Chapter 15

Just as Ying Duo was lying on a hotel bed resting, the atmosphere in a stiff, old‑fashioned office of the Mitra Theological Academy was unusually tense.

During the entrance assessment, chief examiner Wu Tianming stood with his back to the huge floor‑to‑ceiling window, his sharp gaze fixed on the man opposite him who was leisurely cleaning the scope of his sniper rifle.

"Su Jingchuan."

Wu Tianming's voice was not loud, but it carried undeniable pressure.

"I need an explanation for your... intervention in yesterday's assessment results."

The man he called Su Jingchuan was precisely Teacher Su, the one who used a sniper rifle to rescue Shen Zexi and Qi Hengyu from under an Aberrant Species.

He was now wearing the Academy's teacher uniform, a pair of gold‑rimmed glasses oddly adding a touch of refinement to his demeanor; faced with Wu Tianming's questioning, he simply gave a slight, indifferent smile.

"Intervention? Are you, Director Wu, referring to me preventing an accident that could have caused casualties among the examinees? That was my duty, after all."

"I'm not talking about that alone; I'm referring to Ying Duo. You should know very well that he shouldn't have passed the assessment and been admitted to the Academy."

Wu Tianming's purpose was crystal clear; after the incident, he immediately pulled up the score ranking list and found that the fifty‑first place was only two points lower than Ying Duo's score after the deduction, meaning, by previous standards, Ying Duo could have been admitted without issue.

Faced with his questioning, Su Jingchuan merely raised an eyebrow.

"His final score was 87, placing him exactly at the fiftieth spot; even after the 250‑point deduction mandated by the rules, his score still met the admission criteria, so admitting him posed no problem."

"Rules?"

Wu Tianming turned around, his finger tapping the cold tabletop.

He made no attempt to hide his prejudice against these exceptionally capable yet mentally unstable, capricious lunatics.

But rules are rules; he could only, within the bounds of the regulations, find a way to persuade the other party to forgo admission.

"The Explosives he used were not among the standard weapons supplied by the Academy; this is a serious violation, and the massive points earned by blowing up an Aberrant Species nest should not be counted at all."

"Without those illicit points, he wouldn't even qualify for a deduction; he should have been eliminated outright!"

"Regarding that," Teacher Su replied calmly, "Assessment Regulation Article 7, Clause 3 states: Candidates may utilize any resources available within the assessment arena."

"The Explosives Ying Duo used were fashioned from a low‑grade Aberrant Species Core he obtained after killing an Aberrant Species on site, combined with a few pieces of metal sheet, and finally merged with his own Aberrant Arts."

"That still falls under 'utilizing arena resources' and is not a violation; or is modifying a weapon with Aberrant Arts a breach? The points he earned with his self‑made weapon are naturally valid."

Wu Tianming's brows knit tightly; after this incident, he had been occupied investigating why a venomous spider appeared in the assessment zone, leaving him no time to probe the origin of Ying Duo's Explosives.

The Mitra Academy sits atop the Floating City, and most of its teachers grew up there; sending them to the ground for these survey tasks is almost more painful than killing them.

Consequently, safety inspections at the assessment site are usually assigned by the mercenary guild, handed to the Mercenary Corps who use specialized equipment to gauge conditions, and then report the findings collectively.

Mercenaries are more familiar with ground environments and enjoy these high‑pay, low‑stress assignments; entrusting them with the work was originally a decision that pleased both sides.

But this time the blunder was so huge that the mercenaries responsible for surveying that sector will also face accountability.

"Even if the points are valid, what about the chaos and danger he caused? He led a Shouling Ji Yexing to the location of other candidates, seriously threatening his own and others' safety; how can such a dangerous individual be allowed into the Mitra Theological Academy?"

Wu Tianming's face was cold and hard; the problems that Shen Zexi and Qi Hengyu could spot—how could teachers possibly miss them?

That Aberrant Species nest was located at a fairly peripheral spot of the assessment zone; according to previous assessment records, no student had ever managed to explore that far.

The appearance of a Shouling Ji Yexing at the edge of the assessment zone is indeed their responsibility, but that does not mean Ying Duo is entirely blameless.

At Ying Duo's speed, he could have easily evaded the venomous spider's pursuit, yet he stubbornly kept the Aberrant Species aloft and dragged it into the assessment area, endangering others' lives.

In doing so, he completely disregarded other lives.

Truly......

Just like that lunatic.

"Only a 250‑point deduction? If the school hadn't intervened in time, would a human life be worth just 250 points?"

"Since when has the ever‑fair Wu become so targeted against a single person?"

Seeing Wu Tianming's words grow more intense, Su Jingchuan cut him off in a cold tone, and the air between them seemed to solidify.

According to the written assessment regulations, a 250‑point deduction complies with the rules; originally this was almost equivalent to disqualification, since candidates scoring 200 points in past entrance assessments were virtually nonexistent.

Occasional streaks of light outside the window flashed by, illuminating Wu Tianming's clenched jaw and the calm eyes behind Su Jingchuan's lenses.

After a few seconds of mutual gaze, Wu Tianming was the first to concede, and his voice lowered.

"You know what I'm saying: the deduction process itself was indeed correct, but the core issue lies elsewhere."

