126: Chapter 125 Strategic Oversight Department

It took several seconds for that oppressive, abyss-like feeling to suddenly vanish. Before Cao Xiao could regain his senses, Xiahou Anbang's voice reached his ears.

"What happened just now? Why did I feel like I was being watched from the start, and just now, a mysterious power even attacked my mind! Are you an Ability User?"

Facing Xiahou Anbang's murderous words, Cao Xiao was startled and filled with regret. He hadn't expected the perception of an Anjin Martial Artist to be so sharp; not only did he sense being watched, but he also directly identified the source. Having been suppressed earlier, he was completely unprepared. His mind raced through a thousand thoughts but couldn't find a suitable excuse, so he had to follow Xiahou Anbang's lead and said, "Brother Xiahou, I'm sorry! I offended you just now. Actually, I don't know if I'm an Ability User myself. I can probe and perceive the combat power attributes of humans and information about items. I used it unconsciously just now; I hope you don't mind!"

"Probing perception? What kind of ability is that? I only know of various elemental, physical, and mental abilities. Your ability should belong to the perception category of mental abilities. I've heard of things like X-ray vision and sixth sense, but I've never heard of such a strange ability! Logically, such an ability shouldn't exist. If information about all things can be obtained through probing, this ability would be somewhat omniscient and even prophetic. Not even a god could do that, let alone an awakened human ability. How do you do it?" Xiahou Anbang asked solemnly after carefully listening to the surroundings.

Cao Xiao quickly thought it over in his mind, and after confirming there were no major flaws, he organized his words and said, "After I gained this ability, my memory became very good, almost to the point of a photographic memory. I taught myself a lot of knowledge. The basis for this probing ability's judgment is the knowledge in my mind. Furthermore, I set a base value for human body data using my own standards, so I can observe the changes in power when a human body moves, thereby deriving a person's basic combat power attributes."

Xiahou Anbang said with some disappointment, "That's barely plausible—treating your brain as a database and using the information obtained through your ability to make judgments and reach a result. However, this ability is a bit useless. Whether the result is accurate depends entirely on your personal perception. Once we practitioners reach a certain level, we can observe a person's essence, energy, and spirit to judge their approximate strength without them feeling anything obvious. As soon as you use your ability, the other person notices immediately. Being probed by your ability clearly causes an uncomfortable feeling, and such behavior will obviously provoke the other party. Luckily, the target this time was me; otherwise, you'd be in trouble! By the way, what were the results? If the accuracy is high, it might still be of some use."

Hearing this, Cao Xiao became even more curious about Xiahou Anbang's combat power. With a thought, the probing results appeared before his eyes.

Xiahou Anbang: 225 (Stamina 43, Strength 35, Agility 42, Combat Technique 185.)

This was simply incredible! A combat power of over two hundred—was this the strength of an Anjin Martial Artist? As elite special forces, Duan Hong and the others only had a combat power of around thirty. Xiahou Anbang's combat power was nearly ten times theirs, and his average physical attributes were more than double! In a fight, even a slight difference in combat power is crucial for victory or defeat. In a life-and-death struggle, a difference of just a few points means the weaker side could likely be killed instantly.

Duan Hong and the others' physical attributes were still within the range of normal people, while Xiahou Anbang's had exceeded the limits of humanity. The average physical attribute of a healthy adult is ten, with strength being approximately one hundred kilograms. Within the range of ten points, each point of strength attribute corresponds to ten kilograms of physical strength. However, for every point added beyond this base, strength increases by fifty kilograms. If the strength attribute is eleven, it's one hundred and fifty kilograms; reaching twenty points means six hundred kilograms. Following this logic, within the range of eleven to twenty points, each point corresponds to fifty kilograms; twenty-one to thirty should correspond to one hundred kilograms; and thirty-one to forty corresponds to two hundred kilograms. This means Xiahou Anbang's pure physical strength had already reached a terrifying 2,600 kilograms—a full two and a half tons! He could lift a small car. Combined with some high-power moves and internal force from Xing Yi Quan, the power he could unleash would be even more horrifying. Cao Xiao wouldn't doubt it for a second if someone said Xiahou Anbang could kill an elephant with one punch.

