Before long, time was up for the first exam.
After collecting the papers, the examiners immediately moved on to the second round.
"Next is the identification assessment, right here in this room," the chief examiner told everyone.
"As usual, we'll bring out five groups of mutant beasts, twenty-five in total, from five different species. You must describe the developmental characteristics of each one, then select the one with the best talent and the greatest suitability for a contract with a human, and explain why."
"Now, we'll hand out new answer sheets..."
When he finished, the male examiner on the right got up and went through a small door at the back, while the other examiner began handing out the sheets.
After Luo Yu received his sheet, the male examiner returned to the examination room, pushing a habitat tank on wheels.
Inside were five palm-sized blue crabs, nearly identical in size, color, and appearance. At a glance, it was hard to tell them apart.
They had, however, been labeled with numbers one through five.
"This is the first group of mutant beasts. You have ten minutes to observe them. You may take brief notes on your scratch paper during that time," the female examiner said.
As soon as she finished, everyone hurried forward. Luo Yu reached the front and swept his gaze over them.
They were Blue Water Crabs, water-type mutant beasts of a Low-Rank Ordinary Species.
Their ability was the very ordinary low-level ability Water Spray, on the same tier as Ink Spray.
Come on, cheat! Luo Yu called inwardly. The talent information for the five Blue Water Crabs appeared before his eyes one by one.
Four ordinary talents and one high-level talent.
Whoa... there was actually one with a high-level talent?
They were "Nimble," "Swimming Ace," "Strongman," "Battle Maniac," and... the high-level talent, "Abundant Vitality"?
When everyone crowded around, all five Blue Water Crabs were startled and instinctively began moving.
Luo Yu squatted down in his assigned area, bringing his eyes level with the Blue Water Crabs, and observed the little creatures...
In just five minutes, Luo Yu had worked backward from the "result" to establish the reasoning.
Most of the others, meanwhile, were still observing with furrowed brows...
Next...
The second group of mutant beasts... the third group... the fourth group...
Only Blue Water Crab No. 5 from the first group had a high-level talent. Which one Luo Yu would ultimately choose went without saying.
After observing all five groups, the two dozen or so examinees returned to their seats and carefully wrote down the developmental characteristics they had observed for each mutant beast.
With nothing else to do, the three examiners walked from one examinee to another, watching them answer...
Luo Yu's writing went very smoothly.
"Blue Water Crab No. 1: Overall, its body is light and its center of gravity exceptionally stable. Looking at individual features, its limbs contract rapidly, and its body shell is relatively thin. Thus, it can be concluded that its movements are more agile and nimble, and that it has some talent for movement speed."
Hmm... but movement speed wasn't much use to a crab.
"No. 2: Overall, the contours of its body are smooth and streamlined. In particular, its fourth pair of walking legs is very broad and flat, and its swimming legs are shaped like boat paddles. It can be concluded that it moves exceptionally well underwater and has some talent for underwater combat."
"No. 3: Its first pair of claws is especially thick and sturdy..."
Luo Yu answered diligently. When he reached the third crab, the chief examiner, who had come over to watch him work, nodded silently.
As expected of Scholar Luo Shui's son, his answers were both fast and accurate. But why was his handwriting so ugly?
"No. 4: Its nervous system is highly excitable. When there is movement nearby, it exhibits a strong stress response, and the secretion of stress hormones in its body is exceptionally vigorous. In addition, the spines on its claws are extremely sharp. It can be concluded that it has an exceptionally strong fighting instinct and is highly skilled in combat."
Then Luo Yu moved on to the developmental characteristics of Blue Water Crab No. 5.
He marked this one heavily.
"Blue Water Crab No. 5 has... the best talent of the twenty-five mutant beasts!"
Hmm?
The chief examiner, who was watching Luo Yu answer, silently frowned.
Oh, crap. He'd got it wrong...
The developmental report in his hand stated clearly that the fifth crab was as ordinary a Blue Water Crab as could be.
The one with the best talent was clearly "Rain Arrow Frog No. 4" from the fourth group.
He felt sorry for Luo Yu. The boy had missed the most important question...
Of the questions concerning the twenty-five mutant beasts, it wouldn't even matter if he got one or two developmental characteristics wrong; his score wouldn't necessarily be low. But the question asking him to select the one with the best talent from the twenty-five... was worth a great many points.
Having chosen the wrong one, he could basically be said to have no chance of passing this assessment.
Although he was Scholar Luo Shui's child, he was too young and had still failed to see it in the end. After all, Blue Water Crabs were so weak that biologists couldn't be bothered to study them.
Even so, the chief examiner continued reading.
Luo Yu gathered his thoughts.
"This one has relatively thin joints, and the proportions of its limb segments are somewhat unusual. I judge these to be regenerated limbs that grew back after being severed. Crab-type mutant beasts have the ability to heal and regenerate severed limbs, but regeneration holds back their overall growth. Judging by their growth rings, these five Blue Water Crabs are all around three months old. Despite losing limbs, this one's overall size has not fallen behind as a result..."
He gave his conclusion: "This shows that this Blue Water Crab has exceptionally tenacious vitality."
"A mutant beast's life level depends to a great extent on its life potential..."
"Only with sufficient growth potential can it possibly grow to its species' maximum level. For an ordinary Beast Tamer, this one is undoubtedly the most suitable pet beast to contract."
For a contracted pet beast, life potential was the most important thing!
After saying that, he continued writing the developmental characteristics of the mutant beasts in the other groups.
"This..." The chief examiner's gaze sharpened.
He looked down at the report on the five Blue Water Crabs in his hands.
Before long, the allotted time officially ended.
