Chapter 60

After the alert sounded, it was as if the entire examination room had been paused.

In this eerie silence, countless students abruptly turned their heads to look.

In the Empire’s rest area, Han Siyi murmured, “Eliminated across levels?”

Jiang Wencai had a Star+ talent, representing his strength being only below several superstars present.

Not only that, he also had the Twisted Bombardment Cannon on him. Although others might not know about this weapon, mech pilots like Han Siyi were very clear about it.

It was an excellent Star+ heavy weapon.

Thanks to this Twisted Bombardment Cannon, Jiang Wencai had achieved excellent results several times in the joint exams.

And now, Jiang Wencai was eliminated by Ji Fu?!

The bullet comments exploded.

[“No way, who exactly is she? How can she be so outrageous?”]

[“…Is this S-rank for real? Could there be an error in the talent assessment?”]

[“Whether she made an error or not, Jiang Wencai’s definitely didn’t.”]

Cross-level eliminations were not uncommon in the joint exams, but generally speaking, the higher the talent level, the less likely it was to happen.

There’s a saying, “All beings below Star-level are equal,” although it’s an exaggerated description, it holds true for the vast majority of mech pilots.

Over the many sessions of the joint exam, there had been instances of an S-rank eliminating a Star-level, but the last time this happened was when a Star-level, injured, was besieged by six S+ ranks, leading to elimination.

Not like what was happening now—an S-rank eliminating a Star+ rank.

Regardless of how the people inside felt, even those watching the livestream felt suffocated.

But if it were cheating, that was simply impossible.

The livestream had been running all along, with so many people watching in real-time. If one couldn’t win, then one couldn’t win. When Jiang Wencai was eliminated, his mech was even close to being scrapped.

How could one cheat to make an S-rank eliminate a Star+?

It was simply not feasible.

Even so, the proctors from Hanhai Academy still raised objections.

The organizers of the joint exam agreed to play back the footage, and this time, the main focus was on Ji Fu’s side.

According to the rules of the joint exam, once someone raised objections to the exam content, the disputed parts would be reviewed across the entire network.

After Hanhai’s request was approved, the playback livestream would be opened simultaneously, and the proctors who raised objections would also be streamed.

Jiang Wencai had just been eliminated, and the playback livestream began.

Countless netizens with doubts also entered the playback livestream. The battle just now had happened too fast, and because of the chaotic scene, many people were watching the main broadcast instead of individual ones.

So, many details weren’t very clear.

This led to the moment the playback started, everyone’s first glimpse was of the prompts on Ji Fu’s control panel.

Mecha Prompt: [“Jiaoyue, Star-level Mecha”]

The entire network erupted.

[“Holy cow???”]

[“No wonder Jiang Wencai, who was ranked high last time, was eliminated so easily. Turns out her mech has been upgraded.”]

[“This isn’t just about whether the mech was upgraded or not… everyone, she’s S-rank, piloting a Star-level mech, and eliminated a Star+!!!”]

The person in charge of the playback, requested by Hanhai, also looked particularly ugly.

The livestream began, and in front of the entire network, Zhang Huan crossed his arms and said coldly, “Professor Jiang, do you understand now?”

Jiang Wencai had just been eliminated, and this person immediately challenged him.

Others might not know why, but Zhang Huan was clear—today, the person in charge of Hanhai Academy was from the Jiang family.

Naturally, a noble family would protect its own.

He didn’t give Professor Jiang a chance to respond, and said directly, “Do you still need us to replay the entire process of Ji Fu upgrading her mech?”

Jiang Hai remained silent with a dark expression, while other proctors from Hanhai said, “Even if she had already upgraded her mech to Star-level before, she herself is only an S-rank.”

“The difficulty of piloting a mech across levels should be clear to everyone present. In this situation, isn’t it reasonable for us to suspect that she used something prohibited in the exam?”]

Zhang Huan sneered in silence.

These people should really take a closer look at what they’re calling contraband. What kind of high-quality materials and machinery are they talking about? Ji Fu comes from a poor background, so where would she even get access to contraband for cheating?

