31: Chapter 31 Candidates' Second Trial

After the multi-point anomaly mission ended, Xinhuo Hall did not immediately issue new tasks.

The grey fire in front of the stone tablet burned quietly, and the Grey Net hung down from the dome like a retracted web. Shen Qinghe, Zhao Ye, and Bai Ya stood on one side of the stone tablet, the marks on their inner wrists still retaining warmth. On the other side, the projections of Lin Zhao, Xu Minglan, Tang Zhiwei, and Zhou Yan appeared one by one.

It wasn't their first time standing here, but the atmosphere this time was different from before.

Previously, when they entered Xinhuo Hall, they were mostly accepting rules, receiving tasks, and waiting for settlement. Now, what appeared on the stone tablet was not an anomaly location, but four Candidate records.

【Candidate Second Review begins.】

Zero's voice rang out from the grey fog, calm and emotionless, yet it made everyone subconsciously stand a little straighter.

【Review criteria for this session: Candidate task records, temporary collaboration performance, anomaly contact stability, rule adherence, real-world identity risk, tendency to leak information, and resource adaptability.】

Lin Zhao's name lit up first.

The Grey Net unfolded several task summaries behind him: actively protecting ordinary people during the red shoes Candidate task; obeying evacuation orders during the crying face copper coin incident; and in the paper doll knocking mission, facing the temptation of a familiar voice without responding, nor attacking the anomaly core without authorization.

【Candidate: Lin Zhao.】

【Rating: Excellent.】

【Suggested direction: Action, Protection, Close-range suppression.】

【Apprentice application eligibility: Open.】

【Ability Seed exchange permission: Opens after passing Apprentice status. Current contribution points insufficient, cannot exchange.】

Lin Zhao looked at the last line, his eyes showing no disappointment, but rather becoming steadier.

He already knew that the Xinhuo Council was not a place that promised miracles. Being able to see the threshold was better than stumbling blindly in the dark.

Xu Minglan's record unfolded next.

The usage record of purification needles in the cold storage gasping incident, the wound observation after the crying face copper coin, and the draft of anomaly wound handling protocols she voluntarily submitted were all categorized by the Grey Net under medical adaptability.

【Candidate: Xu Minglan.】

【Rating: Excellent.】

【Suggested direction: Medical, Pollution delay, Anomaly wound handling.】

【Apprentice application eligibility: Open.】

【Ability Seed exchange permission: Opens after passing Apprentice status. Current contribution points insufficient, cannot exchange.】

Xu Minglan did not look at anyone else, only staring at the words "Anomaly wound handling."

She had seen too much life and death in the hospital and knew that so-called qualifications were not glory, but responsibility. What the Xinhuo Council gave her was not free power, but a path that needed to be earned slowly through tasks and contributions.

When Zhou Yan's record lit up, he was visibly nervous.

His task performance was not bad. In the red line directory, he judged the risks of name confirmation based on local chronicles; he did not rashly tear up the accident records on the paper pages; and the folklore archives he submitted provided a basis for subsequent judgments.

However, the Grey Net also listed several risks: weak mental stress capacity, slow reaction to targeted inducement, and not currently recommended for independent entry into high-risk scenes.

【Candidate: Zhou Yan.】

【Rating: Qualified.】

【Suggested direction: Investigation support, Archive organization, Old goods folklore identification.】

【Apprentice application eligibility: Not yet open.】

【Ability Seed directory: Details can be viewed, cannot be exchanged.】

Zhou Yan's face turned pale, but he did not defend himself.

Bai Ya glanced at him and suddenly said: "Being able to bring the information back alive is more useful than stubbornly dying at the scene."

Zhou Yan was stunned.

Bai Ya's tone was not gentle, but there was no mockery in this sentence.

Finally, it was Tang Zhiwei.

Her record was completely different from the others. The stone tablet did not list frontline contact frequency, but instead listed vehicle dispatch, Safe House activation, wounded transfer, Old Goods Street aftermath, logistics fund pool application, and records of her never attempting to exchange real-world money for core permissions.

