Pretending to be a genius starts with the civilization advancement assessment.

Chapter 45 Cowardice
Zhou Jianjun slammed his fist on the railing at the edge of the rooftop, and rust and dust fell down in a flurry.

"Nonsense! This is utterly ridiculous!"

His eyes reddened with anxiety. He never imagined that his nephew, who was usually so composed and unlike any other young man, could be so impulsive.
That was a gigantic monster that made one's heart tremble just by looking at it, along with dozens of abyssal wolves!

But he knew this was not the time to be upset. Lin Yi had already rushed out, and all he could do now was prepare for whatever might happen.

"Quick! Everyone back to the second floor, get ready at the rope ladder entrance to provide backup!"

Zhou Jianjun turned around abruptly and shouted at the crowd, "What are you all standing there for! Hurry up!"

He quickly glanced at the few young people around him, finally fixing his gaze on Li Jie, who was similar in build to Lin Yi and usually loved to show off.

"Li Jie!" Zhou Jianjun's voice was urgent. "You train a lot, so put on the armor that Xiao Yi took off. In case of any emergency, you have to come with me to hold the rope ladder entrance!"

All eyes immediately focused on Li Jie.

Surprisingly, Li Jie, who usually boasts about "If it were me, I would definitely do this or that" and "If I had another suit of armor, I would also go out and kill monsters," did not respond at this moment.

He instinctively took a half step back, his eyes darting around, and stammered, "Uncle Zhou, I..."

Zhou Jianjun's eyes narrowed, and he was about to reprimand someone when another voice calmly rang out.

"Uncle Zhou, I'll wear it."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Zhou Yuxuan push up his glasses and step forward.

"Lin Yi and I are about the same size, although my physical strength isn't particularly good."

Zhou Yuxuan's face was also a little pale. His voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

"But I think that resisting the abyss beasts relies more on the protection of the armor itself. In critical moments, if I block in front, it can buy everyone more time."

He looked at Zhou Jianjun and said, "I'll put it on."

Zhou Jianjun gave the boy, who usually only focused on studying guidance techniques, a deep look, nodded emphatically, and uttered only one word.

"Row!"

Time was of the essence, so Zhou Jianjun immediately waved his hand, "Stop looking, get downstairs! Everyone else, get to your positions as we practiced before, quick!"

The crowd instantly sprang into action, rushing towards the rooftop entrance in a panicked yet orderly manner.

Ye Qingyu, who had come up with the crowd, stood still, bit her lip, glanced at the direction where Lin Yi had disappeared with a complicated look, and then turned around and quickly left with the flow of people.

Meanwhile, no one noticed that Ren Yinuo, the communications officer who had run up to the rooftop with them, had stayed behind.

The instant Lin Yi jumped off, she darted to the edge of the rooftop, quickly found a spot at the bottom of the railing with the best view, and lay down without hesitation, her movements very professional.

The next second, she took out a black military-grade high-definition camera from a military green canvas bag slung across her waist, skillfully turned it on, adjusted it, and steadily aimed the lens at the silver figure speeding through the ruined streets below.

Her expression was calm to the point of being cold, as if what was happening below was not a life-or-death adventure, but just a routine military operation.

In fact, besides establishing communications, she had another important mission on this trip.

The General Staff paid close attention to everything about Lin Yi, especially his fighting style and the use of source energy.

Therefore, the General Staff requested that she "record as much as possible his training, combat, and teaching process, especially key video footage of the application of source energy techniques, with Comrade Lin Yi's permission."

These firsthand combat images will provide crucial reference for the military's research on energy warfare and even the promotion of practical training. Ren Yinuo originally planned to formally explain this matter to Lin Yi and seek his opinion after the equipment was debugged and stabilized today.

Unexpectedly, just after the equipment was debugged overnight, they encountered such a sudden battle.

She could only make a last-minute decision to record it first, and then delete it if Lin Yi disagreed later.

Through the high-definition lens, Ren Yinuo could clearly see the abyss beast in the distance, which was rapidly approaching.

The nearly five-meter-tall, rock-built giant abyss bear roared and charged at the front, while the more than fifty abyss wolves did not swarm around it in a chaotic manner, but instead formed a terrifying tactical formation.

Most of the Abyssal Wolves followed closely behind the giant bear, using its massive body as cover, while on the left and right sides, three teams of Abyssal Wolves spread out like flanks, advancing in sync.

"These beasts... how could they cooperate like this?" Ren Yinuo was horrified.

When the apocalypse struck, she, as a technical officer in the General Staff Headquarters, had never fought a direct battle against the Abyss Beast.

Although I had heard a lot about the Abyss Beasts from Tianpeng's team on the way to Hongfu Restaurant, and knew that high-level Abyss Beasts were quite intelligent, I still didn't have a direct understanding of it.

It wasn't until she witnessed firsthand how even the abyssal beasts from the lowest-level nests could cooperate in such a way that she truly understood the pressure faced by the frontline troops.

At the same time, she was also secretly worried for Lin Yi.

"Since the General Staff attaches so much importance to this, he probably wouldn't do something he's not confident about."

Trusting his colleagues in the General Staff, Ren Yinuo stopped thinking and focused on capturing Lin Yi's image with his camera.

In the footage, Lin Yi's speed is astonishing; his flowing light armor leaves a streamlined silver trail in the dim light of dawn.

He wasn't running in a straight line, but rather moving at high speed with a rhythmic gait.

This is exactly the "Wandering Star Step" that I initially grasped last night.

Although Lin Yi had only just begun to learn the basics, he had already shown agility and efficiency far beyond that of ordinary people. He could always find the optimal path in the ruins, and his speed would not decrease but increase.

"incredible"

Ren Yinuo was secretly amazed; even a layman like her, who was not a combatant, could see the rhythm and beauty of the footwork.

Moreover, as the person who gave Lin Yi the crystal, she was even more astonished by the extent of Lin Yi's control over the matter in that one night.

"Is this the comprehension ability of a genius?"

Her camera followed Lin Yi closely, capturing his every move clearly.

Meanwhile, at the second-floor window.

Chen Yu was frantically operating the portable energy detector that Lin Yi had left for them to use on night watch before going upstairs for the drill.

As the instrument is started, a pale blue light curtain appears.

"It's open! It's open! Brother Yi's energy intensity is 34, holy crap! 200?! This...this is so many times different?!"

His voice wasn't a cry of alarm, but more like a suffocating groan, a sense of despair brought about by the enormous numerical disparity.

Those around who heard this felt a chill in their hearts, and Zhou Jianjun's face turned even uglier, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

(End of this chapter)