Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 105: The Candidates (3)

Expanding the scope of recruitment was Soshyan's idea. Considering that the Chapter's Gene-seed was so scarce, he felt it necessary to conduct an even more rigorous screening.

And a more rigorous screening meant a higher elimination rate. Therefore, to ensure there would still be a sufficient number remaining after eliminations, expanding the screening base was the only method.

However, he himself was somewhat uncertain about this idea, because the environment of the lower hive shaped the personalities of the people living there.

They might be tough enough, but their character and personality often had flaws—a noble person would find it very difficult to survive in such an extreme environment.

Coupled with the fact that the Chapter's recruitment had always leaned towards the higher echelons of a planet's society; even on feral worlds, recruits were the descendants of chieftains or warriors.

Whether suddenly changing the Chapter's recruitment tendencies would cause an impact on the Chapter's traditions was also unknown.

But under Sol's encouragement, Soshyan still decided to give it a try.

And setting the registration points in areas difficult for ordinary people to reach—such as places like Greycliff Town—was for the purpose of conducting a preliminary screening.

The results, however, were quite unsatisfactory.

By the final day of registration, there were fewer than twenty Candidates from the lower hive who had actually reached these registration points.The vast majority had either given up halfway or died on the journey.

Perhaps curious if the residents of the lower hive were truly this weak, Soshyan personally came to Greycliff Town to preside over the final day of registration.

But from noon all the way until evening, not a single Candidate arrived.

Deeply disappointed, he was deciding to leave.

But just then, three dust-covered heads popped up from the edge of the town.

"Who is it!?"

The guards surrounding the town immediately leveled the guns in their hands at them and loudly reprimanded:

"A sacred ritual is currently taking place here! Irrelevant personnel, scram immediately!"

The guards' reprimands made the three dusty, almost unrecognizable little figures flinch, but they did not move their feet.

Judging by their heights, they should all be young boys. The clothes on their bodies were almost torn to shreds; two of them carried climbing equipment on their backs that were practically falling apart, while the other did not.

"Did you not hear what I said!!"

A guard stepped forward, aiming the butt of his gun directly at one of their heads.

But just as he raised it mid-air, he could no longer move it another inch. When he turned his head, his entire person was already enveloped under a massive shadow.

"M-My Lord—"

The guards fell to one knee in succession.

The giant, clad in Power Armor, let go of the gun in his hand, allowing it to crash into the dust, and then slowly stepped forward.

With his back to the setting sun, the shadow he cast was like a dark cloud, enveloping all three boys within it. And his pitch-black eyes shone like gemstones within the shadows.

The immense sense of oppression made these boys, who had never seen an Angel before, begin to tremble.

"Are you here to participate in the screening?"

No one answered; they seemed to have been scared silly.

Their minds are not resolute enough.

Soshyan's first impression of them instantly turned a bit sour, but he hadn't given up yet.

"Are you here to participate in the screening?"

He asked for the second time. By now, even the kneeling guards on the ground were looking at those three boys.

Making an Angel ask the same question twice was not a good thing.

Fortunately, before Soshyan could finally cross them off into the elimination list, one boy stepped forward and nodded vigorously.

"Y-Yes! My Lord!"

His voice sounded extremely weak and hoarse, but compared to the weary eyes of the two beside him, his gaze remained crystal clear.

Physical exhaustion had not affected his spirit.

Soshyan mentally placed a checkmark.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Bahram Tate. I come from Frostsalt Town, and I am 13 years old this year."

At this moment, the two behind Bahram also finally mustered up their courage and said in low voices:

"My name is Haomo, from Ironhook City, the rank-four enforcer of the Scorpion Gang. This year, uh... I am 14 years old, probably."

"My Lord, my name is Vayu, also from Ironhook City, the best shooter of the Scorpion Gang. I can hit a tin can from five hundred meters away with a gun, and I am 13 years old this year."

Soshyan did not cast even a single glance in their direction, which made the two boys feel disheartened.

He merely sized up Bahram in silence.

Silence enveloped the two of them. In the sky, the roaring sound of a descending Thunderhawk grew louder; the final time for registration was about to conclude.

"Can you talk to me about the process of your journey here?"

Bahram nodded.

"We chose the shortest but relatively dangerous route; we had to traverse through the Babbling Forest—"

In reality, as people living in the lower hive, their understanding of the Babbling Forest—the third largest forest in the Soms Hive—was very limited. The only thing they knew was that very few people could spend the night alone in this mountainous forest and live to see the sun the next day.

"I knew right then that things wouldn't be so easy."

Haomo suddenly chipped in and revealed a smile; but upon seeing Soshyan remaining completely expressionless, he awkwardly rubbed his nose.

"That's right."

Vayu, who also chimed in, nodded along. However, he wasn't as tactless, merely speaking to himself.

"It really wasn't that simple."

This sentence carried many implications. Bahram had no way of responding to him with a smile, not even a simple one.

The actual situation was in fact even worse. In order to hasten their journey, it was already dark by the time they entered the forest.

However, in that place, there wasn't a particularly big difference between day and night, because the depths of the forest always remained submerged in darkness. The trees would entwine their tops together to completely block out the sunlight.

Beneath the canopy, the soil was as freezing cold as the rocks.

But that night was exceptionally dark. Neither the moon nor the stars could be seen; everything appeared black, white, and gray.

Except for blood, everything looked the same.

Speaking up to here, the three boys rolled back their sleeves, displaying the scratches and scars on their arms.

The scars were all very fresh; a few were still seeping blood.

"The elders said that anyone who enters the forest must leave scars behind as a price to pay."

Soshyan looked at those scars, knowing that they weren't mere scratches, but marks carved by the sharp fangs of some animal.

"The wounds themselves were a trial, just like the cold and darkness. It wasn't only those brambles or rocks that thirsted for blood, the wolves did too."

Soshyan knew that the wolves he spoke of were an indigenous creature on the Soms Mountains, named mountain black wolves.

That was no folklore or prophecy; they truly existed. Right now, there was still a pack of them in the zoo of the Soms upper hive.

They were apex predators, cunning pack-hunting predators, and incredibly ferocious.

In the mountainous forests of Soms, they absolutely sat at the top of the food chain, especially when facing a group of young boys—