Hui Tian Ch28

Chapter 28

At that moment, all supervisors had the same thought in their minds: Eastern mysticism.

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The next day, Shenhai City Supervision Office.

“—What a scourge,” Bai Sheng lamented deeply after a long and careful examination of the abysmal report card in the light.

The Grand Supervisor of Shenhai City sat behind his desk, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, with only the top button undone, revealing a slender neck. His profile was as smooth as white porcelain, and his entire being exuded a lofty, unapproachable aura.

Yang Xiaodao sat cross-legged on the office sofa, his eyes holding the silent defiance unique to a teenager in his rebellious phase. He eyed Shen Zhuo for a long while before finally asking Bai Sheng:

“Dad, what’s your relationship with him?”

Bai Sheng’s voice was laced with an unspeakable weariness and fatigue. “When I was in high school, I was first in my grade for every subject, and I was even the student council president in college. I am not worthy to be your dad.”

Yang Xiaodao’s face was blank. “You were the one who held my head down and forced me to call you ‘Dad’ back then, saying you’d beat me until I submitted if I didn’t.”

Bai Sheng: “Have you ever called me that in all these years?”

Yang Xiaodao: “Isn’t it time for someone to go to my parent-teacher conference?”

Bai Sheng took a deep breath.

No matter how powerful and influential you are outside, when your son finishes his exams and calls you to school for a parent-teacher conference to be publicly shamed, you have to go to the parent-teacher conference to be publicly shamed.

In the early years after Bai Sheng had just adopted Yang Xiaodao, he had indeed strutted around, wanting to fulfill his duties as the alpha wolf. After being surrounded and berated by teachers of all subjects for two hours in the elementary school office, all his grand ambitions turned to dust. The S-class’s tears of shame dripped onto the math test paper with a score of 17. From then on, the moment he heard about midterm or final exams, he would quickly blacklist Yang Xiaodao. Their plastic father-son relationship was as fragile as ever. He had once even impersonated a doctor and sent a text message to the school teacher, swearing that he had died of a heart attack.

“My dear Supervisor, please don’t misunderstand my genetics. He’s really not my son. My excellent genes could not produce such a son.” Bai Sheng turned to Shen Zhuo and said gravely, “You’ll know once the two of us have a biological child of our own.”

Yang Xiaodao: “…”

Yang Xiaodao’s blank gaze shifted back and forth between Shen Zhuo’s Adam’s apple and his chest, a look of someone who had just discovered a new world on his face.

Shen Zhuo had already learned to selectively filter all of Bai Sheng’s abnormal words and actions. Not a hint of change showed on his face. He closed his laptop, lifted his head, and his glacial eyes narrowed slightly, sizing up Yang Xiaodao.

“…”

The Shenhai City Supervisor’s gaze had a silent, overwhelming power. The teenager subconsciously flinched back, then uncomfortably straightened up, his expression defiant. “What are you looking at?”

Shen Zhuo’s gaze fell on Yang Xiaodao’s unmarked left hand. After a moment’s pause, he stood up and walked over to the hostile teenager, pointing down at his left lapel from above.

“?”

Before Yang Xiaodao could react, the guards outside the door, fierce as wolves and tigers, pounced forward. One held his hands, two held his feet, and another pulled down the collar of Yang Xiaodao’s T-shirt with a rip.

There was no ability level mark below his left collarbone.

“!!” The rebellious teenager’s defenses were instantly breached. His face flushed red, fuming with anger. He leaped back, staring at Shen Zhuo. “Wh-what are you doing?!”

“The scent of his evolution is obvious from eight hundred miles away, yet there is no level mark on his left hand or near his heart. This means he has been concealing his evolutionist identity and has never registered with the government.” Shen Zhuo flicked a glance at Bai Sheng. “Why?”

Bai Sheng laughed it off. “Oh, come on, five years ago he was just a little brat playing in the mud. Is registration that important? Let it slide…”

“Only fugitives like Zhang Wenyong evade registration, either because they are preparing to commit a crime or have already committed one. Which category does this kid fall into?”

The air froze for a moment.

“…” Bai Sheng rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, then finally made a decision, beckoning Shen Zhuo over.

Shen Zhuo was unmoved.

