Hui Tian Ch 31

Chapter 31

“If one day my guardian and Director-General Nielsen get into a fight for you, whom would you help?”

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Early morning.

The bedroom was quiet and dim. The bedding on the large bed was in disarray, and the faint sound of heavy breathing could be heard. Clothes were scattered on the floor.

Everything was so hazy and ambiguous, until—swoosh!

The floor-to-ceiling curtains were pulled open, and sunlight poured in. Yang Xiaodao turned around, holding a spatula, and looked down at the large bed:
“Get up and eat; I have to go to school.”

Bai Sheng, wearing only a pair of large boxer shorts, was lying diagonally at a 45-degree angle, mumbling as he pulled the quilt over his head. “Stupid kid, you don’t have school until this afternoon. Supervisor Shen is coming over this morning to take you for your rating registration and evaluation. Let me sleep a little longer…”

Yang Xiaodao caught sight of something by the pillow and was shocked. “What are you holding in your hand?”

Bai Sheng was hugging a pillow with his right hand, and his left hand was resting on a file. The file itself was very new, and it looked like he hadn’t flipped through it more than twice since he got it. But the photo pasted on the title page had been caressed so much that the edges were frayed. It had probably been cut from a newspaper. The Shenhai City Supervisor was standing in the rain holding a black umbrella, only his pale and beautiful chin visible.

“Yawn—” Bai Sheng yawned sleepily. “Please, just let me sleep a little longer. I was looking at your Supervisor Shen’s photo last night, and I was thinking about him until after three before I fell asleep…”

Yang Xiaodao stood there, petrified, and after a long while, squeezed out the word: “…Thinking?”

Bai Sheng: “Uh-huh.”

An indescribable realization shook the boy’s pure heart. After a moment, he said in disbelief, “—Thinking?!”

“Uh-huh,” Bai Sheng said lazily. “Adults think about each other. What’s wrong with that?”

The boy was finally forced to face the real and terrible adult world. He stood there, lost, opening and closing his mouth. After a long while, he finally voiced the confusion that had been hidden deep in his heart:
“…I have a question.”

Bai Sheng closed his eyes. “Say your question.”

“You’re all adults. Can’t you think about something else, like solving global warming, climate change, the energy crisis, and education for people in poverty-stricken areas?”

“…………”

Bai Sheng opened his eyes and stared at Yang Xiaodao blankly. After a long moment, he said solemnly, “Thank you, son. It’s truly my blessing to have raised you.”

Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

“Yo, the object of my thoughts is here!” Bai Sheng’s spirits suddenly lifted. He stuffed the file and photo under his pillow and, with a carp-like leap, rushed into the bathroom, calling back without turning his head, “Just say I was thinking about global warming until after five last night, remember that!”

Yang Xiaodao: “…”

The boy looked up at the sky wordlessly, then padded to the door in his slippers. Outside was indeed the slender, smartly uniformed Shenhai City Supervisor, his features beautiful and clear, his hands encased in black leather gloves, elegantly and calmly crossed in front of him.

It was actually a perfect image that inspired awe, but the first thing that popped into Yang Xiaodao’s mind was the unfortunate photo under his guardian’s pillow.

“…” Yang Xiaodao’s heart was a mix of emotions. “Good morning.”

Shen Zhuo looked him up and down, a little surprised. “What are you…”

The sixteen-year-old defiant boy, lean and fierce in physique, was wearing a black tank top and boxing shorts, a free floral apron from a supermarket tied around his waist, a pair of pink and blue non-slip kitchen slippers on his feet, and holding a sizzling frying pan in his hand. In the pan were two fried eggs, a few mushrooms, and a handful of glisteningly green spinach with oil and salt.

Ding. Two slices of whole-wheat toast popped out of the toaster in the kitchen.

“Want some?” Yang Xiaodao held the pan out to Shen Zhuo with a blank expression.

·

Ten minutes later, Shen Zhuo and Bai Sheng were sitting at the dining table. Yang Xiaodao, holding the frying pan, shoveled a fried egg onto each of their plates. The perfectly runny yolks, garnished with chopped green onions, gave off an enticing aroma.

