The infiltration of some 'anomalies' among the participants of the Starry Sky Ladder Ranking Competition was a piece of intelligence Tendo had known since finishing the third season of the original novel's plot.
However, the Stars production team only vaguely revealed the intelligence of one 'anomaly' in the third season of Stars.
That was the girl who would soon enter the Yellow-Grade Training Base with Chen Kong—An Qin.
She was human from start to finish, but her upbringing and unique living environment had completely skewed her thinking and psychology to the side of the Star Beasts, making her a ticking time bomb buried within the human camp.
She was a 'traitor to humanity' in the truest sense of the word.
The reason this situation arose had to do with a setting that only briefly appeared in the first three seasons but was never fully explained: the Fallen Zones.
The so-called 'Fallen Zones' referred to areas within the New Federation that had been completely occupied by Star Beasts and where humans could not easily tread. And people like Tendo and Chen Xing, who miraculously survived after the Star Beasts breached the city, were the so-called 'Fallen Zone Survivors.'
Since Tendo and the others could be taken away by a non-official New Federation organization like 'Embers,' then other Fallen Zone Survivors could similarly be taken away by non-official organizations other than 'Embers.'
For example, the intelligent Star Beasts in the Fallen Zones.
Unlike the relatively humanized education at the Embers Base, though the intelligent Star Beasts possessed 'intelligence,' they fundamentally still adhered to the law of the jungle. Being discarded if one lacked utility—this was the creed instilled in those children from a young age, etched into their very bones.
The cream of the crop among these children were sent back to the New Federation by the intelligent Star Beasts to secretly lie in wait.
Yes, it wasn't just humans studying Star Beasts.
Star Beasts were also quietly infiltrating the human world through these 'traitors to humanity,' like parasites lurking in the shadows.
For certain special reasons, the New Federation and the Star Beasts currently maintained a delicate balance, with no large-scale war erupting. But Tendo was well aware that this balance would soon be broken. And this timing happened to coincide with the end of the Starry Sky Ladder Ranking Competition.
Why were the New Federation's most important cities floating cities?
The answer to this question not only contained the history of the New Federation's rise but also hinted at its future.
Only a city capable of levitation and free movement could swiftly relocate and evade potential danger in the wake of disaster, preserving the spark of civilization for humanity.
The reason Tendo had Mi Yao gather so many people and forcibly make them play this 'Battle Royale' game was that he wanted to see which of them, besides the main character group member An Qin who was bound to 'turncoat and be redeemed' later, were the remaining 'traitors to humanity.'
"Tendo, seven o'clock direction, black-haired male. His Star Energy fluctuation deviates by 27% from the database record."
Caroline's voice interrupted Tendo's thoughts. Holographic projections of two figures popped up on her tactical tablet.
"Four o'clock direction, blue-haired female. The technique she's employing is not within the known Star Energy system. Her current strength has increased by 34% compared to six months ago, exceeding the original normal growth curve."
Tendo looked in the directions indicated by Caroline.
The black-haired man was using an eerie arc to dodge attacks, his fingertips glowing with a faint green Star Energy, a color extremely similar to the sheen of Star Beast bodily fluid. The blue-haired woman was slicing out a transparent energy blade in the melee, the trajectory of her technique being tricky and completely inconsistent with the combat logic of a human Star Envoy.
"Interesting."
A cold smile curved at the corner of Tendo's mouth, and a sharp light flashed across his azure eyes under the black blindfold.
A sudden surge in strength in a short period, a sudden change in personality, and the use of unknown techniques. These coincidences, which could seemingly be explained by 'epiphanies' or 'lucky encounters,' were undeniably abnormal when they appeared collectively among a group of people.
In the original plot of the third season, these 'traitors to humanity' had perfectly concealed their abnormalities by undergoing a smooth assessment process. After successfully advancing, they obtained a large amount of cultivation resources from the New Federation and completely integrated into the human camp.
But now, as Tendo forcibly dragged them onto the 'Battle Royale' stage, they had no choice but to expose some of their true strength in order to secure advancement.
Did they really think Mi Yao's method of recruiting allies was arbitrary?
Tendo intentionally let him find isolated groups or teams of only two or three people, as this was the most likely way to catch a 'fish.'
After learning of the existence of these two individuals, Tendo drew a faint silver vector trajectory in the void with his fingertip, marking the positions of the two abnormal individuals on Caroline's tablet.
"Are there any others?"
Caroline quickly swiped the screen, bringing up three more figures.
"Trace amounts of Star Beast aura residue were detected in the Star Energy fluctuations of these three. Their identities are questionable."
"That makes five?"
Tendo stood up and looked down at the crowd still fighting in the floating island.
"Caroline, record the data of these people, but don't act on them yet."
"After all, you have to cast a long line to catch a big fish."
Tendo's voice carried an undeniable certainty.
Exposing these people now would only scare them off, letting the Star Beasts know that their infiltration had been exposed. But by confirming their identities, he could follow their trail and uncover the Star Beasts' entire intelligence network within the New Federation.
This was the true purpose of his 'Battle Royale.'
As for his own identity within the 'Hidden Star Society,' it had little to do with this group of 'traitors to humanity.' After all, the Hidden Star Society seemed like an organization, but it was more like a high-level salon for intelligent Star Beasts. The high-level intelligent Star Beasts at the top were peers, and they didn't need to inform other intelligent beasts of their plans.
Therefore, Tendo estimated that this batch of traitors was likely the handiwork of a specific 'high-level intelligent Star Beast.' His task was to find out exactly who arranged this entire scheme.
After hearing Tendo's instructions, Caroline nodded. Her tactical tablet automatically encrypted and archived the data of the five individuals into the "Star Beast Infiltrators" folder.
Having obtained what he wanted, Tendo no longer cared about the outcome of this game.
He raised his hand, and an invisible vector field rose from his palm.
In the next second, the fifty-plus Tears of Stars he had collected earlier were casually tossed into the floating island like useless junk.
The blue crystals traced an arc in the air, landing in the midst of the fighting crowd, instantly triggering an even more intense scramble.
The melee on the floating island continued. Participants fought desperately for those fifty-plus Tears of Stars.
Tendo, meanwhile, led Caroline back down to the large grassland below.
No one knew that this 'survival game' was a deception from the very beginning. Furthermore, no one knew that Star Beast spies were hidden among them. And the silver-haired young man, who seemed to be merely playing around, had already cast a vast net stretching across the Federation and the Fallen Zones, waiting for the prey to walk in by themselves.
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