Bai Sheng had always considered his greatest virtue to be his easygoing and good-tempered nature. If the mountain won’t come to me, I’ll go to the mountain. So he reached out, forcefully hooked an arm around Shen Zhuo’s shoulder, pulled him a few steps to the side in a confidential manner, and whispered:

“Let me tell you the truth. Don’t be fooled by how dumb this kid Yang Xiaodao looks. He’s actually… a poor, ill-fated orphan.”

One of Shen Zhuo’s eyebrows raised slightly, as if to say, keep acting.

“What’s with that expression? You don’t believe I have such noble sentiments?” Bai Sheng wagged his index finger. “Five years ago, while I was traveling, I happened to meet the wandering Yang Xiaodao in a county town. At that time, he was pitifully begging on the streets, skinny as a rail, constantly bullied, short and small…”

Shen Zhuo looked wordlessly at Yang Xiaodao.

The boy, only sixteen, was already shooting up past 1.8 meters, already as tall as Shen Zhuo, with a physique like a lean and strong young wolf.

Bai Sheng cupped Shen Zhuo’s chin, forcefully turning his face back to him, signaling, don’t look at him, look at me.

“I later found out that his parents died when he was young. He never went to school, starved, and was bullied endlessly… It was heartbreaking to hear, tear-jerking to see. He was like the saddest little bitter melon sprout in an eighteen-mu field. Out of necessity, I had no choice but to take him in and sponsor his education…”

Shen Zhuo pinched the bright red report card between two fingers as if it were something dirty. “And to hide his evolutionist identity from the Supervision Office, you painstakingly arranged for him to attend school in a remote county town?”

“We’re all so familiar with each other, don’t say such hurtful things.” Bai Sheng’s face was sincere. “If I had known earlier how beautiful and kind-hearted you are, Supervisor, I would have brought him to Shenhai long ago and handed over full custody to you. Whether to beat him, scold him, or send him to cram school would have been up to you. Then we wouldn’t have this embarrassing 15-point chemistry test paper today, would we?”

Shen Zhuo looked Bai Sheng up and down. Bai Sheng returned his gaze with the upright, frank, and modest expression of a gentleman.

“—’Bai Sheng, 27 years old. After evolving into an S-class five years ago, he immediately displayed extremely typical alpha wolf instincts, keen on seeking out his own kind who are not accepted by society, bringing them into his territory, and providing them with shelter. He has a fixed gathering place for evolutionists in the center of Shenhai City known as the Unfinished Building’.”

Shen Zhuo recited the Supervision Office’s initial investigation report on Bai Sheng without expression, then patted the S-class on the shoulder, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. “Asking me to believe you picked up an 11-year-old evolutionist child off the street while traveling is less believable than you picking up a lottery ticket off the street and winning the jackpot.”

Bai Sheng rubbed his chin, both humble and smug. “Ah, speaking of which, I do have the constitution to frequently win the lottery…”

“I don’t care how you took him in back then, and I don’t care if this kid has a criminal record. Supervisor’s Handbook, Article Ten, Section One: The Supervisor has a duty of guardianship over underage evolutionists within their jurisdiction.”

With a smack, Shen Zhuo slapped the parent-teacher conference notice onto Bai Sheng’s chest and said, “Transfer his school registration to Shenhai within three days. Also, arrange for him to come to the Supervision Office for registration. I need to know his ability and evolution level. Chen Miao!”

The Chief Steward, who had been waiting respectfully outside the door, immediately strode in. “Present!”

“I have a meeting to attend. These two great treasures can now leave my office.”

“Yes, sir!”

Shen Zhuo picked up the documents on his desk, walked out of the office, brushing past them, and left without a backward glance.

The office behind him was silent. Chen Miao made a “please” gesture towards the door, while simultaneously signaling frantically with his eyes for his Bai-ge to surrender and not put up a futile resistance.

“…” Yang Xiaodao stole a glance at Shen Zhuo’s back, his face full of suppressed anger. After a long moment, he couldn’t help but whisper to Bai Sheng, “What’s so good about this guy, besides his face?”

Bai Sheng, pressing the parent-teacher conference notice to his chest, slowly delivered the humiliation: “At your age, he was already a PhD student…”

·

With a click, the lights went out. In the empty conference room, only Shen Zhuo remained. The faint daylight outlined his slender silhouette at the end of the long table.

The next moment, beams of three-dimensional holographic light rapidly emanated from the void, outlining a deceptively real virtual scene.

The surroundings were no longer the real world, but a huge, dark conference hall. Only the oval conference table glowed with a soft white light.

