Chapter 37

In the end, Wu Haoxuan concluded with a brilliant statement:

“Rat Rat, I understand now. As long as the next-door president takes the stage, we can forget about taking the shortcut of snatching badges to end the match. We can only face the Imperial Military Academy honestly, collect three hundred heads. In the meantime, we also need to protect our own badge wearers. The method to check if he’s a good person is simple, just see if he participates in the resistance match!”

Xuan Yuansheng choked up, “That’s true, but what does it have to do with whether the Holy Son of the luminuous Temple is a good person or not? Forget it, let’s not digress; let’s move on from this topic.”

Setting aside the discussion on which senior the Imperial Military Academy would invite to participate in the resistance match, the group decided to first finalize the invited candidate for Silver Star and then discuss tactics.

“Since they invited the academy president, why don’t we invite the academy president too?”

Wu Haoxuan felt this was an easy problem to solve, “The president is generally the candidate with the highest support rate among the department heads, usually the strongest. Isn’t this an obvious choice?”

“You’re thinking too simplistically.”

This time, it was Yuan Hanshuang who spoke, “Although Sister Ming Jia is strong, she is from the Range department.”

“Range department? I understand what you mean,” Xia Mengrou suddenly realized, “If, according to the rules given by the overall instructor, the badge wearer cannot synchronize with their Manifestation. The abilities of those of the Range department were almost half useless.”

“That’s right,” Yuan Hanshuang nodded, “The physical strength of the Range department is only slightly better than the Support department. If the badge wearer is from the Range department, we will inevitably need to send more people to protect the badge from being taken away, putting us in a defensive position.”

Looking at the confused eyes of the two juniors, she had to explain further, “Originally, according to the overall strength of the new students, Silver Star is supposed to be behind the Imperial Military Academy. If we only defend and do not attack, even if the badge is not taken away, we will be annihilated by the enemy, three hundred people at a time. In the long run, defeat is inevitable.”

“In a disadvantaged situation, Silver Star can only win by taking risks, using unconventional tactics, not confronting head-on, to have a chance of winning.”

“That’s right,” Xuan Yuansheng glanced at her with a hint of surprise, “That’s the purpose of forming our core squad. Our squad needs to focus on hunting down the enemy’s Support department and figure out how to get the badge from them.”

He was about to ask the new friend if he had studied military game theory, but then he remembered that Instructor Niu mentioned before that Yuan Hanshuang might be the sole heir of a certain ancient martial arts family, so he swallowed his words.

“Now the problem is, how do we come up with unconventional tactics?”

Xia Mengrou suggested, “Since we can’t take the defensive route, why not turn defense into offense? We can consider eliminating the heads of the Silver Star’s Control department, Support department, Range department, and Defense department as an option, and focus on the Close Combat and Agility departments.”

“This idea and approach are fine, but honestly, Silver Star’s current situation is not looking good.”

Xuan Yuancheng said, “Last year, a group of main members who participated in the ranking match three years ago graduated. Now, the heads of various departments in Silver Star are showing obvious gaps. Not to mention our resistance match, if Silver Star continues like this next year, it may face the worst ranking in the academy in a hundred years.”

“For example, the head of the Close Combat department is only at the Intermediate level of the Fourth Tier.”

Compared to the Imperial Military Academy, where each person is on average S-rank and at the peak of the Fourth Tier, with the potential to break through to the Fifth Tier at any time, the lineup of Silver Star’s department heads can be described as bleak.

Even the president, Ming Jia, is only at the peak of the Fourth Tier.

“What about the Agility department?” Wu Haoxuan asked.

“Didn’t you meet the head of the Agility department already?” Ke Junda rolled his eyes.

“I thought about it; Gu Dong is indeed suitable,” Yuan Hanshuang suddenly said, “Even if the Agility department does not synchronize with their Manifestation Form, their speed is still faster than ordinary people, at least ensuring an advantage in stamina.”

