The sky outside the window brightened, then dimmed again. The crimson sunset burned across a sea of fire in the heavens. Every few hours, they encountered large convoys of armored vehicles heading in the opposite direction, the dust they kicked up chasing far after one another.

A closer look revealed the words "Development Base" branded on the vehicles’ chassis as they WHOOSHED into the distance.

Again and again, they passed these vehicles, so by the time the towering outer wall of Gao Yuan City appeared outside the window, they had already sped past hundreds of them, most of which were transport types.

"That’s a lot of vehicles. The Military Department must be planning to build a development base at Dongqi Lake, which they just captured."

Sun Yongsheng turned his head back and clicked his tongue with a soft sigh.

Qiu Hu leaned back in his seat, arms crossed. "What’s it got to do with us? It’s not like our Tianjiao Base is in charge. Besides, by the time they’ve finished mining the resources, we’ll probably be done with the college entrance exams. We won’t even make the first batch."

"What if we do make the first batch? Every little bit counts."

"You think a slacker like you would get a piece of that action?" Qiu Hu pursed his lips. "Even if they did rush out the first batch of resources, it’d go to the Optimizers first, wouldn’t it?"

"That’s right."

The chatter rose and fell around him. Outside the window, the development base’s convoy gradually receded into the distance. Jiang Qiu slowly retracted his gaze, remaining silent.

After passing through multiple checkpoints, the Tianjiao Base vehicle entered the outer gate of Gao Yuan City. It didn’t stop, however, instead continuing down a desolate main road, heading deeper inside.

Vast wastelands filled the view, overgrown with weeds, with a few crooked trees jutting from the earth. After driving for what felt like an eternity, they could finally see a sprawling, rugged cityscape in the distance—the Outer City District.

But in a flash, they were past it.

The burning sea of clouds in the sky gradually faded. The armored vehicle’s headlights switched on, beams of light piercing the path ahead like chains pulling the convoy along.

RUMBLE...

The vehicle shuddered twice. Just as Jiang Qiu opened his eyes, he heard an exhale from beside him, "Phew... finally back."

"Brother Jiang, look! This is Tianjiao Base! We’ll definitely vote for you in the selection meeting. Once you become an Optimizer, you’ll be training in the Virtual Training Pods inside until the college entrance exams!"

With a RATTLE, the vehicle door slid open. Following Qiu Hu’s pointing finger, he saw a vast complex of steel buildings rising up. A searchlight on the tallest building swept across the sky above.

This base was even larger than the entire Shantytown in Zone Eight. A single glance was enough to see it was like a small city.

He leaped from the vehicle, his feet landing with a THUD on the flat concrete. "Is this the Inner City or the Outer City?"

"The Inner City, of course. It’s a bit remote, though. It’s a two or three-hour round trip by car just to visit the big malls."

Sun Yongsheng waved his hand, a sudden glint appearing in his eyes. He shot Jiang Qiu a knowing smile. "Brother Jiang, when we get a day off, I can take you to Celestial Mountain Paradise."

"To hell with your Celestial Mountain Paradise! Brother Jiang is destined to become an Optimizer, not a slacker like you."

Qiu Hu swung a hand at his head, but it was blocked by a raised forearm. Sun Yongsheng smirked. "What, Optimizers aren’t allowed to get foot soaks? Who made that rule?"

"The rule your damn mom made!"

And with that, the two broke into a playful chase.

It wasn’t until Liu Qi called them to reassemble that Qiu Hu returned to the line with Sun Yongsheng, letting out a cold snort. They took their places on either side of Jiang Qiu.

Once Liu Qi finished his instructions, the non-commissioned officer and the students of the Tianjiao Project all followed him to the conference room for the selection meeting.

Crossing a road within the base lit by searchlights, Yang Yu, Sun Yongsheng, Qiu Hu, and the others filed into a conference room in a low, single-story building. Liu Qi led Jiang Qiu to a separate room off the main hall. "Jiang Qiu, you can rest in this lounge for a bit. You took first place, so your status as an Optimizer is guaranteed by General Mo. You don’t need to worry about it."

"After the meeting, I’ll show you around the place where you’ll be living for the next month or so."

