Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

?

The staff member bravely stood up, ready to tell the truth.

"Sir... the machines detected them, all of them."

No matter what the facts were, blame the machine first.

"We notified you as soon as we detected the first one, but, to our surprise... all of them were detected by the machine. We now suspect there might be an issue with the machine, yet we still hope that you could help us confirm it, just in case there really are that many talented individuals, which would be a great achievement for us."

Since the summons had already been made, might as well follow through.

Strike with a staff imbued with spiritual energy.

The skinny monkey stroked his chin, his gaze sweeping over the somewhat bewildered and fearful refugees.

If everyone possesses it, it means no one does.

It must be the machine that's broken.

But since they're here anyway, let's see what they're made of.

Tests amongst spiritual energy users don't require much machine assistance. Each practitioner possesses their strengths, and what the skinny monkey excelled in was sensing the fluctuations of others' spiritual energy... but it required the target's non-resistant cooperation first.

The skinny monkey walked towards his chosen number one candidate, speaking in an even tone, "Look into my eyes, focus your attention."

"Yes... yes." The refugee wasn't sure what was going on, but Bai E had instructed them earlier, so following orders was the best option.

The final test, once passed, would lead to a brand new, splendid life.

As their eyes met, the skinny monkey's gaze swirled like a vortex in the refugee's eyes, causing an unconscious dizziness to set in.

"..."

Time quietly passed by during their eye contact, and at a certain moment, the skinny monkey suddenly stepped back, disconnecting from the spiritual contact.

A shock that was hard to express welled up in his heart—

There indeed was talent.

The sensed fluctuations weren't particularly strong and somewhat passive, but still a bit more than the average person.

Perhaps the machines were malfunctioning; it was highly unlikely for everyone to have it. But his own sense was not mistaken; the first candidate he had identified indeed possessed a trace of potential talent that could be unearthed.

Facing someone who might be a future peer, the smile on the skinny monkey's face softened a bit more, "Not bad, not bad at all. Wait over there for a while; I'll take you to register shortly."

In a vast city teeming with people, most are affiliated with various power struggles and factions; only these unaffiliated refugees represented a "wealth" that the city itself could fully control.

After speaking, the skinny monkey then turned his gaze to the second candidate with some expectation, rubbing his hands together.

It seemed his spiritual intuition was incredibly sharp. If the first person he identified had talent, what about the second one?

"Look into my eyes..."

"..."

Present as well?

"..."

To encounter two in one go was a double blessing.

What day was today?

The skinny monkey was ecstatic as he turned towards the third candidate.

"..."

As the vortex swirled in the eyes, the skinny monkey took a step back in disbelief.

Present too?

Three... there were three!

"..." The skinny monkey suddenly looked towards the staff next to the machine and asked uncertainly, "Did you just say that the machines judged all of them to have it?"

"Yes! Yes!"

The staff members nodded in unison, looking compliant.

Could it be that the machines weren't malfunctioning?

Yes, indeed... It's normal for a machine or two to have issues occasionally, but what are the odds of five machines malfunctioning simultaneously?

The skinny monkey's expression became grave.

One was luck, two were a surprise, but all... that was terrifying.

For their world of spiritual energy users, behind any abnormal phenomenon, there often lay astounding secrets.

He began to doubt if the problem was with himself...

"You all continue monitoring. Line up in front of me, anyone who's confirmed by the machines."

"Yes!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Beep beep beep~"

"Beep beep beep~"

The machine's faint buzzing noise started to sound incessantly.

The non-irritating sound rose and fell without a break, turning the examination room into an atmosphere of strangeness.

There were so many refugees lined up that the room could barely contain them, packed in a confused wait.

Until two machines emitted even sharper buzzing sounds consecutively.

"Buzz buzz buzz!"

The skinny monkey, who was testing the refugees in front of him, immediately broke the connection and turned his attention toward the two machines and the targets they were examining.

A boy and a girl, both very young.

Their figures were somewhat frail, but their eyes were bright and lively...

And they were both good-looking too; their worn and tattered clothes couldn't hide their innate aura.

The medical machine's standards only had two levels—might have it, and explosively strong.

When the gap wasn't significant, the machine couldn't tell the difference.

It was only when someone possessed talent to a certain extreme that the machine would issue this burdened warning as it was right now.

In an instant, the skinny monkey's expression, originally one of surprise, swiftly changed to one of humble recognition.

He sprang to his feet and approached the two with careful hastened steps, asking with reverence, "May I know how the two noble individuals wish to be addressed?"

It didn't matter whether they were called nobles or not, or what their ages were; this world recognized only one truth—respect the strong.

No matter where these people came from or what secrets lay behind their appearance, the reality of their spiritual talent stood firm. Such immensely talented refugees... no, nobles, were rare to see even in a monster-filled institution like the Heretical Arbitration House.

And more importantly, they were still young.

If these two young individuals were to progress step by step, their future achievements were unimaginable.

And with such talents, they were bound to receive the city's full nurturing efforts!

As long as they didn't perish halfway from the demon's gaze, they would be the future's strong pillars of support!

Morphie and Kiro Lan exchanged a cautious glance before taking turns to briefly reply.

"Morphie."

"Kiro Lan."

