Light Fortress

Nan Jin brought Gu Shen to the second basement level of a skyscraper in the city center.

This was a detention facility of the Judgement Institute.

Inside the prison cell, the lights were blindingly bright.

Several muscular men, wearing undershirts, were tied up tightly, their muscles bulged.

Ever since they were subdued, they had been persistently struggling, and their strength was astonishing; the thudding sounds of their impacts could be heard even through the walls.

Gu Shen recognized these men at a glance… from their physiques, they were the "fake researchers" from last night!

He asked, "Are these the suspects caught last night?"

"Yes, and no…" Nan Jin shook her head. "They are actually rugby players."

Rugby… players?

No wonder!

Gu Shen thought back to the scene from yesterday; the way these men had breached the security line was just like wild beasts!

Nan Jin switched off the holographic screen.

The files of these men appeared one by one.

She sighed, "These people are all amateur rugby players from Da Teng City, they have always been good citizens with no criminal records… They suffered cognitive dysfunction because they were hypnotized by a Spiritual Transcendent."

"Spiritual Transcendent?" Gu Shen frowned. "Cognitive… dysfunction?"

"They believe they are angry bulls."

A strange female voice drifted over.

Gu Shen's spirits lifted as he looked toward the source of the voice, the last Transcendent who had not revealed herself last night, this must be the "Senior Sister" Nan Jin had mentioned.

From the corner emerged a girl… clad in a gray hoodie and a short skirt, not particularly tall, with a youthful face and baby fat, appearing to be only about fifteen or sixteen years old.

"That guy hiding behind the scenes is quite clever." The baby-faced girl chewed her gum slowly. "The interrogation over there just finished, unfortunately, the men you and Zhong Wei caught are just hypnotized pawns."

The girl in the gray hoodie blew a large bubble with her gum, her gaze full of interest as she observed Gu Shen. In the shadow behind her, stood a handsome young man with a somber beauty, also casting a benevolent scrutinizing look at Gu Shen.

The girl smiled, "Is this the S-rank rookie who was saved by the 'special pardon'?"

"Yep." Nan Jin nodded and introduced Gu Shen solemnly, "These two are Senior Sister Luo Er and Senior Brother Zhong Wei."

"Is she really a Senior Sister…"

Gu Shen stretched his hand to compare heights, murmuring doubtfully in a low voice, "She looks even younger than me, so tiny, could she still be a minor?"

Pop.

The bubble of gum burst.

Her height had been slighted… a dark line appeared on Luo Er's forehead.

The handsome young man, Zhong Wei, laid his hands on the shoulders of his Senior Sister, softly smiling, "Come now, with your appearance, it's no wonder that the rookie is confused…"

Zhong Wei smiled at Gu Shen.

In the moment their eyes met, a voice surged unbidden into Gu Shen's mind.

It was Zhong Wei's voice—

"Many years ago, due to a certain 'Extraordinary event', Senior Sister Luo's body became as it is now; her skeletal age will forever remain at fifteen. In fact, she has been studying Cultivation with Mr. Shu for the longest time, her strength is also the strongest, and she is a Senior Sister acknowledged and respected by everyone, truly a grandmaster."

Was this voice another application of Extraordinary Power?

Gu Shen was surprised to find… this handsome young man was nothing like the fierce figure he had glimpsed the night before.

Zhong Wei's performance when chasing the magician had been incisively decisive, like a cheetah—fast, accurate, ruthless, making one's heart tremble.

He was a merciless character when it came to enemies!

Yet to him, this new recruit taken in by Mr. Shu, he was extraordinarily gentle.

"The cause of the influence of Extraordinary Power sometimes makes Senior Sister Luo's temper uncontrollable. Try to be more careful in the future," Zhong Wei's telepathic message was exceptionally serious. "However, if you do anger her, there's a simple solution."

The telepathic communication ended.

"Senior Sister, here, have some candy!"

Zhong Wei with a smiling face, took out a lollipop from his jacket pocket.

Three seconds later.

With the lollipop in her mouth, Luo Er became docile and gentle as a little animal, though her voice was muffled and unclear. Disdain written all over her fierce face, she said, "Who would lower themselves to argue with a newcomer... Moreover, whether this kid can even become a newcomer is still in question."

