Chapter 5 No one else will know

Activating and testing mental power is a prerequisite for selection into the Interstellar Military Academy. It can even be said that in the current confrontation between the Empire and the Federation, with everyone being a soldier, almost everyone will undergo mental power activation and testing.

However, those who truly meet the requirements to become military academy students and mecha soldiers are rare in the entire interstellar space.

Since mecha research appeared in the public eye two hundred years ago, the necessary driving conditions and human mental power that match it have also appeared in everyone's vision.

To be able to enter the mecha, the mental power level must be at least B level. To drive a basic mecha, the mental power level must reach A. More advanced mechas must be controlled by people with mental power level S.

Fifty years ago, the Empire would have all 16-year-old boys and girls across the country activate and test their mental power every year. Most of them were at level C and D. Level B was the entry threshold for majors other than the Mecha Department of the Military Academy. To enter the Mecha Department, the mental power level had to reach at least A.

The original owner did not activate or test her mental power. When she was 16 years old, she was still living alone in the Zhuyun frontier, and she looked sickly, so the staff did not force her to undergo the test.

No one had high expectations for the test results of a sick orphan girl.

After all, according to past experience, those with high mental power levels tend to have good physical qualities and often excel in certain areas. It's worth noting that there are also many capable ordinary people who have low mental power levels, but are rejected by military academies due to the rigid requirements of starship mechas, the main interstellar combat weapons.

Xu Lingqu's mental power also needs to be tested and activated first.

This made Xu Youwen, who had received orders from his mother, very annoyed. While cursing Xu Lingqu in his heart for being like a savage and not activating or testing her mental power, he contacted his friend and borrowed an instrument to take home for testing.

After testing, it was estimated that the test result was C or D. He would have to think of other ways to get into Moye Military Academy. Xu Youwen felt it was too troublesome no matter how he thought about it. He came back, handed the instrument to Gina, and went back to the study to work overtime.

After the entire instrument was officially assembled, it looked like a telephone booth, with the silver-white metal seeming to be shimmering with light and inlaid with transparent objects that looked like glass.

Ms. Gina asked the two service robots to go out and said to Xu Lingqu: "Miss Lingqu, please come in."

Xu Lingqu didn't hesitate much, pulled the door handle and walked in.

The moment the door closed, her vision was instantly deprived, and the voice of artificial intelligence rang in her ears: "Mental power activation and testing begin--".

Immediately afterwards, a huge pressure squeezed her body from all sides, causing Xu Lingqu to almost suffocate.

At this moment, her soul was torn back and forth by a pair of invisible hands, and a violent wind blew in her mind, raging everywhere.

The scorched earth of the doomsday gradually appeared in her eyes, the screams of humans devoured by mutant beasts echoed in her ears, and the air was filled with the smell of death and despair.

The apocalyptic world reappeared in her mind bit by bit. She stood on the devastated street, a longsword in her right hand. She was still wearing her "law enforcement officer" uniform. Not far away, a small mutant beast approached a crying little girl. The little girl tried to get closer to her "mother" beside her, but the mother was indifferent to her daughter's plea for help.

Without hesitation, Xu Lingqu fired four shots at the mutant beast, stopping it from approaching the little girl. As she ran out of bullets, she stood in front of the little girl. Just as she was about to swing her sword with her right hand, the little girl's "mother" suddenly pounced on her and snatched her sword away.

The little girl let out a scream. Without the sword to block her, the spikes on the mutant beast pierced her body. The corrosive acid attached to it continued to burn Xu Lingqu, but she didn't say a word. She just took out a dagger from her waist as usual and stabbed it hard into the weak spot of the mutant beast's brain. She listened to the shrill strange cry in her ears, and it struggled for a while, but soon lost its life.

After dispatching the mutant beast, Xu Lingqu unleashed his dagger without hesitation, pinning the little girl's "mother" who had snatched the longsword. In the girl's eyes, the infected human before her was still her most trustworthy and reliable mother.

Infected humans have hallucinogenic abilities, which can cause hallucinations in the humans they are closest to, making them think they are still normal.

However, in Xu Lingqu's eyes, from a normal perspective, they looked horrible, no different from zombies.

"Don't kill my mother." The little girl tried to hug Xu Lingqu's legs, but was kicked aside by her. After taking back the sword, Xu Lingqu directly beheaded her.

The little girl behind her collapsed and began to curse her: "You are a bunch of inhuman beasts. You killed so many people. Sooner or later, you will go to the eighteenth level of hell."

Law enforcement officers have the power to fight against mutant beasts. They leave the base every day to explore and bring back supplies. However, sometimes some of the supplies they bring back are infected by mutant beasts. Once they are eaten or used, they will turn into infected humans. This kind of thing is inevitable.

In a sense, the infected humans were also born because of the law enforcement officers, even if their original intention was to save people. Even more frustrating is that the infected humans will send signals to the mutant beasts, attracting them to come, so the infected humans must be killed...

In the base, only law enforcement officers have the authority to kill.

So the families of these infected humans hate them.

Xu Lingqu's ears were almost callused from hearing these words. She was unmoved and wanted to raise her hand to take out the tools to report the situation to the central tower, but she found that she had nothing in her hand.

