"Wait!" Watching Li Changan's disappearing figure, Wen Anran murmured, and then the world spun. When he opened his eyes again, he had left the trial ground.
But what was in front of him was not the Taia Trial Facility, but a bright light with nothing else.
"Winner Wen Anran, you are about to begin the baptism."
"Killing nineteen people across levels, initiating the highest level baptism."
"The winner has three superpowers, initiating potential evolution."
More than a dozen differently colored rays of light descended on Wen Anran from different corners, and the minor wounds on his body started healing as all the fatigue was swept away.
Wen Anran closed his eyes comfortably as if soaking in warm water or like a baby in the mother's womb.
After an unknown period of time, the warmth enveloping his body dissipated. Wen Anran opened his eyes to find himself standing in a room with chairs, a bathroom and a small bed.
There was a set of clothes on the chair. Wen Anran knew it was prepared by the military. He went directly into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
More than half an hour later, Wen Anran washed up cleanly, changed into the prepared clothes and walked out of the room.
A middle-aged man in military uniform was standing outside, with four guards behind him.
"Although there's only one answer, I still have to ask you -" The middle-aged man lightly coughed and solemnly asked, "Wen Anran, are you willing to join the Imperial Military Department?"
"Willing." Wen Anran calmly nodded. He had thought he would be overly excited when this day came, but he realized he did not feel so happy when facing it.
The middle-aged man nodded and smiled too, "I am Rear Admiral Jin Xinghai of the Imperial Special Operations Division. I'm currently the highest commander of the Special Operations Division and will be your superior from now on."
Wen Anran frowned in puzzlement. "The winner of the trial is usually taken to Tongtian City to meet high-ranking military officials."
"Yes, but this time is different," Jin Xinghai shrugged and took out a photo from his chest pocket. "Apart from this trial's winner, I'm also looking for this person. Did you fight him in the trial?"
When Wen Anran took the photo, he smiled. The photo was of Li Changan.
"From your expression, you recognize him?" Jin Xinghai laughed. It was not just recognition, it seemed there was a story.
"Yes, not only do I recognize him, the last three people left all recognize him," Wen Anran smiled and returned the photo. "What do you want him for?"
Jin Xinghai put away the photo and replied frankly, "He's very special. He has participated in the trial more than once but survived every time. The previous winner was even injured by him. I have orders from above that it would be best to have him join the Special Operations Division if possible."
"Then I'm afraid you made this trip in vain," Wen Anran shook his head. "He can't join the military for now. He still has something he must do, but there may be a chance in the future."
Could it be a tacit understanding between powerful warriors? Jin Xinghai looked at Wen Anran doubtfully, not understanding how he could make such an assertion. But Wen Anran was more important.
For the Taia Trial winner to have three superpowers was an unexpected huge gain. The most important thing now was to escort Wen Anran back to the military headquarters safely. As for Li Changan, someone was already keeping an eye on him, so there was no worry of not being able to find him.
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It was the same road. With his eyes closed, Li Changan could still walk the right way. He routinely collected the relief money and his valuable belongings like his mobile phone and left the Trial Facility.
After eleven days, he still survived in the end.
"It always feels like the sunlight outside the Trial Facility is a little darker." Li Changan smiled slightly. Wrapped in an overcoat, he stopped a driverless taxi. He needed to go to the hospital.
But he could not get treatment at the hospital. His current injuries could not be dragged until he went back to Brother Lin in Beicheng. He had to buy some medicine at the hospital and then go to the black market for treatment.
The money he had, tens of thousands, was far from enough if he directly used black market medicine. With the certificate proving he survived the trial, he could save quite a bit by going to the hospital to buy medicine.
More than an hour later, Li Changan walked out of this black clinic. He could not help but look back with the urge to make trouble.
Too black! The fee for dressing his external injury was nearly 100k!
"I really want to kill you all!" He sighed. For Brother Lin, he had to hurry back.
The time spent in the Taia Trial was shorter than Li Changan had estimated, and so would be the case for subsequent trials. As the human starting point became higher, the new generation would become stronger, and later there might even be situations where half of the people were killed at the very beginning of trials.
There was no hurry for the final trial. The remaining trial facility was still ongoing.
At the station Li Changan realized it was not time to end yet. The next train would not leave for another four hours. So Li Changan could only buy a ticket first.
Within these four hours, he could have a meal and take a short rest.
As if possessed, Li Changan went back to the street where he first arrived. He inexplicably wanted to see the retired veteran again, eat ten servings of fried noodles, and have a big bowl of pork offal soup.
More than that, perhaps he wanted to tell the other person that he had survived.
"If I remember correctly, it should be here." Li Changan stopped, but next to him was not the small shop that was clean yet failed to conceal its bleakness. The storefront had obviously been renovated and was now a butcher shop.
Li Changan narrowed his eyes as he entered the store. Although the boss behind the stall also had a meaty face, he was different from his memory. If it was not because he had severe face blindness, then it meant this place had changed hands.
"Boss, how much for two pig's trotters?" Li Changan looked through the half-man-tall pig trotters on the stall.
The boss, biting on a cigarette, frowned. "Are you blind? Can't you see it written there on the side?"
"I'm not good at reading." Li Changan smiled awkwardly. "I think this used to be a food stand instead of a butcher shop. Did I remember wrong?"
"Boy, are you here to buy meat or pick a fight?" The boss picked up a chopper knife by his side. Just by looking at Li Changan's clothes, he could see he was no big shot, which was why his attitude was so bad.
The passersby on the roadside heard a loud noise and instinctively looked in the direction it came from. They saw a fat figure being thrown out of the shop.
Li Changan walked slowly out of the door, holding a boning knife. Before that fat boss could get up, he put a foot on his head and said coldly, "Next I'll ask and you'll answer. No other nonsense."
"Boy, are you looking for... Ah!" He had not finished speaking before it turned into a painful scream.
The knife tip stabbed into the fat man's shoulder. Li Changan put in a little force and scraped off a large piece of flesh along the fat man's arm bone, expressionlessly asking, "I'll say it again, where is the previous owner of this store?"
"Some punk injured Tiger Gang's people. I heard he ate at this store so Tiger Gang's people took the owner away. Then they handed this store over to me. I heard he went back to his hometown." The fat man endured the pain in his shoulder, his eyes still hiding viciousness.
"Tiger Gang?" Li Changan gave a cold laugh. The knife tip picked open the boss's shoulder, revealing a tattoo on the shoulder. "You're not being honest."
The knife tip stabbed into the fat boss's shoulder again. Li Changan skillfully cut the ligament and peeled off the flesh, completely chopping off an arm in less than two seconds.
But this was just the beginning. Li Changan picked up the knife again.
Wen Anran's words suddenly came to mind and Li Changan's movements paused. He spat and said, "You're lucky today."
Just when the fat man thought he had escaped, the boning knife stabbed through his brow.
Li Changan gave the unclosed corpse a kick and took out his ticket to tear into pieces.
The shredded paper floated like flying paper money.