June 1, 2888 of the Star Calendar.
It was a sunny day with not a single cloud in sight. The azure sky looked like a quiet, clear lake on the top of a snow-capped mountain. It was soft and pure, emitting a magnificent light in the breeze.
The much-anticipated inter-school league slowly kicked off on this day.
Gu Qiongsheng and his teammates walked into the examination room and were shocked by the huge crowds of people that came their way - there were people everywhere, a huge black mass that formed a huge tide, and the noise was as chaotic as a vegetable market.
"So many people?"
Carefully squeezing through the crowd, Gu Qiongsheng looked around for a moment and couldn't help but exclaim in amazement: "What a grand gesture."
These are just students from one competition area.
While Tianyuan Star might not be large, it was still a complete planet, home to countless universities. In the past, not every school was eligible to participate in the league, but this time, the Federation, presumably desperately short of talent, waved its hand and gave everyone a chance.
As a result, there was a scene of huge crowds of people in front of everyone.
The students from Class F had rarely seen such a grand scene, and they felt a little uncomfortable listening to the constant noise.
Even the usually lively Tan Yao frowned and complained irritably, "There are too many people. Let's go to the side, where there's more space."
Several people then began to walk to the side.
There were a few people sitting in the shade of the tree at the edge.
Lu Yuanji picked up a leaf from the ground out of boredom, and ground it into crumbs bit by bit with his fingertips. Finally, he let go of his hand, and the fine crumbs were blown away by the wind.
He was extremely bored. Looking at the crowded crowd, he said with some dissatisfaction, "Why don't you go to the front?"
"In every sense, we are both the number one seed of Yuancheng High School. We should be in the center position, right?"
Zhao Qingke nodded repeatedly on the side.
That's right, she had finally squeezed into the strongest team of Yuancheng High School, and only the front row of the crowd was the most suitable position for them. Now she was squeezed in the corner like this, which was too embarrassing.
It’s a pity that neither of them has the final say in this team.
Under the tree, a young man in a black turtleneck sweater leaned against the trunk, his eyes closed, resting. After hearing Lu Yuanji's words, he slowly opened his eyes, a cold light shimmering in his dark pupils: "No, it's too noisy up ahead."
Lu Yuanji tried to persuade them: "Let's make some noise, it's the same here. Besides, we are the well-known No. 1 seed team, hiding in a corner, as if we are afraid of others..."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted impatiently by the young man in black: "Why are you talking so much nonsense? Anyway, I'm not going. If you want to go, go by yourself."
“…”
A feeling of annoyance welled up in Lu Yuanji's heart.
"Ling Kaixuan, could you please stop being so lonely?"
"We've been training for a month now, and we're about to compete as teammates. What's wrong with you considering other people's feelings?"
"Heh," Ling Kaixuan sneered, his tone merciless, "Teammate, you?"
"Forget it, Lu Yuanji, stop flattering yourself. If the competition rules didn't require you to participate as a team, how could I possibly team up with trash like you?"
"I beg you, please stop bothering me. Even during the game, I'll be responsible for defeating the opposing team. Just mind yourselves and don't hold me back."
Lu Yuanji: “…”
After saying these words, Ling Kaixuan closed his eyes and continued to rest under the tree.
Lu Yuanji stood there, suppressing the rage in his heart, his fists almost clenched.
Zhao Qingke had already disappeared.
She is very smart and never takes the lead.
The fifth teammate is a shy boy from the defense department. He is quite skilled, but comes from an ordinary family and is shorter than anyone else on the team.
He didn't dare to interrupt at this moment, and just counted the ants on the ground.
Sheng Zhang just stood aside and watched the show.
He was not angry at being classified as "trash". Instead, he seemed to find it very interesting to see Lu Yuanji being humiliated, and hummed a cheerful tune.
Lu Yuanji: “…”
What kind of crappy teammates are these!
Huh... Don't be angry, don't be angry. Lu Yuanji tried hard to convince himself in his heart that although these people have different personalities, they are all strong enough.
Especially Ling Kaixuan, he really is a long and thick thigh. If he can just barely get through these few days, he will be able to take first place and get the special recruitment spot that his father requested...
Then he turned around.
I happened to see Gu Qiongsheng's team walking towards the tree, talking and laughing.
