Chapter 52

The entire venue fell silent.

　　【???】

　　【Wait, how can someone participate in a joint exam and suddenly improve their talent level?】

　　【And it’s not just an upgrade from A to A+, but straight from A to S?】

　　Unlike the first joint exam, after a brief rest, both the Empire and Han Hai had already figured out that Ji Fu was the main planner behind the last round of the joint exam.

　　Since her appearance, both sides kept casting their gazes on her.

　　She had an A-level talent but carried an S+ level unmanned mech, and previously, she had collaborated with Shi Xueying to create an S-level mechanical weapon. In a certain sense, she was an extremely rare genius.

　　Just one joint exam had raised the Empire’s attention to her to the level of the interstellar S-class.

　　However, because A-level talent is still considered relatively low among top-tier geniuses, their estimation of her was still quite conservative.

　　Who knew that before the second round had even started, she would deliver such a bomb shell.

　　On the Empire’s side, the people standing around Fang Yuan were all from the elite class, and upon hearing this, they all looked over.

　　Si Fan’s face darkened slightly: “…The investigation shows she comes from a remote star with no support from any noble families. How could her talent suddenly increase?”

　　”She had a broken talent.” Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes, his expression fluctuating, “It’s said that the broken talent of the Huang family’s only daughter was cured by her.”

　　For many years, among the rankings of the three major military academies, the Empire had always been assumed to be number one.

　　The defeat in the last round had left many people simmering with anger.

　　After the first round ended, all key figures participating in this joint exam from the Interstellar Academy were thoroughly investigated.

　　Fang Yuan had the most comprehensive information, encompassing all the events that happened to Ji Fu since she entered the Interstellar Academy.

　　After a slight pause, Bai Yeming said, “This person is not simple. If possible, it’s best to eliminate her early.”

　　Several people around him glanced at him.

　　”Little Bai.” Han Qianqian smiled wryly, “Aren’t you being too cautious?”

　　”Even if she has some cleverness, and even if she can indeed cure her broken talent, she’s currently just S-level.”

　　Han Qianqian’s words were not baseless.

　　In the entire interstellar region, if their group teamed up, they indeed had the confidence to dismiss anyone.

　　Because…

　　All the speaking Empire military school students, except for Si Fan, were super star-level.

　　Han Qianqian and her sister Han Siyi were both super star-level mech pilots.

　　Fang Yuan was a super star-level mech soldier, and Bai Yeming…

　　Like Shen Qinglan, he was a genius among geniuses, dual-trained as both a mech soldier and a mech pilot, excelling in both.

　　The super mech soldier who stayed behind at the Empire’s base last time was Bai Yeming.

　　It was his final shot that left Han Hai half-destroyed.

　　They currently had four super star-level individuals.

At the super star-level, it’s normal for people to disregard S-level talents.

Bai Yeming’s expression was indifferent: “It’s just a suggestion. Whether you listen or not is up to you.”

Seeing this, Han Qianqian curled her lip disdainfully.

“He’s not from any prestigious family, just happened to have the luck to get super star-level talent. I don’t know what he’s showing off about.”

Han Siyi frowned and gave Han Qianqian a cold glance, then said softly, “I agree with Xiao Bai’s proposal.”

With such an unexpected variable, it’s best to eliminate it as soon as possible if possible.

If this variable affects the overall situation, it wouldn’t be good.

On the other side, Shen Qinglan was also somewhat surprised by Ji Fu’s sudden talent upgrade.

“She upgraded her talent at this time?” Jiang Wencai frowned.

Jiang Wencai was Shen Qinglan’s cousin, and the Jiang family was also a significant family in the interstellar realm, with strong power and marital ties with the Shen family.

It was said that after the fall of the Li family, the Jiang family was most likely to ascend as one of the four major families.

In terms of top-tier strength alone, Han Hai was far inferior to the Empire.

If seriously considered, Han Hai only had Shen Qinglan as a true super star-level individual.

But because he and Shen Qingxue were twin siblings, Shen Qingxue’s unique shared talent ability made her barely count as another super star-level when shared.

Besides these two siblings, Han Hai had no third super star-level individual.

However, in recent years, Jiang Wencai’s talent had continuously improved with the Shen family’s help.

