As he placed his big hands on top the crystal ball, Steve suddenly felt a strange force flow into it. The energy was somewhat different from the Cosmic Force, as it seemed more nuanced.

Buzz buzz…..

The crystal ball was illuminated and dotted fluorescent lights were flas.h.i.+ng forth from it, like a dazzling firefly! Steve's elemental talent value was quickly reported on the instrument:

5 points!

The audience was silent for a while, then the n.o.ble apprentices simultaneously burst into fits of laughter.

"Hahaha, 5 points! Only 5 points!"

"With just his little bit of talent, he dares to have a crush on Catherine! Is he crazy or what?"

"Ha, a 5 points elemental talent value is the lowest among everyone here!"

"His letter of recommendation must have been forged or stolen, as who would give a letter of recommendation to such a garbage talent?"

Faced with the ridicule of the n.o.ble apprentices, the civilian apprentices could only endure it with their faces blushed. They felt truly ashamed.

Just now, Earl was still speaking up for Steve, trying to prove that Steve was a talented person. But now, he felt as if he had been punched in the face.

But, the fact remained that Steve's elemental talent value was definitely the lowest among those present. Even Earl was stunned to see him attain such an underwhelming number of points.

"Brother Linken, did you not display your true power?" Clinton asked.

Steve shrugged and said, "This is all of the talent I have. I can't help it."

Steve knew his limitations, as he had refined the serum many times, yet did not sense a single bit of elemental fluctuation. This clearly meant that he did not have the talent for it at all. In fact, the success of his refining depended entirely on the Heart of the Universe.

"Haha. Catherine, did you hear that? This guy is being funny!" Daniel laughed sarcastically.

Catherine, after a brief glance up at him, returned her gaze to her book. It seemed like there was nothing else in the world that mattered to her, except for her pharmaceutics studies. Likewise, Steve had no intention of fighting back in the face of such ridicule.

Meanwhile, in the conference room on the top floor, the high-level executives of the Pharmacists Guild frowned when they saw Steve's elemental talent value.

"Who gave him his letter of recommendation?" Gaffielbo asked, his face sullen. After all, it was a total waste of the quota to give a letter of recommendation to someone with such a low talent value.

"Probably some F grade pharmacist," said the secretary, Mary, calmly, as she pushed down her gla.s.ses.

Steve's presence was like a farce. Although the high-level executives were unhappy about it, they would not waste too much energy fighting it at present. However, they had already kicked Steve out in their hearts.

According to Kenneth, Mr. Clown was around 20 years old and was a gifted talent. He also had an amazing success rate in refining the enhanced Subatomic Serum.

With such an impressive success rate, Mr. Clown's elemental talent value should be very high and all aspects of his other talents would surely qualify him as being among the elite geniuses. In contrast, Steve's elemental talent value was a total joke.

"Could Daniel or Earl be Mr. Clown?" Charlie asked with a frown.

"If you look at their ages and talents, Daniel is the more likely one."

"I agree. Daniel is born of a n.o.ble family and has a lot of resources, so, naturally, he could use those resources to create a dream serum."

The crowd ruled out all kinds of other possibilities, finally also sharing the same conclusion that Daniel did indeed fit the description of Kenneth's Mr. Clown.

"Kenneth, do you think that Daniel looks like a clown?" Gaffielbo looked at Kenneth and asked.

Faced with such a question, Kenneth could only reluctantly answer, "I think there's some similarity."

His heart was conflicted. If Mr. Clown was not found, the Pharmacists Guild would never forgive him!

Gaffielbo looked at Daniel with a smile. The more he looked at Daniel, the more pleased he was with his guess.

Others, who had heard of Mr. Clown, also felt that Daniel was very much like the Mr. Clown that they had pictured in their imaginations. Moreover, many high-level executives could not help but also regard Daniel as Mr. Clown.

...…...

At this point, the a.s.sessment continued, as other people's elemental talent values continued being detected. Sure enough, Steve had the lowest elemental talent value, followed by Darwin and Albert, who had finished with 8 points and 12 points respectively.

However, these two were already known to have no real talent. In fact, they were always ranked at the bottom, but would always reattempt to be certified at each year's certification examination.

"This is the end of the first round of elemental talent detection. Although the elemental talent detection determines your future achievement maximum limit, it does not represent your minimum limit. This means that, as long as you work hard, you can still become a certified pharmacist," Alex announced.

He then added, "Of course, I hope that those gifted apprentices with high elemental talent values will continue to work hard and not put your talent to waste."

Everyone could not help but s.h.i.+ft their attention to the three lowest achieving apprentices, including Steve and Daniel. The icy glares were focused especially on Steve, as the n.o.ble apprentices would not stop ridiculing him.

"Haha, what's the use of working hard for people with only 5 points of elemental talent? He will never become a certified pharmacist."

"I really don't understand where this garbage managed to cheat his way in here!"

At this time, even the civilian apprentices did not defend Steve. It was so humiliating for him, as no one ever received a lower elemental talent value than him.

At the end of Alex's short speech, tables and chairs were suddenly brought forth.

"Now is the start of the second round, the basic knowledge examination. Each of you can choose a seat. At each seat, you will find the examination questions. You are not allowed to search for the answers online or cheat by asking for help in the examination. If you are found guilty of any of these offenses, you will not be able to partic.i.p.ate in any more certification examinations in the future," Alex said, looking very serious. "The examination results will be announced five minutes after this round is completed."

Such a fast turnaround time meant that the optical brain would mark the test papers in a stunning speed. At this time, Torbjörn, who was standing next to Steve, could not help ask him, "Brother Linken, you're not going to fail this round again, are you? We civilian apprentices are feeling ashamed. If you fail this round, we will be laughed at!"

"You can rest a.s.sured that, in this basic knowledge examination, I will definitely take first place!" said Steve, full of confidence.

"Brother, may I ask you, have you ever taken such an examination before?" Lance asked.

"No, it's my first time," Steve answered truthfully.

Upon hearing this, Torbjörn and the others looked sullen and sighed helplessly. Steve had previously said that he had never undergone an elemental talent test. And, his elemental talent value had been the lowest among everyone, even breaking the record with the lowest score for all pharmacist certification examinations that have ever been held so far!

"Oh no, this time we're going to be laughed at again," said Earl, looking up at the sky with dread.

"Brother, you just try your best. Just get as many points as you can. If you can't pa.s.s the pharmacist certification this time, then you can try again next time. You see, I've been attempting this examination for more than 20 years," said Clinton, as he patted Steve's shoulder and comforted him.