Ring, ring!
Early that morning, Xu Tui was woken by the slightly grating sound of the doorbell.
He opened his eyes.
He felt quite refreshed.
He felt he'd slept enough, but was still just a little short.
If only he could lie in bed a little longer, it would be perfect.
But the doorbell kept ringing.
Xu Tui had no choice but to force himself out of bed.
At that moment, he felt as if countless little hands were tugging at him from under the covers, trying to keep him from getting up.
But a handsome man had to have great willpower.
He threw off the covers, resolutely got up, and opened the door.
Of course, he had to put on some shorts first.
Xu Tui figured it was probably someone from the New Student Reception Center coming to wake him.
But why were they so dedicated?
Shouldn't they be calling his room to wake him up?
Rubbing his eyes, he opened the door.
The figure standing outside made Xu Tui shudder in an instant.
He hurriedly stood up straight and lowered the hand rubbing his eyes.
Seeing An Xiaoxue outside the door, wearing a light blue medical mask, Xu Tui felt mortified standing there bare-chested.
Being bare-chested wasn't really a problem.
It was just that he'd only just woken up.
"Teacher An, wh-what are you doing here?"
Xu Tui stammered, hurriedly hunching over.
"Are you planning to make me stand in the doorway and talk to you?" An Xiaoxue glanced at Xu Tui. Her large mask hid her expression.
"Please come in, Teacher An!"
"Close the door."
"Uh, all right. Teacher An, what brings you here? You could've called or messaged me. I'd have come running right away." At a loss, Xu Tui closed the door.
"Close your eyes," An Xiaoxue said again.
Xu Tui froze.
What was An Xiaoxue up to this time?
Still, thinking about her strength and her usual way of doing things, Xu Tui decided he wasn't in a position to question her just yet. He quickly closed his eyes.
At that moment, he thought that if he lost something, he'd accept it.
After all, he was quite charming!
"I put a piece of paper on your bedside table. Now focus your attention and read out what's written on it," An Xiaoxue said.
A test of his ability?
Xu Tui suddenly understood.
He wasn't embarrassed by the thoughts he'd just had, but he did feel a faint twinge of disappointment.
So early in the morning, and you—
Xu Tui was still able to get into the right frame of mind quickly.
Once he focused, he could "see" what was written on the paper on the table. "Passion fruit, 0.95 kilograms, unit price..."
It was a shopping receipt, and the writing was tiny.
But that didn't interfere with Xu Tui's Mental Induction.
"That's enough."
An Xiaoxue picked up the receipt, then said, "When I came in, I casually dropped a strand of hair somewhere in the room. Can you find it?"
"Teacher An, isn't it right under your foot?" Xu Tui asked in surprise.
"All right, you can open your eyes."
"Have you ever tested your maximum range? This room is a little small. Just now, your range from there to here was probably less than three meters." An Xiaoxue sounded very professional.
"Teacher An, I tried it at home. My range is about 3.12 meters." Xu Tui trusted An Xiaoxue, so he didn't hold anything back.
An Xiaoxue nodded slightly.
"Your Mental Induction will also be included in today's assessment.
"If you're willing to trust me, I think you should hold back a little during the test," An Xiaoxue said.
"Hold back?"
"Teacher An, you mean cheat—" An Xiaoxue's eyes fixed on him, and Xu Tui quickly waved his hands. "No, I understand what you mean. You're saying I shouldn't show them my limits."
"That's right. You should hold back both in the range of your Mental Induction and in how clearly you can sense things," An Xiaoxue said.
"Okay!"
Xu Tui agreed without hesitation. He could tell that An Xiaoxue meant him no harm.
"But, Teacher An, could you tell me why? That way I can be careful on my own," Xu Tui asked.
"What do you think someone with Mental Induction at your level would be best suited to do?" An Xiaoxue asked in return.
"Best suited to do?"
Xu Tui rested his chin in his hand. A sharpshooter? That was impossible. A sharpshooter with a range of about three meters would be a joke.
After thinking for a while, Xu Tui's brows suddenly twitched. "Surveillance? Watching people through walls? Or peeping?"
"Do you understand now?"
"Your ability is best suited for intelligence work, but that would be a waste. Most likely, they'd make you a spy—one who works against people on the inside," An Xiaoxue said bluntly.
A spy!
A spy working against people on the inside!
Those words sent a chill through Xu Tui.
"Teacher An, how could there be an inside spy—"
"Do you think the Gene Committees in the various districts of the Blue Star Alliance are all part of one united whole? If they are, why divide them into so many districts?
"Do you think all those gene-drug companies, along with the research institutes at the Gene Research Institute, are doing charity work?"
"That includes Huaxia Gene Evolution University."
An Xiaoxue let her words speak for themselves and said no more. "If you keep clinging to the ideas and worldview you had as a high school student, one day you might not even know how you died."
"Thank you, Teacher An."
He might not have eaten pork, but he'd certainly seen pigs run.
Xu Tui had seen plenty of the methods used in power struggles by all sorts of major factions in TV dramas and novels.
Before, he'd only seen them in anime and novels.
But after everything that had happened over the past few days, Xu Tui suddenly understood something: reality was often even more fantastical than fiction!
Come to think of it, given what An Xiaoxue had said, it really did make sense.
Xu Tui's ability would be perfect for going undercover and gathering intelligence!
"Of course, I'm only making a suggestion. Whether you hold back is up to you. If you're interested in intelligence work or becoming a spy, just ignore what I said," An Xiaoxue added.
Intelligence work?
Interested in becoming a spy?
Xu Tui quickly shook his head.
Especially the latter, where people often disappeared without a trace. As a hot-blooded young man, Xu Tui absolutely didn't like that, and would never want to do it!
"Teacher An, how much should I hold back with this ability?" Xu Tui asked.
An Xiaoxue surely knew more about this than he did.
"At least half."
"I recommend holding back half, both in your range and in how clearly you can sense things.
"This may affect your rating, but it will be good for your future and your personal safety," An Xiaoxue said.
"Half?"
Xu Tui nodded. "Teacher An, is there anything else I should hold back?"
"Do you have anything else?"
There was deep contempt in An Xiaoxue's retort.
"Show off all the other ways you're a genius. The more talented you are, the more face your teacher gets.
"By the way, as a student in the Wisdom Heart System, you've already been assigned to me. Is that all right?" An Xiaoxue asked.
"No problem, no problem."
Xu Tui hurriedly shook his head.
There was never a problem.
Even if there were, he'd still say there wasn't.
Otherwise, An Xiaoxue would surely beat him to a pulp.
To borrow something An Xiaoxue had just said, did he really think everyone was here to do charity work?
That was what Xu Tui thought.
"If there's no problem, sign your name on this report." An Xiaoxue handed him a report.
Xu Tui's heart jolted. Was this some kind of contract signing him away?
After reading it, Xu Tui realized he'd guessed wrong.
<Detailed Report on the Encounter on June 12, 2137, at 18:47>
"There are several sections that mention you, and you're a key witness. I need your signature to confirm them before the report can be submitted." An Xiaoxue leaned closer and pointed out several places in the report.
Her long hair, carrying a faint fragrance, drew close. Xu Tui's breathing quickened for a second or two, then he hurriedly gathered his thoughts.
It was early morning, and his just-woken-up problem had only just gone away. If it happened again and she noticed, the consequences—
Xu Tui read through it. Most of it was fine.
The account of discovering the spy, Cha Yifeng, was included. The one slightly debatable point was who had killed the cyborg Ahu.
The report listed Xu Tui as the killer, and An Xiaoxue had already signed to confirm it.
"Teacher An, you helped too. Shouldn't you get some credit?" Xu Tui said.
There would definitely be a reward for killing the cyborg Ahu.
"Don't question it. The credit is yours! And there should be a pretty good reward, which ought to help you right now. Sign it," An Xiaoxue said.
"Thank you, Teacher An."
Xu Tui thanked her again, with great sincerity.
According to Xu Tui's Mental Induction, An Xiaoxue's silver pellet had struck a fraction of a second later than his magnetic bead.
But both blows had been fatal. Who could say for sure?
If an official agency had to decide, nine times out of ten An Xiaoxue would have received most of the credit.
She had deliberately confirmed it for Xu Tui.
Right now, Xu Tui really needed it.
He owed her for this.
He signed quickly, and An Xiaoxue took the report back, ready to leave.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang again.
Xu Tui and An Xiaoxue looked at each other.
Who was it this early in the morning?
Xu Tui was just a student who had arrived to register.
As if they'd realized something, neither he nor An Xiaoxue moved. They waited for whoever was ringing the bell to give up and leave.
But the person outside was persistent, ringing it over and over.
They began knocking while they rang, then started shouting.
"Junior, get up! If you don't get up, you'll be late!"
"Go open the door," An Xiaoxue said after a moment of silence.
Xu Tui nodded blankly and went to open it.
"Coming, coming."
At the door, Xu Tui suddenly realized he wasn't dressed properly. He hurried back and pulled on a T-shirt.
When he opened the door, he saw a young man with multicolored hair whistling.
"Hey, junior, why aren't you opening the door this early in the morning—"
Before he could finish, the young man's mouth fell wide open. An Xiaoxue had just walked out of Xu Tui's room.
"I've finished signing the report. I'm leaving."
Wearing a large mask, An Xiaoxue strode out of Xu Tui's room without a care, her high ponytail swaying behind her.
The young man with multicolored hair looked at An Xiaoxue as she left, then at Xu Tui. His mouth formed an O, and his expression was complicated—and pained—to the extreme.
"You're incredible!"
"You actually got the Mysterious Academy's masked goddess in one night. You're Xu Tui, right, junior? Teach me how you did it.
"You teach me, and I'll introduce you to the academy's goddesses. We can go after them together. How about it?"
Xu Tui was at a loss for words. There was no point explaining this.
The more he tried, the worse it would sound.
Better not to explain.
"Something happened on the way earlier. Teacher An came to have me sign a report." Xu Tui said only that much.
The young man with multicolored hair looked at Xu Tui as if he'd never believe him.
"My name is Chai Xiao. I'm the senior student responsible for guiding you through today's entrance assessment and rating. You're Xu Tui, right? Where's Cheng Mo?"
Chai Xiao, his hair dyed red, white, and gray and tied up high with a headband, reached out to Xu Tui while peering inside.
"Cheng Mo? He went to the Medical Center."
At that, Chai Xiao immediately let out an exaggerated cry. "Wow! You guys are way too damn good. You even injured your roommate and sent him to the Medical Center just so you could sneak off together. That's next-level!"
"Stop, stop. Cheng Mo broke a bone. We were attacked on the way here."
"Holy crap, you guys are brutal. You actually broke his bones?"
Xu Tui: "."
"Senior Chai, it's not what you think. If you keep this up, I'll ask Teacher An to come back and talk to you about this." Xu Tui was getting annoyed.
"Then let's not. I understand, I get it."
Chai Xiao nodded quickly, but the very next moment, he cried out again. "Long hair! Long hair by the bed! That's definitely..."
Xu Tui: "."
"Also, Junior Xu, you've got your shirt on inside out."
Xu Tui: "."
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