Chapter 90: Examination (Part One)

Chapter 90: Examination (Part One)

"Beep - Military Examination Update: Welcome, candidates, aboard the vessel. The option for free team formation is now open. Wishing you all success in the exam."

Rong Mi's communicator had been subscribed to the military examination channel. As the spaceport's docking bay closed, a new notification popped up on the channel.

The young man swiftly glanced over the message before dismissing it, then followed the crowd towards the embarkation entrance.

Many participants were boarding from this location, resulting in a crowded passage. However, the candidates spontaneously formed two orderly lines.

Due to Ayin's presence, Rong Mi had ample space around him. The man and the wolf walked side by side, each occupying a spot in their respective queues.

It wasn't that Rong Mi didn't want to make room for others; rather, it was physically impossible, and no one dared to stand close to him.

The nearly human-height silver wolf dominated most of the width of the boarding tunnel, its shimmering silver fur rippling with each step, exuding an aura of intimidation.

In a crowd, wolves were always vigilant and alert. It stayed closely by Rong Mi's side, silently observing its surroundings.

Those who didn't often interact with star beasts instinctively slowed their pace, maintaining a small distance from the wolf. Star beast enthusiasts, on the other hand, had their eyes shining with envy as they cast admiring glances at Rong Mi.

"Brother, your battle pet is truly impressive!" someone called out from a distance. "It can't be easy to have such a massive Star Beast as your companion, right? Have you sealed the final Star Beast Contract?"

"Not yet," Rong Mi replied with a casual smile.

Though he could be considered half the wolf's master, it was Lu Yi who had formed the mental bond with the wolf.

Wondering if a wolf could form two mental contracts, Rong Mi searched his memory. He couldn't recall any instance of a Star Beast having dual bonds, but he also didn't remember any rule that forbade it.

"Brawny warrior," the man gave Rong Mi a thumbs up. "Does the wolf obey you without a contract?"

Many people, fearing attack or accidental harm, wouldn't dare spend extended periods with large Star Beasts, let alone coordinate with them in combat as trusted partners, without first establishing a contract.

"Ayin is very well-behaved," Rong Mi said, running his hand over the wolf's fur. "I've known it since it was young."

Ayin turned its head and let out a soft growl from its throat, correcting Rong Mi's mistake gravely.

It wasn't that it was young, but rather, it had regressed to its juvenile form.

The wolf wished it had known Rong Mi when it was truly young, for that would mean more time spent with the young man.

"That's impressive too," the person replied. "Pups can be quite troublesome as well... I once attempted to form a contract with a Dark Night Wolf, and it ended up biting me, drawing blood. If you haven't established a bond with it yet, you should be cautious."

Ayin: "..."

Unable to resist, Ayin turned its head to glance at the person engaging Rong Mi, growling disapprovingly.

How could it ever hurt Rong Mi?

"Of course, Ayin wouldn't do that," Rong Mi soothingly stroked the wolf.

The Silver Wolves thus swished their tails, held their heads high, and didn't bother with the humans behind them who were shooting off their mouths. They followed alongside Rong Mi, continuing forward.

They had already reached the end of the shuttle bay. Rong Mi stepped onto the gangway of the starship first, entering the reception room nearest to the entrance. Then, she paused.

"Ah, another new face." Unlike the bustling atmosphere in the corridor outside, the reception room at the outermost part of the starship was quiet. The spacious room was sparsely populated, with a group of young people in military academy uniforms gathered around the central sofa, either seated or standing. The leader of this group, a young man with golden hair, folded his arms as he looked at Rong Mi. "Now, isn't that impressive, even bringing along a wolf-type star beast."

He spoke with an indifferent drawl, his arms still crossed. "Are you here for the assessment as an ace pilot? If not, hurry up and get your room number so you can leave."

"If you are, show me your mecha cabin button. Let me see if you have what it takes to be on my team."

"Our team is still short two mecha operators. If your mecha is up to par, let's have a couple of rounds on the simulator to see if you're qualified."

Rong Mi: "?"

He raised his eyelids and gave the speaker a quick glance.

The tone of the man's voice suggested he had some connections and might even possess considerable skill. However, Rong Mi didn't recognize them and had no idea what they were trying to pull.