He had now reached Star+, which made him invincible below the super star-level.

But as long as he didn’t break through, he was just a Star+, with a huge gap from the super star-level.

Having worked hard for so long without upgrading his talent, seeing Ji Fu casually do it made him naturally uncomfortable.

Shen Qinglan glanced at Ji Fu from afar and said calmly, “Coincidence, probably.”

After Wu Yang’s death, Shen Qinglan had thoroughly investigated and found that Wu Yang had nothing significant in his possession when he died.

He guessed that Ji Fu had encountered some opportunity to upgrade so quickly but was sure that she had nothing to do with Wu Yang’s death.

He had also considered if Wu Yang’s death was due to a student feud, but concluded that anyone capable of killing a star-level mech soldier like Wu Yang before Han Hai’s patrol battleship arrived must have high talent.

Even if Ji Fu had risen to S-level, she wouldn’t be a match for Wu Yang.

More importantly…

Shen Qinglan said expressionlessly, “Let’s see how she performs today.”

Before Wu Yang died, he had contacted Ji Fu and informed her of Han Hai’s intentions.

If she cooperated with them, it would be fine. But if she tried any tricks…

Shen Qinglan instructed Jiang Wencai, “Keep an eye on her during the exam. If she makes any suspicious moves, eliminate her immediately.”

Jiang Wencai agreed.

The Empire and Han Hai each had their own plans, but they strangely agreed on targeting Ji Fu.

This made the livestream particularly lively.

【…This is too harsh. Is the consequence of upgrading talent in public being targeted by so many super star-levels?】

【Han Hai is understandable, but the Empire side is really terrifying. Do they really have so many super star-levels?】

Although the top geniuses’ nameplates hadn’t changed like Ji Fu’s, the netizens had already figured out most of their true talent levels from their interactions.

【But isn’t there supposed to be seven super star-levels in the current military academies? The numbers don’t add up.】

Shen Qingxue’s situation was unique, and it was unclear if she should be classified as a super star-level.

But considering her shared talent, which did give her super star-level strength, many people still included her in the super star-level category.

Even adding Shen Qingxue, there were only six super star-levels in the military academies.

The discussion in the chat was lively when someone suddenly noticed the Interstellar side.

【The last one is probably Zhou Lu Hai from the Interstellar, right?】

This reminded many people that Zhou Lu Hai’s previous performance wasn’t inferior to the two star-levels from the Interstellar, even though he was using an S-level mech at the time.

A mech soldier’s strength is highly influenced by the mech they pilot.

【But if he is super star-level, why does he always use an S-level mech?】

The joint exam didn’t mandate the use of mechs made by the students themselves.

Otherwise, Zhou Lu Hai’s Deep Sea mech wouldn’t be usable either.

It was just that if there was no mech pilot of the same level in the team, it could be troublesome.

Some guessed Zhou Lu Hai was hiding his strength, while others thought it highlighted the Interstellar’s disadvantage of lacking super star-level mech pilots, resulting in varied opinions.

As the discussion heated up, there was a sudden commotion within the Empire’s team.

【What’s happening?】

The noise from the Empire’s side quickly overshadowed Ji Fu’s talent upgrade.

The surrounding gazes shifted away as Ji Fu, biting into her toast, looked over.

Among the students, she was the only one not drinking nutrient solutions, always having some odd snacks in hand.

But the Interstellar students were used to her behavior by now, and Shi Xueying even joined her in eating bread.

While eating, she explained, “The Empire’s people should be all here now.”

Ji Fu raised an eyebrow, “Weren’t they all here before?”

Two people were indeed absent in the first exam, but those two were from the Interstellar.

The Empire’s top one hundred were all present.

As soon as Ji Fu finished speaking, she saw a boy wearing a [Zhou Xingyu, Star] nameplate standing up from the imperial elite class.

She took off her badge and handed it to the newcomer.

Ji Fu: ?

“Is this a substitution?”

The bullet comments were amused by her reaction.

[Why is she so cute?]

[Someone doesn’t recognize Zhou Xingyu, unbelievable!]

It wasn’t Ji Fu’s fault. Zhou Xingyu had risen to prominence after she was imprisoned, so despite his fame, she wouldn’t know him. More importantly, he attended the Imperial Military Academy while she had been in the Interstellar Academy and hadn’t paid much attention to the leaders of other academies.

