10 PM, Nearshore District, Star Envoy Association · Deep Blue Branch · Office Building.
Rumble!
Mid-September in Deep Blue Metropolis, the weather was unpredictable. As a flash of lightning split the sky over the sea, the nearshore district, which had been bathed in sunshine during the day, began to drizzle at night, and the rain grew heavier.
Tap—
Gon's black leather boots stepped into a puddle as he walked with an umbrella towards the entrance of the Deep Blue Branch's office building. Unlike his somewhat eccentric attire when he was with Tendo and the others, Gon had now shed his comical husky mask, and his dull judge's robe had been replaced with a sleek, raven-black Star Envoy uniform.
Gon looked up at the incessant rain, muttering, "We're in the nearshore district, surrounded by seawater, yet they still bother with this troublesome weather system. Do they think constantly changing weather adds to the sense of ceremony?"
Gon shook his head in exasperation, then closed his black umbrella and placed it in the stand beside the entrance. After brushing off the remaining raindrops from his uniform, Gon walked straight into the brightly lit building.
Although it was after working hours, a large number of administrative staff were still busy inside the branch office building. Upon seeing Gon's distinctive Star Envoy uniform and the association badge on his chest, they all stopped their work and bowed to him in unison.
Gon, not arrogant, politely nodded in response to each of them. This gesture not only surprised many but also made them excited, their breathing quickening slightly. After all, to these ordinary administrative staff, Gon, a Level 2 Star Envoy, was a symbol of power and mystery. He was an object of their admiration and aspiration. To receive a response from their idol was naturally a thrilling experience for these fans.
Amidst their gazes of admiration, envy, and excitement, Gon walked through the crowd and directly to an old-fashioned elevator in the lobby.
As Gon's finger traced the association badge on his chest, two of the seven stars carved on it emitted a faint white glow. The next second, an octopus statue above the old elevator door suddenly opened its eyes and shot a conical green light at him, scanning him up and down.
[Ding! Identity authenticated]
[Star Envoy Association · Deep Blue Branch, welcomes the esteemed Level 2 Star Envoy, Mr. Gon.]
Accompanying the mechanical electronic voice that Gon found familiar to the point of nausea, the tightly closed old elevator doors opened. Gon stepped into the elevator, and the doors instantly closed. Without needing Gon to press any floor buttons, the old elevator automatically descended, plunging into the unknown abyss below.
Inside the elevator, Gon stood before a polished mirror, tidying himself. In the mirror, the 25-year-old Gon was tall and upright, standing around 1.85 meters.
His neat black buzz cut, combined with his sharply defined features and serious expression, made him look like a stable and upright Star Envoy of the association, completely devoid of any frivolity or ostentation. This was a stark contrast to his somewhat comical and amusing demeanor when he was with Tendo and the others.
This, in fact, was the public image Gon had always strived to maintain within the association and other public settings. But all of this was merely Gon's disguise. His true personality and style of action were actually as Tendo and the others had witnessed: a bit unconventional and self-willed.
The reason for such a drastic personality difference was related to both Gon's Star Source, 'Judge', and his ideals. As a 'Specialized Star Source' centered on 'fairness', the fact that Gon obtained this Star Source and successfully completed one awakening, reaching Level 2, indicated that he indeed possessed a strong concept of 'fairness'.
However, Gon had his own unique understanding of the word 'fairness'. In his view, the current mainstream societal concept of 'fairness', including that of the Star Envoy Association, was not only unfair but the greatest 'injustice'. Because what they considered fair was merely using various trivial rules to bind and restrict the strong, causing their sharp swords to be sheathed and their armor to gather dust, ultimately making them no different from ordinary people.
Gon scoffed at such 'fairness'. True fairness should never be about strictly restraining the strong while infinitely favoring the weak. Instead, it should allow the strong to unleash their full power and, with an absolutely overwhelming posture, lead the weak through thorns and trials towards a broader world.
Gon held this belief because he felt that the weak, hiding behind the strong, had neither the right to dictate to those at the forefront nor the right to formulate rules for them.
Of course, Gon was well aware of how extreme and unconventional his ideas were in the current New Federation. Therefore, even though he harbored dissatisfaction with many of the Star Envoy Association's current rules, Gon still tried his best to adhere to them and diligently maintained his 'just' public image.
After all, to the formidable entity that was the association, he, Gon, was truly the weak one. He lacked the ability and qualifications to dictate the association's current rules. While he might not be able to change these things now, it didn't mean he never would.
