audacity to flirt with Chu Chenli?

Xiaobai couldn’t help but imagine how tall the grass on their graves would be by this time next year.

Chu Chenli, however, remained composed. He listened unhurriedly to their boasts, then crooked a finger at their leader.

The leader, brimming with confidence, waved his lackeys back and took a step forward onto the cleared field.

Unofficial fights on the training ground were tacitly permitted to use abilities.

Xiaobai recalled their profiles. This five-person squad selected and sent by the base had been deliberately matched: one logistics workhorse with emergency medical skills—short statured but agile and quick; one so-called master of hidden weapons who boasted a perfect aim; one innate powerhouse with a defensive shield ability; and the remaining two, the former captain and vice-captain, both possessing offensive abilities suited for close combat.

The leading squad leader was the strongest among them. His ability seemed to be…

A flash of electric light streaked across the field.

A thunder-type energy core, astonishing in power, but with the drawback that it could only be conducted through the skin. The closer the range, the greater the force—essentially a human bomb.

The report from the original base also stated the hope that the Central Base could help improve the usage of this ability. It appeared to have no upper limit, but once the intensity during activation exceeded a certain threshold, it would also harm the user.

Before Xiaobai could finish his recollection, the electric light sputtered out almost instantly.

The man hadn’t even managed to get close to Chu Chenli. After a few simple exchanges, he was pinned to the ground by an invisible pressure.

He instinctively raised his arm, but in the next second, a crisp “crack” sounded. He let out a scream, and his arm dropped limply to the floor.

The entire field fell into dead silence.

Those who had muttered “That pretty boy is going to get hurt” just seconds ago nearly bit their tongues. Everyone else wore expressions of sheer bewilderment.

What had just happened?

In the oppressive stillness, only the piteous screams, like those of a pig being slaughtered, rang out clearly.

“What did you do to our boss?!” The lackeys, shocked and enraged, rushed at Chu Chenli in a flurry of emotion.

The one responsible for emergency medical care ran to the leader’s side and fumbled to help him sit up.

Chu Chenli found himself besieged by two others.

Xiaobai wanted to call them shameless, but he didn’t doubt Chu Chenli’s ability to handle them. However, in the next moment, he caught a glint of reflected light from a corner.

He squinted and saw someone holding something like a crossbow bolt, its sharp metal tip aimed at Chu Chenli’s heart.

This person was trying to kill A’li?

Xiaobai’s eyes unconsciously darkened. His mind went blank for an instant, and by the time he came to, he had already aimed at the eyes of the person in the shadows.

The hidden-weapon wielder’s face gradually twisted in terror—

He realized he couldn’t move.

“Are these the only five from this batch?” A calm voice came from the side, breaking the subtle silence.

Xiaobai snapped back to reality.

The hidden-weapon wielder’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground, trembling involuntarily with fear.

Before he could get up, a pair of hands pressed down on his shoulders.

Soon, cold handcuffs clicked around his wrists. Someone yanked him up from behind and dragged him toward Xiaobai.

At some point, Shen Xuanyi and Mu Yanshen had already been standing not far behind Xiaobai.

The duty officers maintaining order, their faces grim, also subdued the troublemakers and began to escort them away.

The specially made handcuffs were enough to temporarily suppress the abilities of these new awakened individuals. If that weren’t enough, there was still Xiaobai.

The duty officers were already familiar with Xiaobai; a simple meaningful glance conveyed the message.

With a ruckus like this, there would be some punishment at the very least.

But the main reason was that President Shen had witnessed this farce.

Although Shen Xuanyi had been too busy to personally oversee the training ground until now, it was clear that this kind of intent to kill a comrade was not something he wanted to see.

The recorder responsible for logging training personnel information had just been summoned, his hair still uncombed. He hurried over, messy and gasping, clutching his recording tablet as he greeted Shen Xuanyi.

The onlookers felt uneasy, but thankfully Shen Xuanyi didn’t vent his anger on them. Instead, he signaled the duty officers preparing to escort the newcomers to pause.

At that moment, Chu Chenli also twisted someone’s wrist and walked over, casually handing the person to a nearby duty officer who had a free hand.

The young man whose other arm had been directly dislocated was stiff all over, not even daring to cry out in pain. He just stared at Chu Chenli with the terrified look of someone seeing a monster.

Chu Chenli kindly explained, “It’s just a dislocation. Get someone to pop it back in—it’ll be fine.”

The duty officer breathed a sigh of relief.

With how this guy had been screaming, he had thought death was imminent.

Only the victim himself was left speechless with frustration.

He wanted to complain, but facing the person who had just ground his face into the dirt, he couldn’t utter a single word.

Psycho.

Total psycho.

With a face that looked completely harmless, his moves were absolutely ruthless!

If he had said that to Chu Chenli’s teammates, they would probably have just rolled their eyes and said A’li had already been gentle with him.

After all, the training ground was planned by Shen Xuanyi, and recruiting talent from branch bases was certainly his idea.

Seeing Chu Chenli’s response earlier, Shen Xuanyi knew he was helping him test the waters, so he asked, “What do you think?”

Chu Chenli swept his gaze over the few he had easily taken down and answered matter-of-factly, “They’ve had training. Stronger than average newcomers.”

The recorder’s hand trembled at the words.

Hearing Chu Chenli acknowledge someone else’s strength was… rather surreal.

Some bystanders who had long held a grudge against these five plucked up the courage to come forward and complain about their recent bullying behavior.

Shen Xuanyi nodded, thought for a moment, and said to the recorder, “Transfer them to Team One. Fierce courage isn’t a bad thing, but it’s not fit to be directed at comrades.”

The recorder’s expression shifted slightly.

The accuser also froze.

