Base Station

Ren Yi's expression stiffened for a moment.

Teacher, don't you think what you just said sounds a bit strange?

He quickly changed the subject. "Teacher, let's not talk about that. Can you tell me the specific rules and details of this assessment now?"

"Wait a moment."

Ms. Zhang walked over to a cabinet, took out an object, and handed it to Ren Yi.

"Qiuqiu specifically asked me to give this to you."

Ren Yi looked down. It was his phone.

However, something seemed different about it.

The moment his fingertips touched the casing, a familiar sensation washed over him, identical to the feeling of holding the Pain Mask Bead. He could freely pour his own energy into it.

Indeed, Zhang Qiuqiu had mentioned she wanted to give their phones a little upgrade, but she had kept delaying it. Finally, she had said she would give it to them during the exam.

Before Ren Yi could say thank you, Ms. Zhang continued.

"Qiuqiu added a full set of auxiliary functions to the phone. Considering the unique nature of this assessment, I took the liberty of integrating the dedicated exam system into it as well."

"Exam system?" Ren Yi toyed with the modified phone in his hand.

"Mm." Ms. Zhang nodded casually. "It doesn't have any flashy features. Once you reach the target location and connect to the 'Base Station,' it will only provide basic auxiliary information. It's simple and practical."

"Uh... what exactly is a Base Station?"

"That's a bit complicated." Ms. Zhang adjusted her glasses and smiled. "Let me explain it to you from the beginning."

"First, the destination for this assessment is a Native World."

"That means an independent world where the Alliance has not yet set foot and which hasn't been converted into a resource Pasture. You should have heard of this before, right?"

Ren Yi nodded. Lord Cha had mentioned this to them.

"The assessment content is simple: enter the Native World and complete the designated mission. The final assessment grade will be determined entirely by your mission completion rate."

"But there's one thing you must keep in mind: Native Worlds are not covered by the Anomaly Web. All standard Alliance support, remote protection, and signal assistance will be disabled."

"This independent exam system is the only exception. it retains the most basic information access, allowing it to display world rules and assessment regulations in text format, while also determining your progress and final score."

Ms. Zhang waved her hand, summarizing it in a blunt and common-sense way.

"Just think of it as a low-end, simplified version of the system. It's very easy to pick up; you'll get used to it after using it once or twice."

"Oh..."

As expected of Ms. Zhang, she always managed to make complex things sound simple and easy to understand.

"Besides that, Qiuqiu also installed several extra practical modules."

"The most basic modification allows it to be charged with Anomaly energy, so you can power it using your own strength."

"All the phone's original basic functions are preserved, and common software has been pre-installed with offline versions."

As she spoke, she handed over a palm-sized but exceptionally thick booklet.

"This is the instruction manual. Study it when you have the time."

Ren Yi took it hesitantly. He weighed it in his hand; it was quite heavy.

With this thickness, he could probably leave a bruise if he hit someone with it.

"It can't be helped. Since the Anomaly Web is cut off, electronic documents can't be accessed, so we have to make do with paper materials."

"The phone also features 3D imaging, radar detection, Base Station positioning, route guidance, and many other functions..."

As expected of the class monitor, her technical skills were truly impressive.

But now was not the time to think about that.

"Teacher!"

Seeing Ms. Zhang getting more and more excited, as if she were about to launch into a long lecture, Ren Yi quickly interrupted her.

He knew his homeroom teacher too well. Once she started teaching, she couldn't stop. If he really let her continue, the assessment might not even start until after lunch.

"You still haven't told me what a Base Station actually is."

"Oh, right. Base Station."

Ms. Zhang snapped back to reality, reluctantly stopping her lecture to return to the main topic.

"'Base Station' is just a general term. Its physical form can be anything; there's no fixed shape."

"Within Alliance territory, the Instance mirrors, spatial gateways, and fixed teleportation arrays you see every day all fall under the category of Base Stations."

"In an undeveloped Native World, we refer to them collectively as Base Stations."

She paused, then switched to a term that Participants would find easiest to understand.

"In the words of a Participant..."

"It is also called an Instance Key."

"Instance Key?"

Ren Yi repeated the term under his breath.

It wasn't an obscure term, but he had only heard it a few times since his awakening.

The first time was in the Three Cities World, where he learned from the old Pope that Azure had used an Instance Key to forcibly pull the Alliance's power into that foreign world.

The second time was at the entertainment city, where countless outside Participants relied on keys distributed by the entertainment city in various Instances to enter that special permanent trading space.

As the name suggested, it was a key item used to open specific Instances or pull spatial tunnels into existence.

But...

"Teacher, I don't have an Instance right now," Ren Yi looked at her in confusion.

"You're quite clever. An Instance Key is indeed a 'Beacon' used to trigger the descent of an Instance and open its gateway, but unfortunately, you don't have one."

Ms. Zhang's expression shifted slightly, her tone becoming more serious. "So, it can't be helped. You'll have to 'descend' into the Native World in person."

At this point, Ms. Zhang's expression became solemn.

"Remember one thing: this is the biggest difference from a regular Instance teleportation."

"In a Native World, the Base Station is both your point of entry and your only exit for return."

"In other words, whether you complete the mission or not, if you intend to return to the Alliance, you must find the corresponding Base Station and rely on it to trigger the teleportation."

Upon hearing this, Ren Yi's expression turned completely grave.

Compared to Instances and Pasture worlds where one could leave at any time or teleport freely, the restrictions and danger of this assessment were undoubtedly several levels higher.

Ms. Zhang saw his concern and immediately spoke to reassure him. "Don't worry too much. Your initial descent location will definitely be right next to the Base Station."

"And a Base Station isn't a fixed landmark. In most cases, it's a special item that can be carried with you."

"Once you unlock the permissions, you can just store it and take it with you."

Ren Yi nodded thoughtfully, then posed a new question. "Teacher, I have one last question."

"What happens if the Base Station is intentionally destroyed?"

Ms. Zhang gave a faint smile. "Theoretically, that's virtually impossible."

"Virtually?"

Ren Yi looked directly into her eyes, catching the vague wording.

"Uh..." Ms. Zhang was silent for a brief moment before honestly adding, "Except for top-tier powers like the Source of the World, the world's will, or other rule-breaking abilities, a Base Station is almost indestructible."

"Furthermore, the exam system will be bound to the Base Station the entire time, tracking its location in real-time. There's no risk of losing it or losing contact."

"But what if?"

Ren Yi was relentless, pressing for an answer. "What if an extremely low-probability accident occurs?"

Facing this tricky question, Ms. Zhang's expression became incredibly sincere, and her tone was remarkably blunt as she said:

"If things really reach that point..."

"Well, you should probably just kill yourself."