The Tournament

When Chen Chuan returned to the dormitory, Hongfu's notification arrived at the same time. "The technique assessment has concluded. Trainee Chen, congratulations on passing this semester's mandatory exam. You received the highest rating in the assessment. You may check your overall evaluation score after this semester ends." Upon hearing this, Chen Chuan felt considerably brighter. In truth, there were quite a few ways to raise one's evaluation score, but most yielded very few points and could only be done once. For instance, when entering the academy, Tan Zhi had received a single point for recommending a trainee, but recommending any further trainees after that yielded nothing more. The most direct method was still raising one's strength. For example, his evaluated probability of reaching the third limit had surpassed eighty percent; that single metric had pulled his evaluation score up dramatically, proving easier than anything else he could do. Passing the technique assessment was less about adding points and more about recovering them, since trainees exempt from testing started with higher evaluation scores than those who required testing, unless a trainee delivered an exceptionally outstanding performance during the assessment. Just as he had done today. Yet circumstances like today's—where an instructor volunteered to award bonus points—were extremely rare. Even if an instructor was willing, how many could push it all the way to the absolute limit of their authorization? The best path forward was undoubtedly reaching the third limit. Once a trainee stepped into the third limit, they gained absolute priority access to all academy services. Even now... He checked his status and saw that his queued purchase for radiant light service was already near the front, rather than lagging far behind as before. After a moment's thought, he contacted Instructor Zheng. "Instructor Zheng, I passed the technique assessment today." Instructor Zheng was delighted. "With how much you've improved these past days, passing was never in question. The only difference would be how high a score you got. Who was the lead examiner?" Chen Chuan said, "An instructor surnamed Jiang." Instructor Zheng suddenly chuckled. "Little Jiang, eh? He didn't cook up any strange antics, did he?" Chen Chuan said sincerely, "Instructor Jiang took very good care of me." Instructor Zheng said, "Took care of you? Good to hear. Then I suppose I should thank Little Jiang." Chen Chuan nodded. "Yes, that's what I was thinking too." Instructor Zheng said, "The exam may be over, but your lessons with me were arranged through the Disposal Bureau's recommendation, so if you'd like to keep attending, you're still welcome to come by." Chen Chuan said, "I definitely will." Instructor Zheng had only taught him techniques he was presently equipped to grasp, with plenty more left to cover. Even setting those aside, a sparring partner like Zheng Tongtong was not something easily found. The Disposal Bureau had provided him with such excellent teaching resources; he had no reason to let them go to waste. After ending the call, he glanced at the wall calendar. It was already June. Unbeknownst to him, six months had slipped by since his arrival in Center City, leaving less than a month before the end of his first semester. Though he called home whenever he had time on rest days, it had been a long while since he last went back. Once break began, he would definitely make a trip to Yangzhi to visit his aunt's family, as well as Instructor Cheng and a few other familiar faces. With that in mind, his thoughts turned naturally to Teacher Yu Gang. Yu Gang and Lu Ke had arrived in Center City even earlier than he had, but without an established means of contact back then, he had no idea where they had gone, knowing only that they had headed for the Lower District. Yet the Lower District was vast. He had no clue where they were or how they were doing now. When he went back this time, he would see if they had left any contact information behind. Having just finished his assessment, he did not jump back into training. Instead, he brewed a hot drink, sat down on the sofa, and browsed through the Fringe Channel. Besides regional news, the channel carried entertainment reports. When looking to unwind, he occasionally browsed through it, and in recent days the most prevalent updates were about the Center City arena tournament. Discussions about it were everywhere on the Fringe Channel. As soon as he opened it, dense clusters of voice messages filled the screen, with the hottest topics revolving around the tournament competitors. Browsing through, he saw photos of several highly popular trainees posted by users, complete with clips from their past fights. These few were regarded as favorites to advance deep into the tournament. Among them, he spotted Cao Rui, the fellow student he had encountered in the elevator the other day, and paused to pay closer attention, pulling up clips of his past bouts. Overall, this trainee possessed solid strength, brimming with fierce tenacity and excellent combat instincts—not lagging behind official trainees in the slightest. This was likely thanks to their implants, which made up for the shortfall in mutated tissue. However, looking closer, while these trainees had plenty of implants, they lacked the grotesque exaggeration he had seen on the cruise ship. Instead, they appeared quite natural. If one ignored the seam lines and intentionally exposed implant marks, they looked hardly any different from ordinary trainees. It seemed these external students possessed high compatibility with their implants—or perhaps those with low compatibility had already been weeded out. Because the arena bouts were all life-or-death matches, these trainees did not clash directly against one another. Their opponents were typically