Chapter 11.3
At the beginning of September, Chelman’s entrance examination began, because an Omega appeared in this session of candidates, the recruitment results were drawing all of society’s attention.
As everyone knew, Chelman’s entrance exam was a total of three tests, and the requirements were extremely strict, only the elite among thousands could be in the final selection of candidates.
The first test was the spiritual power and physical test, you only needed to reach B + in the two to pa.s.s.
The second test was a written test, which included military command, defense co-ordination, weaponry, Zerg 101, astronomy, s.p.a.ceship science, mech piloting, mechanics, chemistry, physics, geography and so on, a total of twenty subjects, and each subject needed 85 points or more (out of 100) to pa.s.s.
The third test was outdoor survival. The school would randomly drop candidates on a Zerg infested remote minor planet, asking them to survive for 15 days using only basic weapons and equipment.
The first two exams seemed to have a very high threshold, but there was no danger, the last test however, was a matter of life and death. In those 15 days, the candidates must kill as many Zerg as possible and find the final rendezvous point. The school would give a helper b.u.t.ton to each candidate, so whenever they met lethal danger they could press it and a teacher would immediately come to the rescue. Of course, this action was considered an automatic forfeit.
Rescue meant forfeit, and a rescue request could be delayed by unpredictable situations, so there were candidate fatalities almost every year, even the all-powerful Alpha were no exception.
As a result, although Chelman didn"t prohibit Omega enrollment, since its establishment to the present, nearly 700 years, an Omega candidate had never appeared, Cecil was the first.
All sectors of society were concerned about Cecil’s examination. The vast majority of people believed that he would be brought down in the first test, an Omega was very unlikely to have a B+ physique.
But unfortunately, everyone guessed wrong this time, Cecil smoothly pa.s.sed the test, he even suppressed his spiritual power to S level, and physical level to B+. There was an outdoor survival examination later, if he caused everyone to go into high alert now, there would be too many people to count aiming for his life before the exam. He was not afraid of a challenge, but a little less trouble was naturally best.
Osborne waited outside the test room, caught sight of the boy walking out, brushing up his hair, a slight smile lighting up the corner of his mouth, and found it difficult to look away. In only a few days, the boy seemed to have become even more dazzling, like a small sun.
Osborne stiffly walked over and asked, “Did you pa.s.s?”
“Yes, after taking out my gland, my physique has greatly improved, I just met the standard.” Zhou Yun Sheng glanced at him.
That indifferent and unconcerned gaze made Osborne"s chest feel stuffy. He nodded, his tone very serious, "The third test is not a joke, you have to think this through.”
“I know, I did sign the life and death form after all.” Zhou Yun Sheng waved his hand, unconcerned.
Osborne frowned, his expression became more and more chilled. He opened his mouth, then suddenly realized that he was simply not qualified to interfere with any of the boy"s decisions. Although he only knew him for a few days, he felt an inexplicable intuition, the boy was very stubborn, once he wanted to do something, even the destruction of the world wouldn"t stop him from achieving his goal.
His character was as sharp as his appearance.
Because of this intuition, Osborne had to give up his desire to persuade the teenager. He stood in place and watched him walk away, his heart felt empty.
The news that Cecil pa.s.sed the first test caused a great uproar on the Star Network. Many people expressed their disbelief, demanding that the school make the data public. But this was a matter of personal privacy, along with pressure from Old Bernard, the school wouldn"t dare release it. They made a statement on the official website, asking everyone to quietly wait for Cecil’s third test.
If a person whose physical quality failed to meet the standard forced opened the door to partic.i.p.ate in the third test, then he was basically begging for death. It"s well known, in order to select only the best students, and also highlight the fairness and transparency of the entrance examination, the school broadcasted the students" minor planet battle video live without edit, there was no possibility of cheating.
This was also to stimulate the school"s enrollment rate. Each year, numerous hot-blooded teenagers were fascinated by these fighting videos and apply for the army, the fight against the Zerg required many talented people on the frontline.
