Chapter 128: A Contract to Sell His Soul

Several Gaian Catalyst-class destroyers landed on the internal division’s dedicated landing pad, ferrying these cadets toward the C-grade ruins.

“Who knows what they will experience and gain?” muttered Xia Fei with a hint of jealousy.

Anyone who had not been to any ancient ruins would certainly develop a desire to visit one. The ancient civilization was the most developed human society ever since they came to be; humans then had the most developed technology and the most power, bar none.

No other race had reached the heights the ancient civilization managed to reach. The war between humans and insectoids would never have happened in that era as humans already had technology and strength to dominate all beings in the universe, possessing powers nobody could compete with.

Sadly, the incredibly mighty civilization died at their own hands.

Xia Fei watched leave the cadets, who were lucky enough to be on some ancient ruins expedition, then he went with Moon Song to the internal division to go through the admission procedures.

“Have you been well?” Xia Fei asked with a smile.

Moon Song angrily complained, “How nice of you to ask. I dislocated my shoulder thanks to your shock bomb. Manjun had seven stitches on his nose. Other than that crazy Chen Dong, everyone else got injured.

“When the space station exploded, Bosingwa’s ship was blown away a few thousand kilometers from the shock wave and ended up severely damaged. If our SOS signal hadn’t been picked up by a passing mining ship, we might not be meeting each other face to face today,” She continued her grumbling. “You should’ve remained to save us rather than go after that insectoid ship.”

“Sorry, but that was something I must do, and even if I were in to repeat that situation, my choice would still be the same,” he said solemnly, “There was a high possibility that one of my friends was on board that ship. Meanwhile, your chances of surviving were much higher than hers. If I let the ship go, my friend would most likely die.”

Xia Fei’s words were cold but true. Moon Song was in much less danger compared to Xiao Yu, which was why Xia Fei had ditched them and gone after that insectoid ship then. Unfortunately, Xiao Yu was not on the ship, so Xia Fei would have to like with this regret for a long time.

Moon Song glared at Xia Fei bitterly before taking big steps toward the Stygian Training Base. “Let’s have lunch together; but you’re paying.”

The massive internal division returned to its former empty appearance. Xia Fei followed the instructions on the notice and arrived on the third floor of the building and knocked on the door of one of the offices.

Surprisingly, it was not just Supervisor Kingston; Battalion Commander Ye Jingshan was also there. In fact, Ye Xiaohan, as well as a few others who were probably instructors and whom Xia Fei did not recognize, was also there. It seemed that the process of entering the internal division was quite complicated.

“Sit down.” Kingston pointed at the chair in the middle of the office. Skipping the formalities, he casually sat down in the chair.

“Xia Fei, you can go train in the internal division from today onward, but I have a few questions for you before that,” said Kingston as he looked at the form in his hand.

Xia Fei nodded.

After asking a few usual questions, such as where he was from and what his experience was, Kingston pivoted right into the main topic.

“Rules exist in the internal division. Since you’ve been to the internal division once, you probably already know that we have the best training place, the Stygian Training Center. Lots of money go into that center every day, so the facilities there aren’t provided to all cadets. Only people who will remain in the Union and work for it can use the facilities as they please,” explained Kingston in a stern voice; evidently, he was a no-nonsense person.

Xia Fei was shocked. “I don’t quite understand; what do you mean by ‘remain in the Union’?”

Ye Xiaohan filled him in. “The Union provides abundant resources raising the chosen cadets, so everyone must sign an agreement. If the organization needs you to hold a position in any subordinate department, you are not allowed to reject it.

“The Union will pay great attention to the people raised by them. This is an excellent opportunity. There’s a chance for you to be part of its core department and find yourself constantly being mobilized by the Union in the future.” Ye Xiaohan seemed to be intentionally reminding Xia Fei with her subtle tone of voice.

Xia Fei nodded. The Adjudicator Union is actually a loose organization of elite warriors, and not every Adjudicator has to work exclusively for it. Many leave the Union after receiving their certifications and do whatever they like, belonging to the organization only in name. Other than emergency commands from the Union, those Adjudicators were free to do as they wished.

By signing this contract, Xia Fei would become a permanent member of the Union. If they needed help with something, Xia Fei could be asked to perform it, and he could not do anything to reject that request.

“Does it mean that I wouldn’t be able to join the internal division if I don’t sign this contract?” Xia Fei hesitated for a few seconds before asking this with a smile.

In his eyes, this contract was the same as selling his soul, and Xia Fei did not like strict contracts like this. Although he could move around much easier as an Adjudicator, he did not wish to sell his soul to the Union.

“That’s not necessarily true. You can still join the internal division if you don’t sign the contract, but your training time in the Stygian Training Center will be limited to ninety hours every month. You will be charged for any excess hours,” Ye Xiaohan explained patiently, though there was a hint of hope in her eyes that Xia Fei would not decline the contract.