Military school was filled with all sorts of personalities, so Rong Mi wasn't in the mood to respond. Scanning the authorization verification device in the reception pod, he confirmed his boarding permission and received his assigned quarters.

The only sound in the chamber was the low hum of machinery. The golden-haired man who had spoken earlier shifted, his expression altering slightly as he took a step forward.

"Hey, our Brother Hua is talking to you!" A burly man next to the golden-haired one stepped forward, clenching his fists as he barked, "Are you deaf?"

Rong Mi ignored the burly man; he had more important things to attend to.

He had already verified his financial allocation and room assignment, examined the starship's layout, and while heading towards the passageway leading to his quarters, he opened his communicator to send Chen Shu a message, informing him that he had boarded the ship.

A few days prior, Chen Shu had accompanied Damon Rabbit to another planet to aid in Chengdu's mental power scan. Thus, he didn't board this starship but instead took a spacecraft from that planet directly to the combat zone.

After contacting Chen Shu, Rong Mi opened a chat window with Gu Ming.

Over the past half month, he had occasionally sparred with Gu Hong at the training grounds and also frequently participated in the Pest Control Association's discussions on the live streaming platform. As a result, his relationship with Gu Ming had grown closer.

This mecha pilot, who had spent nearly a decade in the Mecha Club, had been rekindled with a fiery, youthful spirit by the upheavals in the Pest Control Association and the Ice and Fire Tournament. He submitted his application for the military assessment competition right before the deadline, passed the individual screening phase of the team assessment, and made it onto the list of candidates for the team trials.

A few days ago, Gu Ming had told Rong Mi that if he was going to the assessment location, he would be taking the starship from Millet Star.

Not seeing Gu Ming in the connecting passage just now, Rong Mi guessed that he must have already boarded the ship.

The young man operated his holographic screen while walking forward, completely ignoring the group in the reception cabin. The burly men surrounding the golden-haired individual all had grim expressions. They stepped forward as if to intercept Rong Mi but none dared to approach Ayin.

A layer of silver light shimmered around the wolf. It followed closely behind Rong Mi, its ice-blue eyes fixated on the muscular man who had just insulted Rong Mi. The wolf's mouth slightly parted, revealing a glimpse of its sharp fangs.

...They clearly weren't to be trifled with! Although these men were physically strong, they couldn't compare to a wolf!

"This guy doesn't seem to be a mecha pilot," a burly man whispered to the golden-haired one. "He's got an odd personality, and his battle pet is formidable too. More people are coming; let's not bother with him."

Brother Hua, however, was unwilling to ignore the situation.

His gaze remained fixed on Rong Mi, his brow furrowed in annoyance at being completely ignored by her. He was determined to engage with her.

"Hey," Hua Oulo stepped forward, pushing past the burly men, meeting the Silver Wolves' icy stare head-on as he stood before Rong Mi. "I'm talking to you!"

"You might not be a mecha pilot, but you must have some combat role like a starship pilot. Otherwise, how could you afford to raise such a large battle pet?"

"Don't pretend you didn't hear me. A dilapidated mecha isn't out of the question. I happen to have extra mechas that would be better than the standard military issue. Show me your skills on a simulator first."

Both the wolf's stance and Rong Mi's composed demeanor convinced the golden-haired one that she was indeed the kind of combatant he was looking for, and likely a skilled one at that.

Hua Oulo persisted relentlessly. Though the burly men behind him formed a human wall, obstructing the path without resorting to physical force.

Rong Mi felt a tinge of disappointment.

Initially, Rong Mi had planned to retaliate if the other party made the first move, giving himself a valid excuse for counterattack.

Now, it seemed he could only resort to using words to reason with the other person.

The young man raised his gaze to meet the one blocking his path.

This person stood very close, seemingly undaunted by Ayin, indicating that they indeed had more experience than the other candidates and understood that a well-trained combat pet wouldn't initiate an attack on any human indiscriminately.

Rong Mi mentally assessed the situation, his eyes then shifting downward to notice a silver star medal pinned on the front of Golden-haired's uniform.

"The annual top scorer in the Military Academy entrance exam?" Rong Mi was aware of the significance of the medal and spoke with a touch of surprise.

The young man's voice was clear and composed, without any hint of sarcasm. His subtle astonishment cooled Golden-haired's temper considerably.

