Chapter 36

As soon as the prompt sounded, not only Zhang Huan, but everyone present was stunned.

A-level!?

What she did before she disappeared was known by many here, and those who didn’t know had been informed recently.

Fixing a flawed talent—some believed it, some didn’t.

But regardless of their beliefs, no one expected that when she reappeared, her talent would have already risen to A-level.

Not C+, not even like Huang Yuwen who improved to B-level, but a leap straight to A!

A-level talent isn’t something you come across every day; it’s considered top-tier even in the entire Interstellar Academy.

Geniuses are rare in this world, which is why there are only a handful of students in the S-class. An A-level talent stands out among the ordinary.

And Ji Fu is the first ever to rise from F to A.

Thinking back, she achieved this rapid rise in just one semester!

Zhang Huan snapped out of it and logged into the academic network.

The academic network recorded information about every student. When he searched for Ji Fu’s name, the results matched what he had just heard.

In the Interstellar Academy’s information section, Ji Fu’s personal data stood out.

Among all the students, only her talent entry had been frequently updated and revised several times.

From F to C, and finally to A.

And this A-level information was just updated yesterday.

The light brain operated a super system encompassing the entire interstellar network, synchronizing personal information for all users.

So when Ji Fu’s talent was assessed yesterday, all her information was automatically updated.

But no one at the school had noticed.

…What a joke.

Talent is usually fixed; incoming students undergo talent checks. Unless under specific circumstances, who would idly check someone else’s talent information?

No one expected someone like Ji Fu who could upgrade their talent!

Besides a few S-class students, many others were there just to see the excitement.

Upon hearing that Ji Fu had risen to A-level, it caused an uproar.

The previously quiet academy forum due to final exams suddenly buzzed with activity again.

People went from shock and disbelief to verification, and once confirmed her information had indeed updated to A-level, the forum was unprecedentedly lively.

“Whoa, I thought talent upgrade stories in novels were fiction. Didn’t expect to see it in reality!”

“F to A… Wow, I’ll dream about this tonight.”

“No way, if I remember correctly, this is unprecedented, right?”

“Should be said as ‘never before.'”

“Not exactly, a friend from the Huang family said their head’s daughter also upgraded her talent, straight to A+.”

“Let’s not count those outside the school. Within the school, she’s the only one.”

“Help, F to A, isn’t this just like a carp leaping over the dragon gate.”

“To be honest… even before her upgrade, her strength wasn’t weak. She performed well in the S-class upgrade exam. Now with her talent upgraded, the future is unimaginable…”

The matter itself was so exaggerated, coupled with the overwhelming discussion within the school, that the school leaders quickly informed Zhang Huan.

Zhang Huan was dumbfounded. Looking at Ji Fu, he had no idea what expression to show.

With the joint exam of the three major military academies approaching, the S-class needed talent.

Ji Fu missed the final exam and faced school discipline, yet she managed to upgrade to A-level.

What could Zhang Huan say?

Scold her? She advanced to A on her own.

Praise her? For what? Even if she was going to miss the final exam, she could have at least informed him!

If she had said she was going to advance to A-level, Zhang Huan would have definitely granted her leave!

Just as he was in a daze, he received a message from Dean Yang.

Dean Yang cleared his throat and asked, “Is that child beside you?”

Zhang Huan: …

It seemed the whole school knew about their class’s student upgrading from C to A, no, from F to A.

“Yes.” Zhang Huan glanced at Ji Fu, “She’s fine, all limbs intact.”

Ji Fu ignored Zhang Huan’s helpless expression and waved cheerfully at Dean Yang on the screen.

Dean Yang: …

He closed his eyes and said, “Good to have her back.”

Zhang Huan was at a loss for words. Knowing Zhang Huan wanted to mention the joint exam, Dean Yang said directly, “Now that she’s A-level, let her return to the Special A-class.”

“Inform her that due to special circumstances this year, the joint exam of the three major military academies will be held in mid-September. Special A-class students must participate. This semester’s break is canceled, so she should prepare well.”

Zhang Huan was slightly stunned.

He then noticed Dean Yang’s unhappy expression. After turning off the screen, he saw the school’s latest document.

It was a new policy issued by the Alliance.

From this year onwards, the joint exam of the three major military academies would expand from just elite classes to include the top 100 students in the academy.

