New York. Interplanetary Adjudicator Union's Earth Branch.
That scatterbrained former Manager Kahn had already been replaced by Xiao Haili, a young man in his twenties, along with his two partners, Queiroz and Bosingwa.
The three were part of the Adjudicator Union's executive department, known together as Team 13.
Speaking of the illustrious Team 13, any Adjudicator within the Endaro Star Region would be privy of their existence.
Team 13 also had a nickname, "The Glorious Thirteen."
They had gotten such a nickname precisely because Team 13 had a 99.9% execution success rate, as each of these three members had fairly outstanding Special Abilities.
These three had been working together for over a decade, becoming very good friends back when they were still Apprentice Adjudicators, so the coordination they had with each other was pretty much flawless.
Xiao Haili turned 27 this year, having achieved an Intermediate Legendary cultivation rank, higher than even Star River rank. Furthermore, he was also a 5-star Silver Adjudicator and the leader of Team 13.
At the current rate, he was also most likely going to be the first person in Endaro Star Region's history to become a Gold Adjudicator before the age of 30.
Presently, he was in the office having a conversation with President Robert over the interplanetary internet.
"How are things over there on Earth?" Robert asked.
"I've already contacted the Earth Federation to cordon off the rain shadow region in central Australia as a restricted zone to facilitate our trials," Xiao Haili replied.
Aside from the deserts found in Central Australia, it was mostly areas of desolate rain shadow that barely had anyone living there. It hardly took any time for the federation to establish a three million square kilometer military restricted zone in Australia.
Robert nodded and used his finger to rub his red eyes. It was apparent that this assessment storm had taken quite a toll on this nearly 80 years old elder.
"Are you alright, teacher?" Xiao Haili asked with much concern. He was a direct disciple of Robert, so it was only natural for him to be worried over his own master.
Xiao Haili had taken the initiative to share the burden of his master's worries because of this ridiculous incident that happened in their Earth Branch. In reality, conducting trials was the duties of the assessment department and had nothing to do with members of the executive department.
Robert offhandedly waved his hand, "It's fine. I'm probably just frazzled due to so many things happening at once."
Robert continued after taking a sip of tea, "Even though the informatics department had done their best to cover up this incident and did what they could to control the spread of this incident, we still ended up with over 100,000 non-natives signing up for the assessment during those three days."
Xiao Haili kept quiet and didn't say anything. It would be a huge test for the local government's execution ability for a 0.5 semi-primitive planet to receive such a sudden influx of extraterrestrial Special Ability users.
After all, there could be all sorts of people among these participants; criminals, thieves, as well as the children hailing from various influential families within the star region.
Hooligans were still manageable, but the most headache-inducing would be the disciples and related members from big powers that rely on their backgrounds. These were the sort of people who would create more significant ruckuses compared to those criminal scums. None of them would even have any regard for a small and insignificant planet like Earth.
Since it was apparent that the Earth Federation would be incapable of suppressing so many Special Ability users, the Adjudicator Union had to step up to the plate and maintain order on Earth during this period. After all, it was the Adjudicator Union's mistake that created such a mess in the first place.
The Adjudicator Union would do such large-scale assessments once every 3 years, but it had never been carried out in such a hurry as it did like today. Furthermore, it would be happening on a strange planet that was completely incapable of defending itself, which made this assessment quite a test for the Adjudicator Union themselves.
"Why aren't you asking me why I increased the assessment to the Crisis grade?" Robert asked.
Xiao Haili was expressionless, "Teacher must have chosen the best outcome after considering all the possibilities.."
Robert nodded, pleased with his response. "Indeed, with such an incident happening here on the Earth Branch, there are plenty in the Star Region who would be looking forward to the Adjudicator Union making a mockery out of ourselves, including those guys."
Hearing the two words 'those guys,' Xiao Haili could not help but clench his fist, as his facial expressions turned very gloomy.
"I wish to let them see that not only do we, the Adjudicator Union, have the capabilities of doing such a large-scale grade assessment here in a semi-primitive planet, but we are also capable of doing it at the advanced, Crisis grade!" Robert declared decisively.
"Teacher! I will firmly stand by your side. Just leave this matter with Earth to me!" Xiao Haili loudly announced as his face filled with determination.
Robert laughed uproariously, "Very good! I will officially appoint you as the chief umpire for this assessment! You will be completely in charge of this! The spaceship transporting all the equipment is already en route. Furthermore, I will also be sending an additional 2,500 staff members to you! When the time comes, the Adjudicator Union's 5th Fleet of the Endaro branch will be sent to Earth to assist you, adhering to your orders!"
Xiao Haili was slightly stunned. His master was being so generous this time, not only did he dispatch 2,500 elite members from the Union to be stationed for this assessment, he had also directed the 5th Fleet over as well.
The 5th Fleet was also known as the strongest fleet of the Adjudicator Union's Endaro Branch, with four latest Raven-Class Battleships, as well as 24 Thorax-class cruisers, each outfitted with the latest equipment aboard; it was considered as the Union's Trump card!
Xiao Haili stood up and said, "Teacher, don't you worry. Leave everything to me!"
…
Xia Fei could not help but feel enthusiastic when he saw his own name appear on the registration webpage. Who would have guessed that a teenager riding a bicycle, navigating through the city streets doing courier delivery several months ago, would actually have the chance to partake and compete in a vigorous competition with the Special Ability users from all over the Star Region!
Xia Fei stood up and walked to his cultivation room, a room that the hotel had specially prepared according to Xia Fei's request, which Xia Fei could use to cultivate at any time.
"What are you doing?" Phantom asked.
Xia Fei did not break his stride even as he said, "With the assessment coming soon, I'm going to train even hard, of course."
Phantom shook its head and said, "Of course, training hard is necessary, but there's still a very important problem you need to resolve before that."
Xia Fei came to a halt and thought about it. "You're right! With Golden Stinger exchanged for the spatial ring, I don't even have a convenient weapon on hand. I need to buy a weapon."
With that, Xia Fei opened up his AI microcomputer.
Phantom slowly whispered, "An artisan must first sharpen his tools if he is to do his work. Just acquiring a weapon alone isn't enough."
Phantom had read plenty of works from the ancients, often uttering out a phrase or two from classical Chinese works, which was fairly old-school.
"You must understand that this is a Crisis grade assessment! It would get far more savage than anything you've experienced thus far! The level of bloodshed will outstrip anything you can imagine!"
"Since you're going to participate in this unpredictable assessment, you will have to obtain a complete assortment of weapons! A full set of combat suit! A whole selection of survival tools! An entire kit of medicinal drugs! To use your culture's saying, you need to arm yourself to the teeth!" Phantom loudly proclaimed.