Remembering that the third test was completely open to the public, the clamoring people quieted down, sincerely hoping that Cecil would pa.s.s the second written test. Most of the people with this idea had ulterior motives. For them, Omega should stay at home and bear children, it was simply unforgivable behavior to remove their gland. They were looking forward to seeing scenes of Cecil being frightened by the Zergs and expressing regret about his wayward actions.
If ability determined the amount of social responsibility you bear, then an Omega"s social responsibility was to only bear children. Cecil would learn a lesson sooner or later.
These arrogant remarks were from the vast majority of Alpha and Beta, and even a small percentage of Omega, causing Zhou Yun Sheng to sneer repeatedly at the comments. He had intended to pa.s.s the second test on the border, but his sour mood made him enter all the correct answers, and he left the examination room early.
Because a machine was in charge of marking the tests, as long as the answers were submitted, it took half an hour to get the results. He sat in the hall and waited with a cold drink.
“Cecil, how did you do?” Osborne couldn"t restrain himself, he had been waiting outside knowing that the teenager was in the cla.s.sroom. Chelman was a world for Alpha and Beta, there was a lot of unpredictable danger a lone Omega could encounter there.
He really didn"t understand why the boy was so stubborn, but his courage to break stereotypes made him sincerely appreciate him. He wanted him to pa.s.s the exam, but he was afraid of him pa.s.sing the exam and meeting more dangers.
He"d had a dream last night, a dream of the teenager lying in a pool of blood, a huge pale tussock moth lying on him, stretching out its sharp mouth to suck out his insides. Terrified, he desperately ran over to rescue the boy, then woke up after a dreadful feeling of free falling only to find his whole body soaked in sweat.
He had never been so worried about another person, even Joshua couldn"t strongly affect his emotions this way. He was now very distressed because he couldn"t figure out what he wanted to do with Cecil. Maybe when he pa.s.sed the entrance exam he could completely push him out of his mind.
Currently, Cecil was his duty, he must protect him from harm. With that thought, Osborne"s tangled mood calmed down a little.
A burly Alpha and a few good-looking Beta were standing close by, glowering at Cecil as if looking at something distasteful. They were from the Aldrich family.
The Aldrich family were once subordinates of the Bernard family, but after Old Bernard was injured, their family head replaced him as Marshal. Originally, the Bernard family and Aldrich family"s relationship was very close, but twenty years ago, Old Bernard suddenly announced that they were completely cutting ties with the Aldrich family. There were rumors that Old Bernard"s accident was actually the result of a scheme set up by the Aldrich family.
Therefore, the family that least wanted to see the Bernard family rise back to prosperity was the Aldrich family. Although Cecil was an Omega, this didn"t prevent the Aldrich family from looking at him as a thorn in the flesh.
Osborne looked at them coldly, then glanced back to see that the boy was still casually drinking his cold drink, his bright red lips wet from the milk. He looked very cute, Osborne"s eyes couldn"t help but slightly darken.
He restrained his gaze and whispered, “If you get into the third exam, I think you need to focus on the people from the Aldrich family. See that redhead Alpha? He"s called Barnett, the most outstanding child in Aldrich family"s current generation. His physique is SS, and he"s very good at manipulating mech, you should try to avoid him."
“He"s the most outstanding descendant of the Aldrich family? Then if he died, the Aldrich family would suffer a great loss?” Zhou Yun Sheng looked at the group standing not far away, his eyes shining.
Osborne would"ve never thought that that would be his response, he frowned slightly.
“Listen, stay far away from him in the exam. A SS physique Alpha is an extremely powerful presence, you"re not his opponent.” He resisted the urge to rub the boy"s s.h.a.ggy hair and added, "Concentrate on the exam, try to survive, don"t think of anything extra."
