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Dylan was good-natured, and no matter what happened in any Division, Dylan would also head over to help without anyone asking. Because of that, he was familiar with many people around the station. If there was any commotion or rumors flying around, Dylan would be the first to know.

Traveling Buddha brewed himself a pot of tea and handed Xia Fan a cup before saying, “Dylan said that something major is happening in the Outer Frontier. It has already alarmed Headquarters and all the major organizations of the three Federations. After we returned, the Bureau suddenly said that they are looking to strengthen their involvement with the Outer Frontier, so it must be related to this huge thing.”

Xia Fan drained the cup of tea and chuckled, “Alright, enough with the suspense. Tell me just what exactly is this ‘something major’? What could have all three Federations so nervous?”

!!

Traveling Buddha answered, “The situation with the Outer Frontier is very complex, and because of the non-expansion agreement that was signed, the Outer Frontier has always been a land of lawlessness and freedom.

“Before now, the three Federations did not think that the pirates and local warlords in the Outer Frontier affected them at all, since they were just a scattered bunch of soldiers that would hardly be a threat in the face of a proper army from the three Federations.”

“But that’s no longer the case. Murder Shrine had become a force to be reckoned with after developing for a long time. The warships that have been moved from the three Federations to the Outer Frontier are also increasing in numbers, making it so that the fleets from the Outer Frontier have since matched the strength of a proper fleet from the three Federations.

“In any case, if Starcloud Union doesn’t sell weapons to the Outer Frontier, the Republic will. And if the Republic doesn’t, then the Sacred Federation will.

“It’s gotten to the point that everyone’s fighting to sell their weapons to the warlords from the Outer Frontier, and military arms has become such a huge business that even if the three Federations want to assert some control over it, they cannot do so. There are tens of thousands of smuggling routes out there, and plenty of businessmen from the territory that have dealings with those beyond. Not many of them are clean.

“Well, it is what it is,” Traveling Buddha shrugged. “Man will die for fortune, as birds will die for food. There’s no way to block the influx of weapons to the Outer Frontier, which is why the three Federations all came up with the idea of incorporating them at the same time.

“At the end of the day, the reason why something like the agreement exists is all so as to make it easier to break it in the future.

“The three Federations have had over one hundred ceasefire treaties with one another, and none of them have ever really worked. At the end of the day, we’ll still all end up fighting against one another.”

Changing his tone quickly, Traveling Buddha sounded a bit more serious as he continued, “But this time is different. The news coming out from Murder Shrine indicates that they could very well be gathering together the various large forces from the Outer Frontier, both the pirates and the warlords, all of them rallying under their command to form the fourth Federation in Ashen Moon.

“That is something we definitely would not allow, which is why we received news from Chief Huo Jiang that the Union is planning to aggressively expand outward, in order to prevent the rise of Murder Shrine.

“After all, if Murder Shrine were to subjugate the Outer Frontier, then we would be in danger!

“Though the Outer Frontier is impoverished, it covers a large region, with plenty of people populating it. There is also an abundant supply of processable materials.

“Even if there’s no force that can challenge the three Federations for now, there’s no telling if that will remain to be the case in the future!”

Xia Fan frowned. If Murder Shrine managed to proliferate in the Outer Frontier, the situation would indeed be quite troublesome.

After all, the Outer Frontier covered a really huge area, and even the three Federations had no clue how many Star Regions were included in, and how great a population and how many races there were out there.

The understanding the three Federations had of the Outer Frontier was just an ancient star map. No one had any idea if there was anything else beyond, or if intelligent life existed.

“So what’s the Bureau’s decision?” Xia Fan asked Traveling Buddha.

Traveling Buddha crossed his legs. “Dylan and Huo Jiang’s secretary have a rather good relationship. He heard that the Outer Frontier plans to host a super-ability Tyrant Battle, bring together Burning, Rock, Tian Yu, Sarah, Bristol, Ye Tong, and Lywellian, experts from the eight major star regions, and then select the strongest special-ability warrior from the Outer Frontier.”

“Hosting such a big event, forget the Special Bureau, all the powerful organizations would send their people over, though people are still undecided over the method of intervention.”

“It is the navy’s opinion that Murder Shrine is surely the main power behind this so-called special-ability tyrant battle. They are looking to use this competition battle to recruit all the experts in the Outer Frontier to their side.

“That is why the military insists on having them eliminated, apprehending all the special-ability users that attend and investigating whether they have any relations with Murder Shrine.

“However, there could be very outstanding special-ability warriors from the eight Star Regions, and their numbers could well be in the tens of thousands. Wanting to capture all of them would be very difficult, and there’s no way that the Sacred Federation or the Republic would let us conduct a solo operation.