The two teams were caught off guard and made eye contact.
When Lu Yuanji saw how happy Gu Qiongsheng and his group were, the anger in his heart suddenly surged up again.
"Hey, isn't this Miss Gu from Class F?" He asked in a strange tone, "You're here with your friends for sightseeing, why didn't you even say hello to your old classmates?"
Gu Qiongsheng turned around in surprise.
The young man in front of her looked familiar, but she couldn't remember who he was for a moment, so she blurted out, "Who are you?"
Lu Yuanji: “…”
Sheng Zhang next to him couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Gu Qiongsheng immediately realized that something was wrong, the person in front of him was obviously an acquaintance of the original owner.
Although she inherited the original owner's memory, her cognitive habits were still her own. This was her first time meeting Lu Yuanji after traveling through time, so she felt both familiar and unfamiliar.
"I'm sorry," Gu Qiongsheng said with an apologetic smile, frantically digging through the original owner's memories, "I remember... uh, classmate Lu?"
Lu Yuanji's face turned even darker.
Sheng Zhang was almost laughing out loud. He slapped the tree trunk with his right hand, causing the branches and leaves to fall. "Hahahaha, Brother Lu is calling you Classmate Lu, hahahaha!"
"Shut up!"
Lu Yuanji's forehead veins bulged, and he stared at Gu Qiongsheng with a stern expression: "Why are you Class F joining in the fun? Wouldn't it be better for you to just go to the desolate planet and pick up trash? Are you qualified to participate in the inter-school league? Aren't you afraid of being embarrassed?"
The words came out like a machine gun, attracting the attention of people around.
Gu Qiongsheng looked at him strangely: "Well...what does it have to do with you what's going on with us?"
She finally remembered that the man in front of her could barely be considered her childhood friend, but they had been at odds since childhood, fighting openly and covertly. But just two months ago, this man, as if he had taken gunpowder, suddenly looked at the original owner's nose as if it wasn't a nose, and her eyes as if they weren't eyes.
It's the same now, he just jumps out for no reason and starts making a fuss.
"Whether our team wins or loses, I think... it can't be more embarrassing than biting people like a mad dog in public, right?"
Lu Yuanji's face gradually turned pale, and then turned dark blue.
"You fucking——" He glared at Gu Qiongsheng fiercely, "Your father is nothing but a rebel——"
“Ding—Quiet!!!”
A deep and serious voice came from the floating broadcast above the stadium.
The noise in the venue was suppressed, and the students looked up, gazing at the sky with a hint of anticipation and nervousness.
The voice said sternly, "The match is about to begin. Everyone, enter in an orderly manner. You will all be soldiers on the battlefield in the future. You should understand the importance of discipline. Don't let me see anyone crowding or arguing. Otherwise, no matter the reason, you will all be eliminated!"
The whole audience was silent.
Lu Yuanji's words got stuck in his throat halfway through his shouting, like a duck with its neck strangled.
"whispering sound."
Ling Kaixuan folded his arms and let out a clear sneer from behind.
Lu Yuanji's expression became even uglier.
But even if he had ten guts, he didn't dare to continue arguing with Gu Qiongsheng at this time, so Lu Yuanji lowered his voice in annoyance: "Just wait."
After saying that, he followed the team and hurried towards the entrance.
Looking at their backs as they left, Zhou Qing and Han Tianming's faces looked unhappy, and Tan Yao had an expression as if he was about to punch his fist. If Weng Wei hadn't pulled him back, he would have kicked Lu Yuanji on the back.
"Don't pull me!" Tan Yao was furious. "What a jerk!"
Weng Wei smiled bitterly, "Don't be impulsive. Didn't the broadcast just say that arguing is not allowed? Let's see who's really good on the field."
He turned around and looked at Gu Qiongsheng eagerly: "Isn't that right, Captain?"
"team leader?"
"……Um."
Gu Qiongsheng stared at Lu Yuanji's back, his expression was not as gentle as before, and there was a cool light flashing in his beautiful amber eyes.
When she heard what Lu Yuanji said just now, her hair stood on end and her heartbeat stopped for a moment.
Others don't understand, but she knows it very well.
The sentence that Lu Yuanji didn’t finish saying... was “criminal against humanity”.
