"Tendo, my legs are a bit wobbly, lend me a hand."
At the edge of the central arena, Jing Liuli stared in terror at the colossal creature yawning in the middle of the field, her legs trembling uncontrollably. Seeing her cowering before the fight even began, Tendo retorted impatiently, "Coward, that thing isn't a real fierce beast; it won't go for the kill."
"That's not necessarily true, you know..." Yun Meng appeared behind the trio at some point, leaning in close to Tendo's ear, her red lips parting slightly. "...Little Tendo, today's assessment is different from before."
"If you still treat this assessment with the same playful mindset as before, you might be fine, but little Caroline and little Liuli might not be."
"After all, Doctor personally told me that those big figures are all looking forward to your performance right now, and instructed my Earth Dragon Lizard not to hold back at all."
Tendo's mouth twitched. "I know. That old geezer's temper is like a rock in an outhouse—both smelly and stubborn."
"Whatever he decides, he'll see it through, no matter what anyone else says."
"But Sister Yun, while I don't know what you've been feeding this Earth Dragon Lizard, I remember that the ordinary Earth Dragon Lizard's stone scales on its dorsal fin should mostly be yellowish-gray, right?"
"But look at your Earth Dragon Lizard, I can see the metallic sheen on its back from hundreds of meters away."
"This isn't just an ordinary Earth Dragon Lizard anymore; I think it's about to break through!"
"Eh~ who knows?"
Seeing Yun Meng playing dumb, Tendo was so annoyed he almost ground his molars to dust. You're telling me you don't know about the Star Beast you raised? Are you trying to fool a child?!
Jing Liuli, beside him, only belatedly noticed the abnormality of the Earth Dragon Lizard after hearing Tendo's words. This discovery immediately made her, who was already feeling like retreating, want to simply run away.
"Ten-Tendo, I suddenly remembered I have something to do, I'm leaving first!"
Unfortunately, Liuli, who turned to escape, was preemptively anticipated by Tendo. He grabbed her by the collar, lifting her up like a small cat.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Jing Liuli hugged her precious pillow, her hands clasped together. "Tendo, please just let me down first, okay?"
Tendo rolled his eyes. "Still dreaming, huh? You're already here, so go!"
"Nooooo!!!"
Amidst Liuli's wails, Tendo leaped into the arena with her.
Thud!
As Tendo released her collar, she immediately collapsed onto the ground, hugging her pillow, visibly cowering. Compared to this "cowardly butterfly" who folded before the fight, the calm Nekomata, Caroline, who slowly walked onto the arena afterward, was undoubtedly much better. Although she also knew their trio had no chance of winning, just as Tendo said, their goal wasn't to defeat the Earth Dragon Lizard this time, but merely to make the old folks watching this assessment utterly dumbfounded. And if it was the latter, their success rate... was not small.
Watching Tendo and the others take their places one by one, Yun Meng outside the arena immediately asked with a smile, "Are you all ready?"
Tendo nodded while holding down the frantic, head-shaking "cowardly butterfly" beside him. Seeing this, Yun Meng immediately ignored the cowering butterfly's pleading gaze and coolly announced, "Alright, then the final assessment... begins!"
As soon as Yun Meng's voice fell, the Earth Dragon Lizard, which had been lounging lazily in the distance, instantly had its eyes shift from languid to savage. Then it rose, opened its gaping maw, and unleashed a deafening roar at the trio from afar.
"Roar!"
The low, heavy sound waves transformed into a strong gust of wind, sweeping over Tendo and the other two in an instant. They immediately felt the terrifying pressure from the colossal creature at first contact. And this was just the appetizer.
Boom...
The Earth Dragon Lizard, now standing, stomped a claw onto the hard arena floor, transforming into a moving mountain, charging towards Tendo and the others with the force of Mount Tai collapsing. Its sheer weight was so astonishing that its mere running caused the huge central arena to noticeably shake.
"Spread out!"
Seeing the fierce Earth Dragon Lizard charging, Caroline, standing at the back of the team, immediately shouted. But even before she spoke, Tendo had already run towards the left front. Even Jing Liuli, who had initially appeared very cowardly, now erupted with astonishing potential. Although she kept saying how scared she was, her movements were anything but hesitant.
Her human-sized beloved pillow now displayed an effect similar to a 'flying carpet,' swiftly dragging her body towards the right front of the arena. The appearance of this ability immediately caught the attention of the important figures in the VIP room.
"Remarkable! Earlier, I wondered why this child Liuli, despite having such obvious character flaws, could still rank third among these monstrous Children of the Stars."
"Now I understand. This child's talent in Star Energy control must be top-tier S-rank, wouldn't you say?"
The canary lady looked at Jing Liuli, who was rapidly flying low to the ground while sitting on her pillow, not holding back her praise. Although she could also tell that Jing Liuli's ability to do this was largely thanks to her 'Star Tool,' which looked like a pillow, it was like how even the best Star Origin wouldn't reach its full potential if used by someone who didn't know how to wield it. Similarly, even the best 'Star Tool' wouldn't maximize its effect if it didn't encounter someone skilled in using it.
The canary lady didn't know what tier of 'Star Tool' that pillow was. But she knew that for Jing Liuli, with her currently weak Star Energy, just being able to activate such a 'Star Tool' was already difficult, let alone controlling it as if it were an extension of her own arm. This could only mean one thing: Jing Liuli possessed far superior Star Energy control than ordinary people, capable of achieving the most with the least amount of Star Energy.
"While this little girl Jing Liuli is indeed impressive, the Heavenly Mechanism Nekomata behind her is equally extraordinary."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Hearing the griffon man's words, the canary lady immediately looked intently at Caroline, who stood at the back. Unlike the canary lady, who focused on Jing Liuli, the griffon man had placed his attention on Caroline from the very beginning. This wasn't just because he, like Caroline, belonged to the Mech System. It was also because he saw the immense potential within Caroline.
At this moment, Caroline's two cat ears stood tall, and her hair had completely transformed from its original dark green to the same silver-white as Tendo's. Her appearance was strikingly similar to an emotionless Wi-Fi router.
Seeing this, the canary lady pondered for a moment, then seemed to understand something and exclaimed, "Star Energy Data Link! This child, so young, actually possesses such astonishing computing power. Another little monster!"
Star Energy Data Link—this was something only a select few exceptionally gifted Mech System users could achieve. Because the so-called Star Energy Data Link was when a Mech System user used themselves as a signal base station, linking with other teammates using Star Energy to share real-time battlefield data with them. And achieving this was no easy feat. This required not only strong Star Energy control and a certain Star Energy level from the Mech System user, but also considerable computing power. Otherwise, let alone sharing the collected battlefield information with teammates, the sheer torrent of complex battlefield information alone would be enough to overwhelm the Mech System user's brain. Commonly known as... brain overload.
However, while Caroline and Jing Liuli's performances were indeed impressive, compared to Tendo at this moment, it was like a firefly vying with the sun and moon.
Because at this moment, Tendo, facing the Earth Dragon Lizard charging directly at him, inexplicably stopped. He removed the sunglasses from his nose, revealing his iconic azure eyes. The next second, intricate star-trail patterns appeared in the whites of Tendo's eyes, as if the entire cosmos revolved within them.
Stellar Eclipse Eye... Future Sight!