Chapter 12: Awakening Beyond the Threshold

“I already know what you’re thinking.”

“But if your brain development is just as I expect, then only a handful of people in the entire Federation will have access to your information. There’s no way this will be used as an excuse to go after that officer from the First Fleet.”

“After all, doing that would mean exposing you completely to the public spotlight.”

“Chances are, nothing will happen to him out in the open, but as for that admiral, his rank will stall here. There’s no chance he’ll make it to full admiral now.”

“So, you really don’t have to worry about that happening.”

“Right now, I just need you to tell me one thing. Are you willing to retake the assessment?”

After hearing Mu Qingxue’s explanation, Lin Yu let go of his doubts and nodded without hesitation.

The device to measure brain development isn’t anything rare or expensive.

Sure, you won’t find it on every frigate or destroyer, but Warstar definitely has one.

The test itself is simple. Just put on the helmet and sit quietly for a few minutes.

Five minutes later.

The results popped up instantly.

Mu Qingxue stood at the console, her eyes widening in shock.

Seeing this unfold—

Ye Lingwei quietly slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Then, like a sentry on duty, she stood guard outside.

Just in case someone tried to enter.

Judging by Mu Qingxue’s expression, she already understood.

Lin Yu’s brain development was even scarier than Mu Qingxue expected.

Otherwise, with her personality, Mu Qingxue would never react like that.

Plus, whatever conversation came next definitely wasn’t something she should overhear.

As for Lin Yu’s actual test results, there was no way she could even glimpse them.

Outside of Mu Qingxue, probably only the Federation President, the three giants commanding the fleet, and maybe the Federation Fleet’s Chief of Staff could ever access them.

32%

Inside the room.

The number glowed on the holographic interface projected in front of Mu Qingxue.

It was an absolutely outrageous number.

She looked up, locking eyes with Lin Yu.

“It’s done. Want to guess your number?”

“Above 25%?”

“Feeling that confident?”

“It’s not confidence, just a logical guess based on all the data I’ve seen.”

Lin Yu shook his head.

A few days ago, after realizing something wasn’t right, he’d started to wonder.

He’d compared his abilities in every area to the best of the other strategists.

He knew his brain development must be far beyond theirs.

He’d even considered that he might’ve broken straight through the 25% barrier.

But as for how far past it—he really couldn’t say.

No human in the Federation had ever been recorded breaking 25%. At least, nobody publically acknowledged.

So Lin Yu had no idea how much difference each extra percent made after that.

“Heh…”

“Let’s try another question. Have you ever noticed yourself unlocking any unusual abilities, something completely beyond normal?”

Mu Qingxue looked at him expectantly.

Lin Yu stared, caught off guard.

Abilities beyond normal?

Could breaking 25% really give you some kind of superpower?

But wait, if that’s possible, how could Mu Qingxue know about it?

The Federation…

Had anyone ever gone over 25%?

Did this mean—

“Admiral, don’t tell me—”

“That’s right. Just as you guessed, my innate brain development was 27%. Right now, I’ve climbed to 29%.”

Mu Qingxue nodded.

“Once your innate brain development hits 25%, it comes with two benefits.”

“You know, before the age of eighteen, if you’re exposed to dark energy out in space, your evolution speeds up significantly. After you turn eighteen, it still helps, but the boost usually falls to about 1% of what it was before.”

“That’s why everyone’s brain development gets tested at eighteen. We call it innate brain development.”

“But there’s an exception. If your innate brain development surpasses the 25% threshold, after adulthood, your growth rate drops too—but it still keeps about 30% of what it used to be.”

“That’s the first benefit. The second one…”

“Surpassing 25% innate brain development awakens special abilities!”

“The awakening process takes about three years. Most of the time you only get small clues, but even then, sometimes you’ll notice odd abilities manifesting.”

“So I’ll ask again—have you noticed anything unusual yourself?” Mu Qingxue’s voice turned serious.

Mu Qingxue pressed further.

“Something unusual, huh?”

“Well… does intuition count?”

Lin Yu thought for a moment and scratched his head.

He looked up, asking hesitantly.

He really couldn’t think of anything out of the ordinary.

The only thing that stood out was back when the Don River vanished.

He’d felt on edge all day for no reason, like something big was about to happen.

And sure enough, the Don River’s disappearance was the start of it all.

Other than that, nothing came to mind.

Lin Yu relayed the whole story to Mu Qingxue in detail.

“It might not actually be intuition. More likely, it’s just an early sign. These abilities sometimes show up in odd ways, but that doesn’t mean that’s your real power.”

“Back when I had my own warning signs, they turned out to be nothing like the ability I eventually awakened.”

“It’s like if I showed you a bit of the future, but with a different start and end to the scene, it could play out thousands of different ways.”

So that’s how it works.

Lin Yu nodded thoughtfully.

He figured he’d picked up something new today.

Still…

What exactly was his own innate brain development?

“Admiral, um…”

“See for yourself!”

“Alright!”

Lin Yu stood, taking off the assessment helmet.

He then walked over to the console, where Mu Qingxue made room for him.

The next second—

Even Lin Yu himself found it hard to believe.

Thirty-two percent?

His innate brain development was actually that high?

Does that mean his eventual developed score could reach—

Over forty percent…?

Fifty percent, even?

If he remembered right, the previous record for developed brain capacity was only twenty-six percent.

No—Mu Qingxue now sat at twenty-nine percent.

The reason the old record topped out at twenty-six was because once you hit eighteen, the development speed falls to just one percent of the original.

So over a whole lifetime, most people would gain just one more percent, if that.

But Mu Qingxue gained three percent in fourteen years, thanks to her high development speed staying above thirty percent.

As for him…

Given enough time, maybe he really could hit forty or fifty…

Whoa!

“Alright, I’ll forward this report to Headquarters right away. Just sit tight for further instructions.”

“Uh, Admiral…”

“Still got questions?”

“I… I’m not about to become some lab rat, am I?”

“What are you talking about?”

Mu Qingxue shot him a look.

“If that were the case, then I would’ve been a lab rat ages ago!”

“Relax. Worst case, they’ll take a blood sample for the lab. Nothing else. I had to do it too back then!”

“The Federation lab’s always running gene enhancement experiments. Apparently, my blood helped them make good progress. Now that you’ve shown up, they’ll be over the moon!”

“Oh, and don’t be a fool—negotiate your terms before you give them anything, got it?”

As if suddenly remembering, Mu Qingxue tacked on that last bit.

Lin Yu suddenly perked up.

“Admiral, mind telling me what kind of deal you struck back then?”

“A Warstar!”

“What?!”