The International Supervision General Administration, the Council of Ten Permanent Supervisors.

At the head of the long table, in seat I, sat a Nordic man with silver-grey hair and ice-blue eyes. It was Director-General Nielsen. The desk in front of him glowed with a blue S-class insignia. Eight other seats were arranged on either side of the long table. Seats II and III were red S-class, and seat IV was a blue S-class. Seat V was a red A-class, VI was a blue A-class, and VII was a red A-class. Seats VIII and IX were a red B-class and a blue B-class, respectively.

At the other end of the long table, directly opposite Nielsen, the seat had no letter, only the Roman numeral X marked in a faint blue light.

The sole tenth seat, for a human.

Shen Zhuo put on his translation earpiece and sat down elegantly, his voice carrying a hint of light sarcasm. “Good evening, gentlemen.”

None of the eight seats on either side of the long table were occupied by real people, only their lights were on, indicating they were connected by call. Only Nielsen was present in person. He leaned back in his chair, tapping his forehead lightly with a pen, looking a bit confused:

“Good evening, Supervisor Shen. Ah, let me think, you all suddenly pulled me into this meeting. What was today’s agenda again…”

From the red S-class seat II came a mature female voice, tinged with subtle sarcasm. “How unsurprising, Director-General Nielsen. You always find a way to distance yourself from anything that might offend Supervisor Shen.”

“Because this inquiry really wasn’t my intention.” Nielsen smiled and shrugged with a hint of helplessness. “Alright, Supervisor Shen, I apologize for bringing you here so suddenly. In the past two days, the General Administration has received requests from supervisors around the world. The causality law ability of the S-class evolutionist Bai Sheng has clearly made everyone feel threatened. Therefore, they hope you will immediately release the detailed data on the causality law, including its strike range, probability of losing control, radius of loss of control, and most importantly… hmm…”

Nielsen paused strategically, clearly unwilling to let the most offensive phrase to Shen Zhuo come from his own mouth.

Everyone was silent with complicated feelings. In that moment, the same thought arose in the minds of all the supervisors—Eastern Mysticism.

“The counter-method.” A male voice, unable to hold back any longer, came from seat IX. “Supervisor Shen, according to the International Supervision General Administration’s security convention, we need to know the counter-method for the causality law!”

Shen Zhuo laughed.

He seemed completely unsurprised by the inquiry, his posture even relaxed. “Must a counter-method be announced for any S-class ability that is powerfully dangerous?”

The supervisor at seat IX was a bit agitated. “Of course! An overly powerful ability will inevitably bring threats. Shouldn’t we maintain the most important balance of power between the various jurisdictions?”

Shen Zhuo nodded thoughtfully without speaking, then asked with an inquisitive expression, “Then do you know the counter-method for Director-General Nielsen’s ability, ‘Tyrant’?”

Nielsen’s smile immediately faded. The voice from seat IX choked. “Mr. Nielsen was voted as the most neutral representative of the evolutionists…”

“Do you know the counter-method for Ms. Amatullah’s,” Shen Zhuo gave a slight nod towards seat II, “—ability, ‘Wheel of the Almighty’?”

“The International Supervision General Administration has a regulation that the ten supervisors can retain a certain amount of detailed data on their own abilities…”

“Then what about Ms. Harpa, the S-class from Iceland who declined a seat among the ten supervisors due to her advanced age of 91? Do you know the counter-method for her ability, ‘Insight’?”

“Insight is a predictive ability. It has no counter-method to begin with!” the supervisor at seat IX said angrily. “Forgive my rudeness, but what are you doing? These examples are just sophistry!”

“I’m sorry,” Shen Zhuo replied regretfully. “Causality law also has no counter-method.”

The long table fell abruptly silent.

No one spoke again. The empty, dark hall descended into an unsettling dead silence.

“The only advantage of the causality law is its impolite, absolute, and inexplicable power. Everything else is a flaw. Of course, due to the special nature of philosophy-based abilities, these flaws are difficult to test specifically in an Earth environment.”

Shen Zhuo stood up, his hands politely crossed in front of him, looking down at the long table. The words that came from his beautiful lips were also very clear and gentle:

“So, if you all insist on knowing, there are only two ways: first, I can have Mr. Bai personally visit each of your jurisdictions and demonstrate it for you on-site, although I estimate your jurisdictions can at most only be demonstrated on once; second, you can come to my jurisdiction and try every means possible to poach Mr. Bai from my hands…”

“Billions in salary, luxury cars and prized horses, peerless beauties—you can try any top-tier temptation. Then you will wonder why this S-class is so devoted to me, but I think the answer is already very clear to everyone.”

