Chapter 38

The forum for the training area was in an uproar.

“I’ve never seen so many drones in my life.”

“I’m really fed up. Can the Interstellar Academy stop using these sneaky tactics? If you have the guts, come out and fight directly.”

“Who on earth created these insane contraptions? I’m seriously impressed!”

Having already heard from the bustling forums about Class S proactively attacking students from the two major military academies, everyone was curious yet hesitant to speak up.

They all knew that students from these two schools were seething with anger recently, and stepping in now would just invite trouble.

However, their curiosity about how Class S managed to infuriate the other two academies so much was overwhelming.

It didn’t take long for them to find out.

Because the students from the two major military academies couldn’t hold back and started venting on the forum directly.

“Damn! Did the Interstellar Academy specialize in point-stealing? How are they so good at it?”

【How despicable! Are those even drones? Damn it, it feels like locusts are swarming!】

Unable to resist, the students opened their mics and attached live videos.

When they saw the video, the students from the Interstellar Academy fell silent as well.

…For no other reason, the vast swarm of drones was truly chilling.

In battle, there’s always some loss, so the training regulations allowed for the use of materials obtained from slain beasts to a certain extent.

In simple terms, these were just the scraps from the beasts.

Although they were just scraps, the materials from higher-level beasts were still very useful. Most students would use these scraps to upgrade their mechs or make useful machinery.

But Class S, using anything they could get their hands on to make drones, was truly unheard of. Moreover, they didn’t just use high-level materials; from F to S, they used materials from every kind of beast!

This led to the appearance of bizarre drones such as spider leg drones, cockroach drones, and even mantis blade drones at the two major military academies.

Not to mention how ugly they looked, their attack methods were ruthless.

It seemed that all the drones were equipped with intelligent systems, so once these abominations dropped, they had one purpose.

And that was to snatch heads.

Because the Interstellar Academy was currently under pressure, whenever a beast tide occurred, both major academies would go all out to kill beasts. Then, when these things dropped, they hid in various places, waiting for them to kill beasts, suddenly jumping out and self-destructing.

They tried many methods, like activating defense systems, but these drones were made from beast materials and even mimicked them. While the system could recognize some of the drones, it couldn’t identify all of them.

Using high-level mechs to break them… While S-level mechs could indeed take down a large number, these things would explode upon contact!

The explosions would cover the entire area, damaging not only mechs but also beasts. Yet, the Interstellar Academy would still score.

This left everyone frustrated and nauseated upon seeing these things.

…The students from the Interstellar Academy tacitly agreed. What those from the two major academies said about these things being despicable seemed to make sense.

But, even though this was the case, the students from the Interstellar Academy couldn’t just let them insult them for nothing.

Moreover, they had contributed a lot to the materials used to make these drones.

At that moment, while Class S charged forward, the others occupied the high ground on the forum.

“What’s with all this talk about stealing points? Hey, does your face hurt from saying that? Since the training started, you two schools have been occupying the best positions. What, are you going to take all the benefits too?”

“And I remember, didn’t the training rules a long time ago say we could snatch points from each other?”

“Yeah, why don’t you talk about how many benefits you’ve taken? And you two schools have always looked down on the Interstellar Academy, right? Go back to your own place!”

Indeed, there were no explicit rules for training, otherwise, Class S’s behavior would have been stopped long ago. But the angrier the students from the two major academies became.

Some of them had never experienced such grievances in their lives and directly confronted the students from the Interstellar Academy on the forum.

This led to even fewer people on the frontlines, allowing Class S to gain nearly 150,000 points in just one week.

As the scores got closer and closer to the Imperial Military Academy, the elite classes of the two major academies couldn’t sit still.

What they thought was just a small spat with the Interstellar Academy had turned into a loss not just of face but of real benefits.

Joining forces, they launched a counterattack against the Interstellar Academy.

That day, when the students from the three major academies looked up and saw countless star-level mechs appearing, they were dumbfounded.

It wasn’t just the students; even the teachers who had been guarding the sidelines couldn’t help but sigh, “After so long in the training and league, this is the first time we’ve seen such a big scene.”

