Moning's Gaze: The Final Exam Countdown and Failing Grade Warning
The team stress test hasn't completely ended yet; the smell of gunpowder still lingers throughout the training ground.
Dania was happily sipping her chilled juice. The "braised pork" she had just eaten had used up a lot of energy, and she was already planning her attack route at the buffet that evening.
Then, all the loudspeakers in the venue suddenly went off at once.
The electric current crackled twice, completely drowning out everyone's discussion.
That voice was cold and familiar, like a cold wind blowing into your collar in winter.
Moning.
[Notice: The annual physical fitness test for all individuals has concluded. Congratulations to all students for successfully completing the assessment.]
[The following is the final announcement regarding the overall grade for the final academic subjects.]
Linnai had just thrown the dustpan back into the cleaning cart, her legs still cramping, when she heard this, she rolled her eyes.
"I just finished running 3,000 meters, I'm still panting, and she brings up the exam? This woman is a devil!"
[As decided by the College's Academic Affairs Committee, in response to the New Federation's call for cultivating well-rounded individuals, this semester's final exams will use the most difficult exam papers and introduce a dynamic failure rate adjustment mechanism.]
The overall failure rate is expected to be no less than 40%.
As soon as the words were spoken, the entire training ground erupted in groans. The joy of passing the physical test was instantly wiped away.
But Moning didn't stop.
Her voice was like a scalpel, precisely cutting to the most critical spot.
[Special Notice: In view of the fact that some students showed a tendency to cheat during the physical fitness test.]
[The following individuals are now placed on a priority monitoring list: Preparatory Class, Dania.]
[Sunspeakers Reserve, Sigelica.]
[Preparatory Class, Linnai.]
[Mechanical Manufacturing Department, Aimis]
Dania looked up blankly, a straw still in her mouth.
[If any member of the team of four fails a subject in the final evaluation, a cascading penalty mechanism will be triggered.]
[Punishment Details: Effective immediately, all special Logistics Department benefits and resource allocations enjoyed by this squad within the academy are revoked.]
[Including but not limited to: special supplementary meal channels in the canteen, dormitory energy subsidies, and... all expense reimbursement items specially approved by the Logistics Department.]
With a "snap" from the radio, Moning turned off the microphone.
The atmosphere on the training field became particularly eerie.
Sigelica's broom fell to the ground with a clatter.
She slowly turned her head, staring intently at Linnai and Aimis beside her with the look one would give a prehistoric creature; and at Dania, who was still oblivious to the situation and struggling to suck up the last bit of juice from the bottom of the bottle.
Linnai and Aimis instantly hugged each other, their hair standing on end.
"Wait, Xixi, let me explain! This is absolutely Moning's conspiracy!"
Sigelica didn't say anything.
She bent down to pick up the broom, silently took out her personal terminal from her pocket, and pulled up the bill—the one with 20% of the balance remaining.
Cancel all expense reimbursement items.
These words were like poisoned icicles, piercing her heart.
The huge sum of money Zhou Yu just helped her pay off, she has to earn the remaining balance herself, one star coin at a time.
"The three of you." Her voice was soft, yet carried an overwhelming sense of pressure.
"If anyone dares to fail a course, I'll hang them from the central lighthouse and give them on-site tutoring with my riot shield, right there until the next century."
At night, the atmosphere in the girls' dormitory was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
The bad news had spread throughout the entire Slacking Squad.
Chisaki held the tablet, her fingers flying across the screen without even looking up.
"Don't worry, my grades are consistently in the top 5% of my grade. The data doesn't lie."
The remaining three people, like three wilted eggplants, slumped on the sofa.
Linnai clutched her hair, huddled in a corner, a roll of papyrus spread out in front of her.
"That woman Moning, has absolutely no poetic sense, she's practically a part-time poet!" She threw down the quill pen in her hand.
"I just wrote a three-hundred-line poem, 'Lament at the End of the Period,' drawing on a wide range of sources and expressing my sincere feelings. I anonymously sent it to her email, hoping to awaken her sense of literature and beauty."