Cecil had had no grudge against Osborne. He understood that the situation he later fell into was completely because of his insistence on going about things the wrong way. He even slightly felt that if he hadn"t forced Osborne to marry him, the man wouldn"t have ran away and died outside. So Zhou Yun Sheng was able to treat his ex-fiancé with a calm att.i.tude.
He blinked his moist peach blossom eyes at Osborne and smilingly asked, “They all say you"re the strongest in Empire Star, what"s your body data? How are you compared to Barnett?”
Osborne had never revealed his physical data to anyone, including Joshua, who had asked him several times, but for some unexplainable reason, he felt compelled to answer the teenager honestly. "Both my spiritual and physical are 3S, but I have not reached my upper limit yet."
Zhou Yun Sheng nodded in acknowledgement. He had long guessed that this would be the result, or else Osborne wouldn"t have been able to hold the Zerg Queen’s counterattack solo, allowing Joshua and Kyle to safely lead the troops away. He was worthy of the ‘Strongest in Empire Star" t.i.tle.
Osborne quietly watched the boy and saw an insipid expression, his black eyes hadn"t produced any emotion resembling worship, and couldn"t help but feel some disappointment.
“Ah, the results came out.” Just then, the boy pointed toward the huge display screen.
Red font printed out the candidates that were eliminated, green font showed the candidates who pa.s.sed, obviously, the results were arranged in accordance to ticket number.
“What number are you?” Osborne glanced at the teenager’s personal terminal.
“Number 0164.” Zhou Yun Sheng waited for the display to scroll down and found his results on the second page, as expected, he got full marks, which were also the best results since Chelman opened enrollment.
Everyone also noticed this grand score, but because it was only the ticket number, no names were shown, they couldn"t guess who this genius was. Osborne"s expression was somewhat sluggish, and he hurried to catch up when the teenager walked away, he sincerely said, “You"re very good."
“That’s par for the course.” Zhou Yun Sheng threw the empty cup in a garbage processor and asked, "How was it compared to Joshua?” Speaking of Joshua, he always felt a bit of a subtle mood when he thought of him, as if he was looking at a clone.
“You don’t have to compare with him.” Osborne"s expression was uncomfortable.
“Right, I have a new life, I am me, there"s no need to compare with anyone.” Even if he uses my name and appearance. Zhou Yun Sheng gave a bright smile, his sunlight filled bright eyes made Osborne feel dizzy. He looked away, more embarra.s.sed.
“Bye.” Zhou Yun Sheng waved and calmly left.
Around the corner, Old Bernard was chatting with Chelman’s headmaster, he learned of his grandson’s exam results and high-spirited laughter travelled throughout the hall. Seeing his grandson walking up to him, he slapped his shoulder a few times, praising "Atta boy’. Unconsciously, he"d stopped looking at his grandson as an Omega.
Osborne stood still for a long time, until the two bid farewell to the headmaster and boarded their airship.
———————-
A week later, the third exam finally began. The Star Network administrator selected the minor planet"s number and published its data on all the candidates’ personal terminals.
CT073, the minor planet with one of the worst living environments. The planet was covered in dense forests and vast oceans, and the weather was hot and humid all year round, which was the most suitable atmosphere for Zerg reproduction. Human beings once intended to give up on the planet, but they"d found an extremely rich source of energy ore underground, and the major mining companies had flocked in.
In order to ensure national interests and the safety of the miners, the army carried out a large-scale campaign of Zerg eliminating activities almost every year. The candidates had to follow the army, but they would be a.s.signed to the least dangerous areas, and if they met a threat to their life, they could also press the helper buzzer.
Of course, whether they could be successfully saved relied heavily on luck. This was a serious battle, death was inevitable.
The candidates boarded a s.p.a.cecraft to travel to CT073, there they found the strongest in Empire Star, General Osborne, among the rescue team"s ranks and their nervous moods were greatly alleviated.
“Equip your weapons and wait for deployment." An officer ordered.