【Candidate: Tang Zhiwei.】

【Rating: Special.】

【Suggested direction: Peripheral logistics, Real-world resources, Task aftermath.】

【Peripheral logistics collaborator authority: Officially opened.】

【Ability Seed exchange: Not yet open.】

【Logistics contribution can be accumulated and used for subsequent authority assessment.】

Seeing this, Tang Zhiwei felt relieved instead.

She was not afraid that the Xinhuo Council would not give her power. What she was truly worried about was whether this organization, like some circles in reality, would be opened by money where it shouldn't be.

Now the answer was clear.

Her money had value, but it could not cross the rules of Torch.

Shen Qinghe stood to the side, looking at the four Candidate records, a subtle feeling suddenly arising in her heart.

Not long ago, she was also someone led to the edge of the fire by a grey message. She used to only think about whether she could survive the mission and whether she could understand the anomaly rules. Now, she had begun to stand in the position of a Senior, watching the latecomers approach the threshold step by step.

Zhao Ye stared at the "Apprentice application eligibility" line on Lin Zhao's record and said in a low voice: "Being able to apply doesn't mean you can get the ability."

Lin Zhao nodded: "I understand."

"As long as you understand." Zhao Ye patted his uniform jacket. "Once you put this on, there are fewer paths of retreat."

Zero did not interrupt them.

After all the records were archived, a new prompt appeared on the stone tablet.

【Apprentice promotion application process has been generated.】

【Peripheral collaborator authority rules have been generated.】

【Ability Seed exchange conditions have been publicized.】

The marks on Lin Zhao and Xu Minglan's wrists became slightly warm at the same time.

【You have obtained Apprentice application eligibility.】

【Do you want to submit a promotion application?】

The two did not confirm immediately.

Because at the bottom of the prompt, there was another line of deeper grey text.

【Once you become an Apprentice, you will be officially incorporated into the Torch task system and assume corresponding risks.】

The stone tablet did not give rewards, nor did it promise power at this moment.

On the contrary, the same grey note appeared below all four records.

【The Candidate stage only represents the qualification to continue contact, not the acquisition of an official extraordinary path.】

【Candidate contributions can be accumulated, but Ability Seed exchange requires meeting corresponding status, contribution points, task history, and adaptation conditions.】

This line of text made Lin Zhao and Xu Minglan stare for a while longer.

They had already seen the abilities of Torch members in missions, and had seen Zhao Ye standing in front with an evil-breaking short staff, Shen Qinghe using Spirit Vision to judge rules, and Bai Ya using the Grey Net to track residual lines. It was impossible not to look forward to it.

But the Xinhuo Council placed the expectations before them, and set the threshold right along with it.

Lin Zhao felt relieved instead.

Zhao Ye looked at Lin Zhao's record, then glanced at the mark on his own wrist, unusually not making a joke.

He knew very well that the people most likely to get into trouble in frontline missions were not those who feared death, but those who thought they could handle everything just because they had gained a little qualification. Lin Zhao could pass the second review, but if he thought he was the same as a member who could exchange for an Ability Seed because of this, he would die in the first round of some anomaly's inducement sooner or later.

Lin Zhao seemed to notice his gaze and took the initiative to say: "I will not accept tasks beyond my level."

Only then did Zhao Ye nod.

"Remember that."

He was not afraid of training, not afraid of tasks, and not afraid of accumulating contributions step by step. What he feared was power coming too easily, so easily that one wouldn't know what to use it for when holding it in their hands.

Xu Minglan noticed that there was an "Anomaly wound record contribution" column next to the Candidate contribution. This meant that medical behavior would also be recognized by the organization, not just cutting down anomalies or sealing cores counted as credit.

This was very important to her.

The people a doctor saves often do not stand in the spotlight. But if the Xinhuo Council could see even these records, she knew her path was not an accessory.

Xinhuo Hall fell silent.

The firelight shone on everyone's faces.

The door had already opened.

But to truly walk inside, one still had to choose for themselves.