205: Chapter 3 The Weakness of Clever People is Overthinking (Added Chapter) 205: Chapter 3 The Weakness of Clever People is Overthinking (Added Chapter) “Both of your teams had no casualties, so why the long faces as if someone just died?”
Back in the office, Huo Qingyang took off his coat and tossed it casually onto the coat rack, then pulled a military flask from the drawer.
“Li Family’s liquor—care for a swig?”
Seeing neither of them react, Huo Qingyang couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
“What did I tell you two at the beginning?
Wasn’t it to study hard and mind your own business?
Who asked you to come?
Wasn’t it a decision you made yourselves?
Now you’re faced with a bit of pressure, and you can’t handle it, so who are you pulling these faces for?”
Wang Yunxiao opened his mouth but didn’t dare to retort.
Huo Qingyang was right—it was his own doing.
If he hadn’t been greedy for that extra five yuan of overtime pay, swayed by Qiao Hongyi’s persuasion, and had just stayed in school studying, he would never have encountered the upsetting events of the previous night.
There was no reason to blame Qiao Hongyi.
Apart from one’s own parents, no one in this world is unconditionally good to you.
The truth is simple, but easy to forget.
If he could choose again, Wang Yunxiao definitely wouldn’t have gotten involved.
But regrettably, people only realize what they have once they’ve lost it.
“Have I not told you that dealing with matters of this level is dangerous?
Did you believe me?
If you hadn’t experienced it personally, even if I talked until I was blue in the face, you wouldn’t have believed me.”
Huo Qingyang took a swig of liquor, staring at the two dispirited guys with a frustrated look.
“If you have any questions, just ask me directly.
Three questions each, then get lost back to your studies.
Don’t waste food here!”
Yan Yu’an was the first to raise his hand and said, “Commander Huo, I’d like to know what exactly the Cosmos is all about, and why there were so many demons and monsters?”
“That’s two questions.”
Huo Qingyang spread his hands.
“I can’t tell you the specifics, but I can give you a simple explanation.
The incident itself isn’t complicated, you just have no idea of the bigger picture due to your low clearance level.
To put it bluntly, after the new government was established, there were many people who missed out on benefits or lost power and couldn’t accept their new lot in life, so they’re always looking to stir up trouble.”
“Remnants of the former dynasty, overseas exiles, Fusang nationalists, samurai, along with various other minor characters—motivated by mutual interests, these people have come together.
At first, we thought we could resolve these issues step by step.
But obviously, the opposition wasn’t going to sit and wait for death.
They’ve been secretly gathering a rather significant force, and by the time we detected it, it was somewhat late.”
“If we hadn’t noticed the issues with the Cosmos, this cancer might have continued to grow and fester in the dark.
That’s the main reason we called up your newly formed teams last night, thrusting you into the battlefield.
First, because we truly are short-handed and couldn’t handle such a big mess.
Second, we wanted you to get used to the battlefield early and to witness the harsh realities of the world.”
“The latter was Qiao Hongyi’s suggestion.
I didn’t agree with it initially, but he convinced me.
Do you know how he convinced me?”
“He said, we had completely failed to grasp the seriousness of the problem, and there were only two possibilities.
One was that the Special Service Bureau’s professional capabilities were indeed inadequate, constantly being led by the nose.
The other possibility was that there’s a mole in our ranks, providing cover for those people.”
“Either possibility implies that we might not be of much use anymore, and maybe one day we would be outmaneuvered and wiped out.
So, even if it’s pushing the growth artificially, we must train you up fast so you can step up at a critical moment.”
Yan Yu’an fell silent for a while before speaking, “If you suspect there’s a mole, why not investigate?
The new government has only been established for two years, and the Special Service Bureau hasn’t been around any longer—it shouldn’t be that hard to find a mole, right?”
Huo Qingyang burst into laughter.
“Good question!
But what if… the mole ‘hasn’t appeared yet’?”
What does it mean “hasn’t appeared yet”…
Just as Wang Yunxiao was about to internally complain, he suddenly froze.
He understood the implication behind Huo Qingyang’s words.
“The main problem we are currently facing is the time tide, these trifling matters are merely the negative side effects brought about by the time tide.
The main reason you’re tangled up in these issues is that you don’t understand the nature of the time tide.”
“The greatest weakness of intelligent people is overthinking.”
Huo Qingyang took another sip of liquor and asked with a smile, “Ever read Journey to the West?”
Wang Yunxiao and Yan Yu’an silently nodded; they could hardly claim they hadn’t read such a well-known book.
“I’ll use Journey to the West as an example for you two.
It’s simple and straightforward.
If you still don’t understand after this, then quit wasting brainpower pondering these issues and honestly go home to sell sweet potatoes.”
Huo Qingyang raised a finger.
“Imagine the world depicted in Journey to the West is the Real World.
Relative to that world, we are readers from a higher-dimensional plane.
This should be easy to grasp, right?”
“That world starts with the birth of Sun Wukong and ends with Sun Wukong becoming a Buddha.
That’s all there is to it.”
“Our world also starts from some story and ends at a future point, the story concludes.”
“As people living in the Real World, we’re not supposed to notice when the story ends.”
“But in a future era, human technology finally breaks through the limits of dimensions, and we see the point when the story ends.
That’s the literal end of the world, which future people refer to as ‘Shiyan’.”
“Now the question is, assuming you are Sun Wukong, the protagonist in Journey to the West, what would you do if you realized that at the moment you became a Buddha, the world would end, rendering your enlightenment meaningless?
Would you just pretend nothing’s wrong and sit around waiting for doom?”
“So how do we solve this issue?”
“Actually, it’s pretty simple.
Leaving technical abilities aside, just get the author to write a Sequel to Journey to the West.”
“For instance, it might tell the story of a hair plucked from Buddha Sun Wukong’s head that turns into a new monkey, who then embarks on another Journey to the Western Heaven.
If it’s the same journey, shouldn’t the previously encountered monsters also show up?
Like the White Bone Demon.
Even though the White Bone Demon was killed, let’s design a sister for it, and call her Bai Jingjing.”
“Because it’s a sequel and we want to interest the reader, the originally sisterless White Bone Demon suddenly gets a sister out of nowhere.”
“This is the time tide we’re currently facing!”