Zhang Huan: …

What could he say? All he could do was awkwardly smile on the side and pray that Class S would pull through this.

After all, it wasn’t just one or two star-level mechs, but more than a dozen.

Even the battlefields in front of the Legion hadn’t seen such a luxurious lineup!

Standing at the front, when Zhou Lu Hai saw the familiar mechs appearing one by one, he couldn’t help but smile.

On the side, Li Yunyi sighed, “This momentum… If you didn’t know any better, you’d think the beasts were attacking the Imperial Capital.”

“…Truly terrifying,” Wan Die patted her chest.

Meanwhile, the other students from the Interstellar Academy who had rushed to help upon hearing about the alliance of the two major academies:…

They looked at the students from Class S, sitting or standing, without anyone intending to step forward to confront them. For a moment, they were all at a loss.

What’s going on?

Why aren’t they panicking at all?

Ji Fu drank sweet milk and looked harmless to the crowd.

Zhou Lu Hai, whose eyes fell on her from time to time, couldn’t stop smiling when he saw her like this.

The reason why they can be so leisurely is because this person said that after the drone is released, the other party will definitely not be able to hold it back and will cause trouble for them.

So after releasing the drones this time, they didn’t go out at all.

All of them stayed on the 1991 galaxy and wiped out all the strange beasts that appeared on their side before the two military academies counterattacked.

Most of the scores of the three galaxies belong to them, so they can catch up with so many in a very short time.

point.

It’s a pity that the empire has obviously taken this into account.

It is estimated that even if they clear out all the alien beasts, they will not be able to catch up with the empire.

As of now, despite the almost complete annihilation of the alien tide, the Interstellar Academy still lagged behind the Imperial Military Academy by over fifty thousand points.

Fifty thousand points may not seem like much, but in reality…

“The wormhole is about to appear,” Tan Xi glanced at the horizon, speaking solemnly.

Unlike usual, during the third month of this year’s training, they would encounter the simultaneous appearance of a black hole and a wormhole.

The moment the wormhole devours, everyone on the battlefield, whether legionnaires or students, will be randomly transported away.

Once the wormhole appears, the aliens will basically retreat to their nests in a short period.

So, while the training spans three months in theory, the actual time available for students to utilize amounts to only two months.

The range of the wormhole’s devouring is vast, covering all the battlefields here, and the timeline is lengthy.

The legions guard interstellar security, a duty from which they cannot retreat under any circumstances.

If the legions can’t retreat, naturally, the students of the military academy can’t either; otherwise, leaving early wouldn’t qualify as training.

The time of the wormhole’s devouring falls within the training period, which is itself a test for them.

Therefore, the students from the two elite classes can only stay for a few days.

The S-class students have already cleared out most of the major alien tides, and they can even kill the aliens in the galaxy without retaliation.

This is akin to a punch hitting cotton.

In this wave of counterattacks, both sides intended to engage directly, but the training regulations allow for damage to mechs.

Harming people, however, is prohibited.

Training is not a competition among students; the main purpose is to repel the alien tide, not to engage in conflicts between students.

This round of clearing out removed some F-grade aliens from 1991 and two starships that hadn’t been dispatched yet.

The points they gained weren’t much different from what Ji Fu scattered throughout the entire battlefield.

The Hanhai side was furious. Before the wormhole devoured everything, they used the loudspeaker to call out to the interstellar people to come out and face them.

The S-class students pretended not to hear. If they played dumb, it was certain that other students wouldn’t dare to go out and get beaten.

The opponent’s voice kept echoing over here.

“The S-class of Interstellar, don’t be cowards, come out if you dare!” The sharp and piercing voice of the loudspeaker persisted.

The surrounding students chatted and laughed, but Ji Fu paused slightly, turning back to look at the countdown on the screen.

That was the time until the wormhole devoured all the galaxies.

【5 minutes until the appearance of the massive wormhole】

The red countdown was particularly striking.

However, in the instant when the time changed, amidst the irritable noise of the loudspeaker, Ji Fu heard a beep.

【System has been marked】

The voice came from the bone stud she wore on her ear.

