Chapter 217

Suddenly, he paused slightly, then quickly said goodbye to the child, turned around and got into the car.

"Sir, where to next?" the driver asked enthusiastically. He had received more tips in the past two days than he had earned in the entire previous year.

I want to go and take a look at the dock.

The driver was taken aback, and subconsciously said, "It's very dirty and messy there."

Xu Yuan didn't seem to mind. "It's alright. I suddenly feel like watching the sunset there. Can you get there before it goes down?"

"Okay, okay, of course, no problem!"

The driver snapped out of his daze, repeatedly assured them, and immediately started the car, driving at full speed.

*

Weiluo huddled at the end of the alley, her back against the cold brick wall, her chest aching so badly she could hardly breathe.

There were three men standing in front of me; they were all thugs from the casino.

"You're the only one left in the Thranan family." The leader grinned, revealing a set of yellow teeth. "If you don't pay your father's debts, who will?"

Weiluo didn't say anything.

Thran's family used to have five members, but now only she remains.

After her father, who had awakened to the rank of nobility, died at the gambling table, her mother died the following year because they couldn't afford medical treatment.

My older brother joined a gang, and after a gang war, his body was never recovered.

My sister became the mistress of a man who was about to become a nobleman. A month ago, he told her that my sister had died in childbirth and wouldn't even let her see her body.

Now only she is left.

She was declared mute at the age of twelve.

Weiluo mortgaged her house and sold everything she could, but she still couldn't pay off the endless high-interest loans.

The leader squatted down, reached out and pinched her chin, turning her face towards him, slowly and suggestively wiping away the dust and sweat from her face. "You're not bad looking. I know a place where you can work for a few years and your debts will be paid off."

Weiluo was familiar with the other person's eyes and smile.

Before the older sister became the mistress of a potential nobleman, many people looked at the sisters with this kind of gaze.

Weiluo suppressed the nausea rising in her throat and forced a fawning smile, "I understand."

Seeing that she was so sensible, the thug leader released her. "Let's go..."

Before she could finish speaking, Weiluo seized the opportunity and, like a nimble mouse, twisted and slipped through the gap between the three people.

"It's okay if you're mute, brother, we're all mute! That scoundrel... he won't become scoundrel just because we've awakened..."

My sister's voice echoed in my mind, only to be drowned out by the thug's voice:

"You dare to run away? Are you still running now?"

The heavy fist landed, Weiluo heard her bones crack. She curled up, coughing up mouthfuls of blood. The third, the fourth...

Consciousness began to blur, and the sounds of reality gradually faded into the distance.

In this fleeting moment, she recalled the undercover selection when she was twelve years old.

If she had passed that test, would her life have been different...?

Just as the world was plunged into darkness.

Suddenly, a beam of light appeared in front of Weiluo's eyes.

Or rather, a new 'existence' suddenly appeared in my perception, like a lamp in the darkness, or a bell tolling in the silence.

Do you want to live?

Weiluo's consciousness trembled violently.

Certainly!

She wanted to live; she hadn't lived enough. She didn't want to die in this alley, didn't want to die silently like all her family members.

But her throat was blocked with blood, and she could no longer make a sound.

However, the voice on the other end seemed to have already understood.

"Alright, lend me your identity for a while. As long as I live, I will make sure you live."

The next second, a force surged in.

Weiluo's collapsing consciousness was as if an invisible and omnipotent hand had pressed the pause button.

Chapter 217

Wen Jing originally had eight candidates in mind, and her original plan was to find an opportunity to question them one by one using [Intoxication].

She wouldn't force the other party to trade their identity if they were truly unwilling.

Of course, the chances of being rejected are very small. Wen Jing selects people with simple relationships and those who failed in the undercover selection process. The bargaining chips she can offer are hard for them to refuse.

Xu Yuan has been cultivating the image of a great philanthropist these past few days so that he can naturally provide Wen Jing with the funds for her self-funded awakening after she completes the replacement.

Unexpectedly, while the operation was still underway, information revealed that the vital signs of one of the targets were changing Extreme Speed.

The human body is very fragile, especially for ordinary people who are malnourished and lack awareness of their own potential.

Weiluo's escape enraged the three thugs, who unleashed a flurry of punches that ruptured her internal organs, leaving her on the verge of death.

Fortunately, before he turned to death, Xu Yuan, who was a "hotspot" of Wen Jing, arrived nearby.

[Information Touch] was activated, directly suppressing Weiluo's [Near Death] state, saving her life as if by exploiting a bug.

By sheer coincidence, Wen Jing naturally chose to trade with her.

"What are you doing?!" the driver shouted from the alley entrance.

The three thugs paused, cursing, "Who are you? Don't you know whose territory this is?!"

