Jerry was flipping through the documents in his hands. It detailed the freshwater consumption used by Street C that was on the Hope’s second floor, since he was second floor Street A, B, C, and D’s water and electricity manager. Other than the usual road maintenance, his job entailed him revising the electricity and water consumption on the 1st of every month for the 4 streets before sending them to the Department of Water and Electricity.
When the other teen yelled out his name, he put down the document and said indifferently, "Tom, don’t get too excited for nothing. The fish came in a sealed plastic bag, right? They won’t even allow the water from outside the Hope come into contact with anything inside the Hope, much less the fish itself."
Tom sidled up to Jerry with a face full of smiles. "I’m just trying to chat with you. Why the long face so early in the morning? Even if you gave the fish for me to eat, I don’t think I’d have the guts to eat it anyway. Who knows what will happen after you eat it? Maybe your body will be infested with parasites, or you’ll be changed into a mutant fish! How scary would that be? I, for one, will not go near that fish, much less eat it, but you know those chinks…"
Jerry shot him a fiery glance, and Tom coughed as he corrected himself. "Those Chinese people are discussing what kind of tasty animals would they find on this planet! Oh my god, do their heads not go beyond the matters of food?"
Jerry frowned and he rebuked Tom. "How could you say something like that, Tom? I remember your Chinese neighbors treating your family to a scrumptious meal when you first moved into this residential area. Stop being so judgmental and racist; you’re not so good yourself, a ruffian."
Tom kept smiling, unaffected by Jerry’s admonishment. "Well, I’m only 18, and there are still 6 more years before the required age for me to find a job. The only thing I need to focus on is my studies. Furthermore, both my parents are in the Academy, so they have impressive benefits and salary. Alas, they spend their whole days researching this and that, so it has to fallen on their son to spend their H-coins, or else wouldn’t it be a waste?"
Jerry ignored him and went back to his documents. He jotted down a few notes.
Tom waited for Jerry to pick up the thread of conversation, but when he didn’t, Tom continued, "Actually, Jerry, I don’t understand why you are out here working at your young age. You’re only 3 months older than me, right? Furthermore, your dad is a university lecturer, so there’s no need for you to move out so early from home and work to support your own studies. Also, didn’t I hear you volunteer to join the military? Moreover, it’s the Black Star Troopers regime. Did you seriously not hear about the rumors that all the troopers are to be taken into the Homo Evolutis Faction to be molded into robots? Poor Maria has been crying herself to sleep these few days…"
Jerry sighed and put the documents away. He looked Tom straight in the eye as he said, "Tom, I know you’re here because Maria told you to, so I’m going to cut to the chase lest both of our times are wasted. I wish to join the Black Star Troopers not only because I am a Perceptor, but I feel summoned to do so. I’ve told both you and Maria as much."
Tom dropped his ruffian-esque demeanor and replied in a serious tone, "Yes, you’ve told us so, but we thought you were kidding. We have not heard God summoning people to join the military before; doesn’t the calling usually mean going into the cloister or church? Why the military camp? Did God tell you to be his blessed knight or avenging angel?"
Jerry frowned deeply. After a lengthy consideration, he answered, "You misunderstood me. When I said I was summoned, I didn’t mean it in terms of a God’s calling, it’s more of a compellation. I don’t know how to describe it. After I became a Homo Evolutis, I felt compelled to be near Captain Yao Yuan, to fight alongside him. Every time I’m near him, I feel comfortable and safe."
Tom shivered visibly and took a few deliberate steps away from Jerry, saying, "Oh, I didn’t know… you bend that way. No wonder you rejected Maria every time… Poor Maria."
Jerry didn’t know whether to be mad or laugh. He shook his head and said, "I only bend one way, and that is straight. Truth be told, I quite like Maria, but only as a sister. She’s too young, only 14. Furthermore, the desire to be near the Captain has nothing to do with my sexual orientation, it’s something more spiritual… like his presence was some sort of physical talisman."
Tom tried convincing Jerry to change his mind, but it was to no avail. This 18-year-old teen who boarded the Hope when he was 12 had his heart set.
