“Perfect Awakening can raise the bloodline potential by one minor tier… The effect of an A+ level Perfect Awakening can even rival the S-Rank of a normal Awakening.”
“In the first season’s storyline, the reason Lin Zhen made such rapid progress and experienced a sudden surge in strength in the later stages was precisely because he had perfectly awakened an A-Rank bloodline…”
Yun Ruoxi pondered for a moment, deciding that this amount of popularity points was definitely worth spending.
Perfect Awakening was considered standard equipment for the strong. If she was to follow the ‘beautiful, strong, and tragic’ route, she had to at least match the protagonist’s strength, or even surpass it.
Since the true origins of the Mysterious Bloodline were still unclear, she had to have Perfect Awakening.
However, she had no intention of awakening immediately.
Without a powerful external stimulus, even Star Energy users with very high Star Energy Bloodline Concentration who have perfectly awakened usually only show signs of natural awakening around twelve years old, when their bodies begin to mature.
Then, over a period of several months, they fully awaken.
Awakening too early might damage potential due to incomplete physical development.
She was only ten years old this year and had already lost some potential because of prematurely awakening the Yelan Blood.
Awakening earlier again would only do more harm than good.
Moreover, the War Camp’s purpose was to select talented Perfect Awakeners through harsh trials.
She could “naturally” awaken during the trials to avoid drawing excessive attention from the higher-ups.
While Yun Ruoxi was checking the popularity, the Tenth Column had bypassed the square and arrived at an entrance on the outer side of the Diamond Fortress.
After a body search and scan confirmed they carried no foreign items, soldiers led them through a cold corridor into a massive laboratory.
They were then divided into male and female teams and separated into different compartments for testing.
The tests were divided into three sections.
Star Energy Bloodline Concentration, Physical Fitness, and Mental Strength.
Although the Empire had thoroughly implanted Star Energy bloodlines into all humans through Human Modification Technology and genetic alteration a thousand years ago, there were always exceptions in such a vast territory.
Yun Ruoxi had read the first season’s Episode Outline and knew very well that the War Camp possessed much of the Star Energy Technology from the Imperial Era.
For example, Bloodline Purification and Forced Awakening techniques, which they used to cultivate vast numbers of Star Energy users.
Lin Zhen was one of the beneficiaries.
Because of this, while the War Camp didn’t care much about the candidates’ Star Energy concentration, having a Star Energy Bloodline was the minimum baseline.
Of course, this didn’t mean the War Camp would simply let people without a Star Energy Bloodline go.
For those without a bloodline, the War Camp still had several Human Modification Technologies inherited from the Human Empire… In any case, the War Camp could extract all value from these students.
“Star Energy Bloodline Concentration—High. Passed.”
The white-robed woman lowered the report in her hand and said coldly.
Yun Ruoxi nodded and moved on to the next section.
Her gaze drifted to the top right corner of her vision, where an animated screen played.
There were no “Muggle” members in the Tenth Column, but the Second Column, where Lin Zhen was, had one.
Because his Star Energy Bloodline failed the test, the boy was dragged away by soldiers while screaming.
Lin Zhen watched this scene; his expression suddenly changed as he quietly clenched his fist.
***
Meanwhile, Yun Ruoxi, viewing this from the perspective of an interdimensional audience, was “enjoying” Lin Zhen’s changing reaction.
In the first half of the first season, Lin Zhen hadn’t yet matured and believed he understood how to assess situations and hide himself, but his inherent kind-hearted nature had long been exposed.
Only after painful lessons did he gradually learn how to hide his kindness and carry out Bodhisattva acts with thunderous means.
Therefore, this youthful appearance was something to be savored while it lasted.
Yun Ruoxi even felt an impulse to record these scenes and play them for Lin Zhen later.
“Or not just Lin Zhen, maybe the rest of the main cast, even the villains’ dark histories… haha, what is this? Recording characters’ dark histories from an interdimensional anime to blackmail them?”
She chuckled quietly and stepped into the second section: the Automatic Health Scanner.
The circular device emitted a blue light scanning her entire body, and all her Physical Fitness data appeared.
She tiptoed, stealing a glance at the screen to see how much the War Camp’s data differed from the system’s.
The woman in the white coat responsible for checking the data had a horrifying yin-yang face.
Half of her face was stunningly beautiful, while the other half looked like melted and re-solidified wax, wrinkled and terrifying.
She didn’t cover the screen and, noticing Yun Ruoxi’s sneaky glance, lightly tapped the table with her finger.
The next second, the indicator light on Yun Ruoxi’s collar suddenly turned yellow.
Zzt!!
Without warning, a fierce electric current surged through her body!
“Ah!” Yun Ruoxi hadn’t expected the shock and let out a miserable scream, clutching herself as she fell heavily off the machine, trembling uncontrollably.
“P- painful!”
The dual-faced woman yanked the screen off its stand and forced it in front of Yun Ruoxi’s face.
“Oh, you wanted to see, didn’t you? Now you can see plenty. Want me to read it out for you?”
Yun Ruoxi gritted her teeth, saying nothing, her body still trembling from the pain.
The dual-faced woman snorted coldly and stood up, her icy gaze sweeping over the terrified others behind her.
“The punishment of 9992 is a warning for all of you.”
“In the War Camp, you must understand the rules and obey orders. What you shouldn’t see, ask, or hear—shut your eyes, hold your tongue, and block your ears! Understand!?”
“U-understood!”
Sparse but loud enough responses echoed from the group.
“Why aren’t you answering? Don’t you understand?” The dual-faced woman looked again at Yun Ruoxi.
Understand?
Understand what?
Understand that she was now nothing but a ‘slave’?
Everything had unfolded just as in the script, this sense of foreknowledge made Yun Ruoxi feel like she controlled everything, even temporarily erasing her past sorrow.
Until this moment, reality hit her hard.
Yun Ruoxi bit her lip tightly, showing a trace of unwillingness.
She had the script, had planned everything.
Even if she was willing to “take a little punishment” to gain audience sympathy and popularity, it should be a choice under her control and intention—not forced on her unexpectedly, dropping her into the position of a helpless pawn.
This loss of control filled her with unprecedented fear and panic, forcing her to endure the sting of the electric current and think hard.
“Why am I the only one punished? Didn’t others also peek before? Did I offend her somehow?”
Another shock surged through her body!
Yun Ruoxi convulsed but still fixed her gaze on the content expression on the woman’s half-beautiful face.
“That’s right, that’s the reason… Even the characters not mentioned in the script truly exist, and they have their own personalities. I shouldn’t ignore that.”
“‘Starry Skies’ is an interdimensional anime aimed at the audience beyond time and space. It’s something they can enjoy during their leisure…”
Don’t take a shot every time the translation for the anime title changes or you’ll probably die