A few minutes later.
Roy reached the end of the hallway and entered the elevator, pressing the button for the 50th floor.
Like the surrounding buildings, PTE High School was also a skyscraper with over 100 floors.
The 50th floor was designated for the school's faculty members.
The elevator doors opened, and Roy walked up to Mr. Martin's office, gently knocking on the door.
"Come in." A familiar voice of Mr. Martin came from inside.
Roy pushed the door open.
Inside the ten-square-meter room, there was a faint scent of flowers—it came from the bouquet placed on the desk. Mr. Martin sat at his desk, both hands typing on the keyboard, the glow from the screen casting extra light on his face.
Of note was the girl with golden hair sitting in front of the desk. Although her face was not visible, Roy could tell from her silhouette that it was Anna.
"Please wait a moment. I need to discuss something with Anna," Mr. Martin said as he noticed Roy, gesturing toward a chair by the wall for him to sit. Then he turned back to the girl before him.
"Your ID has been registered in the Federation's university exam system. One month from now, you can go to the designated location sent to your ID to take the ranking exam."
"I trust you've already made your decision. Good luck with your exam," Mr. Martin said with a smile, handing Anna a black card-presumably her ID card.
"Thank you, teacher. If we're done, may I leave now?" Anna stood up, bowed her head slightly, and spoke in a graceful tone of thanks.
Roy, watching from the side, wasn't particularly surprised. Although Anna always seemed cold and emotionless, she was actually a very polite person. In three years of studying together, Roy had never seen her act superior to anyone because of her status as a member of the Astoria family.
"Alright, you may leave now."
"Roy, come here!"
Mr. Martin nodded with a smile, then turned back to Roy and gestured for him to approach.
Hearing that, Roy stood up and walked toward Mr. Martin. But as he passed by Anna, she suddenly spoke up:
"Roy, before you leave, come see me for a bit. There's something I want to talk to you about."
Roy was a bit surprised and pointed at himself.
"You want to talk to me?"
He didn't understand why Anna wanted to speak to him. They weren't even that close. Could it be… she likes me? Roy thought to himself.
"Yes, I have a few things I want to discuss with you."
"Of course, if you don't want to, you can decline."
Anna still spoke in her usual indifferent tone, as if it didn't matter whether Roy agreed or not-like it was just a fleeting thought, something trivial.
Seeing her attitude, Roy pondered for a moment before nodding.
"Alright, wait for me a bit."
Roy accepted Anna's request-not because he wanted to know if she liked him, but simply because he was curious about what she wanted to say.
"Okay, I'll wait for you at the school gate. Bye." Upon hearing Roy's response, Anna nodded, her face still expressionless, and walked elegantly out of the teacher's office.
Roy then proceeded to sit in front of Mr. Martin.
As soon as he sat down, he noticed Mr. Martin staring at him, eyes full of curiosity.
Roy saw that strange expression and was about to ask when Mr. Martin suddenly said:
"So that rumor might be true after all."
Hearing this, Roy immediately understood what Mr. Martin was referring to. He could only smile wryly and shrug.
"Do you really think it's true?"
Mr. Martin smiled and nodded. "I do."
Roy's facial musclestwitched dslightly, leaning back in his chair. He hadn't expected Mr. Martin to say that. Did he and Anna really look like a couple?
"Haha, just messing with you."
"If you really were dating Anna, I doubt we'd be having this meeting today."
Mr. Martin laughed at Roy's expression. Then he opened a drawer and pulled out a black card, placing it in front of Roy.
"What's this?"
Roy looked at the card curiously. His eyes scanned its surface. It was made of metal and had no markings, just a shiny, polished surface.
Mr. Martin didn't explain right away, only smiled and said, "Take a closer look."
He gently flipped the card over.
On the other side was an engraving of a sword wrapped in flames.
"This is… the insignia of the Security Bureau," Roy said in shock.
The flaming sword emblem-anyone in the Federation would recognize it. It represented one of the most important organizations.
The Security Bureau-its name alone hinted at its function.
Unlike the military, which focused on external threats, the Security Bureau managed the internal safety and order of the entire Blue Planet Federation.
"That's right. This is a nomination card for new members of the Security Bureau."
"With it, you can apply to join the Bureau."
Mr. Martin smiled as he revealed the card's function.
"A nomination card for new members?"
"You want me to join the Security Bureau?"
Roy looked at Mr. Martin in confusion. He didn't understand why the teacher would give him something so valuable. After all, the Security Bureau was incredibly hard to join-there were strict requirements.
Unable to hold back, Roy asked, "Why would you give me something this valuable?"
Mr. Martin shook his head and replied.
"It's not as simple as you think."
"Perhaps you don't know-these cards are distributed in the millions each year by the Bureau."
"As long as you have connections and a few Federation coins, you can buy one."
Mr. Martin paused, took a sip of water, then continued.
"But only 0.1% of the people who receive this card actually succeed in joining the Bureau."
Roy showed a thoughtful expression and asked.
"There are more conditions?"
Mr. Martin nodded and slowly said:
"Yes. Even with the nomination card, you still have to meet two conditions."
"One, you must be 18 years old."
"Two, your gene awakening rate must exceed 20%."
Hearing these two conditions, Roy exclaimed in shock,
"That difficult?!"
His reaction was understandable. If taken separately, each condition wasn't too hard.
But when combined, the difficulty increased exponentially.
Normally, reaching a 20% gene awakening rate would take at least two years. Some people needed ten years to reach it.
Maybe in a year, some could reach 20%, but in one month? That was twelve times shorter-a hundred times harder.
"Haha, of course it's hard. If it weren't, this card wouldn't need to exist."
Mr. Martin smiled, and what he said was true.
The purpose of the card was to identify geniuses-only those who used the card and successfully joined the Bureau were considered true talents.
"If you meet the conditions, the reward is unimaginable." Mr. Martin stood up, leaned forward with both hands on the desk, his voice full of temptation.