"Morphie... Kiro Lan... I need to conduct a small test for the two of you first, and I would be grateful if you could cooperate."

It was highly likely that the machine had no problems, but considering the need to alert the higher levels of the organization, the Skinny Monkey had to perform a basic test himself.

"...No problem."

The attitude that differed so drastically from how they treated other refugees caused the children to be surprised, but they didn't show too much reaction, simply agreeing cautiously.

Everything in the city was fresh and unfamiliar to them; they needed time to adapt.

The vortex spun quickly; feeling a throbbing pain in his brain, Skinny Monkey hastily retreated four or five steps. Without any time to consider his mind being stirred as if by a heated iron needle, Skinny Monkey stepped forward quickly, his tone humble to the extreme.

"Please wait a moment here; I'll go notify the city's elders to come and receive you."

"Wait." Morphie furrowed her brows slightly and asked Skinny Monkey, "Is there, any problem with us?"

"No problem at all!" Skinny Monkey replied in quick succession, fearing that he might leave any misunderstanding with the future elders, "It's just that your talents are too exceptional; they are rare in the entire city, and our small division has no authority to handle it. We need to report to the higher-ups so they can personally come to guide both of you."

"..."

Talents?

Exceptional?Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Morphie and Kiro Lan exchanged glances. They had lived in that oasis town for the past decade or so, where such barbaric places don't pay heed to these things.

They, had talents?

But regardless, seeing the other's humble attitude, both became aware that they might indeed find a decent settlement environment in this city.

Status meant having a voice, and Kiro Lan felt somewhat exhilarated, 'In that case, it should be no problem to go to the military barracks, right?'

...

The appearance of those with Spiritual Energy talents was evidently a top-priority matter in the city.

And this time, the matter was particularly significant!

The arrival of two top-tier talents along with an entire group of over four hundred refugees, all possessing basic talents, immediately caused an uproar within the Spiritual Power Managers Center that received the news.

Each Spiritual Energy practitioner specialized in different areas; not all belonged to the Heretical Arbitration House.

Spiritual Energy practitioners affiliated with the city were firstly part of the Spiritual Power Managers Center and secondly the various functional agencies.

An A-level personnel from the Management Center and two B-level persons arrived together, their released Spiritual Pressure causing Skinny Monkey to hunch over, completely unable to look them in the eye.

"Where are they?" the authoritative female voice in the middle calmly asked.

"They're in that room over there... I've asked the two elders to rest over there first."

"Lead the way."

"Yes."

...

After a more precise test, Aglaya rubbed her temples with her pale finger, looking slightly distressed.

Unimaginably exceptional talents.

Both of them.

In the history of the entire city, probably no more than five individuals possessed Spiritual Energy talents equal to or surpassing these two children.

And each of these talents of such caliber was undoubtedly an indescribable treasure and core of the city.

"We've struck gold!"

An elated male B-level colleague exclaimed.

Another male B-level colleague, although equally excited, still maintained his own critical thinking, "But the question is, why did they appear at the same time?"

It could be called coincidence for two superb talents to appear together, but for two superb talents and a group of basic talents to emerge at the same time was just too strange.

Aglaya crouched down gently, her expression softening slightly from the sternness the outsiders saw, "Child, tell me, where do you all come from?"

These were refugees brought back by the military, which was all the information they had.

Specific details were for the military to record, the refuge center didn't care about those matters.

But now, they could only analyze based on the origins of these people.

About to reach adulthood, the large-sister-figure with pitch-black curls exuded a spirited aura; her face, unlike Kiro Lan's delicate and charming one, possessed a kind of bold and sharp beauty. This caused the typically proactive Morphie to unusually blush slightly.

Kiro Lan spoke calmly, "We come from Jinshuizhou Town."

"Jinshuizhou Town?" The male B-level member silently noted this name.

Aglaya's gaze focused on the girl's face in front of her, and she continued to inquire softly, "Did you encounter anything unusual on the way here?"

Kiro Lan looked straight into her eyes, "When we were hiding in an underground cavern... we encountered a demon, like those in the legends."

"Impossible!" one of the B-level members immediately denied, "If you truly encountered a demon, you could not have escaped!"

Escape with these refugees having no combat power?

Talent potential is potential, combat power is combat power.

Perhaps they had encountered some inexplicable incidents, which these ignorant people mistook for the work of demons.

"No! That was indeed the demon itself." Kiro Lan kept eye contact, unyielding.

Aglaya didn't rush to dismiss this claim. Her serene and wise eyes just stared into Kiro Lan's, "Then how did you manage to escape?"

Upon encountering the true form of a demon, either one was corrupted and enslaved or directly devoured.

Such entities knew nothing of mercy.

Kiro Lan spoke gently as if recalling the towering figure of that elder, "A warrior appeared and saved all of us."

Aglaya narrowed her eyes, "Was it a soldier sent by the military to assist you?"

"Yes."

"What's his name?"

"Bai E."

"Let's go," Aglaya rose suddenly, "To the military camp."

"Hey, hey, hey! You really believe what she said? That's a demon!"

"Then how would you explain all those refugees suddenly having Spiritual Energy fluctuations?" Aglaya glanced back at him.

In her mind, an explanation was already taking form.

But it needed to be confirmed through a face-to-face confrontation.