Chapter 57

At this moment, the netizens watching the live broadcast couldn’t care less about the issue of filling up buckets. Many of them were quickly switching screens, synchronously paying attention to Zhou Xingyu’s progress.

Seeing Zhou Xingyu cut off the last mechanical tentacle, the barrage exploded:

“Stop filling up your Aurum bucket and run!!!”

“It’s over, Zhou Xingyu is past it.”

“I dare not watch anymore. This premium material that was so hard to come by, will it end up being used by someone else for their own benefit?”

They had witnessed firsthand the miracle of S against Hyper-Star +, coupled with Ji Fu’s perfect plan.

From deliberately activating the Dwarf Shue of Misery in advance to sending out unmanned mechs to dig the pit and then expending a lot of effort to finally obtain the liquid core.

Now that the hard-won results were in their hands, no one wanted to see Ji Fu being robbed.

…Although some people still thought that with Ji Fu’s current talent, she might not necessarily be able to keep these things after leaving the exam room.

But! At least don’t let her be robbed so soon.

But no matter how urgent their thoughts were, they couldn’t stop Zhou Xingyu’s pace.

His sensitivity at Hyper-Star + level was extraordinary. Zhou Xingyu was already aware that the Dwarf Shue of Misery had been deliberately activated early, but when he was killing the exotic plants, Zhou Lu Hai disappeared directly.

He felt something was wrong at the time, but because this exam was still a collective battle, he still killed all the exotic plants that were wildly climbing outside to eliminate students.

As soon as he freed up his hands, he immediately chased after.

And he wasn’t the only one. After releasing his mech, Han Siyi also entered his cockpit.

Now the two of them together had chased to the edge of the bottomless pit.

Han Siyi’s face sank. After seeing this big pit, she also figured out something and hesitated before saying, “I read in a book that where the Dwarf Shue of Misery appears, there is a chance of forming Broken Dwarf Liquid Cores.”

Zhou Xingyu paused. “Materials at the Hyper-Star level?”

“Yes, the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core is a very rare and precious material.” Han Siyi glanced at the big pit. “However, the cores of exotic plants are not completely lifeless; they possess certain aggressiveness.”

The implication was that they might still have a chance.

But Zhou Xingyu’s expression turned grim. He had already put away his mech, but now he released it again and gestured for Han Siyi to enter the cockpit.

Han Siyi was somewhat puzzled, but still followed his instructions to log into the cockpit of the Rose.

Zhou Xingyu directly activated the mech’s simplified mode and jumped into the deep pit.

Boom!

Hearing the loud noise, Zhou Lu Hai suddenly turned around. Deep Sea detected the fluctuations of an advanced mech. He quickly stood in front of Ji Fu and whispered:

“Someone is coming after us. Take Yanyan and go ahead first.”

In the deep pit, there was only one path they dug out, but if Yanyan could make it here, she could definitely dig out other paths as well.

With Ji Fu’s departure, he could easily delay the pursuer and prevent them from catching up.

Unexpectedly, Ji Fu just stood up straight, not moving or forcing the damaged Yanyan to start.

She simply raised her hand, collected the gilded bucket in front of her and the entire broken dwarf liquid core into her light brain.

Ji Fu breathed heavily, sitting down on the ground, opening her light brain, and quickly operating it a few times.

Her light brain was in privacy mode, and no one knew what she was doing.

Boom!

Ji Fu pressed the last button, raised her head, and saw a dark red mech appearing in front of her.

[Why isn’t she leaving! I’m really anxious!]

[It feels like there’s no time at all. I just calculated that from when Zhou Xingyu and the others entered the pit to appearing in this area, it took less than ten seconds.]

Ten seconds, with the damaged Yanyan, there was no way to dig a passage in such a short time.

Ji Fu simply decided not to leave.

She sat down on the ground, and after cutting off the dwarf liquid core, the Abyss mode of her moonlight was also severely damaged, and the mech automatically changed to a light gray color.

Standing motionless on the ground, she looked like a scrapped mech.

Zhou Xingyu stopped, ignoring Ji Fu sitting on the ground and his cousin, and directly opened the scanner of the mech.

The scanner immediately popped up with a lot of messages.

On the operation interface, there were many red frames.

[Dwarf Silver Slurry] [Liquid Core Root] [Dwarf Spike]

Han Siyi’s face was cold: “… It seems that this dwarf tree has indeed formed a liquid core.”

