The Urban Dao Child

Yang Dao regrouped with his group. Carole was missing at the moment, given the first impression she left on him. The boy was not curious about her whereabouts. He just mingled with Shelby Copper. 

With this interaction, he got to know that there were 10 themes in the competition. Every college was allowed to take up only 6 at most. This was to avoid the hegemony of a college in the competition and give the others hope to try harder at the same time. 

Yang Dao was asked by the principal to stand in the theme called humans together. The basic idea was to state his views on Humans being together, or should they focus on their own goals. Aislinn Jasper only told him the theme but gave him the freedom to pick what side does he want to support. 

As the six were talking Carole Tepes, returned to them. However, her pretty face was a bit sullen at this moment. She came to Shelby Copper and said, "Leader, I will be going ahead. All the best to you all." with that said, she left. 

Shelby Copper shook his head and said, "She is always like this. Don't mind her, let's go, everyone. All the best to you. Also, the losing ones will host a dinner party."

Yang Dao and the rest nodded and after wishing good to everyone, he went over to the location of his debate competition. The people were to gather at hall one, then they were to disperse in ten different zones. 

These zones were sort of rooms. Jewel Nation had a lot of colleges, but in this competition, only the top ten colleges were to take part because the judges were all retired political dignitaries, servicemen, and tycoons. It was not a snobbish process, but the lower-ranked college students were all sort of sluggish in front of their appearances. 

Yang Dao walked inside the hall of his competition and found nine people already sitting inside. They all had a non-committal look, but the tension was visible in their eyes. The Dao child however just glanced at their name plaques slightly, then he walked up to his seat. The nine people were aware of his presence but they did not put him in their eyes. To them, he was just a kid. 

They all looked up when a host came forward. The person was a middle-aged man. Yang Dao seemed to have seen him somewhere. As he was speculating the person's identity. The man spoke in his naturally deep voice, "Hello, everyone. I am your host for this theme, my name is Light Stevens. I am an author. Before we start let's introduce yourselves. Starting from my right."

The competitors were sat in a semi-circular arc design. As the host stood in front of them. He gestured the first candidate from hai right to stand up and introduce. 

A guy with glasses on his nose, said, "My name is Eric Eckhart, Pearl City University. Third-year student."

Pearl City was a coastal city in the Jewel nation. The place was famous for its resorts and beautiful beaches. Also, flawless pearls were found there. The strong suit of this university was analytics. 

Another guy stood up and introduced himself. Soon, it was Yang Dao's turn. He stood up and said, "Yang Dao, Jade City University, freshman."

The host and judges were surprised, while the contestants sneered. They directly eliminated Yang Dao from their minds. The host was still an elder, calmed himself, and said, "Very Well, now let us start With the opening arguments."

Surprisingly, seven of them supported humans to focus on their own goals. Yang Dao had no opinion on this. He just sat down listening to the nine people debating in full gusto. Just when there were only five minutes left in the debate duration. He stood up and suddenly he attracted the attention of the people. 

He took a deep breath and said, "If everyone in the world became to focus on their individuality, we will be more find the world partitioned in as many countries as the people in the world. Given your IQs, I don't need to state the outcome of that. The best example of people being together is the armies, they stand united to protect your individuality. Their power and skills are better than yours, because you stand alone."

The pearl city contestant spoke up, "At this moment, you stand alone."

This was a very good counter. But would Yang Dao back down? He glanced around and saw others nod to the guy. 

He smiled and said, "Ironically you stand untied to defend your point. You all stand together. Also, if you look at me standing alone, then Senior Emily and Senior Mark also stand in favor of my argument, so we are not alone. But you seven, on the other hand, contradict your own point when you nod for the other person. You acknowledge that he is right. If you stand for individuality then you should have you different opinions, and no agreements."

The rules of the debate were simple if you cannot count an argument within thirty seconds. You automatically forfeit. Yang Dao did not give them the time. He presented examples of how these seven people co-operating unconsciously. 

He only sat down when it was precisely thirty seconds were left in the clock. The seven were stunned because they did not know how to deny the facts Yang Dao stated. The host did not expect this boy to be so clever, he did not state the benefits of being united, but the disadvantages of human beings standing alone and rubbed it in the face of the competitors as well. 

The judges were impressed, one of them was a renowned psychologist and he spoke in a low voice, "Interestingly, he found the common chinks in the arguments, exploited them, and completely shut them down." 

A big businessman sat beside him said with a strange expression, "Professor Willis, if I am not wrong that is the method you use to counter-arguments right? Is this young man your apprentice?"

The old doctor smiled and did not confirm anything. He now wanted to acknowledge the kid as his apprentice. Suddenly, a ministry official spoke in a low voice, "This kid is not easy. He is Feng Yang Dao. The phoenix is his elder sister."

His words made everyone wake up. The old doctor spoke with some stutter, "Do you mean he is involved with Elder Atsuji?"

The official nodded, he was the person who wrote the speech delivered by Ali, the foreign minister, during the last press address, where they targetted the Crypto nation so he had some inkling of the matter. As the judges were involved in the discussion the time of the debate came to an end. 

Light Stevens spoke up as soon as the counter hit zero, "Unable to present any counter-argument to Student Yang Dao is declared the winner. Anyone who has any opinions?"

The defeated party wanted to say something but stopped when they saw Yang Dao had no change in his gaze. His face had not changed once. Also, if they did not even have the guts to acknowledge their defeat. This was a stage where they all were being watched by all the dignitaries and big names in the social circle. 

Silently, they acknowledged the defeat. Light Stevens spoke again, "Well, usually we would have waited for the judge's scorecards but you all did not present a counter-argument for thirty seconds. This makes the situation an automatic forfeit, thus Yang Dao is the final winner. Now I would like to invite..."

The host invited a chief judge, to present Yang Dao with a Blazer and certificate. The blazer was black in color and had a golden pattern embroidered on the patch pocket. The winner had no particular attachment to the prizes, his brain was occupied by how to complete his project faster and send out the Beta version. 

After the prize distribution ceremony, he mingled with the fellow competitors. After all, this was an opportunity for him to learn a bit from them. Also, he did not want to look arrogant and individualist right after he won a debate by speaking of the reverse. The students came back to the hall one almost the same time. 

Yang Dao bade farewell to the competitors and met his group. Surprisingly they all wore a blazer and held a certificate. Shelby Copper sighed and said, "Okay, again we go out without a party."

The Dao Child was a foodie. He spoke up, "Umm, how about some street food? Would you guys like to eat some? It is lunchtime now and we will have to face a big traffic barricade on the road, as the others will also be leaving. So why not just eat some stall specialties?"

His proposal was supported by the rest and they all left the hall and began to dwell around the Central Academic Hall. This was the place they held the competition at. Yang Dao was unaware that as he was dwelling around a lot of eyes were focused on him. Some friendly and some malicious