Chapter 11
Seven days later, a small battleship escorted by several patrol ships set out from the Hilda campus, sailed out of the third orbit outside the new planet, and headed for the Dikuang Star 400,000 kilometers away.
"This actual combat exercise has two bonus points systems. In addition to your individual practical points, there's also a group survival score. The top three classes with the most 'survivors' will receive additional points of 30, 20, and 10, respectively. The rest of the bonus points have been transferred to your task controller."
"In addition to identifying the crystal source type for you, the task device will also record your subsequent actions. If an accident occurs, press the emergency button on the task device immediately and report the situation to headquarters through the surveillance camera. We will immediately dispatch an action team for rescue."
"Of course, if someone is cheating, you can also report it through the camera. If it is verified, the reporter will receive 20 extra points."
"The time limit is three days. If you cannot return to the starship within three days, your personal score will be invalidated."
The examiner glanced at the students who were waiting in a state of alert, and issued an order in a resounding voice: "Now, begin!"
"yes!"
One after another, the mechas left the starship and gradually turned into almost invisible dots, disappearing in the vast colors of the earth and stars.
As the name of Dikuang Star suggests, the surface of the star is very empty, covered with gray-brown rocks and various uneven caves. In the depths where those caves converge and intersect, countless crystals are hidden. The huge energy contained in these crystals can be directly used as energy for mechas.
For humans who are short of resources, Dikuang Star is a huge treasure, but just as humans do not know how much crystal source there is in Dikuang Star, the potential crises there are also countless.
Everyone controlled the mecha and followed the main force in the sky. After a while, the squad leader gave a signal, and everyone understood it. They immediately left the main route and landed according to the squad leader's instructions.
They had been divided into teams before landing, basically in pairs. Jiang Xiangyang was still some distance away from the person at the back, watching from afar as the squad leader was explaining the precautions. A few seconds later, another mecha landed next to him.
Hearing the noise coming from the side, Jiang Xiangyang was puzzled at first, then adjusted his vision to the corresponding position, and then saw an inky black mecha and an expressionless man inside the mecha.
Jiang Xiangyang stretched his neck to look and found that there was no one around the other party except him, and he didn't stop here because he was forming a team with anyone.
This time it is not stipulated as a team competition, but partners are still needed. Because there is no collector installed in the mecha, the students need to leave the mecha to collect the crystal source. On the dangerous Dikuang Star, there is no protection of the mecha during the collection process, and accidents are very likely to happen. Having a partner standing by is much easier than collecting alone while being vigilant.
Of course, the prerequisite is a trustworthy partner.
Now is the third year, and the team competition has been held more than ten or twenty times. Most people have already formed partners. However, due to the tight time required for the development, Jiang Xiangyang's schedule does not match that of most students, so there is still no fixed team member. Every time there is a doubles competition, they just put their names on the table and squat on the side, then wait for others to pick them up with a wronged look.
What's worse is that Hilda's team competition not only includes doubles and multi-person competitions, but also class competitions. Because his class is an odd-numbered class, Jiang Xiangyang happened to be the one who went out alone. Before the man transferred in, they couldn't find anyone to form a temporary team.
For some reason, he recalled the events of seven days ago, and his heart felt like it was being tickled by something soft. Inexplicably, Jiang Xiangyang opened the communication channel and connected to the mecha piloted by the man. He cautiously greeted him, "...Hi?"
No response was received.
After waiting for a while, the communication channel was still dead silent. Jiang Xiangyang, who had given up waiting for a response, touched his nose. It was hard to tell whether he was embarrassed or expected.
During the seven days, Jiang Xiangyang's understanding of the man did not increase much. He learned the name Shang Yi from the squad leader because the squad leader had asked the chief instructor for his contact number. It happened that when the chief instructor rejected the squad leader's invitation to group training, he was standing not far away and experienced the squad leader's angry voice firsthand.
That was deafening.
Putting aside the monitor's hot temper, the man also behaved a little differently. In Jiang Xiangyang's impression, Shang Yi must be sleeping on time for every class, and every teacher would pretend not to see it. Even the famous patrol eyes were directly blinded.
The encounter that day seemed to be just a wonderful accident. After that, Jiang Xiangyang never saw the man appear anywhere other than the classroom, including the cafeteria and the campus roads. He was so hidden that it seemed as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth.
Jiang Xiangyang had deliberately paid attention to it because he wanted to thank Shang Yi, but when the other party's whereabouts became a mystery, even the daily interactions in the classroom could be indirectly ignored. The man's presence finally broke through the boundaries of passers-by and hit a new low in the class.
Jiang Xiangyang found that he had ignored Shang Yi several times in the early class and had completely forgotten to say thank you. He felt tired and unhappy.
The little ball was pulling at his sleeve. Jiang Xiangyang lowered his head and just happened to hear a word coming from the communication channel.
"Um."
Hmm? Hmm what?
It took a long time to react to the flashing communication signal. Jiang Xiangyang widened his eyes slightly and quickly turned his head to look at Shang Yi's expression. However, Shang Yi was still looking ahead, as if what he had just heard was just Jiang Xiangyang's illusion.
Jiang Xiangyang rubbed his face in frustration, thinking about it to the point of having auditory hallucinations.
He kept his face in a weird posture and looked over casually, only to find that Shang Yi tilted his head slightly, and stared at him with his dark eyes, which seemed to be embellished with a faint smile. In the blink of an eye, he looked as cold as ice again.
Jiang Xiangyang quietly and slowly lowered his hand, then coughed lightly and asked seriously into the communication channel, "The terrain on Dikuang Star is complex, and it might not be safe to go alone... Do you want to form a team?"
This time, Jiang Xiangyang didn't have to wait long. A man's voice came from the communication channel: "Okay."
Jiang Xiangyang: "Okay, by the way, I just happened to read some information about Dikuang Star recently, and I know a few places with high crystal source content. If you are not familiar with the way, I can lead the way later."
The man paused, but didn't refuse: "Well, thank you for your help."
After the brief communication, Jiang Xiangyang slowly turned his gaze back to the class group that was beginning to disperse.
The little ball asked curiously, "Yangyang, your face has been so red since just now. Why?"
"...It's too stuffy in the mecha."
"But the oxygen level is—"
"Ahhh why are all the others gone? Please help me analyze the situation of each hole. Thank you, darling!"
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