"And then?" Aimis asked listlessly.
Linnai's expression twisted slightly.
"She rejected my manuscript. She also assigned me two extra papers on ancient warfare history, saying my poetry lacked reverence for the weight of history."
Aimis sighed and pulled a signed photo with a gold edge from under her pillow. In the photo, she was making a heart shape with her hands towards the camera, her smile sweet and healing.
"If persuasion doesn't work, then resort to force... no, try a softer approach."
She slapped the autographed photo on the table.
"I checked. The main system for this grading is the seventh-generation upgraded version of NANA, and the core program includes an 'Idol Culture Appreciation Module'."
"I plan to put this rare autographed photo inside my exam paper as a bribe."
"Maybe it'll be in a good mood and give me a high score."
Before he could finish speaking, a hand reached out from the side and precisely snatched the autographed photo away.
Zhou Yu appeared at the dormitory entrance at some point, carrying a thermos in her hand.
He put the autographed photo into his pocket.
"Bribing the academy's property is an even more serious offense. Do you want to be relegated to be Yeqi's colleague?"
Aimis immediately chickened out and shrank back into the corner of the sofa, drawing circles on her face.
Zhou Yu placed the thermos on the table, and as soon as the lid was opened, the aroma of sweet and sour pork ribs instantly filled the air.
He pushed a bowl piled high with pork ribs in front of Dania.
"Let's eat first."
Dania didn't move. In front of her lay a thick book, densely covered with words.
The book is titled "A Three-Hundred-Year History of the Flamebearers' Academy and an Outline of its Fundamental Resonance Theory".
She poked at the page with her finger, then looked up at Zhou Yu with an extremely blank expression.
Those purple eyes had turned into two constantly spinning mosquito coils.
"Zhou Yu, why does this character look like this?"
Why doesn't it just look like a piece of pork rib?
"That way I'll definitely remember it."
As she spoke, her head tilted to the side, and she collapsed onto the book, completely losing focus.
Sigelica watched this scene, her temples throbbing.
She slammed the massive book that could put anyone to sleep, took a deep breath, and then looked intently at Zhou Yu.
"Manager Zhou," she said, gritting her teeth.
The four of us will go and wait outside your warehouse right now.
"If you don't resolve this matter, we're not leaving today."
Half an hour later, at the entrance of the Logistics Department warehouse.
Four figures squatted in a row, each with a different but equally pitiful gaze, staring longingly at the man inside the warehouse who was leisurely looking at reports.
Dania hugged her knees, resting her chin on them, her face screaming, "I'm starving!"
Linnai and Aimis stood on either side of her, their eyes brimming with tears, ready to stage a scene of "poor girls being exploited by capitalists."
Sigelica was the most direct—she slammed the debt bill on the ground, her eyes conveying a clear message: if you don't take care of this, it will rot away.
Four people: (இஇ`｡)
Zhou Yu put down the financial statements in her hand, picked up her thermos, and blew on the steam.
He glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall.
The date was circled in red, and next to it were drawings of coconut trees and a beach, along with the words: "Summer Island Seven-Day Tour Schedule (Grand Prize Upgraded Version)".
This was something he had planned long ago—to take Dania to the southernmost resort island in Solaris, to eat the freshest seafood, and to have a comfortable long vacation.
But now it seems that Moning's move is an attempt to completely ruin his vacation.
He didn't want to be sunbathing on the beach while having to answer calls from the academic affairs office and deal with the make-up exam procedures for these idiots.
This seriously affects the quality of my vacation.
Zhou Yu slammed the report in his hand heavily on the table.
He stood up, walked to the warehouse door, and looked down at the four heads crouching on the ground.
He pushed up his non-existent black-rimmed glasses, his expression serious, his tone carrying the resolute air of a project manager announcing a project restart.
"Everyone has it."
"Starting tomorrow, the Star Torch Logistics Department's intensive cram school will officially begin."
"There's only one goal." He held up one finger.
"Everyone must pass. Not a single one can be left behind."