Ryze the Wanderer

"Beautiful!" Cheng Yaowen laughed heartily and raised his hand, activating his Gene Ability—Heart of Earth!

"Demacia!" With a loud roar, a mass of earth and rock three to four meters tall rose from the ground, forming a massive hand that clenched along with Cheng Yaowen's raised hand and caught Du Qiangwei as she fell.

Du Qiangwei struggled a few times, only to find that the mixture of mud and stone—which she could normally shatter with a single kick—had become incomparably solid. She could not break free at all!

She then tried to use Micro Wormhole Transport Technology to move herself away, but after Wei Zitong shouted, "No Wormhole Calculation is permitted here," the surrounding Spatial Medium completely changed. Her Gene Model could no longer calculate anything!

"Deno 3, help me calculate Wei Zitong's Gene Ability!" Du Qiangwei grew anxious. She was fiercely competitive and had no intention of losing to this bunch of people she looked down on as complete trash.

"Received! Calculating... Calculation failed... Unknown Gene Model. No record in the system..." The news struck Du Qiangwei like a thunderbolt, leaving her at a loss for what to do.

"Hahahaha! Serves you right, you little punk! Let's see you act so arrogant now!" Cheng Yaowen laughed as he walked over. As he tightened his hand, the earthen hand closed tighter and tighter, making Du Qiangwei feel a crushing pressure in her chest, nearly unable to breathe.

"Yaowen, that's enough. Don't squeeze any harder!" Ge Xiaolun hurried over, feeling a little distressed at the sight of Du Qiangwei.

"What? Feeling tender toward a pretty girl?" Cheng Yaowen turned to look at Ge Xiaolun, somewhat displeased that he was pleading for Du Qiangwei. "Do you think she'll appreciate it?"

"I..." Ge Xiaolun was speechless.

"Hmph. Is that all you've got?" Du Qiangwei endured the suffocating pressure in her chest and sneered. "Deno 3, analyze the surrounding Spatial Medium and inject energy into me!"

"This is bad!" Wei Zitong's expression changed drastically. He immediately shouted at Du Qiangwei, "Don't move!"

Only he truly understood how terrifying a Super Soldier backed by a supercomputer could be. Du Qiangwei's earlier call to Deno 3 had been too quiet for him to hear. Now that he had heard it, how could he not be alarmed?

But it was already too late. Du Qiangwei vanished into thin air before he could finish shouting "Don't move." His words only affected the earthen hand, indirectly causing Cheng Yaowen's body to freeze for a moment.

Du Qiangwei instantly appeared behind Cheng Yaowen. With one kick, Cheng Yaowen dropped to his knees. Seizing the opportunity, Wei Zitong shouted at Du Qiangwei again, "Don't move!" Yet Du Qiangwei only paused briefly before vanishing once more!

Instead, Wei Zitong felt as though his brain had been struck by a heavy club. His head throbbed with splitting pain, while a voice continuously echoed in his mind, driving him nearly mad!

"Insufficient energy. Engine calculation failure! Insufficient energy. Engine calculation failure!"

In only a moment, Liu Chuang and Wuji Yi fell one after another. Even Ge Xiaolun, who had never held any ill will toward Du Qiangwei, was not spared and was kicked flying by her!

Du Qiangwei did not dare get too close to Wei Zitong. After her earlier experience, she was extremely wary of his ability. However, she discovered that the farther she was from Wei Zitong, the weaker his ability's effect became. That was why Wei Zitong was still standing. Even though he could barely use his ability now, Du Qiangwei did not come over to kick him.

A sharp whistle tore through the air, making Wei Zitong's soul nearly leave his body. It was Wuji Yi's sword. He hurriedly sidestepped and caught the hilt in passing.

"How many do you think you can dodge?" Du Qiangwei raised a hand and traced a long arc through the air. Dozens of throwing knives appeared out of nowhere, then vanished again!

Wei Zitong's scalp went numb. He immediately shouted, "No throwing knives may pass through wormholes here!"

