First Contact

What Meng Xuanxuan said was half true and half false, but one thing was certain—she truly did not want Tang Yu to be like this.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Tang Yu suddenly spoke. His tone was soft and calm, and there was even a faint smile on his face.

"You finally decided to speak! It's not worth sulking over a woman who's different on the inside from what she shows on the outside!" Seeing Tang Yu speak, Meng Xuanxuan let out a sigh of relief. Yet for some reason, she also felt a faint, inexplicable sense of loss.

Hearing this, Tang Yu smiled and shook his head. "What are you thinking? I just found it hard to accept that the friend I'd always considered my closest confidant had killed the brother who once fought alongside me. Can you understand that feeling?" His tone was bitter as he spoke. They were practically two different people—one gentle and tender, the other cold and ruthless as frost.

"Don't think about that for now. The college entrance exam results came out today! Don't you want to know how you did?" Being a girl, Meng Xuanxuan was more sensitive. Knowing that continuing this topic would not be good, she immediately changed the subject.

Tang Yu froze at her words. That fast? Was it already the twenty-fifth?

"How did I do?" Although he knew his results should not be bad, he could not help feeling curious.

"Guess!" Seeing that Tang Yu seemed to have temporarily put the matter aside, Meng Xuanxuan took the opportunity to tease him.

"Let me guess... Hmm... I should be a little higher than you, right?" Tang Yu deliberately answered in a joking tone.

"Hmph! You're that confident?" Meng Xuanxuan did not actually know either of their scores, but hearing Tang Yu say that made her feel indignant. You're way too confident! How dare you look down on me like that!

"Come on, tell me. What did I get?" Meng Xuanxuan's response only made Tang Yu more curious.

"Wait, I'll look it up!" As she spoke, Meng Xuanxuan pulled out her phone, entered her personal information, and checked the website. Her humanities score was 324, her science score was 314, for a total of 638 points. Based on Asian Military Academy's admission cutoff of 580 in previous years, she was definitely in!

"Not bad! 638 points!" Seeing Meng Xuanxuan's exam results, Tang Yu could not help praising her. He had never seen this girl study much. All she did at home was conduct strange experiments, yet she had still scored so well!

"Hurry up and check mine!" After seeing Meng Xuanxuan's score, Tang Yu became even more curious about his own.

"Give me your ID number!"

"6104..." Hearing that, Tang Yu promptly recited his information.

"Humanities: 323. Science: 335. Total score: 658! Oh my god!" Meng Xuanxuan could hardly believe Tang Yu's college entrance exam results. This guy never went to school, and she never saw him studying. He also spent so much time cultivating every day. How had he scored so high?

"Tsk, tsk! This is what happens when you don't study seriously. I thought I'd only score a few points higher than you, but I didn't expect the gap to be this big!" Though he said that, Tang Yu understood his own scores well. There was a reason his humanities score was lower—the essay had been improvised on the spot, and he had wrapped it up rather hastily at the end. Otherwise, he could have gained at least a few more points. As for the science score, there was even less to say. He had spent too much time on the final difficult question, leaving no time to check his work. Missing a few points was perfectly normal. Overall, it was passable.

"A major event happened while you were unconscious these past few days!" Discussing scores with a top student was not a wise thing to do, so Meng Xuanxuan decisively changed the subject.

"What happened?" Tang Yu's instincts told him it was related to the Mechanical Clan's invasion. Sure enough, Meng Xuanxuan's next words confirmed his guess.

"A few days ago, the two sides had their first clash in the starry skies around Uranus."

"How did it go?" Hearing this, Tang Yu sat up in his hospital bed and hurriedly asked.

Meng Xuanxuan sighed. "They killed a thousand enemies but lost eight hundred of their own. According to the official report, ten thousand A-rank mechas were deployed, and fewer than three thousand returned. Five hundred S-rank mechas were deployed, and fewer than three hundred returned. Thirty SS-rank giant mechas were deployed, and more than half were lost..."

As Tang Yu listened to the numbers Meng Xuanxuan gave, his heart sank to the bottom. SS-rank giant mechas were already comparable to aircraft carriers. In terms of firepower and maneuverability, they even surpassed aircraft carriers. One SS-rank mecha cost nearly ten billion Federation credits, while a giant mecha cost more than ten times that—nearly a hundred billion Federation credits. Of course, even if someone could afford that much now, they might not necessarily be able to build one. The Federation government's technology was highly advanced, and its economy had kept pace, but according to online speculation, the total number of SS-rank giant mechas they possessed did not exceed one hundred.