They were one step too late, and the things had been taken by the two people in front of them.

Zhou Xingyu paused for a moment, then directly pressed the communication button: “Where are the things here?”

“Bring out the things, and I can let you leave.”

He spoke very calmly, and the mech Rose hidden in the darkness was the greatest deterrent.

With a mech of Super Star+, he could completely cover the entire pit, and the two people in front of him could not escape from under his nose no matter what method they used.

The atmosphere condensed, and the barrage in the live broadcast room kept scrolling, discussing what Ji Fu and Zhou Lu Hai should do.

Unexpectedly, when Ji Fu heard this, she just smiled lightly.

At the same time, many people who were watching her perspective were all amazed.

[What’s this…]

Countless eyes focused on Ji Fu’s operating interface, and even the proctors deliberately zoomed in on that point.

The enlarged operation box was exceptionally conspicuous, showing:

[Defense system repairing, progress 58%]

[??? This mech can repair itself?]

Of course, repairing the body to such a high degree of difficulty is still not feasible for now. The two sets of mech components replaced by the moonlight are still in a damaged state.

But rebuilding the defense system is also very outrageous. In theory, this is something that can only be achieved with a level of at least Super Star+.

But Ji Fu did it.

Not only did she do it, but she also repaired it at an extreme speed.

Under the gaze of countless people, within a few seconds, the repair progress of her moonlight mech had reached an exaggerated 71%.

The defense system of the mech is so complicated, and this speed is almost at its limit.

Many people were amazed by her level as a mech engineer, but more people were relatively clear-headed.

[Even if it’s completely repaired, an S+ mech can’t withstand a blow from a Super Star+.]

[Right… if the person who comes is just a star-level mech soldier, she might still have a chance.]

Defending against a Super Star+, is absolutely impossible.

But even if defense is futile, watching Ji Fu’s repair progress bar roll a big chunk in a short time still intimidated many mech engineers.

Ji Fu didn’t plan to resist head-on. In front of Zhou Xingyu, she sent a message to Zhou Lu Hai.

Before the action of the Interstellar Academy today, Ji Fu gave him several vials of medicine.

Zhou Lu Hai hesitated for a moment, according to the information Ji Fu sent, found a light blue vial, opened it, and drank it in one gulp.

Zhou Xingyu stood not far away. Rose reminded him that Ji Fu’s mech was moving at high speed, so he didn’t pay much attention.

An S+ mech couldn’t ambush him.

But he didn’t expect that Zhou Lu Hai, who was injured when he just entered the pit, suddenly started to repair at an extremely fast rate.

Han Siyi saw Rose’s prompt, looked at Zhou Lu Hai opposite in surprise.

What did he do? How did his body repair so fast?

And those who had just said that repairing the moonlight was useless also changed their faces.

…Because Zhou Lu Hai’s recovery speed was too fast. If expressed in numbers, while Ji Fu’s mech rolled a big chunk in a few seconds, Zhou Lu Hai’s body was probably at 64%, instantly full!

In the live status, Zhou Lu Hai’s mech page was not covered, and everyone could see his vital signs jumping wildly.

[??? Did he drink a miraculous elixir?]

In the tense atmosphere, Ji Fu looked at the dark red Rose in front of her and suddenly spoke: “How much of your life force remains?”

She opened the universal communication key, but it was obvious that she wasn’t asking Zhou Lu Hai.

It was… Zhou Xingyu, who was driving Rose.

Zhou Xingyu’s face was dark, his control interface was in semi-hidden mode, and among the important data he had been hiding, there was the vital signs item.

Others couldn’t see it, but Han Siyi, who was also connected to his mech, was clear about it.

Zhou Xingyu’s physical condition was indeed worse than expected.

Before she could ponder further, Jifu spoke again, calmly asking, “Less than 50%? Or even lower?”

The strength of the Superstar+ mechs far exceeded that of normal people, and numerical estimates were inaccurate, so Jifu only mentioned percentages.

And the reason she was so certain was because Zhou Xingyu arrived later than she had expected, and also… if Zhou Xingyu were in his prime state right now, he wouldn’t have lingered with Zhou Luhai for so long.

Jifu also wouldn’t have easily eliminated Han Qianqian.

Her system gave her hints about Zhou Xingyu’s life signs… It wasn’t just high-level mechs that could achieve this.

Jifu slouched back, her expression even somewhat lazy: “Guess, with less than 50% of your life signs, can you be a match for Zhou Luhai in his prime?”