Thus, the dozens of throwing knives appeared less than a meter in front of him and fell to the ground, just like Du Qiangwei had earlier!

"Hmph!" Du Qiangwei snorted disdainfully and waved her hand again. Hundreds of throwing knives appeared out of thin air. This time, they did not pass through wormholes. Instead, they flew straight at him!

Wei Zitong's face went pale. He swiftly crouched beneath the balcony railing as the nonstop clanging of throwing knives striking it rang out. Fragments of cement and tile covered his hair and face.

"Alright, Qiangwei, that's enough playing around. These kids have already done quite well!" A somewhat hoarse middle-aged man's voice came from below, and all of Du Qiangwei's throwing knives immediately disappeared.

"Teacher Liu, four weaklings lying on the ground, one turtle with his head tucked in, and one deserter who ran off to hide somewhere. I really don't know where you see anything good in them," Du Qiangwei asked disdainfully.

"Qiangwei, you can't judge these children by the standards you use in the military. They're all freshmen who have only just enrolled. The fact that you didn't beat them into the hospital or scare them into running away means they've already done quite well." The man Du Qiangwei called Teacher Liu replied.

Teacher Liu? Could he be Ryze the Wanderer?

Wei Zitong patted the dust off his head and face, then stood up on the balcony and looked down. In an instant, he was stunned.

Although he had seen Ryze the Wanderer in the anime before and had already made Mental Preparation, Wei Zitong was still nearly frightened when he saw what Ryze the Wanderer looked like in real life!

A huge bald head, blue skin, a face full of thick beard, and a large silver earring on his left ear—by an Earthling's standards, this alien Old Goblin was terrifying no matter how one looked at him!

Aside from Du Qiangwei and Cheng Yaowen, everyone else below wore expressions of utter shock!

Du Qiangwei had met Ryze the Wanderer before, so she naturally would not be surprised. As for Cheng Yaowen, he had been the prince of the Star of D'Wen before he was ten. He had probably seen plenty of aliens and was used to it.

"Children, I am your instructor, Ryze the Wanderer. You may call me Teacher Liu." Ryze the Wanderer ignored the strange looks from the crowd and introduced himself. "You performed well today. You may remain at the academy and undergo the academy's next round of training and assessments."

"What? There are more assessments?" Liu Chuang's mood immediately soured upon hearing this. Ever since childhood, the last thing he wanted to hear was anything related to the word "test"—exams, trials, assessments, and the like. "Then when the hell will these assessments be over?"

The others also looked miserable. This one assessment from Du Qiangwei had already been terrifying enough. Wouldn't the next round be even more frightening?

"It's alright, children. I believe you can endure the assessments to come." Ryze the Wanderer smiled. "Before that, I will teach you a great deal of relevant knowledge, and there will be corresponding training before the assessments."

"Teacher Liu, what exactly are we supposed to do after the training and assessments?" Ge Xiaolun was the first to act like a model student, bravely asking a question.

"Well, didn't A Jie tell you when you came in? You are to become Super Soldiers of the Xiong Bing Lian, to defend our homes and country!" Ryze the Wanderer did not show any displeasure at Ge Xiaolun's question for the sake of asking. Instead, he answered patiently.

Seeing that Du Qiangwei was not looking in his direction, Ge Xiaolun merely said, "Oh," and did not ask anything else.

"Alright, children. If you have any questions, you may ask them in class." Ryze the Wanderer waved his hand, stopping the others who wanted to ask questions. "Starting tomorrow, those trainees not eliminated by Qiangwei will begin formal classes."

The crowd seemed thoughtful and fell silent.

Just then, Du Qiangwei snorted and stepped into a wormhole. A second later, Zhao Xin flew back from somewhere with a miserable scream.

"You can't blame me! That kick hurt like hell!" Zhao Xin lay on the ground and repeatedly explained himself. But when he looked up and saw Ryze the Wanderer's face, he shrieked, "A ghost!" and ran off without a trace again.

Ryze the Wanderer looked somewhat awkward. He gave a light cough, said, "Go back and rest," and left as well.