Chapter 98: Examination (Nine)

Chapter 98: Examination (Nine)

In this sector of the galaxy, two examiner starships were orbiting on patrol.

One belonged to Lu Yi, while the other was under the command of Admiral Zhang Mingda.

At this moment, Zhang Mingda was drenched in cold sweat.

He had once served as the former Supreme Commander Hua Fei's adjutant and had watched Hua Oulo grow up. He knew that the young man had a bad temper, liked to throw tantrums, but deep down, he had a good heart. Therefore, Zhang often had to clean up after Hua Oulo's antics. This time, he had come as an examiner for the military assessment out of concern that Hua Oulo might cause trouble during the exam...

He was aware of Hua Oulo's hatred for the Ice Butterflies. The examination was taking place in the depths of a battlefield near the Ice Butterfly territory. Before the exam began, he had repeatedly warned Hua Oulo not to engage in any extraneous matters beyond his assigned tasks. Clearly, those words had fallen on deaf ears.

The moment the candidates boarded the starship, all the examiners received information about Hua Oulo's "ingenious" plan to ambush the Ice Butterfly territory.

As the plan had only been mentioned by Hua Oulo during an argument and had yet to result in any incident, the examiners merely made a mental note of it without taking further action.

But... this time, it was different!

That was an Ice Butterfly trap!

Given Rong Mi's prominence in this assessment and the diverse backgrounds of her team members, virtually all the proctors had activated a dedicated monitor screen from the moment the exam officially commenced, closely observing their every move.

And so everyone would learn of the reckless and foolish deed this young one had committed!

Zhang Mingda deactivated the stealth mode on his own starship. His expression was stony, and all he could think about now was capturing the youngster and giving him a brutal beating aboard his vessel.

Producing and deploying Ice Butterfly Traps in combat zones without authorization... It's the epitome of creating trouble where there is none, manufacturing risk unnecessarily!

This young man was used to being fawned upon in military school and, backed by his few visits to war zones during his time there, he had grown accustomed to behaving recklessly.

He was completely oblivious to the fact that the location where the cadets had carried out their previous mission was on the fringes of a warzone, nearing the secure star territories. The surrounding area had long been cleared by the Legion's sergeants, serving merely as a warm-up exercise for these cadets to hone their skills.

This assessment took place deep within the warzone... Anything could happen.

Inadvertently, a butterfly from Asia might appear!

Not to mention, in the past two weeks, the danger level of this sector had escalated from A-class to A+; it was a narrow escape from being classified as S-class.

Acting on intelligence, it was believed that within a three-hour flight radius from the AE Zone, there might remain a significant fragment of Cecil's primordial spirit.

The military needed to confirm the existence and location of Chengdie's spirit fragments before devising an eradication plan.

Before the assessment began, the military had also debated whether to change the venue. In the end, it was Chief Commander Zhang Lingyu who made the decision not to alter the testing location.

All the candidates participating in the exam were about to join the military.

The Third Legion, reinforced by the First Legion, had already sealed off the AE sector, while the examination area was safeguarded by the proctor's starship.

The resource planet they had chosen as their target had been thoroughly investigated, revealing no trace of Chengdie's spirit fragments. Thus, although the exam zone was risky, it was still manageable.

These candidates were on the verge of joining the military; if they couldn't handle such danger, how could they be trusted with future missions in the legion?

Including Zhang Mingda, who believed he knew Hua Oulo well, nobody expected Hua Oulo to make such a move!

"He always seemed quite enthusiastic during his military academy missions, but he still followed orders," one of the proctors on Zhang Mingda's starship watched the swarm of ice butterflies in disbelief. "But after that autumn break...?"

...How did his mind become so muddled? !

Given Hua Oulo's background and personal abilities, this proctor had interacted with him to some extent.

One of the proctors sighed softly and murmured, "It's probably because of Rong Mi… Hua Oulo might've felt stifled. Seeing Ice Butterfly's reports so many times during the holiday and watching Rong Mi take the spotlight, his competitive spirit must have been ignited, making him want to do something significant as well."

Everyone: "..."

Zhang Mingda's beard twitched with anger.

"Intercept his starship first!" He slapped the command console. "Charge the main cannons! Maintain fire to intimidate!"

As he issued orders, he glanced at the distant horizon.

The first shot that attacked Hua Oulo's starship did not come from the proctor's ship he was on, but rather, Lu Yi.

The admiral's shot carried a clear message.

To restrict Hua Oulo's starship's movements and warn the opponent not to act recklessly.

However, after firing that shot, Lu Yi didn't waste time on Hua Oulo but continued advancing forward.

"Brother Rong! —— Star pirates are attacking! ——" The commotion of Hua Oulo being attacked caught Phil's attention.

"Star pirates have attacked Hua Oulo's squad! Our starship is currently unharmed, but we don't know the pirates' exact location!" Chen Shu exclaimed. "Their starship is cloaked, so I can't detect them!"

Cloaked starships were a somewhat redundant invention in human starship design history. Their initial purpose was to launch surprise attacks on the Ice Butterfly Galaxy.

However, it was soon discovered that, despite being undetectable by other starships' sensors and difficult to track with human mental powers, these ships could still be identified by the Ice Butterflies.

