48 4.10

By the time Chen Yu and Hou Yi climbed out from their trench, the planet's two moons were shining, the air was crisp and cold. Walking leisurely across the sand dunes, the two chatted about this and that, unaware of the scornful comments the network's audience was directing at them.

"What top students, these are clearly just lazy bums ah, look at them sleeping while the others are trying so hard. That Jin Jia brat really doesn't disappoint, hanging around with scum exactly like himself!"

A more informed person refuted, "Don't you know that the other boy's General Hou's son? He's a pretty famous strategy genius, obviously he's only acting like this because Jin Yongguang is dragging him down."

"Hey hey, if he's a tactician, doesn't that mean this is a ploy? Then that's even more despicable! Since they don't dare fight with their peers directly, they're going to hide until the rest are tired from dealing with each other then ambush them?"

Such derisive speculations ran rampant, the public was so incensed by this pair that they didn't notice the condition of the rest of the students.

Those 'hard-working' teenagers had indeed bravely borne the heat to push forward, but in the end, they had either collapsed or given up to hide in their mecha a short time later.

Furthermore, besides the hot temperatures, the students had already become worried about supplies.

Despite the fact that everyone had packed containers of water as well as dried nutrition packs due to the academy's drills on preparation, many of them had realized from the mission's start that the amount that they could fit in their storage space was too limited. Even if they gave up on eating during the trial, hydration couldn't be neglected, particularly after sweating so much.

As for natural resources, they weren't confident enough in their ability to differentiate the good from the bad. Of course, the students had memorized survival skills necessary for any environment, they even had experience securely navigating jungles, cities, oceans, but the Federation's advanced geo-forming technology made it almost impossible to actually encounter such a barren environment like Planet Z83. Most planets that weren't conducive to human life would be renovated completely before regular people could step foot on it.

Thus, the textbook knowledge the students had about wastelands was very difficult to apply in reality, and without practical insight, they couldn't judge how to behave.

Because of their imprudence, Chen Yu barely traveled a few hours before he spotted a crowd of mecha stuck in the ground, with dazed or unconscious pilots.

Some of the hardier students had left their stuffy cockpits to explore their surroundings, successfully discovering some thorny fronds and cactus-like plants. Believing that these were valuable things since the weakest members among them had been used as guinea pigs and hadn't shown any adverse reactions yet, several teams were gathered around a pile of the spoils, arguing on how to divide them.

Seeing him and Hou Yi approach, almost all of them vigilantly guarded the hoard, while a few jeered, "Finally decided to put some effort in? Too bad we've cleared out this area, there's nothing left for you!"

But one of the girls who'd long admired Jin Yongguang felt that he was really too pitiful, being harassed like this when he was completely innocent. Therefore, after a brief hesitation, she offered the cactus she'd been about to drink from, holding it up toward his mecha's cockpit area instead. "Yongguang, many of the others have tried this, they said it has water inside. Are you thirsty?"

Chen Yu raised his eyebrows.

Although he hadn't planned to interfere with their brainless antics, he probably shouldn't abandon such a faithful child, even if he had to help these idiots live a bit longer in the process.

After all, Chen Yu's objective in this assessment was to showcase how good-natured and talented he was. While the beneficiary's identity didn't matter, he was pleased that the person he would assist was quite strong, someone who could withstand fatigue and also could defy public opinion. "En, thank you, but you shouldn't drink the water from these plants, it'll make you sick."

The girl frowned, about to reassure him that there hadn't been any issue so far, when Hou Yi slipped his mecha between them and politely rejected her on Ah Guang's behalf again.

Once she had withdrawn her ugly plant, he pulled Ah Guang a few steps away, congratulating himself on having provided each of them with one of the military's water distillation membranes, which soaked up water from the air and filtered it. Standing by as that girl flirted with Ah Guang had been hard enough, if she had actually presented a viable source of water and he hadn't had an alternative prepared, he would have had to watch Ah Guang accept it.

