Chapter 34

Chapter 34

After she said this, Jiang Se immediately felt that this idea was very possible.

After all, they had some bad blood with the school team, and judging by the reactions of the seniors, it was no small matter.

Thinking of this, Jiang Se sadly took a bite of the matcha ice cream in front of her.

Unlike the sweet and rich matcha ice cream she had imagined, this green ice cream had an intense spicy kick that shot straight to her sinuses the moment it entered her mouth, bringing tears to the corners of her eyes.

"What the heck—why is this ice cream spicy?" Jiang Se took the tissue handed to her by Chu Yun beside her and complained.

Chu Yun glanced down at the label on the other side of the ice cream and read aloud, "Alliance University x Restaurant Limited Edition, Matcha Wasabi Flavor Ice Cream."

Halfway through, Chu Yun couldn’t help but laugh. "Jiang Jiang, you have to admit, your luck is really something. This ice cream is a limited edition, and it seems like there’s only one per table."

"Thanks," Jiang Se said lazily, biting her straw. "But I really don’t want this kind of luck."

The matcha wasabi ice cream was just way too intense for her.

Next to them, Zhu Jin propped his chin on his hand and smiled. "You might not like it now, but when we’re on field training eating nothing but specialized nutrient solutions every day, you might actually miss this flavor."

Jiang Se immediately retorted, "No way!!"

…

They finished their meal quickly. Zhu Jin glanced down at his Light Brain. "There’s a notice in our Command Department freshman group chat saying we need to head to the school auditorium within an hour for the opening ceremony. I guess right after the ceremony, we’ll be sent off to the barren planet for training."

Chu Yun also looked down at her Light Brain upon hearing this. "Our Individual Combat Department group has also sent a notice."

After listening, Jiang Se picked up her Light Brain to check the notification. She had been added to the Mecha Department freshman group by the seniors earlier, but she had muted the group because the messages were too chaotic.

At the very top of the group chat, an announcement was displayed: "All Mecha Department freshmen are required to go to the school auditorium within one hour to attend the freshman opening ceremony."

"Let’s all go together!" Zhu Jin suggested.

The four of them headed toward the school auditorium. Since Alliance University was so large, it was no short walk from the x Restaurant to the auditorium.

Under the sunlight, Jiang Se had never felt such a strong desire to buy a skateboard.

Relying solely on her two legs was pure torture for a Mecha Pilot.

When they reached the entrance of the school auditorium, Jiang Se let out a long sigh of relief as she hid in the shadow of the massive building.

Chu Yun glanced at her and said, "I wonder how you’ll manage when we’re actually on the training mission?"

"We’ll cross that bridge when we get there!" Jiang Se said calmly.

The seating for the Mecha Department, Individual Combat Department, and Command Department was separate during the opening ceremony. Jiang Se, Chu Yun, and the others parted ways at the auditorium entrance and headed to their respective college sections.

The Mecha Department’s seats were on the far-left side of the auditorium. Jiang Se arrived early, so there were still plenty of empty seats.

She went straight to the very back row. Because the seats were so high up, this area had the fewest people—just a handful scattered here and there—and was the quietest.

Jiang Se randomly chose a seat, leaned back in the chair, and started browsing on her Light Brain.

The discussion section of the Mecha Pilot Forum was as lively as ever, with young and old Mecha Pilots passionately arguing over different types of mechs.

On the homepage, Jiang Se came across a post where a Mecha Pilot was discussing the pros and cons of light mechs and Heavy Mechs.

The Mecha Pilot who wrote the post was clearly experienced, even possessing substantial actual combat experience. Some of the content was clearly backed by real-world evidence, and Jiang Se found herself nodding in agreement as she read.

After reading the post, she even felt like some of her mental blocks were starting to lift.

However, because the post was written in such an overly technical manner, with a rather plain title and a textbook-like, rigid style, it hadn’t gotten much traction. There were even fewer comments.

After finishing it, Jiang Se couldn’t help but like the post and leave a comment: "Well written! I found it very enlightening."

After commenting, she checked her back-end points and directly tipped the post 10,000 points.

The poster was an anonymous account—clicking on it revealed no profile or other content.

The Mecha Pilot Forum allowed anonymous posting, though the content still had to pass review.

After Jiang Se left her comment, she noticed many replies under it:

"Taking a photo with the big shot to commemorate this moment."

"The big shot hasn’t been around for a while, and as soon as they show up, they tip 10,000 points. Talk about being loaded!"

"Big shot, please look my way—when are you going to the Q&A section to fix designs? Save us poor souls."

Because of Jiang Se’s comment, many others started reading the post:

"I came across this post before too, but it was so sleep-inducing I didn’t finish it."

"+1, I also saw it but didn’t read it. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was a textbook come to life and posting on the forum."

"Since the big shot commented, it must mean this post is really good. I’ll try my best to power through and finish it this week."

…

After reading, Jiang Se raised an eyebrow. Do I really have that much clout on this forum?

She had no idea that on the Mecha Pilot Forum, 3S-ranked Mecha Pilots were extremely rare. Most of them were elusive, only active in specific sections and almost never appearing in general areas like the discussion or Q&A sections.

Most 3S-ranked Mecha Pilots on the forum only logged on occasionally to update a few blueprints on their profiles.

When Professor Sedang logged on this year, he noticed that a post he made on his anonymous alt account had suddenly received a lot of comments.

His main account on the forum was an administrator, but obviously, he couldn’t use it for public posts.

So, whenever Professor Sedang posted on the forum, he usually used his anonymous alt.

He had posted five or six threads anonymously, but clearly, as an older Mecha Pilot, neither his post titles nor content aligned with the trendy style favored by the younger Mecha Pilots on the forum.

As a result, his posts had very few replies.

Seeing so many responses in his backend today, Professor Sedang felt a surge of excitement—had these young people finally recognized the profound knowledge, wisdom, and even the humor in his writing?

But after reading the replies, Professor Sedang’s hopeful heart finally sank: the reason his post had so many views was because Jiang Se’s comment had brought a ton of attention to it.