Chapter 107: Fighter

“Such a cool speech!”

“Brave girls are definitely cool!”

“Why do I feel like Lou Xi might turn dark?”

“Didn’t she already go dark once? (lol)”

“Why isn’t Aili’s nickname ‘Star Ai’?”

“Invincible Surname Ai King said so.”

“All of you are monsters, even Hakigao wouldn’t help here.”

“That’s some great resolve, Xiao Xi.” Lin Zhen truly admired Yun Ruoxi’s words.

Justice and good deeds…

All require the strength to carry them out.

Back on the Garbage Star, if he’d had this kind of power, the root of all those tragedies would never have happened.

Zi Jiu and the others nodded in agreement.

As for Aili, her eyes were sparkling with little stars.

In the words of the bullet comments, even her gaze at Yun Ruoxi seemed to be turning syrupy.

“Since we rarely have free time today, how about going out for a stroll?” Chaos suddenly suggested.

“Sounds great!” Anvil responded at once.

“Alright, then let’s go!” Lin Zhen nodded with a smile.

The group left the training room together, following the cold, austere alloy corridor until they reached the Plaza outside the Base.

***

In the rare moments of leisure during harsh training, Compared to the stifling Base, many trainees preferred coming to the Plaza—some to simply walk around, others to sit on the edge of the steps, gazing into the distance below the Cloud Sea, imagining themselves as free as the living beings down there.

Yun Ruoxi sat down with everyone, her long legs gently swinging at the edge of the clouds.

Above the thick Cloud Sea, the Twin Suns hung in the sky, their afterglow dyeing the billowing clouds in brilliant gold foil.

Amidst the golden hues, a touch of emerald green flickered—those were the dense Forest Sea on the surface.

“Two years left…”

Yun Che suddenly spoke, but didn’t finish. Still, everyone understood what he meant.

“Yeah, two years left… What will become of us then?”

Chaos let out a sigh as well.

In the past year, even if they were reluctant, they’d gotten used to the repetitive, nearly tedious life in the battle camp.

But in two years, everything was bound to change.

Where would the Sacred Hand Society send them? Would they still be together? Would they become nothing more than the Society’s killing tools?

No one could say for sure.

“No matter what, let’s just work hard to survive!” Anvil clenched his fist.

“Staying alive is most important,” Zi Jiu whispered in agreement. Her only wish was to survive.

“I hope we can all still be together in two years,” Yun Ruoxi said with a smile, joining the conversation.

“Two years from now, I’ll definitely still be following Sister!” Aili clenched her fist.

Two years…

Lin Zhen stared silently at the Cloud Sea, the setting sun reflecting golden shards in his eyes.

He thought, two years felt both long and short.

Two years was a sixth of his current life.

Yet two years was still too short to guarantee he’d be ready to escape this place.

Suddenly, Yun Ruoxi seemed to think of something. She held up a finger, “Why don’t we make a promise?”

“No matter what, two years from now, we’ll all work hard to stay alive, to stay together!”

“No one’s allowed to fall behind,” Anvil picked up.

“That’s right!” Lin Zhen nodded in agreement.

“Pinky swear?” Yun Ruoxi extended her little finger, “It’s said this is a mysterious custom from Origin Earth! It’ll bless everyone who makes a promise to stay safe until they fulfill it.”

She smiled brightly at Lin Zhen as she said this.

The boy scratched his nose in embarrassment.

Back when they first met, he’d lied and said his grandfather was an expert on Earth studies.

Though Yun Ruoxi had believed it then, she clearly knew the truth now.

After all, Origin Earth’s history was part of the battle camp’s curriculum.

Even knowing it was just a comforting ritual, the children weren’t like adults who’d kill the mood.

Everyone stuck out their little fingers, linking them together.

Shouting, “Pinky swear, hang for a hundred years, never break the promise!” and waving their right hands.

Before the patrolling soldiers nearby could react, they were already laughing and running back into the Base.

“This episode’s got way too many flags going up.”

“That’s how transition episodes are.”

“But in ‘Starfall’, not many of the flags actually come true, right?”

“Not feeling reassured, desu…”

Carefree, happy times always vanish in a blink.

The day after the banquet, as the second year of the battle camp officially began, everything returned to its usual high-pressure rhythm.

Monotonous, dull training came back with a vengeance.

In fact, it was even more intense than before.

On top of theory and physical training, most trainees now had to endure even more grueling ability training.

Persistent use of abilities to stimulate the bloodline—this was almost the only way for Star Energy users to grow stronger.

The reason it’s “most” and not “all,”

Is because, when awakening the Star Energy bloodline, regardless of bloodline concentration, if the awakening degree is less than 30%, you cannot form your own ability circuit through the Star Energy bloodline.

For these trainees—called Mute Cannons—becoming a martial artist was their only path forward.

In fact, the earliest martial artists all came from Mute Cannon Star Energy users who refused to be weak.

They might not have abilities, but unlike those with abilities—whose Star Energy is mostly consumed by the ability circuit—they could devote all their Star Energy to strengthening their bodies.

By tempering their bodies, they could in turn nurture their bloodline.

Powerful martial artists might lack flashy abilities, but they could use secret techniques from various martial styles to release huge amounts of Star Energy through their physical bodies.

Their destructive power was by no means inferior to those with abilities.

Thus, the battle camp didn’t abandon these Mute Cannon Star Energy users, instead sending them to train directly under Sasin in the famed Sacred Hand Shattered Star Style.

Anvil was among them.

He was unlucky—though he awakened, his bloodline awakening stopped right at 29%.

Just 1% short of getting an ability.

So now he could only become a martial artist, enduring training many times harsher than those with abilities.

Under the scorching sun, nearly a thousand trainees stood atop the Meihua Stakes, each holding strange stances.

Instead of Star Energy battle uniforms, they wore special Heavy Training Suits made by the camp.

Pa!

Sasin leapt into the air, kicking the wobbling, chubby Anvil right off his stake.

“Unstable footing, start again!”

Anvil gritted his teeth and rubbed his bruised behind as he climbed back up.

It was odd, really.

After a year of physical training, almost all the other trainees had slimmed down, turning into fit, muscular youths.

But Anvil remained pudgy, and his agility and reflexes still lagged far behind the others.

As a result, he was always the one falling behind in martial training, making mistakes and getting punished.

Yet no matter how many times he was punished, he never complained or even thought of giving up.

In fact, he often stayed up late to practice alone.

“No one’s allowed to fall behind!”

That promise—Anvil had really made it for himself.

He knew, in terms of talent and strength, he was by far the weakest among Lin Zhen and the others. Just passing the annual assessment took every bit of his effort.

But since he was less gifted than others, he would just work twice, three times as hard to make up for it!

Bathed in moonlight, the little chub’s swaying on the Meihua Stakes gradually steadied, his figure growing ever more stable.