Rather confused, the girl ignored the mocking comments about being turned down, wondering whether Jin Yongguang was mistaken. The public similarly thought that the boy was making a fuss for no reason, but their criticism was shoved down their throats when retching noises sounded from their screens. Turning around, the girl found to her surprise that the people who'd been greedily sucking out all the liquid from the cacti were rolling around, holding their stomachs.

Those civilians who were watching remotely were somewhat surprised, this Jin Yongguang wasn't as stupid or as spiteful as they'd thought, at least he'd correctly recognized a threat and warned the same peers who'd been ridiculing him. Nevertheless, their unfavorable perception of him had merely lessened a tad, his image firmly remained that of a traitor's son.

The other students' communicators couldn't catch a signal on this undeveloped planet, but Chen Yu had long modified his personal terminal to slip into the military's network, he could see the comments scrolling along. He faintly smiled. Although there was still another day until Murong Wen's gift would arrive, this wasn't a bad time to set the stage.

So an uncertain message appeared among the comments, gradually gathering a great deal of interest. "My brother's a captain in the First Division, he got drunk a while ago and said something about how even though Jin Yongguang helped catch the traitors, he was still thrown away by the military. I thought it was nonsense, but seeing the boy's personality, maybe it's possible?"

No one paid this any attention until another person responded, "What, so he went undercover then got lumped together with Jin Jia after the news was released? If that's true, he's just a poor kid!"

The loyalists couldn't stand this, of course they protested. "Would our military do something so dishonorable? If that happened, he would've come forward, not kept silent. The two above, are you spies as well, hoping to sow some dissension?!"

The more practical viewers corrected, "Even if the military did do that, it's not dishonorable. The only reason he would have to suffer an injustice is because he's too weak, so he can't complain!"

Chen Yu merely glanced at the continuing debate, then refocused on the disgusting scene in front of him. The teenagers were huddled down, shrill whines sounded as their stomachs were flipped inside out.

Although he didn't want to stay in such a place for long, this was a competition so he wouldn't spare them solely for the sake of comfort. Leaping down from his mecha, he drew near, his proximity forced the brats to suppress their pain and jump up warily.

Chen Yu wrinkled his nose. Since he wanted to escape this unpleasant stench as soon as possible, he forthrightly stated, "I'm here for your keys."

A boy who hadn't drunk so much and therefore was better off than the rest gritted his teeth and staggered toward him. "Huh, Jin Yongguang, how can you be so thick-skinned, don't you see what condition we're in? How can you unfairly demand a fight now?"

Scratching his head, Chen Yu asked, "Oh, I thought not using my mecha was enough of a compromise. Then...what way would be fair?"

The several factions exchanged glances, they knew that they had to cooperate for now. "A fight with all of us together versus you!"

Rolling his eyes, Chen Yu grinned, rather eager to try out melee combat. "Why don't you go wake up everyone in this area, and we can do however many people you can rouse up versus Hou Yi and me?"

The team leaders calculated silently, there were more than fifty of their companions still in their mecha, altogether they would have more than eighty people. Although Hou Yi and Jin Yongguang were very good, the rest of the academy's students weren't vegetarians either. Moreover, there might never again be such a good chance to take out the top contenders for first place.

Having considered various factors, eventually the crowd agreed, and naturally Hou Yi didn't object, he promptly dropped down to stand next to Ah Guang.

In this way, a mob faced off against two slender boys.

Despite the fatigued appearance of the students who had just gotten up, the sheer difference in numbers impressed the people watching. Since Jin Yongguang dared to take on such a challenge, they put aside his family history, they approved of his guts. Thus, instead of cheering for either side, they simply demanded a bloody mess, whoever won would be their hero!

Because both Jin Yongguang and Hou Yi's hand-to-hand combat skills were well-known, the group was cautious, they swarmed between the pair then split up roughly in half to surround each separately, so that they couldn't coordinate their attacks.

These children were insignificant to Hou Yi, who had trained with soldiers for years. Gazing calmly at the hits aiming at him from every angle, once the targets were close enough, he crouched down to sweep his long leg around, tripping the clumsier ones among them and blocking up those behind them as well. Whenever people actually reached him, he cleanly disposed of them with one hit, then shattered their ribs so that he didn't have to deal with them twice.