"I suppose you have no idea who I am?" He rolled his eyes and said with an 'aha' tone, "You weren't even a candidate from a military academy?"

"I'm Hua Oulo, this year's top scorer in the Military Academy entrance exam, and the chief mecha pilot of my batch." Golden-haired puffed out his chest, proudly introducing himself, "During the exam, I took down over a hundred Ice Butterflies in the warzone!"

"In this unified military assessment, our team will certainly come out on top! Even that celebrated mecha pilot, Rong Mi, who's been making waves on the Star Network lately, wouldn't stand a chance against us."

"Why?" Rong Mi asked with sincere curiosity.

"Hua Oulo seemed grandiose but was quite straightforward. He had already forgotten his request for Rong Mi to use the simulator under his 'special assessment' and openly shared his plan with the young man. "Our goal isn't limited to merely completing the resource planet exploration and transportation tasks."

He crossed his arms, "You probably haven't noticed, but that resource planet is already quite close to the Ice Butterfly Star Region."

"And since that's the case... why not take the opportunity to launch an attack on the Ice Butterfly Star Region, kill a few high-ranking Ice Butterflies to boost our morale, and wipe out some of their teams? Wouldn't that make a more impressive and dignified impression?!"

"There's an examiner's subjective bonus component in the total score of this assessment. If we successfully attack the Ice Butterfly Star Region, our points will definitely skyrocket!"

"I bet even Rong Mi hasn't thought of such a bold and daring idea!"

When he mentioned Rong Mi, there was a hint of admiration in his tone, causing a complicated expression to appear on the young man's face.

Rong Mi: "......."

Indeed, he had never imagined someone could be so reckless.

Maintaining his composure, Rong Mi closed his conversation with Gu Ming and opened a private communication channel with Lu Yi, pressing the voice recording button while pretending to be interested.

Rong Mi: "Elaborate, please?"

"The assessment requires a team consisting of one commander, one to five mecha pilots, one to three starship captains, zero to three assistant starship captains, and one to three scouts. There's no specific requirement for healers."

"We've gathered six teams here. Apart from two missing mecha pilots and assistant starship captains, the rest of the positions are filled. We also have one healer. In the context of a military unit, this is already a configuration capable of launching an assault on the Ice Butterfly Star Region."

"Our plan is to initiate a surprise attack after completing the resource planet exploration mission. Quick in, quick out, catching the Ice Butterfly off guard..."

Rong Mi nodded in agreement, pressing the send button simultaneously.

"Alright. I'll instruct the proctors to keep a close eye on your team's movements." He nodded, but his words contradicted his gesture. "To prevent any disruption of the war zone's strategies and deployments."

Hua Oulo's plan sounded exhilarating but was dangerous and could easily upset the war zone's strategic arrangements. Every action in the war zone was meticulously deliberated by the commanders; any hasty decision to ambush the Ice Butterfly Star Region might not be beneficial.

"You're willing to join? That's wise... Wait... What?!" Hua Oulo was passionately outlining his plan when he heard the word "good," ready to seize the opportunity before realizing something was amiss.

Hua Oulo never expected Rong Mi to suddenly express such agreement.

It was as if he had been struck by a hammer. After a moment of stunned silence, he roared, "What did you just say?!"

"You don't have the courage to join us, and you're too scared to face Ice Butterfly! That's fine! But don't falsely accuse others and disrupt their operations! This is a major event that benefits humanity!"

"You haven't attended military school, have you? Have you forgotten how great a threat Ice Butterfly poses to humans because you've been in the Safe Star Region for too long?!"

"Have you not watched Rong Mi's live stream on Ice Butterfly?!"

There was a complicated tone when he mentioned Rong Mi.

It was as if he was both resentful and somewhat admiring.

Rong Mi raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when he heard footsteps coming from the passage behind the reception cabin.

Upon receiving Rong Mi's message, Gu Ming had rushed down immediately to receive him. He hurriedly entered the reception cabin, glanced around, and before he could fully grasp the situation, his eyes landed on the towering Silver Wolves beside the young man. With delight, he waved and shouted, "Brother Rong! —"

"Rong Mi! The starship is almost ready to launch! We've finally waited for you!—"