Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Bai Sha took some time changing her ID, and Ya Ning, having finished breakfast, noticed her still fiddling with the optical brain and curiously peered over.

"Zhang Fa Cai?" Ya Ning read the name displayed on the screen. "Is this your new ID?"

"Yeah," Bai Sha nodded. "What do you think?"

Ya Ning pondered for a second, then raised his right thumb up: "Great, very auspicious!"

Bai Sha immediately smiled with satisfaction.

Jing Yi, watching their interaction, sighed helplessly: "Can't you two be a bit more serious? We have an exam today."

"Being nervous won't help. If we can't even get into the preparatory class, there's no point in thinking about the military academy," Bai Sha said nonchalantly, waving her hand dismissively.

That was true, but Jing Yi was still extremely cautious, almost wanting to weld the examination permits onto Ya Ning and Bai Sha's faces to prevent them from losing them and being unable to enter the exam venue. After breakfast, Holman came to pick up the three of them, driving his aircraft to Lanslo Middle School. The aircraft was spacious enough for three twelve-year-olds, but Jing Yi still sat straight as a ruler, feet together, back as straight as a yardstick.

Through the rearview mirror, Holman glanced at Jing Yi and comforted her: "Just perform normally, you're all excellent. In a few years, you'll surely be admitted to the military academy."

Holman had great confidence in his students, but upon arriving at Lanslo Middle School, he was taken aback by the throng of people. It seemed he hadn't experienced the new student season at Lanslo Middle School and hadn't anticipated such a crowd. Otherwise, he would have arrived two hours earlier to avoid the struggle of finding a parking spot for the aircraft—here, both expensive shuttles and rundown aircraft received the same treatment, all cramped together on the sandy ground.

"I might not be able to escort you inside..." Holman wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Can you manage on your own?"

The trio exchanged glances, nodded, shouldered their backpacks, and jumped off the aircraft.

"Let's go, first to line up and report."

Baisha activated his holographic computer, located the parade ground for the military academy prep students on the map, and headed there. By the time they arrived, the field was crowded with thousands of people. The crowd moved forward quickly and orderly, with a row of registration desks ahead, staffed by personnel registering the details of the prospective students.

When it was their turn, the teacher behind the registration desk handed them a registration form and agreement, then scanned their faces with a silver scanner.

"Yaning Kelly. Yan Jingyi. Baisha. All from the orphanage?" the teacher said indifferently, "Then you must have no legal guardians. Just fill in your own names on the agreement."

Baisha skimmed through the agreement, which was essentially a disclaimer: it meant that not everyone could attend the military academy prep class, and those who took the exam must be prepared for injuries or even loss of life. In such unfortunate cases, all responsibilities were to be borne by the students themselves.

Baisha signed his name on the agreement without changing his expression and started filling out the registration form. After handing in all the documents, the teacher gave each of them a badge with a number, which they had to wear on their chest throughout the tests.

The morning was for the written exam.

Thousands of students were directed to different classrooms. Lanslo High School merged several fundamental subjects into one paper, with the exam lasting two and a half hours.

Baisha found the test quite manageable. As per the intelligence they had gathered, the written exam for the military academy prep class was relatively easy, and with their level, they could at least achieve a good grade.

Everyone knew that the real challenge was the physical test in the afternoon.

At noon, the teachers allowed the students half an hour for lunch. Baisha and his group quickly finished their pre-prepared energy biscuits and drinks, and then the teachers summoned them to gather.

Thousands of students were divided into five groups to take large airships to the designated testing area, batch by batch. According to the schedule, the last group of students was estimated to finish their exams by nine in the evening.

"May the heavens bless me, just don’t let me be in the last batch!" Yaning clasped his hands together and whispered a prayer. "I want to make it back to the orphanage for dinner!"

Jingyi tapped him on the back of his head, "Can't you think about something other than food?"

