Astral Apostle

Chapter 501: Investigation; Favorable (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“Old He, don’t ask for too much. It’s good enough to have newcomers.”

A captain beside him shrugged.

The rough man smacked his lips and looked at the students. He put his hands on his hips and introduced himself, “Remember, you raw eggs. My name is He Zhifei, a Rank 4 Super. I’m a sergeant major and have served many times. I’m a veteran team explorer leader.”

With him leading the way, many captains introduced themselves. They were basically all Rank 3 and 4 Supers.

He Zhifei had a stern expression as he shouted, “I’ve seen your files. To be honest, there’s almost nothing outstanding about all of you. I’m very disappointed! If you want me to give you a score, none of you will pass! The current students of the academy are really getting worse and worse!”

Zhou Jing secretly curled his lips.

These words were too much like “you’re the worst batch I’ve ever led”. He was definitely deliberately trying to intimidate them.

Shen Xinqin smiled and said, “Alright, stop scaring people. These are basically all new students. What powerful figures can there be? Since you’re all here to inspect, you must be interested in them.”

“That’s right. Young people nowadays are all smart. Old He, your tricks are already outdated.”

A leader called Huang Zhuo chuckled.

This person had a pair of narrowed eyes that looked like two slits.

He Zhifei snorted and did not speak.

Huang Zhuo turned to look at everyone and smiled,

“Let’s not waste time. We’re here to inspect you today to choose new people for our respective teams. Now that you’re still in school, of course you won’t be of any use. What we value is your potential. As long as you meet our standards when you graduate, we’ll invite you to join our team… as long as we don’t die in the line of duty.”

The students could not help but look at each other, not knowing how to respond.

Shen Xinqin coughed and reminded them,

“Joining a suitable explorer team is an important matter for new recruits. If you’re chosen by a veteran team and brought along, it’ll be easier for new recruits to accumulate merits and advance faster. Therefore, if you can obtain an invitation promise from one or more fixed teams before you graduate, it will be very beneficial to your future.

“Moreover, not all veteran teams are short of manpower at all times. Since these captains are interested in you, this is your chance. Everyone, you’d better take it seriously.”

Hearing this, a student asked curiously, “If we weren’t chosen by the team, what would happen?”

Huang Zhuo took over and explained with the smile still on his face,

“If the recruits are not reserved by a team, they will either be assigned to a new sergeant major with the other recruits who have failed to be selected and form a temporary team. Only if they perform well will they be retained by the team leader. Or they will be directly commanded by the stronghold of the other world and be the lowest-level executives in charge of some unimportant but time-consuming basic missions…

Of course, it’s more likely that they will only be assigned to serve in the army after being put on the reserve list for a long time. If they perform badly repeatedly, they will eventually be transferred to a civilian role or some other position.”

Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows.

This form seemed to be similar to a talent show. As long as one was chosen by some explorer teams, they would be tracked and paid attention to during school. After graduation, they would directly join the team, and their future would be smooth.

If they failed, their path to promotion would be bumpy.

However, he did not mind. As long as the team he was assigned to was not too lousy, it was acceptable. This was because regardless of whether he joined a team or not, he was confident that he could advance quickly with his own uniqueness. This was also one of the reasons why he had decided to join the Exploration Bureau.

At this moment, He Zhifei said impatiently, “Alright, let’s get straight to the point. Hurry up and finish your inspection. I hope we’re not wasting time over here for this session.”

Huang Zhuo nodded and his expression became serious.

“We understand everyone’s abilities and have seen the files, but the actual situation needs to be witnessed with our own eyes. Therefore, today’s inspection is divided into two parts. One is actual combat, and the other is the written test. Come with us.”

The group followed the team leaders and walked in the passageway for a while before arriving at a wide indoor training ground.

A staff member had been waiting here for a long time. After exchanging a few words with the captains, he pressed a few buttons on the operating table.

With a crack, the ground in the center of the training ground split open, revealing five hexagonal openings. Five mechanical soldiers with different equipment rose from them.

“When explorers serve in other worlds, they often have to face complicated environments and unknown enemies, so they need to be proficient in fighting many enemies alone… The actual combat test is very simple. Try to last as long as you can in the hands of the five mechanical soldiers or crush them. We will watch your performance.”

Huang Zhuo explained.

Hearing this, the students were eager to try.

Soon, a student was called on stage and used his ability to fight the five mechanical soldiers. However, he quickly fell into a bitter battle.

The armor defense of these five mechanical soldiers was not low. They were hard and resistant to beatings. Moreover, they were configured with different weapons and equipment, as well as combat logic. Their styles were all different. Some held firearms for long-range combat, while others fought at close range. There were even AI soldiers who predicted the movements of their opponents and used traps to limit their control. The overall combat strength of the machinery was not bad when they cooperated.

To the new students who had just entered the school and were inexperienced, this mechanical soldier team was a strong enemy.

In a short while, several students were defeated in a row.

When it was Wu Fan’s turn to go on stage, he lasted the longest. His imitation superpower had extremely high learning ability, but in the end, he was still defeated because his destructive power was insufficient.

The team leaders however seemed to be quite interested in his performance. They each took out their tablets to write and draw, recording something.