In just a short while, Bai Sheng had managed to make himself look perfect. His shirt and long pants were handsome and refreshing, and he was young, energetic, and sparkling. That tuft of silver hair stood up arrogantly, a perfect reflection of his happiness at being able to have breakfast with Supervisor Shen. He tapped his porcelain plate with his chopsticks. “I want another egg!”

Yang Xiaodao skillfully shoveled another egg onto his plate and looked at Shen Zhuo with questioning eyes to see if he also wanted another one.

“…No more, thank you.”

Shen Zhuo put down his bowl of oatmeal and watched as Yang Xiaodao went back to the kitchen and personally prepared a lunch box for himself with steamed sea bass, sweet and sour pork ribs, boiled broccoli, and purple cabbage, packing it neatly into his school bag. At that moment, Shen Zhuo could no longer ignore his growing confusion. He turned to Bai Sheng and asked:
“What has this child been through?”

Bai Sheng answered humbly, “He has undergone rigorous and thorough personality training.”

Yang Xiaodao said coolly, “I have experienced a guardian who cooks in a suicidal manner.”

As a teenager, Bai Sheng’s independent living skills were actually quite average, because the Bai family had cooks, bodyguards, drivers, and gardeners, and would absolutely not let the young master, who was still in school, do anything himself. But after adopting Yang Xiaodao five years ago, Bai Sheng suddenly developed a strong sense of mission as an alpha wolf, believing that in modern society, regardless of wealth, everyone should learn independent living skills, and the first thing was to train the child to cook. To lead by example, he personally made a dish of daylilies, wood ear mushrooms, and vermicelli. The wood ear mushrooms, which had been soaked for a full day and night, successfully sent both himself and Yang Xiaodao to the emergency room. If not for the fact that they were both evolutionists, that one meal would have been enough to kill them each eight times over.

The 11-year-old Yang Xiaodao already had a very clear head. He realized that his life was in his own hands. So after returning from the emergency room, he grunted and pulled over a small stool, stood by the stove, and, while reading a cookbook, banged out a four-course meal with soup, literally forced by life to become a talent overnight. The unwilling Bai Sheng then took Yang Xiaodao to learn baking, welding, carpentry, plumbing, appliance repair, and even cross-stitch. In the end, he successfully cultivated Yang Xiaodao into an all-around homemaker, giving him a huge advantage in the fiercely competitive future mating market. He would have no problem being a virtuous husband and loving father.

“—I can also bake cakes!” Bai Sheng emphasized to Shen Zhuo with a heavy tone.

In the kitchen, Yang Xiaodao said with a deadpan face, “I can even frost the cakes.”

Shen Zhuo: “…”

A beautiful day began with breakfast with Supervisor Shen. After breakfast, Bai Sheng went out in high spirits to fulfill his duty as the alpha wolf—to throw money at getting his stupid kid into a private high school. Today, he was going to sign the donation contract.

As a fanatic of male competition, Bai Sheng absolutely could not tolerate any shortcomings around him. Therefore, his greatest task as the alpha wolf was to get his stupid peer’s child into a university as well. It didn’t matter what university, as long as it was a proper one. Even a major in postpartum care for sows would do. Otherwise, as an S-class who had never lost a male competition in his life:
“—I wouldn’t be able to rest in peace even if I died. A hundred years later, my bones would sit up in my coffin and dig their way to that stupid kid’s grave to slap him!”

“He’s getting his rating done today. Aren’t you going with him to the Supervision Office?” Shen Zhuo asked, rolling down his car window.

Two cars were parked side by side at the community gate, one being Shen Zhuo’s own Supervision Office official car, and the other being Bai Sheng’s family’s Cullinan. The S-class gentleman had one hand on the steering wheel, his whole head sticking out of the window, smilingly propping his chin with one hand as he admired Supervisor Shen, as if trying to make up for the regret of only being able to look at photos last night. After a moment, he waved his hand nonchalantly. “It’s fine. How can I not be at ease with you taking care of this stupid kid?”

