Chapter 61

“…So, Boss Shen wants to exchange two priority auction rights for an alliance between the Empire and Vast Sea?” Zhou Xingyu said indifferently, “Two are too few.”

Shen Qinglan immediately laughed, “Among the students, few can be guests of my Shen family, and Commander Zhou is the leader of the Empire. What you want, who can oppose?”

The details of how they reached an agreement are unimportant. The key point magnified by Ji Fu was that sentence.

She repeated it several times, letting it echo in everyone’s ears.

Shen Qinglan said, “Among us, whether it’s the Empire or Vast Sea, it doesn’t matter who takes first place.”

“But interstellar ones are not worthy.”

“Those with low talent are only fit to live in lowly conditions.”

Chapter 61

The scene fell into dead silence.

In fact, whether it was the students present or the viewers watching the live stream, everyone knew that talent discrimination had always existed.

But whether it was the noble families or the alliance, they usually concealed it well and would not publicly express such views.

Even Shen Qinglan and Zhou Xingyu had been the same this time.

They spoke late at night, a time when few people were watching the live stream, and they used a super encryption mode during their communication.

This feature of the super brain made it impossible for the audience to hear or see what they were saying.

However, for Shen Qinglan, using encryption mode was mainly because he considered it involved the Shen family’s commercial secrets.

Super brain invasion is very difficult, and with the encryption mode on, Shen Qinglan felt confident in speaking plainly to win over Zhou Xingyu.

Originally, such words could never be eavesdropped on, and he believed there would be no issues from Zhou Xingyu’s side.

Who knew that Zhou Xingyu had been lying in the medical pod all this time.

Once connected to the medical pod, it was like the super brain was accessed externally, making any encrypted communication unable to bypass Ji Fu’s devices.

This situation led to all netizens being unaware of their conversation before today.

Ji Fu’s sudden release of this information led to a barrage of anger from the interstellar netizens after a brief moment of silence.

With today’s rapid technological development, live streaming interfaces rarely experience lag.

But after Ji Fu played Shen Qinglan’s words three times, the live stream was overwhelmed by the furious curses of netizens, causing a rare instance of lag.

【What nonsense is this?】

【Are all noble families this arrogant? What do you mean low talents aren’t worthy? Only you are worthy? Do you really think ordinary people are your servants?】

【It’s laughable that some people, even with the best resources and things, are still useless!】

【Since when did a noble family member dare to say such things? Without so many interstellar citizens, what do you count for?】

…

The more rational comments still tried to speak reasonably, but more were filled with the anger of interstellar citizens oppressed for too long.

The noble families monopolized most of the resources, making life difficult for ordinary people.

To think that those who benefited the most trampled on their dignity with such contemptuous words.

At this moment, whether they were just watching for fun or had preferences for the three major military academies… even those from ordinary families were equally furious.

Ordinary interstellar citizens usually didn’t feel the noble families’ arrogance directly.

But the smaller noble families, who had to serve them tremblingly each year, felt this deep-seated arrogance the most.

Especially seeing the current interstellar situation, many related it to themselves.

The noble families allied to seize all benefits and then block the paths of ordinary people.

It was exploitation, arrogance, and a lofty contempt and humiliation.

Netizens’ anger spread rapidly, causing a major public outcry across various platforms in a short time.

The examination room fell into dead silence, and the faces of the alliance and major noble families’ representatives were particularly grim.

No one expected the joint exam to not bolster their reputation but rather backfire.

The Shen family’s communications were bombarded, their faces extremely grim.

They wanted to explode, but couldn’t find a way to vent.

Shen Qinglan said those words, and Ji Fu’s actions complied with the exam rules, leaving no faults to find.

This made it all the more frustrating.

Not just the Shen family, but Zhou Xingyu also looked grim, sitting silently.

They knew that in this situation, any comment they made would become a tool for attacking their families tomorrow.

So despite their discontent, they could only hold it in.

