Of the 82 ability users, 56 of them were soldiers who had undergone rigorous military training while the other 26 were ordinary citizens who originally could barely truss up a chicken. Nevertheless, both soldiers and citizens acquired abilities at the same time and so were still in the stage of ignorance and exploration. Therefore, the base especially arranged a lot of training courses for them which were taught by the base’s ’prophet’, Gong Xiangyi.
Because of her experience from her previous life, Gong Xiangyi naturally knew a lot of things that ordinary people didn’t know. She taught the curriculum to the heads and her words brought great inspiration. Plus, she’s the sister of the strongest person on the base, Gong Lixin. This identity was enough to suppress the arrogance of the ability users. Over time, Gong Xiangyi established her own reputation.
When Lin Wenbo, Gong Lixin, and Song Haoran came to the training ground, Gong Xiangyi had been observing for a long time, trying to find some potential newcomers for her to use.
In the training ground, the ability users either paired up and trained together, or chose a secluded corner to practice the release of their ability or attack rows of targets, making for a very lively scene.
The people who saw the three slowly approach from outside the field immediately stopped training and yelled, attracting everyone’s attention.
They couldn’t be blamed for their excitement. After all, Gong Lixin was the strongest person recognized by the base and was also the existence that the ability users looked up to. He could control his abilities without special training and frequently entered the city center to rescue people. Without a single failure, his brilliant accomplishments have long spread throughout the base.
Upon receiving the notification from the group of people, everyone would want to talk to the trio so when the latter saw them appear in the training ground, they immediately guessed their intentions.
"Why so noisy? Focus on training! Use your strongest move!" Off to the side and standing next to Gong Xiangyi, the instructor responsible for supervision scolded loudly.
Everyone heard his scolding words and immediately contained their excitement and trained harder, enough to make the instructor nod in approval.
The instructors themselves were also respected figures. Their strength was higher than the people present and the military had appointed them as coaches. Of course, Lin Wenbo and Song Haoran would come to the training ground from time to time to communicate with the ability users if they had time.
Gong Lixin was an otaku in his previous life and in this life as well, always staying cooped up inside the house. No one told him so he didn’t know that ability users had to participate in special training. Therefore, he had not been to the training field for nearly half a month. Appearing on the training field now, his heart wondered why he hadn’t seen Wang Tao and the others.
Being able to have close contact with the idol of his heart, the instructor was a little excited. After giving Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo a polite nod, he turned to look at Gong Lixin with burning eyes. He stood with his feet close together and he bent over as his voice trembled, "Young Master Gong!"
A master was always admired, but when one caught sight the tail of a dragon, their interest will naturally shift. Unless there was a mission, Young Master Gong never appeared in front of others in the base. The instructor’s hands shook from excitement.
"Hello." Gong Lixin nodded to him while smiling faintly.
"Is Young Master Gong here to pick members of his team?" With the instructor’s careful inquiry, the light in his eyes grew hot. "Is there any candidate you’ve already considered in advance?"
His attitude was too eager and this greatly got on Song Haoran’s nerves. Song Haoran’s brow wrinkled in disapproval as he stood in front of Gong Lixin.
He said, "No, we’re just taking a look. I will talk to you later as we are still busy with our visit." The instructor was someone Song Haoran pulled up from his position of a new recruit. Not wanting to be reprimanded by Song Haoran and to see his displeased face, the courage in the instructor’s heart was quickly snuffed out, and the words that rushed to his throat which wanted to recommend himself to Young Master Gong also retreated into his belly.
However, he hesitated for a few minutes before he finally couldn’t resist the desire in his heart. He took a piece of paper with information from his pocket and handed it to Gong Lixin. He said, "This contains the details of all 82 ability users and the training they are undergoing. Young Master Gong should look at it and, in case Young Master Gong is interested, my information can be found at the bottom."
"Thank you." Gong Lixin took it with a smile and looked at it.
