Chapter 129: Winter to Spring

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

It had been some time since Xia Fei saw Ye Xiaohan, yet she still had that cold look on her face. Xia Fei did not think that there was much to talk about with her, so the two of them walked side by side in the hallway in total silence.

Out of nowhere, Ye Xiaohan said while smiling, “It’s great that you’re back; I thought that you were dead for sure.”

Someone who never smiled actually smiling for once was an incredibly awkward situation to deal with. Xia Fei was completely weirded out by Ye Xiaohan’s actions. Her smile was perfect, and there was even a hint of softness in her tone, yet it felt completely fake.

Xia Fei felt a burst of chill entering him, and he unconsciously shivered before saying lightly, “It wasn’t much; I was just lucky.”

“Why didn’t you agree to the contract? Many have the dream of joining the core departments of the Union, you know.” Ye Xiaohan continued to ask with a smile.

After half an hour or so, Xia Fei let out a sigh of relief once he finally parted ways with the lady, who had become really weird, muttering, “That’s scary. I’d rather not see her smile.”

Xia Fei got himself to the dining hall after doing some quick unpacking.

There was a large group of cadets exiting the Stygian Training Center, hastily making their way to the dining hall before rushing back after they bought something random, not willing to waste a single second of their time.

The special benefits of the Stygian Training Center had completely captivated these cadets’ attention. Just like drugs, they easily got addicted to it, not realizing that they were becoming more and more reliant on the training room.

To Xia Fei, these cadets were comparable to walking corpses—moving like robots with lifeless eyes.

At this moment, Xia Fei felt that he had made the correct decision. No matter what, he wished that he would never lose his sense of self.

While he was immersed in his thoughts, Chen Dong and Moon Song appeared in front of him. Effortlessly, Moon Song had changed into a white set of training attire. There were two axes embroidered on her chest as if displaying her plump weapons. Just as before, Chen Dong had nothing but his short pants on.

“What are you looking at?” demanded Moon Song at Xia Fei when she caught him staring at her chest.

“Weapons,” replied Xia Fei with a smile as he pointed at the axes on her chest.

This clever joke was such a hit that even Chen Dong could barely contain his laughter.

“What are you laughing at, you blockhead?” Moon Song glared at Chen Dong.

She could not do much about Xia Fei, but she was confident in and used to handling Chen Dong. The latter hastily suppressed his laughter, then he secretly gave Xia Fei a thumbs-up.

Perhaps it was because they had not been in the internal division for too long, but Chen Dong and Moon Song were not as robotic as the others. They were just as rich in emotions as before.

After ordering a few dishes, the three of them chatted while they dined.

“When did you two join the internal division? How come it was never mentioned when we chatted last time?” Xia Fei asked as he swallowed a big piece of beef.

“Moon Song and I entered the internal division just a month ago. Bai Ye—the guy who crashed into you during the race—was also with us. I heard that a group had left the internal division, so we were elected to replace them,” replied Chen Dong.

“That’s indeed the case. The internal division will always maintain five hundred people. Once a group leaves, another group joins.”

“Oh”—Xia Fei nodded—”you guys haven’t done any assessments before entering, either?”

“Nope, just a simple notice. I thought that there’s going to be an assessment or something; who would’ve thought the process was so simple?” answered Chen Dong.

Xia Fei did not say anything. It seemed that everyone had gone through the same process; whoever got selected by the internal division would be able to join. Xia Fei previously thought that there was something fishy going on, but it seemed that his admission here was the same as everyone else.

The three of them chatted for a bit longer; Xia Fei eventually noticed that Chen Dong kept fidgeting in his seat. He was all brawn after all, and he must be in a hurry to go back and train, so Xia Fei gave a reason to end their meal.

His life after joining the internal division was just as before; Xia Fei would report to the library on time every day and would stay to read after he was done cleaning, When it was time to leave, he would even bring a book to his dorm to read at night.

The distance between the library and the internal division was by no means small; they were four hundred or so kilometers apart. Luckily, Xia Fei possessed the speed ability, and distance posed no problem to any speed ability user. Xia Fei just treated it as part of his daily training and would push himself to travel between the two points as fast as he could.

As days went by, Xia Fei and Qin Mang grew closer and closer. The two of them would chat over some tea, going through their days uneventfully. Even Qin Mang’s lazy black cat was getting closer to Xia Fei, often begging him for food.

