Chapter 14: Sea Without Light 14
Kui Xin spent two hours in the Psychotherapy Room, drank three cups of goji berry and red date tea, and even had lunch in the Employee Canteen at Yang Xinyun’s enthusiastic invitation.
As she was leaving, Yang Xinyun kindly handed her a whole jar of goji berries and red dates, saying, “Drink more, it replenishes energy and blood. I can see that your complexion is always pale; you seem a bit lacking in energy.”
Kui Xin reluctantly accepted Yang Xinyun’s kindness and took the jar of goji berries and red dates back to the Rest Room.
It was now afternoon, and the lunch break had ended.
Kui Xin set down the goji berries and red dates and reported to the training ground of the Seventh Squad. Whether as official members or interns like her, time not spent on missions was mostly devoted to training. Practical training in shooting and combat was of utmost importance.
She took the elevator to the basement level, where the entire floor was dedicated to training facilities.
At the entrance to the training room, she scanned her iris, and Adam prompted, “Intern Security Officer Kui Xin, you may use training equipment in Areas A and B for basic exercises; access to other areas is temporarily unavailable to you.”
There were differences in treatment between interns and official employees, but Kui Xin didn’t mind much; anyway, she wouldn’t know how to use the more advanced equipment. She came to the training room to confirm her grip on firearms.
Area A included the shooting training room. Kui Xin entered the training room, took a glance, and found it sparsely populated, so she chose an empty spot to stand.
“Please select a training weapon,” Adam said.
“Standard handgun,” Kui Xin replied.
The metal surface in front of her silently slid apart, revealing a black gun lying quietly on the table.
Kui Xin picked up the gun, contemplated for a few seconds, disassembled it, memorized its parts, and reassembled it piece by piece.
She held the gun level, pointed it comfortably forward, and said, “Three-meter target.”
“Target set to three meters,” Adam responded.
Without much aiming, she fired based on her feel. Bang, bang, bang—the continuous gunfire hit the target every time, with not a single bullet off-target, and every bullet within the eight-ring.
The recoil of this gun was a little stronger than she expected, and her thumb felt slightly numb.
Kui Xin had no concept of her performance; she reloaded and planned to continue attempting: “Ten-meter target.”
“Ten-meter target set,” Adam said.
This time, the target was further away, nearly impossible to see for someone with average vision.
Kui Xin steadied herself, held the gun level, and this time aimed with intent.
She pulled the trigger, firing a single bullet.
“Bang!”
The bullet hit the ten-ring! Right in the center of the target!
Kui Xin smiled, “Adam, fifteen-meter target.”
She tried various distances, gradually increasing from fifteen to twenty-five meters. Each shot she took, her lowest score never fell below seven rings.
Her fingertips felt numb, but her body and mind were invigorated, as if all her troubles and stress had been shot out.
Such performance was bolstered by her “Combat Instinct,” but she was also quite talented in shooting. Through repeated practice, she enhanced her understanding of firearms; training was her way of getting familiar with these metal weapons.
Being adept with a gun, with strong physical and combat skills, Kui Xin was no longer the weak fighter she once was; among the security personnel, she was among the more outstanding ones.
Moreover, she could now be considered an Awakened.
Earlier that morning, she had killed Zejian and deprived him of his extraordinary ability, “Shadow Transition.”
Her panel had undergone noticeable changes.
[Basic Attributes]
Name: Kui Xin
Occupation: Remover
Extraordinary Ability: [Shadow Transition · E Class] You can utilize shadows for small-scale spatial teleportation.
Inherent Talents: [Performance Persona] You are skilled in acting, able to deceive most people.
[Life Fortitude] You possess a tenacious vitality like a cockroach.
[Hazard Avoidance] You can keenly perceive and evade dangers around you.
[Rapid Learning] Your learning of any skill yields twice the result with half the effort.
[Combat Instinct] Your combat abilities and skills are etched in your body.
Zejian had escaped from the psychiatric hospital using Shadow Transition; his extraordinary ability level was relatively low, and it seemed he couldn’t activate it successfully every time, which explained why he couldn’t escape from the parasitic hydra.
What concerned Kui Xin was, what was the way to awaken extraordinary abilities? Was it luck or other factors?
Her teammates were very surprised by Zejian becoming an Awakened, indicating that Awakened individuals were not common but rather rare.
When she first crossed over, Doctor Huang, also an undercover agent for Mechanized Dawn, had mentioned that there were Awakened individuals in the Investigation Bureau. He specifically pointed out the team leader of the investigation unit, cautioning Kui Xin to be extra careful.
This meant that the extraordinary abilities and identities of members within the Investigation Bureau were likely kept confidential; even colleagues didn’t know each other’s abilities and identities. Thus, Doctor Huang, who had worked at the Investigation Bureau medical center for a long time, only provided vague guesses rather than definite answers.
What Kui Xin regretted was that she couldn’t find a safe and secluded place in the Investigation Bureau to experiment with her newly acquired Shadow Transition. At home, Silverface was there, giving her no chance to try out her new ability.
Shadow Transition was a great ability; if she were ever imprisoned, she could use it to escape. Zejian had used it to flee from the tightly secured psychiatric hospital.
Being in prison was a rather favorable outcome; the Federation had no death penalty. Optimistically thinking, perhaps she could find a chance to escape. As for the worse outcome, that would be her identity being exposed and “cleared” by her former teammates.
Kui Xin set down the gun and headed to Area B.
Area B was for combat training, with several security officers wearing training uniforms and boxing gloves sparring with each other. Kui Xin wasn’t looking for someone to spar; she wanted to confirm her strength using the training equipment.
In a corner of the training area was a punching strength tester.