So far, no one knew Zhou Luhai’s true talent.

Actually, Jifu didn’t know either, but she was clear that Zhou Xingyu must know, at his level of talent, willing to engage Zhou Luhai in circles but not willing to directly confront him.

This meant… Zhou Luhai’s strength was comparable to his.

Or rather, Zhou Luhai, due to his age and late enrollment, only lacked in combat experience.

So in the situation just now, Zhou Luhai could confidently let her leave first.

The pit fell silent, and Zhou Xingyu suddenly raised his head, his voice cold: “Can he protect you in his prime state?”

With his current physical condition, he indeed couldn’t compete with Zhou Luhai, but as long as he wanted to, he could completely bypass Zhou Luhai and directly eliminate Jifu.

He feared Zhou Luhai, not others.

But he didn’t expect Jifu to laugh lightly after hearing this somewhat threatening remark: “Yes, indeed you can eliminate me at any time.”

“But before you eliminate me, allow me to introduce myself first.” The deep gray mech suddenly stood up, and Jifu patted the nonexistent dust off her, her smile meaningful:

“Hello, my name is Jifu, from the Interstellar Academy.” She paused slightly. “Also, currently in this examination room, I am the only senior alchemist.”

Dead silence filled the room.

Even the barrage in the live broadcast paused for a few seconds.

After countless people reacted, emotions exploded.

In the era of the interstellar, with rapid technological advancement, everyone relied on medical chambers, making alchemists a very niche profession.

And after Jifu logged into this examination room, she had always been producing some strange potions.

To the extent that many people forgot…

Alchemists, in essence, were healers.

By making Zhou Luhai drink that potion in front of Zhou Xingyu, she was informing Zhou Xingyu that in this examination room, where everyone still needed to survive for over a month, only she could save him.

And!

Jifu raised an eyebrow, looking at the prompt in the bottom right corner.

The defense systems had all been repaired.

Based on data calculation, under the high-frequency flashing state, with the cover of Zhou Luhai and Yan Yan, Zhou Xingyu, with less than 50% of his life signs, couldn’t eliminate her with a single blow.

She stepped forward, under the nervous gaze of countless people, taking a step directly forward.

“There are at most four days left before the entrance exam for Hanhai Academy.”

She could see Zhou Xingyu’s condition, and naturally so could Shen Qinglan.

Hanhai had always ranked second, and Shen Qinglan dreamt of surpassing Zhou Xingyu.

Jifu’s meaning was clear: once Zhou Xingyu eliminates her, he won’t be able to recover to his peak state in this exam.

As for what Shen Qinglan would do then, she didn’t need to say more.

Zhou Xingyu looked at her, as if noticing Jifu for the first time, scanning her up and down.

[…It’s hard to imagine what Zhou Xingyu’s mood is like.]

Zhou Xingyu’s mood certainly wasn’t good.

Because of these matters, Ji Fu could have brought them up directly when she logged into the Imperial examination room.

Her identity as a senior alchemist was the most valuable in this context.

Zhou Xingyu, as a Superstar+, was too important to the Empire, so the Empire was unlikely to pass up the opportunity to cure him.

…But she chose not to do so. She insisted on releasing the Dwarf Starbursts, eliminating over twenty people from the Imperial Military Academy, obtaining the Dwarf Star Nucleus, and gaining all the benefits before opening her mouth in front of Zhou Xingyu!

[Isn’t this really just showing the Empire who’s boss?]

So what if it is?

Ji Fu’s bet is that the Empire can’t afford to lose.

If Zhou Xingyu were to engage with Hanhai without receiving treatment, he might not necessarily lose.

But that would mean he would consume more energy and stamina.

Each joint examination allows a maximum of five days of rest. Guess if within five days, the Super Medical Chamber can completely cure him.

The higher the talent, the greater the treatment cost, as can be seen from the current situation with Wei Lan.

There is a cautionary tale in the Alliance, which is Fang Yanli.

Fang Yanli was born into the Fang family, which possesses top-notch medical resources, yet his injuries still took three years to heal.

Of course, it’s also because the alchemists currently serving the Alliance and the families tend to be conservative. It’s impossible for them to innovate like Ji Fu and develop new potions to treat a top-tier talent.

But the more this is the case, the greater the sunk cost.

Can Zhou Xingyu, as a Superstar+, afford it?

