Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Two months after the start of the term, Tianquan Military Academy welcomed the mid-term exam week.

The first subject to be tested in Combat Class A was the Tactical Command course.

The Tactical Command course, known by students as "the most mystical course ever," primarily depends on personal insight and extensive simulation practice, despite the teacher's analysis of specific military cases to instruct strategy and attack methods during classes.

They usually practice in the holographic simulation room in a first-person perspective.

Equipped with the empire's most advanced and realistic holographic technology, the simulation room can emulate millions of terrain environments, various equipment and troops, and dynamically alter battlefield situations. Commanding in this holographic space is akin to real battlefield experience – students are given unfamiliar names and army numbers, immersing them as if they're truly part of that world.

Their Tactical Command teacher has a famous saying: "To become a general, first imagine yourself as one."

The holographic simulation room perfectly achieves this, allowing everyone to experience what it's like to be a general.

However, commanding troops isn't as simple as playing chess: students see countless lifelike soldiers in front of them, following their orders to battle the enemy. These soldiers have identities and names, all hoping for victory. The army can be overwhelmingly victorious or suffer staggering defeats, with soldiers either returning home gloriously or wrapped in horsehide – all outcomes depend on the students' decisions.

Students may reach the pinnacle of power, where one general's success is built on thousands of corpses, but they also bear the heaviest responsibility. Due to the high randomness and immersion of the holographic simulation, students with poor command skills often face defeat and various reactions from their troops – some remain staunch to the end, while others, more volatile, may even mutiny, forcing students to relinquish command. Most students don't get pushed to that extreme, usually opting to "end simulation" before a situation becomes utterly irretrievable.

There's a well-known rule in the Combat Department: first, never set the realism of the holographic simulation to 100%. They usually use a realism parameter of 70 to 80%. Second, take every exercise seriously.

There's a story behind this.

Once, a student, unfortunately, set realism to 100% and carelessly played in the simulation room, drawing a highly intelligent deputy NPC. Disappointed by the student's poor and game-like command, the deputy became a double agent between the two armies. The student, unaware of the betrayal and with a defeatist attitude, continued his hapless command, waiting to be killed by the enemy after losing the war. Under the debuff of espionage and poor leadership, their side inevitably crumbled.

The deputy's betrayal was revealed mid-game, deserting with a group of soldiers to the enemy. The student, merely surprised, didn't order the deserter's execution.

As the endgame approached and the enemy nearly breached the command center, the traitorous deputy suddenly switched sides again, rejoining the student in a coordinated inside-outside effort, defeating the enemy in an almost certain loss, buying their soldiers a breather.

Surprised, the student saw this as a turning point and rejuvenated his spirits, working with the deputy to rally the troops and counterattack.

They fought desperately to turn the tide: the student, his deputy, and officers repeatedly used themselves as bait for surprise attacks to wear down the enemy's superior forces. Their tactics had some effect but were largely futile – the disparity was too great, and the army's foundation was ruined by the student's earlier negligence, leaving them powerless.

On the last day, their conservative tactics failed, and the fortress was about to fall to the enemy.

Even walls of steel couldn't stop the invasion. Explosions and lasers whizzed overhead, shaking the ground inside and outside the fortress. Soldiers from both sides could perish in an instant, life never seemed so cheap. That night, the flames of war lit the sky as bright as day.

The student didn't choose to "end simulation" and exit the room.

He learned new things in this unprecedented, prolonged war. He believed he should wait here quietly for his due end – that way, he could "learn his lesson" to commit fully from the start in future commands, or he would surely regret it.

Smiling, he suggested to his deputy to defect again; perhaps the deputy could still save his life.

Unexpectedly, the deputy, who was calmly awaiting death, shot himself in the temple upon hearing his classmate's words. Brain matter mixed with blood splattered on the classmate's face.

The classmate was stunned on the spot.

He belatedly realized he had said the wrong thing—

The deputy had been harboring guilt all along. He saw the change in the commander and felt more guilty, thinking the irretrievable situation was due to him leaking too much information. This thought nearly drove him insane with guilt, feeling responsible for the sacrifice of countless soldiers, believing he no longer had the right to live.

