The scene had erupted into chaos.
"SSS-grade!? H-how is this possible!? Is the equipment malfunctioning!?"
"Awakening Pod technology has been perfected over the past thirty years. When was the last time it made an error?"
"Exactly. Su Zhan, SSS-grade Life Soul. No doubt about it."
"Doesn't this mean... the Aberrant Purge Division arrested the wrong person?"
"I always said Su Zhan didn't look like a monster."
"Bullshit! Weren't you just saying we should stay away from him?"
"Look at Captain Du's expression! I've never seen him make that face before."
"Well damn. I think Doberman's looking at more than just prison time now."
The Aberrant Purge Division's area was no longer calm.
Several young agents exchanged uneasy glances: "Didn't Captain Du say Su Zhan was... a suspected Aberrant? What does this mean now?"
"Shut your mouth!"
An older investigator snapped, stealing glances at Doberman's ashen profile.
The live stream chat exploded:
HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT! Historic moment!
Doberman really fucked up this time lol...
Dude's human and you had to accuse him of being an Aberrant? GG.
Meanwhile.
Li Yuqin stood in the shadows of the spectator stands, her emotions in turmoil.
Her father's voice buzzed in her ear: "Qinqin, weren't you close with him? You even specially invited him to your birthday party last time."
Yes. Invited him as a shield.
Li Yuqin remembered linking arms with Su Zhan, catching sight of Du Feng's livid expression from the corner of her eye.
She remembered even more clearly that night at the party, watching Su Zhan walk away without looking back as she nursed her sprained ankle.
"What's the point of saying this now?" she said coldly. "You were the one who told me he was dangerous, a suspected Aberrant, that I should stay away."
When Su Zhan faced universal condemnation, when he stood most alone - she hadn't stood by him.
Nothing could change that now.
Her father kept rambling: "Young people have conflicts all the time. Let me tell you, how many SSS-grade Life Souls does Daxia produce in a year?"
"At minimum, he'll become a city lord. At best, he'll enter Daxia's highest decision-making circles."
"If someone like that liked you before, just apologize and everything will be fine."
Liked her? Yes, he had.
But you said it yourself - that was before.
Li Yuqin's heart bled even as her expression remained frosty. "You're wrong, dad. At minimum, he'll die on the battlefield with nothing. Awakeners don't have the glorious life you imagine."
"With great power comes great responsibility, I understand that much."
Her father continued: "Daxia will heavily nurture talents like this. They wouldn't let them die easily."
"Dad."
Li Yuqin was filled with regret, but years as a wealthy heiress made it impossible to swallow her pride.
"Do you really think an SSS-grade Awakener wouldn't see through such tricks?"
"What does being SSS-grade matter?"
Her father smiled. "It just means he's talented. At the end of the day, he's still an 18-year-old boy. Right now is precisely when he'd be most susceptible to romance. Qinqin, let me tell you, when I was his age—"
"Dad, stop."
Li Yuqin's eyes reddened as she gritted her teeth.
She had suddenly realized something.
She'd lost something incredibly valuable.
Like that antique vase she'd broken as a child - she hadn't understood its worth until her father quoted its astronomical price.
What a perfect "partner" he would have made.
SSS-grade Life Soul, limitless potential - he should have been the most dazzling card in her hand.
A tool to solidify her family's status, something to flaunt in high society.
See? Even a genius like this is devoted to me.
But now, that chess piece had jumped off the board on its own.
Her father kept nagging about apologizing.
Li Yuqin couldn't bring herself to lower her head.
On the field.
Su Zhan stared at the pocket watch hovering above his palm, the golden vertical pupil of the Eye of Time Abyss slowly rotating, connected to his consciousness.
Absurd.
His first reaction wasn't elation, but a deeply ironic sense of absurdity.
An Aberrant awakening a Life Soul?
SSS-grade?
It felt like some cruel joke.
He should have been a rat in the sewers, prey hunted by the Aberrant Purge Division, the monster Doberman swore could never awaken.
Yet here he stood, bathed in sunlight, looking down upon them all.
So fate had a sense of humor after all.
A savage, almost violent satisfaction surged through him.
He took in Doberman's ashen face in the distance, Li Yuqin's stiff smile, the crowd's expressions twisted in shock.
How hilarious!
The Aberrant they feared had become Daxia's genius.
The ant they tried to crush into the mud now stood at heights they could never reach.
The pocket watch's gears turned softly with a click.
Su Zhan suddenly smiled.
Doberman, since you insisted on determining right from wrong...
I'll use this eye to watch you kneel.
Recruiters from major Awakener academies had already broken through the security lines.
"Student Su Zhan!"
A middle-aged man in navy uniform reached him first.
"Just say the word and Jiang City's First Awakener Academy will grant you elite student status! Full scholarship, 1 million annual stipend, plus a riverside villa in the city center!"
Before he finished speaking,
a stylishly dressed middle-aged woman cut in:
"Join Jiang City's Second Awakener Academy and you'll get exclusive access to our top cultivation resources, one-on-one mentorship from our best instructors, and guaranteed placement in Daxia's official Awakener organization upon graduation - an iron rice bowl."
Other recruiters grew frantic, their offers increasingly extravagant:
"Our academy will build you a private lab!"
"We'll house all your family members!"
"Don't even bother - Student Su Zhan has no family. Our academy can—"
Amid the chaos,
Su Zhan only had eyes for Doberman's bloodless face on the platform.
The once-arrogant Hound was now being berated by Aberrant Purge Division higher-ups.
"Make way, make way..."
A scholarly-looking man pushed through the crowd.
The recruiters tried to resist,
but were effortlessly shoved aside.
They gaped in shock.
Who was this?
How was he so strong!?
In the blink of an eye, Wang Mingyuan stood before Su Zhan, adjusting his signature gold-rimmed glasses:
"Su Zhan, don't listen to them. With your talent, you could get into the top academies in the capital or Demon City. Don't let these people take advantage of you."