Chapter 43: Confirming Their Choice
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In a blink of an eye, a few weeks passed by quickly. They were quick but at the same time rather eventful as well.
Within this period of time, Gao Peng had made many more trips to the Blue Shield Protection Company. Ever since Liu Senlin came back from accepting the government assignment, he had become quiet and sullen. Gao Peng also noticed that the atmosphere of the company had become gloomier as well.
But he was an outsider after all. And some things were better left unasked.
However, when he and Liu Senlin met in private later on, he had told Gao Peng the happenings of that fateful day.
Lord tier.
Who would have thought that just by accepting that one government assignment, Liu Senlin would have met with a total of two lord tier monsters and one that was halfway to reaching the Lord tier. Liu Senlin was the only person he knew who had such luck.
Gao Peng had wanted to say some words of comfort, but he did not know how to begin. He ended up simply stuffing his mouth with food instead.
In these weeks, under Gao Peng’s care, the number of commander tier Four-Winged Jade Devil Mantises owned by the Blue Shield Protection Company increased by another four. This finally made up for the losses that Liu Senlin incurred during the assignment.
Liu Senlin had also tried to pass Gao Peng a large red packet in private, but Gao Peng refused it. “Sow nothing, reap nothing. I have just been doing what I’m supposed to do. It won’t be good if you give me red packets in private again.”
Liu Senlin also had his reasons for giving Gao Peng a red packet. He hoped to work with Gao Peng long-term. As per Gao Peng’s request previously, the contract they had signed only lasted one year.
Liu Senlin had actually thought that that would be to his advantage, and agreed to Gao Peng’s request then and there.
But now, he could not avoid trying to pave the way for a long-term partnership with Gao Peng. If he did not establish good relations with Gao Peng, what would he do if Gao Peng really quit after a year?
He had no idea, however, that Gao Peng had no plans to work long-term for any company. He was merely working to build up savings for the first step in his plans.
A normal tier monster carcass could fetch a price of up to a few Alliance Credits, whereas an elite tier monster carcass could fetch a price from a few Alliance Credits to a few tens of Alliance Credits. If a rare elite tier monster could be caught alive, it could even fetch a price of more than a hundred Alliance Credits. A commander tier monster would naturally fetch an even higher price.
Hence, Gao Peng planned to train Da Zi and Dumby until they reached commander tier and bring them into the wilderness to hunt down or catch monsters. By that time, he should have made enough of a name for himself as a Monster Breeder, so he planned to head over to Yanjing City to complete the advanced Monster Breeder assessment. The former would be his main job, and the latter would be there for support. This was the path that Gao Peng had planned for himself. As long as he kept to this route, he would definitely keep getting stronger.
Other than all these, Ma Jian had also managed to get second place in the Chang’an Flower King Tournament. Being a prideful boy, this hurt his self-esteem badly and he refused to leave his home to meet anyone for a full week.
Gao Peng later found out that the Flower King Tournament was won by an elite tier Daffodil Flower Demon.
There was indeed nothing much that could have been done. Ma Jian’s Begonia Semperflorens Sprite was only a normal tier monster, and lost out to the first place monster by a full tier.
Finally, within these few weeks, Da Zi’s level had risen to 13, whereas Dumby had broken through to level 14. Sadly, the job request that Gao Peng had posted at the Monster Hunting Association was never completed by anyone. The Yin cedar needles at home were quickly finished by Dumby.
Living up to its name, Dumby simply held vigil by the refrigerator every day, dumbly staring at the refrigerator.
…
“All students gather around! We will stop the individual training for now,” shouted Instructor Zhang Bairen.
Everyone already knew what was happening today. Some skipped forward excitedly while others wore a look of worry on their faces, evidently not as confident of their chances. A last group of them, however, simply heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that the end of these boring days of training was near.
The first thing Instructor Zhang Bairen did was something no one expected. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket.
“I will first announce the names on this list,” Zhang Bairen lowered his head and read out, loudly, “Liu Keshou, disqualified! Xie Jiangyi, disqualified! Hu Latang, disqualified…”
A few students were stunned, others could not resist and began to question the instructor.
Zhang Bairen appeared to have expected this. Without raising his head, he simply said, “Those with any objections, don’t get impatient. Voice them after I’m done reading.”
He quickly went through the entire name list. Within group ten itself, six out of a total of 38 people were disqualified straight away, without being given the right to participate in the selection test.
“I know that some of you might be unhappy about this, but I will only say one thing: In these few weeks, I have clearly seen how each and every one of you have performed. Whether or not you have skived off, you should well know. I would not wrong any student.
“I also know that some of you might have something to say about our decision as well. But if you could not even persevere throughout these few weeks and had to skive off even for the most basic training, then there is no point in you carrying on with the training. Xie Jiangyi, did you have fun playing with your mobile phone? Hu Latang, from tomorrow onwards you can go back to the classroom to continue sleeping, the training grounds are not a comfortable place to nap,” he said, randomly pointing out two names.
Everyone else immediately had no more to say. What they thought in their heads no one would know.
“The rest of you shall begin your test. We shall start with testing speed…”
The test went on for two hours, and did not take up too much time.
Each of the Familiar’s test scores were recorded by an electronic device and sent straight to a computer.
The scores were processed using a formula that took into account the Familiar’s species, potential, and other important factors. Within half an hour, the results were out.
“Chief Instructor Chen, this is the name list. A total of 1,320 people meet the requirements,” one of the subordinates handed a list of names to Chen Yuan.
“Mm, wait a moment.” Chen Yuan took the name list in his hands and placed it on the table next to him without even glancing at it. In front of him, a Silver Moon Alpha was darting through a maze of lasers. It was like watching a nimble silver snake make its way across the room.
After ten minutes, the training finally ended. The Silver Moon Alpha stepped out of the room, shook its silver fur, and casually lay down in a ground-level bunk located at the side.
Only then did Chen Yuan turn around reply, “Then 1,320 it will be. The extra hundred and twenty all passed as well. Since they possess the potential, we should not waste it. I will speak to the headquarters to suggest expanding the training grounds. Go inform the rest.”
“Yes, sir.” The subordinate quickly nodded his head and replied. As always, Chief Inspector Chen was cold on the outside and warm on the inside.
In the end the number of people who passed were 1,320, a total of a 120 people more than originally expected.
“Now that you have passed, hurry and register to choose a position for you Familiars. From now on, the training won’t be like the kind of fun and games you’ve been having. When you choose the position for your Familiars, remember to take into consideration whether or not your Familiar can take up such a role, or else your subsequent training will only be half as efficient,” reminded Zhang Bairen.
“Offense-type.” That was the position that Gao Peng chose for Da Zi. There was nothing worth hesitating about in making this choice. Offense definitely was Da Zi’s strength.
In the end, those who chose offense-type were the most numerous, with a total of over 700 people. Of the remaining, more than 500 chose defense-type. Those who chose support, healer and control-types numbered less than 100.