Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

After seeing the two substitute players from the Gus Empire’s team, the expressions of the Vera Federation’s diplomats and instructors became unexpectedly calm.

The worst outcome had already happened. These naturally gifted prodigies were rare and impossible to seek out, and no human effort could change such an outcome. Under these circumstances, failing to complete the task given to them by their country wouldn’t put too much pressure on them.

Both of them, with a “let it be” mindset, could only think this way. After all, this wasn’t their home ground, and trying to create any “accidents” wouldn’t be possible. Accepting their fate was all they could do.

In the interstellar era, things were done efficiently. Everyone’s time was precious, and there was no need to waste it on meaningless activities.

Even the grand opening ceremony of this prestigious competition was quite simple. After the parade of all the participating teams, they only invited a famous singer to perform a song, and then the ceremony was officially closed.

The actual competition for the young participants would start in the afternoon. After the opening ceremony, all the competitors returned to the resting area behind the arena, where they would stay until it was time for their match.

For the next few days, these young contestants from around the world would live in the resting suites until the competition ended.

Earlier, since Ruo Manni and Hebrew Adam had arrived in the resting area too late, their teammates didn’t have a chance to say more than a few words to them before it was time to enter the arena again, so they had to stop their conversations.

Now back in the lounge, they had over two hours of free time, so their friends certainly wanted to catch up with them.

Even though they hadn’t seen these two guys in more than two years since parting ways on the desolate planet, the friends didn’t feel strange or unfamiliar with each other. They often “met” in the war world.

The friends had a general idea of each other’s situations. They knew that the two had been training their mech piloting skills on a barren planet, disguising themselves to infiltrate the military for training, and even participated in several peacekeeping missions.

Although Hebrew Adam and Ruo Manni hadn’t said it outright, their friends understood that these peacekeeping missions involved eliminating enemy forces against the Gus Empire, such as space pirates, meaning they likely had killed enemies with their own hands.

These experiences were something that military academy students couldn’t learn in school, but they could lead to rapid personal growth.

While their friends felt a bit envious, they also understood that they didn’t have the same qualifications that warranted the Crown Prince’s intense efforts in their training.

For those who remained in the elite class at school, the Crown Prince also put in a great deal of effort to cultivate them, providing them with an education and treatment that was different from that of their peers.

Of course, this wasn’t without cost; Hua Deli and the others paid tuition that was ten times higher than that of regular military academy students every year.

Players’ appearances in reality would also change in the war world, but the differences from age fifteen to eighteen weren’t very significant. The friends were already familiar with each other’s changes in appearance.

The only thing they were unclear about was each other’s current cultivation levels because the war world displayed player levels instead of cultivation.

Although they had tried to overestimate their two friends as much as possible, upon seeing them, they realized they hadn’t overestimated them enough.

“No wonder everyone online is calling you two ‘genius monsters’ now,” Sheila said, appearing dismissive on the surface but actually happy to sit next to Ruo Manni.

“Take a look in the mirror,” Ruo Manni smiled at her.

“Hmph, don’t think I don’t know you’re subtly mocking me for how ugly my expression of envy and jealousy is,” Sheila said while grinding her teeth.

“It’s been over two years, and your IQ has increased so much!” Ruo Manni said with a look of surprise.

The familiar tone and the familiar formula made the friends burst into laughter, and the last hint of strangeness disappeared.

“Welcome back, little sister,” Hua Deli said as he walked over and hugged Ruo Manni, showing a rare moment of sentimentality.

Ruo Manni returned the hug. Although she couldn’t truly see Hua Deli as a brother in her heart, she felt closer to him emotionally than to the other friends, even more so than Dean Atchison.

“Cousin, the thirty-eight consecutive slashes you sent us recently were amazing! I practiced them for a few days, but some parts are a bit awkward. You have to teach me properly when we get back to school,” Dean Atchison said, unceremoniously squeezing past Sheila to get closer to Ruo Manni.

“What’s your telekinetic level now?” Ruo Manni raised an eyebrow.

This seemingly rhetorical question likely heralded a storm.

“Only level three, late stage,” Dean Atchison said softly.

“Didn’t I tell you that this technique requires a martial artist to be at least level five and a telekinetic to be level four to execute? You need to level up first,” Ruo Manni chided. He thought he could train before meeting the requirements, as if he was some sort of genius.

“Okay,” Dean Atchison replied a bit dejectedly. He didn’t like practicing meditation techniques, and if Ruo Manni hadn’t pushed him, he probably would have still been at level one as a telekinetic.

“You, among the elite class, have the lowest telekinetic levels among us,” Ruo Manni criticized him again harshly.

All eleven of Ruo Manni’s companions were exceptionally talented in terms of training potential. Although only she and Mina-Olli were telekinetics, the other ten friends also had good telekinetic potential and could at least reach level four.

However, because their martial arts training potential was even higher, they focused on body techniques and were not interested in meditation training, unwilling to waste time on it.

Later, it was Hebrew Adam who revealed some “confidential” information. Except for Mina-Olli, who spent more time on body techniques, the other friends began to train their telekinesis like crazy.

More than two years ago, Hebrew Adam and Ruo Manni disappeared from the public eye after the assassination incident. At first, Ruo Manni thought the Crown Prince was afraid they would face real danger and wanted them to go into hiding to train until they had the ability to protect themselves before returning.

However, when she arrived on Thaizhu Star and met Rick Amber and his group, she realized that things were not so simple.

After her rebirth, Ruo Manni devised a way to integrate the telekinetic abilities of telekinetics with the martial power of martial artists to enhance her overall combat effectiveness as much as possible.

The telekinetic flying leaves that Ruo Manni used in the admissions assessment at the Xuan Gu First Military Academy was the first technique she integrated on her own, and the telekinetic whip she used in the ranking challenge was the second.

At that time, Ruo Manni was still unclear about the cultivation system in this world and did not realize that these inspirations came from Earth’s films and media, which allowed her to create a new type of martial skill in this world.

After watching her competition videos, the Crown Prince took note of this matter and began to plan how to help her improve this martial skill and apply it to mecha.

After Ruo Manni arrived on Thaizhu Star, the Crown Prince called her and clearly conveyed his ideas and expectations.

During their first virtual meeting, with her idol on the other side of the screen, Ruo Manni could hardly express her excitement and admiration. At that moment, the only thought in her mind was that a big shot is a big shot, and mere mortals cannot compare.