9:50 AM, above Godolkin University.
A grey-black hail cloud drifted slowly toward the entrance of the stadium, from which came sounds of happy laughter.
"Stop playing around. If people find out we've added some 'private stock' to the hail, we'll be in big trouble."
"It's fine. Who goes around tasting hail that falls from the sky?"
Wade, with his arm around Jill's waist, shot out of the cloud and landed on the edge of the grounds amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd.
Jill kissed his cheek, waved, and walked toward the queuing area for the arena exams: "Bye, see you at noon."
Wade stopped smiling and headed toward the training building alone: "What a pain. Time to go take that 'crime simulation and moral assessment' thing."
Just as he reached the entrance, he bumped into Jordan Li and Cate walking out side-by-side and asked casually: "What, you guys done with the exam?"
Jordan Li stopped and nodded: "Go ahead, it's not hard."
"What about Luke and Andre?"
"That bunch of disloyal guys? They took off as soon as they finished... They haven't finished investigating that 'mysterious livestock death' case they took the day before yesterday, so they dragged Sam off-campus to play detective."
Cate frowned and added softly: "Sam wasn't very happy after his assessment this morning. He said he was going to clear his head. I just hope they don't cause any trouble out there."
"It's fine, isn't that why you're here? I'm off." Wade nodded, then flew toward the stairs to head to the third-floor training classroom.
One minute later, at the entrance of the waiting classroom.
Holding his form, Wade looked at the incredibly spacious classroom, which was ten meters high and filled with sheets of transparent glass, various buildings, and street scenes.
"It really is an on-site simulation... and they even have special guest superhero judges."
He looked at the judging panel. Maeve was there, with Dean Shetty sitting to her left and Professor Siera from the School of Performing Arts to her right.
Besides them, there was a row of unfamiliar judges in suits sitting behind them.
"Next examinee, Wade Thompson, please enter."
Hearing this, Wade stepped into the exam room.
A guide wearing a Vought uniform walked up, handed him a metal collar, and said: "The use of superpowers and violent destruction of facilities is prohibited in the exam room. Please wear this limiter around your neck."
"During the assessment, you are just an ordinary person with slightly better physical fitness. The content is to handle on-site rescue work in an emergency situation. Any violations will result in you being asked to leave the exam room, and your score will be wiped."
"Understood." Wade handed over his assessment form and put the collar around his neck. He felt the connection between himself and the surrounding airflow being completely severed, and a long-lost sense of heaviness returned to his body.
The guide led him to a scene of half a meticulously built old apartment building and instructed: "The simulation is a 50-story apartment building. You have 10 minutes. There will be no audio prompts during the process, so please use your own judgment." With that, he closed the door.
'Sigh, time to start acting again.' Wade glanced at the one-way mirror facing the judges and started examining the room: "What is this testing? They wouldn't make me stop some violent crime or family dispute, would they?"
Ding-a-ling— A piercing fire alarm suddenly blared, and thick, choking simulated smoke poured out from all the vents, quickly swallowing his line of sight.
From the second floor came a woman's terrified cries for help and a boy's heartbreaking weeping: "Cough, cough... Help! Someone, save us!"
Wade bent over, covered his mouth and nose, and rushed up to the second floor, keeping his body low.
The smoke was quickly gathering on the second floor. Behind two closed bedroom doors came the calls for help and the crying:
"Help! Is anyone there!"
"Mommy—I'm scared—"
He found a portable oxygen tank and breathing mask in the hallway, clearly marked: only enough for two people to survive in the thick smoke.
Wade pounded on the door and shouted: "Please stay calm, open the door quickly, I'm here to help!"
The choice was before him: save only the woman? Or only the child? After all, he could only save one person.
Just as Wade was weighing his options, a heavy thud came from the third-floor attic. He rushed over to look and found a burly man holding a blood-stained axe passed out on the floor.
"Another one! This guy clearly looks like a criminal suspect, right?" He hesitated for a moment, then immediately made a decision: "Time waits for no one. Save the two downstairs first."
Wade ran downstairs, grabbed the oxygen tank, looked at the boy poking his head out from the bedroom door, and put the mask on his face: "Deep breaths, don't be afraid!"
Then he pulled the boy and rushed to the other room, shoved the oxygen tank into the woman's hands, and spoke at lightning speed:
"Take the child, use this, stay low, and run downstairs! Go!"
The woman nodded, immediately picked up the boy, put on the mask, and rushed toward the stairs.
Wade ran back to the attic, hoisted the unconscious burly man, and moved through the thick smoke, reaching the first floor with great speed.
Just as he was about to run to the exit, he discovered the mother and child were going in circles in the smoke. He had to turn back and guide them: "Wrong way, come this way!"
As he guided them onto the correct path and was following them out the exit, the countdown hit zero, and a voice announced: "Assessment over, please leave the simulation site."
The smoke in the house dissipated, and the three actors came out of their roles.
Wade walked out of the room and stood before the judging panel.
Maeve kept a straight face and held up an 8-point card: "Very good. You made the most rational choice in that situation, prioritizing the safety of the two survivors while still attempting to rescue the third person, demonstrating the responsibility and courage a hero should have."
Shetty snorted and held up a 6-point card: "A dead hero is not a good hero. You and the third person already died in the house; the rescue mission was a complete failure."
Siera didn't give a score immediately and asked meaningfully: "You gave it your all, yet ended up dying in the fire with that criminal. Do you regret it? Why give up an easier chance to survive to save a stranger?"
Wade pondered for a moment and said calmly: "I only found an unconscious person in need of help. My duty is to try my best to rescue them, not to act as judge and jury. If I had to do it over again, I would still try to bring him out."
Siera nodded, wrote for a while, and held up a 9-point board.
Wade hadn't expected Siera, who he had offended and who he didn't get along with at all in private, to give such a high score: 'People really are complex polyhedrons...'
Afterward, under the guide's direction, he removed the limiter and left the exam room through the back door.
...
Below the training building, Wade hovered off the ground, flying slowly along the campus path.
He recalled his score and performance and muttered to himself: 'Only a 7.6 composite score. A hero who likes to risk their life probably won't get a high score for commercial value or crisis management, right? I'm safe!'
Jordan Li caught up from behind, hurriedly grabbed his arm, and shouted anxiously: "Wait, Wade!"
"Andre called—Sam and Luke have been detained by the police!"
"What? What did they do? Explain clearly."
"They went to investigate that mysterious cow death case. Sam went crazy for some reason and snapped several people's hands... Now they're being held by local police for causing bodily harm, and Luke was arrested as an accomplice."
"Then why call us? Find a lawyer!"
"We already did. You fly fast and can carry people, so once it's resolved, we can make a quick trip back." Seeing him hesitate, Jordan Li couldn't help but punch him a few times and said in a low voice: "Aren't we a team? Don't forget the agreement we signed with the Dean. If Sam completely loses control, we're all finished."
'Lee is right.' Wade couldn't help but sigh while rubbing his forehead: "Sam didn't forget to take his meds again, did he? Or did his schizophrenia and bipolar disorder flare up at the same time?"
Jordan Li shook his head: "Not sure. Andre said on the phone that Sam seemed to be hallucinating, shouting that those people were vampires before he attacked."
"Fine," Wade's tone softened, and he asked: "Where?"
"In a remote town in this state called Moria." Jordan Li let out a sigh of relief and patted his shoulder hard: "I knew you wouldn't ignore it. Let's go."
"Hold on tight." As Wade spoke, the airflow around him began to swirl and accelerate.
Whoosh—!
A gentle current of air lifted them into the sky, and the campus scene grew smaller beneath their feet.
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