There were about 30 people who shared the same sentiment as Jerry. They appeared after the war with the mother nest ended. All of them were Homo Evolutis, but varied in gender, Homo Evolutis types, and age. There was another similarity between all of them, and that was their reason for applying to join the Black Star Troopers. They wanted to fight alongside Yao Yuan.
The one person who was most shocked by this development was none other than Yao Yuan himself.
Of course, the enlargement of the Black Star Troopers was one of his plans. The troopers had shown its importance in the combat against the mother nest. No matter the early ambush or later space combat, the Black Star Troopers were responsible for turning the battle around. Without the troopers, Yao Yuan dared to say they would have been infiltrated by the alien before they could even have the chance to warp.
The 30 plus troopers who died in the war were thus giant losses for the Hope. Combined with the infected Troopers who didn’t hold on until the discovery of the Ultimate Vaccine, the Troopers lost 20 percent of their numbers! They now had about 110 members.
Authorities from the Barracks had been pressuring Yao Yuan to conscript more people into the Black Star Troopers since the end of the war. According to their data, among the new batch of Homo Evolutis, women included, there were about 10 individuals that could be trained to join the Black Star Troopers.
Wary of causing resentment through forced enlistment, Yao Yuan hesitated to sign the order. He had kept the need to refurbish the Black Star Troopers on the backburner for about one and a half months. Needless to say, he didn’t expect these people to volunteer to join the troopers. Yao Yuan should've been overjoyed, but when every single one of them mentioned the feeling of being summoned, he became cautious and anxious. To be precise, he was afraid they were all there because they were unconsciously hypnotized by his All-Rounder’s power.
This was because the All-Rounder had access to all the Homo Evolutis’ powers, just that his power wasn’t as powerful as the respective pure variants. The All-Rounder was a rarity among the Homo Evolutis and the other types, with the same rarity was the Deceiver.
The Homo Evolutis Faction had tried everything they could to uncover the mysteries of the Deceiver, but they were impeded by Jay’s condition. Therefore, most of the research was theoretical. Some researchers proffered the hypothesis that the Deceiver’s power worked in the same way as the Anima. They could communicate with others through an alternative channel. The biggest difference was that the Deceiver could manipulate the information that was communicated. In other words, while the Anima could relay information that he or she was presented with, the Deceiver could relay whatever he wanted. He could manipulate the information to his advantage in order to deceive his target.
The only power the All-Rounder didn’t show obvious signs of having was the Deceiver’s. Yao Yuan was afraid he had subconsciously used his Deceiver’s power to trick these people into joining the Black Star Troopers. After all, for the past 1 and a half months, the need to increase the Troopers’ number was all that he thought about.
Yao Yuan was extremely worried because no matter how strong one was, if the power was uncontrollable, it was more of a burden than benefit. Yao Yuan understood that clearly, so he called Ren Tao, Xiao Niao, and Xi Kong over to discuss this development. He needed specifically Xi Kong to tell him whether she had received any messages or communication from him through the soul web.
Her answer surprised Yao Yuan.
According to Xi Kong, she didn’t receive any message from him, much less one with the intention to trick! However, when she submerged into the soul web, she realized that the fireball that represented him had become bigger and brighter. Like a lighthouse in the dark, he was pulling other smaller orbs to him.
After hearing her out, Ren Tao said, "Instead of saying you gained the Deceiver’s power, I believed you’ve become stronger… Do you still remember the messages we gained from the junkyard AI? There is a term that it mentioned, Cosmic Adaptation Index. It had found out a matrix to numerate the Homo Evolutis’ power index. Those with a power index more than 500 are Homo Evolutis with skills, or in other words, Survivors have a power index that is less than 500. All of us Homo Evolutis with skills are deemed as grade S cosmic adapters, and the most unique among all of us, the All-Rounder and Deceiver, are both super grade S cosmic adapters and their power index is about 900. When your power index goes beyond 1,000, according to the AI, you’re deemed as…
"A level 2 All-rounder!"