Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

A mentor understands their own students well. After watching for several hours, Mentor Fang has confirmed that Ruo Manni’s psychic ability is definitely at least at the peak of level four; otherwise, her combat power wouldn’t be so high.

In Topaz Star, there are at most one or two warriors who reach level four by the age of fifteen, which is the requirement for applying to the first military academy of Xuan Gu, specializing in mecha combat.

However, the first military academy of Xuan Gu lives up to its reputation as the top military academy of the Gus Empire. During the enrollment assessment, there were actually thousands of mid-level four warriors, and a few at the late level four.

When a psychic master faces a warrior of the same level, their combat power is naturally weaker due to the restriction of not being able to attack the warrior’s mind.

Ruo Manni is only at the late stage of level three as a warrior. If her psychic master level has indeed reached the peak of late level four, her overall combat power would definitely not be enough to eliminate mid-level four warriors.

Although there were a dozen psychic masters among the candidates, after several hours of elimination, only three mid-level four psychics remained, and all three had only a physical skill level of two.

Not only is Ruo Manni’s psychic ability high, but she is also a level three warrior, making her abilities stand out among the hundred thousand candidates.

Even more fortunate, Ruo Manni’s partner is a late-level four warrior, the highest among the ten thousand present, creating a strong alliance. Therefore, Mentor Fang is very confident that Ruo Manni will make it to the end.

As for Aoi Dan, while her warrior level isn’t the highest, her agility is extraordinary. Although her attacks aren’t particularly fierce, her dodging skills are exceptionally quick.

Thus, while Aoi Dan may not win, she can certainly escape, and despite just recently advancing to mid-level four, she hasn’t encountered any strong opponents, unlike another male candidate who was eliminated two hours into the assessment.

After being transported to the desert area, the hundred thousand candidates mixed together without hindrance, leading to increasingly intense battles. In just over twenty minutes, only seventy thousand candidates remained.

This time, Aoi Dan wasn’t so lucky; her team encountered a group led by a late-level four warrior and was completely eliminated.

“Captain…” Suddenly, two boys rushed excitedly in front of Neptune. “We finally found you.”

Both boys are warriors at mid-level four. Their combination isn’t particularly strong, but making it this far shows they are definitely stronger than they appear.

“These are my companions,” Neptune introduced to Ruo Manni.

Standing behind Neptune, Ruo Manni’s face was somewhat obscured, but it was clear she was a beautiful girl.

“Wow, the captain actually formed a team with a girl,” one boy exclaimed in surprise.

From the boy’s tone, it was evident he was astonished that their captain would team up with a girl. However, since they were all strangers and didn’t know each other, Ruo Manni wasn’t interested in pursuing the reason behind it. If they became classmates later, she could always ask.

Even though she couldn’t see their faces clearly, both boys exuded a certain aura that made it obvious they were exceptionally capable and somewhat arrogant.

When they sized her up, Ruo Manni suspected they would look down on her due to her apparent level of ability.

Surprisingly, although they had their suspicions, they didn’t hastily judge or say anything negative, showing clear respect for their captain.

This wasn’t the time for talking; Neptune immediately arranged the positions of his two companions, with the three warriors standing back-to-back to protect Ruo Manni.

Ruo Manni pretended to be weak and exhausted, unexpectedly launching hidden weapons at the candidates attacking Neptune, catching most of them off guard. Even the higher-level candidates who dodged her sneak attack found themselves targeted by Neptune and the others.

With the addition of the two boys, Ruo Manni found it much easier; she didn’t have to confront candidates directly, and the chances for her to sneak attack were significantly reduced, giving her a chance to breathe.

Otherwise, if the fighting continued like this, even if she wasn’t eliminated by other candidates, she would be exhausted to the point of being eliminated due to extreme fatigue.

With the two teammates, Neptune became even more formidable. Besides a team that barely escaped, all other candidates they faced were eliminated.

Once, they encountered a team led by a black-haired boy who was at the same level as Neptune, but his presence was slightly stronger.

Neptune and the black-haired boy exchanged a distant glance, and then the boy turned away, leading his team in another direction, showing no intention to engage.

Ruo Manni noticed a red-haired girl among the black-haired boy’s team, a late-level two warrior, which sparked some guesses in her mind.

When facing candidates at late-level four, Neptune and his team seemed to have a silent understanding and quietly moved away, while those below late-level four couldn’t match Neptune’s strength. As a result, in the final moments, very few teams dared to confront them directly.

If Ruo Manni were alone, even if she hadn’t been eliminated in the forest map, she likely wouldn’t have been able to withstand the strength of a team in the desert map.

Fortunately, she had the luck of encountering Neptune. Thanks to her companions, she successfully made it to the familiar mechanical sound of the Sky Network announcing:

“Today’s map assessment has concluded! Candidates receiving this notification should prepare for tomorrow’s ranking assessment.”

As soon as the announcement was made, everything around her changed, and Ruo Manni was teleported to the designated assessment room, too quickly to say goodbye to Neptune and the others.

After pressing the green exit button, Ruo Manni lay in the holographic game pod for a while before finally mustering the energy to get out.

Although the battles took place in a virtual world, as a novice in real combat, Ruo Manni felt utterly exhausted, especially with her head pounding in waves.

In her exhausted state, Ruo Manni had no energy to think about anything else; she just wanted to get a good night’s sleep. She sent Mentor Fang a message saying they could talk later, took a quick combat shower, ate something, and collapsed into bed.

Having observed Ruo Manni during the battle, Mentor Fang knew she must be very tired. After the assessment, she only sent Ruo Manni a message to rest well, planning to discuss things thoroughly once Ruo Manni was refreshed.

However, Mentor Fang soon received a communication from her husband: “How did Ruo Manni do?”

Although Lieutenant Lin asked this, there was no trace of worry in his tone. After all, with Ruo Manni’s strength, she wouldn’t be eliminated unless she intentionally performed poorly.

Mentor Fang sighed, “I don’t know what went wrong. During the assessment, Ruo Manni was teleported to the mecha combat assessment area…”

Exhausted, Ruo Manni slept soundly. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to her, someone next door was getting quite frustrated.