Amid this stifling and tense atmosphere, only Zhang Huan spoke freely, sneering, “Why such expressions?”

“I’m curious too. How come the students of the Empire and Vast Sea, supposedly so outstanding, were so easily eliminated by Ji Fu, despite having top talents like super star-level and star+?”

No one in the examination room could answer him. Ji Fu’s elimination of super star-level and star+ students was a fact.

And it was also a fact that when she entered the Interstellar Academy this year, her talent was only F-level.

The very low-talent student they despised had eliminated several top-talent elites.

This was not the end.

After Ji Fu made the conversation between Zhou Xingyu and Shen Qinglan public using interstellar audio equipment, the atmosphere in the examination venue continued to shift.

On the Hanhai, Shen Qinglan, participating in the joint exam for the first time, was enraged.

In his fury, he led a team to destroy much of the Interstellar Academy’s audio equipment.

He also harshly targeted the scattered students of the Interstellar Academy.

Most Interstellar Academy students do not have high talents. If they gathered in one place, it would be easy for super star-level students to bomb them, eliminating many at once.

So, they split up, with elite class students spreading out to lead small teams.

Within the two hours that the Empire and Hanhai had to prepare, they dispersed across the entire major planet, with distances between teams being quite large.

When encountering members of the Hanhai or Empire, these low-talent students did not back down.

Regardless of the opponent’s talent level, they directly faced them head-on.

If anyone was most affected by Shen Qinglan’s words, it was certainly these low-talent students from the Interstellar Academy.

Due to their low talents, many believed they were unqualified to fight against high star-level opponents.

But no one is born lowly.

On this fertile land, no one is naturally noble enough to be a hero.

Shen Qinglan’s term “lowly” directly triggered the most severe counterattack by the Interstellar Academy in recent years.

Previously, Ji Fu had extracted mechanical silver paste, which was modified with medicine and distributed to every Interstellar Academy student.

These B-level and A-level students, armed with a large quantity of silver paste weapons, charged madly at the two military schools.

The mechanical silver paste itself is super star-level material, and after being modified with medicine, anyone could use it.

Along with the students’ pent-up anger, this turned the pursuit battle upside down.

Boom!

Loud explosions echoed in the examination venue as the mechanical silver paste exploded, corroding and eliminating many students from the two military schools.

Since Shen Qinglan launched the attack, the broadcast had not stopped.

【Empire’s Jiang Feiyu eliminated, Hanhai’s Shen Yu eliminated…】

【Empire… Hanhai…】

The repeated notifications kept mentioning the Empire and Hanhai, with occasional mentions of the Interstellar Academy, echoing throughout the venue.

Not all students from the Empire and Hanhai are star-level or super star-level.

There are many S-level and A-level students as well.

To ambush the Interstellar Academy, they had to split up, but were picked off one by one by the enraged Interstellar Academy students.

In the chaotic battle, the Hanhai and Empire deployed many high-level mechas.

They thought it would be an easy victory, not expecting the Interstellar Academy’s anger to exceed their imagination.

When the first star-level mecha tried to easily eliminate several Interstellar Academy students, an A-level talent student, Pei Lan, fired the first shot.

Before the star-level annihilation missile could fall, Pei Lan crushed the mechanical silver paste weapon, left the mecha, and in the enemy’s panic-stricken face, activated the mecha’s berserk mode, triggering the engine’s self-destruction.

The mecha exploded.

【Interstellar Academy’s Pei Lan, Empire Military Academy’s Han Peipei eliminated】

In the joint exam, mecha self-destruction is rare, as it injures the user and leads to their elimination as well.

Knowing the joint exam isn’t real combat, rarely would anyone do such a foolish thing.

But today’s Interstellar Academy was different.

In the Interstellar Academy’s chat group, someone explained Pei Lan’s actions: 【She comes from a remote star where her family has low talents.】

【Pei Lan is the only one from that star to enter the Interstellar Academy.】

She represented the hopes and expectations of everyone on that distant, impoverished star.