Gon believed that one day he would reach that position. At that time, he would bring about a great reform to the entire Star Envoy Association and grant all Star Envoys true 'fairness'. This was Gon's greatest ideal and ambition as a 'Judge'.
Inside the elevator, as Gon adjusted his collar and the buttons on his sleeves, he suddenly let out an unexpected sigh.
Gon: "Sigh, after today's match, I was only five wins away from the 'perfect awakening' condition of a hundred victories. Turns out it was all for nothing. Only because those words 'perfect awakening' came from that old man, the General President, otherwise, who would suppress themselves and constantly refuse to break through? But..."
As the elevator stopped and its doors opened, Gon stepped out emotionlessly into the true headquarters of the Deep Blue Branch—the Deep Blue · Tide Sound Sanctuary.
Gon: "...If you want to break the rules and fight for true fairness in this world, how can you not pay a price?"
Just as Gon stepped out of the elevator, a young Star Envoy who had been waiting for him immediately approached.
Female Star Envoy: "Vice-Captain Gon, the Special Envoy from the 'First Floating City · Star Rail Corridor' has already arrived at the meeting room. Besides you, the Branch President and the other commanding officers of Deep Blue Branch's special combat teams are also on their way. Please follow me."
Hearing this, Gon nodded, signaling her to lead the way. On the way to the meeting room, Gon casually inquired, "Has the Special Envoy revealed the purpose of his visit?"
The female Star Envoy leading the way shook her head. "No, that esteemed official only said that this operation requires us to dispatch an entire special combat squad from here. Beyond that, he revealed nothing."
Gon: "Oh? An entire special combat squad from the branch? It seems the mission this Special Envoy brings is quite challenging."
The female Star Envoy responded with a worried expression, "Isn't that right? Our branch only has three special combat squads in total, and that Special Envoy just opens his mouth and wants to take a whole one. If he can't give a compelling reason, I don't think the Branch President will ever agree to his unreasonable request. After all, this isn't the General Headquarters in the Star Rail Corridor; where would we get so many idle Star Envoys to cooperate with him?"
Gon nodded, "Yes, the branch isn't the General Headquarters; we don't have that many personnel..."
Female Star Envoy: "We've arrived, Vice-Captain Gon. This is today's conference room."
Gon: "Okay, thank you."
Female Star Envoy: "You're welcome, Vice-Captain Gon."
Meanwhile, in the villa district of Deep Blue Metropolis's Nearshore Area.
Tendo was half-reclining on his bed, gazing at his fingertips. A peculiar Black Soaring Orb constantly danced between his fingers. The reason this Black Soaring Orb was special was that the one Tendo had conjured was not only small but also seemed to possess no destructive power, completely unlike the Black Soaring Orbs he usually unleashed.
After observing this peculiar Black Soaring Orb for a moment, Tendo suddenly murmured to himself. "Perfect awakening... I originally thought this would only have detailed and complete settings when the main story of the second season, 'Stars · Faint Glow,' aired. I didn't expect it to appear in the prequel already."
Before encountering Gon during the day, Tendo didn't know much about the concept of 'perfect awakening'. He only knew of the term because it had briefly appeared at the end of the first season of the original work.
The person who mentioned these four words was the Level 4 Upper-tier Star Envoy from the General Headquarters at the end of the first season. It was precisely because of this individual that Tendo learned that besides the '1, 2, 3, 4' Star Envoy ranking system, there was another standard within the association to differentiate the gap between 'Star Envoys of the same rank'. That was the Lower-tier, Mid-tier, Upper-tier, and finally, the Perfect-tier.
Before today, while Tendo had long known of the existence of 'perfect awakening', he didn't know how to achieve a 'perfect' level in his first awakening. However, with Gon's unintentional mention during the day of his intense obsession with 'a hundred percent win rate,' Tendo had a relatively clear, albeit vague, inference regarding so-called 'perfect awakening.'
If his guess was correct, for a Star Envoy to achieve the 'perfect' level when their Star Source awakens, besides fulfilling the 'basic Star Energy value' and 'one hundred percent current Star Source level development' rigid criteria, they also needed to satisfy a very special 'awakening condition.' And what this awakening condition specifically was, depended on the different Star Sources.
Taking Gon as an example, Tendo felt that his perfect awakening condition was to maintain a 100% win rate after a certain number of matches. Only then could Gon achieve a perfect Star Source awakening.
