Chapter 71: The Knowledge Church

After breakfast at home, Lei Ke Dun went to the Executors Squad; today the squad was still quiet, and the squad only had four members, one of whom was Captain Yi Kang Dun.

"Good morning! Lei Ke Dun, I heard from Joseph that you've already been promoted to Keeper of Knowledge?" Qiao Xi, upon seeing Lei Ke Dun enter the office, immediately leaned over to ask.

"That's right—does the Knowledge Church's potion promotion still require an exam?" Lei Ke Dun voiced the doubt in his heart.

Yesterday, that angel‑incarnate crow said it owed the promotion exams from Sequence Nine to Sequence Seven, and Lei Ke Dun wanted to ask this question, but the other party gave him no chance to ask.

"Yeah, otherwise what do you think Joseph would be stuck on the Sequence Eight promotion for so long?" Qiao Xi nodded as a matter of course.

Lei Ke Dun felt a bit unaccustomed to the Knowledge Church's atmosphere; exams and the like were just too annoying!

"Are these promotion‑sequence exams difficult?" Lei Ke Dun asked, a little uneasy.

"They're okay; after all, you don't have to pass an exam to be promoted. You can also get the potion in advance and make up the exam later within a set time, as long as you pass, just like you and Joseph." Qiao Xi said thoughtfully.

"But you should already owe three promotion exams, right?" Qiao Xi asked curiously.

Lei Ke Dun's complexion instantly fell: "Probably, I think, that's how it is."

"Then you're in trouble; with so many owed exams, the Church will likely make you make them up within these two days, since if you don't, the year will be over." Qiao Xi sighed.

As soon as Qiao Xi finished his remark, Captain Yi Kang Dun came over and called Lei Ke Dun to his office.

"Captain! Good morning!" Lei Ke Dun forced a smile and greeted.

His intuition told Lei Ke Dun that being summoned to the office at this time likely had to do with the exam.

"The extraordinary materials you applied for yesterday have arrived; have you prepared the money?" Captain Yi Kang Dun said.

"Huh? That fast? Can I go back at noon to get the money?" Lei Ke Dun was stunned, not expecting the captain to call him about the extraordinary materials.

"Sure." Captain Yi Kang Dun nodded indifferently.

Then he pulled a stack of densely written papers from his desk drawer and handed them to Lei Ke Dun.

"These are this year's end‑of‑year exam questions; take them out and split them between Qiao Xi and Joseph, fill them out however you like, just finish writing." Captain Yi Kang Dun said very casually.

Lei Ke Dun was stunned, then reached out and took the stack of papers the captain handed, which were barely exam sheets.

"Just scribble? Can we look up answers in books?" Lei Ke Dun's eyes lit up as he asked.

Captain Yi Kang Dun hadn't expected Lei Ke Dun to ask that, hesitated for a while, then said: "Yes, no one will mind; as long as you can guarantee you'll remember the material, that's fine. The exam's purpose is to verify your grasp of knowledge."

Lei Ke Dun breathed a sigh of relief; he hadn't expected the Church's year‑end exam to be open‑book, making it much easier. As for remembering the material, that's no problem for a non‑ordinary being on the Reader path.

"Perhaps that's why the Church allows an open‑book exam," Lei Ke Dun thought to himself.

"Alright, Captain! When should I hand it to you?" Lei Ke Dun asked casually.

"Anytime today works; although it shouldn't be a problem for you, you still need to write carefully. If it's not passing, you'll have to retake it until you pass." Captain Yi Kang Dun warned.

"Don't worry, Captain!" Lei Ke Dun pounded his chest in assurance.

"You still owe three promotion exams; I'll have you make them up over the coming period. Read more lately, especially the list Ke Si gave you; failing will dock your salary and affect your future promotions." Captain Yi Kang Dun reminded Lei Ke Dun.

"Huh? Are promotion exams hard? Can't they be open‑book like this one?" Lei Ke Dun lifted his hand holding the exam paper and asked.