prison inmates, thrill-seeking fighters, or even operatives from anti-corporation organizations. After being captured, these people were thrown onto the arena stage, able to survive only by killing their opponents. They were not necessarily trained fighters and were permitted to wield all sorts of weapons. This ramped up the carnage and spectacle, making it little wonder that it drew such massive crowds. Having read this far, he glanced through some recordings of past matches. Naturally, the full footage required a fee, so he only watched the highlight reels, which conveniently saved time anyway. While watching, an incoming call popped up. Seeing it was Tan Zhi, he answered immediately. "Classmate Chen, I heard you had a technique assessment this semester. Did you pass?" Chen Chuan said, "I just finished and passed." Tan Zhi said, "That's a relief! You know, I heard that under the school's current policy, if you fail the assessment and your evaluation score drops, the bottom few might be demoted from official trainees to external students. And what are external students like? Nothing more than tools for others to toy with!" Chen Chuan asked, "Didn't you mention before that trainees who fail could just pay a fee?" Tan Zhi let out an exasperated sigh. "That's exactly what I wanted to talk about! That was before. Supposedly the school administration held a meeting this time—not only has the fee drastically increased, but you're only allowed to pay it once. It's a complete disaster for trainees who got used to buying their way out." Chen Chuan thought for a moment and said, "Last time, I heard trainees whose limit ratings are below fifty percent might be assigned as student instructors." Tan Zhi said, "I heard that too, and that's quite a sizable number." He added with lingering unease, "They aren't even allowed to drop out! The way I see it, before long we'll be seeing people from an official trainee background stepping into the arena matches. Ah, let's just hope our turn never comes." Chen Chuan grunted in acknowledgment. After exchanging a few more words, they prepared to hang up. Before ending the call, Chen Chuan reminded him, "Classmate Tan, Wei Wusheng has been hunting down the fighters who boarded the cruise ship that day. You, Classmate Pan, Classmate Qi, and the others should all be careful." Hearing this, Tan Zhi sighed. "Don't even mention it. I'm hiding in my dorm and don't dare step foot outside. I don't even dare go out dancing, so I can only get my fix in the dorm's training room. "As for those two, their families allegedly used this as an excuse to lock them down at home; they were just complaining to me yesterday. By the way, you're with the Disposal Bureau—when on earth will Wei Wusheng be caught?" Chen Chuan said, "Hard to say. He's a third-limit fighter. If he wants to hide, he's exceedingly difficult to catch." Tan Zhi sighed. "Then all we can do is wait. I sure don't want to get targeted by that guy." Chen Chuan said slowly, "It shouldn't be too long." Tan Zhi said, "That'd be ideal. I'll sign off here, then. When you have free time, come across the hall and let's have a drink together." Chen Chuan agreed and ended the call. Tan Zhi had taken his words as mere consolation, but Chen Chuan hadn't spoken lightly. If Wei Wusheng kept up this rampage and the Disposal Bureau failed to resolve it, the man was bound to come after him eventually. And that would be an opportunity to finish him. However, Chen Chuan sensed that Wei Wusheng probably wouldn't seek him out before he was fully prepared. After all, Chen Chuan had been moving about outside quite often recently, yet the man had shown no intention of showing himself. Time slipped by as he scrolled through channels and browsed reference materials. Near ten in the evening, just as he was preparing to wash up and head to bed, Ni Xixi contacted him. "Brother Chen, I saw you passed the technique assessment. I asked around, and the lead examiner gave you a very high rating." Chen Chuan said, "I got lucky this time and ran into a good instructor." Ni Xixi said in surprise, "Really? Are you sure you're talking about Instructor Jiang? That man is... a complicated story. Never mind, none of that concerns you. Before, you were studying under the instructor and preparing for the technique assessment, so I didn't assign you any tasks. Now that you have free time, you need to pay attention to the bureau's matters." Chen Chuan asked, "What do you need me to do?" "You know about the arena tournament, right?" "I do." "The tournament starts in late June and runs all the way until September. Since Jibei Circuit Center City is currently the only place in the entire country hosting this competition, people from every Center City will probably show up. That's why we need to figure out a way to resolve Wei Wusheng before the tournament arrives." Chen Chuan couldn't help asking, "What does the bureau plan to do?" "Originally, we planned to have the fighters who were on the cruise ship cooperate so we could mobilize the moment Wei Wusheng showed up, but the results haven't been ideal. We've now discovered that Wei Wusheng has a junior apprentice brother who's very likely been aiding him all along. We might be able to uncover some leads through him." "A member of the Tianshu Gang?" "No, he was expelled years ago, but he received help from Wei Wusheng in the past and might have remained in contact privately. The bureau will send someone tomorrow to make contact with him. "You don't need to worry about that matter. It's just that too much personnel has been diverted for this lately, inevitably leaving several areas thin. The bureau wants you to assist with patrol duties in Yinglu District during those days. A car will be dispatched from the bureau when the time comes, so just wait for the notification." Chen Chuan said, "All right, I'll be waiting."