Chapter 57

Chapter 57

...

Since Instructor Ling Pei became the instructor of Class S, the students have been teetering on the edge of hatred, respect, and fear every day.

Alva himself is a devilish instructor, with countless bizarre methods for physical training, pushing people to their limits, almost to the point of death. So, the students thought Instructor Ling Pei's arrival would save them from this misery.

However, they were wrong.

Instructor Ling Pei's training methods are a thousand times more terrifying than Alva's. Starting with a 30-kilometer weighted endurance run, and the training isn't held within the military academy but deliberately chosen in the rugged and steep mountainous area near the academy. Running twice a day leaves the students nearly dead. But in Instructor Ling Pei's words, this is just a warm-up. There are still short runs, shuttle runs, shooting, mecha simulations, and combat drills...

Every day, Yi Ye either gets carried back by Kaiser or supported back by Bai Chuan, collapsing on the bed like a dying fish, flopping a couple of times before falling into a deep sleep.

In just one month, Class S has gone from being full of enthusiasm to a group of hollow-eyed, lifeless zombies.

One day, a student from another class passed by and took a casual glance, just meeting one of the pale, bulging-eyed faces, and was so scared that they fell flat on their back. That very night, a series of hot posts exploded on the forum, sparking a huge uproar, with everyone analyzing the recent mental state of Class S students.

And the conclusion they reached was:

Probably dead, but not yet.

Summary: A group of the living dead.

Yi Ye: Heh, heh.

...

Ding. Ding.

Yi Ye had just finished training and was checking his terminal for messages as he left the field.

"BSMH" to Classroom 3F in Building 2.

"BSMH" has news about the quota.

So soon?

He asked Instructor Ling Pei for leave and headed to the classroom.

Bush Meihua, who was only seen when skipping class, was sitting by the window with the curtains tightly drawn, a sliver of light falling beside him. The youth propped his chin with his hand, his platinum hair scattered, appearing as if shrouded in a thin mist, his lips pale but smiling broadly, observing the slightly disheveled Yi Ye with a relaxed demeanor.

Yi Ye lazily sat down: "You're really comfortable."

What excuse did he use to skip even Instructor Ling Pei's class?

"Want to know why I can be so free within the military academy?"

Bush Meihua handed him a tissue to wipe his sweat, mysteriously saying, "It's a secret, but I can tell only you."

Yi Ye made a cross gesture with his hands, pushing him back.

"Cut to the chase, can we secure the quota?"

Bush Meihua sighed with a smile: "You really underestimate the power of the Meihua family."

He pulled out a document, placed it on the table, and tapped it with his finger, "This is the specific list decided by Principal Howard, with 10 members from the committee."

Yi Ye flipped through it; there were 15 names on the list, including Kappel, Fran, and others. His eyes scanned further down, and sure enough, he spotted his and Bai Chuan's names, along with Kaiser and Bush Meihua. He was somewhat surprised: "You're participating too? I thought you had no interest in such activities."

"I'm not interested, but I have a reason to participate this time."

Yi Ye didn’t ask for the reason, nor did he care to know. He was more curious about how Bush Meihua managed it. "The internal members of the committee should all come from influential families, right? How did you convince them to give up their spots?"

Bush Meihua curled his lips into a somewhat mischievous smile.

"Just by persuasion. The heads of the Meihua family and the Audria family both have seats in the Senate. This event naturally reserves spots for me and Kaiser. As for you and Bai Chuan," he raised an eyebrow, "joint operations demand the most outstanding individuals, so I had a little chat with Elia, and he was quite understanding, so he agreed to swap."

Persuasion? It couldn’t have been that straightforward.

"Is such a large-scale event only for 15 people?"

Bush Meihua shook his head. "Only the event with 15 participants is significant."

Yi Ye didn't understand.

"The joint military academy competition is divided into three parts. The first is competitive events, which are essentially the training courses General Lin Pei and Alva have been guiding us through. These events are compulsory for first-year students, with each student required to participate in at least one event. There are no other restrictions, so the rewards are mediocre and of no use to the committee members."

"The main event is the second part."

"This event includes the top ten military academies across the empire. In the second part, each academy will select 15 outstanding students to form a team, totaling 150 participants, who will be deployed to the Simulated Battlefield for a showdown. Additionally, the event will be broadcast live empire-wide via terminals."

"Even if students excel during the freshman assessments, the videos are not made public; only the instructors and examiners can see them. But this live broadcast will display every move of each participant to the entire empire. The winners will be celebrated as geniuses emerging from obscurity, while the losers will have to slink away under the scorn of the public. The emperor's personal commendation is significant, but the admiration of the empire's people holds even greater value."

"However, due to the committee's longstanding rules, the Imperial Honor Military Academy hasn't won first place in this assessment for a long time. I think that's probably why Elia agreed."

So that’s the deal.

