Chapter 93: Examination (Part Four)

Chapter 93: Examination (Part Four)

Upon hearing the word "star pirate," Ayin's ears twitched.

It knew what its other master was up to.

The examiner's starships were equipped with special "stealth" features, making it difficult for the examinees to detect their presence. However, wolves could accurately sense Lu Yi's location.

For instance, at that moment, the admiral's starship wasn't far from Rong Mi's. They acted like silent guardians, following closely behind the examinees' vessels.

Ayin knew for sure that if Rong Mi found out about Lu Yi's actions, he wouldn't be pleased.

Ayin: ...

Ayin disliked seeing Rong Mi upset.

Although the young man would never take his anger out on the wolf, he would still cuddle and pet Ayin as usual. But... sometimes, while stroking Ayin's fur, the young man would fall into a daze, wearing an expression that Ayin couldn't quite describe – a mix of profound concern and heavy worry.

The wolf didn't wish to see Rong Mi display such an expression.

But the other master of the wolf... often intentionally acted in ways that provoked such reactions, for one reason or another.

Ayin's ears flicked back slightly, a hint of gloominess in its demeanor, as it contemplated the possible outcome.

Rong Mi: "?"

Rong Mi keenly sensed that Ayin had ceased its gentle tail-wagging, which it usually did when enjoying being petted.

The conference room was now devoid of the soft rustling of the furry wolf tail brushing against the floor.

"You alright?" The young man lowered his head to meet the wolf's gaze, concerned that his actions might have caused discomfort, yet also feeling a bit perplexed.

Why did it seem... as if the wolf had suddenly become alert?

"Ao!" Ayin hastily responded with a short bark, pressing closer to Rong Mi and using its affectionate nudges to divert Rong Mi's attention.

...Although Rong Mi would always find out about Lu Yi's whereabouts, Ayin didn't want to be the cause of an early revelation!

Unbeknownst to the wolf, Rong Mi's eyes had narrowed slightly during their affectionate nuzzling.

Assuming it had successfully deceived Rong Mi, the wolf resumed reveling in the young man's grooming and massages after a brief bout of sulking.

When soldiers come, meet them with soldiers; when waters rise, dam them with earth!

Eventually, the wolf made its decision: face problems as they arise with flexibility!

If Lu Yi failed to placate someone, it would step up its charm offensive, making extra efforts to soothe Rong Mi!

As Ayin silently resolved itself, the starship traversed the secure sector at a brisk pace.

The candidate vessel sailed along military routes, without any mission to undertake or stops to make along the way. Consequently, their journey was swift, and within a week, they left the secure sector, entering a combat zone.

They initially entered the territory managed by the First Legion before diverting to the neighboring Third Legion's area.

At the border checkpoint supervised by the First Legion, the starship made a brief stop for refueling. A few heavily armed First Legion soldiers, wielding high-powered laser guns, boarded the ship to conduct a routine inspection.

The leader of the group was the most eye-catching.

This leader was tall and had a stern expression, with a battle pet backpack slung across his chest, containing a trained Gemstone Rabbit. The fluffy rabbit, reassured and protected by its owner, sniffed around to ensure that no one on the starship carried any butterfly spirit fragments.

Rong Mi, although fond of fluffiness, refrained from touching strangers' battle pets. Seated by the reception cabin's window, he glanced over the inspectors before returning his focus to the examination star map, oblivious to the silent gazes cast upon him by the military sergeants.

Rong Mi's reputation within the First Legion surpassed that among this group of examinees or even in the secure sectors of the galaxy.

Hua Oulo, due to Rong Mi's non-use of a camera during his live streams and his lack of interest in the Ice and Fire Tournament, was unaware of Rong Mi's appearance.

Yet… the mecha pilots of the First Legion would not.

Beyond Rong Mi's widely recognized battlefield achievements, his meteoric rise in the First Legion's mecha pilot training rankings, the close bond between the Commander's stoic Silver Wolf combat pet and Rong Mi, and the even more aloof Commander's own favor towards Rong Mi – all these factors have significantly elevated his profile within the First Legion.

All were eagerly anticipating his enrollment in the legion.

The men of the First Legion were well acquainted with both Lu Yi's and the Silver Wolves' characters; no one entertained the notion that Rong Mi might have employed any extraordinary means to curry favor with their commander.

They only wished to engage in a wholesome sparring session with Rong Mi, learning from the young man the techniques of mecha piloting and mental strength training.

...and also explore ways to gain the favor of General Silver.

The enlisted personnel on their starship inspection duties found Rong Mi irresistible, yet they held back, constrained by their duties from engaging her in private conversation.

Attempting to restrain one's gaze from wandering to Rong Mi... would inevitably draw the notice of the Silver General, lounging beside the young man.

Upon meeting the wolf's icy-blue gaze, the soldiers immediately straightened up and averted their eyes.

The wolf assumed a relaxed posture, allowing the young man to lean against it as a cushion, but its gaze remained icy cold.

...It was as if they had been caught slacking off by Commander Lu Yi himself, filling them with a chilling sense of dread.

Rong Mi was oblivious to the little incident that occurred during the inspection of the spacecraft.

The candidate's spacecraft swiftly passed the scrutiny of the First Legion's soldiers and departed from the customs starport, venturing into the warzone.

