The moment Ian stepped out of the door of the Brotherhood of Steel headquarters, the system tone in his head suddenly sounded: [The completion of the task of uniting the three major forces: two-thirds] [The limited task 'find out the true purpose of the Brotherhood's selection of psychics' has been completed, Reward: Random Battle Skill X1.] [Obtained A-class Battle Skill: Thunder Fist (a punch that gathers the power of thunder)] [The Thunder Fist can be released both in close combat and long distance. (Can be released in melee or long range)]]
Ian paused for a moment and slightly tilted his head to look at the dim sky of the City of Ashes, his heart sinking.
Half an hour ago-
Within the secret room, William Harris stared at Ian with a deep gaze, his voice low and serious: "Ian, what do you think of this trial?"
Ian gazed at William calmly, "The trial is cruel, but I am curious why the Brotherhood of Steel has such a high elimination rate for every selection? What is your true purpose?"
William sighed, his eyes heavy, "Ian, this world is far more complicated than you think. In fact, the circle you are in is merely the surface of ordinary society. The true alien world is hidden beyond the sight of all ordinary people. There exist several forces there that are so powerful that you can't imagine, and they are the true controllers of this world."
Ian's heart shook and his brows furrowed slightly, "Are you saying that the City of Ashes is just their vassal?"
William slowly nodded his head, "Not bad, all the large cities, including the City of Ashes, are under the control of these forces. We have only one mission, and that is to manage the ordinary people and select the extraordinary potential aliens from the ordinary people to send to those powerful forces."
"Why?" Ian asked, lowering his voice, a hint of uneasiness welling up inside.
"Because there are countless secret realms and relics in the world, and the relics can only be entered by the younger generation, so they need to send in a constant stream of newcomers to explore. If these newcomers manage to survive and bring back valuable rewards from them, they will be able to obtain their cultivation and even rise to the heavens in one step.
But on the contrary, if all the people sent in for three consecutive times are killed in action, these forces will view us managers as useless waste and erase us all, replacing us with a new batch of managers." William's face was extremely ugly as he said this.
Ian's heart made huge waves, "So this selection ..."
William nodded heavily, "Exactly. The three major forces of the City of Ashes take turns being responsible for selecting people to send to the secret realm, and the first two times they sent people there, they all died. This time is the last chance, the Brotherhood of Steel must pick one of the best to send to the Secret Realm, or else ..."
"Or all of you will die." Ian coldly finished the rest of the words for William.
William frowned slightly, "That's right, this is the cruelty of reality. We have no choice."
Ian sneered, "It's true that you don't have a choice, but now I'll give you a chance."
William narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean?"
"Unite with the other two forces and guard the City of Ashes together to protect the survivors in the city while I go to that secret realm." Ian said firmly.
William's face instantly turned ironic, "Do you know what you're talking about? Cooperating with other forces? Do you think they will agree? And what makes you think you can survive?"
Ian's gaze blazed, "The Enlightenment Alliance has already agreed. You've seen the scene in the city now, the mutants are attacking like crazy and are getting stronger, if you don't unite, I'm afraid that you won't have to wait for those big powers to make a move, you'll all die at the hands of the mutants."
William's voice became icy cold: "You said that the Enlightenment Alliance has agreed, so you came to participate in the selection just for this, the news was also told to you by that old guy Matthews, right, are you not afraid that I will kill you!" Said William with energy surging around his body, it was a power that far exceeded the flare level.
Cold sweat flowed out of Ian's forehead, on the surface he still maintained his calmness and looked straight at William: "You don't dare to kill me, right now I'm the best person to do it, if you don't say yes, the city of ashes will completely fall and all of you will die without a burial place. My life alone can be exchanged for so many of you, do you dare to exchange it?"
In fact, at this time Ian's heart was very tense, he was gambling, gambling that William had no choice, once he lost the bet, with the strength William showed, it was impossible for him to leave the Brotherhood of Steel alive.
William fell into silence, his face clouded. He questioned in a low voice, "Ian, are you threatening me?"
"I'm just reminding you of reality. Your choice determines whether you and all the members of the Brotherhood live or die." Ian did not budge, his voice cutting through.
William was silent for a long time and finally let out a deep sigh, the energy emanating from his body retracted and his tone was complicated, "Are you sure you can survive?"
At this point, Ian already knew that he had made the right bet. Ian's gaze was firm, "For the sake of my friends, for the City of Ashes, I must do this. As for whether or not I can survive, let's leave it to fate to decide. If I can't even survive, if someone else who participated in the selection this time goes, the end will only be worse."
William stared closely at Ian for a long time before finally nodding slowly, "Alright, Ian, I promise your conditions. I will cooperate with the other two forces to defend the city, but you have to remember that you must use all your strength and survive."
Ian looked calm, "I understand."
...
The recollection ended and Ian snapped out of his complicated thoughts. He stood on the depressed streets of the City of Ashes, looking at the hurried and bewildered figures of the pedestrians, and a heavy sense of mission welled up in his heart.
"Then next, only the Free Chamber of Commerce remains. "