He couldn’t be bothered to argue with these blind people and directly requested the intervention of top-level mech pilots.

The Alliance acted swiftly, notifying several mech pilots to come over, including super-star-level pilots and Huang Peilan.

Accompanied by them, Huang Peilan entered the playback livestream room. As requested, they began examining all the content related to Ji Fu’s upgrade of Jiaoyue.

After just a few glances, the faces of several mech pilots became particularly colorful.

“This… this…” a mech pilot from the Fang family struggled to speak for a long time, repeatedly exclaiming, “This is a genius from the stars.”

“Only the core was replaced, nothing else was changed, and they used Short Lü Gold as a lubricant.”

“She upgraded the mech in a straight line while maintaining 100% customization compatibility,” even the super-star-level mech pilot provided a fair assessment.

“The idea is very bold, and the operation process was flawless.”

It was quite a while before Huang Peilan said, “… indeed, a genius from the stars.”

To make the head of one of the Four Great Families, the mech pilot of the Fang family, express such sentiments, one can imagine Ji Fu’s level.

They checked repeatedly, from Ji Fu modifying and upgrading the mech to the final battle scene, and found no violations of operation rules, nor any use of prohibited cheating items.

She truly piloted a star-level mech across levels, and according to the final battle results displayed, the mech pilots present concluded one thing:

With a mech upgraded under perfect compatibility, Ji Fu could currently utilize around 72% to 77% of its performance.

This was already close to the normal strength of a star-level mech pilot.

Coupled with the Flash Defense System mounted on her mech, something many mech pilots were seeing for the first time, they indeed felt the power of the flashes.

Her ability to evade the Twisted Bombardment Cannon and swiftly maneuver using flash patterns, coupled with her berserk state, defeating Jiang Wencai, was a very reasonable occurrence.

Huang Peilan even said in a deep voice, “The mech system’s construction is bold and innovative. In the realm of mech pilots, someone like this hasn’t appeared in a long time.”

The last person who could make her feel this way was Yunchi three years ago.

Of course, Yunchi’s level was a bit more exaggerated, after all, Ji Fu was only an S-rank, while Yunchi was a completely talentless low-grade being.

But speaking of Yunchi…

As the super-star-level mech pilot who had been invited pondered before leaving, he hesitated, “I don’t know why, but I feel a strange familiarity with this female student’s operation.”

Huang Peilan paused.

She had wanted to say this for a long time.

And it wasn’t just after this joint exam, but from the moment she first encountered Ji Fu, she had a strangely familiar feeling.

But Ji Fu’s face was very representative. If she had seen her before, she would definitely remember.

After carefully reviewing Ji Fu’s mech modification operations this time, that sense of familiarity became even stronger.

She just couldn’t remember where she had seen it before.

In the examination room at this moment, Shen Qinglan’s face changed directly because of Ji Fu’s cross-level elimination.

He didn’t argue with Bai Yeming anymore, choosing to withdraw with the people from Hanhai within the safety line.

This sudden attack only eliminated a few low-talent students, failed to send away Ji Fu, and even lost Jiang Wencai. Shen Qinglan’s expression was particularly ugly.

And after they withdrew behind the safety line, there was a prompt in the arena.

[“Hanhai Academy requests a playback review; Jiang Wencai’s elimination is pending.”]

The students from Hanhai were all delighted to hear this.

They still couldn’t believe that an S-rank like Ji Fu could eliminate Jiang Wencai, who was a Star+.

Hanhai’s withdrawal and the external investigation into the objections made the entire examination room focus on this matter.

From the Empire to the Interstellar, personnel from the three major military academies were silently waiting for the result of the objection review.

They didn’t expect this objection investigation to take such a long time.

It wasn’t until Zhou Xingyu woke up and Han Siyi informed him of everything that had happened during his sleep that the broadcast sounded again.

Zhou Xingyu was drinking nutrient fluid. Upon hearing this, he paused, looking out the window.

[“Objection review concluded, operations deemed reasonable, no suspicion of cheating; Jiang Wencai’s elimination confirmed.”]

The entire venue fell silent.