As a result, such vessels were mainly used as examiner ships during the annual military assessments.

"I suspect they're tailing me," Rong Mi glanced behind, his gaze briefly sweeping past Hua Oulo's stranded starship, which was attempting to restart its engines. "These pirates aren't here for a role-playing robbery."

...They were here to support him in dealing with the aftermath.

Rong Mi scanned the darkness beside him before refocusing on what lay ahead.

His custom-built armor was swift, and he could already see the red horizon of the universe in the distance.

In front of the vast red tide, two starships were speeding along, seemingly luring the Ice Butterflies or desperately trying to escape.

"Hold up there! —— Candidates ahead! —— Move further away!" one of the ships announced over the public channel. "These Ice Butterflies are quite formidable..."

"Did you see Brother Hua's starship?!"

Rong Mi raised an eyebrow.

"Your Brother Hua isn't coming," he said coolly. "First, turn off your Ice Butterfly traps."

"If you think the Ice Butterflies are too much to handle, run faster! ——"

The mecha drew its heavy cannon from its back, its steel wings unfolding as purple flames ignited.

"And... Mr. Pirate within the stealth starship," Rong Mi hinted. "Please keep an eye on him for now. There's no need to rush the reinforcement."

"Whirr—"

In the span of just two sentences, the crimson butterfly cruiser that was once distant had drawn perilously close.

The minds of thousands of low-level ice butterflies wove together, forming a shuttle-shaped structure with uneven edges.

The wings of these low-level ice butterflies connected, shaping the body of the cruiser.

A cluster of high-level Ice Butterflies, their humanoid forms naked, sat in the boats. Their scarlet eyes, which had been fixated on the two pursued starships, turned simultaneously towards Rong Mi, and what seemed like a smile formed on their faces as they opened their mouths.

Rong Mi let out a soft exclamation.

...For these Ice Butterflies all bore a striking resemblance to Seiko.

Poison sacs rose from behind them, red threads weaving within their mouths as they launched forward in an attack.

Rong Mi stepped forward, watching as the starships ahead veered left and right in an attempt to dodge the assault, their cannons igniting.

And with a barrage of flames, all anomalies were reduced to ashes.

A tidal wave of mental energy surged from Rong Mi's armor, tearing apart both high- and low-level Ice Butterflies in a display of peculiar fairness.

The first butterfly boat, the second, the third...

A few high-level Ice Butterflies, not yet fully defeated, dragged their mangled bodies around a crimson aura, struggling to escape in all directions, opening black voids behind them.

These were a group of high-level Ice Butterflies with abilities akin to those of the Sub-Butterflies.

No wonder those two candidate warships boasted of their superior strength than anticipated.

However, such a level of Ice Butterflies no longer instilled any fear or trepidation in Rong Mi.

In the next instant, the mecha's body split open to the sides, revealing a central crack from which an elevator platform connected to the Battle Pet Ball emerged.

Ayin leaped out.

Adorned with black metallic armor, Ayin wore a steel mask with a retractable visor, leaving only its fluffy wolf tail, sharp claws, and two pointed ears exposed on the exterior of the armor.

This armor allowed Star Beasts to survive in the vacuum of space, a standard outfit for Battle Pets engaging in combat in outer space.

"Aooh!" A wolf's howl echoed through the communication channel.

Ayin rushed forward, its silver spirit energy transforming into icy blades that slashed down the few high-level Ice Butterflies attempting to flee.

Wherever it went, the colors shimmered, frost condensed, and all residual spirit energy from the Ice Butterflies vanished without a trace.

Propulsion engines beneath the wolf's paws emitted silvery light, propelling Ayin at high speed through the cosmos. It overtook Rong Mi, charging towards the newly appeared enemies in the distance, letting out a fierce roar as it launched a relentless assault.

A purple flame grazed its side, playfully tickling the wolf's ear tip like a mischievous hot breeze, causing it to fold slightly forward without harming Ayin in the slightest.

Yet, the same flame detonated with a roar amidst the distant ice butterflies, scattering them in disarray and obliterating the high-ranking ice butterflies attempting to tear through the spatial wormhole.

Raging energy winds swept about, triggering alarms in the energy detection instruments aboard the examiner's starship that had been trailing Rong Mi not far away. The command deck was deathly silent.

Behind the command console, Lu Yi stood tall and composed, his eyes slightly closed as he observed Rong Mi's actions through his mental perception.

In front of him, several officers exchanged uneasy glances, involuntarily gulping down their saliva.

Two examiners, who served as mecha pilots among the pirates, exchanged sly smiles. One of them, who had been intently watching Lu Yi, lowered his voice to whisper to his colleague, "When it's time for the mock battle between the pirate team's mecha pilots, you should engage Rong Mi. I'll test their other mecha pilot named Gu Ming."

"…You're truly cunning!" the other examiner grumbled. "You want me to take the embarrassment? Are you afraid of getting injured on the job?!"

During their examiner training, they were repeatedly warned to hold back during the pirate simulation to avoid seriously injuring the candidates.

But now, faced with Rong Mi, the two examiners suddenly wondered if the candidates had received similar instructions.

…Did anyone tell Rong Mi to go easy on the examiners during the pursuit of the pirates…?!