He guessed that the human body's limit strength should be around six hundred kilograms. In other words, if the average physical attributes exceed twenty, it counts as breaking through human limits. Although he had increased his own physical attributes by one point in a short time, that was a recovery effect within the normal range. Before reaching the average attribute values of a normal adult in their prime, the increase would be relatively fast, but after breaking past ten points, every point gained would be extremely difficult and slow. Otherwise, Duan Hong and the others wouldn't have only reached the teens after years of brutal training. This probe result gave him a preliminary understanding of a martial artist's power, and he felt a deep longing for strength as great as Xiahou Anbang's, becoming even more enthusiastic about practicing martial arts.

"Stamina 43, Strength 35, Agility 42—attributes far exceeding the average of ten for normal people. Strength alone is 2,600 kilograms!" Cao Xiao wasn't so foolish as to mention the combat technique; otherwise, this ability would make people fearful. If others knew he could accurately evaluate and quantify combat techniques, it would be equivalent to exposing their trump cards. It would be strange if they weren't wary. Someone with a bad temper might beat him up or even kill him to ensure their true strength remained unknown. This was a source of trouble; it was enough that he knew it himself, and he wouldn't reveal a single word to others even if he were killed.

"Oh! It's fairly accurate, but these can be measured with scientific instruments, so it's not very significant. However, probing items might be useful. This ability of yours is quite unique. It's strange, but perhaps it will come in handy someday." Xiahou Anbang showed no surprise at the results Cao Xiao mentioned. He seemed to have made an important decision, paused, and then asked Cao Xiao seriously, "Cao Xiao, have you ever heard of the Strategic Inspection Department?"

"Strategic Inspection Department? That's a strange name; I've never heard of it!" Cao Xiao searched his memory but had no recollection of it. The name sounded like a military department, but he knew the general structure of the Huaxia military—it only had four major departments: General Political Department, General Staff Department, General Armaments Department, and General Logistics Department. There was no fifth department, nor did such a ministerial body exist in the Executive Yuan. He was very puzzled as to why Xiahou Anbang would suddenly mention this name.

"Every country in the world has a management department for its superpowered individuals, and the Strategic Inspection Department is our special department in Huaxia. It specifically manages domestic superpowered individuals, handles supernatural events, and counters superpowered individuals from hostile forces in the superpower field. I am one of its members, primarily ensuring that the embassy in South Africa is not disturbed by hostile superpowered individuals, as well as protecting the safety of the ambassador and embassy staff. Since you possess an ability, you are barely considered a superpowered individual. Moreover, you are practicing Eight Extremes Fist. Once you reach the level of Obvious Power in the future, someone will come looking for you. I want to ask if you're interested in joining the Supervision Department? Of course, this is entirely voluntary. Our management of superpowered individuals is limited to registration and behavioral constraints; we don't force anyone to join. As long as you don't use your abilities to run amok, we won't interfere with your life. However, the benefits of joining us are immense. We have countless cultivation resources and convenient conditions. You can exchange for what you need by completing certain missions. This is something many people dream of. You can think it over before answering me." Xiahou Anbang slowly explained the origin of the Strategic Inspection Department while inviting Cao Xiao to join.

Cao Xiao hesitated at Xiahou Anbang's sudden invitation. He hadn't expected such a legendary mysterious department to actually exist. Now he had a chance to join. Clearly, the benefits of joining the Supervision Department were immense; at the very least, it would allow him to unveil the world of Ability Users, connect with more fellow practitioners, and broaden his horizons, which would be very helpful for his own cultivation. However, he would also lose many things, such as freedom. Moreover, the ability he displayed wouldn't be highly valued, and he wasn't willing to be subordinate to others or be forced to do things he didn't want to do—he might even have to stay in Africa for a long time, which was also unacceptable. But since he didn't know the terms of the Supervision Department, he decided to ask for clarification before deciding. He looked up and asked, "If I join the Supervision Department, will I have to stay in Africa in the future? Do I have to go to work every day? Are missions mandatory?"