Ji Fu’s eyes lowered lightly.

It seemed she was right.

Since the other side had already sent assassins into such a place, they wouldn’t easily back down.

The random teleportation after the wormhole devours everything is the best opportunity.

When everyone is disrupted by the wormhole’s effects, with spatial distortions causing equipment failures, it’s the best time to strike against them.

What’s even more interesting is that after opening the system interface, she found that she wasn’t the only one marked.

The opponent’s system coverage isn’t extensive, limited to this 1991 galaxy, and it’s different from last time.

Last time, they sent seven assassins, targeting seven individuals.

But this time, there are only two targets.

More precisely, it’s just her and Shi Xueying.

Ji Fu looked up, glancing at Shi Xueying who was talking to Li Yunyi in the distance, unaware of being marked.

To say the other party had already noticed something wrong with her identity wasn’t entirely accurate.

Ji Fu glanced around.

Because of the impending wormhole and the spectacular event of the two major military academies joining forces, there were many people gathered here.

Including her, Zhou Lu Hai, Shi Xueying, Li Yunyi.

Even Lu Bingyun, who was leaning against the side with a smile on her face, was here.

Coincidentally, the scope encompassed everyone who had acted against the assassins.

This was a deliberate plan to eliminate obstacles.

Because of their previous actions, they had been categorized as destabilizing factors by the other side.

Only marking her and Shi Xueying is because they were the original targets.

As for the others, Zhou Lu Hai’s background means he can’t be easily touched, Li Yunyi and Lu Bingyun are both star mech soldiers.

In any case, it’s not easy to take action against star mech soldiers.

She and Shi Xueying are different; one is a mech pilot, the other is just a relatively unknown pharmacist.

One picks the easy targets.

Ji Fu’s expression remained unchanged. As the countdown entered the final ten seconds, she opened the system’s operation interface.

The sky had already darkened. To avoid casualties, many had put away their mechs before the wormhole devoured everything.

From afar, one could only see what seemed like a sudden appearance of a gigantic vortex capable of devouring everything on the horizon.

As the countdown rolled, the vortex continuously expanded over everyone’s heads, seemingly about to swallow everything.

Five seconds left, just as the system prompted whether to clear the mark, Ji Fu was about to make a choice.

But in that moment, she lifted her eyes and saw amidst the raging winds, all instruments malfunctioned.

Pointers spun wildly, and everything in the world fell into silence.

Amidst the complete chaos, her gaze pierced through the disarrayed crowd and caught sight of a concealed mech.

Due to obstructed vision, from her perspective, she could only see the emerald green shell of the mech exposed by the other party amidst the chaos.

In the final countdown, that mech, at least S+ level, in this chaos, precisely targeted her and Shi Xueying within the crowd, using ultrasonic markings.

Humming.

The sound of ultrasonic waves was masked by the immense devouring of the wormhole.

In an instant, the world turned upside down.

Ji Fu was plunged into intense dizziness.

When this weightless-like dizziness subsided and she opened her eyes again, the scenery before her had changed completely.

All around was just silent, with no mountains, no water, no sun, and moon, only the sparkling starry sky above and endless white sandy plains.

Apart from this, there was nothing else.

This place didn’t seem to be a typical interstellar transit after the consumption of a wormhole.

Ji Fu recalled the scene she saw before the wormhole consumed everything.

Probably because they suffered losses with their first attempt, this time the other side was fully prepared.

In the last second, they used top-tier mechs to cast a wide-range ultrasonic marking on them.

At that time, there were many people around them, and there were also many star mech soldiers. If the opponent used any means of attack, no matter what it was, it would likely be intercepted by the star mech soldiers.

But ultrasonic markings were different. At that time, the entire space was distorted, instruments malfunctioned, and the magnetic field was in an unusually unstable state.

Unless the mechs released their mechs, they wouldn’t detect the marking.

She would know because her system provided a prompt.

But while her system could clear the first marking, the ultrasonic marking from the mech couldn’t be removed.

The system wasn’t a mech.

It didn’t have the capability to clear ultrasonic waves.

