Half the investigation bureau was in an uproar. Most of the personnel not on duty, after hearing the news, threw on their clothes and rushed down from the rooftop into the Jiezhi Space, surrounding Xiaoxia and Pei Yan, who were standing in the center of the field.
Ten meters, Pei Yan activated the automatic defense alert line. Xiaoxia playfully teased him like a mischievous child taunting a fierce dog tied with a chain, darting back and forth along the line. Each time she stepped into this range, Pei Yan, stimulated, would instinctively assume a defensive counterattack stance. When she jumped back, he would drop his arm and return to an idle standing posture.
Watching Xiaoxia having fun with this back-and-forth, Gao Yaping approached Gu Shenghui and the others with a chuckle, "Director Gu, is it really okay to let her go?"
"There’s nothing wrong with it. The little girl is the most suitable candidate for testing," Gu Shenghui said calmly as he lit a cigarette.
Gao Yaping brushed her hair and joked to the others, "Wang Wenze over there has already started a betting pool on how long that brat can last."
Elder Lin frowned upon hearing this, looking dissatisfiedly at Gu Shenghui beside him, "Nonsense, these young people are getting more and more reckless. Can something be used for betting? Xiaogu, this is the result of your leniency. It’s high time for the bureau to reinforce its political and ideological work!"
"Yes, yes, Elder Lin is absolutely right. After today, we’ll establish a one-month political and ideological study period in the bureau, and I’ll have a proper talk with them, especially that lazy Wang Wenze! By the way, Xiaogao, what are the stakes of their bet?" Gu Shenghui agreed with nods and then turned to Gao Yanping to ask.
"The bet is on whether that brat can last ten minutes under Xiaoxia’s control!"
"And what’s Wang Wenze betting on?"
"A month’s salary on his roommate winning."
"Hmph, that brat. Does he even have any salary left to lose? He’ll be eating in the canteen next month. Elder Lin, I’ll give him a lesson right now," Gu Shenghui puffed a smoke ring, glancing disdainfully at the crowd where Wang Wenze was bouncing around, then smiled apologetically at the increasingly stern-looking Elder Lin.
He then shouted at Xiaoxia, bouncing energetically on the field, "Little Leopard, Wang Wenze bet you can’t beat Pei Yan within ten minutes. I’m betting on your victory. If you can subdue him using first-tier Awakening abilities within ten minutes, you can pick any ’souvenir’ from my office. If you do it within five minutes, you can choose one from my safe after I inspect it."
Hearing this, the called "Little Leopard" Xiaoxia suddenly stopped, glaring fiercely at Wang Wenze who shrank back into the crowd, then turned to Gu Shenghui standing on the edge, "Director Gu, are you sure about this? Aren’t you afraid I’ll hurt him?"
"He’s not a national treasure panda, untouchable and sacred. No matter the ability, he will go out on missions sooner or later. Besides, with Elder Lin here, what’s there to fear? You can freely use abilities within the first tier; it’s not unfair to him."
With that, Xiaoxia turned and looked at Pei Yan in the field, slowly taking off her coat and top, "Pei Yan, sorry. I’ll visit you afterward with something."
As the two pieces of clothing hit the ground, Xiaoxia, now only in a sports vest, lunged forward suddenly, darting toward the motionless Pei Yan like an arrow released from a bow.
Pei Yan reacted the moment she stepped into his attack range, swinging his left fist at a speed too fast for the naked eye to detect. Just as his fist was about to hit Xiaoxia, she sidestepped, grabbed his left wrist with her own left hand, rotated her body with her right leg as the pivot, and executed a perfect spinning back kick, hitting Pei Yan accurately in the lower ribs.
"Bang!" The mournful creak of metal cracking echoed in everyone’s ears, and those with keen eyes noticed that the spot where Pei Yan was kicked, his steel-like body had caved in deeply.
However, Xiaoxia didn’t stop her assault. As Pei Yan wobbled from the hit to his ribs, her just-landed left leg became the pivot, her body slightly lowering, and she used the momentum of her spinning body along with the extension of her knee in a smooth follow-up spinning back kick, landing firmly on Pei Yan’s chest.
"Thud!" This time, the unsteady Pei Yan was kicked backward and slammed heavily onto the ground.
"K.O!" Wang Wenze shouted in anguish, placing a hand on his forehead, unable to watch any longer.
"Is it over already? This little girl is getting stronger! She’s improved a lot since she was training with me," Instructor Miao couldn’t help but praise, watching Xiaoxia finish Pei Yan efficiently.
Xiaogao glanced at the watch, "Indeed, this little girl is now one of Director Gu’s trusted young generals. Twenty-five seconds, it’s going to hurt Director Gu financially."
"Xiaogao might be excused given her lack of close combat skills, but Old Miao, you rarely participate in actual combat after joining the military, and now even your insight is lacking. That brat hasn’t lost yet!"
Hearing Gu Shenghui’s teasing, Instructor Miao’s face flushed, and looking intently, he saw that indeed Pei Yan, who had been knocked down, was back on his feet with a perfect kip-up in less than ten seconds.
"His mechanical body doesn’t feel pain, and the surface damage will quickly be repaired by his strange ability. Although Xiaoxia’s strikes looked impressive, they didn’t inflict much damage," Elder Lin explained with interest, snapping his fingers at Gu Shenghui.
Gu Shenghui immediately understood; this old man, who had quit smoking under his wife’s urging for over a year, was craving a cigarette. He promptly pulled out a cigarette to hand over, but the old man looked at the cigarette held between his fingers, then returned it to Gu Shenghui disdainfully, "Stingy!"
"Alright, alright, my fault! I’ll light it for you right away!" With that, Gu Shenghui didn’t even retrieve the thrown cigarette, but instead pulled out a long box from his pocket, took out a cigar, and struck a match to light it.
The cigar slowly rotated in the flames, then he discarded the partially burned match, lit another, and continued to light the cigar before tossing it away. Then he took a cigar cutter from the box, clipped the cap, and respectfully handed it to Elder Lin.
Receiving the cigar, Elder Lin took a puff, slowly exhaled the smoke ring after savoring it in his mouth for a long while, and nodded contentedly, "That’s more like it."
"Elder Lin, who do you think will win between them?" Xiaogao, seeing Elder Lin in a good mood, sidled up with a smile and asked.
"The girl. Her abilities are reminiscent of Ruozai’s, both of whom are near-path existences. Pei Yan, the boy, still has a lot of potential for future growth, but with his current abilities, it’s challenging to win this duel."
Just then, the crowd erupted in exclamation as the ever-gentlemanly Xiaoxia waited until Pei Yan steadied himself, and then charged again!