Assessment Begins

"New Era?"

Inside the VIP Room, a deep, hoarse voice suddenly pierced the brief silence.

From the shadows in the corner, the Griffin Mask Man, who had remained silent ever since first speaking up to purchase Tiandao, slowly rose to his feet.

He looked directly at Doctor and said, "Doctor, you seem to have forgotten to explain a very crucial issue."

Leaning on his cane, the Griffon Man walked heavily toward the Holographic Projection at the center, his mechanical left leg tapping out a steady rhythm against the floor.

When he stopped before Tiandao's three-dimensional image, he suddenly reached out and passed his hand through the projection.

"The issue is this: is this so-called perfect creation of yours truly controllable?"

"After all, I don't believe a powerful Star Envoy would willingly become a tool for someone else to fulfill their dreams, would he?"

The Griffon Man's hand suddenly clenched.

In an instant, Tiandao's three-dimensional image in the Holographic Projection shattered before everyone like a bubble.

As if Doctor's so-called perfect creation, his so-called New Era,

were nothing more than an unrealistic fantasy of his own.

After all, the Griffon Man himself was a powerful Star Envoy.

So he understood very well what Star Envoys truly wanted.

Not to mention an unparalleled genius like Tiandao, whose future was boundless at a glance.

And geniuses were always proud.

They might be exploited or restrained, but they would never allow themselves to be locked in a "cage," displayed and ordered about at someone else's whim.

Faced with the Griffon Man's questioning, Doctor seemed to have expected it. The expression he gave the other man was deeply meaningful.

"Esteemed guest, it seems you have misunderstood one thing."

"Oh?"

The Griffon Man looked at Doctor curiously, seemingly unable to understand what he had gotten wrong.

"I said from the very beginning that Tiandao is the leader we have chosen."

"Control?" Doctor shook his head. "We never intended to control Tiandao. He only needs to be himself."

"Even if such a decision might bring us destruction, even if that truly comes to pass, we believe he will lead the newly reborn Ember to unprecedented heights and fulfill the dreams of us old men in an entirely new way."

Doctor's answer was beyond the Griffon Man's expectations.

He studied the other man seriously for a long while before finally sighing.

"I understand. It seems you people have thought everything through and are willing to bear the worst possible consequences."

"In that case, I have no further questions."

The Griffon Man sat back down and waited for Doctor to continue introducing the specific details of the Star Project.

After all, they had come to Ember today despite the risk of being wanted by the Star Envoy Association because they had seen enormous value in the Star Project.

Tiandao, this Starborn, was certainly powerful.

But it was difficult to say whether Tiandao's strength came from the Star Project or from himself.

Therefore, compared with that, they were more curious about how the other Starborn had performed.

They did not need to reach Tiandao's level.

Even if they possessed only one-tenth of Tiandao's abilities,

the project would undoubtedly be a success and hold extremely high investment value.

Doctor clearly understood this as well. He pressed the Control Panel before him and brought up the information of another Starborn.

On the screen, a brown-haired, crimson-eyed girl was fighting three Star Beasts.

The blood-red longsword in her hand was like a living creature, greedily drinking her enemies' blood.

Her fighting was not as pleasing to watch as Tiandao's.

But for an eleven-year-old child to handle three Star Beasts at once, the result was just as astonishing.

"Starborn Sequence 002, Chen Xing. Elemental type: Bloodflame Beast. Star Core compatibility: 99%."

"Like Tiandao, she has not yet obtained any Star Source."

Unlike his lengthy introduction of Tiandao earlier,

Doctor merely gave everyone a brief look at Chen Xing's information before continuing to bring up the profiles of other Starborn.

"Starborn Sequence 003, Jing Liuli. Special Trait type: Mirror Flower Butterfly. Star Core compatibility: 92%."

"Starborn Sequence 004, Caroline. Mechanical type: Heavenly Mechanism Cat Demon. Star Core compatibility: 90%."

"Starborn Sequence 005..."

"Starborn Sequence 036, Chen Kong. Special Trait type: Black Star. Star Core compatibility: unknown."

Each time Doctor introduced a Starborn, he included a segment of their combat footage.

However, when he finally introduced Chen Kong, everyone noticed that not only was there no combat footage,

but even his profile was extremely brief.

Looking at Chen Kong's meager profile, the noblewoman wearing the Canary Mask asked curiously, "Doctor, why is there so little information on this last Starborn? And why is his Star Core compatibility marked as unknown?"

Doctor pondered for a moment before giving an ambiguous answer.

"That is because we cannot determine whether he truly completed the Star Core Surgery."

"Huh?"

The Canary noblewoman looked at Doctor in surprise. According to the information Ember had given her before she arrived,

the so-called Star Core Surgery had a survival rate so low that calling it nine deaths out of ten would not be an exaggeration.

Since Chen Kong had survived until now, his Star Core Surgery should have succeeded.

How could there be a Starborn whose status remained uncertain?

Or perhaps this child was special, which was why Doctor had deliberately withheld his complete information?

Everyone present was shrewd.

Although Doctor had not provided much information about Chen Kong,

they still committed the name to memory

and looked forward to his performance shortly.

After all, the so-called Final Assessment was about to begin.

Then, whether Chen Kong was truly, as Doctor said, an anomaly among the Starborn whose surgical status could not be confirmed,

or a secret weapon Ember had deliberately concealed, would be revealed in the Final Assessment.

After all, battle reports could lie, but the battlefield could not.

Whatever Chen Kong's situation was, actual combat would prove everything.

"Alright, everyone. We have arranged the venue for the Final Assessment. Please follow me."

At Doctor's words, everyone stood and followed him toward a location within the base.

At the same time, a cold mechanical female voice suddenly rang out over the training ground broadcast.

"The Final Assessment is about to begin. All trainees, please proceed to the central examination hall."

When the announcement ended, a metal door leading underground slowly opened.

Looking at the deep underground passage that seemed capable of swallowing everything,

Chen Kong's heart abruptly tightened, and his whole body shuddered.

He was clearly deeply afraid of this so-called Final Assessment.

"Nervous?"

Just then, a warm hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.

Chen Kong turned his head and discovered that Tiandao had somehow arrived beside him.

"Remember, when you feel like there is no way out, ask yourself why you have survived until now."

With that, Tiandao turned and shouted to Caroline in the distance, "Let's go, Caroline."

"Mm."

Tiandao took the lead, bringing Caroline past the others and becoming the first to enter the deep underground passage.

Seeing this, Chen Xing snorted coldly and entered as well.

The others immediately followed after them.

Chen Kong watched Tiandao's receding figure, Tiandao's words from just now surfacing in his mind.

Why... had I survived until now?

For now, Chen Kong did not know the answer to that question.

But he had a feeling that perhaps this Final Assessment would bring him the answer.

With that thought, Chen Kong no longer hesitated and followed the crowd into the underground passage...