So it’s said the other side was fully prepared. Even if the first attempt at marking couldn’t be used, they still had a backup plan, and this backup…

Ji Fu glanced around.

It seemed like they had been sent to some specific area.

Moreover.

Ji Fu raised her wrist, and her light brain malfunctioned.

The light brain system was the greatest invention after entering the interstellar era. Normally, as long as you were in any area of the interstellar, even without a network, as long as the magnetic field was normal, the light brain could be used.

It was obvious that the magnetic field here wasn’t normal.

Ultrasonic marking and wormhole devouring.

Ji Fu paused slightly, knowing where this was.

This was a fissure in the star layers.

It was a layer formed during the violent consumption of the wormhole.

The purpose of the ultrasonic marking wasn’t just to mark but also to disrupt the magnetic fields on them, making it easier to be sucked into the fissure in the star layers.

In the fissure in the star layers, amidst geomagnetic storms, normal light brains couldn’t be used.

Specially designed legion light brains could be used, those light brains were generally modified and equipped with emergency braking modes, making it easier for soldiers to rescue themselves in such situations.

Ji Fu’s light brain was the basic version issued by the school.

She had made some modifications herself afterward, but it still couldn’t compare to the legion light brain. The fundamental principle of that emergency braking was embedding an S-level driving energy source on the light brain.

It was extremely expensive.

Normal interstellar people couldn’t afford it.

It seemed that after she was taken into the office that day, although the other party couldn’t unlock her light brain in time and find important evidence, they still had a fundamental understanding of her and knew that her light brain hadn’t been specially modified.

That’s why they sent her here through the wormhole.

With the light brain unusable and still in a geomagnetic storm state, with two exceptions combined, it was impossible to release any signal.

Fissures in the star layers were extreme situations that rarely occurred, and there were targeted devices within the legion.

The fundamental reason why this thing hadn’t been popularized was because of the existence of fissures in the star layers, which would not last more than three days at most.

In other words, even if there was nothing else, as long as more than three days passed, the fissure in the star layers would disappear, and the geomagnetic storm would also dissipate.

However, obviously, the other side made such ample preparations because they didn’t intend to let her live for three days.

She didn’t have a mechanical mech she could use, but the other side did.

【Beep beep】

【Target locked】

As expected.

Ji Fu heard movement and turned back to see a legion special-made A-level mech.

As soon as it appeared, it flew towards her at maximum speed.

During this training session, besides mechs and light brains, each student from the Interstellar Academy was equipped with firearms.

But the grade of the firearms wasn’t high, and under normal circumstances, it was difficult to inflict damage on mechs.

Ji Fu was different though.

She had dismantled and rebuilt everything given to them by the school.

She was used to using her own things.

So when the A-level mech appeared, it subconsciously assumed she didn’t have any large weapons equipped and didn’t send out a message immediately.

The plan was to kill her first, exchanging her life for military merit.

In a geomagnetic storm state, even legion special-made mechs would be slightly weaker in searching and analyzing compared to normal mechs.

Coupled with the considerable distance between them, they didn’t detect what was in her bag.

When she pulled out a black sniper rifle from her bag, the mech soldier finally realized something was wrong.

But it was too late.

Ji Fu was also now A-level, and she wasn’t in the weak state she was when facing A-level mech soldiers initially.

Her reaction speed wasn’t comparable to before either.

She opened the scope, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

The entire action flowed smoothly, taking less than two seconds.

Boom!

The sniper rifle in her hand unleashed a powerful blast as the A-level mech approached.

The special-made A-level bullet pierced through the cockpit of the mech in front of her, killing the mech soldier inside with one shot.

Bang!

At the moment the mech soldier died, intense sparks burst out from the A-level mech’s body, and flames soared into the sky.

When a mech soldier dies, the mech connected to them also approaches a state close to being scrapped and paralyzed.

This resulted in her being unable to use the fallen mech soldier’s mech.

Ji Fu herself could pilot mechs; the prerequisite for her to survive smoothly during those years on Purgatory Star was that she had to be capable of everything.

However, she had only learned mech operations for a few years.

She could definitely pilot, but not as proficiently as a professional mech soldier.