So she couldn’t accept being called lowly.

Students from remote stars with low talents are usually insignificant, but Pei Lan resolutely expressed her anger this way.

Her action became a fuse.

Within a minute, several more Interstellar Academy students initiated mecha self-destruction.

In the brief 60 seconds, at least five star-level mecha soldiers from Hanhai and the Empire were eliminated.

Before they could react, Ji Fu, who had a moment to spare from the battlefield, stopped the mecha self-destruction.

She rarely used the all-school communication, but now she sent a message to all Interstellar Academy members:

【No need for such extreme measures. Eliminating them is just a matter of time.】

She spoke without emotion, merely stating a fact.

At the same time, Tan Xi also spoke up:

【All Interstellar Academy members, mecha self-destruction is prohibited.】

Tan Xi paused, looking coldly at several super star-level mechas nearby: 【No need to self-destruct for arrogant people.】

【They are not worth it.】

Simultaneously, the cleansed comment section reopened. Although many insults were filtered, many netizens posted the same phrase:

【They are not worth it.】

Despite everything, the Interstellar Academy’s overwhelming actions and the mechanical silver paste weapons caused severe losses for the two military schools.

Before Ji Fu and Tan Xi stopped the self-destruction, Zhou Xingyu also halted his team.

“Cease attack.” Zhou Xingyu’s eyes darkened. After the recording was released, they realized Ji Fu had tampered with the medical pod.

Han Siyi found the eavesdropping device and dismantled it.

But the situation was already out of control.

Zhou Xingyu knew that his conversation with Shen Qinglan had surely spread all over the interstellar network by now.

If they didn’t stop, forcing the Interstellar Academy students to continue self-destructing, the public opinion would become unmanageable.

It was their side’s mistake, and only the Empire and Hanhai could now clean up the mess.

No matter what, the pursuit had to stop.

Otherwise, after leaving this exam venue, the Empire and Hanhai would be seen as executioners who harmed low-talent students.

Zhou Xingyu understood this, and so did Shen Qinglan.

However, the one most affected by the recording was Shen Qinglan.

So, even after the Empire stopped, Shen Qinglan still didn’t want to stop.

After all, since he had already spoken, he might as well see through the elimination of the Interstellar Academy, possibly gaining a chance to turn the situation around.

Stopping now would make Shen Qinglan not only seem hypocritical but also sanctimonious.

Shen Qinglan had never hidden his disdain for low talents.

He also knew that public outrage and online anger were temporary. When a black hole appeared, people would still need the protection of high-talent individuals.

Rather than trying to clear his name by showing false remorse or goodwill, he preferred to remain a strongman.

The interstellar alliance had been ruling for hundreds of years now, and they still hadn’t realized that the world belonged to the strong?

To earn respect, one must first become strong.

He wasn’t surprised by the Empire’s actions either.

People like Zhou Xingyu, or those from the three major families, didn’t genuinely respect low-talent people; they just hid it well.

The Empire cared about reputation; Shen Qinglan only cared about benefits.

This difference in goals meant that in the coming days, the main opponent the Interstellar Academy would face would be Hanhai.

They had more numbers than Hanhai, but Hanhai’s elite class was very strong, with many star+ students.

Additionally, since Shen Qinglan himself was a mecha master, after a few days of adjustments, Hanhai was equipped with new weapons.

The new weapon was a cannon-style shield.

Unlike regular shields, it featured a strong water jet, specifically targeting the mechanical silver paste used by the Interstellar Academy.

Once the silver paste was detected, high-pressure water jets would spray, blocking the silver paste from reaching the mechas.

Without the mechanical silver paste, the Interstellar Academy’s combat power was greatly reduced.

Low-talent students, without resorting to self-destruction, even in larger numbers, rarely stood a chance against star-level mecha soldiers.

On the penultimate day before the exam ended, many students from the Interstellar Academy had been lost.

