No. 1 Lounge
In Room 37, Qin Chen had already come out.
Ma Jun already knew Qin Chen's results, and his eyes were full of surprise as he looked at him.
"Qin Chen, very good. Your number is now changed to No. 1. Here's the key. You can go back and rest in Lounge No. 1. You'll receive your points tomorrow."
Ma Jun handed Qin Chen a key.
After taking the key, Qin Chen headed for the rest area.
The assessment room.
In Room 1.
After Yu Yang defeated the two Late Body Tempering mechanical puppets, his face had turned pale.
"I was careless. The mechanical puppets have chips, and their combat experience is far greater than mine. I've also exhausted a huge amount of energy now. There's no chance I can defeat the Peak Body Tempering ones!"
"But this result is enough. If I can't defeat them, there's no way anyone else can. The most points are as good as mine."
He thought it over and stopped pushing himself to defeat the Peak Body Tempering mechanical puppets. Instead, he opened the door and walked out.
Meanwhile, in Room 2.
Xu Fei was in the same situation. He didn't persist any longer either, making the same decision as Yu Yang. He gave up on clearing the assessment completely and turned to walk out of the room.
The two opened their doors almost simultaneously, then glanced at each other, pride in both their eyes.
"I still had two Peak Body Tempering mechanical puppets left undefeated this time. What about you?" Yu Yang asked.
"Same."
"Interesting. But the lounges will be assigned according to our results this time, starting with No. 1. We'll see which of us gets No. 1. That should also give us a rough idea of who ranks first in the instructor's mind!" Yu Yang smiled confidently.
Xu Fei, however, remained expressionless and paid no attention to Yu Yang's smugness.
Soon, the two walked out of the main doors and looked toward Ma Jun, who was waiting for them.
They came to a stop in front of Ma Jun and stood straight, both wearing expectant expressions.
Ma Jun looked at them and smiled faintly. "Not bad. You both defeated seven mechanical puppets. It's only natural that you couldn't defeat the two remaining Peak Body Tempering ones. You've already done exceptionally well."
"You're too kind, Instructor!" the two shouted in unison.
It was clear that they were both very excited.
"Your results are identical, so assigning the lounges is a bit of a problem," Ma Jun suddenly added.
"Instructor Ma, my number was already No. 1. Just give me No. 1 and save yourself the trouble," Yu Yang said first.
Ma Jun was about to say something, but Xu Fei objected and hurriedly said, "Instructor Ma, although Yu Yang was No. 1 to begin with, the lounge numbers this time determine our resting conditions. I want Lounge No. 1 too."
The lounges weren't all the same. Lounge No. 1 was the best in terms of size, facilities, and soundproofing. Everyone wanted those kinds of resting conditions.
It would have been one thing if his strength fell short, but as far as the mechanical puppet assessment went, he didn't think he'd lost to Yu Yang.
"If you want it, beat me next time, and I'll give it to you!"
"No, I want it now."
The two began arguing.
Seeing this, Ma Jun raised a hand and cut them off. "Are you finished?"
The two obediently shut their mouths at once.
"Looks like you're finished." Ma Jun nodded. "Now that you're done, let me say a few words. The No. 1 lounge you both want is already occupied. As for which of you gets what, I've decided: Lounge No. 2 goes to Yu Yang, and Lounge No. 3 goes to Xu Fei!"
At those words, both their expressions froze. It took them a long moment to react. "Lounge No. 1 is taken?"
"Instructor Ma, I'd like to know who exactly got Lounge No. 1."
They didn't care in the slightest about the assignment of Lounges No. 2 and No. 3.
People had always remembered only the champion. As for second and third place, nobody cared.
"No. 1 Middle School's Qin Chen," Ma Jun said calmly.
The two were stunned and could hardly believe it. Yu Yang was about to speak.
Ma Jun suddenly said sternly, "That's enough. Take your keys and go to your lounges. Now, immediately!"
The two had no choice but to take their keys and head for the rest area, though both had resentment in their eyes.
Only after they had walked some distance away did Yu Yang speak. "Qin Chen-isn't he the one who got in through connections?"
"Yes, but what kind of connections does he have? The training camp even assigned him Lounge No. 1 outright." Xu Fei was puzzled.
Lounge No. 1 not only had good resting conditions, it was also a symbol of strength.
The Genius Training Camp placed great importance on geniuses. For someone to get in through connections and even be assigned Lounge No. 1, his backing had to be frighteningly powerful.
"No matter what connections he has, he'll have to rely on his own abilities during his days in the training camp. When the time comes for tests held under everyone's watchful eyes, let's see how he takes first place," Yu Yang said indignantly.
For the current assessments, no one could see how the others performed, but there would be plenty of opportunities later. If he embarrassed himself and still took first place then, there would be no explaining it away.
Ma Jun watched the two walk away and smiled. This was exactly the effect he wanted.
The next day.
"I heard another thirty-eight people were eliminated last night. Now there are only thirty-four left in the training camp. From here on, one person will be eliminated every day. That's terrifying."
Early that morning, chatter filled the training camp cafeteria.
"That's nothing. Of the thirty-four who stayed, I heard more than half were injured. I'm one of them, and my whole body still aches. Those mechanical puppets are really strong. Good thing I was smart and only activated the Early Body Tempering ones. I actually passed the assessment, haha."
"You think you're the only smart one? I'd say almost everyone here activated mechanical puppets according to their own strength. Who went straight in and knocked out all ten?"
"Nonsense. In our assessment area, all the mechanical puppets in one room were smashed to pieces!" a voice suddenly said.
Everyone turned to look at him. Some recognized him as someone from the area containing Rooms 31 to 40, and their gazes immediately changed, as though they were looking at a fool.
They all knew that neither Yu Yang nor Xu Fei had completely defeated the mechanical puppets. How could someone ranked below thirtieth have done it?
"Forget it if you don't believe me." The man still wanted to argue, but ultimately gave up.
He and Qin Chen were the only ones from his area who had passed the assessment. Everyone else had been eliminated, so he couldn't even find someone to back him up.
"I believe you!" A boy suddenly walked over to him and spoke firmly.
"And you are?"
"My name is Zhou Lei," the boy explained.
"Hello, I'm Huang Jian. Why do you believe me?" Huang Jian was very surprised.
If he hadn't seen someone smash every mechanical puppet with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it himself.
"Are you talking about No. 37, Qin Chen from No. 1 Middle School?" Zhou Lei asked quietly.
Huang Jian nodded in surprise.
"Then that's right. I saw what he could do when we were climbing the mountain before. For him, climbing the mountain was no different from walking on flat ground."
Thinking of Qin Chen climbing the mountain, Zhou Lei couldn't help feeling shaken all over again.
"He's here." Zhou Lei suddenly spotted Qin Chen walking into the cafeteria.
After watching Qin Chen get his food and sit down, he stood up and said to Huang Jian, "Want to go over?"
Huang Jian's expression changed. "No."
He looked at Qin Chen with some fear in his eyes.
During the assessment, he had caught a hurried glimpse of Qin Chen sending a mechanical puppet flying. Although surprised at the time, he hadn't thought much of it. After all, it was only an Early Body Tempering mechanical puppet.
But later, after passing his assessment and walking out of his room, he had gone to take a look at Qin Chen's room and found that all the puppets had been smashed to pieces. He had become a little afraid of Qin Chen. He was too brutal.