Hearing this, Emily and the others immediately adopted a solemn demeanor.
Even Walter, who had been dozing off, yawned and slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of purple vertical pupils.
Philip Beaumont spoke calmly, "Recently, unrest has been brewing across the Federation. It seems some factions, thinking we've been inactive, have forgotten the rules set in the past. They've even dared to make their way to the Imperial Capital."
Nathaniel, fidgeting with a butterfly knife in his hand, frowned, "These troublemakers have indeed been restless lately. Most of the missions I've been on were caused by their antics."
Victoria, with a fierce look, declared, "I say we teach them a lesson. Hurt them badly enough, and they'll settle down."
Walter, with a flash of lightning seeming to surge in his eyes, simply asked, "What do you need us to do?"
Philip's eyes narrowed, a cold glint passing through them.
He stated icily, "Go tell them that breaking the rules comes with a price. The Imperial Capital is not a place where they can run wild."
...
Meanwhile, John was speeding along the ring road in Albertus's luxury car.
Today wasn't just the enrollment day for Star Cluster Academy; other academies were also recruiting.
Despite the advanced transportation in the Imperial Capital, it still took John an hour to reach Star Cluster Academy.
Fortunately, he had set out early and wasn't late.
Star Cluster Academy, located within the Imperial Capital's inner third ring, covers a vast area.
From a distance, John could see the crowded plaza outside the school gates, teeming with an uncountable number of people.
When John stepped out of the luxury car, he immediately attracted countless gazes.
Albertus mentioned that this custom floating luxury vehicle cost a whopping forty million federal coins.
Even in the Imperial Capital, where the wealthy abound, there were few who could afford such an expensive car.
After dropping John off, Albertus didn't leave immediately.
Instead, he led his bodyguards, pushing through the crowd, heading straight for the registration area.
Although some people were displeased, they restrained their fiery tempers upon seeing the family crest of House Fairfax.
At most, they grumbled inwardly, "It's just some stinking money."
If John were in their shoes, he probably would have thought the same.
But being on the receiving end of such convenience, he felt differently.
That's just how fickle people can be.
With the bodyguards clearing the way, John quickly made his way to the registration area.
At a glance, desks were lined up in a row, with a dozen or so people behind them handling the registration process.
They wore the blue uniforms of Star Cluster Academy, adorned with the academy's badge on their chests, likely students of the academy.
Each of them had a long line of people waiting to register in front of them.
On these desks, there also lay a transparent Crystal Ball, reminiscent of those used during awakening.
However, the Crystal Balls at Star Cluster Academy weren't for awakening but for assessing aptitude and strength.
Those registering only needed to place their hands on the Crystal Ball, which would then emit various colors of light, bright or dim.
The students managing the registration would use this to determine if the registrants met the criteria to take part in the assessment.
This was the preliminary test.
John observed for a while and noticed that the majority of those tested were turned away.
Among dozens of individuals, not a single one would qualify to participate in Star Cluster Academy's assessment.
John even noticed that among those rejected were not a few silver-tier awakeners.
Bronze-tier awakeners were even more common.
This surprised John.
It had only been two months since the awakening.
In Stellarburg, reaching the bronze-tier already placed one among the elites, and attaining the silver-tier could even earn the title of a genius.
Yet, at Star Cluster Academy, they couldn't even secure a spot to take the assessment.
It just goes to show the caliber of one of the Federation's top institutions.
While John was pondering these thoughts, a voice suddenly rebuked, "Don't just stand there.
If you want to test, get in line at the back." John looked up to find that the speaker was one of the Star Cluster Academy students managing the tests.
The people waiting in line nearby watched John with schadenfreude.
One person laughed heartily, "Thinking you can disregard the rules just because you have some money? Before Star Cluster Academy, everyone is equal, no matter how wealthy you must queue up like everyone else."
Another chimed in, "Exactly, thinking a bit of money makes you something special."
Someone else snorted coldly, "Look at him, all pale and sickly, clearly a debauchee who's wasted himself. We see his kind every year, probably hoping to bribe his way through, but this is Star Cluster Academy; we don't play by those rules."
