Chapter 64 Lost and Gone

The metal shark opened its giant maw and lunged forward.

Clang!!

Wang Xi straightened his sword, resting his left palm against the spine of the blade to precisely wedge it into the shark's jaws. A metal fang the size of a fist pressed tightly against his face, radiating a piercing chill.

Bubble, bubble!

Wang Xi exhaled a stream of bubbles, his amber, slit-like pupils narrowing sharply.

His right leg lashed out like a cannonball, slamming heavily into the giant shark before him, stirring up a ring of jellyfish-like bubble vortices underwater.

Boom—

The shark was kicked away, and leveraging the recoil, Wang Xi propelled himself in the opposite direction.

Quickly putting some distance between them, he glided close to the pool floor, his hands moving with lightning speed as he scooped up several numbered orbs in succession.

They were A, 6, 9, and Q.

Without a second thought, Wang Xi tossed aside A, 6, and 9, and continued swimming forward.

What absolute garbage, who wants single-digit scores!

The metal shark behind him was still in hot pursuit.

Repeating his previous trick, Wang Xi took another bite head-on, blasted the creature away with a kick, and used the momentum to reverse his direction.

He widened the distance once more, his entire body slithering like a nimble barracuda close to the bottom, skimming past a dense cluster of black orbs.

Swish, swish, swish!

Wang Xi retrieved his decapitation sword back into its card form, then used both hands to frantically grab numbered orbs.

At first, anything worth fewer than 10 points was discarded. Later on, he stopped bothering with the 10-point ones altogether, focusing exclusively on the bonus symbol orbs.

Before long.

Wang Xi had collected six bonus symbol orbs.

Instantly securing over a hundred points.

This already far exceeded the full score requirement, and he could easily have left the arena right then and there. But on second thought, since he had already blown past the target, he might as well double down and shatter Gucheng's record all over again just for fun.

And so, Wang Xi shook off the pack of sharks time and time again, only to venture into new zones for more "treasure hunting."

Whenever he found a numbered orb, he simply refused to take it—picking it up only to throw it away.

Heh, he was just playing around.

“……”

Above the water's surface, the venue fell into a dead silence.

Spectators both inside and outside the arena stared fixedly at the tranquil expanse of water. A full five minutes had passed; if not for the occasional faint shadow of a figure swimming beneath, everyone would have assumed Wang Xi was already dead.

Which raised a question.

Since he wasn't dead, what on earth was he doing?

Why hadn't he surfaced and escaped yet?

Could he possibly still be looking for numbered orbs?

As soon as this conjecture crossed their minds, almost everyone felt a deep sense of absurdity.

Holding your breath underwater for five minutes wasn't difficult.

Finding orbs wasn't difficult either.

But what if there were still a dozen or two mechanical sharks relentlessly hunting you down...

Come on, my man.

Do you think the Professional Hero Qualification Exam is a water park?

Is the whole stadium supposed to just watch you mess around like this?!

Splash—

Finally, as the water level rose past the eight-meter mark, a shirtless figure burst out of the water, kicking up a shower of spray as he climbed up to the newly opened exit on the northern iron wall.

The entire audience was stunned.

They weren't surprised by the youth's well-defined muscles and perfect physique, nor by his handsome face dripping with wet hair, but rather by—

He was carrying a "sack" in his hand.

That "sack" turned out to be none other than the oversized black short-sleeved shirt he had been wearing earlier!

Looking at that bulging black "sack," a vague guess formed in everyone's minds, making their very breathing turn hurried.

"Brother Bo," a female proctor said in a daze. "What is the record for the survival and emergency response test in Gucheng from previous years?"

"If I remember correctly..."

Shi Bo wore a complicated expression as he slowly replied.

"120 points. That record was set six years ago by Li Xingduan, the direct disciple of Elder Wei."

Li Xingduan, currently one of the vice presidents of the Gucheng Hero Association. Once hailed as the strongest hero of the younger generation, he had just obtained his "Upper Two-Star" certificate this year.

“……”

The proctors all drew sharp breaths.

That bag of numbered orbs...

Surely it couldn't be less than 120 points, right?

Right at this moment.

Everyone turned around and looked toward the exit at the back of the platform.

Waiting for the appearance of the raven-haired youth.

Pat, pat...

A wet, sloshing sound echoed.

The shirtless, dark-haired youth emerged from the dim corridor and walked straight back onto the platform.

In front of the lenses of several photography drones, the youth broke into a wide, toothy grin and gave his signature thumbs-up gesture.