The classmate, who had always been aloof and never treated NPCs as real people, also experienced a mental breakdown at that moment.

Such is the nature of "immersive holographic simulation"—he had only developed a slight sense of identification with that world. His past mistakes and reckless actions were magnified a thousandfold, striking his psyche like a heavy hammer.

Enduring this torment, the classmate pressed the "end simulation" button, returning to the real world. Though it seemed like just a normal simulation loss, he was deeply impacted.

Since then, every time he commanded in the holographic simulation room, he was overly cautious. Despite improving in command skills, his teachers described him as "overly cautious and lacking in decisiveness."

But the story doesn't end there.

One day, while browsing the military academy's archives, he stumbled upon some war footage from three hundred years ago. He casually downloaded a segment and played it on his holo-screen.

As the narration scrolled by, he saw a troop of Imperial soldiers disembarking from a warship. Reportedly, they were one of the best Imperial army assault squads of that era. The leading staff officer of the squad smiled at the camera, shocking the viewer outside the screen—

His face was identical to that of the "deputy"!

Disbelieving, he used the footage as a reference to search through the vast military records and finally discovered the real identity of the "deputy."

"The deputy" was a captain who perished over three hundred years ago in a fleet landing battle.

The "100% realism" in holographic simulations means that when you enter a simulated war as a commander, the faces of your soldiers and their combat data (excluding personality data) are derived from Imperial soldiers who have sacrificed their lives.

They are the foundation of the Empire's prosperity and growth, the silent ghosts behind the annals of war.

However, the student couldn't cope with this revelation and dropped out of the Tianquan Military Academy.

He felt he had desecrated the honor of the Imperial soldiers and was no longer worthy of being a commander.

Afterwards, the academy's administration, after careful consideration, permanently locked the holographic simulation room's "100% realism" setting. Except for those granted special permission, no one could adjust it to this level through normal means. Students were advised to keep it around 70 to 80 percent.

Baisha usually sets it to 85%.

This was a balanced setting, avoiding the risk of "over-immersion" like the previous student, while still experiencing the high randomness of simulated warfare. After all, real warfare is full of surprises and sometimes relies on luck. Baisha embraces these uncertainties, securing a victory in the mid-term exam.

The instructor watching her command performance awarded Baisha an 'A'.

"This princess is a talent in guerrilla warfare," commented a proctoring teacher.

"Striking unexpectedly and exploiting the enemy's unpreparedness, a combat style inherited from the royal lineage. However, her overall strategy still needs improvement," the teacher noted, looking at the roster, "Some other students also performed well, especially Xino Wusu, with his steady and robust style, showing strong judgment in all aspects."

Another proctoring teacher asked, "Isn't there a 3S-grade student in Class A?"

"Cen Yuehuai?... Better left unsaid. Never seen such an eccentric student. She actually disguised her soldiers as domestic robots to infiltrate the enemy's camp. Most astonishingly, it actually worked!"

The proctoring teacher chuckled.

All students who successfully commanded in the exercises had to be awarded a grade of B or higher. Reluctantly, the teacher gave Cen Yuehuai a B+ with a note: “Well commanded, but don’t command like this next time.”

The following days saw several major exams.

The busiest among the students was Baisha, who no longer had the luxury to choose her classes as per her needs. She had to attend exams for both the Combat and Mecha Engineering departments, leading to situations where she was running between exams: just ten minutes ago, she was in the holographic simulation room for the “Land Combat Command Test,” and in another ten minutes, she needed to be in the Mecha Engineering department’s exam room for the mid-term paper of “Mecha Energy Studies.”

Compared to finals, mid-terms were only a minor test, but still accounted for 10% of the total grade, so they couldn’t be taken lightly.

Jiang Gui, understanding Baisha's busyness, didn't ask her to help in the lab for several days.

One day of the exam week was the Mecha Combat Assessment.

Thoughtfully, the school scheduled this exam for the last day. Most of the major subjects were already tested, allowing students to let go of their academic stress and engage in a spirited battle, some even channeling their academic pressure into the combat.

To ensure fairness, students used standardized mechas provided by the school... less heartbreaking if they got damaged.