Kui Xin had read in a magazine from the First World that boxing champion Tyson’s right punch strength was 800 pounds, while martial arts superstar Bruce Lee’s was around 350 pounds. This data was closely related to body weight; Tyson weighed almost double that of Bruce Lee.
A pure punching strength test could not reflect an individual’s overall combat power, as the influencing factors were never single-sided, but a punching strength test might reflect a person’s strength level.
“What was my last test score?” Kui Xin asked.
Adam replied, “Your last punching strength test score was 215 pounds.”
This data belonged to “Security Officer Kui Xin,” not the original body’s data. Kui Xin thought she should hold back on her first punch to avoid exceeding the original score by too much.
She adjusted her breathing, clenched her fist, and struck the testing pillar.
With a bang, the display of the strength tester shot up rapidly, instantly surpassing 200, and finally paused at 233 pounds.
“Your score has improved compared to last time, specifically an increase of 18 pounds,” Adam reported.
Kui Xin: Sigh, still not cautious enough.
The original body must have been a super soldier comparable to Bruce Lee, right? Not only was she strong, but she also had technique and had undergone rigorous training, truly a human weapon.
“Kui Xin!” Lan Lan walked into Area B and waved at her. “Are you training here?”
“Yeah, I felt a bit rusty, so I came to handle guns and throw a few punches.” Kui Xin rolled her shoulders.
“I feel off if I don’t hold a gun for a day; this stuff needs to be practiced often. Want to spar? Don’t look at me as just a technician; I ranked in the top ten in the field team,” Lan Lan invited.
“No, I’m a bit tired from just finishing fieldwork and not in great shape,” Kui Xin declined with a smile. “How’s Jiang Ming doing?”
“He has finished surgery; old Liu is with him,” Lan Lan said. “Have you been to the Psychotherapy Room?”
“I’ve been there; Director Yang is nice; he sent me a jar of goji berry and red date tea…”
“His hobby is giving tea; when I went, he gave me a jar of coffee beans, saying technicians need to think a lot and coffee helps with alertness…” Lan Lan shrugged.
“Are there many people with psychological issues in the Investigation Bureau?” Kui Xin asked.
“There are always various problems when work pressure rises. We live with danger. A previous colleague of mine, during his first mission to eliminate xenomorphs, went home and had nightmares for a week; it was Director Yang who helped him with psychological counseling. Setting up a Psychotherapy Room in the Investigation Bureau is quite necessary,” Lan Lan said. “If psychological issues aren’t dealt with in time, they can lead to serious consequences. I have an example around me; an old colleague in the next group developed severe psychological issues after accidentally killing a civilian, but nobody noticed… In the end, he committed suicide.”
Lan Lan sighed, “Sometimes people can show incredible resilience under pressure, yet at times their mental state can be incredibly fragile.”
Kui Xin thought for a moment, “I will avoid making such errors… Actually, I wanted to ask you about becoming a full-time employee; is it convenient to discuss?”
“Nothing inconvenient, it’s an open secret. The interviewers for interns applying for full-time positions are fixed,” Lan Lan said. “The interviewers are generally the team leaders from various groups; just answer their questions truthfully, and be honest.”
Be honest? Kui Xin immediately thought of Doctor Huang’s warning and the rumors regarding the team leader of the investigation unit’s extraordinary ability.
“I understand, thank you for the reminder,” her mood slightly sank.
“Intern Security Officer Kui Xin, please report to the office of the Seventh Squad,” Adam suddenly conveyed to her.
Kui Xin was a bit surprised, but Lan Lan smiled and said, “Could it be the team leader wants to discuss your full-time position?”
“Then I’ll head off,” Kui Xin bid her farewell and left the training room.
As she took the elevator, Kui Xin’s thoughts remained calm. Having just entered the Second World for a few days, her mentality had undergone a remarkable transformation.
She had transformed from a high school graduate busy looking for part-time work to a qualified double agent, her thoughts assimilated by her new identity, worrying about this matter and that matter, needing to consider every aspect, ensuring that nothing showed signs of weakness. Engaging with others required a lot of caution, and even speaking needed careful deliberation; it was exhausting.
Kui Xin arrived at Xueyao Shu’s office, and the metallic door opened.
“You’re here, Kui Xin,” Xueyao Shu said. “Please fill out this application form.”
He handed over a paper form titled “Full-time Application.”
“I can become a full-time employee now?” Kui Xin said.
“If you pass the final interview, yes; it’s not difficult, you can do it,” Xueyao Shu said. “The interview is scheduled for 9 AM tomorrow; is that okay?”
Kui Xin could only agree, “I have no problem, Captain.”
“Great, once you become a full-time employee, you can move to the Employee Dormitory. It’s safer than Peaceful Street near your home,” Xueyao Shu said.
After filling out the form, it was almost time to get off work.
Kui Xin bid farewell to Xueyao Shu, took the goji berry and red date tea that Yang Xinyun had given her, and took the elevator downstairs to prepare to go home.
As soon as she sat on the Hover Tram, Kui Xin opened her wristband to find many messages from Silverface.
“I went to the port again.”
“I haven’t found anything else; encountered some troublesome gang members. Can I kill them?”
“If you don’t reply soon, I’m going to act freely. You said I could decide for myself, right?”
“I’ve already killed someone.”
“Met some smugglers at the port…”
“This time I didn’t kill; what they were smuggling was alcohol, just some insignificant stuff.”
“Why aren’t you replying? Are you that busy?”
“When do you get off work?”
Kui Xin read the messages in silence and switched away from that message page.
The next message was from someone else, and as soon as Kui Xin looked at the content, she perked up.
“Midnight Zero Point, Harbor Zone Ruby Red Bar, collective meeting of the task execution squad, discussing the specific task allocation for blasting the port. All members must attend.”
Sender: Red.
An entirely unfamiliar code name.