A live broadcast across the entire empire—isn’t this the perfect way to make the protagonist famous?

Yi Ye could already imagine Bai Chuan standing under the spotlight, receiving countless praises. He suddenly felt elated and even considered writing an article titled "Me and My Top-Ranking Brother."

Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly snapped back to reality. "By the way, what about the third event?"

"Since it’s a friendly competition between military academies, the final event will be a joint artistic performance." Bush Meihua paused, then smiled at him. "But the performance prizes are quite generous—a five-day free trip to the capital planet. If you’re interested, how about we team up?"

Yi Ye’s lips twitched as he feigned indifference. "Who said I want to participate? I have no interest in artistic performances."

But a five-day trip to the capital planet was a different story.

Bush Meihua let out a meaningful "oh."

Putting that aside for now, Yi Ye focused on the present.

"Besides these, there's—"

"You want intel on the other academies' participants?"

Bush Meihua always seemed to guess what he was thinking.

"I've sent it to your email."

As a member of the Meihua family, it was second nature to consider this. The information he gathered was detailed, covering each person's background and history. There were 135 people in total, and the file size was large, taking a while to download. But as someone with a mind like a supercomputer, Bush Meihua had already memorized all the information. Based on his understanding of Yi Ye, most of the opponents didn't require much attention.

"But there are three people I advise you to watch out for."

Yi Ye gestured for him to continue.

Bush Meihua projected photos using his terminal. The first was a robust, dark-skinned youth, and the second was a seemingly frail, bespectacled man: "These two are respectively Fu Chen, a third-year student from the Eagle Naval Academy, and Lei Li, a second-year student from the Melville Military Academy."

"And the last one?"

Bush Meihua brought up the final photo, which depicted a handsome youth with an extremely fierce demeanor, his eyes filled with arrogance and gloom, like a malevolent god looking down on ants. The golden hair and blue eyes instantly reminded Yi Ye of Bai Chuan.

"Who is this?"

"A third-year student from the Melville Military Academy, Eugene Melville."

"Melville? What's his relation to the academy?"

Bush Meihua's fingertip lightly touched, and the image suddenly enlarged, focusing on the youth's eyebrows and eyes, which were strikingly similar to Bai Chuan's: "The founder of the Melville Military Academy is his uncle."

"But that's not his main role. Let me put it this way for clarity. That dean is currently the Pope of the Empire's Church and also the head of the Senate's Round Table—Thanatos Melville."

Thanatos Melville...

Such a familiar name, where have I heard it before?

But Yi Ye couldn't recall it immediately, frowning in thought.

"Do you know him?" Bush Meihua keenly noticed something off with Yi Ye's expression and asked.

"Not sure, maybe I've seen him in the news?"

Yi Ye didn't dwell on it any longer.

Although he wasn't particularly fond of Bush Meihua, the other had indeed helped him, so thanks were in order.

"I told you, I help you without conditions."

"Since when have you become so nice?" Yi Ye was half-believing, half-doubting.

Bush Meihua smiled without speaking, just gently hooking a strand of Yi Ye's black hair, "Yi Ye, why don't you think that you've never truly understood me?"

Yi Ye: He thought he knew him quite well.

"People have many facets. One side of me is an unforgivable criminal, another might be a dying patient. Don't just look at one side of me, don't just believe one side of me." The soft, shiny black hair slipped from his fingertips, slowly falling, and Yi Ye heard him whisper, "You should look at me more and understand me better."

As the words fell, the curtains were blown by the wind, and warm yellow light shone between them. Yi Ye lowered his eyes and saw the wound on Bush Meihua's wrist again.

"Then, why don't you start by telling me about this side?" He pointed to the gruesome scab and asked.

Bush Meihua was silent for a moment, then pulled up his sleeve to reveal a clear, complete scar. Yi Ye then noticed that not just the wrist, but the skin was covered with indescribable scars, ugly, terrifying, a stark contrast to the handsome and elegant appearance of the youth.

"These..." Yi Ye instinctively frowned, "Who did this?"

Bush Meihua smiled happily.

"Are you worried about me?"

"...? You're only thinking about this?"

"Because this is what's important."

Yi Ye was at a loss for words.

"So, you are worried, right?" Bush Meihua stared intently at his expression, not willing to miss a single detail.

Yi Ye was utterly exhausted by him, nodding half-heartedly with non-committal sounds like "uh-huh" and "ah," while Bush Meihua laughed so hard he doubled over, tears streaming down his face, like a child who had just been given candy.

"This is so nice; it's the first time you've been this kind to me."

"...Bush Meihua, what exactly are you trying to do?"

He laughed like a madman, clutching his sides, his shoulders and long hair trembling together. It took him a while to suppress his laughter before he looked at Yi Ye and said something that made Yi Ye even doubt his own hearing.

"Yi Ye, how about we become friends?"