This also perfectly explained a previous doubt of Tendo's. Because at that time, he could clearly feel that Gon had hidden a lot of his strength. If Gon had truly gone all out, while Tendo wouldn't have been afraid, winning would certainly not have been easy.
Now, thinking back, Gon might have been worried that if he went all out, he might not be able to suppress the instinct of his Star Source, which yearned for a breakthrough. This would have ruined the perfect awakening condition he had prepared for so long. That's why he ultimately preferred to spend money to buy a draw from Tendo rather than go all out and fight Tendo head-on.
Thinking of this, Tendo couldn't help but ask, "Since Gon's 'Judge' has a perfect awakening condition of a high-match hundred percent win rate, what would be the perfect awakening condition for my 'Vector Control'?"
"Also, although the source of the Star Core is Star Beasts, it's essentially a type of Star Source. After all, the only difference between a Star Core and a Star Source is that part of the Star Core's power is thoroughly integrated into the Star Beast's bloodline and genes, unlike Star Sources which are pure."
"If that's the case, then the perfect awakening that exists in Star Sources should also be applicable to Star Cores."
With this thought, Tendo's mind began to wander. A moment later, unable to resist the urge to experiment, he suddenly jumped off the bed and forcefully crushed the Black Soaring Orb in his hand. As the shattered Black Soaring Orb transformed into countless specks of light and silently dissipated in Tendo's room, he immediately looked out at the rainy ground outside the window.
Tendo: "Instead of thinking hard here, I might as well go out and try now. After all, practice makes perfect."
With this idea, Tendo immediately left his room and went alone into the rainy courtyard.
Meanwhile, Caroline, who had been planning something in her room, heard the sound of Tendo going downstairs from next door. She immediately put down her tablet and walked to the window. From this position, she could just see Tendo, who had already entered the courtyard.
Under Caroline's gaze, Tendo, standing alone in the courtyard, first activated 'Azure Flow Robe' to shield himself from the falling rain. Then, he simultaneously summoned five miniature Black Soaring Orbs, each one-fifth of their usual size, and made them rotate around his body.
Although Caroline didn't know the reason for Tendo's actions, she had a feeling that Tendo wouldn't do anything meaningless. Therefore, Tendo must have thought of something, which was why he was out in the rainy courtyard late at night instead of sleeping.
However, to Caroline's surprise, Tendo stood there from the thundering rainy night until the clouds dispersed and the sky brightened. As the first ray of dawn appeared on the horizon, Tendo, who had been closing his eyes for a long time in the courtyard, suddenly opened them and threw a punch.
At the same time, the five Black Soaring Orbs that had been circling his body instantly converged at his wrist, then disintegrated in an extremely short amount of time, completely merging into his right hand.
Boom!
As a black light flashed at the spot where Tendo threw his punch, the grass in front of him seemed to be swept by an invisible shockwave, suddenly creating a huge trench five meters wide and fifteen meters long. And this was merely Tendo's punch landing in empty space. If he had struck a Star Envoy with this punch, that Star Envoy would most likely have perished on the spot.
However, while Tendo's punch was undoubtedly powerful, his hand also suffered a problem. All five fingers of Tendo's right hand were clearly swollen. His palm and forearm quickly developed noticeable purple bruises.
Such injuries were very rare for Tendo, who possessed Vector Control. Because his Vector Control could twist and completely isolate all energy from his physical body, Tendo rarely got injured. But for such a rarely injured Tendo, a mere practice session had now injured him.
This explained why Tendo had suddenly injured himself after just one punch. It meant that Tendo hadn't covered his right hand with a vector field; instead, he had gathered all the energy forming the field into his arm and unleashed it all in that single punch.
Despite being injured, Tendo's sapphire-blue eyes were filled with unprecedented excitement. Because after the recent experiment, he was certain that he had found the perfect awakening condition for his Vector Control.
And the core of this condition was 'space'. A 'vector' refers to a geometric object that has both magnitude and direction. Tendo's 'Vector Control' is the ability to transform this abstract geometric object into concrete vector targets in reality.
For example, a truck speeding down the road is a vector target that Tendo can observe and manipulate. If Tendo wants to change the direction of this truck's movement, he needs to change the truck as a whole. It's similar to him needing to 'push' the truck with force to forcibly alter its trajectory. Doing so would naturally consume a significant amount of Star Energy.
However, if the 'truck' vector target were to be divided into thousands of smaller targets, then if Tendo wanted to change the truck's direction, he would only need to change the direction of the truck's front wheels, or directly twist the steering wheel in the cab. This way, he could achieve the same effect as before with less Star Energy.