"I just didn't want to be in the last batch. Waiting for hours to take the exam in the last batch is too mentally taxing," Ya Ning complained, rubbing his head in self-defense. "You don't want to be in the last batch either, do you?"

Jing Yi glared at him.

Perhaps Ya Ning's words had jinxed them... Soon after, the teachers began to draw lots for batch assignments, and both Ya Ning and Jing Yi ended up in the last group. Bai Sha was luckier, being assigned to the second group.

"I'll come back and accompany you guys after my exam," Bai Sha reassured her friends.

"Forget it, you'll probably be exhausted by then. Just take care of yourself," Jing Yi said, hugging Bai Sha before turning her cold gaze to Ya Ning, her tone carrying a veiled threat, "Ya Ning and I aren't that fragile—right, Ya Ning Kelly?"

Ya Ning quickly clasped his head in a gesture of repentance: "I'm sorry, Jing Yi! I shouldn't have spoken out of turn! Please don't call me by my full name, it freaks me out!"

Bai Sha: "..."

Hours later, Bai Sha had to part ways with her friends, as the teachers led them toward the starting point of the trial ground.

"The path you'll tread today is known as 'The Devil's Road.' On this path, no one will show you mercy," the lead teacher cautioned. "However, for humanitarian reasons, the school has prepared some safety measures. If you wish to give up or are seriously injured, you can remove and discard the badge on your chest. Rescue personnel will promptly escort you out of the trial ground."

"Remember," the teacher's expression was as steely and merciless as iron, "the choice is in your hands."

"Additionally, I must inform you of another rule. The student who ranks first in the overall entrance examination will receive a scholarship of four thousand star coins; those who place in the top three, as long as they are successfully admitted, will have their tuition waived for three years."

The tuition for the military academy's preparatory class is one thousand star coins per year.

This means... second and third place can earn back three thousand star coins, while the first place directly earns a whopping seven thousand star coins!

Bai Sha's eyes lit up instantly.

Soon, the physical fitness test officially began.

The first challenge was to run ten laps around the trial ground.

Running laps was something Bai Sha excelled at. She easily secured a spot in the top twenty, a bit winded, but still retaining most of her strength. In stark contrast, many students were completely exhausted after the ten laps, lying flat on the ground or panting heavily, but only a small fraction gave up at this stage.

After all, it was a preparatory class for the military academy; most had some physical fitness base.

The teachers recorded the names and corresponding points of the top twenty finishers.

The second challenge was an obstacle course.

They had to navigate through smoke bombs, step on high horizontal logs, crawl through barbed wire entanglements, and then scale a tall net wall.

As if to simulate a real battlefield, the sounds of gunfire and the thunderous noise of artillery shells exploding continually rang in their ears. Those with a fear of heights, lacking physical stamina, or frightened by the sounds of artillery, all ended up tearfully removing their badges.

Bai Sha lay on the ground, spitting out a mouthful of mud. Her gray training suit was crumpled, already stained with sweat and dirt. Struggling to crawl out of the barbed wire, she inevitably got several bloody cuts in pursuit of speed. Still, seven or eight people were faster than her, already starting to climb the net wall ahead. Not wanting to fall behind, Bai Sha also began her ascent.

"Aaahhh!"

Someone climbing too hastily slipped and fell off the net wall. Holding onto two broken ropes in his hands, he was flung down from the height like a kite in the wind.

Bai Sha's pupils dilated slightly, and she instinctively lunged forward to catch him, gritting her teeth and shouting, "Be careful!"

Falling from this height could be fatal, if not crippling!

The student, pulled by Bai Sha's force, swayed in the air for a second and managed to grab onto the net wall to stabilize himself. He looked down, his face a mixture of sweat or tears, staring at Bai Sha with a flicker of gratitude and guilt in his eyes.

The next second, he suddenly thrust out a foot, harshly kicking Bai Sha's shoulder, trying to use her as a stepping stone to climb up!