“You don’t want to know Yang Xiaodao’s evolution level at the first opportunity?”

“Bah, what evolution level.” Bai Sheng was unconcerned. “I can tell what level he is just by sniffing. His IQ is at most a D, can’t be any higher.”

Yang Xiaodao, holding his school bag in the back seat of Shen Zhuo’s car, ignored this cheap, trashy father of his.

Shen Zhuo shook his head with a sneer, stepped on the gas, and drove out of the community.

·

When sudden evolution first began five years ago, the Central Research Institute’s laboratory under Shen Zhuo’s command was the first to invent the gene-sequencing method. An evolutionist first had to have their blood drawn for genetic analysis, inferring the type of ability through recombinant enzymes, and then mixing the blood sample with a sensing agent before transfusing it back into the evolutionist’s body.

After the sensing agent reacted with the DNA recombinase, it would determine the evolutionist’s evolution level based on the strength of their genes, automatically generating the letters A, B, C, D, and S, which would appear on the back of the evolutionist’s left hand or below their left collarbone.

The half-life of the sensing agent was extremely long, so the level letter on an evolutionist’s body would never fade in their lifetime. It could not be artificially removed or tampered with. Even if the flesh were dug out, it would reappear on the scar, thus eliminating any possibility of forgery.

In the past five years, friction between humans and evolutionists has been constant, and the global situation has become increasingly tense. Therefore, some evolutionists have tried to hide their identities and evade registration. But under the tight dragnet of the major Supervision Offices, hiding one’s identity has become very difficult. A case like Yang Xiaodao’s, where an S-class alpha wolf has sheltered him to this day without registration, is even more unheard of. It took Shui Ronghua a long time rummaging through the laboratory to find a tube of sensing agent.

“The evolution in terms of physical fitness is already very obvious. I guess this child’s ability should be related to strength.” Shui Ronghua infused the sensing agent back into Yang Xiaodao’s body, watching the bright red liquid gradually advance through the vein in his arm. She asked casually, “How old are you, little friend?”

The cool Yang Xiaodao was obviously timid in front of women. He sat up straight, looked down at the ground, and answered in a muffled voice, “Sixteen.”

Shui Ronghua praised him, “So brave!” Then, after finishing the injection, she took out a lollipop from the pocket of her white coat. Yang Xiaodao obediently took the reward and ate it.

At this moment, with a crackle of electricity, the ability measuring instrument in the laboratory began to react.

Everyone looked over at the same time and saw a lead ball installed at the top of the huge transparent simulation box suddenly being pushed by an invisible force. With a “bang!”, it slammed down hard, and the display instantly shot up to a high score of 856‰.

Chen Miao took a breath. “Strength evolution, not bad, classmate Yang Xiaodao! Only about 50 points lower than Yue-ge back in the day!”

Shen Zhuo said softly, “It’s different. Yue Yang has already reached his peak, but he hasn’t.”

Chen Miao was stunned for a moment, then cried out, “Thunderstorm!”

The simulation box crackled with bright light, almost scorching people’s eyes in an instant. Several people subconsciously averted their eyes. Then, flames erupted violently, only to be swallowed by a flood. The next second, black smoke howled like a poisonous dragon, and lightning coiled like a giant snake. Detailed reports of various abilities were spat out from the identifier with a clatter.

“Gravity manipulation… geomagnetism and weather… all natural element abilities…” Chen Miao reached out to take the reports one after another. “Dao-ge! My Dao-ge is awesome, he must be an A now!”

Generally, a B-class could have at most two abilities. An A-class, with increased strength, could have five to six. The A-class evolutionist with the most abilities in the world was Yue Yang, with a total of 13 evolutions, including physical fitness. When his rating came out, it had already shaken the International Supervision General Administration.

Frost quickly covered the simulation box. The borosilicate glass, which could withstand extreme low temperatures of 3 Kelvin, made a cracking sound as if it couldn’t bear the load any longer. Then—

BOOM!!

