Chapter 160
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Chapter 160: BOSS’s Direct Deception
On the last day of August, it was time for the selection and assessment of superpowered individuals.
Given the awakening probability of about two in a thousand, Hope City would see a new batch of superpowered individuals every year.
However, not everyone’s abilities were suited for direct combat or fieldwork; some individuals with abilities geared toward production and research were pushed from the military to research institutes and factories.
Now, along with Shi Jin, there were a total of fifteen candidates undergoing the screening for combat-type superpowered individuals.
Since Shi Jin had shown no related talents before her awakening and did not stand out in ability testing, the Young Men participating in the assessment with her were generally two or three years younger than she was.
If these individuals could pass the selection into the direct superpowered group and then blend in with their teams, they could be considered promising young talents and become the backbone of the city in the future.
After the previous warm-up, Shi Jin had observed how these skilled young superpowered individuals fought.
Among them, there were three whom Shi Jin believed had a high probability of defeating her in a one-on-one match.
One could make the ground sprout sharp spikes with hardness between hard soil and stone, one could heat the surrounding air, and the last could emit bright light.
She nicknamed the three: Construction Worker, Warm Baby, and Flashbang.
After some training, Shi Jin had come to understand her own strengths and weaknesses in terms of abilities.
Ephemeral, as a power that could accelerate herself, had a natural advantage in shooting and combat situations.
However, some disadvantages were beyond the compensation of time acceleration.
For example, the three she focused on had the ability to create area attacks around them.
Against such skills that left no blind spots, Shi Jin found it challenging to come up with effective strategies; if she encountered them in battle, she could only pray to be faster than her opponents in reaction time.
While Shi Jin was lost in thoughts of battle, she suddenly felt a tingling vibration at her collar, followed by Fulan’s quirky voice in her ear:
“Are you ready? Why are you zoning out?”
Startled, Shi Jin realized that Fulan’s camouflage ability had improved; she could hardly tell who it was if the other person didn’t speak.
Not wanting to admit she had been daydreaming about PVP in her mind, Shi Jin quickly explained:
“With such a large venue, won’t there be many spectators? I’m a bit nervous.”
Her concern made sense; the selection venue had several rows of fixed seats arranged at increasing heights around it, resembling a circular stadium’s center.
At that moment, there were almost no spectators in the thousands of seats except for some staff moving around, as if a large audience hadn’t entered.
“You’re overthinking it,” Fulan replied with a hint of helplessness.
“Everyone has work to do; who would want to come watch such a boring selection?
“Only those superhero teams who signed up to recruit new members from you will come to watch.”
Saying this, Fulan pointed upward with the corner of her clothing, which had slightly lifted.
“Your battle records will be fully recorded and saved by the surveillance above, but as long as there are no malicious incidents involving you, these records will basically never be accessed by anyone.
“So, don’t think too much about it; pay attention to that young man with golden hair. You should find a way to join his team. I’ve already explained the basic information, so I won’t repeat it. Just prepare yourself.”
A few minutes later, a group of just over twenty people walked in from outside; Fresnel and Wang Xiao were among them, positioned in the middle and looking unremarkable.
A man in his thirties with short braids at the back of his head was chatting casually with Fresnel. His team had only three people left, and they wanted to replace two for this mission.
Fresnel’s expression appeared somewhat Stoic-looking; he scoffed at the Captain’s almost whimsical decision.
Going out for exploration was far more dangerous than fighting at the city walls. Fresnel considered that a four-member team with only one missing was already a stretch, while a three-member team with two missing was putting teammates’ lives at risk.
Yet he understood the Captain’s choice; if a depleted team couldn’t find new blood for a long time, they would be broken up and reassigned to other teams that were not full.
For some superpowered individuals who depended on teamwork, such a handling would be outright weakening.
But the good-natured Fresnel ultimately kept his sharper words to himself; in the hierarchy of priorities, a team missing one was higher than one missing two.
They understood that the candidates they were interested in wouldn’t be snatched away anytime soon. Looking at the list containing fewer than twenty potential candidates, Fresnel felt that today might end in disappointment, adhering to his belief to prioritize quality over quantity.
Soon, the resumes of a total of sixteen candidates were handed to the various Captains.
If a psychologist from another world witnessed this scene, they would likely remark on it as a direct BOSS deception.
Like most Captains, Fresnel quickly categorized the names into three groups: placing powerful candidates who matched the team at the front, placing strong candidates with lower compatibility in the middle, and putting those who needed no explanation at the end.
After organizing the order, Fresnel handed the list to Wang Xiao, signaling for him to check if there were any issues with the basic sorting.
For this initial screening, the Fresnel team had already briefly explained it before arriving.
At that moment, the remaining three people had not shown any signs of misunderstanding; they took turns contributing to the sorting of the list.
The selection process mainly consisted of two steps: the superpowered individuals would briefly showcase their abilities, and any interested Captains would send members down to spar with them to gauge their level. Finally, there would be a selection process where everyone would choose.
As the list returned to Fresnel, he looked down to see the first resume belonged to a boy who appeared rather immature.
Superpowered individual Xie Mingguang (ID 15031), ability to manipulate the flow of surrounding air.
His preferred methods included blowing nearby enemies away and stably controlling airflow to achieve levitation and short-distance flight for objects or people, which provided considerable mobility advantages.
His weaknesses were primarily low endurance and inherently weak damage output.
From the standpoint of quick transfers, he seemed suitable for the team, but… the boy’s physical defense was a bit low, meaning selecting him would put more pressure on Wang Xiao.
However, there were advantages; with his inclusion, the Puppet Master would be able to float the coffin, no, the life pod containing his body up in the air.
It was safer, but still not completely secure…