The candidates immediately opened the silver storage box they were handed and found two particle guns and two energy swords inside, there were no other weapons. Some people seemed to feel very excited, some people seemed very nervous, and some people had pale faces and breathing difficulties. But the sole Omega among the candidates didn"t reveal the slightest change in expression, he just earnestly checked the equipment.
The other candidates had been informed of Cecil’s written test results and were waiting to see how he braved the battle field.
Barnett holstered his weapons to his waist and looked at the young man, “Cecil, whatever the outcome, since we"re childhood friends, I don"t mind marrying you. Although you removed your glands and became a gender-less monster, your face is still decent. I can let you join my group, as long as you service me every night of course."
Before Zhou Yun Sheng could reply, a Beta sitting next to Barnett said, “Barnett, don"t be so mean. Omega can"t open their channel without a gland, they simply can"t handle your huge thing. You want Cecil to die under you?"
The Aldrich family"s subordinates among the candidates let out malicious laughter.
Zhou Yun Sheng ignored them from beginning to end. He felt that it was a waste of time to talk back to a group of dead people.
Osborne’s gut was like a burning fire. As long as he thought of the malicious plans they had for Cecil, he couldn"t wait to tear them apart. He desperately suppressed his outbreak of spiritual power and coldly opened, “Chelman only recruits students of high moral character, say one more word and you can get lost!”
Even the arrogant Aldrich family knew not to challenge the Matthew family, they recalled that Cecil had removed his glands because of Osborne, so according to Osborne’s honest character, he would naturally take care of him because of guilt. They pressed down their maliciousness and patiently waited for the real battle to teach Cecil a lesson. He was just an Omega after all, easy to deal with.
Because the examination was very difficult and life-threatening, all the candidates formed coalitions beforehand. But obviously, as the former Omega, no one volunteered to invite Zhou Yun Sheng to their team, because he was likely to drag everyone’s hind legs. The exam couldn"t be treated half-heartedly, one grave mistake could cost a life.
Zhou Yun Sheng was also not eager to join any team, he carefully fiddled with his two particle guns.
As the saying goes, the emperor is not worried, but the eunuchs are worried to death, Osborne repeatedly glanced at the boy but found that he was not reacting, so he had to look to the yellow-haired teenager sitting in the corner.
The boy"s lip twitched and he reluctantly stood up, he walked over to Zhou Yun Sheng and stretched out a hand, “Hi, I"m Darren Matthew, would you like to partner with us? Look, that"s our crew over there. Including me, there are three Alpha, two Beta, plus you, uh, an Omega. Our average strength is not low, would you like to join?"
Three Alpha were indeed enough to protect one delicate Omega, the other squads had six or seven members, but the Alpha members were simply one or none. The species standing at the top of society should naturally be extremely rare, after all.
“You"re from the Matthew family? Do you owe Osborne some money?” Zhou Yun Sheng faintly smiled and opened.
Osborne looked down at the list of candidates and pretended to be very busy.
The boy pouted and coldly grunted without answering. Was the answer not obvious? Their team was full of capable people yet they insisted on inviting in a potential leech.
Zhou Yun Sheng didn"t mind his att.i.tude and waved, “Osborne doesn"t owe me anything, so you don"t have to settle his debt. But I really do need a few teammates. Don"t worry, I can pull my own weight." He could easily complete the task solo, but the test would be broadcasted live on the Star Network, he wanted to hide his strength for a while longer.
The boy was very satisfied with his first sentence, he rolled his eyes and said, "It doesn"t matter if you drag us down, anyway, I"m strong enough to protect you."
“Then I thank you in advance.” Zhou Yun Sheng smiled.
The boy was caught by his bright watery eyes, and his cheeks slowly flushed. He directly sat down by Zhou Yun Sheng"s side and carefully explained the performance rate of the weapons to him, his att.i.tude becoming gentler.
Osborne had a gloomy expression, he couldn"t help but glare at his cousin. Although he was unwilling to answer Cecil"s questions on that day, his heart had long admitted that Cecil was very outstanding and charming, if Cecil deliberately seduced, many Alpha would trample over each other to dedicate themselves to him, and that hadn"t changed even after removing his glands.