The next moment, they saw the figure in the car, a white robe radiating light, and their words were abruptly cut off.

How could a noble of bloodline come to a place like this?!

"... run!"

The three of them lowered their heads and disappeared in a flash.

It wasn't that they knew about the reputation of the great philanthropists that Xu Yuan had accumulated over the past few days; it was mainly because with the appearance of the bloodline nobles, such violent incidents could not be allowed to occur in front of them.

This is also why the driver dared to yell at these local bullies.

The driver glanced at the figure huddled in the shadows at the end of the alley, then hesitated before reporting to Xu Yuan, "Sir, they abandoned a girl; she seems to be badly injured..."

In the instant he turned around, the light and shadow at the corner of the alley distorted in a way that was imperceptible to the naked eye, like the flickering of a monitor.

Not only were the gazes cast upon them by living beings, but deeper within, the alarm switches of the Alaya Civilization's equipment monitoring this planet and detecting spatial anomalies were also instantly shut down.

The moment Weiluo disappeared, another ' Weiluo ' appeared in the same spot, with the exact same wounds and bloodstains.

This person is naturally Wen Jing.

The real Weiluo was instantly teleported by the Door Handle Wilderness Weapon to a healing and hibernation pod on the planet ' Xu Yuan '.

Weiluo is not Awakened and cannot travel through the Ancient Wilderness Traversal, so she can only resort to this method.

However, the Alaya Race is a huge biological factory and a universal gene pool, so it is very easy for them to hide a human without being detected.

No other individual has any reason to demand that a fellow human being cut open their body for an examination.

The moment he sensed Wen Jing completing the replacement, a glint flashed in Xu Yuan's eyes, hidden beneath his hood.

At the same time, true to her character, she said, "She's so pitiful, let's take her to the hospital right away."

In the hospital.

"I will definitely strive to awaken and repay your kindness!"

On the hospital bed, Wen Jing, disguised as Weiluo, gazed at Xu Yuan with longing.

"Alright, I'll be waiting." Xu Yuan let out a wealthy laugh and left the ward without a care in the world.

The driver, standing to the side, glanced at Wen Jing with a subtle expression as he turned around. He felt a mixture of admiration for her naiveté and envy that she had received the nobles' support and gained the opportunity to participate in the awakening selection.

Even though the chances of a mute descendant awakening are very small, and even if they do awaken, they will basically be low-level Awakened, the self-funded price of 10,000 credit coins is something that people of their social class cannot afford in their lifetime.

And this nobleman was so generous that he not only sponsored the girl named Weiluo, but also sponsored five mute descendants of the same age after learning from her that even those who did not pass the selection process could awaken.

They don't treat money like money at all... Perhaps this is the world of the aristocracy.

*

The formal Awakening Selection differs from the preliminary selection, which takes place in Awakening Temples in various regions. Instead, it is all concentrated in the sole Awakening Temple on the Frontier Star.

Unlike the Federation event, which is held quarterly, this one is held monthly, but the number of participants is smaller each time.

Please follow me, everyone.

Two groups of young people followed in the footsteps of the guide, separating into one group and the other, and entered the Awakening Temple.

The building's exterior is made of cast iron and dark stone, while the interior is paved with warm ivory-colored stone. Thousands of crystals are embedded in the huge dome, refracting the morning light into a soft halo that falls down.

Beneath the dome, twelve pillars engraved with runes are arranged symmetrically, each so thick that it takes three people to encircle it.

Many people in the crowd subconsciously slowed their pace.

Those exhibiting this behavior are mostly from the later batch of self-funded awakening individuals. The earlier batch, having passed the potential selection process six years prior, have since experienced different life circumstances and are relatively more confident.

However, when they actually stood before the awakening platform, everyone showed a tense expression.

The Awakening Platform is located at the very center of the temple. Its surface is engraved with intricate patterns and faintly glows.

Thirty meters away from the platform, there were also viewing seats. The best seats at the front were occupied by local dignitaries, including quasi-nobles and star-lords corresponding to F and E level Awakened, low-ranking officers of the legion, and presidents of chambers of commerce.

The less desirable positions at the back and sides were crammed together with lower-ranking individuals and family members of the participants in this awakening.

At this moment, within a semi-transparent circular platform above the main platform, seven figures in white robes can be seen.

If you see white robes symbolizing bloodline families outside the Awakening Temple, you might be considered a descendant of bloodline nobles and Awakened humans.

Those who could appear here must be pure Alaya Race.

Only the special abilities of bloodline nobles can awaken humanity; this is a consensus among all people in the empire.

The standard configuration of the Awakening Temple is one seat for each of the six factions, and now the extra one is naturally the Xu Yuan.

He currently has no authority to participate and is simply standing silently by his own faction's side, observing.