“Exactly,” Wu Haoxuan exclaimed, “And Senior Gu is also in the business of being an assassin. He must have received special training within the family, specializing in his field.”

“Uh.”

Xuan Yuansheng looked somewhat conflicted, “Maybe we should still look at other candidates.”

Although this young master of the Gu family did not follow the heir of the Black Tower to the Federal Military Academy, taking a more unconventional path, he still couldn’t let go of his bias against the Gu family.

“In that case, I’ll ask for the president’s opinion tomorrow, and then come back to finalize the decision with you.”

“Okay.” Given the rules, Yuan Hanshuang also felt some regret, “It would be better if the badge wearer wasn’t required to be a senior student; otherwise, Wu Haoxuan’s passive skill would definitely play a big role.”

Ending this topic, they moved on to the next item for discussion: “Now that the core elite squad is confirmed, should we find a large training room in the academy to train all the new students together? To avoid chaos when we go into actual combat.”

“No need to rush on this,” Yuan Hanshuang shook her head, “Whether it’s annihilating three hundred military academy students or using unconventional tactics to get the badge, our squad is the main attacking force, the strongest fighting force that current new students can form. It will serve as a sharp knife tearing through the opponents in the resistance match.”

“To achieve this goal, internal coordination is crucial. Leading all the new students for training can be done in the last few days.”

“Makes sense.”

Xuan Yuansheng nodded in agreement, “But if that’s the case, the configuration of the training rooms in the academy may not be enough. After all, our facilities in Silver Star are not as good as the next door.”

“Team training?”

Yuan Hanshuang thought of a good place, “Regarding this, I have a good recommendation for a practical training location.”

At these words, Wu Haoxuan and Ke Junda exchanged a knowing look, understanding each other.

Soon, the Star Track arrived at the Imperial Memorial Hall.

The students from both schools got off the Star Track and gathered at the entrance of the memorial hall.

Passersby who came to visit the memorial hall, upon seeing the symbols of the two prestigious academies, showed respect. The glances they left behind seemed to convey their earnest expectations for the future of the Empire.

“In the eyes of outsiders, our Silver Star is still quite impressive.”

“Of course.” Ke Junda said, “There are only seven advanced academies for talented individuals in the entire galaxy. Passing the entrance exam is like crossing a single-plank bridge amidst a thousand troops and horses. If you can get in, you’re already impressive. You woke up as an A-rank; you probably don’t know that on the border stars where I come from, it’s considered lucky if one person gets in every year.”

As they chatted, they walked through the gates of the memorial hall.

Inside the Imperial Memorial Hall were displays of historical events from the Empire over the years.

Sacred Xiyu Xia, the Xia Empire has a total ruling history of four thousand seven hundred years, and all major and minor events are condensed in this huge memorial hall. Each millennium is represented by a floor, and there are a total of five floors.

To thoroughly explore this place on a regular day, it would take at least seven days.

Although military training is strict, it’s not devoid of human touch.

After entering the hall, the instructors skimmed past several insignificant exhibits and went straight to the War History Pavilion.

“Because time is limited, what we need to focus on today is the history of humanity’s resistance against the Insectoids. More precisely, it is the history of humans resisting the Insectoids after the emergence of the Gifted.”

In the interstellar era, there are almost no physical books. When basic needs were still a problem, such conditions were evidently lacking. Later, during the five years after her father was taken away, Yuan Hanshuang bought a neural implant giveng her access to the star net.

Through the neural implant, she gradually began to understand the history of this world.

The origin of the Insectoids and humans is untraceable, but since the time recorded in human historical documents, the Insectoids have existed and been in a hostile relationship with humans.

Initially, facing the Insectoids, humanity suffered continuous defeats and losses.

The Insectoids carried terrifying insect toxins. The toxins could contaminate an entire planet, reach the core of the planet, and transform it into an environment suitable for the Insectoids to inhabit.