The instructor saw him paying close attention to the piece of paper and retreated after letting out a relieved sigh. Song Haoran leaned over and saw the first page was the extremely detailed information of the instructor. These people were really sharpening their skills and wanted to join Lixin’s team! If it was not for Uncle Gong’s instruction about letting Lixin lead the team alone, he would also want to be in Lixin’s team.
On one side, Song Haoran and Gong Lixin were browsing the information of the ability users. On the other, Lin Wenbo saw Gong Xiangyi also looking and writing on it with a pen. He whispered, "What are you doing? With this list, do you want to make your own team?"
"Yes, I’ve already picked some people. You are the captain and I am the vice captain. Here, this is the list of our team members. We’ll wait for their training to end before I take you to introduce them." Gong Xiangyi handed the list of ten members to Lin Wenbo with a matter-of-fact air.
Lin Wenbo frowned and immediately opposed it. "You don’t have any ability to protect yourself, what are you going on a mission for? Stop messing around!"
Gong Xiangyi was anxious, her eyes stunned wide as she retorted, "Who said that I don’t have the ability to protect myself? My fists are strong and my shooting is also accurate. I can also hide inside my space when I encounter any major danger. In any case, this matter was approved of by my father."
In her last life, she had already trained her marksmanship many times and could shoot down a target from a hundred steps away. In this world, when she continued training her marksmanship, she casually held a gun in both hands, impressing even her father. Therefore, when she proposed the idea of forming her own team, Father Gong hesitated for a while but in the end, agreed. In Gong Yuanhang’s opinion, it was a good thing to let her daughter be busy. It would save her from thinking all day and being idle. In addition, it was a fact that only when children have been subjected to danger of real life could they really grow up.
Using Father Gong’s name failed to make Lin Wenbo compromise. He looked at the list that Gong Xiangyi handed over to him and said with a firm tone, "It’s not necessary to say that as I don’t agree. The base already has few space ability users. If you and I are out on a task and you have to expose your strength, sooner or later, you and your supplies will be in danger!"
Gong Xiangyi grinned, unconvinced. "It’s nothing. Won’t you be there with me? I know you will protect me!" In her last life, as long as Lin Wenbo was by her side, he was always able to protect her, making her feel safe.
Lin Wenbo hit his head, feeling helpless. After a long moment of silence, he decided to look at Gong Xiangyi, his tone was extra forceful. "I can’t watch you all the time and I can’t take care of you. Xiangyi, you only have to stay in the base to be safe."
"Here you are saying this again!" He always advised her to stay in the base as he went out. Lin Wenbo, are you still not tired of repeating the same thing? Memories of her previous life before her death surged forth, and Gong Xiangyi’s resolution shattered in an instant. Her face turned red as she shouted, "Impossible! Lin Wenbo, I’ll tell you this, you will not leave me behind again in this life!"
The high octave scream echoed over the training ground, attracting people’s attention to the scene. Gong Lixin and Song Haoran also stopped talking and looked at the two.
They became the focus of everyone’s attention and curious gazes. Lin Wenbo’s eyebrows furrowed and his face became dark. He gritted his teeth and loosened them, loosened them then gritted them once again. Finally, with his voice low and a face with a look of anger, he opened his mouth. "You win, but follow my orders."
Gong Xiangyi’s peach blossom eyes slowly turned up again and she smiled with satisfaction, no sight of her hysterical display from before. Seeing her capricious emotional changes, Lin Wenbo didn’t say anything and suddenly felt exhausted.
Seeing the contradictions of the two people, Song Haoran pitied his friend and instead asked Gong Lixin, who was still searching through the information on the list, "What is Lixin looking for? I know the situation of the people here, so you can ask me."
"I want to know about Wang Tao’s training situation," Gong Lixin pointed to the corner of the training ground at Wang Tao and the others.
Seeing Young Master Gong pointing in their direction, Wang Tao and the others were shocked and immediately practised harder, fearing that Young Master Gong would be dissatisfied with their performance and disregard them in his eyes.