With a flick of his hand, the oversized black short-sleeved shirt dropped onto the all-metal floor—

Thud!!!

A muffled, heavy impact rang out.

The examinees standing closest were startled, their hearts nearly skipping a beat.

What on earth was that?!

So heavy!

As the unfolded shirt spilled open, a massive pile of black orbs rolled out with a clatter, easily numbering no less than twenty!

Looking closer, they almost doubted their own eyes!

Not a single one of them had a number on it!

They were all fucking bonus symbol orbs!

Looking closer still—

No.

It wasn't just bonus symbol orbs.

There wasn't even a single J or Q among them.

They were all King cards!

Yes, in the end, Wang Xi couldn't even be bothered with the Js and Qs, tossing them all away in favor of Kings.

“This... th-this?!”

Everyone around stood frozen in a stupor.

Yu Jiali pushed through the crowd and stepped forward, her pretty face filled with shock and utter astonishment as she blurted out:

"Did you pick up every single King orb in the entire arena?!"

"I dunno."

Wang Xi spread his hands.

"I just swam around twice at the end, and couldn't find any more."

Couldn't find any more...

A concise and pithy sentence.

Yet it was laden with philosophical significance.

It struck like a heavy fist against the hearts of all the examinees present. Especially the six seeded candidates, such as Yu Jiali, who froze in place with glazed eyes.

As if knocked senseless by that single punch.

The expressions of Shi Bo and the other proctors were wonderfully complex, shifting through several shades. The photography drones precisely captured this exact scene.

Inside the livestream chatroom, a barrage of comments flew across the screen.

"Finding none left is wild..."

"Even the proctors are dumbfounded."

"What kind of monster is this guy?!"

"That many King orbs—how many points must that be? It has to be higher than those six geniuses, right?"

"Hilarious! The six of them combined don't even add up to his score! Hence—Six God!"

"Ugh, hehe! Six God ahhhhh!!"

A nearby staff member finally snapped back to reality, picked up the bonus symbol orbs from the floor, and dumped them into a barrel-shaped machine beside them.

Thump, thump, thump...

Soon, as the water level receded, two long beeps echoed through the venue.

On the iron wall to the right of the platform, a brand-new ranking prominently appeared.

And occupying the number one spot, once again, was Wang Xi.

"Wang Xi, ID 666."

"Survival Emergency Response Test, 1200 points (100 score)"

Bang!!

Fireworks animations burst across all four iron walls of the arena.

Beep, beep—

"New Gucheng record registered!"

"Record holder: Wang Xi, ID 666, examinee of the 17th Gucheng Professional Hero Examination."

He broke the record again!

A whopping 1200 points!

The examinees widened their eyes in disbelief.

Just how exaggerated was this number?

Forget the six seeded candidates; even if you threw in several more batches of examinees, they wouldn't even come close to touching this figure!

This raven-haired youth had broken Gucheng's record twice in a row during this professional hero examination...

He was destined for extraordinary things.

And the name Wang Xi would undoubtedly echo throughout Gucheng.

Even his ID number, 666, was destined to go down in history.

What the crowd present didn't know was this:

Screams had erupted inside the Cupid Housekeeping Hall.

In the viewing area on the second floor of the Hero Association building, more than half of the professional heroes had spontaneously risen to their feet, witnessing this moment and deeply etching that youth into their memories.

On the top floor of the building, various high-ranking officials looked at each other in dismay. Elder Wei, the Association President, burst into hearty laughter and took the lead in applauding, repeatedly praising the younger generation as truly formidable.

Even the three stunning figures in the primary seats turned their attention to the big screen. Ning Meng wore a puzzled expression, seemingly unable to comprehend how this youth—who had delivered takeout to her place several times—could be so dazzling... yet she hadn't noticed it before.

Yu Zizi pushed up her glasses and sighed softly:

"Mr. Wang Xi is even more outstanding than I imagined."

“……”

She didn't hear a reply.

Turning her head, she saw the silver-haired girl quietly gazing at the screen, the corners of her lips slightly upturned, her sapphire-like eyes reflecting the silhouette of the raven-haired youth.

…

…

Around six o'clock in the afternoon.

The 17th Gucheng Professional Hero Examination came to an end.

After final evaluations by the proctor panel, President Elder Wei personally stepped forward to announce the results—

A total of 29 people passed the examination!

