As long as Yun Ruoxi continues to maintain the sisters’ dynamic, she can keep channeling her popularity to the other side.
Sooner or later.
She wants others, whenever they see a blonde girl in an anime, to think of Aili first.
And then, think of her—Yun Ruoxi!
Clenching her fist, Yun Ruoxi kept watching the show.
“I made some major changes to Episode Five; I wonder how much the plot of Episode Six will deviate from the original…”
She skipped the OP, and the main episode began.
The camera cut in—Lin Zhen slowly woke up inside the medical pod.
Dazed, he sat upright in the pod, medical fluid streaming down his sharply defined muscles.
“Where… am I…”
He looked at his tightly clenched right hand, and the memories, broken from his long slumber, began to pour into his mind.
Fighting for life and death with his roommate, seeing Yun Ruoxi face off against all the other cadets alone, then barely managing to suppress his opponent with his ability…
Right, the assessment is already over.
And he—he actually awakened the Starlight Bloodline, becoming a Star Energy User that, just a year ago, had been completely out of reach.
He hesitantly raised his right hand toward the ceiling.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
The silvery alloy above his head instantly liquefied, swirling slowly around his arm like flowing mercury.
“Metal Manipulation.” A hint of delight appeared on Lin Zhen’s face. With a wave of his hand, the liquid metal reverted to its original form.
He swiftly stepped out of the medical pod, the edge of the pod cleverly blocking any sensitive areas from view.
「 ??? Holy Light? Shadow Priest? So it’s the protection of the alloy hatch!」
「We’re all brothers here, why be so guarded? Feeling distant, huh?」
「Jail Lin in Chengdu is actually a loli, he’s only eleven after all.」
「Passed out from fright after seeing Nan Tong.」
“That day, little Xi and the others were all seriously injured in the end—I should go check how they’re doing now.”
Lin Zhen grabbed the neatly folded clothes beside him and put them on, just about to leave the infirmary—
But just then.
The collar around his neck suddenly beeped, and an entirely unfamiliar voice came through:
“432, come here immediately.”
The boy was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied, “Understood!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a Green Arrow lit up on the floor out of nowhere, guiding his way.
Lin Zhen stared at the arrow in surprise.
He confirmed that it wasn’t a projection, nor a floor display; it was more like light itself had been shaped.
“What kind of technology is this? Or… some kind of ability?”
He let his imagination run wild as he followed the arrow, gradually heading deeper into the Rhombus Base.
The deeper parts of the Rhombus Base, an area never open to cadets, had always been the subject of much buzz among them.
Rumor had it that the place was filled with laboratories, used by the Battle Camp for sinister human modification experiments.
Anyone summoned there would never have a good outcome.
Like Yun Ruoxi, who’d been carried out by Xiaguang that day.
But in the year since, aside from Yun Ruoxi, not a single cadet had been called inside—not even 0001.
And now, he was the second?
Why?
Lin Zhen stopped before a heavy alloy door, a sense of unease creeping over his heart.
He couldn’t figure it out.
Click!
The alloy door slowly slid open, a gentle light spilling out from within, dispelling the gloom of the corridor.
Lin Zhen squinted, adjusting to the sudden brightness—then his heart skipped a beat.
This was a spotless white laboratory.
All sorts of equipment he’d never seen were arranged in perfect order. At the end of the room was a huge observation window, and beyond it loomed a complex, surgery-like machine.
The rumors among the cadets… could they actually be true?
At the moment, there weren’t many people in the lab; a few in researcher uniforms moved quietly about their tasks.
Clap!
Suddenly, the sound of applause snapped Lin Zhen out of his scrutiny.
A young man in a gleaming white coat was smiling at him, his smile unfathomable.
“432, come here!”
The voice was exactly the same as the one from the collar—clearly, this was the person who’d summoned Lin Zhen.
Lin Zhen’s heart raced, all the rumors about human modification flashing through his mind.
But he knew he had no right to refuse, so he walked forward in silence.
“Relax.” The man’s tone was gentle. He casually pulled over a Gravity Suspension Chair and gestured for Lin Zhen to sit.
“I’m Doctor Forefinger, a Level Five Researcher of the Healing Hands Society, mainly responsible for research on Star Energy Users.”
Specialized in studying Star Energy Users?
It might’ve been better left unsaid; hearing it only made Lin Zhen more nervous. He awkwardly sat in the suspension chair, his legs dangling stiffly since they couldn’t touch the floor.
The doctor seemed to see through his anxiety, chuckling as he lowered the chair a bit:
“The Battle Camp is just a recruitment ground for the Healing Hands Society. If you can pass the final assessment, you’ll become a member of the Society, and that’s a supreme honor.”
“…I’ll do my best,” Lin Zhen replied, not quite sincerely.
“All right, I know you’re not willing deep down, but you’ll understand in time.”
“Now, let’s get down to business.”
Doctor Forefinger, sensing Lin Zhen’s reluctance, stopped talking and turned to pick up a square metal block from a nearby table.
“This is a very old alloy—Alloy Steel 45. You should’ve studied it. Now, I need you to use your ability to directly transform it into Cast Iron.”
As he spoke, he casually tossed the metal block toward Lin Zhen.
Lin Zhen instinctively reached out to catch it.
Then realized mid-action, hastily activating his power.
Buzz!
The heavy cube hovered a few centimeters off the ground.
This twenty-centimeter cube was heavy—at least a hundred pounds.
With Lin Zhen’s pitifully low Star Energy Index, any other psychokinetic ability user would have found it impossible to lift.
Luckily, his power specialized in Metal Manipulation, allowing him to barely control it.
The metal block trembled under his mental command.
Slowly, it rose into the air.
“Turn it into Cast Iron.”
Lin Zhen knew full well that the difference between Cast Iron and Alloy Steel 45 lay in their carbon content.
The former had very high carbon content, over 2.5%, while the latter was moderate, only 0.42%–0.50%.
But thinking it was as easy as simply raising the carbon content to turn Alloy Steel 45 into Cast Iron would be a big mistake.
It would normally require breaking down, smelting, and other processes.
That’s essentially recycling and reprocessing.
But what Doctor Forefinger wanted was transformation—to change Alloy Steel 45 directly into Cast Iron.
It was like asking someone to turn a lean cut of meat directly into pork belly—not just fattening it up, but changing its structure!
Lin Zhen’s ability could reshape metal, but as for altering its fundamental properties—that was something he’d never even thought about.
Because it was just too hard.
At least for now, at the dawn of his awakening, he had never considered it.
But someone like Doctor Forefinger wouldn’t make pointless requests.
Lin Zhen could only try.
He gritted his teeth and poured all his effort into his ability.
The hovering metal block began to shake violently.
Its surface slowly melted into a dark liquid, constantly sprouting sharp spikes as if alive.
Sweat beaded on the boy’s forehead, his right hand trembling more and more rapidly.
At last, the liquid metal solidified again, becoming a deep gray cube with a mirror-smooth surface, which dropped straight to the floor.
Plunk!
Cracks instantly spread across the surface of the metal cube, and a corner even broke off with a sharp snap.
But Lin Zhen let out a long sigh of relief, a smile of liberation on his face.
“I did not fail your expectations, Doctor.”
“Not bad.”
Doctor Forefinger nodded in satisfaction. “Now, you’ve qualified to become my experimental subject.”