“In any case, no matter what tactics we employ, Deron Star Region’s Special Bureau will surely send a large number of our Investigators, given our proximity to the Outer Frontier, and we are included.”

Hearing Traveling Buddha’s words, Xia Fan gave him a slight nod.

The eight Star Regions that were hosting the competition covered an extremely broad area. Among them were two Star Regions that bordered the Starcloud Union’s territory. It looked like a vertical bar on the star maps, like a river, where one end was connected to the territory, and the other to the Outer Frontier.

As for the populations of those eight Star Regions, no one could give an exact number, because there had never been a population census in the Outer Frontier before. From what Xia Fan had observed from the Burning Star Region, there were definitely a lot of Natives living there, and their numbers were surely astronomical.

Since they had such a huge population, there would surely be a host of special-ability users. If all those people were to go to work for Murder Shrine, that could be real trouble!

The main mission for the Special Bureau was to manage the registration and filing of special-ability users, but that did not include the special-ability users from the Outer Frontier. If there came a day when those special-ability users were ordered by Murder Shrine to slip into the Inner Territories and create waves, they would surely give the Special Bureau a run for their money.

“No, they won’t,” Xia Fan said after quickly thinking about the situation.

“What do you mean, they won’t?”

“I’m saying that the military’s plan to encircle and suppress all the special-ability users will definitely not pass.”

“Why not? There must be a reason, right?”

“Simply put, special-ability users are resources to Murder Shrine, similar to how the three Federations see them. If Murder Shrine could incorporate these special-ability users just as well as the three Federations could, there would be no need to fear Murder Shrine doing something so drastic and offending the citizens of the Outer Frontier.”

“You mean to say that we can also choose to recruit them?”

“That’s right. Incorporating these special-ability users would be much easier than killing them. There’s no need to complicate something that could be so easily resolved. I believe the higher-ups of the Union would have thought of that, too. That is why all you have to do is wait. When we are assigned, it will surely not be to eliminate them!”

...

...

The grapevine was always faster.

On the second day Xia Fan returned to the station, he discovered that everyone was also discussing the special-ability Tyrant Battle that was being organized in the Outer Frontier.

Investigators were very interested in the strength of the special-ability users from the Outer Frontier. There had never been a thorough investigation in those regions, so no one had any idea just how many special-ability users there were, and just what kind of combat strength they possessed.

Humans were creatures that loved competition, and the Investigators were fond of talking about this matter because deep down, they felt that the combat strength of the special-ability users from the Outer Frontier would not be comparable to those from the Inner Territories. But no one had any clue just how great the disparity between the two was, and all they could do was speculate before the huge competition.

Ever since Xia Fan had improved his Speed with the Immortality Wine, for some unknown reason, he found his appetite growing even greater than before. A single lunch and Xia Fan could polish off three whole fried chickens, as well as an entire pot of vegetable salad and at least two liters of fruit juice.

It was probably due to the transformation that happened to his body, where the cells in his body were all being replaced anew. Even his skin appeared smoother than before, an indication that his new cells had already taken the place of the old cells in his body.

The new cells were more energetic than before, so of course they would expend even more calories than before. That explained why Xia Fan’s appetite increased, requiring food comparable to the meals eaten by six strong men every day.

—

This morning, Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha had eaten their breakfast together as usual and arrived at the Special Bureau.

Before they even took a step through the entrance, they could already see the somber expression on all their colleagues’ faces. They were going about their duties in a hurry, doing little jogs as they went from place to place. There was even a constant stream of small warships or hovercars from parts unknown coming and going from the roof of the Special Bureau station.

At the entrance, Xia Fan coincidentally bumped into Ma Zheng, who happened to be leaving the station just as they were about to enter. He was taking big strides, the expression on his face far more serious than before.

“Brother Ma, just where are you headed off to?” Xia Fan asked curiously before Ma Zheng could leave.

Ma Zheng glanced at the two lads and promptly walked over. He whispered into Xia Fan’s ears when he reached, “Both of you go look, quick! The name list is out.”

“What name list?” Xia Fan asked, slightly taken aback.

“Nominally, it is a list of members being transferred to the Union Navy, but in truth everyone knows that the people whose names are displayed will surely be sent on a secret mission out to the Outer Frontier.

“My name is on the list, heading out tomorrow morning. I’ve asked for the day off from the chief; I won’t be working today so I have the time to settle my family matters. Things like bank account, insurance, and my children’s college funds are all in my name, and my wife’s a little confused, so I’m afraid she might not be able to make sense of them.”