"That won't be the case. There's no place for you to use your talents here. I want you to go to the headquarters. Your ability isn't something that's needed all the time. The specific arrangements would depend on the headquarters, but I think they won't require you to be on standby at all times. They'll only call you when needed, essentially hiring you as a consultant. Your freedom won't be restricted. We don't assign mandatory missions unless it's a critical moment where you are absolutely necessary. Even then, it's only after considering the actual situation of the personnel; they won't make you do something impossible. You can rest easy on that! Any other questions?" Xiahou Anbang understood Cao Xiao's concerns. Although there was internal competition within the Supervision Department, they didn't joke around with missions. Anything that required the Supervision Department to deploy personnel was no small matter and allowed for no mistakes. Every superpowered individual was precious. For every mission, the right people were selected based on the actual situation, and the opinions of the participants were also sought; arrangements weren't made blindly.

"Phew! Then there's no problem. I have a lot of things to take care of and can't stay in one place, or I won't be able to get anything done. By the way, are there many experts in the Supervision Department?" Cao Xiao also breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to let this good opportunity pass. As long as it didn't interfere with his life, he didn't mind spending some time on missions. At the same time, his heart stirred as he asked Xiahou Anbang about the experts in the Supervision Department.

If he truly joined the Supervision Department and befriended some experts, he could use his ability as a cover to openly collect others' combat data and even their cultivation techniques, which he could use to perfect his own cultivation. This thought made him incredibly excited. In the boxing classic Hou Jingsheng had given him, much of the content was a blend of other boxing styles and was no longer traditional Eight Extremes Fist. However, it wasn't perfect yet and was somewhat disorganized. Therefore, Cao Xiao planned to inherit Hou Jingsheng's ambition, gathering the world's martial arts to create his own cultivation technique. With the help of the industrial mother machine, this wouldn't be hard to do and would certainly be more perfect than what Hou Jingsheng had achieved. By using Eight Extremes Fist as the framework and continuously absorbing the essence of various martial arts to form a powerful cultivation technique, he would have a greater advantage than his peers from the start. As long as he practiced hard, it wouldn't take long to make up for the gap in cultivation time. Even if his realm couldn't match those of his age, his combat power certainly wouldn't fall behind.

"Alright, I'll report your situation to the country in a moment. Someone will look for you after you return home, and you can negotiate the specific arrangements with them. However, your joining the Supervision Department must never be revealed to anyone—not even your master or family—because that would bring them danger." Xiahou Anbang was satisfied that Cao Xiao agreed to join. He solemnly reminded him to keep his identity secret, then said with some pride and even a hint of awe, "As for exactly how many experts are in the Supervision Department, even I'm not sure. Many people only have files and rarely show their faces, but there are definitely many. Not to mention other cultivation systems, I've seen dozens of martial artists at the Anjin level alone, and there are many more I haven't seen. I can tell you that our Supervision Department has the most experts of any superpower organization in the world, and our strength is ranked number one—this is globally recognized. Even our internal personnel don't know exactly how many experts we have."

He would keep his mouth shut about the secrecy issue even without being told. The situation Xiahou Anbang described was completely different from the information he had received from Hou Jingsheng. The Supervision Department actually had so many experts! With so many Anjin experts, there were likely countless martial artists at the Obvious Power level. Thus, experts at the Huajin level definitely weren't as rare as Hou Jingsheng had said. The experts in the Supervision Department were probably unknown to the outside world due to secrecy; even those in the martial arts world didn't know much. They probably just assumed that experts only came from those famous martial arts sects. But with Huaxia's large population, there are many extraordinary people among the common folk, so having so many experts is normal. Furthermore, the state is fully capable of collecting a large number of cultivation techniques to train its own experts. That makes sense too. It seemed the world of practitioners was far more exciting than he had imagined.

"I will keep the secrecy issue in mind. Thank you, Brother Xiahou, for today. Observing your Xing Yi Quan has been a great help to me. Next time I come to South Africa or when you return home, I will definitely prepare a fine banquet to properly thank you. I have things to do today, so I'll take my leave now."

"I'll see you out."

Xiahou Anbang watched Cao Xiao's car drive away with a complex expression. In his heart, he thought that Cao Xiao's ability was not that simple; the mere sensation of being peered at from deep within had made his skin crawl. This was the real reason he had asked Cao Xiao to join the Supervision Department.