Hanhai’s internal reaction was explosive.

“It took hours to investigate, and the final result is actually like this?”

“How is that possible…Brother Jiang is a Star+.”

Some believed, some doubted, some were uncertain.

The impact caused by this incident was so great that many people couldn’t react.

During this time, Shen Qinglan also checked his own mech.

His mech was somewhat special, with a panoramic recording function, and he always activated this function during battles.

The panoramic recording didn’t show much detail, but combined with the values ​​provided by the mech and Shen Qinglan’s own experience as a mech pilot, he directly drew a conclusion:

“The mech Ji Fu is using is star-level.”

Once this statement came out, the entire Hanhai elite class fell silent.

No one would doubt Shen Qinglan’s words. If he said so, then it must be true.

“Revise the plan.” Shen Qinglan was accustomed to writing a plan before each joint exam.

The plan listed important figures from several military academies and the levels that needed attention.

Until today, in Shen Qinglan’s plan, Ji Fu and Shi Xueying were on the same level as the S-class of the Star Domain.

And from today onward, Ji Fu’s rank has been directly raised to the highest.

S-class talent, with a danger level approaching that of the Interstellar’s strongest force, Zhou Lu Hai.

This revelation startled all the students at Hanhai who had received the plan.

Shen Qinglan remained silent. He had a faint feeling that this person would be the key to the entire joint examination this year.

One of the main opponents.

At the same time, Zhou Xingyu crushed the empty bottle in his hand.

He looked calmly at Han Siyi and said, “These days, I need your help to make a drug tester.”

Seeing Han Siyi agree, he continued after a pause, “Given the current situation, we need to plan ahead.”

“Something White said was right; we really shouldn’t be harboring a potential threat.”

Ji Fu, this unstable factor, should be eradicated as soon as possible.

But before eliminating her, they needed to get their hands on the formula of the medicine she used on him.

…This person is indeed stronger than imagined. Zhou Xingyu felt a difference in his body after waking up today.

He had been injured for over half a year, especially the wound from that sword move, which had been aching faintly all along. Despite using a lot of medicine and seeing many doctors, it hadn’t improved.

Ji Fu’s medicine was very special. The first time she used her medicine, he felt intense pain all over his body. Then, after she adjusted it only once, the dull pain dissipated significantly.

Because of their respective military academy relationships, he reasonably suspected that this was the result of Ji Fu hiding something.

If he were from the Interstellar Academy, this injury would probably recover even faster.

Plus, Ji Fu’s performance today… a powerful mech pilot who is also a high-level pharmacist brings about too many variables.

It’s best to eliminate her as soon as possible if she’s not on their side.

But compared to this.

Zhou Xingyu’s gaze grew cold, with a hint of coldness on his face.

He didn’t know what Ji Fu’s plans were after graduation. If possible, he didn’t want to be in an opposing camp with her again.

Yesterday’s battle had made people from the three major military academies focus their attention on Ji Fu.

Jiang Wancai’s elimination had a great impact on Hanhai.

Hanhai actually had several Star+ mech pilots, but they couldn’t withstand such losses.

Without specific tactics, Shen Qinglan didn’t intend to engage in conflict with them again.

He withdrew all the people from the front line and personally built a super high-level defense base.

In the next week, there were no conflicts with the Interstellar or the Empire.

And the base built with top materials in his hands wasn’t easily breached.

Not to mention that in front of the base, there was Shen Qingsnow stationed.

Unlike Jiang Wancai, Shen Qingsnow was considered half a super-star level, and her character was quite extreme, fighting without regard for her life.

With the help of Hanhai’s base and Shen Qinglan, Fang Yuan also couldn’t easily defeat her.

Moreover, Fang Yuan didn’t really intend to go all out, making the situation suddenly harmonious.

The second week of the exam passed smoothly like this.

Entering the third week, with Hanhai having the most reduction in personnel, Shen Qinglan couldn’t sit still.

He proactively contacted Zhou Xingyu and proposed a condition that Zhou Xingyu couldn’t refuse.

Next month, the Shen family will hold an auction. This auction, which the Shen family has been preparing for a long time, includes many top-quality materials.