Supervisor Kingston took a look at Ye Jingshan, only to find him sitting there motionlessly as if nothing happening here concerned him at all.

Kingston intentionally let out a cough or two before saying, “You don’t need to decide so soon. This is a sample contract; you can get back to me once you make a decision.”

Xia Fei had already made up his mind, very quickly coming to a decision regarding the signing of the contract. While it may seem as if anyone who signed the contract would be working in an Adjudicator Union’s core department, with a bright future ahead of them, Xia Fei did not just care about it. He was incredibly willing to become an Adjudicator and work for the Union, but it must be done out of his willingness to do so and not be forced by a contract or something.

Not signing the contract only meant that his training time in the Stygian Training Center would get limited. Xia Fei had never planned to cultivate there all day all night in the first place, for he had already made plans to learn other techniques, with his own study plans.

Moreover, everything must be in moderation. It was never a good thing to stay in a place so dense in energy all day long. It might even cause irreversible damage to the body if one was not careful.

Xia Fei shook his head and said gently, “No need to think about it; I’ve decided not to sign the contract.”

There was a collective gasp in the office. These leaders of the internal division could barely believe this at all. Being part of the core departments of the Adjudicator Union and freely using the Stygian Training Center that only the top elites could use were great opportunities that many people dreamed of getting.

Anyone else would have signed the contract without hesitation. Though Xia Fei demonstrated the same lack of hesitation, it was his readiness to decline this huge opportunity instead.

Ever since the crisis grade assessment, Xia Fei was synonymous with trouble, causing headaches wherever he went.

And since entering the camp, Xia Fei had become synonymous with his maverick ways, declining various divisions and choosing to become a librarian instead; now, rather than taking this chance to be part of one of the Union’s core, he chose to become an independent Adjudicator.

Ye Jingshan immediately knitted his eyebrows, letting out a muffled snort as if he was holding himself back from outwardly reacting.

Kingston turned and took a look at Ye Jingshan, only to see the cool battalion commander hesitating for quite some time before he unwillingly nodded his head.

Kingston let out a bitter smile before sighing. “Come to think of it; you’re the second in the history of the internal division not to sign the contract. You are an internal division cadet from today onward; I’ll get people to help organize the rest.”

Just as he finished speaking, Ye Xiaohan stood up, volunteering herself. “Let me do it.”

Kingston nodded indifferently. Ye Xiaohan then gestured to walk out with Xia Fei. A few other instructors read the room and left soon after, leaving behind the skinny supervisor Kingston and Ye Jingshan.

After everyone else left, Kingston quietly said to Ye Jingshan, “Battalion Commander Ye, are we just going to let this matter go?”

Ye Jingshan helplessly nodded. “We’ll leave it at that. You may go on ahead; leave me in silence for a bit.”

Kingston stood up as he carefully left the room, thinking to himself, ‘Alright, the internal division now has a second cadet that declined to sign the contract, who also happens to be the first to be chosen before reaching Star Domain Rank. What’s going on with Battalion commander Ye? Why did he insist on choosing Xia Fei?”

Only Ye Jingshan was left in the office. He finally cracked, unable to suppress the anger within him anymore, and slammed his right fist on the alloy desk with anger in his eyes.

It took him quite some time to gather himself. He stood up and tidied his clothes before establishing a video-call. On the other side of the connection was the fat, old man at the library, Qin Mang.

“Teacher,” Ye Jingshan greeted respectfully. He never conversed with Qin Mang sitting down, and every time he talked to him, he would make sure that he was dressed neatly with a solemn look on his face.

“What’s the matter?” Old man Qin Mang had his legs crossed as he sipped Biluochun tea while munching on the five-spice sunflower seeds gifted to him by Xia Fei, looking incredibly relaxed. Xia Fei’s gifts to get on his good side fit Qin Mang’s tastes just fine, and he secretly took a greater liking to the clever young man.

Qing Mang had never cared about money, yet Xia Fei’s tea leaves and sunflower seeds managed to capture his heart. Sometimes, things like this would just happen, the smallest gifts achieving better results than the most expensive ones.

“Xia Fei didn’t agree to the contract.” Ye Jingshan knitted eyebrows.

“So what?” Qin Mang asked in response.

“Teacher, you already know this. If he doesn’t sign the contract, it means that he won’t be under the Union’s control at all. Doesn’t that mean that your wishes to promote him are in vain?”

Qin Mang let out a hearty laugh. “You’re such a fool. I think it’s a good thing. It’s his choice whether he wants to be a full-time member of the Union or not; must there be a connection between the two things? In short, just do the things I’ve told you to do. There’s no need for you to question things any further.”

“Understood.” Ye Jingshan nodded and stayed silent. Even a fool could tell that he was not in a good mood.

After ending the call, Qin Mang muttered to himself as he stroked the black cat in his arms, “Not bad. He even knows what he should accept and what he should reject. I didn’t waste my time, after all.”