It was like a fire, burning hot, igniting Gu Qiongsheng's chest.
She looked normal on the surface, but she was already filled with anger in her heart.
To prevent disrupting military morale, the Dawn Corps investigation was kept secret from the public, so the students were largely unaware of it. Lu Yuanji, whose father held a high position of power, was the only one who might have heard some of the rumors.
But those are still under investigation!
Nothing is finalized yet!
What basis does Lu Yuanji have and how dare he bring up this matter?
Gu Qiongsheng had never been this angry since she'd traveled through time. It wasn't just her own anger that was raging; it felt like another soul within her was trembling with rage, a thrill like electricity coursing through her limbs and bones that made her entire body tense.
"Let's go."
Gu Qiongsheng lowered his voice so that his teammates wouldn't notice anything.
But she made up her mind quietly in secret.
——If we face Lu Yuanji’s team in this match, we must beat that guy up and let him know that there is always someone better than you!
…
The first round of the competition is a knowledge competition in the liberal arts category.
The competition venue was a building hundreds of stories high. Students were divided into groups, and intelligent robots led them to different rooms. Gu Qiongsheng pushed open the door and saw five neatly arranged simulation cabins.
She was stunned for a moment.
“Will the liberal arts competition also be held online?”
The intelligent robot replied, "Yes. To more comprehensively test students' knowledge depth and practical skills, this competition will be conducted in the form of an online simulation, with advanced AI providing full follow-up and scoring. Now, please enter the simulation cabin—"
All right.
Gu Qiongsheng nodded.
She turned around and extended her hand to her teammates: "Come on, give me a high five."
"come on!!"
Several people lay down in the simulation cabin.
The controller automatically connected to the star network and transported their spirit bodies to a small white room.
In front of him was a light screen half the size of a wall, on which lines of densely packed small characters slowly appeared:
【Welcome Candidate Team-A1056】
This competition uses a timed answering system. Please complete as many questions as possible within four hours. Each question has a different score, so please plan your time accordingly.
The competition features a team leaderboard. You can check your team's ranking as the competition progresses. After the competition concludes, the top 20 teams will automatically become "Elite Teams," receive a guaranteed 10 points toward the Alliance Exam, and continue to compete for special recruitment spots in subsequent competitions.
[Among the remaining teams, the top 1% can still participate in subsequent competitions, but the bonus points earned by individuals in the alliance exam cannot exceed 20 points.]
[Exam start countdown: 09:59:03…]
After reading the rules, they looked at each other and saw seriousness and caution in each other's eyes.
It’s different from the 40% rule Qin Yuan mentioned!
But its importance is unquestionable. If you cannot squeeze into the 1%, you will not even have the opportunity to participate in subsequent competitions; if you cannot rank in the top 20, you can only get 20 bonus points at most, and you can't even get a chance to get a special recruitment quota.
"Finishing 100 questions in four hours?" Zhou Qing pondered. "That seems like plenty of time."
Tan Yao frowned and said, "That's not necessarily true. It depends on the question. Some difficult questions may not be solved in four hours."
Gu Qiongsheng touched his chin, his eyes flickering. "So... making reasonable choices is also part of the competition?"
"And there's this ranking setting where you can check your ranking at any time? This is going to crush all the students."
The designer is despicable.
"The rules are so strict, I can only give it my all." Gu Qiongsheng took a deep breath and closed his eyes slightly. "There are still 10 minutes left. Let's take a break and recharge our batteries."
"If we don't want to be eliminated in the first round, we have to at least break into the top 1%. If we want more, we have to compete with all the geniuses on Tianyuan Star to get into the top 20..."
As she spoke, she opened her eyes again and smiled gently at her teammates.
"Don't worry, I believe we can do it."
…
The top floor of the building.
The sunlight shines through the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows, spreading light and heat freely. The soundproof glass has good performance, separating a world of silence from the hustle and bustle.
The only sound in the air was the rustling sound of the pen tip hitting the white paper.
Even in the interstellar age, some people still prefer primitive recording methods. They believe that writing and calculation can help them stimulate their thinking and achieve breakthroughs faster.
But... judging from the frown on the man behind the table, his calculation results were obviously not satisfactory.
