Chapter 32 Chapter 32 Clearance

On the way to the restaurant, I watched Tobias's face apprehensively, searching for any sign of disappointment.We spent two hours doing nothing but laying in bed talking, kissing, and finally drifting away until we were woken by shouts in the aisle—everyone was rushing to dinner. If it was any indication, he looked much lighter than before.Anyway, he had a lot more smile on his face. When we got to the restaurant entrance, we parted ways.I went in first and ran over to Christina and Will's table.He was in the back, waited a moment before coming in, and sat next to Zeke.Zeke offered him a black bottle, which he waved away.

"Where have you been?" Christina asked, "You haven't returned to the dormitory alone." "I'm just wandering around," I echoed. "I'm too nervous to discuss the results with other people or anything." "You have no reason to be nervous." Christina shook her head, "I turned around and said something to Will, and in just a second, you've successfully passed the level." I smelled a hint of jealousy in her tone, and once again, I wanted to tell her that I was only able to prepare for the situational simulation because of who I was.However, I can only shrug my shoulders.

"What job are you going to pick?" I changed the subject. "I'm thinking about maybe taking a job like the fourth one. Train freshmen and scare them to death first. You know, it's just fun. What about you?" These days, I've been so engrossed in passing the freshman test that I don't even think about it.Can be an assistant to the leader of the Dauntless faction - but if they find out who I am, they will kill me.What else is there to choose? "I think... I want to be an ambassador to the other factions," I said. "Being a fork might be an advantage."

"How I wish you had mentioned the position of 'Fresh Mentor'," Christina sighed, "Because that's what Pete is eyeing, and I haven't heard him shut up in the dormitory just now, it's all about opening and shutting up. " "That's what I want," Will interjected. "Hopefully I'll be ahead of him... oh, and Ben's off. Forget about them." He grumbled, "God, my Hopes are lost." "Don't be sad, it won't be," Christina said, taking his hand, their fingers intertwined, like it was the most natural thing in the world.Will squeezed her hand lightly.

"I have a question," Christina said, leaning over to me. "Watching you pass through the leader of the 'fear space'... all laughing, what's going on?" "Really?" I bit my lip hard. "Glad my fear amuses them." "Do you know what kind of fear it is?" She was a little bit in pursuit. "have no idea." "You're lying again," she said. "You're always biting your cheek when you lie. That's what you are." I quickly stop. "Will likes to pout his lips every now and then when he's lying—if it makes you feel better." She seemed to be reassuring me.

Will hurriedly covered his mouth. "Okay, fine. I'm afraid of...intimacy," I said. "Intimacy?" Christina repeated, "Like... sexual relations?" I stiffened and forced myself to nod.Even though there was no one else around Christina, I wanted to go up and strangle her right away.A few ideas flashed through my mind, trying to use the least troublesome way to inflict the greatest damage.My eyes glistened with anger. Will laughed out loud. "What was that like?" she asked. "I mean, is there someone who wants to... with you? Who is that person?"

"How should I say it? A faceless man... an unknown man." I suddenly changed the subject, "Can you still handle moths?" "You promised me not to tell!" Christina yelled, punching me on the arm. "Moths," Will repeated. "Are you afraid of moths?" "It's not just a group of moths, but a large group of moths, everywhere, all with wings, all with feet, and..." She couldn't help but shake her head in horror. "Oh, how bluffing." Will said pretending to be serious, "It's really my good girl, very strong, like a ball of cotton."

"Shut up." The microphone was screaming harshly out of nowhere, so loud I had to cover my ears.Looking at the reputation, Eric was standing on one of the tables at the other end of the restaurant, holding a microphone in his hand, and was tapping it with his fingertips.After filming the microphone, the crowd of the Dauntless faction fell silent.Eric cleared his throat and began to speak. "We don't make any long speeches, that's the specialty of the Erudite School." Everyone burst into laughter.I wondered if they knew he had been an Erudite before; he was more an Erudite than anyone else in that rude, even cruel Dauntless guise.If they knew, I doubt they'd be able to laugh. "So I'll cut the long story short. New year, we have a freshman group. A smaller group of newcomers. Let's congratulate them."

Speaking of "congratulations", there was an eruption in the restaurant, not a burst of applause, but the sound of fists banging on the table, shaking my chest.I couldn't help grinning. "We believe in courage, in action, in freedom from fear, in the power gained to drive all evil out of this world so that good may flourish and grow. If you believe as much as we do, you are welcome to join." Even though Eric might not believe any of it, I found myself grinning.Because I believe it.No matter how much the Dauntless leader distorts the Dauntless ideal, that ideal will always be in my heart.

More people banged on the table, this time with shouts. "Tomorrow, as the first thing for new members, the top ten freshmen will choose their careers in order of ranking." Eric continued, "I know that the final ranking is what everyone is eager to see. It depends on The synthesis of the results of the three levels—the first level, combat training; the second level, situational simulation; the third level, the ultimate test of the 'fear space'. After a while, the ranking will be displayed on the big screen behind me." As soon as he landed his last word, his name appeared on the screen, and the words were almost as big as the wall.Next to the first place is my picture, followed by the name: Triss.

The boulder that weighed on my heart finally fell to the ground.It wasn't until the pressure in my heart disappeared that I realized that it really existed.I don't have to be stressed anymore.I smiled, and a tremor ran through my body.I am number one!Divergent or not, I belong here. I forgot about war, I forgot about death.Will put his arms around me and gave me a bear hug.There were cheers, laughter, and shouts all around.Christina pointed at the screen, her eyes wide with tears. Pete actually stayed too.I suppressed that sigh and continued to look at the list below. I laughed.Christina leaned over the table and hugged me.There were so many mixed feelings that I forgot to restrain my showing emotions.She laughed in my ear. Someone tugged me from behind and yelled in my ear at the same time.It's Uriah.I was held tightly by Christina, unable to turn around, so I reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Congratulations!" I yelled. "You've overtaken them!" he yelled too, breaking away from my hand, laughing, and ran into the Benzi crowd. I stretched my neck, looked at the big screen again, and looked down the rankings. The eighth, ninth, and tenth are all freshmen from our school, and their names look strange. Eleventh and twelfth are Molly and Drew respectively. Molly and Drew were eliminated.Drew, when Pete was choking me up in the canyon, trying to get away; Molly, making up lies for the Erudites against my father: they're all non-partisans now. It wasn't the kind of win I was looking for, but it was a win nonetheless. Will and Christina kiss.In my opinion, this is a bit too sloppy.All around was the sound of Dauntless hitting the table with his fist.I felt a light pat on the shoulder, turned to see Tobias standing behind me, and stood up happily. "Give you a hug, don't you think it's giving away too much?" he said. "You know, I don't care." I stood on tiptoe and pressed my lips to his. This is the best moment of my life. After a while, Tobias ran his thumb over the spot where the serum had been injected on my neck.Several things came to my mind at the same time, and I don’t know why, why I didn’t notice it before: First, stained sera contain signal transmitters. Second, the signal transmitter connects consciousness to the situational simulation program. Third, Erudite developed a situational simulation serum. Fourth, Eric and Max collaborated with the Erudite School. I broke away from the kiss and stared at Tobias with wide eyes. "Tracey?" He looked confused. I shook my head: "Not now." What I want to say is that it's hard to talk about it here.Not in this case: Christina and Will were standing less than half a meter away from me - looking at me with their mouths open, presumably because I'd just kissed Tobias; noise.But he has to know how important it is. "Tell me later, okay?" He nodded.I don't know how to explain it to him later.I don't even know how to think clearly. But I do already know how the Erudites are going to get us into battle.