The sound of rhythmic knocking rang out.

"Come in."

Zi Mou didn't look up at the visitor, keeping his gaze fixed on the data sheets in front of him.

The door creaked open lightly, and a blonde female student walked in with two male students. Clad in neat white school uniforms, the only difference amongst them was the short skirt the girl was wearing. She was the beauty Feng Yi had spotted in the Gravity Room the other day.

"President, we've only found three people from the recruitment list so far."

"Three... as expected. Who are they?"

"First, Saimen from Balun High School. He has consecutively won the Martial Arts Championship at Balun for three times and is a highly influential figure there with a solid background."

On hearing the phrase "highly influential," Zi Mou's lips curled slightly, his facial expression betraying a fleeting hint of derision.

"Next, Sheng Qiangwei from the prestigious Deseria Academy, she's an expert in Ancient Martial Arts and her leadership skills are excellent. She's nearly flawless in her academics and usually makes her own decisions without consulting others. She comes from an ordinary family."

"Oh? That's interesting."

"Lastly, the third person..." The girl stopped abruptly.

"Go on."

"The third person is Zhengnan from Fendo City's Tower Academy. His performance in school has always been mediocre, he's an average student. He's the only one who got admitted through a special recommendation, but the specifics are unknown."

"Ha, that's even more interesting. Keep an eye on them." Zi Mou shifted to a more comfortable position on the sofa, obviously in a good mood.

The three students exited the room upon receiving their instructions.

Of course, the decreasing quality of each batch of new students was a problem, but that wasn't the root cause. Most of the issues stemmed from the emergency recruitment process; time was not enough to gather everyone to the Shadow District for the concert scheduled for the next day.

Beneath the towering buildings, workers were busily constructing the stage. Considering the terrain and various other elements of the Shadow District, the officials decided to set up the concert stage in the Wind Thunder Military School's indoor training ground.

In the camp, dozens of mechas were bustling around carrying various objects. These mechas were of various models - Knight Version 1, Lion Version 2 - mostly outdated models incapable of battling, relegated to display in museums or performing menial tasks. Their creaking sounds as they moved around made the workers fearful, worrying that a part may fall off and injure someone.

Through the bulletproof windows, Athena's beautiful eyes reflected the bustling workers on the ground. Her delicate lashes fluttered like a delicate painting crafted by God himself, her beauty almost unreal.

Frankly speaking, Athena did not dislike her current situation. However, the accompanying bodyguards caused her a bit of anxiety. The unusual movements from the authorities and the strategically placed snipers and undercover bodyguards throughout the concert venue made her suspect the presence of an assassin.

Concerning politics, Athena did not care much. All she wanted was to use her voice to touch the world, to convey her love for the world to her true fans through her songs. With the concert nearing, she was also looking forward to the big day – the day of the conscription, drawing attention from all over the world.

In the star-filled Shadow District, Feng Yi gripped the mask Lasso had left behind, his gaze growing distant…

Throughout this period, he had never given up on investigating the incident behind Lasso's assassination attempt. Despite the government's tight hold on information, Feng Yi was certain that this was a special operation by the Saudi Empire for some political motive.

If the Heart of the Butterfly was able to infiltrate Alpha, it suggested the existence of other assassins from the Saudi Empire also present on Alpha. Feng Yi was unsure how the Saudi Empire had found Lasso, but was certain about one thing - the additive, the Heart of the Butterfly, was not the only target for the Saudi Empire.

Therefore, it was highly probable that Athena, the center of global attention, was also on the hit list of the Saudi Empire. Undoubtedly, the upcoming conscription recruitment concert played a significant role in the federation's strategy. Athena's influence posed a significant threat to the Saudi's strategies.

Particularly, Feng Yi remembered the small favor Athena had done for him when he first arrived at Alpha. Although he didn't consider himself a good person, he believed in repaying kindness. If possible, he would attentively observe the concert from a hidden place. Whether or not there were assassins, he would be present. Afterwards, they would no longer have any connection in this world.

As for the subsequent matter of Lasso's frozen remains, there was nothing he could do but wait. To Feng Yi, this was a great comfort.

As he thought of Lasso, he instinctively removed the Space Crystal that hung around his neck and began to fiddle with it. In respect of Lasso's choice, he had not rushed to unlock the door to the Space Crystal. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Lasso had left for him inside the crystal.

Could it be a Mecha? A fortune? A martial arts technique? A recorded message? A spaceship or a woman's bra? Unlikely. A four-dimensional Space Crystal was merely a virtual multidimensional space generated by infinitely folded and compressed three dimensions. Theoretically, it had infinite capacity, but still couldn't accommodate the huge bulk of a spaceship. The Space Crystal was like a big mouth that fed irrespective of fulfillment. No matter what its inside capacity was, anything that exceeded its size wouldn't fit in one go.

Regardless, the truth would be unveiled soon. When midnight struck, the shackles on the Space Crystal would automatically dissolve.

Feng Yi closely observed the progress of time, until midnight, when the shiny surface of the space crystal gradually began to ripple and a blue halo appeared around it.

This was the macro-world 'blue shift' phenomenon witnessed in the Space Crystal. In scientific terms, it was similar to 'reduced' light speed, meaning that while events within the Space Crystal happened within a millisecond, the real world had to wait for about ten seconds.

Bang!

Pandora's box suddenly sprung open, and something looking like a rubber ball was shot out of the Space Crystal with a loud crash, smashing the window and landing in the snow outside.

Despite his vast experience, Feng Yi was highly startled by this. Luckily, he had quick reflexes and found the object after rummaging through the snow for a while. It was soft to touch and quite bouncy.

The outside light was rather dim, so Feng Yi quickly returned to the room and carefully examined the strange ball. After a moment, he realized that the object was not a ball at all - it was, in fact, a rubber dinosaur.

The green dinosaur had a long tail, its abnormally white belly was ripple-patterned and quite elastic. Its meaty texture was rather substantial in his hands.

As Feng Yi was estimating the weight of the rubber dinosaur, an uncanny feeling washed over him. It seemed as if he was being silently taunted by an unseen presence.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.