Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Learning
Everyone, please collect and recommend this book. The popularity serial recommendation for this week is about to expire, and I don't know if we'll have a recommendation next week. If our performance is a bit better, the editor might give us a spot. It's all up to you now.
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The morning passed quickly with X sharing a lot. He didn't seem like a special agent but more like a university professor, discussing many ordinary, everyday things that no one would notice without him pointing them out.
When talking about disguise, he even joked about his accent, switching to a Boston accent at one point, making it unclear if his accent was a form of disguise.
After that morning, X didn't appear again, and the trainees didn't even know what he looked like. The only memorable thing about him was his tall figure and Austrian accent.
The days continued as before, with half a day of physical fitness training and the other half dedicated to various subjects like combat, shooting, tracking and counter-tracking, and intelligence analysis. However, what the trainees found most interesting were the gadgets Morrie occasionally brought out, like the surveillance device disguised as a cigarette.
The cigarette looked ordinary but contained a monitor in the filter, which transmitted live footage to a pair of sunglasses. The wearer could observe the direction the cigarette monitor was facing without anyone noticing. Such devices were ingenious.
There were many such gadgets: a ring with a poison needle, an electric shock belt, shoes with hidden blades, and bombs disguised as lipsticks. After everyone had a chance to experience these devices, Morrie continued.
"These gadgets, while clever, are ultimately just tools and can only play a supporting role. The most powerful weapon an agent has is themselves. What do you do if the monitor runs out of battery, gets wet, or is disrupted by magnetic fields?
Or at night, when no one would wander around wearing sunglasses? That's when you rely on people. Let me teach you a trick..."
Everyone perked up, knowing Morrie was about to share something valuable, and listened attentively.
Morrie turned his back and said, "Let's do an experiment. I'm not looking at you, but I know what you're doing. Donald, there's no need for that offensive gesture towards me, Katherine, you're chewing gum again, Jim, you're holding a cup in your left hand, oh now you've switched to the right, Owen, you really do have an ugly laugh..."
Turning back to face them, Morrie wasn't surprised by their astonishment and continued, "Amazing, isn't it? Actually, it's simple.
We live in a world full of mirrors – shop windows, car rearview mirrors, your watch, or even polished steel. Anything reflective can be your eyes. It's a simple trick, but mastering it can be incredibly useful..."
By the third week of training, they were no longer confined to the training base, and Morrie often took them to nearby cities for practical exercises.
Of course, they only practiced less intense subjects like tracking and counter-tracking, as CIA's reach has its limits even here.
"Alright, Bell and Katherine, what did you find just now?"
During these past few days in Richmond, they had been playing a game where two or three disguised as unrelated individuals would blend into a crowd and then describe the details and anomalies of their surroundings. It was Bell and Katherine's turn.
"The middle-aged Asian man who passed by had a mole on his right earlobe, and I smelled cooking oil on him, probably a chef. That policeman might be an impostor; the way he wore his radio is different from other officers. The taxi with the license plate ******** that turned the corner came at a very opportune moment, it would have been the most likely threat to me if an attack occurred..."
"OK," Morrie didn't comment on Bell's observations but turned to Katherine, "Katherine, your findings?"
"Um... the young mother with a child was pretending..."
"Oh, why? Did the child show any anomalies?"
"No, she and the middle-aged woman walking her dog yesterday are the same person. Even though she was in makeup, I recognized those eyes..."
Applause broke out, led by Morrie, followed by the rest of the students. While most of Bell's observations were noticeable by the others, Katherine's insight was more profound.
Recognizing someone by their eyes sounds easy but is actually quite challenging. Morrie's reaction confirmed Katherine was correct.
"Katherine is right, the woman was one of our instructors in disguise. She appeared seven times in two days, each time in a different disguise, and only Katherine noticed her. Most of what Bell said was correct, but that policeman wasn't one of us; he's just left-handed."
What? Seven times? And we didn't notice even once?
It seems there's still much to learn. Everyone's attention then turned to Katherine, whose excellence was evident.
After weeks of living together, the trainees had become very familiar with each other. Owen was known for his driving, Donald for combat, Eva for shooting and makeup, but Katherine was almost an all-rounder.
Her driving skills were only slightly inferior to Owen's, ranking her second in the group, but she was first in shooting and tracking, especially in tracking and counter-tracking, where even Morrie was impressed.
She also ranked within the top five in combat and other subjects, making it clear to everyone that Katherine had a promising future.
Owen had some background in combat, having practiced mixed martial arts before, so he wasn't completely new to it.
During sparring with the instructor, who switched to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu when he couldn't subdue Owen with conventional fighting techniques, Owen lost but developed a keen interest in this joint manipulation martial art.
Originating from Japan, this combat technique focuses on subduing rather than knocking down the opponent, utilizing leverage over force, a stark contrast to the broad and powerful moves of the free fighting Owen had learned previously.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone