At first, she could occasionally get close to the little red flower, but now, fifteen minutes have passed since the last time she got close, and she has remained four meters away.
The assessment lasted one hour, and Qiao Yu thought she could finish it in a minute, but she dragged it out until the very last second.
When Xu Qiqing announced that the assessment time was over, Qiao Yu felt her body no longer obeying her brain's commands, but subconsciously relaxing and collapsing to the ground uncontrollably.
Heavy breathing and a rapidly beating heart made Qiao Yu feel extremely uncomfortable. Sweat dripped from her body, forming a small puddle; she was dehydrated and exhausted.
Xu Qiqing waved her hand, and Qiao Yu's two teachers led her aside to rest and replenish her water and energy.
"Next."
The group exchanged bewildered glances. Qiao Yu was considered one of the more capable among them, and even she hadn't succeeded. Could they possibly do it?
As soon as she had the energy, Qiao Yu reminded everyone: "Early, as early as possible."
Daisatsu stepped forward: "I'll be second."
Thanks to Qiao Yu's urgent reminder, Da Song had an advantage. His skills were mostly defensive, so the same attack would only cause him a moderate injury.
Holding a small red flower in his hand, Da Song smiled at Qiao Yu with difficulty, as if to say, "See, I'm fast enough."
Qiao Yu smiled at him as well.
Daisatsu's teacher rushed over and threw him into the treatment pod in the rest area. Daisatsu's screams of pain immediately rang out.
In an instant, the equation "Little Red Flower = Big Pine" was established.
Their own experiences shaped the students' indomitable spirit, and the two weeks of ideological education were not without effect. Although there were some hesitations, every student actively prepared for the assessment.
If you lack skill, you can make up for it with intelligence. After some students discovered that Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu's attacks were patterned, the students who followed them were in luck.
However, because the discovery was made relatively late, a total of ten people, including Da Song, received the little red flower.
Ruan Mingchu said, "The little red flower is a badge, a souvenir. If you have it, you get it; if you don't, you don't. Next time it won't be a little red flower anymore. I guess in the end there will be a whole set. I don't know if anyone will be able to collect them all."
Those who didn't get it were instantly overwhelmed with regret, after all, everyone is a potential fan of the complete set.
Qiao Yu was most regretful. If she had been more cautious, she wouldn't have ended up in this situation, not only without the little red flower but also having to lie in the treatment pod.
The automatic recovery was too slow; she was forced inside by the teacher. It really hurts! QAQ
From then on, Qiao Yu was extremely cautious in every assessment and never missed out on receiving a souvenir.
A year later, it was still the same old place for every assessment.
Not only were the twenty-one students eager to try, but their instructors were also very excited.
After a year of practice, I've achieved some impressive results, and I always want to go out and show them off.
For example, going to someone's door to challenge them.
However, they can't all rush in to challenge all at once. They're currently arranging their lineups, and the players will take turns performing.
If the opponent is too weak, there won't even be a chance to pull them out later.
Therefore, everyone wants to be at the top.
Teachers also have a strong competitive spirit. If their students are good, then the teachers are good too. They want their students to get to the front row even more than the students themselves.
That way, when I see those old friends, I'll have something to brag about.
In short, apart from Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu, everyone present was excited and nervous.
Previously, the assessments were between students and Ruan Mingchu or Mu Yu, but now it's a competition between the students themselves.
Faced with the choice between a draw for individual matches and a series of elimination matches, the students chose the latter. This means each of them will have to participate in twenty battles to determine who is the best among their classmates.
*
Author's Note:
It will be finished tomorrow or the day after. The main story is almost done, and the rest will be written in the side stories.
78. The future is busy, but also joyful.
Ranking tournaments were rife with problems. The most common scenario was that A beat B, B beat C, but C beat A. How could they be ranked? There was no way. In the end, the number of matches each person actually played far exceeded the initial budget.
After seven or eight days, the rankings were finally released. Da Song ranked first, Qiao Yu second, Ren Meng third, and surprisingly, Qiu Qiu ranked fourth. This introverted child rarely spoke, but he was the most hardworking and dedicated of all. His achievement in reaching this ranking was well worth the effort he had put in over the past year.
There's a first place and there's a last place. The last place student has a long face and is about to cry, with red eyes. After all, they're naturally sensitive.
