Chapter 57
"It doesn’t matter, the ability can be triggered by the corresponding training. You have to work hard in the future." Gong Xiangyi encouraged with a smile.
"Yes." Zhao Ying’s cheeks were full of excited blush as he promised.
As he walked towards the team of ability users, he hurriedly glanced at Song Haoran and found that he had his head lowered, talking about something with a gentle expression and not looking at the test bench. Zhao Ying sighed, the brilliant smile on his face instantly fading.
"Next." Gong Xiangyi visually moved away from Zhao Ying and raised her hand to summon the next person.
"Sister Gong is well!" The girl with dark eyes and dark skin was holding a little boy of about ten years old with an embarrassed smile on her face.
"Do you know me?" Gong Xiangyi asked with a frown when she saw their familiar attitude towards her.
"We are Young Master Gong’s friend and we had dinner with you." For such a noble person as Gong Xiangyi to forget their identity, the girl didn’t mind and smiled as she reminded the other.
Gong Xiangyi’s brows wrinkled even more tightly and there was a trace of anger in her cold expression. Gong Lixin’s friends were her enemy. For this reason alone, she had bad feelings towards this sister. [1]
"What’s your name?" Brows still scrunched, she coldly opened her mouth to ask.
"Sun Tiantian and this is my brother, Sun Jie." Sun Tiantian was a simple rural girl and didn’t feel any change in Gong Xiangyi’s attitude as she patted her brother’s head and smiled back.
On the other hand, when Sun Jie looked at Gong Xiangyi, he scrunched up his two thin eyebrows and fearfully burrowed into his sister’s arms. Children’s minds were pure and their judgements of good and evil were not affected by appearance and subjective consciousness. They were all intuitive. Therefore, they were sometimes more acute than adults when it came to judging a person.
"Hold it. Be careful, don’t break the crystal nucleus." Gong Xiangyi sarcastically joked as he held out the nucleus.
In truth, zombie nuclei were the hardest objects she had ever seen in her life. It wouldn’t break even under the full bombardment of the artillery. The reason why she said this was to exert some pressure psychologically on Sun Tiantian. The more careful Sun Tiantian’s performance, the more disgusted she was. Of course, this was because she classified Gong Lixin’s friends under a list of villains with fake appearances.
"Okay. I will be careful with it." Sun Tiantian’s nerves were strong and wasn’t affected by what the other said. She picked up the nucleus and held it in front of her.
"Sshha" A dazzling green light spread out. She yelled and tightly closed her eyes while covering her face. Xiao Sun Jie looked up at her sister’s nucleus, shining like a green star, and admired it.
The staff quickly got up and grabbed Sun Tiantian’s elbow, for fear that she would throw the nucleus out of shock. Fortunately, her hand was steady and no accident happened.
Gong Xiangyi stared at the nucleus whose green light gradually faded. She gritted her teeth and, with a tight voice, said, "Wood system ability. Triggered?"
"Not yet." Sun Tiantian patted her chest, still not over her shock.
Gong Xiangyi heard her words and her expression eased a little. Those who had not triggered their abilities yet were not considered as ability users. It was important to take note that at least three percent of people with abilities would not trigger their abilities in their lifetime. Whether they can become a strong person not only depended on their strength, but also required a certain amount of luck.
"Test your brother." She wrote down Sun Tiantian’s ability before Gong Xiangyi looked at Xiao Sun Jie who was eager to try.
"Okay." Sun Tiantian handed the nucleus to her younger brother.
Xiao Sun Jie had long waited for this moment and both hands were held high above his head. The appearance of him holding the nucleus looked very pious and very cute. A good-natured laugh broke out in the crowd.
Sun Jie’s face was red and his eyes were round as he held the nucleus. Unexpectedly, the nucleus was also bright, but this time it wasn’t a green light but a dazzling blue light with silver halo flowing over it, like silk. It was somewhat closer to the blue light of a water system ability user, but it looked different.
