Chapter 376: Chapter 376: "Spoils of War
Seeing him step forward, the security team couldn’t make a decision. After exchanging glances, the team leader took out the walkie-talkie, "Please wait a moment, let me consult with Station Master Du."
Uncle Li turned around and quietly gave Chen Xuan a thumbs-up.
Lin Qing seemed a bit uneasy, "Wouldn’t saying that cause trouble? What if they take it seriously and ask you to verify your ability?"
Ability detection cannot determine what kind of ability a person has, and ability users, for privacy and personal interests, will not voluntarily disclose all their abilities. This is a general principle both in the future and in the past. Even strong institutions like the Dimensional Limit Mechanism outwardly only ask officers to indicate which tasks they are good at without delving into the details of their abilities. The reason for this approach is to reduce the resistance of ability users, making them feel less like they are "being forced to hand over their weaknesses to the organization."
Because once the details of an ability are known, it equals understanding the weaknesses of the ability user.
It is precisely because ability users are so troublesome to manage that the organization decided to fully replace them with limb technology.
To Lin Qing, if the subway station really made that demand, it would obviously be detrimental to Chen Xuan. No matter how strong his abilities are, he needs food, drink, and housing security, and turning against a base equals destroying his own path to survival. If Binjiang Garden Subway Station finds out he’s bluffing, it will also affect his personal reputation.
A person without credibility will find it difficult to move an inch in any sanctuary.
However, Chen Xuan just smiled casually, "Don’t worry, they will believe me."
He did not participate in the subsequent negotiations.
The subway station did not demand proof of ability.
Probably, the station master understood that if there were no direct conflicts of interest, it was okay to turn a blind eye; there was no need to offend a potentially powerful ability user within their ranks.
The negotiations dragged on until the next morning.
The final result between the subway station and the Fireline Band was that both parties would enter the spaceship together for investigation.
Once they located the external power outlet of the spaceship and supplied power, Ji cracked the electronic lock system and opened the hatch without damage.
Chen Xuan also went in for a look. The internal cabin was basically intact, with a faint sour stench in the air, several corpses lying sprawled on the floor, and many sealed boxes stored in the back storage room.
Then he came out.
Investigating the spaceship was clearly a meticulous task, and as an outsider, he was clearly more of a hindrance than help inside. The search work would obviously continue for days, but Chen Xuan had no interest in joining the commotion.
Of course, he was not idle during these days.
The matter of helping Beitian Academy was now officially underway—the method of assistance was very straightforward. Chen Xuan had Dean Sun pick out a group of talented and trustworthy disciples and brought them to be bathed in dragon blood. To prevent mishaps, he even blindfolded these individuals and led them to Hot Pepper Village for the bathing.
Among the first batch of twenty-five disciples were You Chi and Yue Beifeng.
After coming into contact with the dragon blood, they finally crossed the Mortal Immortal threshold and gained bodies capable of Qi Sensing.
This meant that Beitian Academy suddenly gained twenty-five cultivators.
Although the ability triggered by Great Demon blood, the benefits of such a change were tangible, as seen from You Chi’s overwhelming joy.
Even Yue Beifeng, who rarely showed expression, respectfully bowed to Chen Xuan.
Next was the training.
Previously, Liu Shuyue taught the residents of Hot Pepper Village cultivation, but now the villagers were teaching Beitian Academy disciples cultivation. Unlike ability users who rely on innate talent, cultivators can acquire more abilities through learning. Although techniques like the Purifying Heart Technique and Spirit Sword Technique are not as unpredictable as awakened abilities, they provide a stable progress path. As long as one consistently works hard, they will be rewarded.
With this group of disciples, Beitian Academy effectively replaced the role of the Dimensional Limit Mechanism’s Jiang City branch in managing ability users.
Meanwhile, some changes were occurring at the sanctuary.
First, Chen Xuan had become more famous.
Whenever he appeared, he attracted everyone’s attention; when he went to the canteen to eat, others would make room for him, casting curious glances his way.
After all, he was the one who moved a massive steel object from the border area to outside the subway station.
Rumor has it, he even engaged in direct combat with a Celestial Patrol, and the anomalies witnessed that night were triggered by the battle. The Celestial Patrol only managed to repel him with a nuclear bomb, but just barely, since he returned unscathed. This was seen as a monumental victory for humanity.
Additionally, his leadership in the raid on the Evangelical encampment, elimination of a medium-sized nano-living body, and capture of an Evangelical key figure also spread as people investigated further.
Compared to the overly legendary earlier exploits, the latter was undoubtedly more credible. After all, Ma Kang was imprisoned in the camp, and many had seen him. Several search teams returning from the wild confirmed that a building towards the city center, once brightly lit, was now completely dark.
Of course, skepticism still existed, especially regarding the solo fight against a Celestial Patrol, which seemed too unbelievable. Yet, whether admired or doubted, Chen Xuan did not respond, and this silence only added to his aura of mystery.
Another change was the rising popularity of the Fireline Band.
Now even without Lin Qing promoting in the square district, many young people willingly headed to the camp to inquire about the band’s upcoming plans.
The slogan of continuing to battle against nano-living bodies was no longer a subject of ridicule; instead, discussions about "defeating the ghost subway and reclaiming survival space" gradually increased among the survivors.
According to Uncle Li, they recently received numerous applications to join.
Many applicants were professional Searchers.
However, to Chen Xuan’s surprise, the band rejected most of these applications.
When he asked why Uncle Li simply explained, "Because Searchers are the true foundation of a subway station sanctuary."
These wilderness adventurers are valuable assets to the outposts, entering the perilous city ruins to find undiscovered resource caches, allowing the outposts to sustain themselves. If the Fireline Band took away these Searchers, it would undermine the survival foundation of the outposts, and no subway station would sit by idly.
So rejection was a wise choice.
After all, the Fireline Band still needed supplies from each outpost, and becoming an adversary was obviously not advisable.
Recruiting ability users, however, posed less of an issue.
For one, persuading even one out of ten ability users to join the Fireline Band was considered commendable; secondly, this demographic serves as a banner for the outpost, primarily attracting new transient populations into Jiang City. An ability user like Chen Xuan gaining more fame with the Fireline Band would only be beneficial for the Binjiang Garden Subway Station.
Lastly, there was another change that wasn’t exactly a change.
Now Lin Qing came to spend the night at the outpost every evening.
The purpose of her visits was naturally to Chen Xuan’s rented house, to discuss ghost subway battle plans, and to bring the latest updates on the spaceship exploration.
The good news was that they indeed found the "Destiny Wedge," all three of them, sealed inside metal boxes, confirmed by Ma Kang.
Six bodies were found on the spaceship, two of which were pilots, and three were mechanical officers, which matched the number of Destiny Wedges. The identity of the other deceased was unknown but appeared to have engaged in fierce combat with the officers before death. The causes of death were bizarre for all four, like the officers’ bones shattered from within by tremendous force, while the unknown deceased’s bodily fluids were completely drained, mummifying them. Lin Qing suspected that they were all ability users who somehow ended up killing each other.
However, the Destiny Wedge wasn’t the most important item on the spaceship.
In the ship’s cargo safe, they found a rare object. It was encased in a completely transparent glass box, and floated unaided when untouched by external forces. Deciphered spaceship logs indicated that transporting this item to Jiang City was the primary mission.
It was a jet-black coin.
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