Phew... so the solution is that simple.

Gu Shen breathed a sigh of relief and cast a subtly grateful look towards Zhong Wei.

...

...

In the corner of the second underground level, there were two heavily guarded detention cells, with very high standards.

The "Magician" and the "Intruder" from last night were locked up here.

"These two Transcendents, despite their abilities, are very average and haven't even undergone systematic training," Luo Er slowly explained, "The Spiritual Transcendent hiding behind the scenes must possess a 'Dream Casting' type of ability. He layered several Dreams over these people, confusing reality with illusion, and then influenced their subconscious minds. Up to now, these Transcendents are still not clear about what they have done..."

"Dream Casting?"

"Mm... Pulling someone's consciousness into an illusion, known as Dream Casting, usually only done by Spiritual Extraordinaries. As time passes, the Dreams will slowly collapse. The fact that they haven't awakened yet indicates a substantial gap in strength between them."

Seeing Gu Shen's confused face, Luo Er frowned and asked, "Nan Jin, how does he know nothing?"

"It happened so suddenly, there was no time to teach him," Nan Jin said. "Before the fire incident, he was a complete ordinary person."

He still is now, in fact... Gu Shen silently scoffed to himself.

"We are short on time; we only have fifteen days," she took a breath, "In fifteen days, Gu Shen will face the Judgement Institute's 'evaluation'. If the result is unsatisfactory, the special pardon might be revoked. That means Gu Shen could face imprisonment, and all the teacher's hard work would have been wasted."

"With the special pardon already invoked, if the evaluation goes poorly, we must at least ensure Gu Shen's safety," Zhong Wei frowned. "And as for the genetic evidence from the fire case, to extract and identify it according to protocol needs at least twenty days... From the perspective of solving the case, it's already too late."

"This arrangement has been like startling the snake by hitting the grass," Luo Er said. "After their failure, they knew it would be impossible to stop us from extracting information from the scene; they likely won't risk entering the situation again... As for interrogating these 'suspects' we caught last night, it's meaningless, unless we catch that Spiritual Transcendent mastermind."

Gu Shen watched the three of them speak in turn... The topic seemed to have been steered in a particular direction.

There's no time to solve the case.

Now, the focus is on the evaluation fifteen days from now.

"Everyone, don't be so pessimistic."

Nan Jin cheered up her senior Brothers and Sisters, "This is the newcomer whom the teacher spared no effort to save with a special pardon, an S-level potential future hope... Although he seems a bit foolish, don't we have even this much confidence in him?"

"I agree; he just looks a tiny bit foolish."

Luo Er pressed a switch nonchalantly and said, "There happens to be a practice arena on the second underground level. Let me see for myself how strong this so-called S-grade is."

The wall at the end flipped around.

A heavy metal door opened.

Then their field of vision suddenly expanded. It was hard to imagine that such a vast space akin to a soccer field could be found beneath this building; it was a practice arena prepared specifically for Extraordinaries by the Judgement Institute. The room was filled with shades of greyish white, echoing an air of solemnness and severity.

Basic firearms and targets, close combat weapons such as knives and daggers, were all placed on the racks.

"I've looked over that case file."

Luo Er said with a smile, "Indeed... the scene was astonishing. Two Extraordinaries were slaughtered without the slightest chance to fight back, but what's confusing is, one was sliced to pieces by a blade, and the other was burned to ashes by fire."

"Because Extraordinary Powers around the world are still reviving... our Transcendent Genealogy Map is updated and perfected every year, so the Judgement Institute cannot immediately determine if your awakened power belongs to a known Transcendent."

"But regardless of the specific power, it can be categorized into one of three broad types... The Spiritual that controls the mind, the Natural that manipulates the elements, and the Aggressive that evolves the physical body."

"Given the scene, it's clear you exhibited two totally different Extraordinary Powers... there are few in the whole East Continent who have managed this, a truly amazing Divine Miracle. If it's a dual awakening, that indeed justifies the 'S' rating."

"Now... let me see your depth."

Luo Er looked at Gu Shen, "Use your awakened power to strike at me, and do not hold back."