Chapter 279: Acting Aborted
“c.r.a.p, isn’t this a little too much?!”
When everyone walked into the airport lobby, they couldn’t help but gape in shock.
The shining, five-meter-tall statue standing in the middle of the gorgeous lobby had thoroughly caught their attention.
Judging based on the statue’s shape, it was evident the person this statue depicted was a man. Meanwhile, this man wore a long robe and maintained a cool waving posture.
The stone plaque under the statue also had two lines of text engraved on it.
I guide humanity’s direction.
—King.
“How cool!” The bespectacled girl screamed and covered her mouth in excitement.
“How is that cool? Don’t you find it to be very…” The young man standing beside the bespectacled girl held himself back from finishing his sentence.
“Very what?”
“Forget it. It’s nothing.”
After looking at the statue momentarily with a complicated look, the young man pulled his companion away from the statue and followed after the rest of their group out of the lobby.
However, upon arriving at the plaza outside the airport, they came upon another statue.
Compared to the statue inside the lobby, the one outside was even bigger! Moreover, its metal body was polished to a point where it was shining brightly. Meanwhile, this statue portrayed Transdimensional’s UP making his iconic gesture of intertwining his fingers before his chest.
“Wow! This one is even cooler!”
“…”
The young man couldn’t help but step forward and circle over to the statue’s front. He then observed the text written on the stone plaque.
The Milky Way’s greatness lies in the fact that every one of its stars is shining. The same is true for humans.
—King.
“How gaudy…” Looking up, the young man extended his hand upward, only to discover that he could only reach up to the statue’s base. “Isn’t this comparable to the Statue of Liberty?”
“Hey! Älä koske siihen asiaan! Pysy poissa! (Don’t touch it! Stay away!)” a nearby staff member immediately reprimanded the young man when he noticed the youth’s actions. “Go!”
“Olen pahoillani! (Finnish: I’m sorry!)” Startled, the young man hurriedly backed away from the statue and hid back to his group.
“Fellow students, please don’t arbitrarily leave the group,” the leader of the team said sternly.
If it were any other person, he would’ve long since cussed at them. However, there was a possibility that some of these students might make it into the Transdimensional Academy. Due to this reason, he made sure to maintain a gentle att.i.tude toward them to avoid offending any future bigshots.
“Don’t go walking around as you like,” the bespectacled girl said, frowning. “This isn’t our middle school anymore.”
“I only wanted to look at what was written on the statue,” the young man said, shrugging. “After looking at the two statues, I’m certain the idea for them didn’t come from Transdimensional’s UP.”
“How do you know?”
“Simple.” His lips curling up, the young man said, “The craftsmanship for the two statues is different. Let’s use the sh.e.l.l-making process, for example. The outdoor statue uses a resin mold, and its craftsmanship isn’t very high. After the copper is poured into the mold, some problems also occurred during the cleaning and polishing process, which further leads to angular deviation in the splicing process.”
Under the bespectacled girl’s astonished gaze, the young man calmly continued with his a.n.a.lysis, “On the other hand, the indoor statue is made using precision casting. The anti-corrosion coating of the main isopropanol material can form a highly stable super-hydrophobic coating on the basic surface of the bronze. Meanwhile, this coating has anti-corrosion, hydrophobic, anti-ultraviolet, and anti-aging effects.
“For two very different statues to appear in the same airport already proves a problem. It is possible that this ma.s.sive statue outside is a gift made by a small country to curry favor with Transdimensional’s UP.”
“A-Amazing! Have you studied sculptures in detail before?”
“No.” The young man shook his head. “I once watched a doc.u.mentary where the host stated that the Statue of Liberty wouldn’t decay even after mankind went extinct. I felt that the other party’s data was incorrect, so I spent half a day finding the relevant information and making my own calculations. In the end, I proved that the host was wrong.”
“How old were you at that time?”
“Twelve.”