The team regrouped and gathered once more.

Interestingly, after multiple clashes, the Interstellar Academy’s original mobile base was completely destroyed.

In the following days, using a divide-and-conquer strategy, they no longer needed a base.

During the pursuit, Hanhai took a good position with high-level mechas and built a new base there.

The base previously used by the Interstellar Academy was now vacant.

This base, besides the giant mechanical spider, had nothing left and was situated in a low-lying basin.

When the Interstellar Academy retreated to this base again, it seemed to others that their defeat was imminent.

Moreover, there was just over a day left until the end of the second exam.

Whether Ji Fu was making potions or other mecha-related things, there was no time left.

Among the remaining students of the Interstellar Academy, many mechas were damaged.

Only a few from the S class were in relatively good condition.

However, not everyone was in top shape. Mecha masters Shi Xueying and Zhou Mo had been running around repairing mechas on various battlefields, becoming exhausted.

Tan Xi, Li Yunyi, and Zhou Lu Hai were still in good shape, with only Li Yunyi suffering minor injuries.

Overall, the situation was not optimistic.

In the evening, Empire Military Academy opened the points list. The analysis showed that the Interstellar Academy was at a disadvantage.

Fang Yuan lightly tapped the table and said calmly, “Interstellar students have been whittled down by Hanhai, leaving only 51 of them.”

Given Interstellar’s capabilities, going from 66 to 51 students was already an extreme effort.

“However, due to previous battle damage, we currently have only 36 students left. Hanhai has the fewest, with only 17 remaining.”

Han Siyi said softly, “But most of Hanhai’s remaining 17 are elites, with an average talent level above star.”

She paused briefly and added, “And that’s with Shen Qinglan holding a trump card.”

Although the numbers still seemed significantly different, they all knew that even including the special A class, the number of Interstellar students with A-level or higher talents was still less than Hanhai’s.

Hanhai had also looted most resources over the past few days, and with super star-level mecha masters, their mechas were generally in better condition.

Han Siyi said solemnly, “Even with Zhou Lu Hai piloting a super star-level mecha, Interstellar still doesn’t stand a chance.”

Fang Yuan looked up and asked, “With the team battle about to end, are we really just going to watch?”

It wasn’t entirely just watching.

They had some friction with Interstellar over the past few days because of the unfulfilled promise of truncated broken dwarf.

Interstellar breaking the contract first made their refusal to provide the give out the gold understandable, but Fang Yuan didn’t like working for nothing.

Fortunately, Shen Qinglan understood that this incident had damaged the Shen family’s reputation. Thus, the stingy boss Shen still provided the two priority auction rights as promised.

Having lost the trust of ordinary citizens, he couldn’t afford to lose the trust of the noble families as well.

Of course, Fang Yu’an also knew that Shen Qinglan’s straightforward offering of these items was a way to drag the two major families into the mess.

It would have been easier to say nothing if he hadn’t given them anything. By giving them the items, they were all in it together.

Moreover…

He glanced outside and said solemnly, “Where is Bai Yeming?”

Since the last battle, the thoughts of the smaller families remained unknown.

Within the Empire’s super star-level quartet, Han Siyi and Zhou Xingyu were considered a team, he held one share, and only Bai Yeming was excluded.

In the recent minor clashes with the Interstellar Academy, Bai Yeming had not shown up.

He no longer acted in unison with them as before.

Zhou Xingyu’s eyes paused slightly, and he said softly, “The previous incident made him somewhat uncomfortable. He’ll be fine in a few days.”

However, this statement indicated that Bai Yeming was unlikely to make a move before the end of the second exam.

Fang Yu’an said nothing, while Han Siyi’s expression shifted momentarily.

Zhou Xingyu stood up and said calmly, “The grudge between Hanhai and Interstellar has nothing to do with us.”

This implied they would remain on the sidelines.

“However…” he paused, his eyes deepening, “If Hanhai does manage to eliminate Interstellar, I will step in to protect one person from Interstellar.”