The top 100…

This covered a wide range.

It wasn’t just the Special A-class; many students from Class B would likely need to participate as well.

Zhang Huan instantly understood Dean Yang’s displeasure.

Since the Interstellar Academy didn’t restrict admissions, it had the highest number of ordinary students among the three major military academies. With no entry threshold, the students’ talents weren’t as high.

The top 100 students, for the Interstellar Academy, include B-level students who need to take the joint exam.

But for the other two military academies, it’s completely different.

He saw a message in the academic group chat from a teacher: “The Empire has already provided their list of joint exam participants. Among their top 100, the lowest-ranked student has an A-level talent.”

With the addition of this top 100 limit, the gap between the academies would widen even more.

Zhang Huan’s heart sank. At this point, he couldn’t be bothered with the issue of missed exams.

He looked at Ji Fu and said, “Before the joint exam begins, all students from the three major military academies participating in the exam will undergo intensive training. You should join us.”

This training, known as the pre-exam training, required every military academy student to achieve a specific score to qualify for the joint exam.

Essentially, it was a preliminary round for the joint exam, also called the preparatory test.

The training location was not in the school but in a designated battlefield at the military corps’ base.

Since the appearance of black holes, there had been annual waves of ferocious alien beasts influenced by these black holes.

These months were a peak period for black holes, making the military corps busy. Calling the military academy students over for training also helped the corps deal with the fierce alien beast waves.

Students from other Interstellar Academies had already arrived at the star system where the black hole appeared yesterday. The S-class was delayed by a day due to the difficulty of their final exams.

Ji Fu happened to join them.

Zhang Huan decided to bring her along directly.

Once on the starship, Ji Fu discovered that not only were there S-class students heading to the battlefield, but also Lu Bingyun.

Lu Bingyun was strong but faced exclusion and had no hope of advancing in the alliance.

She went along as the head of the academy’s security team, mainly responsible for the safety of the students.

The starship landed in the T-1991 star system.

This star system was the exam site for the S-class and Special A-class students this time.

As soon as Ji Fu stepped off the starship, she received a message on her light brain.

Upon entering the battlefield, the students’ light brains would automatically connect online to track their scores on the battlefield.

Notably, although students from the three major military academies trained on different battlefields, all their scores shared a common leaderboard.

Students could check the leaderboard anytime after entering the battlefield.

Currently, the training hadn’t started, so the leaderboard was empty.

Once it officially started, scores would accumulate based on the alien beasts they killed.

The training lasted three months, and a minimum score of 1,000 points was required to pass.

“Three months, ninety days, 1,000 points doesn’t sound too difficult.” After landing, Li Yunyi began explaining to everyone since they were in the Third Corps’ territory.

“But…” He paused, then said gravely, “Killing an A-level alien beast only earns 300 points.”

This meant that even killing A-level beasts required at least three to pass.

Moreover, the system only counted major points.

Major points meant that even if facing an A+ alien beast, the maximum score was still 300.

For instance, the golden giant rock killed by Zhou Lu Hai, almost S-level, was still calculated as A-level.

Hearing this rule, the students remained calm.

After all, they were S-class students; if they couldn’t even earn a ticket to the joint exam, they wouldn’t deserve the S-class title.

After announcing the rules, they were allowed to rest.

The battlefield environment was not as comfortable as the school, but it had enough rest pods.

Training would officially begin after the black hole refreshed at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Until then, students were free to move around.

Ji Fu didn’t go out. Now, every Interstellar Academy student looked at her as if she were a rare creature.

Wherever she went, people stopped her to add her as a friend or directly asked if she could help them upgrade their talent.

She didn’t want to deal with them, so she went straight to her assigned rest pod.

Rest pods were not allocated based on talent level but randomly.

She was assigned to pod number 75.

It wasn’t very close, quite a distance from the main battlefield, even considered remote.

When she got there and looked back, she saw she was far from the S-class students, and even the A-class students weren’t nearby.

Glancing at the names of others in the same rest pod, she didn’t recognize anyone.

Besides her, everyone else was from B-class.

She arrived late, joined the training last, and was assigned far away, which seemed reasonable.

Ji Fu walked leisurely to her rest pod.

Passing one room, she heard girls chatting and laughing. Turning a corner, she casually checked messages on her light brain and brushed past a man.

He stopped after she passed.

