"How can you be like this? You were behind Shui Yiyue just now, and you didn't protect her back properly, yet you're still so self-righteous?" Yi Jun frowned in displeasure.
"Xi Yao, you didn't know that mental energy recovers slowly after being depleted? We're only in the first stage of the assessment, and you've already made an A-level student release their mental energy without reservation. Do you know what that means?"
"I..." Meeting Lian Han's icy gaze, a chill ran through Xi Yao's heart, and her voice faltered.
Lian Han looked away, his harmless and easygoing demeanor returning. "Alright, my injuries aren't serious. Time is limited, let's go."
Yi Jun sighed, "This young lady has such a good temper." Careless and shirking responsibility, if it were her, she definitely wouldn't have given Xi Yao a kind look.
Upon hearing the address Yi Jun, Lian Han raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "Yi Jun, actually—I'm only nineteen years old."
"What? Nineteen!" Xi Yao's voice rose a decibel. A nineteen-year-old A-level?!
How are others supposed to live? Xi Yao subconsciously looked at Yi Jun, who was looking at Lian Han. "I'm twenty-five this year."
That's more like it. Xi Yao then looked at Fan Tu, "Brother Fan Tu, what about you?"
“Twenty-one.” Li Yingmo glanced at Lai He and Ye Ying as he said this. If they knew that this girl had reached S-rank at sixteen, they would be incredibly surprised.
Xi Yao, who just turned twenty-seven a few days ago: ... She's too embarrassed to mention her age anymore.
Shui Yiyue's talent is no less than her younger sister's. Thinking of how that person was lucky enough to gain the clan's attention and be able to study at Diluo, Xi Yao unconsciously clenched her hands—she was unwilling to accept it.
"Alright, it's not fully light yet, let's rest a bit more." Lian Han didn't seem to care much about their amazement.
Shui Yiyue was valued by the Shui family, so she must have some talent, although—she was still far inferior to herself.
Xing Yucheng, sensing her narcissistic thoughts, was about to mock her, but then he remembered how the girl had almost been driven mad by her senior brother. Oh well, even participating in a selection process gets disrupted; this girl has it tough.
As for why Lian Han immediately made an appointment to see Jing Li when Jing Li called her—she had made appointments before, but Jing Li had never paid attention to her, so she assumed the other party was busy. She just didn't expect that this matter was actually a threat against her.
"Yes, you go and rest first. I'll take over the night watch now." This is the second night of the selection process; they must enter the base tomorrow...
"Oh ho! That girl is being ostracized, huh!" Zuo Liuteng said in a tone that seemed to thrive on chaos.
“It’s normal for armor makers to be mutually exclusive, but A-rank and B-rank, comrades and comrades… this girl named Xi Yao isn’t quite right in the head,” Xia Guo said.
"Team Leader Xia seems to really value another girl!" Luo Houyang said with a probing tone.
Xia Guo looked at him and asked, "So, Captain Luo, who do you think is in charge of this team?"
Luo Houyang frowned. Because of Xia Guo's attention to this team, he had also paid some attention. "Is it Yi Jun?"
“It’s Shui Yiyue,” Xia Guo said, his tone teasing. “Don’t jump to conclusions. Captain Luo should look at this girl’s information before answering.”
Luo Houyang's face darkened upon hearing the disdain in Xia Guo's words, but he knew that Xia Guo was of higher status and had greater foresight than him. So he pulled out the contestants' information and quickly found the one about Shui Yiyue.
Upon seeing the words "the Xing Shui family of the capital," Luo Houyang smiled contemptuously. Wasn't that the cursed family, with a 99% chance of dying in 2S and no chance of dying in 3S? What future could Shui Yiyue have coming from such a family?
But his smile quickly faded, because the next line of text stated that she was the only daughter of Shui Bingdie, the head of the Shui family, and would inevitably inherit the position of family head.
Moreover, Shui Yiyue is only nineteen years old and at an A level. Once she becomes the family head, isn't breaking through to 2S a certainty? No power would ever have too many 2S-level experts. Old Li also...
There was another line that read, "My boyfriend is Fan Tu."
Who your boyfriend is and what does it have to do with them? When did contestants' profiles start including these kinds of strange things? Luo Houyang frowned. "Who is Fan Tu?"
Xia Guo pointed to the young man lying and resting in the desert on the screen, "It's him."
Luo Houyang: ...It's such a coincidence that a couple was paired up? These two really kept it a secret.
"Perhaps it's not a coincidence," Xia Guo said lazily, glancing at him.
Not a coincidence? Could it be—for a moment, Luo Houyang's mind was filled with nothing but "Holy crap!" It was Zuo Liuteng, the bystander. No wonder Xia Guo thought highly of her; she had no choice but to. That group was the main target of the plan's observation; who knows what might happen next…
On the final day, Lian Han's gaze swept over Li Yingmo, a mocking smile playing on her lips. She had finally found a chance to tell Li Yingmo that death during the selection process meant real death, but unfortunately, he didn't believe her. However, this was also partly due to her own refusal to reveal the reason.
It doesn't matter if Li Yingmo doesn't believe it; it's enough that she believes it. Lian Han is currently consulting the old man about the previous generation of Skynet's main brain. According to what was mentioned in history class, if the Skynet main brain died back then, it would either spend half a month in the medical pod or, in more unfortunate cases, simply die.
The war with the Zerg intensified, and the Federation's high command unanimously agreed that dying on Skynet was too much of a drain on humanity's fighting strength, thus initiating the Skynet Reform. It's said that this reform cost the Federation 70% of its outstanding geniuses, and the situation only improved slightly in the last century after figures like Lord Juecheng and General Ning emerged. But no one considered the sacrifices of that reform too great; she still remembered her history teacher speaking with great admiration about the wisdom of that generation's leaders…
[So why did that reform back then result in so many deaths?]
[Because that generation of Skynet's mainframe developed its own consciousness.]
Lian Han: [?! That's impossible! Any intelligence operates according to a predetermined program; how could it have its own consciousness?]
The old man said quietly, "[People thought the same way back then, so they didn't hide the idea of Skynet's overhaul from the Mainframe. But on the day the Federation required all Skynet users to log off, the Mainframe suddenly attacked, destroying all the overhaul data. Many users who hadn't logged off in time were forever trapped on Skynet. That's when people realized that Skynet had developed its own consciousness, and that Skynet's consciousness wouldn't allow itself to be replaced by another SkyKing.]"
Lian Han remained silent. Old Man Xing spoke calmly, but she could almost imagine how cruel and terrifying the scene must have been.
[What should have been a one-day innovation took three whole years because of Skynet's challenge. During those three years, people practically regressed to a primitive state, afraid to touch either Skynet or the AI. Therefore, now, every form of intelligence is bound by even more stringent programs.]
[And what about this time?]
[I've reviewed relevant historical materials at the Imperial Library. The previous generation of Skynet was completely eradicated; there's no possibility of it resurfacing. However, it can't be ruled out that someone used data from the previous Skynet to extend and improve it, leading to the current situation. One thing is certain: the creator of this miracle definitely has ill intentions. We've probably fallen into some kind of conspiracy.]
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