"Wang Tao is a person with power ability. His speed, strength, and physical abilities are higher than those of other ability users, but there’s nothing else special about him except for that. At present, power ability users are relatively useless." Song Haoran told him the truth.
"Yes, those friends of yours, except for Ma Jun, are very weak. Sun Tiantian’s brain is stupid and can’t keep up with training. Sun Jie is too young and his stamina, too weak. As for the power ability of Wang Tao, it’s useless compared to other ability users’. Such animal-like existence, as long as you release an ability attack, you can kill them in one shot." Gong Xiangyi walked towards the two people while gloating. [1]
Gong Lixin had a problem: that is, a short temper, and it was a very short temper. No one was allowed to bully his people. Unfortunately, Gong Xiangyi just stepped on this minefield, escalating his anger and making his eyes burn with fury.
His gaze was like a sword and it stabbed Gong Xiangyi without mercy. His tone was merciless. "Gong Xiangyi, what qualifications do you think you have to dare call my friends filthy animals? Compared to my friends, you are nothing but a mobile warehouse. Your existence, if not the same, is even lower than an animal’s! Without releasing my abilities, I can crush you with one finger!"
Gong Xiangyi looked away, avoiding his furious gaze. Her heart was extremely frightened that she did not dare talk back. Her face was pale, her chest violently heaving up and down, and her shaking lips couldn’t even spit out half a rebuttal. Gong Lixin’s words were not only sinister but also poked at her sore spot. She didn’t have any ability to protect herself.
Lin Wenbo glanced at her ugly expression and thought of his own frustration, so he did not help her. He had observed that Xiaoxin is Gong Xiangyi’s nemesis. When faced with Xiaoxin, Gong Xiangyi’s emotion became unstable and her high-spirited attitude would turn into impatience and awkwardness.
Song Haoran sneered, mocking Gong Xiangyi before turning to Lixin, "Lixin, our comrades will fight with us. We were born together and thus, we will die together. They are people we can entrust our lives to. When choosing comrades, remember that strength only comes second. The most important thing is character. The combination of character and a reliable personality would make for the best team. Even if they are weak now, sooner or later, they will eventually become stronger. Let’s go. Lixin, follow your own instinct and pick the people you want. Don’t be influenced by others who don’t know what they’re doing."
"Haoran’s right. When picking teammates, the most important thing is character, strength comes second. Xiaoxin, what do you think? Who are you choosing?" Lin Wenbo patted Gong Lixin’s fluffy hair with an open smile.
"I understand. Thank you, Big Brother Song, Big Brother Lin!" There were two people to comfort him and support his decision. Gong Lixin’s anger was gradually extinguished and his eyes curved up with a smile as he nodded.
Closing the information list and handing it back to the instructor, he already had a plan in his heart and looked around the training ground before a strange "huh?" was uttered.
"What’s wrong?" Song Haoran immediately asked as he heard this.
"Why don’t I see Gu Nan?" He looked around the training ground again and still couldn’t find Gu Nan’s figure.
"Gu Nan?" Gong Xiangyi came back to her senses once again and she openly mocked, "Gu Nan still hasn’t triggered his abilities, so he’s going to undergo an extreme training in an out-of-the-way training ground. Actually, if you didn’t mention him, I almost would have forgotten he existed."
Gong Lixin coldly glared at Gong Xiangyi before walking to the other side of the training ground. If so far, none of his abilities have been triggered, it’s probably because his meridians are blocked or he can’t concentrate his energy. Gong Lixin should be able to fix it.
[1] CrazedCookies: Man, do I ever wanna slap this b*** senseless
Wuxian: The Gong-Xiangyi-face-slapping courtesy of Gong Lixin in this chapter was extremely gratifying. He needs to do it more often.
CrazedCookies: Here’s bonus chapter 2/18. Enjoy!!