Wearing the Interstellar Academy badge, he turned and used a device like a contact lens to scan Ji Fu’s back.

The device quickly ran, comparing Ji Fu’s figure to a photo of a red-haired woman sitting in a mech.

After a swift comparison, it reached a conclusion.

The man pressed his earpiece, eyes dark: “Match is 80%.”

This was a vague figure because most targets identified by the alliance’s sent agents reached a 70-80% match.

However, this student named Ji Fu had rarely appeared in public since the incident with the Li family.

After over a month, she reappeared and suddenly advanced to A-level.

The two events seemed unrelated, but… when Yan Cheng was publicly shot, a few suspects were identified.

Ji Fu was one of those suspects.

The assassin they sent was killed by Zhou Lu Hai for some unknown reason.

Due to Zhou Lu Hai’s special status, they paused their efforts after the failed assassination.

Who knew that the Li family incident would follow.

Now, the directive from above was to quickly identify the person behind the Slaughterhouse.

Suspected individuals in the military academy were to be dealt with during this joint exam.

After hearing his response, the person on the other end of the earpiece paused and then said, “Execute her once the training starts.”

When the alien beast wave begins, casualties among the corps are normal, let alone students.

“Understood,” the man responded.

With the clear directive, he planned his actions.

To better approach the target, he switched his rest pod location to the one opposite Ji Fu’s.

Rest pods were randomly assigned, naturally leading to mixed-gender accommodations.

This was the military corps’ territory with the academy’s protection, so incidents were unlikely.

The man waited in his rest pod for a long time, hearing no movement from the opposite pod.

It wasn’t until dusk that the door of the opposite rest pod opened slowly.

He saw Ji Fu, her hands seemingly stained with some liquid, leaving the pod and heading toward the washroom.

There was only one washroom in rest pod 75.

After hesitating, the man got up and followed Ji Fu to the washroom.

The washroom had several sinks outside and automated locking shower units inside.

He saw Ji Fu at the farthest sink, slowly washing her hands.

Voices of other Interstellar Academy students could be heard from inside the washroom.

He paused, then walked casually to the sink nearest to Ji Fu. Instead of turning on the water, he looked at her shyly and smiled, “You’re Ji Fu from the Special A class, right? Hi, I’m Tan Hui from B class.”

The devices they wore during missions were always on to ensure better information collection and emergency handling from above.

Tan Hui’s earpiece was on. His face flushed, he looked somewhat bashful as he said to Ji Fu, “Um, my grades aren’t very good.”

“Can I team up with you when the training starts tomorrow?”

Before the mission, he had reviewed Ji Fu’s profile.

She had chosen to team up with the F-level Jiang Wei in the entrance exam and led Jiang Wei to good results.

The analysis suggested she had a protective nature, making her approachable.

Ji Fu glanced back at the timid-looking boy in front of her and said calmly, “Alright.”

Tan Hui was delighted and extended his hand, saying, “Then I’ll rely on you during the training…”

Ji Fu’s hands, stained with some liquid, were still under the running water.

She looked at Tan Hui and said calmly, “Rely on me for what?”

Tan Hui was stunned and didn’t react immediately.

Meanwhile, the person controlling their systems furrowed his brows.

He quickly magnified Tan Hui’s operating system and activated Tan Hui’s microphone.

This batch of assassins had lower talent levels.

They weren’t as strong as the first professional killers sent out, but these assassins were good at disguise and adaptability.

Such people were often more unpredictable than professional killers.

Tan Hui’s talent level was indeed B, but he had killed quite a few A-level targets.

“My family is poor. They struggled to get me into the Interstellar Academy,” Tan Hui said solemnly after regaining his composure. “I heard that performing well in training gives a high chance of staying with the Third Corps after graduation.”

He smiled sheepishly, “Then my family could have a better life because of me.”

The person on the other end of the microphone heard Ji Fu’s calm voice, “Really?”

Along with that, the continuous sound of running water.

He frowned slightly, about to remind Tan Hui.

Suddenly, Ji Fu’s voice came closer, “Is this what you mean by a better life?”

She raised her hand, water still dripping, pointing at Tan Hui’s left hand.

Tan Hui’s face changed dramatically.

His left index finger concealed a deadly poison.

Before he could react, Ji Fu suddenly approached.