At a 3S level, Baisha, Cen Yuehuai, and Xino Wusu were often in a league of their own compared to their peers. Hence, their assessment was conducted by the teachers directly.

Cen Yuehuai was the first to enter the arena.

Cen Yuehuai: “Please go easy on me, teacher.”

Her opponent was Teacher Tixiya.

Having trained under Tixiya for over a month, Cen Yuehuai knew the teacher’s strengths and vice versa.

Tixiya smiled and pointed at Cen Yuehuai, “No more talking, let’s begin.”

Cen Yuehuai's weapons were still a spear and crossbow. Tixiya couldn't comprehend her fondness for crossbows, unaware it was because of the transforming crossbow “Rainbow Rain” that Baisha created for her in the virtual world of Wuji City. Baisha later fine-tuned it, making Cen Yuehuai more adept and determined to master it, hence her frequent use of crossbow arrows in countering Tixiya.

Tixiya, operating her mech, slightly raised her hand, and her meteor hammer swiftly charged towards Cen Yuehuai.

Cen Yuehuai maneuvered her mech to sidestep, bend, and leap acrobatically, dodging the dual meteor attack with various postures as if her back had eyes. She raised her hand to draw her bow and shot arrows at the flexible cord connecting the hammer's ends.

Tixiya, unfazed and unmoved, spun her meteor hammer around her waist and neck. Despite the overwhelming force, she skillfully broke Cen Yuehuai's arrows mid-air with a delicate flick of the hammer.

Specializing in long-range attacks, Cen Yuehuai knew she stood no chance at close quarters if she couldn't break Tixiya's defense.

Determined, Cen Yuehuai calmed herself and simultaneously shot three arrows, controlling their trajectory electromagnetically along different paths.

Tixiya quickly calculated the best trajectory to intercept the arrows, but this was precisely the reaction Cen Yuehuai anticipated—

She burst forward with astonishing speed, closing in on Tixiya. The onlookers couldn't tell if she or her flying arrows were faster as she shot twice at Tixiya, aiming to sever the meteor hammer's chain.

Tixiya calmly sidestepped, adjusting the chain's position while keeping the hammer's trajectory unchanged.

Cen Yuehuai’s mech joints clanked, and her leg boosters emitted a burst of white light. She dashed forward silently, leaping and flicking a metal dagger from her toe, spinning to strike at Tixiya's shoulder.

Tixiya smiled lightly, gripping the chain's midpoint. The two silver meteor hammers crossed and brushed past each other in mid-air—one hammer deflected all the arrows and bullets, while the other descended hard onto Cen Yuehuai's back, smashing her to the ground.

From Cen Yuehuai's sudden close-range attack to now, only two seconds had elapsed.

“So fast!”

“Cen Yuehuai’s speed is unbelievable, isn’t it? These are standard school-issued mechs without much speed advantage!”

“Maybe it's due to the uniqueness of her psychic power...”

The observing students whispered among themselves.

Lying face-down, Cen Yuehuai flipped over like a turtle, knowing that with Tixiya’s skill, a failed first strike meant no second chance. She promptly surrendered, “I give up, teacher.”

Tixiya sighed, her red lips pursing lightly, her brows furrowing like wisps of smoke. "Still no progress," she said. "How am I supposed to grade you like this?"

"Everyone knows about the extra training you give me after class," Cen Yuehuai confidently retorted. "You can't give me a low grade; it would reflect poorly on you."

Tixiya laughed out loud, playfully kicking Cen Yuehuai, "Get up and continue. If you can hit me, I'll give you an 'A' for this course."

Motivated by the challenge, Cen Yuehuai leaped up from the ground, drawing her bow to retaliate.

Bai Sha and Xino, standing outside the ring, nodded in agreement as they watched the battle between Cen Yuehuai and Tixiya.

Bai Sha commented, "Her control has improved, that burst of speed wasn't just brute force using psychic power."

Xino nodded in satisfaction, "She looks much more competent now."

"She still hasn't found her weapon of choice though," Bai Sha mused, touching her chin. "The 'Rainbow Rain' I designed for her does have some close combat features. She seems comfortable using it, so perhaps we should consider mass production."

