novelraw Chapter 76 : Rest Period
Chapter 76 : Rest Period
Transit point, mecha unified maintenance station.
The five Zhu Jing Fu mechas were undergoing inspection and maintenance. The cockpits slowly descended, hatches opened, and the five pilots stepped out.
Behind them, the Saint Laurent team stood face to face with them. When Noya exited his cockpit, he couldn't help giving Chen Sui a thumbs up.
"Sister Chen Sui, you're really something. If you had said something earlier, my guns would have been firing already."
He had a fluffy golden mushroom-shaped short haircut, with standard pretty-boy features.
When Chen Sui first saw him, she suddenly understood why Noya called everyone big brother or big sister. With his childish appearance, cute little fangs, looking energetic and innocent—
It made it easy to overlook his belly full of schemes.
Chen Sui narrowed her eyes, "Is that so? Well, thank you for the compliment."
Noya choked a bit, also noticing her thin frame, especially slender arms, and pointed chin.
If he hadn't seen the muscle lines under her black and gold combat suit when she clenched her fist, Noya would have thought she was nothing but skin and bones.
The Saint Laurent team members clearly needed a moment to adjust to the bright white light, then gradually began to recognize the surrounding crowd.
Chen Sui waved hello to the enthusiastically greeting Xie Yi, then waved to a sour-faced girl with her eyes tilted downward on the other side. Xue Yaoyao squinted and smiled, and when she smiled, the irritation on her face dissipated, making her look somewhat gentle.
Not far away, the Ink Hills team came down. A metal-themed boy with granny gray highlights suddenly jumped up, frantically waving to the other side.
Chen Sui curiously looked back.
The five members of Na Luo River slowly approached. Among them, a tall boy wearing an elaborate uniform called Jipuna's name, and they greeted each other excitedly. The five ran right into Xitisi.
A black-skinned, white-haired wild-looking girl in the Na Luo River team swiped at the head of an arrogant boy with a large pompadour, double-sided eyebrows, and hands in pockets from the Xitisi team, knocking off some of his hair.
Though far away, Chen Sui heard the girl's furious voice.
"Lu Hang Jiu, you're dead! Do you know how expensive my manicure was?!"
The boy who had just been maintaining his cool demeanor was pulled by the ear, howling wildly: "Show some respect, call me cousin! And let go of my ear! Ow! Commander, save me!"
Chen Sui followed his gaze to the front of Xitisi, where a short-haired girl in a combat suit stood particularly straight. Her expression was serious, her lips forming a straight line, making her look somewhat mature.
Sensing the unfamiliar scrutiny, Song Yuan nodded slightly, and Chen Sui returned a smile.
"Let's go," Xie Chunshi said to his teammates after completing the paperwork at the parking spot.
Several teams gradually approached, walking toward the transit plaza exit.
At this moment, the live broadcast cameras circling in the sky faithfully recorded this scene.
Na Luo River, Saint Laurent, Ink Hills, Xitisi, Zhu Jing Fu—five teams distributed back and forth, captured by overhead cameras, with vivid expressions on their faces and hair flying in the wind.
Some had their gazes fixed on distant opponents, some walked hand in hand with teammates.
The comments froze on this shot, leaving only a screen full of [End Check-in]. Finally, the live broadcast screen went black for a second, slowly revealing a line of text.
[White Sand Sky Pillar Sea Domain Elimination Match has ended]
This ending image was used by various media outlets as front-page material, placed in the most prominent headline sections, with various speculations about each school.
While the media was in the midst of heated debate, the military school students were arranging their rest period schedules.
The ten-day rest period suggested there would be more opportunities to learn about their opponents.
At the same time, based on the point totals, they would determine the resources to be exchanged for the next competition field.
After exiting the transit point, Chen Sui saw Yan Mingyu waiting outside.
Behind the teachers from various schools, all the Competition Committee judges were positioned at the second-floor railing, watching the military school students streaming out below like schools of fish.
Chen Sui had good hearing and caught snippets of conversation from afar.
The Analyst Association Chairman Ji Qing was saying to the peach blossom-eyed man beside him: "Good thing it's over. A few more days and Director Mo would have wanted to drive everyone out."