After a long silence, Zhou Xingyu finally spoke: “I can let you go.”

“The condition is, you must make a recovery potion for me.”

It sounds like Ji Fu’s threat succeeded, but in reality, everyone in Zhou Xingyu’s livestream could see Zhou Xingyu sending a message to Fang Yuanan through his mech.

【Interstellar Academy personnel have found the Dwarf Star Nucleus. Return quickly.】

The whole audience was shocked.

【…He said he let Ji Fu go, but didn’t promise that other people from the Empire wouldn’t harm them.】

【Hiss, indeed, the Empire is the Empire. How could they lose out in this regard?】

On Ji Fu’s side, the scene was completely different, with screens full of rapid running, much to the amusement of Qin Chu Yue, who was watching the livestream.

At the Interstellar Academy base, Fang Yuanan and Bai Yeming had just finished dealing with all the Dwarf Starbursts.

After receiving the message, Fang Yuanan’s expression changed almost immediately.

Completely different from the hesitation just now, Fang Yuanan immediately ordered a halt and, with everyone, swiftly flew back to the Imperial base.

Li Yunyi had been observing their movements, and upon seeing Fang Yuanan and the others leave, he realized something was amiss and immediately notified everyone.

Upon learning the news, Tan Xi didn’t hesitate either, leading the remaining members of Class S who stayed at the Interstellar base to rush to the Imperial base.

While they were rushing to the Imperial base, Ji Fu and her group had already left the pit.

There was still some mechanical silver slurry sprayed out from the Dwarf Star Nucleus in the pit, which wasn’t very safe.

As Zhou Xingyu stepped back, they retreated from the pit.

After seeing the light of day again, to show his sincerity in cooperation, Zhou Xingyu even voluntarily put away his mech.

As he looked up, he saw that Ji Fu had also removed her wearable mech. The white hair fluttered in the sunlight, unreservedly walking beside him.

Zhou Xingyu squinted. When he was in the pit just now, he had assessed Zhou Lu Hai and Ji Fu. Initially, he thought the Dwarf Star Nucleus must be in Ji Fu’s hands.

But now, it seemed less likely.

It made sense, though. Such a precious material as the Dwarf Star Nucleus would probably be safer in the hands of Zhou Lu Hai, who came from the Zhou family.

After all, they had obtained this material in front of countless people in the livestream. Putting the material in the hands of Zhou Lu Hai, who came from the prestigious Zhou family, would clearly be more secure.

But in that case, it wouldn’t be easy to get the material from Zhou Lu Hai’s hands.

Zhou Xingyu thought a lot, but he never expected that the hard-earned material would be casually stored in Ji Fu’s cortex, not just a part of it, but… all of it.

They returned to the Imperial base.

Thanks to Ji Fu, almost all the star-class mechs left at the Imperial base were eliminated. The base built by the Superstar-class mech pilot was also destroyed by more than half.

Han Siyi’s face turned grim, remaining silent.

While she was still fuming, she suddenly heard a loud noise. Looking up, she saw Fang Yuanan activating his Rampage, driving the mech, and landing heavily in front of her.

From a distance, Fang Yuanan could see Zhou Lu Hai and Ji Fu through the mech’s vision.

He controlled the mech and directly locked onto Ji Fu.

But before he could act, he was directly stopped by Han Siyi: “Stop!”

Now, anyone could eliminate anyone, except for Ji Fu.

Even if she were to be eliminated, it would have to wait until Zhou Xingyu’s body had recovered somewhat.

Fang Yuanan’s face turned ugly as he met Zhou Xingyu’s emotionless gaze. In the end, he stopped and sent a message to Han Siyi, asking: 【Didn’t they have the Dwarf Star Nucleus on them? Why not let me take action?】

Han Siyi hadn’t responded yet when Ji Fu beside her said, “Since everyone’s back, it’s perfect. Let’s have a meeting.”

Zhou Xingyu glanced at her with a heavy gaze.

She seemed not at all surprised by Fang Yuan’s sudden return.

Indeed, Ji Fu wasn’t surprised.

With the Dwarf Star Nucleus right in front of them, it would be strange if these people from the Empire could easily let go.

She watched as the two Superstar+ mechs from the Empire returned. Despite Fang Yuan communicating with the two people below him, there was still no intention of retracting their mechs.

Her wearable cortex kept reminding her: [Locked on by high-level mechs]

In the tense atmosphere, the star-class mechs of Si Fan hurriedly arrived.

