The new recruit mess hall was a place that put Kai's senses to the test.
Hundreds of new recruits packed the place, and countless chaotic "energy colors"—anxious crimson, depressed dark gray, tense yellow-green—blended together like a boiling pot of vibrant paint.
They flickered and collided constantly before his eyes, causing him to feel dizzy.
Ryan Flame's slightly booming voice cut through the chaos.
"I dare say this stuff is harder to swallow than grease soaked in engine oil!"
He poked at the gray-green nutrient paste on his plate; his face betrayed no attempt to hide his disgust.
The restless, vibrant "fiery red" energy aura surrounding him flickered slightly with his dissatisfaction.
At the neighboring table, Sakuraba Fuyuko was swallowing the paste in small bites with almost ritualistic seriousness.
Her delicate face bore a faint trace of resignation, and the pale pink energy aura surrounding her resembled a fragile flower struggling to maintain its form in a storm.
Kai sat alone, his nutrient paste barely touched.
He lowered his head slightly, trying to anchor his consciousness on the stable, simple gray-white hue of a tiny scratch on the edge of the plate.
He used it to block out the sensory overload from the outside world that threatened to drive him mad.
It was afternoon, and the obstacle training field simulated the contact zone environment.
The instructor's voice, cold and hard as ice, echoed through the loudspeaker amidst the muddy, icy synthetic rain.
"Move faster! You useless fools!"
"Do you want the mutated creatures to drag your intestines out and use them as jump ropes?!"
Ryan Flame charged out of the formation like a wild horse, screaming as he scaled the high wall.
But when he attempted to cross the low-energy grid, his eagerness caused him to falter, and he was violently electrocuted in the thigh.
He crashed into the icy mud pit with a scream.
"Idiot!" Gestalt's furious, unsympathetic shout came as expected.
However, Kai moved like an inconspicuous ghost, blending into the middle to rear of the massive group. His movements were not particularly fast; in fact, they appeared somewhat stiff and sluggish.
However, each step was exceptionally precise, landing on the most stable footholds.
This was no coincidence. In his perception, the entire training ground was covered by a dynamic "information map" composed of different "colors."
The unstable "blue arc glow" caused by weak energy leaks around the low-energy grid was a dangerous signal filled with numbing pain;
Certain areas under his feet emitted a "sinking dark yellow" due to loose soil structure, clearly indicating the risk of slipping.
He seemed to instinctively read a map of "danger and safety," with his body automatically choosing the path with the dimmest "colors" and lowest "threat" before his consciousness could make a judgment.
This "excessive calmness" did not escape the eagle-like eyes on the high platform.
As they passed through a narrow passageway filled with simulated explosives, the sharp eyes hidden behind tactical goggles locked onto Kai.
He casually swung the alloy command staff forward, but it actually contained a subtle energy fluctuation that he had deliberately guided and compressed.
This created a miniature obstacle on Kai's path that could not be detected in advance by conventional senses.
The moment the tip of the command staff touched the ground, a fleeting yet precisely calculated "malevolent crimson" erupted in Kai's sensory world like a supernova.
In the span of zero point one seconds from the moment the "scarlet" appeared, Kai's body reacted instinctively.
Without thought or hesitation, he smoothly sidestepped to the side as if he had been burned by a hot object.
This action perfectly avoided the "accident" at that tricky angle while also inadvertently avoiding another new recruit who had prematurely detonated the simulated explosives in his panic, startled by the sudden turn of events.
As he moved, Kai sensed the source of the "malicious crimson"—it came from the Gestalt instructor on the high platform.
His heart contracted sharply. It wasn't because of danger; rather, the feeling of being observed and deliberately tested made him feel threatened and wary of exposing his abilities.
"Hm?"
On the high platform, Gestalt snorted indistinctly through his nostrils.
His eyes, hidden behind tactical goggles, lingered on Kai's calm figure for a few seconds longer.
This kid's "intuition" was sharp to an almost abnormal degree.
The lights were turned off. The cold alloy bed frame and rough blankets.
Ryan tossed and turned on the lower bunk, quietly boasting about his "glorious achievements" in the combat test to the person in the upper bunk.
He was trying to cover up his mistakes from earlier that day.
The distinctive "fiery red" energy emanating from his body remained restless, even in the darkness.
Meanwhile, Kai curled up as tightly as possible under the blankets, struggling to build an invisible mental barrier to block out the chaotic "energy colors" of the new recruits in the dormitory.
Within the "fiery red" aura emanating from the bed of the red-haired boy, there seemed to be a faint, barely perceptible longing for recognition.
The gentle "pale pink" aura he had seen earlier on the quiet girl, however, carried a reassuring purity and resilience.
These scattered fragments of color caused a tiny ripple in his lonely, unique heart.
But he was more concerned about the Gestalt instructor's meaningful gaze. His differences seemed to have attracted unnecessary attention.