“Is that so?”
Lin Zhen scratched his head awkwardly. “The responsibility that comes with this position is just too great. You know, I’m not the type of leader who just sits back and lets others do all the work.”
[Xiao Xi: Who are you voting for? A Zhen, who are you voting for?]
[The guy in front is just hating. Luo Xi just knows how to use people to their strengths. Do you even get it, Liu Bang? Luo Xi is like a loli version of Liu Bang!]
[Dare you read your own barrage out loud, genius.]
Zi Jiu fell silent for a moment.
Because what Lin Zhen said made a lot of sense. In the ranking of the nine squads, Class Three’s overall strength was only slightly above average.
To make things worse, their base’s location was terrible, sandwiched right between two other squads.
If Lin Zhen hadn’t been micromanaging like his life depended on it, Class Three would’ve already had to face off against both Class Five and Class Six at the same time and been steamrolled.
After a long silence, the purple-haired girl looked at the boy burying his head in his dinner and suddenly asked:
“Still haven’t gotten in touch with Class Nine?”
“No.” Lin Zhen put down his sandwich and shook his head helplessly.
“We don’t even have a single bit of news about their squad. I suspect the war camp deliberately placed them in the farthest location. Hm, maybe Class One as well—after all, you know the relationship between those two.”
[“Zhuge Zhen, huh? You figured all that out.”]
[“Just following the script.”]
[“Why does Zi Jiu seem like a maid?”]
[“A purple-haired mom who takes care of people, and a blue-haired mom who cries but is still reliable, and also takes care of people? Class Lin sure eats well.”]
[“You’re overthinking it. With these two’s personalities—especially Luo Zi—if you had Lin Zhen find two more, she’d chop him up with one stroke.”]
[“Wait, but if that’s the case, isn’t Luo Xi a perfect win? She even knows how to cry.”]
“That makes things difficult. Tomorrow, when you go ally with Class Six, you’ll have to be there as the leader. Remember to rest early.”
Watching Zi Jiu turn and leave, Lin Zhen swallowed his last bite of sandwich along with a gulp of milk.
He set down his glass, letting out a slight sigh.
With no news from the ancient battlefield, how was he supposed to sleep?
***
The next day, on a small asteroid at the border between Class Three and Class Six’s bases, dozens of starships were parked in clear groups.
Lin Zhen, the leader of Class Three, and “Shadow Step,” the leader of Class Six ranked 13th, strode toward each other surrounded by their respective classmates.
“A Zhen?” The red-haired boy stopped in his tracks and extended his right hand. “Didn’t expect it to be you?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” Lin Zhen nodded.
Bases from different classes couldn’t contact each other directly, so their previous communication had always been relayed through their classmates.
This was the first time they were speaking directly.
Still, they both had an impression of each other.
First, all the top contenders had faced each other at some point over the past year.
Second, during the annual assessment, they both managed to survive under Yun Ruoxi’s command until the very end.
So, they could barely count as comrades.
Shadow Step especially remembered Lin Zhen’s comeback and knew that befriending Lin Zhen was the same as befriending Yun Ruoxi.
During their conversation, he didn’t hide this at all, directly asking if they’d gotten in touch with Class Nine yet.
Lin Zhen could only give a wry smile.
He really hadn’t expected the alliance with Class Six to go so smoothly. Who would’ve thought it was all thanks to his relationship with Yun Ruoxi?
[Xiao Xi’s not even here and she can still carry, that’s wild.]
[“Letting Lin eat soft rice till he’s stuffed.”]
[“Loli mom’s soft rice tastes amazing, huh.”]
“It’s settled, then. Let’s deal with Class Five first. There’s no room for others to sleep beside one’s own bed!”
“Alright!”
Shadow Step and Lin Zhen shook hands firmly.
Originally, they’d considered forming an alliance of three.
But since Class Five had no intention of joining them and even kept launching sneak attacks, they had no choice but to get rid of the uncooperative Class Five first.
Lin Zhen and Shadow Step let go and led their classmates back toward their respective starships.
Time was tight—they planned to move as soon as they got back.
But before they could even reach their ships, a heavy, ominous shadow suddenly fell from above.
Boom!
A starship wreathed in terrifying flames plunged directly into the asteroid’s atmosphere.
Inside the cockpit stood a black-haired girl.
She raised both hands and, in front of her chest, formed a strange triangular gesture toward everyone below.
Her lips moved slightly as she spoke coldly:
“All of you, get in here—Spirit Arena!”
As her voice fell, a powerful wave of star energy swept across the surface.
Lin Zhen, Shadow Step, and a large group of students standing beside the ship all rolled their eyes upward at the same time.
Their eyes turned into “xx” symbols.
Thud!
Dozens of students collapsed one after another.
Inside the cockpit, a pink-haired loli who’d been waiting dashed over, hugged the girl pulled into the mental world, and shouted:
“Open fire, open fire! Call all of Class Four’s ships in!”
“Got it!” a tall student responded loudly, grabbing the control sticks and slamming them down.
The anti-aircraft cannons on both sides suddenly erupted with tongues of fire, gouging massive craters into the ground.
Shards of rock, under the low gravity, flew in every direction.
Meanwhile, starships hidden on nearby planets fired up their warp engines and shot over.
This was a premeditated ambush!
Class Five students Xin Yan and Xing Ke’ai, ranked 0015 and 0009, somehow learned about Class Three and Class Six’s plan to form an alliance against them here.
So they joined up with Class Four, intending to wipe out the main forces and leaders of Class Three and Class Six in one stroke.
“This is bad!”
The ten or so students who hadn’t been pulled into the mental space were horrified at the sight and felt their eyes nearly burst.
Even though the war camp had reduced the ships’ firepower.
Even though they all wore star-energy combat suits, and over those, armor that let them operate in space.
But facing this kind of terrifying barrage, they couldn’t hold out for long!
These guys really were going for the kill!
“Hurry, get everyone on board! Hurry!”
Class Three’s Liro shouted, slamming his hand to the ground.
Swish!
The rocky surface rippled like an ocean wave.
A half-meter-thick stone shield surged up from the ground at high speed, arching overhead like a bridge.
Bang bang bang bang!
The anti-aircraft cannons riddled the stone shield with pits.
Chunks of stone kept falling from above, thudding onto the top of the starship.
Cracks spread like spiderwebs, but in the next second, Liro forcibly repaired them with his ability.
The students still conscious each carried two or three others, moving as fast as possible to load the unconscious onto the ship.
“Hurry, I can’t hold out much longer!”
Liro’s star energy index was only eighty. Forcibly creating and maintaining such a massive shield was pushing him to the limit.
The veins on his neck and temples bulged visibly, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.
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