020 Minister of Education

Atkesz Ziegler, head bowed, lingered outside Minister Barkomon's door for half an hour, hesitating whether to go in.

During this time, he kept looking at the student files in his hand, muttering to himself, "How should I handle this?"

If others were to witness this scene, they would likely be greatly astonished: Professor Atkesz, the head of the Academy Committee, a direct agency of the Ministry of Education of White Candle Star, was actually holding a student's file in his hand and considering showing it to the Ministry of Education.

As a purely educational planet, the highest administrative body on White Candle Star is not the Mage Council, but the Ministry of Education, directly appointed by the Crystal Tower Supreme Council. The then Ministry of Education, Barkomon Balevi Buster, was the undisputed head of the planet, the man wielding the highest power.

"How should I report this? No matter how you look at it, it's too suspicious. This kind of oversight at this time could very well anger the minister. But if I just ignore it, what if a big mistake happens later? The entire civilization might be affected."

To outsiders, Professor Atkesz, at only 78 years old, was already a high-ranking and powerful bureaucrat, serving as the chief of the Academy Committee, overseeing an alliance of sixteen colleges, and responsible for student recruitment and resource allocation. His future seemed incredibly bright.

Even so, Atkesz was still extremely wary at the thought of dealing with Minister Barkomon.

This minister had just returned from his training at the Second Floor of the Star Abyss —the Realm Abyss—and had been cursed with the upward-rising curse, resulting in an eccentric personality.

Rumor has it that he was once the biological son of an elder mage in the Supreme Council. He was supposed to stay on the home planet, but due to the Ascension Curse, he was distrusted and ostracized. Because they were also wary of his strength, they placed him on an educational planet in the rear so that his talent would not be wasted and they would not worry about him causing problems.

Atkesz had never been to the Star Abyss. As a young man who had just entered the Yota (I, the ninth Greek letter) class, he did not plan to dive down and break through the shackles too early. The Ministry of Education, on the other hand, was a true Kappa-rank who had returned from the battlefield. If he wanted, this planet would be reduced to nothing in an instant.

Unfortunately, he didn't know whether the information he was about to submit would affect or provoke the minister.

This is not an easy job; dealing with someone like the minister requires enduring immense psychological pressure.

After much hesitation, and out of basic professional ethics as a technocrat, Atkesz decided to knock on the door.

Thump, thump, thump.

"Come in."

A calm, middle-aged male voice rang out, Atkesz straightened his formal mage robes before pushing the door open and entering.

Upon entering, the first thing he saw wasn't a desk, but an oil painting hanging high on the wall. The painting was exquisite and beautiful, but the content was incredibly chaotic and abstract—a cold blizzard had disemboweled an obese woman, and the baby, transformed into a giant, stood tall and upright, bursting out of her abdomen, clutching the umbilical cord as if whipping flames and thick smoke. Countless mantises were riding on humans the size of spaceships, shooting popcorn and beer bottle caps at the baby's feet, tearing open the emerald green wound, from which gold coins and oatmeal porridge gushed out.

Atkesz could understand each element in the picture, but when put together, he only felt physical discomfort and horror. He seemed to be able to understand the meaning of the picture, but the overly abstract expression and the overwhelming emotion completely overwhelmed his reason.

"Chief Atkesz, there's no need to force an interpretation of the painting's content."

The middle-aged man's voice rang out again, jolting Atkesz his reverie. He dared not look at the scene again, but instead turned to the middle-aged man behind the maple table and respectfully said:

"Minister Barkomon, I'm sorry to interrupt your work."

"It's alright, I don't have any work today."

Barkomon was a burly man with a cold and stern appearance. He was bald, with a clean-shaven beard, triangular eyes, and a bear-like physique, making him look more like a warrior or a fierce man than Martial Artist. But that wasn't the most striking feature.

At the first glance, Atkesz was drawn to Barkomon's aura—an eerie one. The light shone on Barkomon, subtly distorting his features. Even though Arterz knew that Balcomon, being a soldier, had a straight posture and sat upright, from Atkesz's perspective, Barkomon never seemed straight. His features and nose always gave the eerie impression of a spiral, constantly twisting and rotating.

Barkomon noticed Atkesz's hesitation and odd behavior, and casually explained:

"That painting is a specialty brought out from the Star Abyss. Luckily, it wasn't confiscated by the Narrative-level."

The implication was that she was in this state entirely because of Star Abyss.

"Sit down. This isn't Narrative-level area. You don't need to stand when talking to your superiors."

When he spoke of the Narrative-level, his tone unconsciously became more forceful, and a flash of dissatisfaction and resentment crossed his eyes.

Atkesz then quickly pressed his advantage. "Narrative-level Civilization are the overlords of the universe. They are used to being domineering and think that the whole universe should revolve around them."

"Hmph, I've met General Heracles of the [Heroes Empire]. He's arrogant, short-sighted, and looks down on everyone. In the Star Abyss, if it weren't for them traveling in groups and sharing the curse, they might not be doing as well as I am now if they were on their own."