What Shen Qinglan offered wasn’t materials but… priority auction rights.

And he only offered two, one for Zhou Xingyu and one for Fang Yuan.

Bai Yeming was not on Shen Qinglan’s consideration list, and he also knew that Bai Yeming didn’t have much say in the Empire’s elite class.

The Shen family, especially Shen Qinglan, had always been stingy among the aristocratic families.

For Shen Qinglan to offer priority auction rights was already the limit.

The treasures in this auction would make even several family heads tempted.

Zhou Xingyu really had no reason to refuse.

He had said before that the choice between the Interstellar and Hanhai was simple for the Empire: the highest bidder wins.

Now, with the conditions Shen Qinglan offered, they had completely surpassed the Interstellar. Naturally, the Interstellar would be eliminated.

But there was a problem.

So far, they hadn’t obtained the complete formula of the medicine Ji Fu had used.

Every time Ji Fu came to deliver the medicine, it never passed through anyone else’s hands and was directly injected into his medical compartment.

They also had a way to extract the liquid for testing.

However, Han Siyi didn’t understand these materials, and she even applied all the techniques previously announced by the Butcher’s Guild to machinery.

But they still couldn’t accurately detect all the contents of the medicine.

Over a week had passed, and there were still at least three unknowns.

Han Siyi could determine the specific range of these three unknowns, but she couldn’t be precise about each material.

Without obtaining the complete formula of the medicine, the Empire couldn’t turn against the Interstellar.

Zhou Xingyu’s body was the fundamental issue, more important than any resources or materials.

So Zhou Xingyu’s reply to Shen Qinglan was to wait another week.

Within a week at most, Han Siyi would definitely be able to obtain an accurate formula.

Shen Qinglan was very dissatisfied with this answer, but he had no choice. The initiative lay with the Empire.

Fortunately, Zhou Xingyu gave him an accurate number, saying that he would ensure that the Interstellar Academy would eliminate at least 30 to 40 people before the end of the second round.

As of the first day of the fourth week of the joint exam, the Interstellar Academy still had 66 candidates.

The Imperial Academy had 43, and Hanhai had the fewest, with only 32.

After the second round of exams, the joint exam collective battle was declared over.

If we can eliminate 40 people from the Interstellar now, Hanhai might still have a chance to surpass them.

Zhou Xingyu’s words were ambiguous, but Shen Qinglan directly proposed eliminating 40 people.

They must eliminate 40 people, plus the points obtained from the hidden tasks, for Hanhai to surpass the Interstellar.

Both sides compromised and reached a consensus.

In the fourth week, the Empire finally obtained the complete formula of the medicine.

They received the complete formula in the morning, and at two in the afternoon, the defense system of the Empire’s base suddenly opened.

The defense failed, but the alarm didn’t sound.

Instead, as soon as it hit two, all the Empire’s students entered their mechs.

Rumble!

Super-star-level mechs flew low, Shen Qingxue, with her shared talent, piloted a mech and directly launched super-star-level destruction missiles in the sky.

To ensure smooth operation, two hours ago, some Empire students went to the Interstellar Academy’s base, where everything was normal, and everyone was doing their own thing.

Ji Fu was even sunbathing on the rooftop.

An hour ago, some people even saw Interstellar students.

But they were just a few individuals, doing normal things like searching for supplies and fighting alien beasts.

Even half an hour ago, some people heard noise from the Interstellar Academy’s base and encountered Interstellar’s Tan Xi.

To avoid alerting them, the Empire didn’t use the system to scan the Interstellar’s base.

But they were pretty sure that the Interstellar people shouldn’t have noticed their actions.

So after Shen Qingxue ascended, she directly launched long-range missiles.

The missiles locked onto the Interstellar Academy’s base and exploded with a loud bang upon impact.

The Empire students were already prepared and retreated outside the blast range.

But no one expected that when the base of the Interstellar cracked open, everything inside was stimulated, and with the explosion of the super-star-level bombing missile, a silver mechanical slurry burst out like overflowing, spreading over everyone!