Bai Sha dodged instinctively, avoiding the brunt of the kick, but it still hit her ear. She felt a searing pain at the side of her head, followed by a brief ringing in her ears, as if warm liquid was seeping from the wound.

Bai Sha took a deep breath, looked up fiercely, her deep blue eyes blazing with cold fury.

The other student glanced down at Bai Sha, his expression twisted in panic, his limbs flailing as he desperately tried to climb higher.

Bai Sha scoffed coldly, grabbing one of the broken ropes—the student had torn a sizable hole in the net wall, leaving two severed ropes dangling. Swiftly, she tied the rope into a sturdy noose, her movements so adept it seemed as if the robust loop had appeared out of nowhere. She stepped on the net wall, raised her upper body slightly, and flung the noose out.

It hooked perfectly around the foot of the student above her.

Bai Sha let out a cold laugh and yanked the rope.

Thud. Something heavy hit the ground, accompanied by a scream. But the scream quickly drowned in the cacophony of gunfire and other shouts, stirring not even a ripple of attention.

Others watched the scene in horror. Bai Sha's skill in ensnaring someone meant that those ahead of her were now in danger!

But Bai Sha didn't target those in front anymore. She focused on climbing, her movements agile, even gaining ground. Especially when she reached the top of the net wall, ready to descend, she repeated her trick, forming another sturdy knot in the rope, and, holding onto it, boldly jumped down—

She found several footholds on the net wall, then gracefully landed on the ground.

The students behind her began to imitate her tactics, whether it was using the rope to snare others or to secure themselves. Regardless of whether they could replicate Bai Sha's success, they all tried to dismantle parts of the net wall. The once orderly net wall gradually became a chaotic mess.

The net wall was nearly ruined.

Seeing this, the students gritted their teeth and sped up. If they fell further behind, they might not even complete the trial!

In this challenge, Bai Sha ranked first.

Upon landing, she sprinted with all her might, crossing the last stretch of uneven rocky path in her military boots, and was the first to cross the yellow caution tape marking the finish line.

The nearby machine displayed Bai Sha's score: forty-three minutes, twenty-eight point six six seconds.

As soon as her score was confirmed, she collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.

The teacher supervising the finish line called for the rescue team to bandage the wound on Bai Sha's ear. Bai Sha only heard them say it was a superficial wound and would heal with a few days of medication.

"Well done." That was the only comment the teacher gave her before shifting his gaze away, no longer paying attention to her.

In the end, Bai Sha couldn't keep her promise to return to the starting line to meet Ya Ning and Jing Yi. She sat at the exit of the trial ground, waiting until nightfall. Exhausted students emerged one by one, disheveled and barely alive, with a few even being carried out by the medical team.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Jing Yi walked out slowly, supporting Ya Ning. Jing Yi seemed relatively unscathed, just with disheveled hair, while Ya Ning had a bandage wrapped around his forehead.

"This unlucky guy fell on the last stretch of rocky path and cracked his head open. Just fifty meters from the finish line, he dropped from third to ninth," Jing Yi said with resignation. "I think the teacher at the finish line was stunned by his last-minute blunder."

It seemed Ya Ning really had bad luck today.

"And you?" Bai Sha asked Jing Yi.

"I, of course, came first," Jing Yi said with a smile, tilting her head back. "I've got that tuition waiver spot."

"Be a bit bolder, who knows, we might win that scholarship, right? That's a net gain of seven thousand star coins—ouch." Ya Ning got excited talking about the scholarship, raised his head, and then winced, forced to tilt it back due to his injury. "I think you two have a good chance."

A week later, Lanslo Middle School announced the results of the military academy preparatory class entrance examination.

First place: Bai Sha; second place: Jing Yi; Ya Ning ranked seventeenth.

"I finally got the scholarship after all the hassle," Baisha thought with relief, feeling that all the physical and mental strains of the exams were worth it now.