However, she did notice that after Zhou Xingyu appeared, Zhou Lu Hai’s expression noticeably changed.

…Both surnamed Zhou.

Ji Fu nudged the person beside her and tilted her head to ask, “Haizi, is that your brother?”

Bullet comments: [ … ]

[That’s his brother!]

It wasn’t Ji Fu’s fault. Zhou Lu Hai was very tall, standing at 193 cm, while Zhou Xingyu appeared several centimeters shorter and had a fair, handsome look. She instinctively thought the pretty boy looked younger than Zhou Lu Hai.

Zhou Lu Hai, feeling complex due to Zhou Xingyu’s arrival, had his emotions disrupted by her question. He looked over at Zhou Xingyu’s position and said in a low voice, “…He’s my cousin.”

The next moment, Ji Fu saw the Imperial team leader personally update Zhou Xingyu’s badge. The badge flickered for a moment, revealing new information.

[Zhou Xingyu, Super Star+]

The entire bullet comment section erupted.

[There it is, the first Super Star+!]

[This makes sense, there are indeed seven.]

Ji Fu raised her eyebrows.

She thought for a moment and opened the search bar, looking up Zhou Xingyu’s name.

Zhou Xingyu, male, 25 years old.

Currently the commander of the First Legion, studying at the Imperial Military Academy.

A few brief lines conveyed significant information.

Beside her, Shi Xueying added, “He’s currently the top student at the military academy and the previous joint exam champion. Because of his position in the legion, he didn’t attend the training or the first exam.”

But the Imperial Military Academy still registered his name.

For the sake of fairness, they had a star-level mech soldier take his place in the exam.

If that star-level mech soldier had been eliminated during the training or the first round, Zhou Xingyu would have lost his qualification to participate.

…Whether this method was truly fair is debatable, but according to the rules of the annual joint exam, the previous champion does have the right to directly advance to the final round.

This year’s exam timing coincided with the black hole event, so Zhou Xingyu’s leave was reasonable.

Everyone assumed he would appear before the final round, but his early arrival was unexpected.

His presence immediately silenced the Han Hai side.

In the last joint exam, Shen Qinglan had lost to Zhou Xingyu, and it was a crushing defeat.

With Zhou Xingyu showing up earlier than expected this time, it was a clear warning signal to Han Hai.

…This was a super star+ capable of seriously injuring Shen Qinglan and Shen Qingxue for six months.

Amidst the crowd, Zhou Xingyu’s gaze searched for a moment before locking onto Zhou Lu Hai’s eyes.

He gave a slight nod to Zhou Lu Hai with a faint, mocking smile.

Zhou Lu Hai’s eyes were cold, not even acknowledging him with a simple gesture.

Interstellar Academy students noticed the strange atmosphere between the two and dared not speak up.

Ji Fu, however, stood not far away, drinking yogurt she had somehow procured.

Biting the yogurt straw, she mused about the Fang family’s Fang Yanli, Fang Yu’an, and the Zhou family’s Zhou Lu Hai, Zhou Xingyu.

Were these two dominant families balancing literature?

Two for you, two for me.

And all of them were mech soldiers.

No wonder the Si family was desperate. Even if they pooled their resources to elevate Si Fan to super star-level, they would struggle to match the other two families.

…Not to mention the Fang family had the monster Fang Yanli.

Rarely, Ji Fu opened the Tianbang on her optical brain.

The Tianbang, linked to the optical brain, was an authoritative ranking list established by the person who designed the optical brain. In the interstellar era, everyone who used mechs used optical brains.

Once an optical brain was used, the data was automatically read by the Tianbang.

Using an evasion system could temporarily avoid this.

But generally, no one specifically tried to evade this.

The Tianbang only read strength, not secrets.

How did she know?

…Because she once hacked all the data on the Tianbang. Initially, she intended to intercept the data of Fang Yanli’s mech ‘Destruction,’ but after hacking, she found that the Tianbang did not store information nor read private data.

Only battle scores.

And it was a comprehensive battle score with no calculation formula, just results.

The genius who designed the optical brain was truly top-notch and had a good understanding of human nature.