The scene before her eyes twisted and collapsed once again, and fell into darkness once again. A spot of light flickered in her mind, first transforming into a soaring dragon and then into a perfect giant mecha emitting a cold moon-white light.

The giant mecha knelt on one knee and stretched out its hand toward Xu Lingqu, as if a subject was kneeling devoutly to the new king.

The moment she reached out to touch it, the whole world darkened again. When she opened her eyes again, she was still in the testing room. Everything was an illusion brought on by the awakening of her spiritual power and the testing. Sweat beads formed on Xu Lingqu's forehead, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

The scene of doomsday was too real, and the scene of the mecha was too dreamy, making her feel a little lost in the real world for a moment.

When his body almost stopped trembling, Xu Lingqu pushed open the door of the testing instrument. He was about to see what his final level was, but he saw Ms. Gina operating the intelligent computer with a serious expression.

It was obvious that this was a very important matter, so Xu Lingqu cooperated without saying a word. By the time Ms. Gina stood up and looked at her, Xu Lingqu had already dismantled the instrument.

"Miss Lingqu..." Ms. Gina's expression became more serious.

Xu Lingqu subconsciously thought that he had broken the instrument. Just as he was about to check it, Ms. Gina sent a test report to her intelligent brain.

"Your mental power instrument automatically tested you twice... The first time, nothing, the second time..." Her brows furrowed, "It was SS-level..."

This is an unprecedented level of mental power. Previously, there was only S level. After the instrument was improved once, it can measure S+ and S-.

The first time there was no result was probably because the instruments were "confused". The level of double S was unheard of in the entire interstellar era.

Thinking of the giant mecha in her mind just now, Xu Lingqu pursed her lips. The appearance of such a level was not a good thing for her at the moment, and her body was still weak.

Once the military knew her level, they would definitely launch a series of investigations. If anything was found wrong, then she would most likely be studied like an experimental subject in this era.

She was originally a ghost from the apocalyptic era.

Even if he wasn't locked up in a lab, SS-level mental power wasn't something everyone would welcome. Everyone admired geniuses, but once a genius couldn't be used for their own benefit, he became an enemy.

But Xu Lingqu was not willing to "submit" to anyone.

"I just hacked into the military's mental power statistics system and deleted your report." Ms. Gina said calmly.

"You hacked into the military system?" Xu Lingqu was really a little surprised. She originally thought that Ms. Gina was just a capable assistant to Xu Chengbi, but she didn't expect that she could be so capable and omnipotent.

Ms. Gina looked at Xu Lingqu in front of her with a complicated expression.

"Will you report this matter to General Xu Chengbi?" Xu Lingqu asked softly.

Ms. Gina said nothing.

Seeing her reaction, Xu Lingqu had an idea in his mind.

"In fact, you could have kept this a secret from me. You could have just done what you needed to do and told Admiral Xu Chengbi directly. This would have saved you a lot of trouble. But you still chose to tell me. This means that there's still room for discussion between us about whether to reveal this to a third person."

Xu Lingqu was not completely sure what Ms. Gina was thinking. She was completely gambling that if Xu Chengbi knew about this, she would be completely passive.

The thought of killing Gina in front of her flashed through her mind, but was quickly rejected. If it weren't for Gina, the military would probably be on the way to find Xu Lingqu.

Moreover, the follow-up treatment after the murder is even more troublesome. It would be best if it could be resolved in another way.

Gina stood there, looking at the girl in front of her, and the little finger of her right hand couldn't help but twitch. The hesitation in her heart was caught by Xu Lingqu.

She really didn't want to report this matter to Xu Chengbi. First of all, she knew his character. Once Xu Chengbi knew about this, Xu Lingqu would probably never be able to leave the Xu Mansion.

However, her sympathy for this sickly girl, with whom she had only been together for a few days, was not enough to support her hesitation.

What's more, over the years she found that what General Xu actually did was increasingly deviating from what she expected him to do.

This made her begin to doubt whether her loyalty to Xu Chengbi was the right thing to do. Was everything she did in response to Xu Chengbi's orders really in line with her original intention?

"I don't know why you were detected with SS-level mental power... but I know what would happen to you if I leaked it now." Ms. Gina said slowly, "If remaining silent can save lives, I will keep my mouth shut."

After saying this, she felt relieved. This was clearly a betrayal of Xu Chengbi, but she felt relieved that she was not doing anything against her will this time.

"When I have the ability to reach a high enough position, I will do my best to repay you." At present, Xu Lingqu can only paint a pie in the sky for Ms. Gina.

From Gina's answer to her, she could feel Ms. Gina's contradiction. She was a thoughtful and capable person, not a mechanical "death soldier" under General Xu Chengbi.

"I'm looking forward to that day." Ms. Gina smiled. She also knew that Xu Lingqu's actions were purely empty promises. What she wanted to see must be accomplished by an imperial general or even someone more powerful.

Could Xu Lingqu become an Imperial Admiral? Her body was so weak... even going to the military academy would be a stretch. But it was hard to say. Ms. Gina had witnessed the SS-level mental strength test results herself. Perhaps she could actually reach that position?

But that was decades later.

No matter what the future holds, Gina knows in her heart that she does not regret what she did today.