In addition, the insect toxin itself is a formidable poison. Even in the modern era, there are very few auxiliary-type Gifted who can directly eliminate insect toxins. If unfortunate enough to be contaminated by insect toxins, one still has to rely on the most effective, slowest, and most basic medical methods.

Fortunately, in the face of such powerful Insectoids, humanity refused to be weak and evolved Gifted individuals.

The innate psychic power of Gifted individuals naturally had a defensive effect against insect toxins. After evolving Gifted individuals, humans gradually gained the qualification to contend with the Insectoids.

Even so, in the known star systems, the Insectoids still occupied seven-tenths, while humans only occupied three-tenths.

At this point in the tour, the guide inserted a sentence about the history of the Imperial Royal Family: “The  Xuan Royal Family is known as the Golden Family, not only because of their splendid hair color but also because the innate Manifestation awakened by the royal bloodline manifests as an all-encompassing golden hue.”

“As everyone knows, after awakening the Manifestation, members of the royal family do not need to develop; they are born with a skill, the Sacred Protection Shield.”

Saying this, Xuan Yuansheng’s face suddenly turned pale and lost.

He didn’t greet anyone and turned directly, quickly leaving the memorial hall.

Yuan Hanshuang noticed his actions and fell into contemplation.

Her collection of intelligence on Black Street was not limited to finding her father; she had also put effort into her own heritage.

There is no dynasty in the world that can rule for thousands of years. If there is, it must be because members of the royal family possess a unique and irreplaceable ability.

The Xuan Royal Family possesses such an ability.

The Sacred Protection Shield can not only eliminate the insect toxins from an entire planet, restoring it to an environment suitable for human habitation, but it can also perform large-scale collective treatments for patients heavily infected with insect toxins. It’s worth noting that in the entire interstellar development of Gifted individuals over the years, only members of the Xuan Royal Family can achieve this.

It is precisely because of this ability that the rule of Xiyi Xia can continue for a thousand years without falling.

Of course, all of this comes at a cost.

The powerful purification ability in exchange for this is…..extremely lacking in combat capability.

All active members of the royal family, regardless of their Manifestation level, have only one skill, and that is the Sacred Protection Shield. They exchange all their talents and potential for the maximum development of this skill, safeguarding the safety of interstellar citizens and resisting Insectoid invasions.

However, in this family, Xuan Yuansheng is the odd one out.

From Yuan Hanshuang’s half-month of observation, this guy’s combat ability not only didn’t diminish like other royal family members but became exceptionally powerful.

According to the law of conservation, since Xuan Yuansheng has strong combat capabilities, his protective ability should be quite poor.

“No wonder Xiao Hua mentioned before that although the little imperial grandson is the child of the crown princess, he is a marginal figure within the royal family. Because according to tradition, royal family members without combat abilities are surrounded by layers of guards, stay in the palace on weekdays, have their own private teachers in the inner court, and don’t come out for school.”

In this royal family that stabilizes its power with the Sacred Protection, having such an anomaly like Xuan Yuansheng undoubtedly puts him in an awkward position.

After empathizing with her cheap cousin’s situation, Yuan Hanshuang rarely felt a faint sympathy in her heart.

She decided to bully him less in the future.

Gradually, the team arrived at the Era Corridor adorned with honor medals.

“The next is the contemporary history of the Insectoid conflict. The huge turning point in recent times occurred thirty years ago when the impending apocalypse of the Insectoid swarm almost destroyed the Empire. Fortunately, a hero emerged at that time.”

The guide changed the topic, “However, this hero has long fallen into a criminal who colluded with the Insectoids. It is speculated that the apocalyptic Insectoid swarm back then was likely orchestrated by him.”

“He is the interstellar enemy who disappeared for more than a decade, escaped openly five years ago, and committed the eternal crime of the most severe treason in the history of the Empire—the eternal criminal, Hai Dongqing.”

Outside the team, Feng Bai silently watched this scene.

Not only him, all the former members of the Third Legion were closely observing the twin-tailed black-haired girl, not missing any fleeting expressions on her face.