Everyone instantly ducked under the test bench. The simulation box exploded with a loud bang, and glass fragments flew all over the room. The measuring instrument was officially declared scrapped.

“Thir… thirteen types…” Chen Miao’s hands trembled as he took the last report spat out by the identifier. “Not… not bad, Yang Xiaodao. In another two years, you can go to the Central District and challenge Yue-ge one-on-one…”

Yang Xiaodao sat in the huge laboratory, his lean upper body covered with electrode pads, and connected to the ability measuring instrument by wires of different colors. On the back of his left hand, the sensing agent was rapidly revealing an A, its color a deep, almost black, red.

Such a deep level mark was also on Yue Yang’s hand, indicating the destruction and suppression type—a strong A.

Shen Zhuo stood up from under the test bench, one hand on the table. “More than that.”

Chen Miao: “Huh?”

Following Shen Zhuo’s gaze, he saw a faint, deep glow quietly lingering in the ruins of the simulation box. It was Yang Xiaodao’s last ability.

“…I’ve always wondered why Bai Sheng didn’t put you in his Unfinished Building, but kept you by his side personally. A few days after Rong Qi forced out his causality law, you immediately returned to Shenhai.”

Yang Xiaodao mumbled something, not making a sound.

“So that’s how it is.” Shen Zhuo reached out and held the faint glow, saying softly, “…Even eight hundred schemes would be an understatement to describe Bai Sheng.”

With a few clicks, the identifier spat out Yang Xiaodao’s fourteenth ability report. Chen Miao blankly took it and looked—

【A-class Evolution, Luck Value】

An evolutionist’s luck in a certain random direction is always negative, including but not limited to: always losing money when going out, always losing umbrellas when it rains, always getting stuck in traffic when going out, always losing at the gambling table, a difficult childhood, and always guessing wrong on multiple-choice exam questions.

According to the law of conservation of causality, the accumulated luck value can be used once for a specified event. Regardless of how low the actual success rate of the event is, after using the A-class luck value ability, the success rate can be increased to a minimum of 50% and a maximum of 99%.

Note: As the accumulation of luck value is extremely slow, this ability is not easily triggered, and the observation difficulty is +++.

“…” Chen Miao looked at Yang Xiaodao in shock. “Friend, well done. You’re the designated koi fish of causality law?!”

·

“No problem, leave the matter of getting into university to us!” In the meeting room of Boyi High School, the principal slapped the thick stack of newly signed donation contracts on the table and said resoundingly, “Although classmate Yang’s combined science score is 85, his history passed, his English grammar is also acceptable, and his geography is close to a perfect score except for the multiple-choice questions!”

Bai Sheng nodded with satisfaction, then whispered a reminder, “Self-improvement.”

The principal said forcefully, “This unyielding character, this spirit of self-improvement, is exactly what we encourage and advocate for. The future is promising!”

Clap clap clap clap. The director of teaching affairs below the stage led a group of teachers in solemn applause.

Everyone stood up one after another. A cheerful atmosphere filled the inside and outside of the meeting room.

Bai Sheng had finally accomplished a major task and was overjoyed by the principal’s praise. At the enthusiastic invitation, he decided to stay for lunch at the school cafeteria. While quickly searching for pink pineapples near the school on a food delivery app, he called Shen Zhuo. “Hello, darling, want to have lunch with me? If things go smoothly, we can abandon the child at school this afternoon and then go hand-in-hand to Iceland to see the aurora, to London to feed the pigeons, to the Trevi Fountain in Rome, to Disneyland to watch the fireworks. If things don’t go smoothly, I’ll call you every half hour… Hello? Hello, why did you hang up?”

Shen Zhuo hung up without a word and stepped on the gas as the green light came on, following the flow of traffic.

Yang Xiaodao had to report to school in the afternoon. The boy sat in the back seat with his school bag, his eyes constantly glancing at the A on the back of his left hand, obviously not used to something so conspicuous and high-profile. After a long while, he asked sullenly, “Why can Bai Sheng’s S be hidden under his clothes?”