Xu Qiqing called the person over and talked for half an hour. When the person came out, he had a sunny disposition and his eyes were full of energy.
After passing the second to the twentieth, I arrived at the first.
"Next time I will definitely be ahead of you in line."
Da Song stood there dumbfounded, unsure how to react. Qiao Yu nudged him, and Da Song actually hummed in response.
The crowd erupted in laughter, leaving Daisong even more bewildered.
The rankings are out, and the starship has reached its destination.
The White Tiger Military Academy in the Thirty-Second Star System is a military academy that only recruits Alphas specializing in offensive combat. It's known for its fierce and aggressive style, and its reputation in the surrounding area isn't very good.
These were opponents specially selected by Ruan Minhchu from all the military academies in the empire for the students. If they could use the Alpha from the White Tiger Military Academy as a stepping stone, they would have succeeded in the first step.
Oh, by the way, this military academy adrift in the cosmos is called Starry Sky. This is where Starry Sky Military Academy's reputation will be built.
Even if Ruan Mingchu didn't show up, any teacher could simply be dragged out and asked the principal of Baihu Military Academy to have a friendly match with their students, and the principal wouldn't dare refuse.
Moreover, the principal was an arrogant and conceited Alpha. After hearing that there were no Alphas in the Star Military Academy and that there were only twenty-one students in total, he already began to look down on them.
Just find a few students who like to play around to teach those Betas and Omegas what they should do, and that they should know what will happen if they challenge the authority of the Alpha.
In order to relax the minds and bodies of all teachers and students, the principal specially set the venue for the competition in the gymnasium so that everyone could come and watch the game.
This was exactly the result Ruan Mingchu wanted.
Not only that, Ruan Mingchu also opened a live stream room, which any citizen of the empire could enter and watch if they wished. This live stream room was the one that broadcast Qingyao and Ruanhuang's wedding. Almost everyone who watched the wedding at the time had bookmarked it. Suddenly receiving a message saying "The streamer you follow is going live, go support them!", many people were confused for a while.
The gymnasium at White Tiger Military Academy serves only as a combat platform; it doesn't have any other retro sports facilities. Therefore, the competition area in the middle of the stands is specifically designed for combat and is resistant to all physical and chemical attacks.
However, to enhance the students' overall performance, there is no protective barrier between the stands and the playing field. If an attack suddenly flies into the stands while you're watching, don't panic; if you die, you die.
Words like fierce, bloody, and meritocratic are perfectly suited to describe the White Tiger Military Academy.
Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu led a group of teachers to sit in an area that the principal had specially cleared out for them. This was the area where the school's senior management usually stayed, and it was protected by a shield.
Meanwhile, students like Da Song and Qiao Yu were in the waiting area, sharing the same space with the students selected from the White Tiger Military Academy.
The two groups were clearly separated: one group consisted of tall, robust men, while the other group consisted of people who were generally not tall.
Another point is that even though the students at White Tiger Military Academy are classmates, they don't have any camaraderie among them; they're more like enemies. After all, they're all competitors, and enemies are practically enemies too. Their attitude of ignoring Qiao Yu and the others shows that they don't even deserve to be noticed by them.
Ruan Mingchu summarized this as "straight A cancer," a serious disease that requires treatment, and now it's time to scrape the bone and remove the toxins.
The principal's assistant acted as the host of the friendly match. Seeing that neither his superior nor the other side intended to say anything polite, the assistant could only say a few words casually, and finally said: "Friendship first, competition second. Next, let's welcome Bai Lie from White Tiger Military Academy and Da Song from Starry Sky Military Academy to the stage. The two of them will bring us a wonderful friendly match."
Da Song slowly walked to the designated position, remaining fully alert. Bai Lie, on the other hand, yawned, looking like he hadn't slept well, but his eyes were clear and he showed no signs of sleepiness. This posture was put on display for the Starry Sky Military Academy students, conveying the message, "You are trash, not worth our attention."
Being looked down upon by an opponent is something that infuriates most people, but Daisatsu grew up on a garbage planet and experienced a lot, so he couldn't wait for his opponents to look down on him, so that he would have more opportunities to win.
Seeing the two sides remain silent, the assistant had no choice but to abandon the fine tradition of shaking hands to show friendship before the match and announced the start of the game.
