27: Trio
"Really, why do we have to do this kind of thing? Shouldn't patrolling the streets be the police's job?" On the bustling street, a flashily dressed Blonde Youth complained to the two girls beside him.
"I think there's nothing wrong with patrolling here." One of the girls, a black-haired ponytail girl, didn't mind this task. "After all, we just graduated, so the Association won't let us participate in anything too dangerous."
"But how can we grow if they don't let us participate in real combat? Won't we just end up being slackers here every day?" The blonde was very dissatisfied.
The other girl in the team didn't join their conversation, instead looking down at her phone with an attitude of complete indifference to everything.
"Xia Xia, don't you have any opinions?" The blonde asked this girl.
Xia Xia helplessly looked up. "What opinion could I have? I'd rather stay home playing games every day."
"Asking Xia Xia that kind of question really shows you have brain problems." The black-haired girl said mercilessly.
They'd been partners for three years—didn't this guy understand Xia Xia's personality yet?
The Blonde Youth sighed. He knew Xia Xia's personality, but who else could he ask at a time like this?
"Si Yu, you'd say our abilities should be pretty good, right?"
"Getting an A-level evaluation right after joining the Association should be considered quite good." The black-haired girl nodded.
"Then why do we three A-level heroes have to do jobs that C-level heroes would do? Even having us guard banks or something would be better than wandering around here aimlessly, right?"
"Maybe they're afraid we'll mess up." Xia Xia said with her head down.
"But we're all honor students who graduated from Central Ability Academy. We should be more trustworthy than those who came from nowhere, right?"
"That's hard to say." Xia Xia looked up, her gray eyes showing no trace of light. "Sword Saint Bai Ling never received any professional training, and most heroes nowadays are the same."
She stuffed her phone back into her pocket and tidied her gray short hair that had been tousled by the wind. "I have a feeling something's about to happen."
Hearing Xia Xia's words, the blonde's expression immediately became serious. His hand was already on the stun gun at his waist, ready to draw and shoot at any moment. "Big thing or small thing?"
"Hard to say, the future is very blurry..." Xia Xia's brow furrowed tightly. This was the first time she'd encountered this situation.
Her ability was Precognition. As an A-level, she could quite accurately foresee events about to happen around her, and this ability had always given her relatively clear images.
But this time, the images were blurry and unclear. She could only see one black and one white figure flash before her eyes; she couldn't see anything else.
"I feel something big is going to happen." Xia Xia was somewhat worried.
Her worry didn't affect the hot-blooded blonde gorilla beside her. "Then if we solve this problem, wouldn't that prove our abilities?"
"Don't think of things so simply. If it's a future even Xia Xia can't see through, can we really handle it?" Si Yu said coldly. They were, after all, just recent graduates, and compared to those battle-hardened professional heroes, they still had many shortcomings.
"Anyway... let's report to the Association first." Xia Xia took out the communicator clipped to her waist. "This is A5 Squad Xia Hongying. Coordinates H564 district may have a major incident. Requesting backup."
"Received, A5 Squad. Please try to control the situation's development before backup arrives."
"Understood."
...
"This little girl is not bad—at least she knows to report upward when something happens." In a huge room, several kindly-faced elderly people were sitting in front of a large screen watching the three youths on the display.
Hearing his old colleague say this, an elderly lady with a red rose pinned to her chest smiled. "Little Xia is indeed a talented child, but she lacks drive."
"That Lu Siyu girl has too cold a personality, somewhat similar to Little Bai... By the way, who did One-Eye arrange on their side?"
"...The Little Bai you just mentioned."
"Good heavens, I thought it would be Golden Swallow or Fierce Tiger, but that One-Eye actually called out Little Bai." The questioning elder's face was filled with joy. "Good, good, let those little ones feel their senior's care."
"Old Sun, I think you can't wait to see these little brats embarrass themselves." Another grandfather on the side teased the elder who had just asked.
"Isn't this just being happy to hear news about Little Bai?" Old Sun quickly waved his hands.
Ring ring ring... The phone rang.
"Message from the Special Operations Group: 'Bait' plan has begun." An operator picked up the phone, briefly responded a few times, then reported to those elderly people.
"Good, good, let's see what extent those youngsters can achieve."