Whereas Hou Yi was efficiently eliminating his enemies, Jin Yongguang was skipping around them mischievously, as if this wasn't an academy trial but a playground game of tag.

A team of three boys dashed straight at Jin Yongguang, signaling the rest of their allies to close in as well. Leaping forward to meet them, Chen Yu nimbly wove around to their backs, seized the hair of the two on the sides, and crashed their heads into their leader's; the people who'd been trying to strike Jin Yongguang from the back couldn't stop in time, they accidentally trampled on the collapsed group.

Having relished the sight of their collision, Chen Yu turned toward the human wall and dashed forward, jumping off the ground to shove his landing foot into someone's stomach. While that boy was still coughing and falling backwards, Chen Yu used the speed he had gained from the boost to bounce off another person's torso, then continued whipping around by rebounding off chests, shoulders, stomachs, his feet didn't touch the ground for several minutes at a time.

As he whirled through the crowd and left behind a trail of toppled bodies, Chen Yu laughed, this was so fun! Exercising with Hou Yi was very exciting, but their struggles tended to take place in close quarters, requiring every technique he knew. On the other hand, although these kids were easy to knock down with just a light hop, there were so many of them, it was almost as if he wouldn't run out of playmates...

If his peers knew Jin Yongguang's evaluation of them, perhaps they would vomit blood. What 'light hop,' what 'playmates,' he was clearly cracking them apart and torturing them, alright?

But all good things must come to an end, unconscious and broken bodies littered the ground in neat circles around two upright figures. Seeing this, the viewers couldn't close their mouths, their eyes were fanatical. Wow, one was like a precise machine, the other a dazzling ray of light, the styles were very different but they blended perfectly, forming a violent dance together.

The Federation prioritized strength first and foremost, so people immediately burst out in praise.

"Who said Jin Yongguang didn't get the top ranking with his skills, come out, I promise not to hurt you!"

"General Hou's son also isn't a joke, did you see how he made it so that his opponents couldn't get back up again? And that gentle expression, so ruthless, so cool!"

"Wow wow, I don't care who his parents are, Jin Yongguang is too brilliant, too cute, I'm drooling!"

A cynic burst their bubble, however, pointing out, "If he's in cahoots with the Empire, his talent will be used against us, you idiots," but this had no effect on their enthusiasm, the public's impression of Jin Yongguang had unknowingly transformed from the moment he'd laughed like a child while purely enjoying the battle.

"Hey, don't be too harsh on him, didn't you notice how simple-minded he is, he's just a kid at heart. What would he betray us for? Also, if he was really a traitor, would the general's son be so close to him? Look how he's sticking to Yongguang!"

Indeed, Hou Yi, who had been patiently waiting on the side for Ah Guang to have his fill of these outsiders long after he'd finished his half of their competitors, had walked over as soon as he'd noticed the match was over. Cleaning the blood off of Ah Guang's smiling face, he asked mildly, "Was it fun?"

Chen Yu nodded heartily, that had been very good, he'd stretched out his muscles thoroughly. Pounding out some human patties somehow pleased him in a fresh way, Chen Yu hummed, perhaps the original owner's hobbies were worth taking up.

Hou Yi gently grasped Ah Guang's hands to clean the slender fingers, lowering his eyes. "How was it compared to fighting with me?"

"En, it was interesting, we usually spar with techniques, but this time I only had to bounce around a bit." Feeling the grip on his wrist tighten, Chen Yu grinned, "Of course just dueling any of them alone wouldn't be anything compared to training with you."

Hou Yi's mood lightened, curling up the corners of his lips, he murmured, "That's right, you're the best for me as well."

Once he was satisfied that Ah Guang didn't have anyone else's blood on him anymore, the two ordered the intact students to gather up the mecha keys and left for the next gathering of their peers.

The girl who'd offered the cactus had been spared much of the abuse during the melee, she peered after them zealously. Her devotion to Yongguang was deeper than ever, but her passion particularly burned for this ship, she secretly prayed that Hou Yi would attack soon!