Many people were already displeased with John and Albertus, and seeing them supposedly put in their place brought them considerable joy.
John, however, didn't care about these stares since he hadn't planned to use any backdoor methods anyway.
But Albertus, upon being mocked, couldn't keep his temper in check.
He scoffed, "Who says money is useless?"
With a flash of light in his hand, bundles of colorful banknotes appeared.
Rough estimates put the amount at at least fifty to sixty thousand.
Others thought Albertus intended to publicly bribe the student responsible for testing, readying themselves for the spectacle.
Even the student in charge thought so, mentally preparing to scold this oblivious rich kid.
However, with a grand wave of his hand, Albertus threw the tens of thousands in banknotes over the crowd.
Banknotes fluttered down like rain, and everyone's eyes widened in disbelief.
Albertus laughed heartily, "Today's my brother's assessment day, and I'm in a good mood. A total of one million federal coins, whoever picks it up, keeps it!"
With another flash from his storage ring, more bundles of notes were thrown into the air, drifting down like snowflakes.
The prospect of queuing vanished from people's minds as they scrambled for the cash.
Some held their spoils with ecstatic joy, while others stuffed their pockets as much as they could.
The plaza was filled with shouts and arguments.
In just a moment, only a few remained in line in front of John.
Everyone was astounded by Albertus's stunt, including John, who couldn't help but be amused and bemused.
Albertus really knew how to make his money work.
Shaking his head, John stepped forward and addressed the student responsible for testing, "Can I be tested now?"
The Star Cluster Academy student, looking over John's empty surroundings, swallowed nervously, "Ye... Yes, we can start now."
John wasn't interested in dwelling on the prior incident.
He extended his hand and placed it directly on the Crystal Ball.
Focusing, John mobilized all the magic within him, directing it crazily into the Crystal Ball in his hand.
As the magic flowed in, the Crystal Ball under his hand suddenly burst forth with a dazzling golden light!
This blinding light almost turned the entire plaza golden.
Everyone's eyes widened in shock.
Someone exclaimed in disbelief, "This... this level of reaction, could it be that he has S-level aptitude?"
The crowd looked at John in surprise.
With his pale face and unsteady walk, he hardly seemed like a genius.
Just when everyone was speculating in their minds, the next moment came.
"Boom!"
In less than a breath's time, the Crystal Ball shattered! Everyone was stunned.
"What? It broke?" John inwardly cursed his luck.
He had inadvertently applied too much force and actually burst the Crystal Ball.
Looking at the shattered Crystal Ball on the ground, John couldn't help but complain, "Isn't... isn't the quality of your Crystal Balls a bit too low?"
The student conducting the test was also bewildered.
He had never encountered such a situation before.
He muttered, "Could it really be that the Crystal Ball was faulty?"
This student from Star Cluster Academy wasn't new to conducting preliminary tests, but he had never seen anything like this happen.
John spread his hands, looking innocent, "You all saw it; it shattered on its own, so it's not my fault."
The student responsible for testing glanced at John skeptically and muttered, "You didn't deliberately break it to sneak through the test, did you?"
John rolled his eyes, responding, "Don't make baseless accusations; be careful, or I might accuse you of defamation. If you don't believe me, you can call over an instructor from the academy to check."
The student hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided against calling an instructor.
After all, John's testing had been done right before his eyes, and whether there was any trickery, he could tell.
Moreover, this was just the preliminary test.
There were harder assessments to come, and if someone were to cheat their way through the preliminary, they would likely be caught in the later stages.
There was no need for cheating, nor was there a need to trouble an instructor to come over.
He told John, "It might indeed be an issue with the Crystal Ball. Try another one and test again."
John nodded in agreement.
Fortunately, there were multiple Crystal Balls available.
John moved to another registration desk, picked up a different Crystal Ball, and began the test anew.
This time, he was extremely cautious, careful not to exert too much force for fear of bursting the Crystal Ball again.
But, the result was the same.
With a "pop," the Crystal Ball once again turned to dust.