The bespectacled girl: “…”
After walking for another dozen minutes or so, the group arrived before a helicopter parking area. They then boarded the helicopters prepared there under the on-site staff members’ guidance.
“It’s my first time riding a helicopter. I’m so nervous.”
“This is the last leg of the trip,” the young man said as he looked up at the mysterious island through the window. After taking a deep breath, he looked at the bespectacled girl and gave her a thumbs up. “Let’s hope none of us come back down.”
“Mhm.” The bespectacled girl returned the thumbs up. “Good luck!”
…
Super Floating Castle, Headmaster’s Tower:
Chen Yu put on a mage robe over his protective suit. He then sat on a wooden chair by the window and observed the temporary plaza set up on the field area. Currently, groups of youths were being ferried onto the floating castle by helicopter, and the youths that had arrived were waiting patiently in the plaza.
Meanwhile, standing at the periphery of the plaza was the various governments’ jointly formed security team. The security team was responsible for maintaining order among the students.
Picking up the wine gla.s.s nearby, Chen Yu leisurely took a sip of red wind.
He was a little excited today. He was so excited that he had drunk at least half a bottle of red wine already.
As to why he was so excited, it was because he was going to become the headmaster and chief examiner of the fate of countless people today.
“Boring. This is too boring.”
Smacking his lips, Chen Yu placed down the wine gla.s.s and turned his head sideways. “Hermione.”
“I’m here.” Hermione’s slim figure instantly appeared behind Chen Yu. She then bowed slightly and asked, “Lord Headmaster, what are your orders?”
“Is that the last batch of students?”
“Yes. There are no more scheduled flights.”
“How many people came to take the exam?”
“Excluding the 12 students you have disqualified in advance and the 14 students who have clearly stated their refusal to take part in the exam the day before, the remaining 1,764 invited students are all present.”
“Good.”
Nodding, Chen Yu stood up and picked up his mask. After covering up his flushed face, he opened the window and snapped his fingers.
Snap!
The next moment, gray particles appeared around him and carried him out the window.
“Lord Headmaster, will you be giving your speech now?” Hermione asked as she took to the air as well. “If that’s the case, I’ll have the professors transport the test papers over now.”
“Mhm. No need to be in such a hurry. As the headmaster, I need to speak longer.”
“Very well.”
Bang.
After shutting the window, Chen Yu burped in delight before clearing his throat and flying to the plaza.
Meanwhile, when the students in the plaza saw Chen Yu flying toward them, they promptly cried out in surprise and joy.
“He’s coming!”
“Awesome!”
“It’s Transdimensional’s host!”
“c.r.a.p! He’s too cool! He can fly!”
Amidst the waves of exclamation, Chen Yu arrived above the crowd and hovered there. He then began scanning the crowd from left to right while exuding an imposing aura.
Suddenly, silence enveloped the entire plaza.
In this situation, the security staff standing at the periphery subconsciously placed their hands on their firearms, their nerves tensed.
The many government representatives standing in the corner of the plaza also put on straight faces as they waited for the “Lord Headmaster”‘s important instructions.
With his hands resting on his back, Chen Yu remained silent.
He had many things he wanted to say and many acts he wanted to put on.
This was the highlight of his life as an academic flunkie.
However, maybe because he had grown nervous from facing against over a thousand top students who sat at the top of the “food chain,” or perhaps because he had drunk a little too much, but he…
He…had forgotten his lines.
His mind was a complete blank at this moment.
“…”
“…”
Seeing that Chen Yu did not speak, the crowd below naturally did not dare utter a word.
As a result, the venue was strangely quiet.
Some of the more timid schoolgirls had even held their breaths.
“…”
“…”
“Greetings, students…”
After a while, Chen Yu felt that it wouldn’t be right for him to continue remaining silent. Hence, he finally managed to utter the first two words of the script he prepared.
“…”
Afterward, silence resumed for another half a minute before Chen Yu finally managed to squeeze out the last four words of his script. “Let the exam begin.”
The students: “???”