Chapter 80: The Truth Revealed
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Rank 3 beast appraisers were a huge deal in the world of beast appraisers.
Even Maple City’s Beast Appraisal Association didn’t have a beast appraiser of such high ranking.
Lin Jin immediately performed salutations as a junior appraiser. “Elder Tan!”
Tan Xun nodded with a smile. He was getting fonder of Lin Jin the more he spoke to the young man. Despite his young age, he possessed exceptional skills and didn’t act pompous about it at all.
At that instant, Lin Jin noticed the painting. He went over at once and upon closer examination, he exclaimed, “Isn’t this the painting I’ve lost? Why is it here?”
Gu Mengzhong’s earlier explanation was immediately affirmed.
This was a painting he had given to Lin Jin.
So, how did Lin Jin’s painting end up at the City Lord Manor and given to Tan Xun as a gift?
This was what the crowd wanted to know.
Since it was a gift from Wang Ji to the City Lord Manor, it was his question to answer.
Thus, Tan Xun turned to Wang Ji and asked, “Chief Wang, how are you going to explain this?”
Wang Ji was completely drenched in sweat by now. He could only say, “Perhaps Appraiser Lin had accidentally left it behind and the painting was mistaken to be a gift.”
“This doesn’t make sense. One can’t possibly pick up a painting randomly and assume it was a gift. Chief Wang, is there something you’re hiding from us?” Gu Mengzhong stared at Wang Ji, expressing his doubt as to the truthfulness of his reply.
“No, I mean… I’m not sure either. It was my subordinates who prepared the gifts, so even I’m confused.” Wang Ji could only try to give excuses despite his pale appearance.
Then, Lin Jin’s sudden words simply pierced through this invisible screen.
“That could be true. That night, I was so exhausted after appraising that batch of mutant eggs that I fell asleep unknowingly. By the time I woke up, the painting was already gone. It’s quite possible that the painting was mistakenly taken away by his subordinates so let’s not blame Chief Wang for it. He must have had no idea too.”
Holy sh*t!
As if he was instantly stripped naked, Wang Ji felt a breeze blowing against his spine.
The cat was finally let out of the bag.
“Mutant eggs?” Tan Xun frowned. As if he had recalled something, he asked at once, “Appraiser Lin, you’re saying that the batch of mutant eggs sent here by the City Lord Manor was appraised by you?”
Lin Jin nodded. “Yeah. I heard it was from the City Lord Manor. There were a total of eleven eggs if I recall correctly.”
“Did you appraise them all alone?” Tan Xun continued to ask.
Lin Jin answered honestly, “Two evaluation reports were already prepared by Chief Wang and Appraiser Gao Jiang, so I wrote the other nine reports.”
Tan Xun took a deep breath. He now had a rough idea as to what on earth was happening here. He shot a vicious glare at Wang Ji and the latter was already hanging his head as his hands trembled uncontrollably.
It wasn’t because Wang Ji was weak to pressure, but plagiarism was too huge a taboo for beast appraisers. To make things worse, not only did he plagiarize Lin Jin’s work, but he also destroyed the young man’s evaluation reports in an attempt to erase the evidence of doing so.
Wang Ji immediately decided that he wouldn’t admit to this no matter what.
Yet, Tan Xun didn’t ask him but turned to Lin Jin instead.
“Appraiser Lin, I just happened to have appraised those same mutant eggs as well so I’m very familiar with them. Since you said you’ve personally appraised them, you must remember some of the details. I haven’t seen your evaluation report yet so let me ask you, there’s a beast egg about one foot and eight inches tall. The patterns on it are like gold rings…”
Before he finished speaking, Lin Jin interrupted, “I remember that one. That mutant egg was a wind slashing mantis of the gold attribute. Back then, what I’ve written on the report was…”
Lin Jin spoke eloquently of his appraisal theory and basis in great detail. Mainly because there was a ‘copy’ of the evaluations in the Museum of Deadly Beasts, and it was impossible for Lin Jin to forget, even if he tried to. He just had to recite it out as it was.
Wang Ji’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Was Lin Jin a ghost? How could he remember everything? And almost word for word at that.
Tan Xun, Tan Lin, and the other beast appraisers present listened attentively with animated reactions. Sometimes, their eyes would light up, or they would frown in deep thought, or they would perk up in realization.
Everyone was engrossed in Lin Jin’s impromptu lecture.
When Lin Jin wrapped up his explanation, the crowd still seemed unsatiated.
Tan Lin, in particular, was staring at Lin Jin like he was some kind of monster. As a Rank 2 beast appraiser, Tan Lin assumed that she herself was remarkable enough and could be listed as one of the top five beast appraisers below the age of thirty in Jade Dragon City.
But today, she felt as if she had been completely pulverized by Lin Jin.