As they exited the protective shield of the starport, Rong Mi noticed that the faint hum of machinery within the ship became more pronounced.

The spacecraft had fully activated its outer shields and its rear engines were throttled up, pushing it to speeds far beyond the safety limits set for navigation within the regulated sectors.

After five hours, they transitioned from the First Battle Zone into the Third Battle Zone.

Rong Mi activated her mental domain perspective, comparing the landmarks around them with those on the star map of the examination area.

By the tenth hour of their journey within the battle zone, they reached the outer boundary of the location marked on the map.

In the distant cosmos, flashes of energy could be seen – a small fleet was engaged in combat with scattered groups of Ice Butterflies.

As they ventured deeper into the zone, the surrounding activity of the Ice Butterflies grew more intense. The starship they were on docked at a location where a team, whose ship had sustained severe damage and could not return to their base, was waiting.

Medical robots carried a few unconscious casualties into the treatment room. A few lightly wounded crew members had bandages wrapped around them, clearly having received emergency care in the docking bay.

They were utterly exhausted but did not venture further into the depths of the ship. After entering the reception chamber from the docking bay, they found an unoccupied corner to collapse in.

"One more high-level Ice Butterfly with strength almost akin to an Ice Butterfly," they huddled together, their posture relaxed due to sheer fatigue. Some leaned against the wall, closing their eyes to rest, while the others whispered about the recent encounter. "Before this month, I've never seen anything like it. But this is the second time we've encountered this in just one week..."

"Though their mental power isn't quite at the level of an Ice Butterfly, they can still create wormholes and command other high- and low-level Ice Butterflies. They're a nightmare to deal with. Something must have happened in the Ice Butterfly Star Domain, or perhaps it's a new breed that's emerged."

"That reminds me, has there been any response from the Ice Butterfly Research Institute? What's really going on here?"

"The specific response hasn't been released yet, but they sent an initial notice this morning suggesting it could be the Ice Butterfly species' 'accelerated evolution' and 'accelerated reproduction'… The military has never recorded anything like this before."

"It wasn't present even during the last large-scale attack by the Ice Butterflies."

There was a moment of silence among them.

"Damn it, maybe it's Chengdu's doing again, putting pressure on us…" One person couldn't hold back anymore. Clenching his fists, he slammed the floor in anger. "The Academy wanted to gather more genetic information on these special Ice Butterflies, but unfortunately, that high-level one escaped."

"At least we've narrowed down the general location of the wormhole…" Another person glanced out the window at the universe outside.

They marked that area on their star map. This map was shared among all personnel in the sector, including the examinees who had entered the combat zone.

It warned them about the dangers in the nearby regions.

A new marker appeared on Rong Mi's examination star map. The youth carefully noted the changes on the examination map before patting Ayin softly and whispering, "Let's go."

The wolf let out a low growl.

In its mouth was a large bag filled with nutrient solutions.

The wolf strolled toward the soldiers, who had just finished fighting and were now gathered around one another.

The candidate starship was not equipped with many medical robots, all of which had already entered the infirmary to tend to the severely injured patients.

The team leader, gravely injured, was also being treated in the infirmary. The examiner in charge of the candidate starship was interfacing with the junior commander there, acquiring information to adjust and rectify the vessel's navigation route according to the circumstances around them.

For the time being, they were all too occupied to tend to these less severely wounded team members.

According to the starship's schedule, it was the depths of night. There were few candidates in the reception bay, and none made any effort to approach one another.

These team members were aware that the starship was carrying military academy students who had yet to officially join the military, and some were even candidates who hadn't attended any military academies.

They were all still "immature" students.

Not wanting to cause them trouble, despite their exhaustion and hunger, they didn't seek out the candidates to inquire about the location of the starship's dining hall or whether there were any available rest cabins. They simply waited to be dropped off at the next temporary station.

As Silver Wolves approached with the nutrient solution, the team members subconsciously fell silent.

A majestic silver wolf proudly presented a bag filled with nutrient solution before several soldiers. It then turned its head slightly, indicating Rong Mi's location to the group.

"Ahh... Is your master the one who sent you to bring us this?" One of the soldiers, recovering from his initial shock, promptly waved in Rong Mi's direction and raised his voice. "Thanks, buddy!"

"And... Your wolf is really cool!"

These were all ordinary mecha pilots from the Third Legion, unacquainted with Ayin or Lu Yi, so their compliments were genuine and effortless.

Ayin, thus, held its head high and chest out as it pranced back to Rong Mi's side, clearly pleased with its accomplishment for assisting Rong Mi.

"The nutrient dispenser is on the first floor, turn left after going inside," Rong Mi said, embracing the wolf that had nudged closer. "Get more if you need it!"

The soldiers, holding their nutrient solutions, playfully raised them towards Rong Mi in a toast, their faces lit with smiles.

Rong Mi waved at them, then tossed his empty nutrient bottle into the trash before turning to head towards the elevator leading to the rest chambers with the wolf.

Exiting the room, they found Hua Oulo standing outside with his arms crossed, looking at Rong Mi with disdain. "Why bother with them? They're just soldiers who couldn't beat an Ice Butterfly."

"Surely... You're not going to acknowledge even people like them, are you?!"