After X was done scaring the life out of the lady, he let her go. The lady was pale-faced, but she could not say anything to him and returned back to her room. On the other side, a chopper had appeared above Shi Lang and Quinn.
A soldier got down from the metallic beast using a fast rope. He was anxious when he found a big tiger laying down in front of the two people. He was about to shoot it when Shi Lang said, “Easy, she is with me.”
His words surprised the soldier and he said, “Instructor has said that the trial for you is finished, you can go back to the base.”
Shi Lang gazed at the man and said, “I have not received any word on my communicator.”
The soldier nodded, he was not from the top elites of the cardclass. He would have the skills to go and kill at least twenty Terrans on the same level, but his role on this base was that of a guard. Hearing Shi Lang’s doubt, he contacted back to the base, where X nodded in appreciation. This was a small test to see how vigilant was this young man.
If he was to follow the other party simply because he was a fellow Terran, then you are wrong, Neomons look like Terrans as well, so they can also fool him, this degree of vigilance, not trusting anyone, was something rare. X made up his mind about something and passed out the Hunt completion directive.
Shi Lang raised his head after checking the message and asked, “How are we going to transport her without a proper landing?”
The soldier said, “We have some means that the others do not sir. Please come along.”
Shi Lang carried the unconscious Quinn in his arms and walked over to the point where the soldier guided them. The soldier made a thumbs-up gesture in the sky and a module arm extended from the cabin door. The end of the arm glowed with a blue light. It was something that Shi Lang has never seen before.
The light cast a curtain around them and a few seconds later Shi Lang found that the unconscious girl in his arms had begun to levitate upwards. He was surprised and was about to ask the soldier what was this, when the latter took initiative and said, “This is the prototype technology still being developed by the military engineering. They have a complicated name for this but we simple-minded ones like to call it the tractor beam.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “The tiger will follow us as well. It is related to my ability.”
Things related to one’s ability were very secret, since Shi Lang had stated that the tiger was related to his ability, the soldier could not refuse and transported the beast inside the cabin as well. Zysha was praising Shi Lang for covering things up like this. The young man did not use the tractor beam and just grabbed the rope and climbed up to the chopper cabin.
It took them a few hours to get back to the base as they had to pick up some severely injured people on the way. When they reached the base, Quinn was taken to the infirmary by a lady who could not stop herself and glared at Shi Lang. The young man was unaffected by this stare and went straight to the briefing room, where X was waiting for him.
The people inside the base were all surprised to see a big tiger following him at a calm pace, looking around with curiosity. On the way, Shi Lang and Zysha were communicating with each other silently. The young man was answering her questions regarding the base. He could not blame her, this was the first time she had come to the human settlement.
In the past few days of banding together he found that when Charlotte was taking care of Zysha, the cub was young and unable to project thoughts telepathically inside the brain. Amidst their questions and answers, the two reached the briefing room and the young man knocked at the door lightly.
In response he heard a calm voice, “Come In.”
Shi lang pushed the door and walked inside, he told Zysha to wait outside. What if X had something up in his mind and decided to harm the tiger? Shi Lang could not trust anyone, for example, a person with the ability to detect lies and truth will be able to tell what Shi Lang said was not entirely correct.
Walking inside, Shi Lang made a crisp salute and waited for the man to speak first. After a few seconds, X asked, “What do you think of this expedition?”
Shi Lang replied with measured words. His sense of articulation was not weak. X nodded and said, “This hunt was organized to test the capability of the best students in the card class. However, like a traditional dark horse you came out on the top. It is not surprising given that you survived Ragnarok.”
Shi Lang did not say anything much but listened to the man quietly. X went on to say. “In the coming few days, the federation will be sending a team of Terran youngsters to go to the Neomon home planet and learn their ways. This is basically a recon mission. If they are friendly then good, but if they are enemies, then you will have to gather as much information as possible. Understood?”
Shi Lang was initially surprised but then he nodded and saluted the man in reply. X said, “Quinn will be your teammate so spend some more time with her and learn about her. You will have five members in your team and a teacher to look after you as the guardian.”
Shi Lang asked, “When can I meet the other members of the team?”
X replied, “It should not be long before the higher-ups decide on the candidates. I will inform you when it is done. You will be in charge and if someone in the team is not in agreement, you can use your methods to convince them.”
Shi Lang nodded and X said, “If you do not have any other questions then you can go back and get some rest.”
The young man gave him a salute and walked out of the room. He found Zysha to be sitting beside the door and said in his mind, “Let’s go.”