Ever since hearing about the appearance of the Dwarf Star Nucleus, Si Fan had been unable to contain his emotions, and now it was even more so.

With the Superstar+ material right in front of him, he didn’t even want to pretend anymore; as soon as he landed, he was going to take action against Ji Fu.

Ji Fu’s cortex started beeping again, with the alert tones echoing continuously.

With the lowest talent level among these people, she felt like a living target in front of them.

Yet she didn’t even attempt to dodge.

She just looked at Si Fan, smiling faintly as he approached.

Amidst the deafening roar of the mechs, just as Si Fan’s mechanical fist was about to land on her, Zhou Xingyu suddenly surged forward and kicked him away.

Bang!!!

The star-class mech crashed down, and Zhou’s blow showed no mercy to Si Fan.

The gigantic mech fell onto a distant mountain range, causing a deafening roar.

Si Fan was breathless, almost knocked unconscious by Zhou Xingyu’s blow.

Seeing this, Fang Yuan’s expression turned cold.

But he couldn’t say anything. Before Si Fan arrived, Han Siyi had already informed the members of the Elite Class group about Ji Fu’s situation.

She made it clear that they couldn’t lay hands on Ji Fu now.

Si Fan still acted after seeing the message. If Zhou Xingyu hadn’t knocked him out with a punch, it could be considered showing some leniency.

At the same time, it served as a warning to the other members of the Elite Class.

This alchemist from the Interstellar Academy was untouchable now.

Fang Yuan sneered, “I never thought we’d have a day like this.”

Zhou Xingyu retracted his mech after the blow and looked up at Fang Yuan. “If you want the materials, I don’t care. But one thing is for sure: you can’t eliminate her.”

In the negotiation between Superstar+s, Ji Fu, the person in question, seemed almost nonexistent.

…Of course, if one were to ignore the expressionless Zhou Lu Hai by her side, it did seem that way.

Unlike Fang Yuan’s reaction, Bai Yeming directly deactivated his mech. He walked over briskly, glanced at Ji Fu, and showed little expression on his face.

Tan Xi and Li Yunyi hurried over. What they saw was this scene: Ji Fu was completely surrounded by all the Superstar+s in the examination room.

One of them was still in mech mode.

The students who came together from the Interstellar Academy almost couldn’t catch their breath when they saw this scene and nearly passed out.

What’s going on here?

Was Ji Fu’s involvement with the Dwarf Starburst discovered?

In front of everyone’s eyes, Ji Fu, surrounded by Superstar+s, spoke calmly, “Now that everyone’s here, I’ll be straight.”

“The Dwarf Star Nucleus was obtained by me and Zhou Lu Hai.”

She dropped a bombshell as soon as she started speaking.

In the silent room, Ji Fu continued calmly, “Following the principle of a fifty-fifty split, Zhou Lu Hai got the shell, and I… got all the Dwarf Star Gold.”

Zhou Lu Hai, who had nothing on him: …

Alright, she said it, so be it.

“Let me cut to the chase.” Ji Fu looked up and glanced at Fang Yuan’s formidable mech, extending one finger. “If any of you are interested in what Zhou Lu Hai got, you can ask him.”

“As for me, I have 120ml of Dwarf Star Gold here.”

Upon hearing the number 120, everyone present, including the Superstar+ mech pilot Han Siyi, couldn’t help but twitch.

Even if ordinary Superstar+ plants could produce gold, it would at most be no more than 100ml.

Ji Fu, however, spoke of 120ml right away, clearly aware that she couldn’t hold onto this item and thus brought out all the Dwarf Star Gold she had obtained.

It was a rather wise move.

What she didn’t know was that after her statement, the live chat was turned upside down.

Countless exclamation marks and question marks flew across the screen.

【Only 120ml? Did she say “only 120ml”?】

【120ml, that’s… just a small cup’s worth, right?】

【…Am I dreaming? Didn’t she just use a giant bucket to hold the Dwarf Star Gold?】

【Yes, but the most important thing is that no one knew about this, right?】

Not only did no one know, with the exam rules restricting communication from outside, people outside couldn’t communicate with those inside.

They could only watch as Ji Fu’s big bucket of Dwarf Star Gold turned into 120ml.

Then they heard Ji Fu add, “In exchange for the elimination of all students from the Hanhai Academy.”

She looked up and gazed at everyone. “Can you all do it?”