Bai Lie was still yawning when Da Song suddenly lunged forward and delivered a powerful punch to Bai Lie's stomach—a punch made of steel.
Taking advantage of Bai Lie's momentary daze and pain, Da Song raised his hand again and attacked Bai Lie's chin.
Hearing the sound of bones breaking made Da Song feel somewhat pleased, and he quickly launched several more attacks, seizing the advantage.
Bai Lie was able to be dragged out for a reason; his strength was not bad. However, he lost the initiative due to underestimating his opponent and was intimidated by Da Song's ruthless attacks and aura, so he could not gain the upper hand no matter what.
Daisatsu's skills were honed through fighting for food. When people are extremely hungry, they're capable of anything. If they don't get any food, they'll starve to death, so they might as well take a gamble. If they get some, they'll live; if they don't, they're going to die anyway.
He was taken to the battlefield by the generals and saw the blood of the star beasts. His aura became even stronger, and every move was aimed at the fatal point. Bai Lie lost his focus and was already defeated.
Relying on his own strength, Bai Lie fought with Da Song for about ten minutes before finally being knocked to the ground and unable to get up.
Aside from Ruan Mingchu and the others from Xingchen Military Academy, the onlookers were stunned. However, they wouldn't admit that Da Song was stronger; how strong could a Beta be? They all called Bai Lie trash, saying he couldn't even beat a Beta.
The stadium was immediately filled with all sorts of foul-smelling curses. Ruan Mingchu specially adjusted the receiving equipment to ensure that all these sounds could be broadcast.
Even a normal person could see that Da Song was quite strong, stronger than Bai Lie, but these insults were a blatant exposure of the Alphas' mental state.
Ruan Mingchu glanced at the screen and saw that the comments section was already filled with insults directed at the viewers, and some people were also arguing in the comments.
The more lively the argument, the better.
The principal of the White Tiger Military Academy had a dark expression. He beckoned Song Hang over and said a few words to him. Song Hang's expression became serious.
Song Hang knew he had to win, or he could forget about staying at the White Tiger Military Academy.
When the assistant invited the two teams to the stage for the second match, Song Hang and Qiao Yu walked over together.
Upon seeing an Omega, Song Hang subconsciously frowned. Even if he won, there was nothing to say; if he lost, perhaps even the White Tiger Star wouldn't tolerate him.
Song Hang mustered all his energy, and as soon as his assistant announced the start, he rushed out, his entire body already sharpened.
If possible, Song Hang didn't want to use his powerful skills, as it would be his fault if it left a bad impression on Xiao O.
Essentially, he stood on a pedestal, showing pity to his opponent and going all out for his own future, showing absolutely no respect for Qiao Yu.
Song Hang was indeed quite strong; Qiao Yu could barely manage a draw with him. But for Song Hang, a draw meant he had lost.
Qiao Yu has great stamina. As the battle dragged on, Song Hang became increasingly anxious, and his openings became more and more numerous.
Qiao Yu didn't pay attention to those minor, non-lethal attacks; she patiently waited for the right moment to strike decisively.
When the opportunity arises, Song Hang will be her defeated foe. If this weren't a friendly match, and if Song Hang weren't one of her own kind, he would be a victim of her blade.
The assistant's voice announced the results in a wavering tone. Song Hang lay on the ground, his eyes glazed over. He had actually lost?
He lost to an Omega who wasn't even as tall as his chest.
What Song Hang feared was not failure itself, but the terrible consequences it would bring. After getting up, he glanced at the principal, whose face was ashen and who looked at the students from Xingchen Military Academy as if he wanted to devour them.
He shuddered; perhaps leaving White Tiger Star was the best course of action?
After the White Tiger Military Academy team suffered five consecutive defeats, the principal could no longer sit still. He used the excuse that it was lunchtime and he needed to rest to suspend the friendly matches, and then called a meeting with everyone.
The principal sat in his chair, his gaze toward the people seated around the oval conference table chillingly venomous.
"No matter what method you come up with, there can be no more defeats in this afternoon's match."
What's the point of getting angry at students for not being supportive? But the teachers present only dared to think this to themselves, while on the surface they still had to put on a positive attitude and help the principal solve his problems.