"Humanity has more than five hundred Divine Transformation-level experts, doesn't it?" Tang Yu asked doubtfully. It was true that S-rank mechas required Divine Transformation-level martial artists to operate, but that number was far too low. There were more than 1.3 billion Federation citizens—only five hundred Divine Transformation-level martial artists? That made no sense. Perhaps they had not deployed their full strength in the first clash?

"There are quite a few, but some of them have to oversee the bigger picture, while others haven't gathered yet. More importantly, many of humanity's powerful experts went off to explore the starry skies. They have no idea that war has already broken out back home!"

It was only afternoon when, under Tang Yu's persistent insistence, Meng Xuanxuan finally relented and agreed to let him leave the hospital.

The moment he left the hospital, Tang Yu received an email: the electronic version of his admission notice from Asian Military Academy. Attached to it was also a declaration: Whenever and wherever the Federation government needs you, do not refuse, do not hesitate. Go and fight! For your homeland, for the Federation's glory...

It was an impassioned speech that made one's blood boil, making them want to immediately throw themselves onto the battlefield and fight! To shed their blood and sacrifice their lives!

"Going home now?" Meng Xuanxuan turned and asked Tang Yu.

Tang Yu shook his head. "To the Force Martial Arts Gym!" Although Meng Xuanxuan did not know why Tang Yu wanted to go there now, she did not ask. She simply drove the silvery-white Angel's Wings straight toward the Force Martial Arts Gym in Suhang City.

It was the weekend, but there were not many people in the gym. Most of its usual visitors were young people, and at this hour, they were probably all checking their exam results.

"How did Tang Yu do?" Seeing Tang Yu and Meng Xuanxuan enter, Wang Meng greeted them with a smile.

Seeing the smile on Wang Meng's face, Tang Yu suddenly felt bitter, unsure whether he should say it.

"Why aren't you saying anything? With your grades, it shouldn't be bad!" Wang Meng assumed Tang Yu had done poorly and asked in puzzlement.

"It's not that. Brother Wang, let's talk inside."

Once they reached the office, Wang Meng looked curiously at Tang Yu, wondering what he wanted to say. Meng Xuanxuan, however, had roughly guessed what Tang Yu was about to tell him.

"Brother Wang, where are A-Long and A-Qiang?" He had to say it eventually. Having made up his mind, Tang Yu asked directly.

Wang Meng froze at Tang Yu's words. Ever since those two had awakened, they had rarely stayed at the gym. They often went out to earn extra money and would occasionally disappear for three to five days. Wang Meng had assumed they were doing business on the black market. But this time, there had been no news from them for half a month. Now that Tang Yu was asking this, could it be...

"Xiao Yu, if there's something... just say it." Wang Meng, already in his forties, had never married. He had always treated A-Long and A-Qiang like his own sons, and he treated Tang Yu the same way. Thinking that something might have happened to them made him deeply uneasy. Even his voice trembled, making him sound nothing like a Force-awakened martial artist with a gene index above 300.

Taking a deep breath, Tang Yu said to Wang Meng, "I saw A-Long and A-Qiang in Ruins City."

"Oh? What were those two doing there? They didn't even send word that they weren't coming back. Even if they were saving up to replace their mechas, they didn't need to work themselves that hard!" Hearing this, Wang Meng still seemed not to understand the other meaning behind Tang Yu's words.

"Brother Wang!" Tang Yu's voice suddenly rose several pitches, startling even Meng Xuanxuan.

"They're dead! They were killed! A-Qiang didn't even leave behind an intact body!" By this point, Tang Yu's tone had become agitated, even bordering on hysteria. It was the first time Meng Xuanxuan had seen him like this.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Impossible! Impossible!" Wang Meng's body swayed as he staggered back several steps. He kept muttering that it was impossible, his expression turning blank. He knew the experts of Suhang City better than anyone. Wang Meng believed he had friends everywhere. As long as A-Long and A-Qiang lowered their heads, admitted their mistakes, and gave his name—or, if necessary, the gym owner's name—the other party should have shown them some respect. How could they have died for no reason?

Seeing how agitated the two were, Meng Xuanxuan wanted to comfort them, but she did not know what to say.

"Who was it? Who did it? I'll kill him!" Wang Meng suddenly snapped back to his senses. His eyes were bloodshot as he gritted his teeth.

"Brother Wang, calm down. We will definitely avenge them! But the other side has quite a background. We can't act rashly!" Though Tang Yu was furious, he had not been blinded by rage.

"Who was it?" Wang Meng asked Tang Yu in a low voice.

Tang Yu fell silent at the question. Meng Xuanxuan was the one who finally spoke. "Dukavi, the nephew of the commander of the Americas Military District! A special admission student of the Americas Military Academy with a gene index above 200!" During the time Tang Yu had been unconscious, Meng Xuanxuan had already investigated Dukavi's personal information.