Doubt

Roken saw that he had managed to calm everyone down and hurriedly continued.

"Everyone, please wait patiently. All the examinees are in the same situation, so there's no difference between you. I've also prepared free boxed meals for everyone as a small gesture of goodwill. Eat something to fill your stomachs, then wait patiently."

As soon as Roken finished speaking, Teacher Tang Yan and the others carried over box after box of boxed meals.

Seeing this, the many parents could no longer bring themselves to continue losing their tempers at Roken. After all, one couldn't strike a smiling face, so they went to collect boxed meals one after another to fill their stomachs.

Inside the command room of the Fish Pig at the military interstellar airport.

General Ams sat steadily in the command chair. He lightly tapped the armrest with the index finger of his left hand, his expression stern as he stared at the grids of images on the screen.

At that moment, Xia An reported to General Ams.

"General, the latest neural-link pods have already been delivered to all the examination venues."

"Mm, very good."

"There's something else I need to report to you."

"Go ahead."

Amos replied indifferently.

"Many students are protesting right now. They say they've just finished an exam, they're in terrible shape, and they haven't eaten either. They're starving, so there's no way they can take the auxiliary-subject exam at a time like this."

Xia An hesitated before speaking.

Hearing this, Amos turned his head toward Xia An and replied coldly.

"Let me ask you this: On the battlefield, will the enemy care whether we've eaten? Will they let us rest properly before fighting us? Tell them this: Those who are willing to take the exam can take it. Those who aren't can get lost!"

"General, that's true, and there's nothing wrong with doing this. But could something go wrong? The results of today's City Exam might completely collapse. When that happens, the Imperial Court Academy won't receive enough students."

Xia An voiced the matter that worried him most.

"If it can't receive enough, then so be it. That's still better than letting a huge pile of useless trash get in. Do you know how many people the Imperial Court Academy expels every year? A full third of them. In other words, one-third of the students can't even keep up with the most basic courses! Tell me, how did that one-third manage to get in?"

"Don't tell me they suddenly had a flash of inspiration during the exam?"

"Besides, how many incompetent officers have graduated from the Imperial Court Academy in recent years? Especially in the two most popular fields, mecha and the Command Department! Do you know how many advanced mechas have been destroyed by those incompetent fools every year? Do you know how precious advanced mechas are? Do you know how complicated their manufacturing process is? Our production capacity already can't keep up. Every single one is produced under frantic overtime, and the materials used to make them were dug out by countless soldiers with their lives and blood! And as for the Command Department, how many soldiers die every year because of those people's foolish commands?"

Amos spoke in a fury.

After hearing Amos's words, Xia An fell silent as well.

Amos gradually calmed himself and said to Xia An in a deep voice,

"If that bunch of people hadn't gone too far, do you really think we would have come down here? The Imperial Court Academy has a set number of officers it is expected to produce every year. Yet less than half of those it actually produces are fit for use! Don't you think that's ridiculous? Shameful? It's practically become a joke."

"Besides, you should understand better than anyone how dire the current situation is. The Second Ace Legion · Remnant Light has suffered heavy losses and urgently needs elite reinforcements! The elite soldiers at the grassroots level are easy enough to replenish. At worst, we can pull some from the various battlefields. With the huge number of recruits every year, there will always be enough. But officers are much harder to replenish. Calculate it—how long does it take them to go from entering school to serving independently? How many resources do we have to spend?"

"You're right."

Xia An replied heavily.

Inside Mient Junior Academy.

Su Ming sat quietly in his chair, waiting for the second exam to begin. He felt that this City Exam was becoming more and more interesting.

Just then, a soldier walked in. He went over to Leo and whispered a few words into his ear.

Leo nodded slightly, then addressed all the examinees.

"All examinees, leave all your examination items behind. Line up and follow me empty-handed!"

Although Su Ming and the others had no idea what Leo intended to do, they obediently cooperated, standing up one after another, lining up, and walking out of the classroom.

Leo led them from the front while the other soldiers watched them from both sides. Many of the students even had the illusion that they were prisoners being escorted.

But their minds were soon put at ease, because they saw that the other students were being treated the same way.

Before long, they were brought to the spacious sports field. The sight that greeted them was extremely shocking: brand-new Simulation Pods of unfamiliar models were being unloaded one after another.

"Wow, are these training pods? They look so advanced."

"Yeah. It really makes you realize that inferior goods should be thrown away. The antiques at school really ought to be scrapped."

The many students discussed them excitedly.

Su Ming looked at the new mechanical pods and was somewhat surprised as well. But then he sensed that something was wrong. The auxiliary-subject exams that required Simulation Pods were, in plain terms, mainly the mecha and command subjects. But there were only so many examinees in those two categories. The number of pods delivered was far too high—so high that there was enough for one per person.

At that moment, Leo addressed Su Ming and the others.

"One Simulation Pod per person!"

"Wait, sir. My auxiliary subject is maintenance. Do I need to use a Simulation Pod too?"

A male student asked in bewilderment.

"You do! No matter what your auxiliary subject is, every one of you has to use one."

"Ah, but we've never used one before!"

"Yeah, how are we supposed to use this?"

Many of the students erupted into an uproar, completely at a loss.

"Quiet! Shut your mouths!"

Leo roared irritably.

The noisy scene immediately fell silent, and Leo spoke again with brutal force.

"Take the exam or don't. If you don't, you get zero!"

For a moment, no matter how aggrieved everyone felt, they all fell silent.

Su Ming stroked his chin, feeling more and more that something was wrong. Simulation Pods were expensive, especially these brand-new models he had never seen before.

The Old Federation had actually spent so much money to let every student use a Simulation Pod. If there wasn't some hidden agenda, he would never believe it, even if someone beat him to death. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to pry anything out of these officers right now.

"Enough. I'm not wasting my breath on you. Get into the pods and start the exam. Enjoy yourselves!"

Leo waved his hand, ordering everyone to enter the Simulation Pods and prepare for the exam.

Everyone walked toward the Simulation Pods with uneasy hearts. Even Su Ming himself had no confidence whatsoever.

He had never touched this kind of Simulation Pod before and had no idea how he would perform. To be honest, he felt as if he were being forced onto a stage before he was ready.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do but grit his teeth and go through with it.

Su Ming walked up to a Simulation Pod and carefully examined it at close range.

The Simulation Pod consisted of two main parts: a black metal base and a transparent cover. The material used for the main body was especially high-quality. The black metal gleamed with a fine luster and was polished enough to reflect his appearance.