Instructors' Meeting Room.
At this moment, the instructors who had just been leisurely watching the exercise were now arguing heatedly about the final individual scores for the exercise.
"No, I think 17 points is too high for Baili Tuming. The total score is only 20. He only used the power of forbidden objects to break through the Spider Child's soul web, and he didn't achieve anything after that. He wasn't the main force when killing the [Sound Hunter]. 17 points is too high."
"But you can't deny that if he hadn't rescued those hundred-plus recruits, they wouldn't have been able to fight the Spider Child."
"While that's true, if you calculate it that way, Cao Yuan only managed to hold off [The Sound Hunter] for a few minutes using force, so 16 points is a bit high."
"Bullshit! A [Sound Hunter] in that state would be top-tier even in the 'River' Realm. This little guy in the 'Pool' Realm could fight someone for so long, and score 16 points? Could you do that when you were in the 'Pool' Realm?"
"I agree; absolute force can compensate for many shortcomings!"
"That's settled then. Shen Qingzhu gets a score of 16. Anyone have any objections?"
"Wait, Instructor Hong, why did everyone else write 17 points, but you only wrote 16? After all, he commanded a Spider Child extermination operation and even went into the warehouse alone to face the Spider Children. Isn't 16 points a bit low?"
"A volatile temper and impulsive behavior warrant a deduction of one point!"
"...In that case, should Yang Zi's score be lowered? After all, she didn't participate in any direct combat, and 17 points seems a bit high."
"No, not high at all. The situation in Building 3 is different from the outside. Without Yang Zi, the female soldiers might have been wiped out, let alone able to fight back against [Sound Hunter]. If it weren't for their lack of firepower, I might have given her 18 points."
"What about Molly? I think..."
In the noisy conference room, while the instructors were arguing heatedly, Yuan Gang sat alone at the other end of the table, holding Lin Qiye and Lin Xi Chen's evaluation sheets, lost in thought...
After a long while, Instructor Hong walked up to him with a thick stack of documents.
"Sir, the scores for everyone else have been basically finalized, except for Lin Qiye and Lin Xi Chen... We dare not give a score. What do you think?"
Yuan Gang's eyebrow raised slightly, "Don't dare to score? Why don't you dare? Tell me your opinions."
Instructor Hong nodded, "Because their performances in this exercise were truly outstanding..."
"As for Lin Xi Chen, after returning to the dormitory, she used her neutralized ability to wake up all the girls. She had held off [Sound Hunter] long enough for the others to find shelter, even though she was subsequently teleported away. Thanks to her quick wit, they discovered the Cube's blind spot and gathered the female recruits there while she prevented The Sound Hunter from taking down the other female recruits. Lin Xi Chen was still able to pinpoint the locations of the other female recruits and come to their rescue."
"She also managed to vaguely figure out the mechanism of the [Sound Hunter] and decided against acting rashly to avoid casualties."
"And Lin Qiye was the first to guess that the reason the others were asleep was because they woke up late. Then he noticed the abnormality in Building 3. Instead of rushing to investigate, he took people to the warehouse to collect weapons. Although he made some mistakes when facing Spider Child, he handled the situation quite well overall."
"In the three buildings, he deduced the [Sound Hunter]'s killing mechanism in a single encounter, and then figured out the pattern in just four spatial displacements, along with Lin Xi Chen successively killing the [Cube] and Spider Child, two mysterious beings from the 'Chuan' realm."
"Moreover, he was the only one among everyone who saw through the atmosphere group's disguise."
"In this exercise, Lin Qiye demonstrated top-tier performance in combat effectiveness, insight, command, and reasoning/summarizing."
"Lin Xi Chen, on the other hand, leans more towards providing assistance, making deductions, relying on intuition, and making decisions—leveraging his combat finesse and mental agility to facilitate rapid rescues. Each of them possesses distinct strengths, making it difficult to single out a standout."
"If scored according to regulations, Lin QIye would receive at least 19 points, possibly even a perfect score. And Lin Xi Chen can receive at least 18-19 points."