“It’s random,” Shen Zhuo said, turning on his right signal. “Only a very small number of people have it appear above their heart.”

Yang Xiaodao was very confused. “What kind of people?”

Shen Zhuo fell silent. For a good few seconds, he looked a bit complicated. After a moment, he said slowly, “Some data shows… it’s usually people whose true character is extremely deeply hidden and introverted.”

“…”

The car was silent. The atmosphere was indescribable. For a long time, no one spoke.

“Has Bai Sheng analyzed the luck value ability with you?” After a while, Shen Zhuo turned the steering wheel, turned onto the main road where Boyi High School was located, and glanced at the boy in the rearview mirror.

“The luck value needed to trigger the causality law to 99% is enough to win the Mark Six lottery jackpot three times.” Yang Xiaodao rested his elbows on his knees and propped his chin with one hand. “Bai Sheng said there’s only one chance in a lifetime, so it can’t be used randomly. I’ve been saving up my luck value.”

“Never used it?”

Yang Xiaodao shook his head, but then seemed to remember something and said, “I used a little bit once when I was a kid to gamble with Bai Sheng on who got the last chicken leg in a game of rock-paper-scissors.”

Shen Zhuo couldn’t help but smile.

The Supervisor’s smile was very faint and passed in an instant. Yang Xiaodao couldn’t help but glance at the rearview mirror twice, only to hear him ask, “Has Bai Sheng ever mentioned Rong Qi to you?”

“Hmm, he said he’s your ardent admirer.”

Shen Zhuo said, “There’s no admirer at all. This Rong Qi is…”

“…one of them,” Yang Xiaodao slowly completed the second half of the sentence.

Shen Zhuo was speechless for a long time under the boy’s pure, subtle, and critical gaze from behind.

“…That’s not it at all,” Shen Zhuo finally said after a long while.

Yang Xiaodao’s gaze was very righteous, his meaning clear: I don’t believe you.

“This Rong Qi is a gene-resurrection type evolutionist, with a very high social threat level. He probably hasn’t completed his final evolution yet. Currently, the only thing confirmed to be able to erase this person is the causality law, so the Supervision Office highly suspects that Rong Qi is currently lurking near Shenhai City. All his activities are aimed at dealing with Bai Sheng.”

“This person’s level will not be lower than S. Whether he has the potential to be super-S is still unknown.” Shen Zhuo turned on his signal and turned into a side road on the Boyi High School intersection. He said, “Director-General Nielsen is already doing his best to track down this Rong Qi’s whereabouts. Although I believe in the Director-General’s combat power, to be honest, my expectations for him in this matter are very low, because his attitude towards your guardian is not friendly. In short, thank you for using your luck value to assist the causality law. I hope we can resolve the matter of Rong Qi together as soon as possible. I promise that after this is over, you can go and buy as many Mark Six tickets as you want. Any other questions?”

Yang Xiaodao immediately said, “Yes.”

“Speak.”

“If one day my guardian and Nielsen fight over you, who will you help?”

“…”

Shen Zhuo slammed on the brakes, stopping in front of the school gate. He turned around from the driver’s seat, his inorganic, beautiful eyes staring coldly at Yang Xiaodao.

“If the two of you, father and son, continue to have such abnormal brain circuits,” he said calmly, “I will revoke Bai Sheng’s custody and have you sleep on the floor in my office.”

Yang Xiaodao sullenly tucked his tail between his legs and got out of the car, swallowing his anger, although from his expression, he still really wanted to know the answer.

·

Shen Zhuo had no intention of going to Iceland with Bai Sheng to see the aurora or to London to feed the pigeons. He had a meeting at the military district in the afternoon. Sending Yang Xiaodao to report to school was purely to symbolically fulfill his guardianship duties and was on the way. After sending Bai Sheng a text message to inform him, he planned to leave directly.

However, as he was turning on his signal to reverse, his eyes suddenly caught something not far away. He leaned over to look out the passenger side window towards the other side of the street.