Shen Zhuo leaned forward slightly, surveying both sides of the long table. His long lashes were like the gentle wings of a butterfly, and the corners of his beautiful lips suddenly curved up in a way that would make even a heart of stone flutter:

“Because… it’s Eastern Mysticism.”

A suffocating silence fell from all directions.

Shen Zhuo stood up with a smile, his eyes filled with ridicule. He reached out and pressed the exit button, his figure disappearing from the end of the huge conference table.

·

The virtual scene receded like a tide, and the surroundings returned to the view of the Shenhai City Supervision Office office. Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the daylight was gradually setting in the west.

The large room was empty. The invitation key for the virtual meeting was still rotating silently. Shen Zhuo’s gaze fell on it, and he let out a light, undisguised sneer:

“…How is it possible to have an IQ even lower than Yang Xiaodao’s.”

“Achoo!!”

At the same time, in the back seat of a Cullinan, Yang Xiaodao let out a huge, unexpected sneeze. He rubbed his nose, mystified, and leaned forward to ask Bai Sheng in the driver’s seat, “Why are you cursing me?”

Bai Sheng: “??”

·

The daylight gradually faded, and the city lights began to shine. The night traffic flowed.

B City, Central District.

The night wind, carrying the scent of the city’s lights and wine, swept over the top of the hospital building.

Rong Qi stood on the edge of the rooftop, looking down at the bustling night scene below. No one could see the strange glint in the depths of his pupils.

“Mr. Rong.” Several figures stood respectfully behind him. The one in the lead, with short green hair, was the worried-looking Noda Yoko. “Is this really feasible?”

Rong Qi looked up at the horizon at the end of the night sky, squinting noncommittally. After a moment, under the expectant gazes of the crowd, he shook his head. “The causality law itself cannot be broken.”

“…”

“A complete causality law weapon can even separate parallel universes, distort the evolutionary timeline, and carry out a literal destructive strike on lower-dimensional civilizations. Of course, a complete causality law weapon cannot be used by a human individual. The upper limit that human genes can exert is only one-thousandth of the full power of the causality law, which is ‘Existence Erasure’.”

“But even so, it’s still unbreakable. After all, it’s a universe-level bug. There’s only one way to temporarily suppress it…”

Rong Qi let out a silent breath. “Perhaps the answer is here.”

He took half a step forward, and in the next moment, he leaped from the top of the building—

He seemed to descend silently from the night sky. The moonlight behind him illuminated the large characters on the building’s sign.

Central District Evolutionist Specialist Hospital.

At the door of the hospital room at the end of the corridor, the two on-duty guards, who had been dozing off, suddenly woke up with a start, their voices alarmed. “Who’s there?”

Under the stark white hospital lights, several evolutionists appeared as if out of thin air. The young man in the lead looked to be in his twenties, with fair skin and a tall build. He wore a black shirt and long pants, his features possessing a quiet gentleness. He glanced lightly at the two guards.

In an instant, an instinctual fear permeated their bones and hearts. The guards both shivered and reached into their pockets for their walkie-talkies. “All departments, be advised, Room One has been breached—”

Snap.

With a soft snap of Rong Qi’s fingers, the walkie-talkies slipped from their hands. The two guards froze simultaneously, their gazes blank and unknowing, as if they had become sleepwalking puppets.

The clock on the wall happened to strike eight. The moment the hour, minute, and second hands aligned, the hospital elevator opened.

Noda Yoko and the others turned their heads at the same time, only to see a girl in a blue dress. She was about fifteen or sixteen years old, her face pale but her expression calm. Her gaze swept over the strange evolutionists in the corridor and landed accurately on Rong Qi:

“…Are you Mr. Rong?”

“Right on time.” Rong Qi looked at the time and praised her, extending his hand with a smile. “Come.”

“…”

“Don’t be afraid. I said I would help you borrow a tool for revenge, without any cost.”

Every second stretched into a long, quiet eternity. After a long while, the girl’s throat bobbed slightly. She had finally made a decision. She walked through the crowd towards Rong Qi, and with him, pushed open the hospital room door in front of them—

On the door was a sticker with the patient’s name: Su Jiqiao.

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