Her wet hands were instantly covered by mechanical gloves, with joints exceptionally flexible.

As Tan Hui’s pupils dilated and he reached for his gun, Ji Fu had already acted.

Her gloved hands swiftly grabbed Tan Hui’s throat.

Snap.

With just her mechanically enhanced hands, she broke his neck.

The gloves, wet with water, emitted a crackling sound, severing Tan Hui’s communication with the other end.

The person on the other end stood up abruptly, running towards the door. He knocked urgently on the office door, shouting, “Something’s wrong!”

Simultaneously, alarms echoed throughout the T-1991 star system.

Zhang Huan was still in the S-class lounge when he received the news, and he was completely stunned.

The training hadn’t even started, and there was already an incident on the first day of the preliminary competition.

It wasn’t a beast causing trouble, but a student killing another student.

And the perpetrator was Ji Fu!

When he heard that name, Zhang Huan’s mind buzzed.

He had only one thought: **Her again!**

Numbly, he turned to Tan Xi and asked, “Did I hear that wrong?”

Tan Xi was silent for a moment, then turned to look not far away.

What he saw were military personnel escorting Ji Fu, her hands in silver handcuffs, toward the main star.

Zhang Huan saw it too and became frantic, pulling at his hair. “This is the Third Corps! The Corps! The Corps!”

Before arriving, he had heard about Ji Fu killing Anping on G-730, but he never imagined she would dare act within the Corps!

Zhang Huan was almost jumping with frustration.

However, he couldn’t ignore this situation.

The Corps’ office had already called him, asking him to come over.

The school leadership was also notified. When Zhang Huan and the others arrived, they saw the interstellar warship.

It was the fleet of the Third Corps’ commander.

This commander was quite familiar to them.

He wasn’t just anyone; he was Zhou Lu Hai’s uncle, Zhou Xing.

Zhang Huan looked up and saw Zhou Xing coming down from the warship with a cold expression. He was taken aback and quickly told Tan Xi, “Hurry, go get Zhou Lu Hai.”

Zhang Huan believed that with Zhou Lu Hai’s uncle present, Zhou Lu Hai would make things easier!

Before Zhou Lu Hai arrived, Zhang Huan entered the Corps’ office.

Since the incident happened on the Corps’ territory, the interrogation was conducted by the Corps, not the Alliance.

The person interrogating Ji Fu was the Third Corps’ secretary-general.

When Zhang Huan entered, he heard the secretary-general asking, “Why did you kill him?”

This was their third time asking, and Ji Fu gave the same answer.

Calmly, she said, “He was trying to kill me.”

Everyone present was silent.

Zhou Xing had seen the body earlier. Her attack was precise and lethal.

Yet she claimed the other party was trying to kill her.

The interrogator asked sternly, “You just met him today. Why would he try to kill you for no reason?”

Ji Fu raised her eyes, emotionless, her black pupils bright.

Calmly, she said, “It’s not just me.”

What did she mean?

Everyone was puzzled, unsure of what she was trying to convey.

Before they could ask further, something happened that shocked the entire Third Corps.

“Beep, beep, beep!” The Corps’ alarm sounded again.

The communications office received an urgent message. The person in charge opened the message and heard someone say:

“A murder has occurred in rest pod 61!”

What!?

Ji Fu’s interrogation wasn’t even over, and another murder occurred?

When the detailed report came in, everyone was stunned.

This time, the perpetrator wasn’t a student from the Interstellar Academy but Lu Bingyun.

Security team captain, Lu Bingyun!

Unlike Ji Fu, Lu Bingyun’s position, albeit small, was still a captain.

If she acted, it couldn’t be just a personal grudge; there had to be a reason.

Rest pod 61 was also a temporary student dormitory.

Combining this with Ji Fu’s earlier statement…

Almost everyone turned to look at Ji Fu simultaneously.

She appeared calm, her hands cuffed, seemingly unsurprised by the event.

She wasn’t surprised at all.

Because she had informed Lu Bingyun.

Upon entering the rest pod, she anonymously sent a report to Lu Bingyun.

The message was very simple:

“There are professional assassins among the Interstellar Academy students.”

If her actions were suspicious and led to constant questioning, she would let Lu Bingyun handle it. From what she had gathered, more than one assassin had been deployed.

Perfect, let Lu Bingyun eliminate them all.