Translated by Kollumceti of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Extra – The Earth Arc
The Ministry of Defense of Z Nation had a type of special military branch called the White Shark, whose existence was seldom known to anyone. There were less than five people who knew its existence even in the Ministry of Defense. This was because almost all of its members were cultivators. However, in the worldview of ordinary people, cultivators were equivalent to supernatural entities.
This specialized unit only served the country and appeared when there were things that neither the police nor the special forces could solve. Their operations were secretive and they may not reveal their identities unless there was no other alternative when they encounter difficult cases. However, there would be people stepping in to erase their traces after the incident had been resolved.
This morning, the person-in-charge of the White Shark received a special assignment. The assignment was to have them transport a prisoner arrested half a month ago to Thunderclap University.
Thunderclap University was not an ordinary university, but one run by the world of practitioners. All the students recruited were practitioners. There were not only aristocrats, but also many civilians. Although their hierarchical identities were different, the school rules and the requirements for the enrolled students of Thunderclap University were both very strict. As Thunderclap University had a high prestige in the world of practitioners, many came to apply for the entrance examination held every three years despite its high requirements.
The prisoner from the assignment was related to Thunderclap University. As the prisoner’s risk designation was not something that ordinary police could cope with, they needed to step forward.
Liu Ying, the person-in-charge, handed the information from their superiors to Johnson who was standing in front of him, “Two more people will be added to the assignment of escorting the prisoner this time.”
Johnson frowned and understood who the two men to be included were without asking. He could not help but say, “The prisoner has an unusual identity and they’re powerful too. Those two people just joined White Shark not long ago. I’m afraid they might not be qualified for this assignment.”
Liu Ying waved and replied in an tone that had no room for doubt, “It is because they have just joined White Shark. Now is the opportunity to test and get proof of their strength. The higher-ups are paying a lot of attention to them. If they do well in this mission, their entry into White Shark will be officially approved.”
Johnson, who originally wanted to refute, immediately shut his mouth upon hearing the word ‘higher-ups’. He had been the captain of the White Sharks for more than ten years. Whatever the higher-ups said had to be obeyed and there must not be any protest or refusal, otherwise it would be impossible for him to hold onto his position as the Captain of the White Sharks for more than ten years with the number of people gunning for his position.
In the afternoon, Johnson announced the names of those who were escorting the prisoners and this immediately caused internal repercussions.
Some people had heard about the mission and were following it closely. This was because the mission was classified as an S-Rank. There were usually rewards for missions of S-Rank and above, and the rewards were frequently good things that had no measurable market value. Therefore, all the members of the White Shark were hoping that they would be selected to be part of the escort.
However, the atmosphere fell still all at once when they heard that the two new members had taken two of the places. Johnson had long expected this to happen. The reason why he felt astonished earlier was also due to this.
New members would not normally be chosen for missions of S-Rank and above, so the decision of the higher-ups made them feel very surprised. At the same time, they felt slightly dissatisfied as there was a feeling that they were not as good as two new members.
“Captain, could there be a mistake in the name list?” He YiMing finally lost his cool and protested first. The others immediately stopped talking and looked at Johnson. They also hoped that the name list was wrong so that they would all have a chance.
Johnson kept the name list and calmly swept a glance over their expressions, “There’s no mistake. This is the decision made by the higher-ups.”
This single sentence immediately cut them all off.
“The members whose names are called will gather here tomorrow morning. Dismissed!” Johnson added on before looking at the two men who had an unaffected expression on their faces from beginning to end. He could not help but think highly of them and determined that they were pretty good.
Those whose names were read out left the conference room to make preparations with smiles on their faces. The only ones left were those who were unsatisfied that their names were not called. He YiMing’s reaction was the most obvious. He eyed the backs of the two people who had left the conference room and immediately spat on the ground, “Fucking shit! They’re most likely those high-flying young masters from the military.”
His friend patted him on the shoulder and warned, “Keep your voice down. You’ll be suffering if they heard you. It’s not like you don’t know what the characters of those young masters are like. All of them are particularly arrogant and look down on the people.”
“So what if they hear? It’s not like I’m afraid that they’ll make life difficult for me.” Not only did He YiMing turn a deaf ear, he even raised his voice, as if he deliberately meant for them to overhear.
His friend shook his head. The so-called young masters of the military were the children of clans with high status and backgrounds. They were also cultivators and usually came to the White Shark to beef up their resumes.
For example, those clan children who wanted to take the political path or the military route would have to perform meritorious deeds if they wanted to have a good starting point. The White Shark specialized in resolving some of these difficult cases and it was undoubtedly their best choice. If they were lucky enough to successfully complete a mission above A-Rank, it would be beneficial for their future development.
These situations were quite common and there was a basis for what He YiMing had said.
There had been several incidents previously. All of them would transfer out of the White Shark after their ‘meritorious deed’ and there had even been a case where they tried to steal credit. So they all loathed these young masters.
The next day, Johnson walked into the conference room and looked at all the members of the group who were present. Suddenly he frowned before looking at the clock on the wall. There were still two more minutes.
The others immediately let out an expression of taking joy in calamity and delight in disaster.
As long as they were members of the White Shark, they all knew that the Captain hated people who were late. One would be finished the moment they left a bad impression on their Captain. Although he would not make their life difficult, he would give priority to others when they had missions in the future.
Two minutes passed quickly. Everyone could see that their captain’s face getting darker and darker when there was only twenty seconds left till the time to gather. Someone whistled. This was definitely an attitude of watching a good show.
With a black face, Johnson raised his wrist and began to countdown – ten seconds, nine seconds, eight seconds, seven seconds…
“Bang!”
The door of the meeting room was opened in the remaining three seconds and standing outside were the two figures who took their time to arrive. It was the two new people who had been excluded by the members of the White Shark. Ever since the persons involved had joined the White Shark five days ago, they had never showed any desolation after being excluded. Instead, they often stuck together and some people had ridiculed them secretly several times.
“Captain, we aren’t late right?” The comparatively taller man smiled and asked calmly. He lifted his head and looked at the black-faced Johnson with his incomparable handsome face that made many people jealous.
“No, go join up since you’re here now.” Johnson frowned inconspicuously. It could be not counted as late even if they arrived one second before, so he could not say anything to them. Although he did not approve of letting the two newcomers participate in the S-Rank mission, he could only obey the orders from the higher-ups.
The tall man dragged a young man with a short stature as he walked over.
Everyone’s eyes immediately fell on the hands of the two. Despite their astonishment in the beginning, they were incomparably unperturbed now. The members of the White Shark were mostly experienced and knowledgeable people although their society was not very open-minded. Even if they had not personally seen it before, they had heard a lot about it.
After that, Johnson gave a concise and comprehensive briefing about the areas of the mission to pay attention to before they departed for the Deep Prison.
The Deep Prison was used by Z Nation to imprison those who had committed a serious crime. The serious crimes did not refer to the crimes of ordinary criminals who committed rape, robberies, murder and arson. Such crimes would be considered as commonplace in the world of cultivators. The criminals in the Deep Prison were those cultivators who committed major crimes. This was because ordinary prisons were unable to detain them, so the Deep Prison was created as a result.
The Deep Prison was located on an isolated island. Its defenses were extremely strong and tight and it was almost impossible for anyone to break in. Few people in the world knew that there was still such an extraordinary prison in the world, and that any prisoner who had been released from it was enough to shake the world.
They arrived at the island that same afternoon.