"Within three days, the Beast Management Bureau will mail the assessment results to your homes," the examiner said in his closing remarks.
After handing in their papers, the examinees filed out.
Once everyone had gone, the chief examiner who had watched Luo Yu answer immediately got up and went to the Blue Water Crab habitat tank. He bent down and carefully examined the Blue Water Crab with the talent "Abundant Vitality."
His gaze fell on its joints, and he studied them repeatedly for a long time.
"What's up, Senior Xu? Got a craving for steamed crab?" The other two examiners came over as well.
"Take a look at that Luo Yu's answer sheet..."
"Blue Water Crab No. 5... the developmental report in the materials identifies it as an ordinary Blue Water Crab. The breeder who caught it didn't notice anything unusual about its joints, either."
"But I just took a careful look, and these proportions... do seem a little off." He straightened up and clicked his tongue. "It seems it really did lose limbs before."
The other two examiners were taken aback and somewhat puzzled. After finding Luo Yu's paper and reading it, the three of them gathered around the habitat tank and examined the crab for quite a while.
"It is a little strange. But the difference is so slight that you wouldn't notice without looking carefully. It must have recovered extremely well. This really does indicate strong vitality."
The three exchanged looks.
"Did anyone else choose Blue Water Crab No. 5?"
"No, only this Luo Yu chose Blue Water Crab No. 5. Most chose 'Rain Arrow Frog No. 4.'"
Chief Examiner Xu said, "I checked his descriptions of the other twenty-four mutant beasts' developmental characteristics. They were all correct, too."
"Maybe Luo Yu's answer is the standard answer after all. Who wrote the answer key for the second round this time?"
"I think it was a newly hired intern... Heh-heh, it's not an important exam or anything, but is her bonus going to get docked?"
Examiner Xu shook his head helplessly. "In other words... our breeder might have failed to spot anything unusual about that Blue Water Crab, but that boy observed the condition of all five Blue Water Crabs with perfect clarity in five minutes?"
So the boy hadn't come to take the breeder qualification assessment just to give it a casual try. He actually... had some skill?
If Luo Yu was right, then his answer sheet could be called the best of the twenty-six examinees'... Not only was it nearly error-free, but he had also found a mistake made by the person who set the questions!
"Is this kid using a cheat or something? Is he really fifteen? He's got a good eye," one examiner said.
The mutant beast species had been chosen at random. There were over a hundred common mutant beasts on Mirror Moon Island, so even if Luo Yu happened to know something about Blue Water Crabs, it was still remarkable.
What was more, what he had demonstrated was by no means as simple as merely "knowing something" about them.
His powers of observation, down to the finest detail... were outstanding.
"The power of academic genius genes?"
"Like father, like son."
"I originally thought it was a bit of a shame that he'd contracted an Earth Penguin, but now, even setting his contracted pet beast aside, with an eye like that, he'll definitely become a biologist no less accomplished than his parents..."
"Now I'm a little unsure what to make of his Earth Penguin. Could there be something special about it?!"
"In any case, let's report this to the bureau chief."
After leaving the examination room, Luo Yu went back over the assessment in his head, feeling a little guilty about having cheated.
Other people taking the exam worried that their answers would be wrong. He worried that his answers would be right but his reasoning would be wrong. That would be awkward.
"Mm, there shouldn't be any problem."
He figured that if nothing unexpected happened, nothing unexpected should happen.
"Luo Yu, how did you do?" Chen Bo immediately ran over to ask.
He was genuinely concerned.
Mocking Luo Yu when he was at his most vulnerable had undoubtedly been a heinous offense, and he was now in urgent need of atonement.
"All right, I guess?" Luo Yu said.
"You looked pretty nervous. That's how it is the first time. I made mistakes from nerves my first few times too. It's fine, just take it a few more times and you'll get used to it," Chen Bo reassured him.
"By the way, you chose the right one, didn't you? Rain Arrow Frog No. 4."
"Wasn't it Blue Water Crab No. 5?" Luo Yu asked.
"What Blue Water Crab?" Chen Bo slapped his forehead and said anxiously, "It had to be Rain Arrow Frog No. 4! Look at the distribution of its poison sacs-how beautiful! Forget it, forget it. It's fine, just try harder next time."
Chen Bo was already certain that Luo Yu couldn't possibly get a high score. Having missed that question, he didn't have much hope.
That same day.
The Beast Management Bureau, the bureau chief's office.
Bureau Chief Yu Lei studied the results of the assessment and sank into thought.
"This Luo Yu has a sharp eye. He actually found an outstanding specimen that even the person who set the questions missed."
"His answers to the other questions were watertight, too..."
"The blue has surpassed the indigo it came from. He's even more talented than his father..."
A woman in business attire stood beside him. "Chief, this Luo Yu dared to make a guarantee like that. Sure enough, he has some ability. So, about the right to use the Luo Shui Research Institute?"
"Give it to him," the chief said. "It's only a research institute. If we take it back, it'll just sit idle anyway. Let me see how far he can go."
"We can't be stingy with geniuses. We need to give them more opportunities."
"And..." Looking at the short essay Luo Yu had written on his first-round exam paper, the chief also sighed.
"He's a pitiful child, too. We should show him a little more human kindness."
"Only then can individuals and the island alike grow better." He looked at a plaque on the wall behind him.
Written prominently on it were the words: [Make Mirror Moon Island great again].
"Xiao Wan, when there's no one else around, you can just call me Uncle," he said suddenly.
"Then, Uncle, should we allocate a little more research funding to the Luo Shui Research Institute?" The woman in business attire was none other than Yu Wan.
"No, we can't do that."
She was being far too thoughtless. Didn't she know the bureau had no money either?
"Forget it. You'd better use my title at work."