"Star energy scan complete. Star Source: Ink Control confird."
As a cold, chanical voice echoed in the scanning room, the previously sealed door opened. Tendo put on his moon-white robe, which was hanging nearby, and slowly walked out of the scanning room.
The association staff mber, who had been waiting for a long ti, imdiately bowed slightly to Tendo. "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Ink Wash"
"Not at all. I apologize for the trouble."
"You're too kind, it's just part of my duties."
With that, the staff mber made a "please" gesture. "Please follow , both of you. The assessnt for the Steam Branch's Fifth Squad is about to begin."
Tendo nodded, then led Danica to follow the staff mber. After passing through a narrow corridor, the three arrived at a relatively open area on the fiftieth floor of the Gear Building. Seven people were already waiting there. Without exception, all of them exuded the aura of Star Envoys of Rank 2 or higher. One man, draped in a dark red cloak, had a particularly oppressive aura, clearly having reached the upper echelon of Rank 2. He was the strongest among the seven.
Seeing Tendo, a new face, appear, several scrutinizing gazes imdiately shot towards Tendo and Danica, their vigilance unconcealed. After all, they were all competing for the position of captain of the Steam City's Fifth Squad, and any potential opponent deserved their caution.
Feeling the hostility from these individuals, little Danica imdiately clutched his trousers tightly, her small face filled with nervousness. "Mr. Ink, the people here all look so fierce..."
Tendo lowered his head and chuckled, stroking her head comfortingly. "Don't be afraid, it's all minor issues."
Mid-sentence, Tendo suddenly changed the subject. "By the way, Danica, do you still rember what I taught you these past few days?"
Little Danica peeked out from behind his trousers, nodding vigorously, indicating that she hadn't forgotten the "skills" Tendo had taught her. Seeing this, a sharp glint flashed in Tendo's eyes. "That's good. Don't worry, this matter will go much smoother than expected."
Although little Danica didn't fully understand what Tendo was saying, she instinctively felt that Tendo wouldn't harm her. She just needed to obediently follow behind Tendo and do as he said.
While Tendo and little Danica were conversing, a clear voice suddenly ca from beside them. "You two seem a bit unfamiliar. This must be your first ti at our Steam Branch, right?"
Tendo turned to look and saw a "squinty-eyed" man wearing a silver-gray close-fitting outfit, with two short pistols tucked at his waist, and a benevolent expression. Seeing Tendo look at him, the man imdiately introduced himself: "Pleased to et you. I am Yu Chen, an elite mber of the original Second Squad of the Steam Branch."
As the saying goes, "one does not strike a smiling face." Tendo politely reciprocated: "Pleased to et you. I am Ink, from Deep Blue City, an unremarkable calligraphy enthusiast."
"A calligraphy enthusiast, you say?"
Yu Chen's seemingly perpetually narrowed eyes subtly swept over the faintly visible long blade beneath Tendo's moon-white robe and the light ink bamboo pattern embroidered on his cuffs, his expression quite aningful. How could soone participating in a squad captain assessnt truly be unremarkable?
Thinking this, Yu Chen said with a smile, "Is that so? What a coincidence, for I myself have quite an interest in calligraphy. I must seek your guidance another day."
"There will be an opportunity."
Just as Yu Chen was about to say more, the crisp sound of gears turning echoed from afar. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the tal floor in the center of the venue slowly splitting open. Along with a rising plu of steam, a massive tal arena slowly appeared before everyone.
At the sa ti, a huge star-energy barrier, like a shimring water curtain, separated them from the arena. The faint blue glow of star energy flowed within the water curtain, as if the entire starry sky had been kneaded into it, making it exceptionally beautiful. Yet, everyone knew that this seemingly fragile water curtain was far from simple.
As everyone pondered the specific content of this assessnt, an examiner in a Second Squad uniform walked to the center of the arena. He looked at the people outside the star-energy water curtain, and his low voice resonated throughout the venue.
"Ladies and gentlen, the first stage of the assessnt for the Fifth Squad Captain position is called the Star Energy Water Curtain."
"Only those whose star energy control has reached a refined level and whose star energy value exceeds eight thousand points will have a chance to pass."
"Conversely, no matter what thods you use, you will not be able to cross this barrier..."
At this point, a playful expression suddenly appeared on the man's face. "...and naturally, you will not step onto this arena called 'assessnt'."
Upon hearing this, gasps imdiately rose from below. They hadn't expected the first hurdle of this captain assessnt to be so difficult. It was important to rember that for most Star Envoys, rely developing their Star Source already consud a significant amount of energy. Therefore, apart from a small number of geniuses and those who had no hope of breaking through further, almost no one would diligently hone seemingly insignificant abilities like "basic star energy control." So, this assessnt, while appearing simple, concealed profound mysteries.
"It's just a water curtain, what's with all the nonsense!"
Seeing that the surrounding people were slow to act, the Rank 2 upper-tier Star Envoy in the dark red cloak stepped forward first. Fiery flas erupted around him, and he charged fiercely towards the star-energy water curtain like a teor wrapped in magma. However, just when everyone thought he would easily pass through the water curtain, the red-cloaked Star Envoy's figure suddenly froze as he entered it. At the sa ti, the raging flas around him began to flicker erratically, veins bulged on his face, and his expression beca incredibly distorted.
