Because these students had all been taught by him, most of them would end up on the battlefield if nothing unexpected happened. If he could improve their grades now, perhaps they could get into better schools and have better fates in the future.
Thinking of this, Tang Yan called out with a twitching face.
"Everyone, steady yourselves. Don't rush to get up. Get familiar with the controls first."
At that moment, Minke, who had stabilized his mecha, also shouted to the students beside him.
"Don't get nervous. Don't make large movements right away. You'll get a feel for the controls very quickly."
"No need to remind me."
Chen Tong gritted his teeth as he controlled the mecha to stand up. After struggling to steady it, he replied.
At that moment, the other three students also slowly got the hang of it and controlled their mecha to stand.
Slowly, Minke and the other four gradually got into the rhythm. At least they had managed to keep their mecha standing, so Tang Yan immediately issued another command.
"Control the mecha to walk in a straight line. Don't sprint. Wait until you're completely familiar with it before attempting that."
Following Tang Yan's instructions, Minke and the others controlled their mecha as they lurched forward unsteadily.
Su Ming watched Minke and the others practice with the real machines intently, doing his best to remember the key points Teacher Tang had mentioned.
Time flew by. An hour and a half later, the five training machines had been rotated three times. The results could only be described as disastrous. Just as expected, the moment anyone climbed in, they fell over.
At that moment, Tang Yan called out another set of names.
"Su Ming, Cheng Ran, Wang Chi, Qin Lei, Zhao Ran."
When Su Ming heard his name, he became extremely excited. His heart began beating much faster, so he took a slight breath and walked toward the training machine.
From the observation platform, Lin Chuyu's gaze settled on Su Ming as she watched him quietly.
Li Fubai, who was standing beside her, noticed her gaze on Su Ming. A trace of gloom appeared in his eyes, but he said nothing.
As for Zhang Tai, he stared at Su Ming. He wanted to see what this kid was really made of.
Soon, Su Ming stood on the marked metal square. He raised his head and gazed up at the iron-headed training mecha from close range.
Although it was only a training machine and was not equipped with any weapon modules, its enormous size and thick metal body still gave off an intensely oppressive feeling.
Once such a massive machine started moving, it would become a ferocious steel beast.
Ordinary soldiers would be like ants before it, easily crushed to death.
Creak!
The metal square slowly rose, lifting Su Ming to the level of the cockpit.
He reached out and opened the cockpit, then climbed inside with some effort.
The cockpit was quite spacious. Even Su Ming's chubby body did not feel cramped inside.
Suppressing the excitement and exhilaration in his heart, Su Ming looked around the cockpit.
The cockpit consisted of two main parts: the pilot's seat and an all-metal control console.
Su Ming sat in the pilot's seat and, following the memories in his mind, pressed the safety-buckle button on the left armrest.
Click!
The fixed safety buckle extended and secured Su Ming's body firmly to the pilot's seat.
Su Ming then began manually adjusting the pilot's seat, positioning the distance between himself and the all-metal control console.
Once he had finished, Su Ming looked at the all-metal control console. He saw thirty-two buttons of various sizes and functions, along with three control levers.
"Phew~"
Su Ming took a deep breath. Then, with a determined look in his eyes, he raised his hand toward the start button.
Just as Su Ming was about to touch the start button—
Boom!
One crash after another rang out, making him even more nervous.
Even so, he pressed the start button.
In an instant, the mecha's power system activated. The entire machine began to vibrate, accompanied by a noisy roar, and the screen on the control console lit up.
"Notice: The power system has started. Energy output is stable."
"Notice: Circuit self-check in progress."
Su Ming watched the notifications constantly appearing on the operation screen, and his gaze grew increasingly sharp.
On the training field, Tang Yan watched the blond-haired students fall one after another. He had already grown numb to it. His heart was no longer bleeding—it had run dry.
Zhou Wei was laughing so hard that he could barely close his mouth. The way they fell was simply too comical.
"Whoa! This is killing me. But don't you think it's strange that these training machines keep falling over? Doesn't Teacher Tang feel the pain? When we first used the real machines, we were a little unaccustomed to them, but we never fell this much, did we?"
"Uh, if they keep falling like that, won't they break the mecha? Then we won't have anything to practice with."
Sun Yue spoke with some concern.
When Zhou Wei heard that, the smile on his face immediately stiffened. Watching the spectacle was one thing, but if the mecha really broke, they would be affected too.
At that moment, Su Ming's training machine had also fully started up. As expected, the moment his training machine moved slightly, it began losing its balance. The entire mecha started flailing its arms and legs, twisting this way and that.
"Sigh~"
Tang Yan sighed and shook his head helplessly.
However, a burst of exclamations rang out at that moment.
"He steadied it."
Tang Yan was slightly stunned. When he looked more closely, he discovered that Su Ming had actually stabilized the mecha—and had even taken a large step forward without falling.
Seeing this, an incredulous look appeared on Tang Yan's face. When had Su Ming's piloting skills become this good?
So far, only the class monitor, Minke, had managed to stabilize his machine. Everyone else had fallen without exception after getting into the real machines.
No one should underestimate this difference. A person's talent and skill were often most apparent the first time they operated a real machine.
Tang Yan remembered clearly that Su Ming's piloting skills had always been average. Although his scores were not the worst in the class, his simulation-test results had only ever reached passing level at best.
When Li Fubai saw Su Ming stabilize the mecha, a trace of disdain appeared in his eyes. With skills like that, he actually dared pursue Lin Chuyu? He truly had no self-awareness.
If Su Ming had operated the real machine smoothly on his first attempt, Li Fubai might have felt somewhat threatened and taken him seriously. But now, he only felt that Su Ming was a clown.
At that moment, Su Ming controlled the mecha as it took one step after another forward. The heavy machine's stride grew steadier and steadier.
"When did Su Ming get so good?"
"Damn, is he really the one operating it? I haven't even stabilized mine."
The blond-haired students began talking in disbelief.
Chen Tong grew irritated when he saw this. This dead fatty had actually managed to operate a real machine so well. There had to be something suspicious about it, so he snorted.
"Hmph. Maybe he's rich and used a real machine long ago."
"That makes sense. It's not impossible. Some clubs outside let people use real machines too."
"Right, that must be it. How could his skills suddenly become that good?"
Quite a few students chimed in agreement.
At that moment, the class monitor, Minke, retorted against Chen Tong.
"Chen Tong, that's a typical example of prejudice and being unable to stand seeing a classmate improve. Su Ming's grades haven't been very good, but he's worked hard too. Now that he's improved, we, as his classmates, should be sincerely happy for him and encourage him—not gossip behind his back!"
The students who had been discussing it noisily fell silent after hearing Minke's words.
Before you continue