Barkomon muttered to himself:

"The people from the Temple of Annihilation are even worse; they're a bunch of missionary lunatics who've been searching for something called Spirit Maggot. They've killed many people and driven several insane because of it. And then there are the scoundrels from the United Enterprise; those who believe in Red King are all bad news."

Atkesz' eyelids twitched, and he cautiously suggested:

"Isn't it inappropriate to speak ill of the gods, especially since He is the chief god who holds the [Plunderer] path?"

"No need to worry, the people from [Temple of Annihilation] and [Heroes Empire] are joining in the cursing. I've never seen such a terrible teammate. I will never cooperate with them again."

Barkomon didn't care at all:

"Besides, Red King has already betrayed Star Abyss. Furthermore, He doesn't even notice insignificant people like us. Feel free to curse—by the way, you didn't call me here just to discuss Star Abyss, did you?"

Since it was Barkomon who took the initiative to inquire about his purpose, Atkesz felt a little relieved and said the words he had prepared, "Minister Barkomon, our White Candle Star's Magic Aptitude Test held today has recruited a special student."

"Oh, how special is he? He actually managed to get our youngest Academy Committee chief to teleport here to discuss this issue in person."

Atkesz's earlier pleasantries had lightened Barkomon's mood. The serious soldier even teased Atkesz, "Come on, tell me, you didn't recruit a hairless rat into university, did you? Actually, it's not that it's unacceptable. The Crystal Tower is a very open civilization. As for non-human races and demi-human beings, as long as they're not in bio-engineered suits or malicious cannibalistic monsters, even silicon-based and atmospheric beings, we're happy to accept them—it's a way of demonstrating our interstellar influence, after all."

Barkomon didn't forget to tell a lame joke, "Although we haven't connected with Interstellar Civilization."

"It's good that you think that way, but I'm afraid that something unexpected might happen and you'll have to take responsibility."

At this point, Atkesz also reluctantly spoke up, feigning concern:

"Minister Barkomon, this student only took 5 minutes to complete the exam."

Five minutes?

Barkomon was surprised:

"I never expected—there's such a genius in the Abyss? If I remember correctly, after the exam reform 20 years ago, the number of questions increased by 40%. Five days is a pretty good amount of time for a mortal (Gamma-rank). He actually took five minutes? Has he become a superhuman?"

"At first we suspected he was cheating, or using magic or technology, but we found that everything was normal, there were no traces of plugins in the background, and the magical fluctuations were very stable, ruling out the possibility of cheating."

Atkesz explained, "After all, objective questions can be cheated on, but subjective questions cannot. No matter how a person tries to avoid it, they cannot change the fact that they are a person influenced by subjective emotions. Their words will reveal the author's thoughts and soul. You can see the author's stance, knowledge, education, and even emotional state and whether they have physical experience through their work—and our tests show that they did not cheat."

"That's great! Our planet has produced such a genius—quickly contact the Supreme Council and bring this young man into the ' Crystal Hall.' He is someone we will focus on developing in the future."

Barkomon became happy, and a strange, distorted smile bloomed on his face, which was twisted by an invisible force. It was extremely grotesque and Terror, making Atkesz feel extremely uncomfortable.

"So, you came here just to tell me: Minister, we've struck gold? Is that it?"

"There are still some specific issues, you'll see once you take a look."

Despite his physical and mental discomfort, he submitted the students' information.

Barkomon took the neatly arranged paper, Atkesz immediately noticed that where his fingers touched, the words distorted unnaturally, as if light were bent by gravity and steel wires were coiled up.

"His name is Lioz. Hmm, so-so. A very common name. I could throw a rock and hit an Unlucky Guy with the same name as a god or angel, whether it's Red, Arthur, or Leviathan..."

"People's creativity is always so barren."

Atkesz touched his nose. "Most parents have certain wishes for their children, and some even name their children after great people. Of course, there are also people who deliberately give their children bad names."

"You're right, a humble name makes it easier to raise a child."

Barkomon smiled knowingly, seemingly recalling something pleasant. "My father once planned to name me ' Archimonde' —supposedly the name of some great demon, hoping I wouldn't be troubled by evil spirits in the future—but I digress. Let me look at this Lioz's grades: objective questions, full marks; experimental questions, full marks; subjective questions, full marks; essay..."

The more Barkomon looked, the stranger his expression became. His face, already distorted by an irresistible, invisible force, became even more twisted.

He spread out the documents and began to read each line carefully. His gaze was serious and cold, his brows furrowed, and the veins on his bald head bulged out like earthworms, making him look ferocious and terrifying.

Barkomon placed his hands on the table, slowly stood up, and paced around the office with the report in his hand. He first went to the bookshelf, shaking his head back and forth, his brows furrowed. Then, as if Atkesz didn't exist, he simply sat on the sofa, scratching his head, resting his chin on his hand, his face almost scrunched up.

After a while, he walked to the window with his hands behind his back and looked at the White Candle Star, which was surrounded by white atmosphere, outside the orbit around the Earth.