Because the Tianbang was just a ranking list, only scoring without reading values, everyone accepted it, making it the ‘Hall of Fame’ of this era.

The Tianbang rankings remained the same.

After ten months, Yun Chi’s name was still at the top of the mechanical engineers’ list, almost faded, still holding the first place.

Ji Fu directly opened the mecha category.

The first place was still Destruction, Fang Yanli’s mech.

The second place was Huansheng.

Ji Fu glanced at it and asked Zhou Lu Hai, “Is your brother… your cousin’s mech called Huansheng?”

Zhou Lu Hai paused, “No.”

He also saw the page Ji Fu had opened and pointed at it.

The fifth place, Rose.

It was quite a romantic name.

Ji Fu raised her eyebrows.

With technological advancements, people in the interstellar era generally lived to be over 150 years old. Those with special talents lived even longer, typically around 200 years.

Most military academy students were in their twenties, which, in interstellar terms, meant they were practically teenagers.

Ranking fifth was an impressive achievement for a student, especially since she remembered that several generals in the corps had talents reaching the super star level.

The current Supreme Commander of the Alliance was also a super star level.

Zhou Xingyu, still just a commander, was ranked reasonably.

She was very curious about the mech named Huansheng, initially assuming that if Destruction was with the Fang family, then Huansheng would be with the Zhou family.

To her surprise, it wasn’t Zhou family’s mech.

This was interesting.

Zhou Xingyu’s arrival kept the livestream and the exam venue lively for quite a while until the second round of the joint exam officially began, and things gradually calmed down.

Compared to the absolute strength of a super star+, Ji Fu’s S-rank didn’t stand out as much.

In the latter part of the event, not many paid attention to her, and Ji Fu, along with the Interstellar Academy students, smoothly entered the exam venue.

As soon as she entered the venue, she received a message from Shen Qinglan.

[Happy cooperation.]

Ji Fu slightly raised her eyes, glancing at a surveillance device in the venue.

The rules for the second joint exam were quite different from the previous ones.

Both were team battles, but the first round was a camp battle, while the second round was a pursuit battle.

Logically, the second round should have a set target score, but it didn’t. Instead, it had a time limit.

The second joint exam would last a month.

This meant that within this month, the three sides could eliminate each other without limits.

If they managed to eliminate an entire military academy within the time, it would be considered valid.

So, compared to the first round, the second round was going to be even more intense.

Since there was no target score, what were they chasing?

The answer was resources.

So far, the Interstellar Academy, ranked first, still had 90 students.

With the addition of students from the other two sides, over 200 participants were entering the second round.

So many people needed substantial resources to survive on a planet for a month.

Resources were all drawn from the planet itself.

Therefore, in this pursuit battle, the first-round winner, the Interstellar Academy, had a significant advantage.

After the exam began, the Interstellar Academy would enter the venue a week ahead of the other two schools.

This meant they had a week to gather the most abundant resources on the planet.

Then, a week later, the second-place Imperial Military Academy would enter. The Imperial team could either go after the resources already gathered by the Interstellar Academy or pursue the Interstellar Academy to gain resources.

As for Han Hai Academy, they would enter the venue five days after the Imperial Military Academy.

This meant they were twelve days behind the first-place Interstellar Academy.

Additionally, those first twelve days did not count towards the exam period; they were the leading time for the first and second places. Once Han Hai Academy entered the venue, the thirty-day countdown would officially start.

As Tan Xi put it…

“Han Hai, entering the venue twelve days late, will be like a starving dog, biting anyone it catches.”

The venue was a designated major planet, not a completely undeveloped one, with ample resources available for the participants.

The organizers provided few resources for the venue, enough for at most seventy people to survive for thirty days.

With over two hundred participants, this meant eliminating two-thirds of them.

The team battle only had two rounds, and after filtering through, at most seventy people could enter the survival battle.

For fairness, all survival supplies would be confiscated from the participants before entering the venue.

This included nutrient solutions, compressed biscuits, drinking water, and all other living supplies.

They could only carry combat equipment and machinery.

Therefore, a large security check was set up at the entrance of the venue, with three security checkpoints. No piece of food could escape the detection of these devices.

The Interstellar Academy students went first, most having only their nutrient solutions confiscated.

When it was Ji Fu’s turn, the security devices went haywire.