He just had to release a little goodwill to his cousin, and his cousin willing stepped into the trap, this situation was far beyond his expectations, putting him in a particularly anxious mood. He almost couldn"t hold back his desire to walk over and block contact between the two.
He knew that this idea was abnormal, so he tried to recall Joshua’s beautiful holy face to calm himself down.
After a quarter of an hour, the s.p.a.cecraft arrived at the delivery point, and the team members linked their respective terminals together and stood on a small aircraft, carefully listening to the instructor’s speech. After getting confirmation of understanding from the candidates, Osborne opened the door to let them land.
“If you meet any danger, don"t try to be brave. Just press the helper buzzer and I will immediately come rescue you. Got it?” He pulled the last to jump out boy aside and reminded.
“Got it, thank you.” Zhou Yun Sheng smiled and jumped down into the vast forest bellow without hesitation.
Osborne stood in front of the hatch for a long time before commanding the s.p.a.cecraft to fly towards the Lennon Empire’s mining industry base. There they could monitor the situation of the candidates through satellite transmissions. These b.l.o.o.d.y battle videos would be simultaneously broadcasted on the Star Network, attracting an annual viewing tide.
There would be betting agents collecting bets on the champion. There was no doubt that this year’s biggest underdog was Cecil, and the favorites were the Aldrich family"s Barnett and Matthew’s Darren.
But just now, because of Darren and Cecil"s team up, his odds increased significantly. As for Cecil only bets, although it looked very deserted, the pool was large, a full two hundred million star coins.
Everyone scolded this high roller a fool, but they didn"t know that Old Bernard had opened up his personal terminal, cursing their lack of sense.
Zhou Yun Sheng landed and received a text message on 007 from a small financial expert, asking him whether or not to bet own himself. He opened Cecil’s personal account and bet all his savings on his head.
“Did you receive the coordinates for the rendezvous point?” Darren gathered his team members.
"Received.”
“"Kay, we"ll travel along the waterway, there are many Zerg, but the line of sight is very clear.”
There was no objections. Safe arrival to the collection site was not the only requirement to pa.s.s the examination, it also depended on the number of Zerg hunted. Candidates without a minimum of 200 kills would be unconditionally eliminated.
The group members looked at Cecil with sympathetic eyes. They only promised big brother Osborne that they would bring Cecil back safely, they couldn"t help him hunt the Zerg. There were satellites monitoring them overhead, there was no room for cheating, it seemed that the one who would come out in last place had already been selected.
“Stay behind me and don’t wander off. You"re only responsible for returning back alive, not for killing Zerg.” Darren took the smaller boy"s hand and rea.s.suringly squeezed it.
Zhou Yun Sheng rested his peach eyes on him but didn"t say anything.
After the group travelled a few hundred meters, the personal terminals lost their signal. Without terminal navigation, they simply couldn"t identify the right direction, nor could they receive an early warning signal about nearby Zerg, this was tantamount to adventuring blindfolded in the jungle.
“Spread out your spiritual power.” Darren gritted his teeth. An S-level spiritual force could only monitor a radius of twenty meters, the role was very limited, and it also resulted in loss of combat effectiveness. If the terminals had no signal, they would fall into a very dangerous situation of continued low combat effectiveness.
Everyone"s face suddenly changed.
“If you trust me, let me be responsible for spiritual power detection.” Zhou Yun Sheng took the initiative to offer. These people were kind to him, he was willing to repay them.
“You?” Darren had some hesitation.
“Although I"m not very good physically, my spiritual strength is very high.” Zhou Yun Sheng slowly pulled out a particle gun.
Darren agreed to the boy"s suggestion in order to not pour cold water on his enthusiasm, but he secretly deployed his own spiritual power, to add a layer of protection for his teammates. Everyone tacitly understood this.
T/N:
Pale tussock moth:
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