Meanwhile, Valen approached Davis Ewing's office door with a small portable computer tucked under one arm and knocked. "Come in." Valen walked in with the files and gave a respectful military salute. "Mr. Ewing." The man in the black military uniform slowly turned around. He appeared to be in his 50s, with a pair of clear framed glasses perched on his nose. His entire demeanor exuded a stern, no-nonsense authority. He nodded. "Thank you for your hard work on this year's freshman assessment, Mr. Mercer." "Just doing my duty." Valen gave a slight nod. "I'm already aware of what happened during the assessment. The military academy's internal investigation division is looking into it." Davis spoke in a grave tone. "Yes. Whoever planted the virus in the game was most likely among the examination team. The probability of it being a freshman is extremely low, though we can't rule out the possibility of someone with ulterior motives infiltrating the candidates." Valen analyzed carefully. Davis nodded. "You're right. As in previous years, we'll increase our monitoring of the freshmen." Valen nodded, then smiled. "Rest assured, Mr. Ewing. Not many people can climb to the top of the military academy's food chain and gain high-level clearance." With that, he handed the portable computer to Davis. "This contains the records and files of all candidates from this year. However, three individuals have SSSS-level encryption. Only the highest clearance can unlock the database for their detailed information." This kind of situation was extremely rare—it might not happen even once in several years. And this time, three had appeared at once. Typically, anyone with SSSS-level encryption had a far-from-ordinary background—sometimes even more secretive than the Lycan King of the Astralis Empire. Blue Star Military Academy's technology could access every database in the world and retrieve encrypted information from them, but it all depended on clearance level—the higher the clearance, the more classified the data one could access. In the entire military academy, fewer than five people had the highest clearance to pull their identities. Valen was one of them. Davis's finger swiped across the screen, finally stopping on the file of a man wearing a silver mask. "This person..." "He disappeared after the third round of assessments. He's not among the freshmen who enrolled." Valen added. A glint of light flashed across Davis's thick lenses. He couldn't shake the feeling that this person looked familiar. "However, if you knew the identities of the other two, Mr. Ewing, you'd certainly be surprised." Valen's tone was certain.From the moment he'd seen the files, his initial impression of Thora had completely changed. He'd also reflected on his own hasty judgment. He had to admit—from the very start of the assessment, his attention had been fixed on Thora. And precisely because of that, he'd been harder on her. "Oh?" Davis's interest was piqued. Valen stepped forward to operate the device, pulling up the files of those two individuals separately as he began his explanation. "Thora. The youngest flag-rank officer in the Astralis Empire, and the commanding officer of the Astralis Empire's most secretive special operations unit, Wolffang. "Additionally, she's very likely the leader of Ashwolf, the military faction that has risen rapidly across the world in recent years. She's referred to as the 'Boss' by major thief syndicates and underground organizations—though the Ashwolf connection is purely my personal speculation."He paused, then continued, "Ashley, or more accurately, Lance. The captain and sole leader of Greywolf, the number one mercenary group on Chaules. Interestingly, these two have clashed several times in the past. You could say they're old rivals." Even as Valen said it, he found it amusing. This kind of encounter was quite dramatic, and their identities made it even more so. Davis also found it interesting—a soldier and a mercenary, neither one simple indeed. However, having held his position for many years, he'd seen plenty of people with special backgrounds. Though surprised, he didn't have much of a reaction. The military academy had never cared about students' identities or backgrounds. Only those who were particularly noteworthy received extra attention. After all, there was no shortage of people who wanted a diploma from Blue Star Military Academy. "What about this one?" Davis pointed at the silver-masked Draven.Introducing this person, Valen lost the enthusiasm he'd shown earlier. "Alpha of the Nightclaw Pack in the Astralis Empire, and CEO of Skybound Group—Darius Blackwood." One sentence summarized his identity, but Davis's expression clearly shifted—even more dramatically than when he'd heard about Thora and Lance. He studied Draven's file carefully. A gleam passed behind his lenses. Why would he be here? "Mr. Mercer, do you know who our partner was in developing the 'Apocalypse' game?" Davis drew out his words slowly. Valen shook his head. Davis looked up and slowly uttered the name. "Darius Blackwood."