The security official from the military academy personally came to inspect. The viewers in the livestream watched as they pulled out numerous snacks from Ji Fu’s belongings.

Yogurt, sweet milk, potato chips…

She had packed a whole bag of snacks that were long out of production.

Not just a small bag, but a whole sack.

The leading teacher was dumbfounded and asked her, “Why did you bring so much food for a joint exam?”

Ji Fu: “I get hungry.”

Leading teacher: …

[The child is so thin! What’s wrong with eating a bit?]

The bullet comments were full of laughter, but Qin Chu Yue felt especially uncomfortable.

Ji Fu had grown up in poor conditions. When Qin Chu Yue and Weilan met her, both kids were extremely skinny.

Before turning sixteen, Ji Fu hadn’t even properly consumed nutrient solutions.

This led to her current state, where even after detoxifying her body, her test results still showed malnutrition.

Those special snacks were not just regular food; they were highly nutritious and were given to her by Qin Chu Yue.

Now, they had all been confiscated.

Qin Chu Yue watched, itching to rush over and scatter their ashes.

Ji Fu entered the exam venue calmly.

According to the rules, once the Interstellar Academy entered the venue, the other two academies would be restricted. While they couldn’t watch the live broadcast of the joint exam on the star network, they could do anything else. Their location would be live stream shielded to ensure the fairness of the exam.

After entering the venue, Tan Xi immediately found Ji Fu and asked her, “What did Shen Qinglan say?”

[What do you mean? Are Han Hai and Interstellar cooperating?]

[With Zhou Xingyu back, they have five super star levels. It makes sense for these two academies to cooperate.]

Before anyone could fully grasp this reasoning, they heard Ji Fu say, “He wants us to poison the entire planet.”

[???]

[Isn’t this tactic from Shen Qinglan too underhanded?]

Several S-class students nearby immediately looked grim.

“Is he crazy?” Li Yunyi shouted angrily, “Poisoning the entire planet—does he want everyone to die together?”

Ji Fu nodded slightly. “He wants us to keep only twenty percent of our resources, leave the rest on the ground, poison all of it, and then rely on that twenty percent to hold out until Han Hai enters the venue and together repel the Imperial Military Academy.”

“Of course, we can choose to refuse.” She paused, then continued, “But Shen Qinglan said that if we refuse, they will directly suppress us with firepower when they enter, eliminating most of the Interstellar students.”

So, Interstellar had two choices: either comply and poison the resources or refuse and face immediate elimination.

A very typical Shen Qinglan move.

“We can’t poison the resources,” Tan Xi said gravely. “The Empire will enter the venue before Han Hai. If the poisoning is discovered, the Empire can easily act against us.”

But that didn’t mean the Empire would spare them even if they didn’t poison the resources.

In short, with just one statement, Shen Qinglan had put them in a dilemma.

“Shen Qinglan won’t cooperate with us,” Ji Fu said with a faint smile, breaking the silence. Her eyes were emotionless. “Why would the Shen family care about our meager assets?”

“I guess he will send information about our supposed poisoning to the Imperial Military Academy before they enter, prompting them to act against us.”

With her words, the room fell silent.

[This is just disgusting!]

[Provoking the strongest to attack the weakest so that Han Hai can gain the advantage after enough of us are eliminated.]

“So, what do we do now?” Wan Die asked softly. “Should we try to gain the Empire’s trust?”

[Typically, that’s the best approach, but I doubt the Empire will be so kind.]

Interstellar students also thought so. “We need something to make the Empire interested. Maybe we should voluntarily give up half our resources?”

Entering the venue early gave them an advantage. Offering half their resources would show considerable sincerity.

Among the three major academies, Interstellar Academy was indeed the weakest.

Being weak meant surviving in the cracks, appeasing both sides. This was the way of survival for the weak.

Though humiliating, it seemed like the only viable option at the moment.

Everyone had assumed this was the best way to win, but Ji Fu suddenly spoke up.

She raised her eyes, looking at all the Interstellar Academy students present, and said calmly, “No.”

All eyes turned to her.

Ji Fu simply said, “The initiative is in our hands. If they want to use firepower suppression, then we’ll fight them to the end.”

“Three years ago, several super star levels died by my hand. Guess if they’ll be the next ones.”