Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

After Aoi Dan entered her house without looking back, Ruo Manni frowned.

Judging by Aoi Dan’s expression, she had no remorse or guilt for her poisonous scheme to harm Ruo Manni. In fact, when she saw that Ruo Manni was fine, a trace of disappointment even flashed in her eyes. This showed that Aoi Dan was truly ruthless and cruel.

Such a heartless person, who had already developed a murderous intent, wouldn’t stop just because her plan failed. Instead, she would likely devise another sinister plot after the first one failed.

Having a neighbor who wanted to kill her for profit was a real headache for Ruo Manni. Her cultivation level was still too low. Even if she were to get accepted into Xuan Gu First Military Academy, it would be at least six months before she could leave Topaz Star. Who knows what other schemes Aoi Dan might concoct during that time?

Ruo Manni was grateful that Teresa Du was clever and willing to spend a lot of money to customize a highly capable robot butler. Coupled with the public protection provided by Captain Lin, Aoi Dan didn’t dare directly harm Ruo Manni and could only plot against her in secret.

Currently, Ruo Manni’s mind was sharp, and as long as she stayed cautious, she wouldn’t fall for Aoi Dan’s tricks. For now, she was relatively safe on Topaz Star. However, when she went to another planet for school without Captain Lin’s protection, Aoi Dan might become even more audacious.

As Ruo Manni thought about this, she closed the door and walked to the community’s flying car platform to wait for her pre-booked ride.

The flying car arrived on time, and Ruo Manni got in. While this was technically her first time actually riding in a flying car, she had seen the original host do it so many times through the jade pendant that it had long lost any novelty. She wasn’t excited or curious at all, her mind solely occupied with her thoughts.

It took about 20 minutes to get from Ruo Manni’s home to Mingxin Intermediate Academy. As she mentally mapped out her key training focus areas for the upcoming Xuan Gu First Military Academy entrance exam, she suddenly realized she didn’t have any suitable weapons for a martial artist at home.

Since Ruo Manni’s previous physical combat level had been too low, Teresa Du hadn’t even considered preparing weapons for her.

After some thought, Ruo Manni opened her light-brain and browsed an online store for martial artists. With limited time, she quickly selected two longswords and a whip and placed the order.

Ruo Manni had already learned swordsmanship in the battle realm. Although the Eighteen Basic Sword Forms were considered fundamental, they were a set of techniques that focused primarily on defense with supplementary offense, making them ideal for someone like her who was a psychic.

Ruo Manni decided that, in front of others, she would specialize in swordsmanship while keeping the whip as her hidden skill.

She believed that once her cultivation improved, the whip would become her trump card. In her previous life, she had watched a fantasy movie in which the heroine wielded a whip as a terrifying weapon. The heroine, a psychic ability user, imbued her whip with psychic energy, allowing it to strike with precision, killing ghosts, gods, or anything in its path. The weapon’s destructive power was immense.

Now that Ruo Manni’s psychic abilities had grown so powerful, she was confident that once she advanced both her martial artist and psychic levels by another grade, her combat power wouldn’t be any less than that of the whip-wielding heroine.

However, before that, Ruo Manni needed to find a way to acquire whip techniques. She planned to ask Instructor Fang and her husband about it since they were her current guardians, and Captain Lin, in particular, held a high-ranking position as the fourth most powerful person on Topaz Star. They definitely had more resources and connections than she did.

Topaz Star, a third-tier edge planet in the Gus Empire, was middle-of-the-road when compared to other planets in the empire. However, when compared to other third-tier edge planets, Topaz Star was relatively resource-rich and prosperous.

The campus of Mingxin Intermediate Academy reflected this “middle-of-the-road” status. The school buildings were all plain and functional, without the desolation of fourth-tier planets or the opulence of first- and second-tier planets.

Since Ruo Manni had spent years “accompanying” the original host through her jade pendant, she was already extremely familiar with the campus and felt no urge to sightsee. Upon entering the school gate, she confidently headed straight to the faculty office to find Instructor Fang.

Before Ruo Manni even reached the office, she ran into another instructor: “Ruo Manni, how did you suddenly advance to the late stage of Level 2 overnight?”

Instructor Vasilievich was extremely surprised. Normally gentle and refined, his shock caused him to unconsciously raise his voice.

Ruo Manni was a well-known star student at Mingxin Intermediate Academy. Her psychic abilities were at a prodigy level, and at just fourteen, she was already a Level 1 armorer, making her one of the top students of her age group on Topaz Star. In addition to excelling in her studies, she was obedient and well-liked by her instructors. In any world, teachers appreciate smart and well-behaved students.

All the instructors who had taught Ruo Manni hoped she would achieve her goal of getting into Xuan Gu First Military Academy. For the teachers, having a student accepted into such a prestigious school would be a crowning achievement.

For the past six months, all her instructors had been worried about Ruo Manni’s martial artist level. It was just one minor level holding her back from qualifying for Xuan Gu First Military Academy.

To suddenly see that she had overcome this hurdle overnight was enough to shock Instructor Vasilievich.

Hearing his surprised voice, Ruo Manni quickly adopted an expression of guilt, as if she had made a big mistake and didn’t know how to explain it.

“What’s going on? What did you do?” Naturally, as a teacher, he could tell just by her expression that she had caused some kind of trouble.

Instructor Fang also came out upon hearing the commotion, and she too was shocked upon seeing Ruo Manni’s current state. She got straight to the point: “Manni, what did you do?”

Even Ruo Manni, not just the original host, felt a deep connection to Instructor Fang.

Seven years ago, Teresa Du had saved Captain Lin, Instructor Fang’s husband, with a special medicine. Both Instructor Fang and her husband were the type to repay kindness, and the two families had maintained a close relationship ever since.

After Teresa Du went missing, Instructor Fang and her husband had taken great care of Ruo Manni. It was due to Captain Lin’s particular concern for Ruo Manni’s safety that Aoi Dan never found an opportunity to directly harm her.

Ruo Manni was aware that Uncle Lin, a captain in the local garrison, was the reason she could still live peacefully after losing her mother and becoming an orphan. Captain Lin’s protection was invaluable.

Before today, Lin Kexin had always been “by Ruo Manni’s side,” like a split persona, fully aware of everything happening around her.

In fact, having been bored while trapped in the jade pendant, Lin Kexin had studied even harder than Ruo Manni, especially since she also had the original host’s memories. This made stepping into Ruo Manni’s role effortless for her. When she saw Instructor Fang, the familiarity in her eyes remained largely unchanged.