บท 30: Cunning Principal’s Plan
บรรณาธิการ: Tehrn
"Fine, fine, stop buttering me up. What do you want? I will help as long as it won't break any rules."
"I wouldn't dare. I only need a file for a student named Wang Tong, he had a referral letter from the Confederation and used to stay on Norton."
"That shouldn't be a problem. I will flip it to you as soon as possible. Hang in there, sister. It's a sticky situation for both you and the Military. He was a survivor of the Confederation's f*ck up, if the military doesn't appear to be taking care of him, the media will blow things out of proportion." Kolan's career instinct tingled knowing the sensitivity of the issue, and she thought Samantha planned to expel Wang Tong.
She felt wary of Samantha's situation; Wang Tong's presence must have thrown another wrench into the gears for her.
"Understood fellow sister, rest assured."
Wang Tong's documents arrived soon after their conversation ended. Although the documents seemed ordinary at first glance, upon her scrutiny, contradictory evidence surfaced, evidence that had apparently been missed by the useless government workers.
She had discovered a salient fact that all the survivors, except for Wang Tong, were from well defended main bases equipped with vaults; however, the mine cave where Wang Tong had been hidden at was not stocked like a vault with food supplies. This discovery led Samantha to ponder, "How did he manage to survive a year under such desolate conditions?"
The documents mentioned a nutrient transformer, but even a nutrient transformer would require organic raw materials. It went without saying that rocks wouldn't turn into nutrients pills, and the situation would have been exacerbated by the fact that Zergs would have turned the whole planet into their hive. "The fact that Wang Tong had survived without immediate food, and surrounded by Zergs can only mean..." Samantha's focus shifted toward the screen.
Things could not be clearer to Samantha as she watched Wang Tong's nimble moves. All of the evidence had confirmed her suspicion. The riddle was solved.
"Pff... trying to hide your true strength right under my nose, I think you’ve picked the wrong school, you little fool," Samantha thought to herself. She always believed that it was the teacher's responsibility to draw out a student's true talents, with or without the student's consent.
The dissecting class was truly an awful one, especially for the light-hearted girls. Mr. Gansus always acted just and fair, and never showed any sympathy toward either the puking or fainting students, or both.
Anyone who failed the dissecting test had to keep on trying until he or she passed, although the best score for any second attempts was only 60%. Even so, it was still better than failing it outright as that would mean being demoted into the F class.
Only 80% of the students had passed the anatomy test, but Gansus still felt that he had accomplished something great, that something being the discovery of Wang Tong, a genius that Ayrlarng truly needed at this trying time.
Ma Xiaoru walked into the Principal's office after the dissection class, exhausted. Although her soul power had protected her from the splashing blood and the stench, she found that dissecting an entire Zerg was still hard work.
"Hey, cutie." Samantha smiled at Ma Xiaoru as the latter walked in.
"You have heard about it?"
"Mr. Gansus has told me everything."
"You look happy. He is just a good embalmer for Zerg you know, not that much of a big deal," Ma Xiaoru said.
"That embalmer was one thing, Hu Yangxuan was another notch on our belt. I bet he came here only because of you. Now that's what making me happy."
"Sam!" Ma Xiaoru stomped her feet on the ground, and her face turned red, "that's nonsense!"
"Oh, my little princess, don't be picky now. Hu Yangxuan is not bad looking don't you think? And he plays the piano so well, he ought to be the romantic type, c’mon, he might not be suited for a serious relationship, but he is a stud! Don't you want to enjoy your youth while you are no longer under your old man's constant watch?"
"If you think he is attractive, why don't I hook you up with him?"
"I am the principal, and he is too young, and too... inexperienced for me."
Ma Xiaoru chuckled and poked fun at Samantha: "Since when have you become so scrupulous? The guys you have wrapped around your little finger can queue a line from the capital city to the Moon."
"Fine, fine, so be it. Come sit here; I want to talk to you about the embalmer." Samantha gestured Ma Xiaoru to come closer as she pointed to Wang Tong on the screen, "Wang Tong, a wolf in sheep’s clothing."
"Why? He was just familiar with the Zerg's anatomy, wasn't he?"
"Look for yourself." Samantha tossed Wang Tong's documents to Ma Xiaoru.
The single page document encapsulating the history of Wang Tong contained nothing extraordinary, and only a tinge of sadness. He had endured an alcoholic adoptive father who used him merely as a bargaining chip with the welfare department. Then one year ago, he sold Wang Tong for some quick cash to the Confederation's Norton task force. Upon Wang Tong's return, he quickly became homeless as his sordid “father” had left the city and sold the house.
Ma Xiaoru returned the piece of paper to Samantha as she watched her ruthless sister with a scowl for bullying such a hapless classmate.
"Hey, hey miss, don't waste your sympathy on trivial matters, pay attention to what's important." Samantha knocked on the table as she spoke, hoping to rein in her sister's flood of sympathy.
"Sam, his life has been difficult enough, let's stop giving him grief."
"Gods! They say girls who cultivated the Tactics of the Enchantress are the most steadfast and pragmatic, and you have definitely proved them wrong."
Ma Xiaoru seemed embarrassed, "I just feel that we should not be the bully."
"Bully? Did you say bully? I wonder who will be the bully in a real fight between you two." Samantha’s words struck Ma Xiaoru's heart.
"It's... impossible."
"Have you ever felt the presence of his power? The feeling of an imminent threat that you’ve always felt whenever there's another strong force nearby?"
"No... not with him." Ma Xiaoru shook her head. Although she sat side by side with Wang Tong, she had never sensed a tinge of Wang Tong's power.
"There you have it. Among all the tactics, yours are the sharpest in sensing even the faintest trace of energies. If you’ve failed to notice his presence, don't you think that speaks to his ability? Look at his eyes."
Samantha fast-forwarded the video to a zoomed-in shot of Wang Tong's face. Deep within that pool of darkness, a powerful undercurrent seemed to swirl with confidence and audacity.
"I can assure you that it was not low self-esteem behind the sheepish façade, he simply didn't care to show off!" Samantha announced as she slammed her palm on the desk, she spared Ma Xiaoru a glance and said, "Perhaps, he thought that you were a rookie as well."
"It doesn't add up. If what you said is true, why would he suddenly reveal himself?" Ma Xiaoru said as she shook her head.
Samantha ignored her protest; Ma Xiaoru was too young and too naïve after all. She felt it was ironic considering the fact that the stereotypical enchantress was cunning and devious.
"Of course it does, that was because he really needed the marks, so when Gansus announced that he could get 100%, he accidentally showed his true power," Samantha clenched her fist and waved it excitedly as she spoke as if she wanted to strike Wang Tong's head.
Samantha's explanation reminded Ma Xiaoru of the incident this morning when Wang Tong had easily given up his seat, she told Samantha, finally agreeing to her suspicion.
"Interesting, he even resisted the temptation of having you sitting right beside him, don't you want to win him back?" Samantha winked at Ma Xiaoru.
"Very well, I do want to see if he indeed is hiding anything."
"Great, I have a perfect opportunity for you coming up, we shall find out by then. Count Ayrlarng and I lucky if he really is a genius, otherwise, we will just let him muddle around until graduation."
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