The Natives of This World Are So Fierce: How Dawn Earned Its Keep
Why had Huang Jiutian and Qin Xiaoxia been so close since childhood?
The reason was actually rather interesting.
Perhaps partly thanks to his "upbringing," Qin Xiaoxia was very good at telling-or making up-stories.
Young as Qin Xiaoxia had been back then, whenever he started "story time" between classes, at least a circle of classmates would gather around to listen intently. They were more punctual for that than for class.
As his deskmate, Huang Jiutian had been his very first listener.
Some people simply had a gift for this sort of thing. Like master storytellers, they could make even an ordinary tale sound different.
Whenever Qin Xiaoxia's stories reached their climax, Huang Jiutian and the other children listening would all get goosebumps.
Now Huang Jiutian had the strange impression that he was back in his childhood, experiencing that same feeling he had when his classmate Qin Xiaoxia told stories.
With just a single sentence, before the story had even begun, his body had already picked up some sort of signal.
Actually, it was no mere impression.
Some aspects of Qin Xiaoxia's magic remained a mystery even to him, its wielder. As his mental state fluctuated, his magic could easily influence ordinary people's emotions.
"Jiu Tian, come sit here."
Qin Xiaoxia patted the empty spot beside him on the sofa.
"What I'm about to tell you might change the course of your entire life!"
Whatever direction his own future might take, Qin Xiaoxia had already hit the confirm button on the "Dawn Revival Plan" the previous night.
Dawn was an organization. Fighting alone had never been its guiding principle.
And so, talking his closest childhood friend Huang Jiutian into joining was a good choice, whether in terms of trust or personal affection.
Huang Jiutian, who had been almost too sleepy to function, was now wide awake.
He walked over to the sofa and sat down, joking with a show of ease.
"You bastard, are you trying to hoodwink me again? You and Doudou put on a pretty convincing act just now..."
At that, Doudou, who was munching on a fried dough stick nearby, gave him a derisive snort.
"Foolish Earthling."
Thwack! A knuckle strike immediately descended onto Doudou's head with a crisp crack, leaving Doudou grimacing in pain and unwilling to interrupt again.
Doudou's interruption helped Huang Jiutian relax considerably.
With the "outside interference" eliminated, Qin Xiaoxia looked at Huang Jiutian seriously and asked a question.
"Jiu Tian, do you believe in supernatural powers? Yes, you heard me right. Exactly the kind you're thinking of."
Before Huang Jiutian could ask what sort of supernatural powers he meant, Qin Xiaoxia had already added that clarification.
"Of course not!"
Huang Jiutian answered almost without thinking.
"Why not?"
"Why?"
Huang Jiutian looked at Qin Xiaoxia as though he were an idiot.
"Do I really need a reason? Why don't you give me a reason to believe?"
To Qin Xiaoxia, revealing his magic right now would offer direct proof, but it would also be the less effective approach.
His "backstory" needed magic as the final hammer blow that settled everything.
Over their long history, Dawn's members had long since developed a set of "recruitment theories."
One core principle was: "Convincing someone with evidence and convincing them before revealing the evidence often produce vastly different results."
This was precisely what made Dawn's band of swindlers so clever.
Countless successful cases throughout history had demonstrated it.
If you brought out your so-called "evidence" right from the start, the next step would inevitably be to verify that evidence.
For "evidence" that did not hold up in the first place, that was a dangerous development.
But if your silver tongue had already swayed someone, or even made them believe, producing the "evidence" afterward would usually cement the "facts" outright.
Qin Xiaoxia thought this remained an exceptionally clever approach even today!
And because he possessed real magic, he could skip many of the intermediate steps.
"Don't be so absolute. As I see it, this world contains plenty of mysterious things. Even language itself possesses wondrous power."
Huang Jiutian smiled as he waited for Qin Xiaoxia to continue his sales pitch.
"Picture this: say you wedged the point of a pin under your big toenail, then kicked a wall as hard as you could..."
"Hiss..."
Huang Jiutian instinctively sucked in a breath.
Just imagining that scene made his toe seem to throb with pain.
"See? You felt something, didn't you? Personally, I think curses work on a similar principle."
"That's way too much of a stretch!"
Huang Jiutian protested.
"All right, then what about that explosion and fire in the Qing Town Riverway? Do you really believe it was methane accumulated on the riverbed?"
That reminded Huang Jiutian of what several patients in the hospital room had said that day.
And of how the Crooked Loach River had been cordoned off for the following two days.
According to nearby residents, the bottom of the river had been scorched almost to the point of crystallization. Clearly, a methane explosion could not have caused that.
"But you still can't say supernatural powers caused it. Maybe the government lied to the public, but that could have been for military reasons or some other matter of secrecy!"
Huang Jiutian was still quick on his feet.
"Fair enough. Then let's talk about something closer to home. Do you think a world war might break out soon, or in the next few years? The kind that reaches our own country."
The question was utterly ridiculous. Huang Jiutian figured anyone with a functioning brain would know the answer.
"That's fucking bullshit. A financial war, I could half believe. But a world war? Ha! Do you think all the major powers have lost their minds?"
"Well said!"
Qin Xiaoxia applauded.
"Our classmate Jiu Tian does indeed have a functioning brain."
That made Huang Jiutian's brow twitch, but Qin Xiaoxia's next sentence left him completely stunned.
"Then, Mr. Huang with the functioning brain, would you please give me a reasonable explanation for what your company-and all the major engineering and construction groups you know through your contacts-have been busy with lately? You've signed nondisclosure agreements, haven't you?"
Now Huang Jiutian had nothing to say. In fact, that question had been one of the most discussed topics in their design department lately.
"If you can't answer, stop dwelling on it. Let's go back to Doudou and me examining that beer bottle on the coffee table."
"You were curious, weren't you? First, let me tell you that Doudou and I weren't trying to mess with you. To put it bluntly, messing with you isn't as appealing as sleeping in."
Qin Xiaoxia changed tracks so frequently that Huang Jiutian barely had time to think as he was dragged along, but those words made his brow twitch again.
"What's inside is neither a demon god nor the Black Pearl. It's a dangerous monster from another world. Do you believe that?"
"Hahahaha!"
Huang Jiutian laughed.
"That's even more ridiculous! You already took the stopper out... uh..."
At that point, despite his disbelief, Huang Jiutian instinctively glanced around with uneasy suspicion. After all, Qin Xiaoxia's smile had not changed once from start to finish, and that alone was rather unsettling.
He did not even realize that his own reaction had already begun to undermine his original position.
"All right. It really is unbelievable from your perspective."
Seeing Huang Jiutian's bravado falter, Qin Xiaoxia still did not explain in detail. Instead, he asked a question that seemed unrelated to everything they had discussed.
"Jiu Tian, what kind of family do you think would brand a mark like this onto a child's hand?"
Qin Xiaoxia extended his right hand again, opening it to reveal the brand concealed in his palm.
The blazing sun seemed to radiate light, pulsing in his palm.
Thump, thump, thump.
Huang Jiutian did not know what had come over him. His heart beat harder and faster, and an unbelievable thought seemed ready to leap out of his mind at any moment.
Was the Old Qin he remembered mentally ill, or a sadist?
Absolutely not!
Thanks again, everyone, for your recommendation votes. I need to write up a change order for work, so the second chapter will be rather late. Read it tomorrow morning.