The remaining thirty candidates, over ninety percent of them Star Martial Warriors at the Star Sea Stage, with only a few at the Galaxy Stage. Not all of those who withdrew did so because they were dissatisfied with the examiners; so had received instructions from their ho countries.
After the attack and the casualties, the ho countries promptly contacted their respective candidates. Wang Lan didn’t receive a call because his strength was no cause for concern for his holand, whereas Xu Xiangwen and Xie Sisi did.
The attitude of Jade Country was still sowhat acceptable; they rely said to persist if possible, and if not, it was okay to withdraw. But the stance of other countries was different. After hearing the complaints from their candidates, they beca enraged.
Most countries conveyed the sa ssage to their candidates: "We’re opting out of this farcical assessnt. Everyone, return. We’ve cherished you like precious treasures, never imagining you would nearly lose your lives in an exam!"
The countries of the fallen candidates were even more furious. "We were reluctant to let them suffer even the slightest injury at ho, and you just wiped out the talents we’ve nurtured? Without a satisfactory explanation, this isn’t over!"
With such national support, and the examiners adding fuel to the fire, nearly half the candidates withdrew from the assessnt.
Surviving the unexpected attack had already proven their worth. Since the International Security Council would not recognize this, it was ti to part ways.
Therefore, the remaining candidates were either formidable in strength or had the backing of their countries and were advised to continue.
The reorganized group of candidates was divided into eleven teams. Aside from the team of Wang Lan and Yulia, the rest were led by a veteran Star Sea Stage Star Martial Warrior accompanied by three newer mbers, most of whom were also Star Sea Stage Star Martial Warriors.
With such capabilities, the masterminds should try their luck again. Though their numbers have been reduced, their combat power has risen several levels.
"Next, I will announce the content of the fourth exam, which consists of two points: first, identify these despicable ambushers and then eliminate them. Second, discover the reason behind the opening of these Different Dinsional Spaces. Your actions will be under the direct command of my headquarters. All previous exam rules are now null and void; you only need to follow your team leader’s instructions and consult with them. Gentlen, candidates, the fourth exam starts now. Candidate Wang Lan, your team, please stay behind."
General Dyson asked Wang Lan’s four-mber team to stay behind, and they then followed him into the Central Command.
"General Wang Lan, do you happen to have any more intelligence?"
"I just obtained so information that I haven’t had the chance to report yet. I think I’ve confird the identities of those attackers."
As soon as Wang Lan spoke, he imdiately felt a dozen gazes shoot his way. All were staff mbers from the Central Command, each looking at him as if they had seen a deity.
General Dyson had just announced the two objectives of the fourth exam, the first being to find out the identity of the attackers. It hadn’t even been five minutes since the exam was supposed to start, had it? No, the exam hadn’t even officially begun, and Wang Lan had already completed half of it. Could he be any more formidable?
"Who are they? Could it be..." Dyson’s expression changed as he recalled the hypothesis Wang Lan had reported just a few days ago. Although everyone had felt the possibility was high after discussing it, it was still just conjecture, tinged with a bit of wishful thinking.
"Correct. I cross-referenced the faces of these attackers with facial recognition data, and they match children who went missing between thirty and twenty-five years ago. Given that the attackers are high-level Star Sea Stage experts, they might be slightly older."
On hearing this, Dyson imdiately picked up the phone. "Davir, quick, send the photos of those attackers."
After hanging up, Dyson looked at Wang Lan with a smile. "Right, how did you obtain the data on missing persons? If I recall correctly, one of the exam rules was that you were not allowed to collaborate with the local police."
"Do we need to work with the local police to get information?" Wang Lan said casually. "Just hack into their system."
"..."
It was no wonder General Dyson hadn’t considered this. While it was understandable for an elite special forces soldier to be a computer expert, among Star Martial Warriors, such individuals were exceedingly rare. Star Martial Warriors around the world almost universally spent ninety percent of their ti and resources honing their combat abilities. It’s not to say that all Star Martial Warriors are illiterate, but their forte is undoubtedly combat. Unless a Star Martial Warrior is so intellectually gifted that they can acquire in a tenth of the ti the knowledge that would take others complete dedication to learn. Even though Star Martial Warriors generally possessed above-average intelligence, reaching that level of genius was considered impossible.
For Wang Lan to possess not only such imnse strength and tracking skills but also top-tier computer abilities? God of Heaven, how can You lavish so much favor on one person?
Dyson would never guess that Wang Lan and Jiang Xinyu had developed the two artificial intelligences, Ice Snow and Xiao Ai, during their high school years. Of course, the birth of Xiao Ai and Ice Snow was incidental. Ice Snow was cloned software from the central computer AI of Jiang Xinyu’s family enterprise, and Xiao Ai was its sibling, created after Wang Lan cracked Ice Snow. The two intelligent beings sparked their autonomous learning abilities during a very coincidental collision, leading to the birth of true artificial intelligence.