Being from the Zhou family, he would logically protect Zhou Lu Hai.

However, Zhou Xingyu said, “As before, Ji Fu must not be eliminated.”

After their falling out with Interstellar, they had used Ji Fu’s formula to make the same potion, but the effect was far inferior to those prepared by Ji Fu herself.

Despite numerous adjustments by Han Siyi, they couldn’t match Ji Fu’s potion.

Zhou Xingyu admitted he had underestimated her.

He intended to do Ji Fu a favor.

Fang Yu’an smiled and said, “Fine, but my condition is that she needs to provide the remaining truncated aurichalcite.”

“Up to you.”

Their attitude remained as casual as it was on the first day of the team battle.

Compared to them, the situation for Interstellar and Hanhai was much more tense.

It was late at night, and tomorrow would be the last day of the second exam.

The Interstellar Academy’s base was brightly lit, but the entire night remained unusually calm. Perhaps due to the first exam’s failure, Hanhai did not attack Interstellar at night this time.

As dawn broke, it was Empire Standard Time 10 AM.

A prompt sounded in the exam venue: [Two hours remaining until the end of this exam.]

The exam would end at noon, Empire Standard Time.

Unlike the previous hustle and bustle, the entire venue was eerily quiet.

After a month, all resources on the planet were exhausted, but there were still about a hundred students left in the venue.

The Empire had been closely monitoring the Hanhai base, and at 10 AM, before seeing any movement in the Hanhai base, they first detected unidentified flying objects in the sky.

“It’s a starship.” Upon hearing the word “starship,” many recalled the training camp incident.

In the elite class, Zhou Xingyu’s expression changed slightly. He had been half-sitting in the medical bay but suddenly stood up and shouted, “Quick, notify everyone…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw everything spinning, and the ground shook violently.

This situation was very similar to when Ji Fu activated the truncated dwarven tree.

But there was no second truncated dwarven tree on this planet, and the shaking far exceeded the previous disturbance caused by the tree.

Zhou Xingyu’s expression changed dramatically. He only had time to shout in the group chat, “Get into the mechas!”

He didn’t even finish saying the last word.

A thunderous noise erupted across the live broadcast room.

Boom!

In an instant, everything spun wildly.

All military school bases cracked open simultaneously.

In Hanhai’s base, many mechas were lined up, and all students were preparing for the final battle.

Shen Qinglan personally modified a batch of mechas using top-quality materials, costing a fortune, with the intention of annihilating the Interstellar Academy in one fell swoop.

He aimed to ensure that the Interstellar Academy would never recover.

But just before entering his mecha, he suddenly sensed a deep-seated danger.

Shen Qinglan quickly turned around.

From the high vantage point of Hanhai Academy’s base, he saw something completely different from the Empire. What he saw was…

A cataclysmic explosion!

It wasn’t triggered by any missile but originated from beneath the ground.

From the depths of the earth, from the soil, from every corner of this planet, came a massive explosion.

In the low-lying basin, Ji Fu stood amidst the shaking ground, her expression incredibly calm.

She watched the mountains collapse, the earth shatter, and blinding white light erupt violently.

Amidst the crumbling and smashing, she gently curled her lips.

Throughout the exam, she had hidden her true identity so well that no one present knew.

Her expertise was never in potions or machinery.

It was in explosions.

From the moment she knew the planet was covered in rootless soil suitable for the truncated Dwarf Shue growth, she had been using machinery to water all resources daily.

She had filled the rootless soil with explosive triggers, all waiting for today.

To ensure every inch of fertile soil contained her explosive triggers, Ji Fu even used a starship to scan the area.

The entire planet, except for the base of Interstellar Academy beneath her feet, was already planted with triggers.

Now, it was time for the explosion.

Boom!!!

Standing amidst the cacophony of the explosions, she listened to the constant elimination notifications with a raised eyebrow.

Explosions truly were beautiful.