For Tendo to accomplish the latter, his 'Vector Control' would need to simultaneously satisfy two conditions:
A greater vector control distance.A smaller vector control unit.
Currently, Tendo's furthest vector control distance is 'millimeter-level,' with a limit of '9 millimeters.' His smallest vector control unit is 'centimeter-level,' specifically '1 cubic centimeter.'
According to Tendo's deduction, the awakening direction for most people's Vector Control should be in the control distance. As long as their 'Vector Control' can reach the critical point between 'millimeter-level' and 'centimeter-level' in their maximum control distance, their 'Vector Control' can complete a Star Source awakening.
As for the level of this awakening, Tendo believed it should be determined by the size of this critical point. The closer the maximum control distance is to the 'centimeter-level,' the higher the awakening level, until it reaches the 'Upper-tier.'
However, to reach the 'Perfect-tier' awakening level, merely the maximum control distance is not enough. The smallest vector control unit must also simultaneously reach the 'millimeter-level' critical point. Only then can a single awakening of the 'Vector Control' Star Source successfully break through the Upper-tier and reach the legendary Perfect-tier.
Tendo's hypothesis also happened to correspond with Gon's exaggerated situation of pursuing both 'fairness' and 'extreme win rate.' Because if one were to delve into Gon's case, an interesting point emerges: what exactly is the standard for a qualified judge? Is it absolute fairness, or... perfect control of the rhythm of the match? The former is easy to understand, but if it's the latter, then the judge needs to find a perfect critical point between 'fairness' and 'unfairness.' Because only by appropriately disrupting fairness can a judge perfectly control the rhythm of the match. And this critical point is undoubtedly what Gon has been painstakingly pursuing. It is also the necessary condition for him to achieve perfect awakening.
Based on this, Tendo felt increasingly convinced that his 'Vector Control maximum distance' and 'Vector Control minimum unit' were the two necessary conditions for him to achieve a perfect awakening.
However, before Tendo could contemplate too much on how he should perfectly achieve these two points, Caroline suddenly appeared behind him and sternly patted his back. Feeling the movement on his back, Tendo stopped thinking and turned his head in surprise. Caroline's incredibly gloomy face instantly entered his sight.
Before Tendo could ask what happened, Caroline spoke first.
Caroline: "Tendo, I understand your determination to become stronger, and I acknowledge all the effort you put into it. But I beg you, next time, before attempting such dangerous things, could you please inform me in advance and let me be prepared?"
"Uh..." Tendo raised his uninjured left hand and scratched his head awkwardly: "...That, I, I was just too excited and couldn't help but want to try it out immediately. Besides, I wasn't not thinking of calling you; I just thought you were asleep, so I didn't."
Tendo's explanation was clumsy and lacked conviction. Because it wasn't that he hadn't gone to call Caroline; he hadn't even had the thought! And Caroline clearly understood this. Therefore, she didn't easily forgive him for his sophistry. Instead, after glaring fiercely at him, she directly took his right hand, which was already swollen and purple, regardless of whether Tendo wanted her to or not.
Tendo: "Hiss! Ouch, ouch, ouch, gently, Caroline, be gentle!"
Caroline: "Hurts, you know it hurts now? I didn't see you feeling any pain just now! If I hadn't come to call you, I bet you'd still be standing here, letting the injury on this hand worsen!"
Tendo: "..."
Caroline: "Come on, I have some Dream Sweets from Liuli in my room. Take one first to relieve the pain, and then I'll help you bandage it properly."
Tendo: "Hiss! Caroline, say what you want, but can you please stop pinching my right hand? It really hurts!"
Caroline: "Hurts? I want you to feel the pain, otherwise, you'll never learn your lesson!"
Tendo: "I was wrong, I was wrong, I truly know my mistake this time! Stop pinching, please, stop pinching!"
Caroline: "Shut up! If I don't pinch, how will I know if your bones are injured, and to what extent your arm muscles and blood vessels are damaged! Don't move, sit still!"
Tendo: "O-okay..."
Inside Caroline's room, Tendo, after being severely reprimanded by Caroline, could only obediently sit on the edge of the bed, allowing Caroline to meticulously examine his injured right hand. Although the Doctor always said Caroline was his tool, Tendo felt that he was more like Caroline's tool. Because throughout their two-plus years together, the one who was always lectured and reprimanded was him! But Tendo didn't resent it.