CHAPTER 995: CHAPTER 994: ARE WE DREAMING?

"There are currently a total of thirteen thousand five hundred people enrolled."

Looking at the statistics on his personal terminal, Fang Zheng said calmly. Hearing Fang Zheng’s response, the mages, including Mary, instantly had their expressions change dramatically.

"I suggest you don’t take in too many people at the start. Just find some students with good talents and strong comprehension. Once they graduate, they can be responsible for teaching more apprentices, and you can focus on your own tasks."

This is quite a common situation in the Heavenly Dao Palace at the moment. Initially, when the Cursed Children entered the Heavenly Dao Palace, there weren’t enough people to handle teaching, so Fang Zheng had Black Katie, Lydia, and Nymph each select some relatively fast-progressing students for guidance. Once they graduated, they could stay at the school to handle teaching and management. Seeing that those kids are doing well, Fang Zheng decided to apply this system to Hogwarts.

After hearing Fang Zheng’s words, Mary and the others felt a bit more at ease, but once Fang Zheng left, they couldn’t help but discuss among themselves.

"That’s way too many people... Our academy can’t even enroll ten thousand people in a year!"

"Maybe not everyone has the talent."

Annie put forth her own idea.

"I heard from Father that when the academy was first established, people from all over the country brought their children to enroll, but many of them didn’t have magical talent... Maybe it’s the same here? They don’t seem familiar with magic, so maybe they’re unsure if they have the talent?"

"That makes sense."

Upon hearing this, everyone more or less calmed down, and Mary clapped her hands.

"Alright, let’s prepare and start the screening process!"

As Annie mentioned, to become a mage, the first step is to pass a screening test to confirm whether one has the ability to perform Magic. The method is the same one Fang Zheng previously used on Black Cat. All one has to do is place their hand on the Crystal Ball for five seconds, and after five seconds, it will be determined.

If qualified, they move on to the next step. If not, they can wash up and go home to sleep.

Quickly, the little ones lined up to enter the auditorium that served as the screening venue, and Mary refocused her thoughts and began to prepare for the assessment.

"Hello, please come over."

As an assistant to a certain unscrupulous chief, Mary, although never having taken on students herself, often helped her teacher with exams and tests, so she was quite familiar with this task. She quickly pointed to one of the youngsters at the front of the line and signaled them to come over.

"Don’t be nervous, place your hand on the Crystal Ball, and focus your Spirit..."

"Okay, sure..."

Hearing Mary’s words, the little one was obviously a bit nervous, reaching out to press the Crystal Ball. Before long, Mary saw a gentle Radiance and symbols appearing on the Crystal Ball...

"It’s the Transmutation and Prophecy systems... Hmm, you passed."

Glancing at the youngster before her, Mary marked a tick on the roster displayed on her personal terminal, smiling at them. The youngster nodded happily, then obediently bowed to her.

"Thank you!"

After saying this, the youngster skipped away, and Mary watched their retreating figure with a grin, mentally noting that it was a good start.

But soon, Mary felt something off.

"Hmm, very good, you passed, next one..."

"Wow, great talent, passed, next one..."

"Excellent, you passed, next one..."

"You also passed, hmm... No problem, next one..."

"Passed... Oh wow, you have great talent too..."

By the end of the morning, Mary was entirely numb, and the others were no better off. Once they left the auditorium and returned to the lounge, everyone’s expressions were as though they’d been forcibly held down and interrogated by dozens of burly men, filled with bewilderment and emptiness.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What am I doing?

Why are so many people passing?

Am I dreaming?

"...How many people passed over there?"

Mary laid on the couch, speaking softly, while the others weakly replied.

"Five hundred and twenty people..."

"Six hundred and thirty-five people..."

"Four hundred and seventy-two people..."

"Are there any unqualified?"

"..........."

This time, there was a long silence before anyone weakly responded.

"No..."

"No... How is that possible?"

"Indeed... How is that possible?"

Mary and her group’s mood was like teachers grading exams, seeing every paper scoring over 700 points, and their first reaction was "How is that possible?" "Am I dreaming?"

Mary didn’t have the strength to speak.

According to her experience, magical talent was something rare—a normal find among ten thousand, excellent in a thousand, extraordinary in a hundred—and you’d pray for divine blessing then.

But every single one? What’s going on?

How could there be so many students with magical talent here??

Mary couldn’t figure it out, no matter how hard she tried to understand.

Could it be that my past ten-plus years of life were fake?

Fang Zheng, of course, didn’t know that the little ones under his care had caused the mages from the White Tower to question their reality. In fact, he had no time for such matters either, as Fang Zheng was more focused on the recent attack on Iona.

Although the ambush ended anticlimactically due to the attacker’s incompetence, the fact that someone dared to assault the Heavenly Dao Palace in Golden Bay was indicative enough. Fang Zheng had already investigated through Ratziel, confirming that the attacker wasn’t from the White Tower. Instead, the assailant had been hiding their identity, working as a laborer on Golden Bay’s docks while closely monitoring the Heavenly Dao Palace’s activities.

Iona had been targeted because she had gone to pick someone up.

The issue wasn’t being watched; it was about who was watching.

"Kurumi."

Fang Zheng closed Ratziel, his face almost showing a storm, and upon hearing his voice, his shadow wavered and Kurumi emerged, smiling.

"Here, Mr. Fang Zheng, do you have orders?"

"How are things going with the Mercenary Group?"

Kurumi herself wasn’t at the Mercenary Group; she had left a clone to accompany Walnut, as Kurumi could easily use her numerous clones.

"Everything’s going smoothly. Miss Walnut is growing even faster than I imagined..."

"Good."

Fang Zheng nodded at Kurumi’s report.

"What about the investigation of the cult?"

"We’ve identified some targets, though not precisely yet."

"Doesn’t matter, as long as there are targets."

Fang Zheng let out a snort.

During his previous investigation with Ratziel, he learned the attacker’s identity and true purpose—the attacker was a believer of the Doomsday Church, and he attacked Iona to provoke a conflict between the Heavenly Dao Palace and the Kingdom of Flame because, besides being a Doomsday believer, the attacker was also a nobility belonging to the Kingdom.

If Fang Zheng didn’t have the Divine Artifact like Ratziel, he might have been misled by the Doomsday Church.

Moreover, through Ratziel, Fang Zheng discovered the Doomsday Church’s latest plan—they intended to "purify evil" under the Heavenly Dao Palace’s name across the continent, tarnishing its reputation and sowing discord between the Palace and various nations. Their simple goal was to create division and exploit the chaos. If they could spark a war between the Palace and other countries, and assassinate key figures from both sides, the entire continent would be engulfed in war.

And they would have achieved their goal!

You motherf***ers! Targeting me, huh?!

Having read all this, Fang Zheng was almost infuriated. Seriously, just because I’ve been quiet, you think I’m a pushover?

Clearly, terrorist organizations need to be eradicated at the root!

"Prepare, we’re going to the Eastern Continent..."

He growled, teeth gritted, making a decision.

"To clear out the scourge!"