—At the intersection not far away, the back of a man stood stiffly in the flow of people. It was unclear whether he was suddenly in a daze or doing something. He stood motionless in the middle of the crosswalk, staring at the sky.

This behavior was too abnormal, because there was clearly nothing in the sky.

Many people passing by would give him a strange look. A short-haired girl in a Boyi High School uniform walked towards him. She was probably very curious and kept staring at the man up and down. As she passed by, she was pushed by the crowd crossing the street and almost bumped into the man’s arm.

“Ah!”

At that moment, the man moved, as if startled by a twitch.

He slowly turned towards the girl and raised his hand.

With a bang of a car door closing, Yang Xiaodao, who hadn’t yet entered the school gate, turned his head sensitively and saw Shen Zhuo getting out of the car and striding towards the intersection. He couldn’t help but say, “Hey, you…”

At the same time, the man not far away suddenly let out a sharp howl and pounced on the girl!

“Ah!” “Oh my!” “What’s happening!”

Cries of alarm erupted from the surroundings, and an empty space immediately cleared out. An old lady was about to rush forward to help but was held back by her husband. Then, the girl was thrown onto the asphalt road with a “bang!” by the man.

“Help—”

Before the girl’s cry for help could come out, the attacker was pulled up from behind by an undeniable force. It was Shen Zhuo!

The man was still twitching and struggling desperately, but Shen Zhuo’s single-handed strength was more than enough to restrain a madman. With a crisp crack, he dislocated the man’s right hand, then grabbed his hair and lifted his face to look, letting out a soft “hmm?”

The man’s face was pale, his expression dazed, his eyes wide open but completely unfocused, like a sleepwalking mental patient.

Shen Zhuo keenly realized something, but it was too late to react. The man suddenly arched his back, opened his mouth, and bit down hard on his own left arm, tearing off a large chunk of flesh with a rip!

The scene instantly overlapped with the crazed Wang Ping at the high-speed rail station yesterday. Dripping blood and flesh splattered, revealing the stark white bone.

“Ahhhhhh—”

The surrounding crowd screamed and scattered. The scene was completely out of control. No one noticed that the traffic light above had turned from red to green.

A cement mixer truck had just rounded a corner at the intersection and swerved suddenly to avoid pedestrians, instantly losing control. The shrill sound of its horn blared through the air!

Shen Zhuo whipped his head around, his pupils reflecting the rapidly approaching, massive front of the cement truck and the horrified face of the driver in the cab.

Time seemed to stretch infinitely. All the chaotic background became extraordinarily blurry, like a montage from a movie with a camera out of control.

In that instant.

Before Shen Zhuo could make a move, a boy’s figure shot out from the side like a sharp arrow. With his left hand, he pushed him away, and his right fist, with its bones bulging, met the front of the truck head-on—BOOM!!

The boy’s fist dented the steel. The huge front of the truck twisted and deformed. The cement mixer, weighing tens of tons, was forcibly stopped!

It was a scene beyond imagination. Everyone’s expressions and minds went blank for a moment. Shen Zhuo blurted out, “Be careful…”

BANG!!

A speeding public bus slammed heavily into the rear of the cement truck!

In an instant, a terrifying mass acceleration combined into an explosive, terrifying impact. The cement under Yang Xiaodao’s feet cracked with a pop. He was pushed back by the force, not even having time to react, and was about to stumble—

All gravity vanished into thin air, so fast it was completely unexpected.

Yang Xiaodao stumbled but stood firm. “?”

“Yo, what are you doing, little brat?” A familiar, light-hearted voice came from behind. “The Supervisor needs me, you know?”

Yang Xiaodao turned his head in astonishment.

Bai Sheng had one hand shielding Shen Zhuo behind him, and the other pressed against the deformed front of the cement truck. His posture was actually very relaxed, but the extremely terrifying force of his palm held the two large vehicles in place, completely immobile.

The bustling city street fell silent. Everyone was dumbfounded.

Bai Sheng turned his head and winked teasingly at Shen Zhuo. “This family really can’t do without a reliable me, right?”

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