Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Ruo Manni extended her telekinetic power from the capsule apartment. The material of the capsule apartment significantly hindered her mental strength, so she could only “see” within a range of two or three hundred meters.

Outside, the sky was pitch black, but the darkness didn’t affect her telekinetic “vision” at all. She “saw” the area surrounding her capsule apartment, which was densely packed with other capsule apartments.

The other military cadets weren’t oblivious either. It was obvious to them that this area not only had high ground without any water accumulation, but even if there were a flash flood from the mountains, it wouldn’t rush directly toward this spot. So it wasn’t surprising that everyone had set up camp here.

Ruo Manni’s current mental strength wasn’t sufficient to “penetrate” solid objects over long distances to “see” the military cadets inside the capsule apartments. Of course, she didn’t want to “see” the sleeping postures of the boys anyway; she was just trying to “take a look” at the situation in the camp.

The heavy rain that had fallen all afternoon and evening yesterday had stopped, and the entire camp was quiet, without a single person in sight. Clearly, everyone was still asleep.

After all, daylight in the capital city wouldn’t break until around 7 a.m., and since this place was only a few hundred kilometers away from the capital, the sunrise time was almost the same. So it was still very early, and the fact that the instructors hadn’t come out yet was normal.

But Ruo Manni couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. Considering how the instructors loved to dig pits for them at every opportunity, it was hard to believe that they had allowed them to pass the night so peacefully.

Ruo Manni quietly walked out of the hall, noticing that Hebrew Adam was no longer in the hall, indicating he wasn’t interested in sleeping there.

Tino Venamoinen was also gone, probably because he had kept watch with Hebrew Adam earlier and had gone to find a room to sleep in afterward.

In the hall, only Su Forty-Three and Tamaki Kazia were sleeping with their eyes closed in chairs. However, as soon as Ruo Manni came out, Su Forty-Three opened his eyes alertly and, seeing it was her, gave her a smile.

It was clear that Su Forty-Three and Tamaki Kazia were supposed to be on watch during this time, but Tamaki Kazia had likely fallen into a deep sleep, completely oblivious to Ruo Manni’s presence as she approached them.

Ruo Manni looked at Tamaki Kazia, thinking he must be a guy who really loved to sleep.

“Was there no activity during the night?” Ruo Manni asked Su Forty-Three softly.

“No, I slept in the hall all night, didn’t see any instructors come for a sneak attack, and didn’t hear any movement from the other cadets either,” Su Forty-Three replied quietly.

Then he added, “It’s really hard to believe the instructors did nothing all night.”

See? Ruo Manni wasn’t the only one who thought the instructors were devious.

“They’re probably trying to get us to relax first, so that when we let our guard down, they can spring a trap on us, making us fall harder and learn a deeper lesson,” Ruo Manni speculated, suspecting the instructors were playing a long game.

The two of them whispered about the instructors’ various tactics, while Tamaki Kazia continued to sleep soundly beside them. Just then, Hebrew Adam, as if awakened by their conversation, came out of one of the rooms.

Seeing Ruo Manni, Hebrew Adam visibly relaxed and asked, “How are you feeling now?”

“Completely fine,” she replied.

“That’s good. I received the mission objective from Instructor Dudley at 10 p.m. last night,” Hebrew Adam said with a sigh of relief.

Ruo Manni looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

“We need to reach the top of the mountain, retrieve the mission item, and return to the camp within three days,” Hebrew Adam said.

The task sounded straightforward, and the orders were simple, but the simplicity was precisely where the problem lay.

Despite the heavy rain yesterday and the overcast sky, Ruo Manni had still seen the snow-capped peaks on the mountain. On the capital star, where the temperature was usually moderate year-round, snow on the mountaintop indicated that the mountain had a significant altitude.

Even so, given their physical abilities, they should have no problem going up and down the mountain in two days, let alone three. The fact that the instructors had given them so much time was the biggest clue that this task was more challenging than it appeared.

“This mountain’s relative height should be over 5,000 meters but less than 6,000 meters,” Ruo Manni speculated, as the relevant information was restricted and she had to rely on her visual estimation.

“5,600 meters,” Hebrew Adam said confidently.

Ruo Manni glanced at him, confirming that this was accurate information.

“With our speed, we should be able to make the round trip in two days. Three days is more than enough time,” Ruo Manni noted, putting her recently acquired military knowledge to use.

“Exactly. There will definitely be multiple challenges along the way. Last night, I heard the roars of alien beasts,” Hebrew Adam agreed.

“There are sea beasts in the ocean, so naturally, there are alien beasts in the mountains. Given how devious our instructors are, there’s no way they would let us complete the task without any obstacles,” Ruo Manni thought.

Because she had exhausted her mental energy, Ruo Manni had slept deeply through the night and hadn’t heard the alien beasts’ roars. But she wasn’t surprised and instead felt a bit more at ease. Knowing what the traps were made her feel more secure; ignorance was far scarier.

“The first-place team will earn an extra 20 credits per person,” Hebrew Adam added, glancing meaningfully at Ruo Manni.

Ruo Manni hadn’t openly complained about her need for more credits, but anyone who knew she was double majoring would understand that her credit requirements were extremely high.

As soon as she heard there were extra credits as a reward, Ruo Manni’s eyes lit up. Double majors had it tough—no matter how much private tutoring Rick Amber gave her, the materials needed for the Mecha Manufacturing course consumed too many credits, and she was almost running out. She was counting on this field training to earn a large amount of credits.

Hebrew Adam, possibly intending to wake up the entire team, didn’t lower his voice, speaking at a normal volume. Naturally, Tamaki Kazia couldn’t keep sleeping, and soon, Tino Venamoinen and Sheila also came out of their rooms.

Although it was still dark outside and the rain had stopped, the temperature had dropped by at least ten degrees after raining all night, making it feel quite comfortable.

Even though their combat suits could adjust the temperature of the inner layers based on the outside temperature to keep them feeling comfortable, nothing compared to the natural feeling.

“The instructors won’t provide us with breakfast anymore. We’ll have to forage in the mountains ourselves. Since everyone is awake, we should get going,” Hebrew Adam said, looking at Ruo Manni.

While preparing for this field training, the group noticed a crucial piece of information: during the training, they would need to source their own food.

In this team of six, five were the type who only knew how to eat. Although they had all learned some survival skills, in the short time they had, all they could manage was learning how to cook food, and that was about it.

Ruo Manni, however, had said that as long as they could hunt, she could prepare delicious meals they had never tasted before. Before they set off, she also had everyone bring small bottles, the contents of which were unknown to them.

Since Ruo Manni had volunteered to handle this task, when they heard they would need to prepare their own meals for the next few days, everyone naturally turned to her for guidance.