One of the handcuffed individuals, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but feel a surge of smugness, assuming Shen Xuanyi valued their strength and was willing to overlook their past transgressions to give them a promotion opportunity.

But then the accuser gave him a complex, hesitant look.

There was no jealousy or resentment in that look at all.

The recorder didn’t question Shen Xuanyi either. After a brief pause, he nodded in agreement, recording on his tablet while asking in a low voice, “And today’s incident…”

Should it be let go, or dealt with according to the rules?

By the rules, provoking an unauthorized fight with intent to kill would incur punishment.

But since they were being directly assigned to Team One, the penalty probably wouldn’t be too severe.

Likely just docking some pay, a verbal reprimand, and then letting them go.

Shen Xuanyi said, “Follow proper procedure.”

The recorder nodded and turned to arrange with the duty officers: “Take them to get simple medical treatment first, then bring them to the meeting room.”

Xiaobai was startled and quickly followed.

It was his first time seeing newcomers directly assigned to Team One. Since he didn’t go on field missions, he wasn’t familiar with the details, so he quietly asked a colleague next to him what was going on.

The colleague briefly explained.

Team One was one of several field squads, designated number one. They were nominally a vanguard squad, often leading reconnaissance missions, but they rarely deployed as a full team—usually only two to three people at most.

Initially, because cooperation wasn’t necessary, the team consisted mostly of loners. Later, all the misfits and weirdos who couldn’t be managed were also thrown in, to keep them from affecting other teams.

Successive administrators had turned a blind eye to them.

This team had existed before Shen Xuanyi took over.

Shen Xuanyi had no plans to disband it, but this was the first time he personally intervened to transfer someone there directly.

On the bright side, since they often faced danger alone, their overall strength was higher than other teams.

But on the flip side, due to lack of support and frequent disobedience to orders, this team also had a very high casualty rate.

In short, they faced greater risks, but correspondingly, the rules were much looser.

Xiaobai nodded, half-understanding.

His colleague reassured him that once they were sent away, they’d rarely cross paths again, so he wouldn’t have to worry about being bothered.

Xiaobai instinctively looked back.

The training ground had already returned to calm, though many couldn’t help but steal glances at Chu Chenli and Shen Xuanyi. No one dared to approach them recklessly.

Shen Xuanyi called Chu Chenli and Mu Yanshen and left the training ground together.

Chu Chenli asked what would happen to them.

Shen Xuanyi smiled. “Since they already have some experience and can’t stand to hold back their energy, they might as well go on missions early. To be honest, we’ve been a bit short on hands lately.”

With that, he changed the subject and asked Chu Chenli, “Did you and Xiao Mu have a fight?”

Chu Chenli said, “No.”

He looked up, meeting Mu Yanshen’s gaze from across Shen Xuanyi.

Both of them paused for a moment.

Mu Yanshen opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

Shen Xuanyi played peacemaker: “If there’s a misunderstanding, it’s better to clear it up sooner rather than later. With the state you two are in now, I wouldn’t feel comfortable sending you both on the next mission.”

Chu Chenli considered it and said to Mu Yanshen, “Let’s talk.”

Mu Yanshen’s gaze flickered for a moment, then he nodded.

Shen Xuanyi thoughtfully gave them space. When they reached the dormitory building, he excused himself, saying he had work to do, and left first.

Walking to the fork in the road, he stopped and turned around, watching as the two exchanged a few low words at the entrance before heading upstairs together.

Only when they were out of sight did Shen Xuanyi turn and leave.

…

After a chaotic morning, He Ziyue and her subordinates finally completed the final upgrade to the system.

The remaining monitoring and cleanup could be left to others. He Ziyue set down her keyboard and unhesitatingly chose to skip work.

But as soon as she stepped out of the data center’s main gate, Luo Yunshu greeted her with a smile, saying President Shen needed to see her.

If Shen Xuanyi was asking, it must be something important.

He Ziyue didn’t overthink it. She silently scratched off her afternoon relaxation plans and followed Luo Yunshu to Shen Xuanyi’s office.

On the way, she probed for information.

Luo Yunshu didn’t hide anything. He told her that there had been a meeting that morning that likely touched again on President Shen’s teammates, possibly with emphasis on her.

But as for specifics, he wasn’t clear either.

A small fraction of the base’s higher-ups had always had some minor issues with the few of them—that was something they all knew.

He Ziyue pondered what this could be about all the way.

But up until the door, she couldn’t figure it out. It wasn’t that she had no ideas; rather, there were too many possibilities for her to choose from.

In the end, she put it aside, deciding to just talk with Shen Xuanyi first.

When it came to brain-racking matters, it was best to just listen to the boss.

In He Ziyue’s imagination, Shen Xuanyi was either busy with work or wearing a solemn expression, ready to discuss some imminent crisis with her.

So she unconsciously straightened her own expression, took a deep breath at the door, and pushed open the slightly ajar door.

The moment she entered, a faint current of air brushed past her face, lifting a strand of her bangs.

Thwack.

A dagger, like a dart, embedded itself into something on the opposite wall.

He Ziyue instinctively held her breath, her gaze unconsciously drifting toward it.

Shen Xuanyi, still looking utterly unruffled, glanced at He Ziyue and pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat for a moment.”

As He Ziyue moved over, she quickly turned her head.

She finally saw what was on the wall: an ordinary circular target, but with a small paper figure stuck at the center. A simple face was drawn on the head.

Although the face had been split in half by the blade, she still felt it looked suspiciously like… Xiao Mu?

He Ziyue rubbed her nose and asked tentatively, “Boss, who’s been getting on your nerves lately?”

Shen Xuanyi’s expression was calm, and he even gave her a slight smile. “No one. I’m just calming myself down a bit.”