"Ying Duo... he shouldn't have had such a high base score, nor should he have entered the Mitra Academy; let him go to the Church, that would be more suitable for him."

Su Jingchuan looked at the now seemingly aged Wu Tianming and merely sighed.

The crux of the problem still lay in Ying Duo's unstable mental state.

That incident back then ultimately left Wu Tianming with an overwhelming psychological scar.

"Are you referring to the actions he took?"

"And otherwise?"

Wu Tianming did not shy away and openly admitted that he believed the other's mental condition was unsuitable for the Mitra Theological Academy.

If it were a genius with normal thinking, he might say the person was reckless and arrogant; since no lives were lost, there would be plenty of ways to handle him after admission.

But if he lacks even normal human reasoning, he cannot be taught.

"You have also seen that child's mental state; allowing him to enter the Mitra Academy now would be not only irresponsible toward him, but also a massive risk to the Academy and all its faculty and students."

"Yesterday's explosion is the best proof; it wasn't a tactical maneuver, but outright madness!"

Wu Tianming's words echoed in the office, each syllable striking the heavy truth.

One could say he was targeting Ying Duo personally, but more than that, it stemmed from a sense of duty as an examiner and Academy teacher, and concern for overall safety.

He simply could not accept the same tragedy unfolding before him again.

Su Jingchuan listened quietly until he finished, his gaze low.

"I don't think the Church would be his best destination."

"You want him to go to the Church merely because that lunatic 'Blood Lotus' is being restrained there, but that lunatic claims to have mental issues while actually being clearer‑sighted than anyone..."

"Even the Church has no effective remedy for brain problems caused by such awakening."

He stood up, walked to the desk, and retrieved two items from a sealed evidence bag he carried.

Similarly, it is the captured surveillance footage that remains in the assessment zone.

The other is an Academy-issued standard pistol that has been cleaned and maintained, yet still bears the marks of yesterday's fierce battle.

—It is precisely the one Ying Duo used yesterday.

"There is one point you didn't get wrong," Teacher Su's tone was no longer the previous casualness, becoming unusually serious.

"His mental state is definitely problematic, extremely unstable, one could even say dangerous, but ……"

He placed the captured surveillance footage before Wu Tianming, who could only see a cluster of Ying Guang Lu in Ying Duo's hand enveloping a small iron box.

The place where he performed the modification was already at the far edge of the assessment zone, the surveillance signal was extremely poor, only a vague silhouette could be seen.

"Do you know how he enraged that venom spider? In an abandoned mine shaft infested with low‑grade Aberrant Species, he precisely destroyed several load‑bearing walls."

Honestly, although Ying Duo acted rather recklessly, those Aberrant Species could hatch at any time so close to the Corrosion Plaza.

The Academy merely selected that spot as a temporary assessment site; once they withdraw, the consequences of Aberrant Species overrun would be unimaginable.

In that respect, Ying Duo did a good deed, albeit entirely by accident.

Then Su Jingchuan gently ran his hand over the pistol's barrel, lingering especially on the bolt and a tiny calibration component.

"And this one: after yesterday's mission ended, the logistics department routinely reclaimed and cleaned equipment; this pistol was originally so damaged it should have been scrapped outright."

If it weren't for Ying Duo's half‑running, half‑looking‑back shot at the monster, which was… he wouldn't have thought to inspect that gun.

"I had someone restore it; it's a bit smoother than before. After spending some time carefully checking and comparing, I found ……"

Su Jingchuan lifted his head, his sharp gaze fixed on Wu Tianming.

"Someone modified it, adjusting only the Rune circuitry and a few components, yet it involved a Rune circuit improvement issue that even the Academy's Manufacturing Department could not resolve."

"If I hadn't been pulled to test this batch of firearms, it would have been almost undetectable."

Su Jingchuan's memory of how unwieldy this batch of firearms was remained fresh.

"Who did it?" Wu Tianming asked instinctively, but a ridiculous answer already floated in his mind.

In yesterday's assessment, who else used a pistol? The answer was about to be called out.

"Yesterday, the only person besides me who handled this gun was one other," Su Jingchuan said slowly.

The office fell into a prolonged silence.

Teacher Su gently placed the evidence before Wu Tianming.

"Yes, his mind has issues, but I think he can control it; judging by his performance, at least in combat he would never be a burden."

"With his talent and Aberrant Arts, even the Manufacturing Department could benefit from him; of course, I personally think he can try many more avenues."

"Isn't the Academy's purpose to guide them in mastering power? To keep potential dangers out is the greatest dereliction and folly."

Wu Tianming stared at the evidence on the table, then looked toward the brightly lit Academy outside the window, his furrowed brow remaining for a long time.

To what extent has the Dome's Rune technology advanced?

He didn't know, but the Church had been constantly urging their progress, which inevitably meant it had reached a level that could be seen as a threat.

And in the development of Rune technology, the Church indeed lagged far behind the Dome…

Wu Tianming still worried, yet could no longer categorically deny it.

Is that Ying Guang Lu truly a hidden hazard that must be removed, or a genius worth the risk of nurturing?

Perhaps only time can provide the answer.

Wu Tianming sighed, as if accepting this outcome.

But immediately after, his expression grew even more serious; he retrieved an encrypted document from the desk and placed it before Su Jingchuan.

"Come to think of it, there's something even more important ……"