Top of the overall score rankings, Carlyle Lee, 98.5 points;

Second place, Lin Xin'er, 97 points;

Third place, Wang Xi, 96 points;

Fourth place, Xiao Yuzhe, 95.5 points;

Fifth place, Jiang Tianjie and Nagata Anzu tied with 95 points;

Sixth place, Yu Jiali, 94 points.

Seventh place, Zhong Shuang, 72 points.

Subsequent rankings basically hovered in the 60 to 70 range.

Anyone with an eye could tell that starting from the sixth place, the subsequent rankings formed a distinct chasm, cutting them off entirely from the first tier.

And out of the entire venue, Wang Xi was the sole "unbalanced student" who scored a perfect score in the practical exam while ranking dead last in the written exam.

Just moments ago, almost all members of the proctor panel had been wringing their hands in deep regret and heartache... if that youth named Wang Xi had just exerted himself a little more and gotten a perfect score on the written exam, he probably would have shattered yet another record.

What a pity!

Such a terrible pity!

The only person on the scene who maintained a steady smile was Chu Kezhang, the instructor from the Disenchantment Department of the Oversight Bureau.

Because in her eyes, this was classic Brother Xi.

Even though Wang Xi's performance had exceeded her expectations and made her inwardly sigh at how much things had changed over four years... his dismal written test scores remained as consistent as ever.

Chu Nai chuckled secretly to herself several times over this.

At this moment.

Hero Association, Inscription Plaza.

The setting sun hung low on the horizon, leaving behind only a final smear of twilight that slanted down across the gray-black open ground.

The 29 people who had passed the examination stood neatly in the center.

An elderly man wearing a long black robe, surrounded by numerous association staff and proctors, approached the front of the crowd.

Photography drones hovered all around, recording the scene.

"First of all, congratulations on passing the examination."

Wei Xuan stood with his hands clasped behind his back, a smile on his face.

His voice was deep and gentle.

"Everyone, I don't wish to deliver any long-winded speeches. I only want to tell you this... no civilization of man is entirely meaningless, and any collective devoid of love will inevitably fall apart."

"You will become the new generation of heroes, bearing the heavy burdens for humanity... Flowers and applause are not the goal; they are merely the embellishments of the journey, the bugle call of advance, the echo of a mission."

The gray-haired elder paused, a look of profound nostalgia in his eyes.

His voice grew increasingly distant:

"Nineteen years ago, the 'Primal Hero' led a total of nine legendary figures from the five major nations to jointly repel the first and only ultra-red catastrophe in human history, averting a world-ending calamity and turning the tide when the edifice was on the verge of collapse!"

"Fifteen years ago, during the Luocheng Fall incident in the Southern Continent, the 'Wax Artisan' Bai Yanwei single-handedly lured away the suddenly mutated Catastrophe-grade legion known as the 'Black Gentleman Mecha Troupe' to cover the evacuation of civilians, fighting fiercely for three days and nights before perishing!"

"Ten years ago, during the Yancheng Collapse incident in the Earth Continent, the 'God-Swift Sword' Lü Yang fought the suddenly mutated Catastrophe-grade colossal entity known as the 'Dark Nightmare Mountain Dweller' all by himself, rescuing 6 million citizens before perishing!"

"Seven years ago, during the Fucheng Internal Strife incident in the Yellow Continent, 'Green Screen' Fang Wenxia led the defense force to meet the suddenly mutated Catastrophe-grade twins known as the 'Moulting Roses', rescuing 5.5 million citizens, with the entire team perishing!"

"Four years ago, during the Guancheng Painting-Entry incident in the Western Continent, the 'Crimson Bear' Li Jie gave up his chance of evacuation, turned back to the scene, and fought to the death with the suddenly mutated Catastrophe-grade monarch, the 'Gallery Administrator', ultimately saving 980,000 people before perishing!"

"Two years ago..."

Elder Wei spoke of the heroes of the past, tears shining in his eyes. Every single name, every single deed, and every single memory was as familiar to him as family treasures.

The proctors wore gloomy expressions.

The cluster of examinees fell into a daze.

Even the livestream chatroom grew much quieter; the barrage slowed down, discarding its playful and comedic tone... tacitly offering a united tribute of "respect" to those fallen heroes.

"Please remember this—"

Elder Wei shouted in a hoarse, ringing voice.

"Heroes are those who are brave and fearless, yet they are also like mayflies trying to shake a giant tree! You must all face towering disasters with the courage of the nine heavens, striking out fearlessly!"

"Without a charge knowing full well it must end in defeat, and that determination to march toward death yet find life, how could the mountains and seas of the mortal realm ever be worthy of the light!"