Gong Xiangyi suddenly stood up and stared at Xiao Sun Jie, who was barely the height of the table. The expression in her eyes seemed like she wanted to eat him.
Sun Jie quickly put down the crystal nucleus and slammed into his sister’s arms. Sun Tiantian anxiously asked, "Sister Gong, does my brother have any problem? This light was neither white nor blue, what’s his power?"
"Ice ability user! A variation of water ability user!" It was the most aggressive as well as the most defensive abilities. Gong Xiangyi sat back in her place, her expression as uncomfortable as one who had just swallowed a fly.
Naturally, Sun Jie didn’t trigger his ability and he and his older sister walked to the side of untriggered ability users. When the two stood in queue, they made a ’fighting’ gesture to Gu Nan and the others.
If the performance of Sun Tiantian and her brother made Gong Xiangyi feel as if she swallowed a fly, then Gu Nan’s, Ma Jun’s, and Wang Tao’s performance made her feel as uncomfortable as if she swallowed a mouse. Only because these three were wind, fire, and power ability users. Although they were untriggered, such high proportion was enough to shock her and gain the admiration of the crowd of people.
Fortunately, the next two: Ling Yin and Da Liu, were not ability users, otherwise, Gong Xiangyi would have collapsed on the spot. She couldn’t believe it! Why was Gong Lixin’s luck so good? He just went out for a stroll and the friends he brought back were mostly ability users.
God was too unfair! Why did all the good things end up in Gong Lixin’s hand?! Gong Xiangyi ground her molars and the grievance in her heart further fueled her strong hatred.
Unlike Gong Xiangyi’s resentment, Father Gong and Grandfather Lin smiled at each other. For Lixin’s friends, they naturally paid more attention. Such results greatly exceeded their expectations, but they were also very satisfied. With like-minded and good-spirited friends, Lixin’s future would be much better.
At the end of the line, Song Haoran also apparently thought the same as the two old people. He leaned over and patted Gong Lixin’s shoulder and said with a smile, "Lixin, tell your friends to prepare for a lot of hardship. I will send people to train them. Special training, so that they can be your comrades in the future. Their strength is too weak right now."
Gong Lixin nodded and promised to do so. He looked towards Da Liu and Ling Yin who were stunned and were standing in the crowd and raised his hand to wave at them in silent comfort.
Da Liu and Ling Yin, who had been feeling lost, immediately cheered up and gave a bright smile. Young Master Gong didn’t look down on them and alienated them because they were ordinary people. They felt warm in their hearts.
Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo saw the interaction between Gong Lixin and his friends and couldn’t help but smile. Every move the youth made was done from the heart and was neither deliberate nor artificial. His optimism and sincerity would always enable him to harvest the sincerest of friendships.
He was already so amazing now, what will he be like when he grew up in the future? Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo both looked forward to it, and both thought how the teenager would be growing in their midst, under their wing. Their hearts suddenly became hot.
While the two thought about that, the waiting line for the test gradually shortened and, finally, it was the turn of the last three people. The onlookers did not disperse, and their enthusiasm was as high as it was at the beginning. In addition, the people of the five other districts issued petitions from time to time. They hoped that the military wouldn’t spend two days testing them one by one. All of them should be done today, no matter how long the wait.
When the three people came forward, the people in the second district had already arranged their group and spontaneously lined up. They first entered their household registration and then, couldn’t wait any longer before they moved up behind Gong Lixin.
The officer in charge of maintaining order looked at Gong Yuanhang. Gong Yuanhang lowered his head and signaled the army to act according to the wishes of the people.
With the approval of the highest in command, a warm cheer spread through the crowd. Among these cheers, Lin Wenbo stepped forward and picked up the crystal nucleus on the table.
The golden light reflected the beauty of his facial features and he blinked slightly, his indifferent expression making him seem like a god. The cheers in the crowd just subsided when they began again. They were so excited only because it was their first time seeing this golden light.