With this mech scrapped, her path to piloting mechs was also severed.

But a scrapped mech didn’t mean all of them were scrapped.

The commotion she just caused was quite significant; she feared that anyone who detected it would be rushing over here.

Ji Fu jumped directly onto the mech and used the large sniper rifle in her hand to pry open the mech’s weapon rack.

From the weapon rack, she took out a quantum light blade.

She lifted this giant blade, which was too long and large for her, and directly cut off the internal components of the mech with one swing, finding a mechanical grappling hook inside.

When the people who heard the noise rushed over, what they saw was Ji Fu’s flowing white hair, her slender figure, sitting upright on the wreckage of the mech, which was several times larger than her.

She turned around and, upon seeing the three A-level mechs rushing towards her, she erupted directly.

It was only then that the mech soldiers noticed that under her feet were modified mechanical shoes, with speed and explosive power comparable to A-level mechs.

At the moment she leaped up, aided by her modified shoes, she bounced nearly five meters high. With the specially made top-tier quantum light blade, she directly slashed down.

Crack, whoosh!

One swing, three people slashed.

The quantum light blade directly shattered the void, accurately and precisely slicing off the heads of the three people inside the mech cockpit.

Boom!

The white sand fell all over.

Ji Fu stomped on the useless mech components under her feet, continuing to dismantle everything that could be of use.

Apart from being slightly out of breath, all of her conditions were exceptionally normal.

The explosive power of A-level talent finally allowed her to easily burst A-level mechs without using explosives or mechs.

That mech-configured quantum light blade was indeed too heavy, and her physical strength couldn’t match that of specialized mech soldiers. To save energy, she threw the blade’s blade onto the ground.

The light blade left light marks on the ground as it slid down gently.

Ji Fu carried the huge light blade forward, while opening the legion light brain she had stripped from one of the mech soldiers.

The light brains of the others had all self-destructed, only this one was intercepted by her.

She opened the map in the light brain and saw the continuously surging red dots on the map, counting them.

Apart from the four she had killed, there were at least twenty-one others nearby.

Among them, the orange dots showing as S-level mechs were moving towards a certain direction.

Ji Fu paused slightly, dragging the light blade, fully extending the mechanical shoes under her feet, and directly approaching in that direction.

The map showed that among the mech soldiers who had entered the fissure in the star layers this time, there were at least three S-level mechs.

And where this mech soldier was stationed, there was also a green dot.

She speculated that the green dot should be Shi Xueying.

When she rushed over and saw Shi Xueying forced into a corner by the mechs, with countless machinery destroyed around her, still holding a modified gun in her hand, Ji Fu’s footsteps slightly paused for a moment.

Shi Xueying also had quite a few weapons on her; she was a mech engineer, so she wouldn’t lack such common sense.

But without the protection of a mech, it was still too difficult for her to deal with mech soldiers using only machinery.

The opponent was an S-level mech, and she had analyzed all the data of the mech, fired all the weapons she had in her hands, but still only left a few minor injuries on the dominant mech.

Just as she gritted her teeth, preparing to take out the self-destruct device from her bag, she suddenly heard a sizzling sound.

The S-level mech in front of her almost instantly reacted, activating cruise missiles and launching them towards her.

But even though it was fast, Ji Fu was faster.

Ji Fu’s mechanical shoes were only A-level, and normally couldn’t match the tracking ability of S-level cruise missiles.

But she maximized the values and, as the mechanical shoes emitted a faint electric shock, stepped onto the quantum light blade.

Almost as soon as she stepped on it, sparks flickered on the light blade.

She loaded the light blade at an incredible speed, stepping on the glowing giant blade as if flying, and approached the S-level mech at an unimaginable super speed.

The mech soldier had previously damaged display screens and judgment buttons, causing its movements to stagnate.

In this momentary pause, the person stepping on light was already thunderously close.

Ji Fu used the A-level mech weapons violently modified on her journey, with a mechanical grappling hook, and at a distance of fifty meters from the S-level mech, she directly threw it out.

Bang!

With one blow, the S-level mech exploded on the spot, crashing to the ground amidst the flames.