"Rainbow Rain has appeared in the Infinite City," Xino Us commented, "Although we aren't very conspicuous there, using 'Rainbow Rain' directly might expose our IDs."

"What if I upload 'Rainbow Rain's' blueprints to Infinite City's trade section? You arrange someone to buy it. That way, it's all above board, and no one can complain," Bai Sha suggested with a smile. "Although it's a bit like burying one's head in the sand – even if my ID in Infinite City gets exposed, it's no big deal."

After all, she was no longer involved in Infinite City's Mech Masters Tournament, and the Imperial Mech Association was a new and unexplored field for her, already providing plenty of challenges.

The two quickly decided to try transferring "Rainbow Rain" into reality, though it was just an idea. Converting virtual objects into real weapons is fraught with difficulties, and they might face obstacles at the materialization stage.

About five minutes later, Cen Yuehuai was again defeated by Tixiya, but she managed to leave a shallow mark on Tixiya's mech's chest with a bullet.

"I'll pass you this time," Tixiya nodded in approval. "You get an 'A', but I expect to see more progress in the finals."

Exhausted, Cen Yuehuai gasped for breath as she climbed out of the mech's cockpit, giving her teacher an "OK" sign.

Before the next student's turn, Tixiya stood on the platform, gazing down at the students: "Regarding the military exercise notice: this time, the four Imperial academies will conduct joint selections to choose candidates for the joint military exercise with the Federation."

"We'll first filter based on regular performance, sending the best students to participate in the inter-academy competition."

The students looked at each other, bewildered.

From internal school selections to the competition among four schools, they had to overcome numerous difficulties to earn a spot in the joint military exercise—the four major military academies were taking this exercise exceptionally seriously.

Most students present were aware of the joint military exercise, but hadn't paid much attention to it.

In their eyes, the Federation hadn't made much of a splash over the years, indicating a lack of strength. The so-called joint military exercise was merely an activity to showcase peace and add glory, a once-in-a-century honor, but somewhat uninteresting—they surely couldn't seriously harm Federation personnel, could they?

The selection process at the four schools might be even more intense than the actual military exercise.

What's the point of participating in the military exercise then? A funded vacation? They are the top students of the empire's premier military academies, with no desire to perform mere showmanship.

Teacher Tisiya could see what these students were thinking at a glance.

"Don't be disheartened so quickly, lift your heads up. This military exercise is a major event for the four big military academies. You may find it uninteresting, but the other academies are eager to outshine us," Tisiya said, lifting one eyebrow, "For fairness, students from the first to third year will be selected. As freshmen, you can't let down TianQuan Military Academy, or else they'll think our academy is weakening. Although you're not as good as the last batch I taught, you at least can't be looked down upon by outsiders."

Some students were dissatisfied, wanting to point out Baisha, Xino, Yu Yan, and others in the crowd, but before they could speak, they realized these top students' capabilities were unquestionable. The teacher's disdain was obviously because they were lowering the average level of students like Baisha!

Good thing they didn't speak out loud—wouldn't that be self-humiliating?

"I know just talking about these principles is not enough to motivate you," Tisiya said leisurely, lifting the back of her hand and blowing on her nails, looking up, "The students participating in the joint military exercise will have a custom mech made for them by the empire, free of charge, and they can keep it after the exercise."

"The main members of the team are even more special. Although they also get custom mechs, the design team will be led by at least five top designers, including the empire's number one, Master Jiang Gui."

"Wow—"

The students immediately erupted in a murmur of excitement.

No wonder Teacher Tisiya said the other three military academies would be particularly desperate—

This meant participating in a military exercise could get them a free mech!

And surely, the four military academies would fiercely compete for the main team positions. Even just for the name of Jiang Gui—a master worth millions, unaffordable even for ordinary nobles, and now they had a chance to get it for free?!

"Teacher, I have a question," one student said excitedly, "You said our empire is offering such generous incentives to motivate us. Does that mean we're planning to get serious in the military exercise against the Federation?"

"Of course, we're serious," Tisiya chuckled lightly, "Don’t underestimate the Federation's mechs. I've heard they've made new breakthroughs in their mech AI systems recently. If you don’t put in the effort, you might not even be able to beat an AI."