After an unknown amount of time, the man put down his pen, stared at the densely packed string of formulas on the white paper in front of him, and fell into a long silence.
“…No, no, it’s still not right!”
He tore up the formula that took him most of the day to write, crumpled it into pieces in disappointment and anger, and threw it to the ground beside him.
The cleaning robot did its duty diligently, quickly moving forward with its small broom and cleaning up all the debris.
The garbage storage area was already filled with similar scraps of paper.
"How exactly can we resolve the irreversible wear caused by the conversion of psychokinetic drive and mecha energy? And then there's the embedded correction logic for the neuron links... Damn, there are still too many difficulties."
The man took off his black-framed glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly.
The object he had been holding in his hand flashed in the sunlight - it was a blue ball that functioned like a USB port, capable of storing analog information and helping the owner perform calculations anytime and anywhere.
I recorded this incorrect deduction in the blue ball and recorded a few new problems I encountered. The blue ball made a "beep" sound and displayed: [Memory Full]
"Is this all?" the man threw the USB drive aside in a state of annoyance. "It's only been a few days, and already so many questions have piled up..."
The man felt powerless when he thought of the densely packed "problems to be solved" in the basketball USB.
He slumped in his seat, his hands hanging limply on the back of the chair, looking up at the blue sky outside the floor-to-ceiling window, and gradually became lost in thought.
“Squeak—”
The door was gently pushed open, and a young man cautiously poked his head in: "Professor Wei?"
"The first round of competition is about to begin, you see..."
"Whatever, anything is fine." Wei Lan came back to his senses and waved his hands irritably, "Didn't I tell you not to bother me?"
The young man hesitated a bit, "But Professor, you are the chief examiner appointed by the Federal Parliament."
"This assessment is also mainly aimed at selecting students with specialties in mecha operation, in preparation for the future selection of mind-powered mecha warriors..."
Hearing him mention the words "mental drive", Wei Lan's brows suddenly frowned, and a clearly visible gloomy color flashed in his eyes.
The man was silent for a long time and then he sighed deeply.
"Jiang Yuanliang, how long have you been following me?"
"ah?"
The young man looked up in confusion, not understanding what his instructor was talking about, but he still said cooperatively, "Three years."
Wei Lan lowered his head: "Is that so? Three years is not a short time. What do you think of me?"
Jiang Yuanliang stood up straight, as if struck by something out of nowhere. "Professor, you're a genius. You've always been at a level we can't even begin to reach. Although I've been doing research with you, you've always been the one to overcome the key points, including now. The fact that psychokinetic mechas can finally see the light of day is invaluable to you, Professor..."
"Okay, stop flattering me."
Wei Lan shook his head helplessly, then sighed, "It's said to have been developed, but it's only a semi-finished product. Countless difficulties need to be overcome before it can be truly put into large-scale use... Forget it, I'll deduce it again, and you can take the test questions and import them into the AI."
Jiang Yuanliang was stunned for a moment: "But Professor, you are the chief examiner——"
"Just go when you're told to," Wei Lan said unhappily, "It's just a test question, it doesn't matter who does it."
"Go, go, go, hurry out and don't bother me. I've already finished half of the equation in this time."
Jiang Yuanliang had a bitter face.
But seeing that his mentor was listless and looked unhappy, he knew that the professor's research had reached a critical juncture again, so he said nothing more, but just quietly walked to the table and picked up the basketball USB.
——Hmm, why are there two?
Jiang Yuanliang glanced at Wei Lan in confusion, and seeing that the man had immersed himself in highly concentrated calculations again, he shook his head helplessly.
A professor in this state must not be disturbed. If his train of thought is interrupted, getting furious would be the least of his worries.
Moreover, the professor is currently working on overcoming important challenges. His efficiency and progress will directly determine the time it takes for the mind-powered mecha project to be implemented.
The Zerg will not wait, and humans cannot wait either. Wei Lan has been calculating almost day and night for some time, and he knows this very well.
Jiang Yuanliang thought to himself that he could not become a sinner of mankind.
As for the two blue balls——
"They should have separated the low-difficulty question banks into high-difficulty question banks. I just need to import them all into the AI system."
He hesitated for only a moment before grabbing both blue USBs in his hands and turning to walk out of the room.
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