"No! Your proctor isn't me; it's someone else. You probably can't bluff your way through." Captain Yi Kang Dun shook his head.

Lei Ke Dun was very curious about who the proctor was that the captain mentioned, and how he couldn't bluff his way through. It couldn't be Bishop An Ge Man·Jin Lao from Ma Dan's side, could it!

"Alright, go out and prepare for the exam with Qiao Xi and the others; I also need to finish my own exam paper." Captain Yi Kang Dun urged.

"Huh? Captain, you still need to take an exam?" Lei Ke Dun asked, full of curiosity.

"Of course, everyone in the Knowledge Church needs one, even the Grand Archbishop under the Papal Crown; they all have corresponding exams." Captain Yi Kang Dun answered seriously.

"Ugh, I'm going to do the problems with Qiao Xi and the others." Lei Ke Dun replied dryly.

Lei Ke Dun was now absolutely certain that joining the Knowledge Church was a mistake; compared to the exam‑obsessed Knowledge Church, the Earth Church was practically heaven! He regretted not having encountered the Earth Church earlier.

"Unbearable! I want to cry! I really want to drag all those old refugees that Ke Lai En will later release into the Knowledge Church, so they can all revisit their high‑school happy times!"

The idea of dragging people down was far too distant now; Lei Ke Dun shook his head, shook off the incoherent thoughts, and left the captain's office.

Outside, after splitting the captain's exam questions into three parts and handing one each to Qiao Xi and Joseph, Lei Ke Dun returned to his seat, frowning as he stared at the book list that Mr. Ke Si had given him earlier.

Since the Reader's trait was accidentally consumed, Lei Ke Dun hasn't really read much; the stack of lists Ke Si gave him, Lei Ke Dun hasn't even finished a single page's books.

"A heavy burden and a long road! So many books— even if the Hidden Sage were to pour knowledge into me, it'd still be a huge task; impossible in a short time." Lei Ke Dun thought that, compared to figuring out how to pass the exam, thinking about how to cheat was more useful.

Lei Ke Dun reached out and tugged at Tu Ba Ge, who was sprawled like a salted fish on the desk: "You can skip those materials today."

"Really?" Tu Ba Ge perked up instantly, eyes shining as he looked at Lei Ke Dun and asked.

"Yes, first help me finish the exam today!" Lei Ke Dun nodded and waved the stack of exam papers in his hand.

Upon hearing that, Tu Ba Ge slumped back into a salted‑fish pose on the desk, his gray fur turning even grayer.

"Hurry up and move, or you'll have to be the only rabbit looking at that pile of materials in the room yourself!"

"But boss, this is your own exam! Letting me help you is cheating, right?" Tu Ba Ge defended.

"Everyone knows the word 'cheating'; it seems effective. No problem—the exam was open‑book to begin with. As a non‑ordinary being on the Reader path, once I've done these questions once, I naturally master the knowledge." Lei Ke Dun gave his cheating a rational justification.

Tu Ba Ge always felt his boss was pulling his leg, yet couldn't pinpoint the problem, so he shook his rabbit head and reluctantly began looking at the exam questions with Lei Ke Dun.

"Boss! Where should I go to find answers for you?" the puzzled Tu Ba Ge asked.

Lei Ke Dun lifted his head, shifted his gaze to Qiao Xi and Joseph sitting at his seat looking at the questions, then turned back and gave Tu Ba Ge an encouraging look.

Tu Ba Ge's wide eyes were full of confusion; he had thought the boss wanted him to fetch answers from books, but instead the boss made him sneak a peek at his colleagues' answers and then report them.

"Boss, you're so shameless!" Tu Ba Ge muttered inwardly, expressionless.

Lei Ke Dun was unaware that his plump rabbit was silently mocking him; of course, even if he knew, he wouldn't care, just retorting, "That's called wisdom!" and then secretly assigning the rabbit another task.

(End of Chapter)