In the live broadcast room, before anyone could react, they heard countless elimination alert sounds.

All those contaminated by the mechanical slurry had their mechs severely corroded, and the exam system automatically judged it as a fatal attack, instantly eliminating dozens of people!

The scene was in an uproar.

Someone with keen eyesight exclaimed, “This seems to be the mechanical silver slurry sprayed by the severed dwarf nucleus, right?”

Yes, it was the mechanical silver slurry.

Ji Fu stood not far from the Empire Military Academy base, casually looking over.

As early as the third week, Li Yunyi had discovered that the Empire was just deceiving them.

Ji Fu also knew that the Empire should be investigating her medicine formula.

But neither of them showed it, pretending that everything was normal, just to deliver this big gift to them today.

When Ji Fu was attacked by the severed dwarf nucleus in that pit, she had thought of it.

The nucleus was the core of the severed Dward Shue, and if the nucleus contained the mechanical silver slurry, then there must be some inside the severed Dward Shue.

So the Interstellar Academy collected all the severed dwarf debris discarded by the Empire. Ji Fu used instruments to extract all the mechanical silver slurry from the debris.

The remaining materials were then made into that ugly mechanical giant spider.

She also made some modifications to the extracted slurry. In these twenty-plus days, she gradually filled the slurry into every corner of the Interstellar’s mobile base.

By this morning, the mobile base had been filled like a balloon waiting to be burst by Hanhai and the Empire.

The reason they knew they would act today was when Ji Fu went to deliver medicine to Zhou Xingyu, the Empire people shut up as soon as they saw her.

The elite class members didn’t show it in front of her.

But… when Ji Fu administered medicine to Zhou Xingyu on the first day, she implanted a listening device into his medical compartment.

The Empire’s people understood mechs, machinery, and with a bit of research, could understand medicine too.

But these arrogant elites had always used the special-grade medical compartments provided by the Li family. Due to the monopoly by the Li family, the medical compartments they used were only for medical purposes.

They wouldn’t understand anything about medical compartments.

So after Zhou Xingyu fell asleep, she implanted the listening device.

Ah, she did all these things on the day when Shen Qinglan suddenly launched the attack, attacking the Empire’s base, the same day Jiang Wencai was eliminated.

Moreover, the listening device she made didn’t have any talent level; it was just ordinary machinery.

Mixed into the special-grade medical compartment, without any talent level, it wouldn’t be discovered unless someone specifically opened it to check the interior.

Coincidentally, Han Siyi had opened it for inspection a few times.

Every time there was a fluctuation, Ji Fu removed the listening device while Han Siyi was checking, and then put it back when she went to deliver medicine to Zhou Xingyu at night.

Originally, she didn’t need to be so troublesome; she only needed to use her system.

But Ji Fu didn’t intend to implant the system into the medical compartment. The medical compartment was a closed system, and once her system was implanted, what was the difference from admitting that she was behind the scenes of the Li family’s affairs?

She planted the device with a time delay. And as she expected, Shen Qinglan would definitely find Zhou Xingyu at night.

That means she knew everything from start to finish about the Empire and Hanhai’s conspiracy.

Not only that, she also recorded an audio file.

As the mechanical silver slurry continued to spew out, and when everyone from the Empire and Hanhai was in great anger, a loud voice suddenly came from the entire exam room.

The voice came from Zhou Xingyu and Shen Qinglan.

“So, Mr. Shen wants to trade two priority auction rights for an alliance between the Empire and Hanhai?” Zhou Xingyu said in a low voice. “Two rights seem a bit too few.”

Shen Qinglan smiled immediately, “There aren’t many students who can become guests of my Shen family, and Commander Zhou is the leader of the Empire. How should we proceed? Can anyone else oppose it?”

The details of how the two negotiated weren’t important; what mattered most was the focal point amplified by Ji Fu.

That sentence was copied several times by her and echoed repeatedly in everyone’s ears.

Shen Qinglan said, “Among us, whether it’s the Empire or Hanhai, it’s all the same who takes the first place.”

“But Interstellar doesn’t deserve it.”

“People with low talents deserve only lowly lives.”