Xia Fan smiled and scratched his head, “Brother Ma, hearing what you just said makes it sound like you’re planning to have your future affairs in order. It is not like there’s a flood of monstrous beasts in the Outer Frontier, so there’s no need for you to overreact like this, right?”

Ma Zheng shook his head solemnly. “If this isn’t a matter of grave importance, then there would not be a need to have a third of the members from Deron Special Bureau transferred over! There are over seven hundred and fifty people from the station being sent out, out of the two thousand-some individuals we have on staff!

“And this isn’t just us here on Deron. The Navy, Army, Intelligence Bureau, and Security Bureau, every one of these major organizations are doing a large-scale mobilization. I reckon there will be at least well over ten thousand special-ability users heading to the Outer Frontier.”

Xia Fan was shocked. The Union sending the Navy, as well as over ten thousand outstanding special-ability users, out to the Outer Frontier was definitely a grand gesture.

Just like what Ma Zheng had said, if this was not going to be some difficult mission, there was no way the Union would attempt such a large-scale mobilization. It seemed the situation was not as simple as he had imagined.

“Our names are also on the list, I take it?” Traveling Buddha naturally asked. After all, Xia Fan and he possessed impressive combat strengths; it would truly be strange if they did not make it.

Unexpectedly, Ma Zheng shook his head, “Nope. I don’t understand why, either, but when I asked the Division Head for my day off, he asked if the two of you had come in yet. He didn’t press matters after I told him no.

“Anyway, you’ll understand after you go up. With how suddenly the order came in, the entire station is now in a state of disarray. People who were not included in the list are disgruntled, while those who were named are hurrying home to pack their luggage.”

“Got it. Well, since Brother Ma has already gotten the day off, you should hurry and be on your way,” Xia Fan said to Ma Zheng.

“Yeah, I’ll be taking off first. Aside from my wife and kids, I still have to make a trip to visit my parents and in-laws. After all, this trip to the Outer Frontier will be quite a long assignment, maybe lasting a year or two, if not at least several months.”

—

Ma Zheng patted Traveling Buddha and Xia Fan on their backs and hurried his way back home.

The Investigators on the list of names would be setting off tomorrow morning, which was a bit too much of a rush. Even if they wanted to spend some time with their families and maybe even host a farewell party, they would not have the chance to do so. It might be a long time before they would get to meet each other again after this departure.

Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha did not dare delay and quickly got on board the elevator, and soon arrived at the floor of the Logistics Division.

Sure enough, the entire area was in chaos, with colleagues that had their names on the list hurriedly handing over their work to others, passing over their open investigations to their colleagues who were staying behind.

“The head’s looking for you two!” Dylan snapped his fingers from afar the moment he saw Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha. Dylan was also busy handing over work to another colleague, and did not come over to have a chat with Xia Fan.

Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha made their way to the office and knocked on the door before entering. They were greeted with Tong Guan’s stern face, who was presently looking out the window.

“You’ve arrived.”

“Yes. We heard that you were looking for us?”

“That’s right. Have a seat.”

Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha sat down before his desk, as Tong Guan cautiously moved to lock the door, before opening his desk drawer. It was not the drawer where he would usually store his files, but a drawer with a lock, a safe that was hidden in the bottom of his desk.

He took out two letters from within, each of them sealed with the red stamp of the Special Bureau.

The two sealed letters in hand, he placed them separately in front of Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha, before saying with a somber expression, “These are your resignation letters.”

Resignation!

Traveling Buddha and Xia Fan were absolutely stunned. Everything was going fine, so what was with this sudden resignation?

Right now, the Bureau was in need of manpower, and not only did neither of them make the list, they were even fired by the Bureau?!

Tong Guan slowly explained, “Don’t panic just yet. This resignation is only temporary.

“The headquarters suspects that there could very well be spies from Murder Shrine in the Bureau, which was why they have decided to make some special arrangements.

“You’ve seen for yourself when you first arrived, just how chaotic everything was outside. This sudden order has everyone at a loss.”

Xia Fan nodded, “It was a bit sudden, to be given orders today and be expected to leave tomorrow.”

Tong Guan scratched his chin, “This is an intentional performance for others to see. That big list of names is also all for show, too.”

With that, Tong Guan suddenly shook hands with Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha separately, a stern look on his face.

“Hand over your badges and communicators. Everything that you would use to identify yourself as Special Bureau Investigators is to be left here.

“When you leave this building, of course there will be people who will reach out to you, because you two have been selected to join the actual task force!

“Take care from here on out, you two! Don’t disgrace the Bureau!”