He gave Jiang Qiu’s shoulder a PAT PAT, then left the lounge. The door shut with a CLICK.

Phew... Jiang Qiu turned to look at the evening glow outside the window and sighed softly. ’I haven’t even had a chance to say anything to Director Zhao and the others, and I’m already at the Tianjiao Base in the Inner City. They probably don’t even know that the Military Department test I took was related to the Dongqi Lake operation...’

’I should send them a message.’

With a thought, the phone from his Storage Ring dropped into his palm. He had just turned on the screen.

RRRING—

The phone began to BUZZ. Jiang Qiu’s eyes widened. Several missed calls, all from the same unknown number, and over a dozen text messages from Teacher Wu Shan.

BEEP.

He tapped the screen with his thumb to answer. A deep and familiar voice immediately came from the other end. "How did the Military Department test go?"

Wu Shan’s voice was as sonorous as ever, but this time it held a hint of urgency, as if he’d heard some shocking news and was desperate to confirm it.

Jiang Qiu’s eyebrow twitched. "Teacher, what results are you referring to?"

"Director Zhao and I suddenly heard this morning that the Military Department conquered Dongqi Lake. A lot of people died. You went near Dongqi Lake with the people from Tianjiao Base, didn’t you? You didn’t get maimed, did you?"

On the other end of the line, Wu Shan took a deep breath, clenching his left fist. His right eye widened, dark and round, darting about.

He’d been away from the Military Department for too long; he was out of the loop. He’d only heard from Director Zhao this morning that the Dongqi Lake operation was over.

The operation had allowed Gao Yuan City to capture the resource-rich Dongqi Lake and gain control of the Medium-sized Secret Realm that had appeared there, but it came at the cost of many soldiers from the Military Department.

Even two students from the Tianjiao Project had died, with over a dozen more seriously injured.

Such a casualty rate made it the deadliest test in recent years, all because a Top Tier Demon Beast had escaped from the main battlefield!

The thought made Wu Shan’s knuckles CRACK as he clenched his fist.

A Top Tier Demon Beast, as long as it wasn’t on the verge of death, could kill non-Optimizer students from the Tianjiao Project as easily as crushing an ant. Jiang Qiu was only at the Iron Flesh Realm when he went to the test. If he took even a single punch, his ribs would have been shattered to pieces!

’If a genius that Director Zhao and I worked so hard to cultivate was seriously injured because of an accident like that...’

’I’ll resign from Eighth Middle School and become a mercenary Martial Artist. I’ll only take missions on Dongqi Mountain. I’ll kill every single Top Tier Demon Beast I find!’

At this thought, bloodshot veins spread across Wu Shan’s right eye, and his left eyelid, which had been a narrow slit, slowly parted, as if a black spider were about to emerge. His killing intent was so thick it seemed to stir the air.

"I wasn’t injured."

The three words, delivered lightly from the other end of the line, suddenly blew away the anger in his heart. His fist loosened, the baleful aura in his right eye vanished, replaced by suspicion. "You weren’t injured?"

’Could it be that Jiang Qiu is like that grandson of the principal from the rumors? That after seeing the geniuses in the Tianjiao Project, he just gave up and hid on the outskirts to farm kills?’

’No, that’s not right. With Jiang Qiu’s talent, he should be the one making others give up.’

’Besides, how could someone who turned the tide single-handedly in the Cyan Mountain Town Secret Realm have such a weak mentality?’

’Unless the Top Tier Demon Beast didn’t cause havoc for long, and Jiang Qiu just happened to escape its path...’

At this thought, Wu Shan’s furrowed brow slowly relaxed. "Not getting injured in this test is the best possible outcome. With your talent and strength, if you perform well on the college entrance exams, you’ll still be able to secure plenty of resources.

Also, I heard a genius named Yang Yu participated in the Military Department’s test this time. She has dual Mastery in spear and bow, so she was basically guaranteed first place. Your chances of passing the test were extremely low, so don’t feel too bad. Just participating in the test gets you a Wusu Fragrance reward, and every little bit of improvement counts.

Oh, right. That Su Fragrance expert I found has already listed over ten possible plans for developing the mutated Pebble. It’s going to require a lot of funding, so be mentally prepared..."