Federation Glory

"Today is your first major test since enlisting."

One-Eye spoke slowly, his voice carried by Blood Energy until it thundered over the entire square. "I'll say it again—the Federation doesn't support idlers! And it has no need for trash!"

"Most of you scum won't even qualify to serve as cannon fodder on the front lines!"

He swept an arm through the air. The terminal above the square activated instantly, projecting several enormous holograms dozens of meters high.

The first showed a Mine Pit deep underground, where daylight never reached.

Beneath dim searchlights, gaunt laborers trudged along, pushing heavy ore carts. Their eyes held no light, as though they were walking corpses.

The image shifted to a heavy munitions factory, perpetually choked with toxic fumes and sweltering heat.

Beneath streams of molten iron and roaring mechanical arms, the workers had been disfigured by the heat. Some had skin fused to their gas masks. Day after day, they labored without feeling.

"Open your eyes and look!"

One-Eye's voice was pitiless. "Anyone who fails will be sent to the Mining Star or the Underground Forge! You'll spend your lives there as expendable supplies, until the last drop of marrow has been wrung from your bones!"

"But—"

One-Eye raised his voice sharply. "Those who pass will earn a permanent place in the regular army. The top-ranking recruits will also receive Military Merit Points and Military-issued Gene Enhancement Serum!"

"Both paths serve the Federation, and both share in its glory. Which one you take is up to you."

As he finished speaking, the holograms overhead flickered wildly again.

This time, everyone saw a dark red planet fresh from a brutal scorched-earth campaign.

Hideous Zerg corpses lay piled like mountains across the ground, and dark green acidic blood had gathered into rivers.

Atop the highest mound of corpses stood a terrifying warrior five meters tall in heavy power armor. Gripping a huge battle flag in one hand, he drove its shaft straight through the skull of a high-ranking Zerg broodmother!

The flag snapped in the wind. The Federation's insignia gleamed through the smoke, proclaiming absolute victory in the interstellar bloodbath.

The sight struck every recruit in the square. Their hearts tightened, and their blood began to race.

Would they become honored interstellar warriors, or laborers condemned to Mine Pits where the sun never shone?

In the Great Crusade Era, when lives were worth nothing and countless species fought to the death, the chance for someone from the bottom rung to die on the battlefield for the Federation was already a supreme blessing!

"While you spent these ten days training here like dogs, the Federation expeditionary force in the Sirius Star System reclaimed another life-bearing planet from the Zerg!"

Fanaticism and savagery blazed in One-Eye's lone eye. "Today, we celebrate the Federation's victory! I hope that one day, some of you will be among the warriors in that image instead of ending up a puddle of filth!"

"Your test—the Gravity Chamber endurance trial!"

One-Eye's shout rang across the square as he announced the life-or-death standard. "To pass, withstand 1.5 times standard gravity for ten minutes! Now enter in batches by number!"

Rumble—

At the command, an enormous hemispherical metal structure behind the square began to tremble.

With a heavy grinding of machinery, Alloy blast doors several meters thick slid apart, revealing a bottomless Gravity Well shimmering with blue Magnetic Field light.

It was a steel beast capable of crushing an ordinary person's flesh and bones.

"First batch! Numbers G17-0001 through 1000, fall in!"

The first thousand recruits called stepped out of the Square Formation, their faces drained of color.

Some could not stop their legs from shaking. But with the security squad's cold gun barrels trained on them, they had no choice but to steel themselves and enter the Gravity Well like livestock driven to slaughter.

The heavy Alloy doors slammed shut.

The countdown began.

For the first few dozen seconds, there was no sound from inside.

But only a few minutes later, once the gravity field had fully activated and stabilized at 2.5 times standard gravity, screams of agony and the muffled cracks of bones breaking under the strain seeped through the thick armored walls and reached the square.

The more than twenty thousand recruits outside listened to those chilling cries, their faces growing paler.

The ten minutes dragged on like an eternity.

"Beep—time's up!"

At the ten-minute mark, the blast doors sprang open.

A powerful stench of sour sweat mixed with the sharp smell of blood surged out of the doorway!

The Gravity Well looked like hell.

Of the thousand recruits inside, several hundred lay sprawled on the cold metal floor like limp heaps.

Some vomited uncontrollably, their organs unable to withstand the pressure, leaving the floor covered in filth. Others had been crushed until their capillaries burst and blood poured from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. They no longer had the strength to stand.

"Failures, drag them away!"

The instructor's voice held no trace of pity.

Tracked Logistics Robots waiting on either side immediately rolled forward. Their mechanical arms seized the fallen recruits by their limbs and roughly tossed them onto a nearby transport ship bound for the Mining Star, as if they were worthless industrial waste.

Desperate cries mingled with the roar of engines.

In that moment, the Federation's ruthless practicality and brutal laws of selection were laid bare before the recruits.

Several batches were eliminated in quick succession.

"Seventh batch, numbers 6000 through 7000, enter!"

The cold synthetic voice echoed over the square.

Jiang Yue took a deep breath. With Smooth Breath supporting him, his chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm.

He strode forward beside Xu Bo and Li Tai, whose faces had gone pale and whose foreheads glistened with sweat. Shen Qing, his eyes shining with bloodthirsty excitement, joined the flow of recruits nearby as they entered the hemispherical metal building.

Rumble—

The Alloy blast doors, several meters thick, closed heavily behind them with a dull impact that set their teeth on edge.

Once the airtight seals locked, every sound and ray of light from the square outside was cut off.

Inside the vast Gravity Well, only the blue Magnetic Field indicator lights continued to flash.

"Gravity system activated. Initial gravity: 1.5 times standard gravity."

Without the slightest warning, an invisible hand bore down on them from above as the mechanical voice spoke!

"Urgh—"

Muffled cries of pain broke out across the crowd.

The air seemed to thicken in an instant. Recruits with weaker foundations felt as though a sledgehammer had struck their shoulders. Their knees buckled, slamming into the cold metal floor, and even breathing became a struggle.

The Military Floating Land already has stronger gravity. I'll need to adjust to this sudden pressure...

Jiang Yue could withstand gravity at this level, but the test clearly would not end here.

I have to get my body ready, or the next sudden increase will crush me!

There are ranking rewards at stake in this test...