The metal ability users were rare ability users that were second only to thunder ability users. They were powerful ability users that could attack and defend. Although the Lin Wenbo from Gong Xiangyi’s previous life didn’t receive any special military training, he eventually became one of the top powerhouses through sheer hard work and his high-level of understanding in the application of his ability.
In this life, with Gong Xiangyi’s deliberate planning, he got the best of both lives and used his metal ability to break through the first-order, mid-level, which was considered the strongest and the leader of the base.
The levels of ability users were simple. Just like zombies, they were divided into five levels and each level was also divided into three levels: low, medium, and high. The more one went up, the harder it was to break through, and the higher the number of nuclei required. Like this, step by step, Lin Wenbo’s level would be higher than the others by two or three levels, making him the strongest in the future.
Looking at her lover bathed in the golden light, Gong Xiangyi stared with obsession until the golden light slowly faded and returned to the crystal nucleus.
"Metal, did you trigger it?" Because it was in front of the public, Gong Xiangyi routinely asked even though she already knew the answer.
"Triggered." Lin Wenbo said while he raised his right hand, spread his fingers and displayed five crescent-shaped steel claws from each of his fingers, each sharp and cold.
"Wow! Wolverine! So cool!"
Gong Xiangyi looked at Lin Wenbo with a strange expression. She felt that his performance today was somewhat high-profile and not his usual style.
Lin Wenbo heard the exclamation of the masses and immediately retracted his steel claws. He quickly glanced at Gong Lixin and smiled at him. He had wanted to cast a mere steel needle but thought that Xiaoxin was standing behind him. He had changed his mind then and used this new trick without much thought.
He didn’t notice at all that his actions were similar to a male peacock who spread open their tail feathers to attract female peacocks.
"Big Brother Lin is so powerful! His ability has improved!" The person in question looked on with excitement, not knowing the inside story. When the ability users use their abilities, they would exert a kind of pressure which was similar to internal force. With his keen five senses, Gong Lixin immediately noticed the changes in Lin Wenbo and tugged Song Haoran’s sleeve to share his excitement.
"Yeah." Song Haoran nodded and added some words at the end, "In the surface, my strength is comparable to his."
When it was his turn, he didn’t report his name but went straight ahead and picked up the nucleus. When the nucleus touched his palm, a red light shone and the radiant light seemed to pierce the flesh of his hand.
"Song Haoran, fire system ability." Gong Xiangyi announced.
With a competitive mentality, Song Haoran put down the nucleus and spread out his palms. With a bang, a flame came out. The flame burned fiercely and swayed in the wind, showing his full control. At the same time, it also exuded strong heat, heat so strong that even the staff at the test bench got up and moved away.
From their sight alone, people could tell his ability was significantly more powerful than the lieutenant general of the sixth district.
The onlookers cheered again. Song Haoran glanced at Gong Lixin, who was full of worship, and slowly extinguished his fireball before joining the silent Lin Wenbo.
The military executives who stood with Father Gong didn’t show it on their faces, but their hearts were frightened and each took a figurative step back.
Everyone knew that Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo are loyal to Gong Yuanhang. His Majesty had two such officers. Gong Yuanhang’s position remained difficult to shake. Just, with that kind of strength, won’t it give birth to a different kind of desire? As the saying goes - soldiers who do not want to be generals are not good soldiers. This sentence profoundly explains the ambition hidden in the soldier’s bones.
These two people were, of course, Gong Yuanhang’s loyal men, but their loyalty was based on feelings and very little was based on interest. With the old world being destroyed and a new world being established, there was still time to test whether some people could continue to be faithful to the Gong family.
At present, the status quo of the base showed it had a weak military. Later on, the army would be named after Gong, Lin, or Song, but which of the three, it remained unsure. Perhaps they will know the answer after the Gong family kid had been tested. After standing in line, it was Lixin’s turn next. Some people with greedy minds secretly hoped.
[1] CrazedCookies: Da f***! Leave the poor sister alone!