Judging by that mutant egg appraisal theory earlier, even if she was carrying a stack of reference books, Tan Lin knew that she wouldn’t have been able to figure the origins of the egg out.
However, this incident brought out her competitive side.
In terms of age, she was similar to Lin Jin. But in terms of experience and background, by having a Rank 3 beast appraiser as her father to give her guidance, Tan Lin initially felt that she wouldn’t lose to Lin Jin.
Upon hearing Lin Jin’s theory, she now recognized that she still had a lot more to learn before reaching Lin Jin’s level of prowess.
By now, Tan Xun had basically confirmed his suspicions. Despite having seen the theories elaborated by Lin Jin in Wang Ji’s evaluation reports, while it was slightly tweaked, the arguments were largely the same.
“Lin Jin, let me ask you another one. Do you remember the largest egg? How did you evaluate it?” Tan Xun carried on with his questions.
Lin Jin nodded. “I remember that one. The firescale tyrannosaurus with a fire attribute. What I wrote on the evaluation report was…”
Lin Jin offered another lengthy explanation.
At that instant, everyone was convinced. The brighter ones even had a notepad out to start recording vital details as if they were attending a lecture.
Upon seeing this, many people quickly mimicked them and quite a few could be seen taking notes. Passersby who didn’t know what was going on might even assume that there was an open lecture going on.
Tan Xun was nodding in agreement as he listened to Lin Jin. As a Rank 3 beast appraiser, if he still couldn’t figure out what was wrong with this situation, his experience thus far could be considered wasted.
“Alright, Appraiser Lin. You can stop talking.” Tan Xun didn’t ask any more questions because there wasn’t the need to.
He turned to look at Wang Ji and asked, “Chief Wang, let me ask you, was Appraiser Lin involved in appraising that batch of mutant eggs? If he was, why did the evaluation reports only have your signature alone?”
Wang Ji’s scalp was going numb as he kept his bowed silently.
Tan Xun directed his attention to Gao Jiang and asked, “Appraiser Gao Jiang, was it?”
Shocked, Gao Jiang nodded at once. “Yes Elder Tan, I’m Gao Jiang.”
“Let me ask you, did you know about this?” Tan Xun questioned with a dark expression.
Gao Jiang was crying on the inside. While Wang Ji could resist by staying silent, he wouldn’t dare to do so. Hence, Gao Jiang braced himself and replied, “I do know about it.”
“Was Appraiser Lin involved?”
“He was. But it was Chief Wang who made the arrangements.”
“This is just great!”
Suppressing his anger, Tan Xun barked at Wang Ji, “Wang Ji, do you know where your faults lie?!”
As a beast appraiser, plagiarizing other people’s evaluation reports was unacceptable.
What was deemed plagiarism?
To assume other people’s knowledge as their own and declare to the public that it had all been his work alone.
That was the sin Wang Ji had committed.
“In those eleven evaluation reports, I haven’t seen a single one with Lin Jin’s name on it. As chief, you plagiarized his evaluation reports and took his credit. Don’t you feel ashamed of yourself?” Tan Xun lashed out in fury as Wang Ji’s conduct had crossed the line.
Wang Ji’s ash-white face was covered in a layer of cold sweat. He knew that his credibility had just gone down the drain.
The crowd finally came to a realization.
“So it was Appraiser Lin who evaluated those mutant eggs!”
“Not only did Chief Wang oppress Appraiser Lin, but he had also plagiarized this work and stole credit for it! How revolting.”
“To think Appraiser Lin had suffered such grievances. When I heard the rumors, I really thought that he didn’t deserve his status. But now that the truth’s been uncovered, I’m truly ashamed of myself!”
“The truth has been revealed. It was Wang Ji who had been oppressing and slandering Lin Jin all along.”
Tan Xun turned to Tan Lin and asked, “Lin’er, you’re currently still an inspector sent by headquarters. In accordance with the rules set by headquarters, how should this situation be handled?”
Tan Lin answered with a serious face, “According to headquarters’ rules, plagiarism and taking other’s credit is strictly forbidden. Besides this, Chief Wang has also abused his authority by subjugating his subordinates and has shown inappropriate behavior. I think he is no longer suitable to continue exercising his role as chief of Maple City’s Beast Appraisal Association. As an inspector of headquarters, I’m revoking Wang Ji of his position as chief with immediate effect. As for his qualification as a Rank 2 beast appraiser, I will report this to headquarters and they will make the final call.”
Having said that, Tan Lin took out a communication amulet, wrote down her decision, and with an incantation, the amulet dispersed into a ray of light and disappeared into the sky above.
At the sight of this, Wang Ji couldn’t hold it in any longer. His eyes rolled back and immediately, the old man fainted.