He had come to realize over time that Qin Mang was anything but average. Shocking words would often come out of the latter’s mouth, and he was not a stubborn person either, being quite open-minded about many things. In his eyes, the human alliance was a for-profit organization, and the Adjudicator Union and Monastic Order were just cannon fodders, gathering large numbers of hot-blooded and dog-blooded people who liked to show off.

Xia Fei never liked sticking to conventions and never took what he said seriously. If there was one thing similar between him and Qin Mang, it would be that they were the rebellious type, they did not like being restrained and did not care too much for the ‘rules’ the Alliance had set.

Xia Fei would still clean the basement every day, but he never did manage to find the hidden room, nor had he ever mentioned it to Qin Mang, and the old man had not once brought it up to him, either.

There was no question that Qin Mang had stayed in the library for dozens of years, and he surely knew about what was up with the basement. Moreover, Xia Fei felt that Qin Mang had something planned from the very beginning. Be it recruiting Xia Fei to work at the library or letting him clean the basement, nothing was as simple as it seemed.

Xia Fei got here by following his instincts. He had never regretted meeting Qin Mang; in truth, he already gained plenty of unexpected benefits from the library.

Qin Mang would occasionally take books off the bookshelves and give them to Xia Fei. Those books were about all kinds of things—geography, biographies, military tactics, et cetera. They might seem irrelevant at first glance, but Xia Fei would seriously read every book twice no matter what subject it was about.

Slowly but surely, Qin Mang gave Xia Fei more and more books, and the latter would spend a lot of time going through them back in the dorm, just like doing homework. Qin Mang would often ask Xia Fei for his thoughts the next day, and sometimes he would even ask questions mentioned in the book.

Two months later, Xia Fei finally understood that Qin Mang was teaching him how to read books; the old man would give him basic books initially, but as time went on and Xia Fei’s reading capacity increased, the latter would assign him books that were more complex.

Other than the abundant information about combat, Qin Mang would let Xia Fei read the forbidden tomes on the second floor.

These forbidden tomes contained information about the ancient civilization, and Xia Fei absorbed their contents in the most correct way possible under Qin Mang’s guidance. The moment he got to reading the technological information left behind by the ancient civilization, he was shocked by his ability to understand the obscure codes and formulas presented in the tomes.

This was absolutely a big step for Xia Fei. He could never have learned this useful information in school, so he was comparable to a blank piece of paper, but in just a few month’s time, Xia Fei’s notes were filled with writings, and these writings became more and more deep and complicated.

Xia Fei never forgot to chat with Avril, either, but because of his studies, they often spent less time chatting. Of course, Avril had something to say about that, but whenever Xia Fei talked about his studies to her, the girl’s eyes would be filled with a glow of approval.

At first, Avril could still understand some of it, but as his reading skills improved and what he was reading got ever more complicated, Avril began to think that the knowledge he was sharing with her did not exist in this realm as it was barely intelligible.

Eventually, Avril stopped trying to understand what Xia Fei was saying, focusing instead on how Xia Fei looked as he talked.

Although Chen Dong and Moon Song were in the internal division with Xia Fei, the three of them seldom saw one another, for those two had been devoting their days in the Stygian Training Center to train.

Moon Song would sometimes get Xia Fei out to have a meal together for a chat, but Chen Dong had become a training machine. Xia Fei had not seen him for the entirety of last week, and even if they did meet, it would often be a quick ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ before Chen Dong would hurry to leave.

Xia Fei did not have much to say about this as everyone desired different things. He wanted to be as balanced and well-rounded as possible, whereas Moon Song and Chen Dong wished to be stronger. These were their choices, and it was not up to anyone to say what they should do.

Quantum Holdings had finally assembled its first fleet and even managed to perform a few deliveries, selling products to other planets. Although the profits were not high, it was still a start.

As the products increased in variety and quantity, profits would be sure to follow. They had already survived the worst stage, and Xia Fei was glad for that.

The people of the Federation were incredibly enthusiastic about Earth’s first space fleet, too. The name of Quantum Holdings quickly spread around, and many companies fought with one another for a chance to work with Quantum Holdings, even if they had to pay funds in advance.

The merchants had been very much looking forward to interstellar trade for a long time, and being able to work together with the only company in the Federation that had access to interstellar trade was something they viewed with pride. Even an ordinary staff of that company would feel proud of themselves while walking down the streets.

In the blink of an eye, winter turned to spring, and willow trees began sprouting their tender leaves. Thus, Xia Fei’s first journey to ancient ruins had begun.