Instructor Hong paused for a moment, then continued, "Actually, that's where our dilemma lies. If we score 19 points, there's definitely no problem, but if we score 20 points... no one in our recruit training camp has ever received such a high score before."
Yuan Gang pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Give them 19 points."
Instructor Hong was taken aback. "Why?"
"A little more and they'll become arrogant." Yuan Gang's eyes narrowed slightly. "Nothing is absolutely perfect, especially people."
His knuckles lightly tapped the table, and he murmured in a voice only he could hear, "Besides, getting the Chaos Rubik's Cube's corpse covertly always comes at a price..."
...
The Gods Mental Hospital.
Wearing a white coat and non-prescription glasses, Lin Qiye walked slowly down the hospital corridor. The mental hospital seemed unusually peaceful today.
No, it should be said that as long as Merlin doesn't go mad, things will be peaceful here.
Nyx lay on a rocking chair in the yard, basking in the sun; Merlin sat alone in the reading room, engrossed in a book titled "Handbook for Health Preservation for Middle-Aged and Elderly"; Li Yifei was busy in the kitchen, the rhythmic chopping of vegetables echoing in the corridor...
Everything was so peaceful and tranquil.
Hmm... It's starting to feel like a nursing home! Lin Qiye thought to himself.
Walking beside him was Lin Xi Chen, also wearing a white coat; she was excitedly about to rush in and hug Nyx when he grabbed her by the scruff of the neck—like a cat—and dragged her away.
Without alerting anyone, he walked with Lin Xi Chen to the door of the dean's office, pushed it open, and then turned into the underground passage.
After walking along the dark and damp stone steps for a while, Lin Qiye heard heart-wrenching cries coming from the densely packed prison cells ahead...
"Waaaaaahh...Why, why do you have to kill me? What did I do wrong... Waaaaaah"
"They're all bad people! They bully children!"
"Mommy, I want to go home, waaaaah..."
Lin Qiye was stunned when he heard the voice, and a look of confusion appeared in his eyes.
"Who is him?"
"I don't know?"
What the heck? Why is a child locked up?
Isn't it a spider and a Rubik's Cube? Where did this kid come from?He quickened his pace and walked to the front of the cell. Looking inside, he saw a little boy with spiderweb-like markings on his face and bloodshot eyes hugging his own small self, squatting in a corner and crying bitterly.
He saw the little boy, and the little boy saw him too. He immediately stopped crying and pursed his lips in grievance... just like a child being held captive by kidnappers, wanting to cry but not daring to.
Upon seeing that familiar face, the little boy seemed to recall the scene of his murder, and his face turned pale with fright.
Lin Qiye examined the little boy carefully for a while, then asked in surprise, "Are you a spider?"
"You're the pig!" the little boy muttered in a voice only he could hear.
Lin Qiye:...
Lin Xi Chen: Pftt..... HAHAHAHAHAHA
To be honest, he never imagined that the spider was actually a little boy. He had initially thought the voice was a hallucination, but now he realized it really was him speaking...
Lin Qiye still felt somewhat guilty about killing such a young boy.
He sighed and first looked up at the panel that appeared in the cell.
"Sinner: Soul Weaver Spider
Choice: As the mythical creature you personally killed, you have the right to decide the fate of its soul:
Option 1: Directly obliterate its soul, causing it to be completely annihilated from the world.
Option 2: Get its 'fear level' to 60, and you can hire it as a hospital caregiver. While taking care of patients, it can also provide you with some protection.
Current fear level: 359"
Lin Qiye:...
What's with this 300+ fear level? Am I that scary?
Beside him, Lin Xi Chen was clutching her stomach, laughing so hard she felt like she was dying from a lack of breath.
Lin Qiye looked helplessly at the little boy in the cell, who suddenly shuddered and turned deathly pale.
"Please...please...please don't kill me."
"If you really want to eat braised spider claws, I can give you one...Two... two is also fine!"