Between 3:30 AM and 4:00 AM. Meanwhile, The ten thousand newly armored Jade-Turtle Mech-Grandpas stood hidden in the shadow of the underground pillars enjoying their second helping of five-spice roasted chicken. Moreover, Wolfberry tea, fourteen-year-old Ye Xiao and twelve-year-old Gu Nian went to work on the ten conveyor belts.
Sitting on the velvet shipping trays of Rack A through Rack J were 10,000 empty brass thumb-rings.
Normally, if a shipping clerk or a freshman Chosen One picked up one of those rings and found it empty, they would immediately realize that the kidnapped ancient soul inside had escaped!
“Don’t worry, Grandpa Yao,” fourteen-year-old Ye Xiao whispered, pushing up his round spectacles as he opened a golden toolbox fresh out of [Dad’s Care-Package Upgrade Box]. “Dad helped Gu Nian and me fuse ten thousand microscopic [Strict Teacher Audio-Illusion & Compulsory Squatting Chips]! Watch what happens when we drop one into Ring #8,402!”
“How does the chip work, Big Brother Xiao?” twelve-year-old Gu Nian asked curiously as he held open the velvet tray of Rack H with a pair of insulated bamboo tweezers.
“It exploits the Academy’s own Host-Blood Binding Protocol,” Ye Xiao explained with a scholarly glint in his glasses. “Normally, when a Chosen One drips his blood onto a starter ring.
