Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

The first thing everyone saw were the ten main players walking at the front. After three months of selection matches, the audience had become very familiar with the appearance of the ten representatives from the Gus Empire.

As the somewhat blurred but recognizable faces of the contestants came into view, everyone quickly identified the players they knew. The reaction from the crowd was unanimous: “Wow, every guy on the Gus Empire team is so handsome, and the girls are stunningly beautiful. What a feast for the eyes!”

Initially, no one paid much attention to the two substitute players at the back of the Gus Empire’s team. They only began noticing them because of their strikingly good looks, which then drew attention to their cultivation levels.

Some attendees in the audience, unable to believe what they were seeing, stood up in shock. Meanwhile, online viewers also sensed something unusual. Suddenly, the atmosphere both in the arena and online exploded, as if a single drop of water had fallen into hot oil.

At first, people questioned their own eyes, suspecting that the Gus Empire might be engaging in some sort of deception. However, after reviewing the newly updated contestant information from the Gus Empire, they began to doubt their own memory. Had they misunderstood something?

In reality, the “reserve players” were not substitutes but hidden powerhouses.

Heavens! That young man turned out to be a late-stage level-six martial artist at just 19 years old. Where did this prodigy come from, and why does such a genius exist in the world? Non-Gus Empire netizens were screaming in their hearts, wondering how they had never heard of such a prodigy in the Gus Empire. With someone this extraordinary, what hope was there for the competition?

Meanwhile, Gus Empire netizens were also shouting internally: “Oh my god, our second prince is really alive, and he’s become an even greater prodigy than the legends said!” With their second prince’s level of cultivation, was there even any need to compete in this so-called Youth Elite Competition? Victory was practically guaranteed.

After their amazement subsided, everyone turned their attention to the young woman walking alongside the prodigy.

Someone capable of walking alongside such a genius surely couldn’t be ordinary.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that while the young woman’s cultivation level wasn’t as monstrous as the young man’s, she was still an exceptional prodigy. At 18, she was already a beginner-level-five martial artist, which was astonishing in itself.

To put this in perspective, outside of the Gus Empire and the Vera Federation—two of the biggest nations in the competition—the highest level any contestant from other countries had reached was merely late-stage level-four.

In the Youth Elite Competition four years ago, there hadn’t even been a single level-five martial artist.

So now, with these two monstrous geniuses as the supposed “substitute” players for the Gus Empire, anyone with eyes couldn’t believe they were truly substitutes. There was strong suspicion that the Gus Empire was just playing with them.

There are many smart people in the world, and since player profiles were public, netizens quickly discovered that the prodigy named Hebrew Adam was actually the second prince of the Gus Empire.

Soon, stories about the second prince’s past, including him once being a notorious playboy, resurfaced. The citizens of the Gus Empire weren’t fazed by this, as they had known about it for a long time. To them, it was just an inspirational comeback story.

However, the citizens of other countries started speculating, wondering if the second prince had been framed back then.

This led to all sorts of theories emerging. People from other nations, feeling clever, looked up information about the crown prince, and what they found online was shocking enough to send chills down their spines.

As a result, it became widely recognized for the first time across the Gumera Star Region that both the crown prince and the second prince of the Gus Empire were among the top prodigies—no, rather, the brightest young talents in the region. This left a deep impression on many people.

After a while of sharing their envy, jealousy, and resentment, billions of netizens started digging into the girl’s background.

Her name was Ruo Manni, the eldest daughter of the Hua De family from the capital planet of the Gus Empire. She was 18 years old, a fourth-year student at the prestigious Xuan Gu Military Academy, majoring in Psych and also training as an Armor Specialist.

The first reaction people had was confusion: ‘What kind of profile is this? Was there a mistake? Did they accidentally post someone else’s profile?’

The citizens of the Gus Empire, who thought they knew the background of this girl, were even more baffled:

‘Wasn’t this talented psychic girl supposed to be a commoner from a fringe planet? Since when did she become the legitimate eldest daughter of the prominent Hua De family from the capital?’

Or had they completely mistaken her identity all along? Maybe this “Ruo Manni” wasn’t the same commoner girl they had thought; perhaps she just happened to resemble her.

But the youth, Hua Deli, was well-known. Why had no one ever heard of this Ruo Manni before? She was clearly no less talented than Hua Deli. The fact that she had remained so under the radar seemed suspicious.

Of course, there were always those with the truth, both at the venue and online. Soon, the legendary and dramatic backstory of this genius girl started spreading across the Gus Empire’s internet, enlightening the confused audience.

Meanwhile, others who hadn’t been confused began questioning their own eyes. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing and started asking each other online:

“If this girl named Ruo Manni is a Psychic user, shouldn’t her highest abilities be in Psych, not martial arts?”

“This girl is already a level-five martial artist at the age of eighteen, and this isn’t even her main discipline… No, I should say that martial arts isn’t even her secondary focus. I looked up her rank in the Mecha Manufacturing Guild, and she’s actually a level-six mecha builder… Ahhh, this girl is even more of a prodigy than the second prince! Can any psychic expert reveal her true psychic level?” This post, likely from someone with insider status at the Mecha Manufacturing Guild, caused an immediate sensation.

In just ten seconds, the post turned “red hot,” then “super hot,” and finally “exploded in popularity.”

Soon, a Psychic master from the Vera Federation present at the event confirmed the answer: ‘She’s a level-six, late-stage psychic user.’

After that, no one paid much attention to the teams coming out later, not even when the Vera Federation team appeared. Apart from the Vera Federation audience, everyone else seemed indifferent.

Especially after glancing at the two substitute players on the Vera Federation team, people didn’t even bother to look twice, remaining focused on the Gus Empire’s prodigious second prince and the genius psionics girl.

As the buzz continued, everyone following the tournament reached a consensus: the Gus Empire designating these two prodigies as substitute players was an incredibly ‘generous’ gesture.

If those two were part of the starting lineup, the Gus Empire team wouldn’t even need to compete; they could directly be declared the champions. Although the final result is likely the same anyway—if Gus Empire doesn’t win, it would definitely seem rigged—at least with those two prodigies not participating, the matches won’t look as one-sided, and the other teams won’t have to suffer the humiliation of being instantly defeated.

The demeanor of the Gus Empire’s diplomats and other officials present became even more composed, graceful, and courteous, fully displaying the poise of a great nation.

Meanwhile, the members of the Vera Federation went from their initial pride and confidence to adopting a more refined attitude, now emphasizing that they didn’t care about winning or losing, only about friendship—because friendship lasts forever.