"Oh, the weakest 'Pontus' in history and the trash rookie she has brought has finally arrived!"
Shi Xiaobai could tell the deep provocative tone in the shrill voice at the door, but he immediately heard Riko's pearly voice in response.
"Tsk, even the weakest Pontus is a Pontus. Some trash can't even be one and can only look on with eyes of envy while barking like an abandoned dog."
"What? Who are you calling the abandoned dog? Didn't you become a Pontus only because you are His Excellency One-Pun's student? If not, with your Hero Ranking, how can you even become a Pontus?"
"Tsk, for Teacher One-Pun to only take me in as his only student, that alone explains everything. The Hero Ranking is just a matter of time, and I will surpass the abandoned dog that is you sooner or later."
...
The shrill voice and Riko's voice went back and forth in a heated argument.
Shi Xiaobai slowly walked in and jumped in fright when he saw what was inside. The room was extremely spacious. All sorts of exotic facilities were placed in here. Two large rows of seats lined each side of the room, rising upwards like staircases. On the seats to the left, there were three people sitting in random fashion.
And at this moment, there were four people standing in the middle of the room. Riko and a red-dressed woman were engaging in a war of words. Beside them were two teenagers. One of them looked quite handsome and had his hands crossed, like he was watching a good show. The other person looked very well-built as he kept gesturing with his hands while a distressed look hung on his face.
There was a high platform in the inner recesses of the room, resembling a rostrum in a lecture hall. At this moment, there were three older people sitting on the platform. An old man, a middle-aged man and a middle-aged woman. The three of them were looking straight ahead, as if they had no intention to stop the squabbling between the two.
Shi Xiaobai slowly walked towards Riko, as if no one noticed his arrival, or it could be said that even if they did, no one cared about his arrival.
At this moment, the red-dressed woman suddenly screamed, "Enough! Who knows if you and His Excellency One-Pun had engaged in some dirty deal? Who knows if you sold your body to become His Excellency One-Pun's student?"
The moment this was said, there was silence for a second.
"Pa!" The silence came to an abrupt halt at a sudden loud slap!
"Shut up!" Many roaring voices exploded in unison.
The three older people on the platform stood up.
The middle-aged man reprimanded, "Mu Hongli, do you know who are you talking about?"
The middle-aged woman said with a shrill voice, "How can His Excellency One-Pun's name be used in vain?"
The elder said solemnly, "His Excellency One-Pun is not to be insulted."
Riko, who had already sent out her slap, breathed violently out. She said coldly, "Mu Hongli, go back and reflect on what you just said."
On Mu Hongli's beautiful white cheeks, a pinkish palm print appeared. Her watery eyes seemed to well up with a mist of water vapor as she lowered her head and said with a trembling voice, "I.. I.. will personally apologize to His Excellency One-Pun."
After that, she raised her head and looked hatefully at Riko, saying coldly, "But I will never acknowledge your qualification as Pontus. Also, don't you forget our bet!"
After Mu Hongli said this, she turned around and saw the stunned Shi Xiaobai behind Riko. Immediately, her hatred for Riko extended to Shi Xiaobai. She stared ruthlessly at Shi Xiaobai before quickly walking to her seat on the right side of the room.
The handsome teenager moved to the right side of the room with a look of regret while shaking his head. Following that, the well-built youth also followed while scratching his head.
"Girl, you and that red-dressed witch made a bet?" Shi Xiaobai went to Riko's side and asked in a whisper.
"Nothing much, just...a casual bet." Riko revealed an unnatural smile before pointing to the seats on the left and said, "Go there and take a seat. Those three people are rookies participating in today's Rookie Evaluation Test."
"Alright." Shi Xiaobai nodded his head before walking over to the left.
Riko watched Shi Xiaobai's back and was about to say something, but for some reason, she could not force herself to open her mouth.
At this moment, Shi Xiaobai, who was about to walk far into the distance, stopped. Without turning back, he suddenly said, "Girl, This King is a very, very, very...reliable person!"
After saying that, Shi Xiaobai strode towards the seats on the left.
"Tch!"
Riko issued a disdainful jeer and turned to walk towards the right, but a charming smile had bloomed on her face.
...
Shi Xiaobai was at quite a loss. What was Pontus? What was Riko and that red-dressed witch arguing about? What was the strange atmosphere in the room about? Shi Xiaobai had no clue at all.
Shi Xiaobai was desperately hoping he could ask someone. He glanced at the other three rookies that were seated in front of him. One of them was a blond youth about 12–13 years old, while there was a 8–9 year-old boy, as well as a 4–5 year old loli.
Shi Xiaobai instinctively walked towards the blond youth, but was immediately met with a scornful look. With a turn of his head, he saw the boy giving him the middle finger, and when he walked to the loli, she made a face at him.
"Foolish humans, to think they dare treat This King with such disrespect."
Shi Xiaobai sighed in his heart. He nonchalantly found a seat and sat down. He then looked at the four people on the right side of the room, who were distancing themselves like water and fire.
"The four people on the left and the four people on the right, could there be some connection?"
Shi Xiaobai pondered over this for a moment before feeling irritated. "Who cares? This King will adopt the necessary measures depending on the situation."
After the two sides took their seats, the elder on the platform stood up once again and took a few steps forward. With a cough, he immediately attracted everyone's gazes.
"Riko Minamiya, Mu Hongli, Zhao Xiong, Fang Qingshan, the four of you are the respective young leaders of [Annihilation], [Creation], [Order], [Chaos]. Your every action will indirectly affect the prestige of the four Divisions. Therefore, even in the annual Rookie recommendations, you should not relax in your efforts."
The elder asserted eloquently, when he suddenly looked to the right side of the room. With a twist in his words, he said, "Riko Minamiya, the rookie you introduced two years ago has disappointed the organization greatly. This year, you are not only the young leader of [Annihilation], you are even the Oceanic Pontus. I wish you will take things seriously and not let the organization down anymore."
Riko replied with an unhappy "Tch", while Mu Hongli laughed with gleeful mockery while covering her mouth.
The elder continued, "The same old rules apply. After the rankings of today's four rookies are out, the organization will announce it officially internally. The first ranked Division will receive an increment in Division points, and the last place will receive a reduction in Division points. [Gaia] encourages competition and will reward the strongest, as well as punish the weakest!"
As Shi Xiaobai heard the elder's words, he was lost in deep thought. Suddenly, he saw the blond youth walk towards him, putting him on high alert immediately.
However, he saw the blond youth stop midway. His eyes were filled with burning disdain as he said to Shi Xiaobai with a mocking tone, "So you are just an ordinary person without any Psionic Power. It looks like Riko Minamiya is a rather unreliable person as the rumors go."
Shi Xiaobai's gaze turned a bit cold but he remained silent.
"For Senior Hongli to send me to take down trash like you, it is such an overkill."
The blond youth suddenly revealed a ferocious smile and pointed his thumb at himself, proclaiming loudly, "I am a one-in-a-million Psyker!"
Upon saying the word "Psyker", the blond youth's arrogant look made it seem like he owned the entire world.