Fortunately, relying on his own star energy value of over 9,000 points, he ultimately endured the interference and tearing of the "three hundred types of star energy fluctuations" within the water curtain, forcing his way through and stumbling into the arena. However, although he had passed, he was not only panting heavily, but his forehead was also covered in cold sweat. He had clearly expended a considerable amount of energy.
This scene undoubtedly caused the expressions of most of the remaining assessors to change drastically. After all, if their "strongest" mber struggled so much, how much better could they be?
"Brother Ink, I'll go in first then."
"Alright, I wish you imdiate success."
Unlike the red-cloaked man's recklessness, Yu Chen's thod of passing seed more "strategic." He stopped in front of the water curtain, observing the flow patterns of the star energy water curtain with focused attention. The mont he detected a montary stagnation in a particular star energy fluctuation, Yu Chen stepped forward, striding into the water curtain in one swift movent.
In an instant, an invisible ripple spread out from around Yu Chen. He simply walked into the assessnt arena effortlessly, as if he were passing through an ordinary water curtain.
Seeing this, the red-cloaked man in the arena was so shocked his eyes almost popped out. No, why?! The assessnt he had barely passed with all his might, why could this Rank 2 mid-tier Star Envoy pass so easily? He was only a Rank 2 mid-tier, while he himself was a Rank 2 upper-tier!
But soon, an even more baffling scene for the red-cloaked man appeared. Just after Yu Chen passed through the star energy water curtain, Tendo also led little Danica in. And like Yu Chen, Tendo and little Danica passed through the star energy water curtain with ease, as if on a leisurely stroll, without even causing a noticeable ripple.
This scene not only left the other assessors stunned, but even the captains of the Steam Branch squads in the stands couldn't help but whisper to each other. "I'm not surprised Yu Chen passed so easily, but what's going on with that guy from Deep Blue tropolis?"
"I've never heard of such a figure in Deep Blue tropolis before."
"Who knows? After all, the New Federation is so vast, and there are so many Star Envoys. It's normal for a monster or two to occasionally erge."
"Look, the one currently being personally received by the President, isn't she the monster among monsters who recently appeared?"
The captain of the Steam Branch's Second Squad looked up towards the VIP room and quickly saw Chen Xing sitting there with an emotionless expression. Despite her being much younger than them, everyone present knew that her strength was already at the standard level of a general association squad vice-captain. After all, the strength of a typical general association squad vice-captain was roughly at Rank 3 mid-tier. And among those who had lost to that individual, there were even Rank 3 upper-tier experts.
"President Liam, don't you think our young n from Steam City are performing quite well?" Liam, the President of the Steam Branch, looked at the squinty-eyed Yu Chen below, speaking with pride.
To this, Chen Xing seed to be pondering sothing at the mont, giving Liam no response whatsoever. So much so that Fox, beside her, couldn't help but cough twice, signaling Chen Xing to pay attention and mind her manners.
And when Chen Xing snapped back to attention, she spoke words that shook the hearts of the two people in the VIP room, as well as Tendo in front of the dinsional screen.
"President Liam, might I ask a rather presumptuous favor of you?"
"Oh? Please speak, Miss Chen Xing. As long as your request isn't too excessive, I, this old man, can't imagine any reason to refuse."
"I would like to serve as the chief examiner for your Fifth Squad assessnt this ti, and personally test this batch of assessors."
"Hm?"
Liam raised an eyebrow in surprise, clearly not having expected her to make such a request.
Another person who hadn't expected it was Tendo, who stood in the arena at this mont. He looked at the serious-faced Chen Xing on the screen, dangerous alarms ringing wildly in his mind. Sothing's wrong, sothing's very wrong. Chen Xing, why aren't you following the script?!
In the original plot, Chen Xing was rely an observer, guiding the dinsional viewers through this captain selection. Through this, she was supposed to generally introduce the main combat forces of Steam City's Upper City in the second season, giving dinsional viewers a rough idea of the combat power level in Steam City's Upper City. But now, she was tearing up the script, proclaiming that she wanted to personally take charge.
There was a problem, definitely a problem here. And Tendo didn't need to guess what that problem was. She must have discovered sothing about him and wanted to personally test him.
Thinking this, Tendo suddenly felt a headache coming on. If everything had gone according to the original plot, this assessnt would have been a piece of cake for him, sothing he could pass with ease. But with Chen Xing as the chief examiner, the variables... were imnse. Especially given her terrifying "intuition," which was almost like a "rule," utterly unreasonable.
Chen Xing, we're old friends! You can't make things so difficult for ! If you change the script so rashly, I, as the scriptwriter... will be angry!
However, no matter how much Tendo wailed inwardly, he could only watch as the dialogue on the dinsional screen continued.
"Hmm... Miss Chen Xing's request isn't unreasonable. Moreover, having an expert from the main association like yourself personally test the ttle of these individuals wouldn't be a bad thing for them."
"I agree."
Hearing this, Chen Xing surprisingly smiled. "Thank you, President Liam."
"It's nothing."
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