Thus, Wang Lan’s explanation, though surprising, was also perfectly reasonable.
Soon, the collection of roughly forty facial photos was transmitted. Indeed—hmm—they were all faces of the deceased. These assassins had all perished, and these were their posthumous portraits.
Wang Lan called up Xiao Ai’s big data system and matched all the information within about ten minutes. All these people were missing persons from St. State, all under ten years old at the ti of their disappearance. The earliest case dated back thirty years, and the most recent was twelve years ago.
"Contact the International Security Council Headquarters for . I have an important matter to report."
General Dyson went into the adjacent private briefing room, and soon the five screens on the wall lit up one after another.
"Council mbers, what we feared most has beco a reality."
"Dyson, before you get to that, do you know my phone was nearly blowing up just monts ago? What exactly happened? Why were the losses so great? Since the establishnt of the International Security Council, there has never been such a serious blunder in the selection exams... No, this isn’t just a blunder; it’s a catastrophe, a major disaster!"
"Indeed. Various countries are protesting. If we don’t provide a satisfactory response, it will be very difficult for us."
"Council mbers, ’disaster’ doesn’t quite capture it... this should be described as a cataclysm," Dyson said, his expression still cold and indifferent. "I can inform you of the entire sequence of events now. Following up on our last discussion: does the Hell Monarch hidden in the shadows of St. State exist? We can now confirm that he likely does. A few days ago, after we killed his subordinate, the Soul Hooking Death God, and dismantled the Red Cell Company’s attempt to launch an undead scourge via a coup, they launched this terrorist attack."
"At 9:20 this morning, Different Dinsional Spaces opened simultaneously in the central squares of twenty-five districts throughout St. State, and twenty-five assessnt teams were dispatched to handle them. However, the enemy didn’t just open the Different Dinsional Spaces; they deployed a thousand kamikazes to ambush the twenty-five teams. Among these thousand individuals were twenty Star Sea Stage experts and seven hundred Galaxy Stage experts. This was why the candidates suffered such significant casualties. Although we lost over thirty candidates, we successfully eliminated twenty of their Star Sea Stage and fifty of their Galaxy Stage kamikazes. In any respect, this was a brilliant victory. I don’t understand what they have to protest about."
"But they are candidates, after all, not our warriors."
"The mont they beca Star Martial Warriors, they were warriors. And by choosing to participate in our selection, they had already prepared to fight and sacrifice for all of human civilization. If we needed to protect them during this incident, does that an we’ll also have to provide protection for their safety after they beco our agents? I’m sorry, but we are selecting people who are capable of fighting and sacrificing for human civilization, not mascots."
"Alright, we’ll handle the pressure from the protesting countries. Continue. If there’s any more bad news, let it all out."
"The identities of the ambushers have been investigated. They are Star Martial Warriors who have gone missing in St. State over the last thirty years. Therefore, it’s confird that soone has spent thirty years abducting nearly one hundred thousand Star Martial Warriors."
"It seems the situation has gotten even worse..." Leo, perhaps already ntally prepared, quickly accepted this and quipped.
"Since it’s confird, investigate it thoroughly. Find the whereabouts of the Hell Monarch, by any ans necessary."
"Understood! However, I’ve added a fourth exam on the fly. The content is to find them."
"Proceed as you see fit. If you need support, report directly to headquarters. Headquarters will provide you with all necessary personnel."
These words sounded slightly discordant to Dyson, as if he himself had said sothing similar to soone before.
Exiting the conference room, Wang Lan and his team were in the headquarters, analyzing data from the ambush.
"The Central Square was built ten years ago and is a landmark comrcial plaza, characteristic of the New Blue Country’s national standards. It was designed and constructed by the internationally renowned architecture firm Senlan Real Estate, whose slogan is: ’Let every seed planted by Senlan grow into the heart of the city. If it wasn’t before, it will be.’ Perhaps for this reason, Central Square has always been the most bustling place in the area. The masterminds chose to deploy the Different Dinsional Space in this location to create maximum chaos."
"The Central Square’s surveillance system hadn’t recorded any suspicious individuals... Strange. Could the enemy open a Different Dinsional Space without needing a Space Stone?"
"Could it be..." Jiang Xinyu suddenly rembered their ti in Modu City, when that Ancient Demon seed able to open a Different Dinsional Space without a Space Stone.
Wang Lan understood Jiang Xinyu’s thought. He pondered for a mont, then shook his head. "Impossible... When that Ancient Demon opened a Different Dinsional Space, he at least had to perform the action of opening it. But look at this video: there’s nothing around, no suspicious people, and the Different Dinsional Space just bizarrely appeared."
"Could it be that the Hell Monarch can remotely control the opening of Different Dinsional Spaces?"
Wang Lan narrowed his eyes, contemplating another problem.
"Look, why did all the Different Dinsional Spaces open in the central fountain of the Central Square?"
In the video, accompanied by an explosion, the entire central fountain suddenly twisted in space and transford into a Space Gate.
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