Jian Run curiously raised an eyebrow: "What's this? Mo Qiu'an so anxious? Someone must have dug up her treasures."
"Who else could it be? Look," Ji Qing pointed to the Zhu Jing Fu school team below. "Director Mo's precious To-Water Fish Bone and Blue Fin, nothing left. Fortunately, the next competition hasn't been drawn yet, otherwise I fear Director Mo would clean out the energy field resources overnight."
"Hahahaha!"
Jian Run threw his head back in a great laugh. Chen Sui guiltily touched the tip of her nose.
She felt somewhat apologetic toward this Director Mo they mentioned.
But then she thought, wait, she had obtained those materials through her own abilities.
Chen Sui, hold your head high!
Looking up, her eyes met Jian Run's gaze from the second floor.
The man curved his peach blossom eyes slightly, nodding to her with a look of expectation.
Chen Sui was stunned for a moment, nodded slightly in return as a sign of respect.
Yan Mingyu noticed her gesture, looked back, saw him, and said familiarly: "Director Jian, when's the transit?"
Jian Run replied: "We'll decide after the medical center results come out. The schools will open transit flights in batches. Just book a flight once you're ready."
Yan Mingyu nodded, waved her hand as a farewell, then said to the school team: "Remember to go to the medical center for post-competition examinations."
After the competition, to prevent military school students from suffering physical damage, routine examinations were arranged, including physical, psychological, and mental threshold examinations.
Xie Chunshi handed them their medical cards. "After the examinations, we can go to the recovery area to see Cheng Wei. We'll go together."
His last sentence was directed at He Lanxi and the two others who had caught up.
After leaving the island, the division had climbed several ranks with energy body points, achieving a relatively ideal score.
Although the school team had been penalized at the end, their earlier mecha points were good, placing them at twelfth, not much different from several other Seven Schools.
When He Lanxi heard about Cheng Wei, he immediately nodded, and everyone rushed to the medical center together.
The post-competition physical examinations ended quickly, especially since Chen Sui and the others didn't have much damage, and their spiritual bodies had received adequate feeding after having sufficient resources.
The most surprising was Zhou Chen.
His mental results were actually the best among them.
"Hehe," Zhou Chen started laughing as soon as he got the report. In the agile attacker area, seeing him so mentally alert, others were somewhat surprised.
Which team's output fighter could come out looking refreshed after fighting for ten days?
Probably only Zhu Jing Fu.
"It must be because they didn't fight on the last day."
Someone guessed.
Zhou Chen heard this and silently made an X in his mind.
Incorrect. It's because he had a big savior.
Spiritual healing—from now on, he would be a devotee of spiritual healing.
Zhou Chen rarely saw his core crystal in such good condition.
This excitement continued until he saw Chen Sui. He excitedly grabbed the analyst's hand and shook it wildly: "Sui! You're amazing! Look!"
Zhou Chen showed Chen Sui his core crystal examination results.
His damage level had dropped by 30%, a figure he had rarely seen since being injured.
Chen Sui's eyes curved slightly, nodding with satisfaction at the spiritual healing effect: "That's good. Spiritual healing is indeed effective. If you still feel uncomfortable later, remember to come to me for more."
Zhou Chen recalled the process of spiritual healing, feeling less resistance than before, and nodded repeatedly.
"No problem!"
The two waited for the others, then followed He Lanxi to find Cheng Wei and Isis's ward.
Cheng Wei's core crystal was damaged and had undergone emergency treatment after being eliminated. Now his depletion level was under control, but it wasn't clear if his energy chaos situation had improved.
The medical practitioner, knowing they were the patient's classmates, explained Cheng Wei's condition and added: "This student's mental threshold energy chaos is too severe. Ordinary analysts can hardly perform the healing process. We've recruited analysts specializing in spiritual healing from the Analyst Association to solve the energy chaos problem. After completing the repair procedure, he should be ready to leave the hospital."
After saying this, she thought of the military school students' next competition: "He should be able to complete recovery before your second elimination match begins."
He Lanxi's face showed undisguised concern: "Well, we'll worry about the competition later. Let's wait until our friend gets better."
The medical practitioner nodded, escorting them into the ward with a caution: "Due to the patient's special condition, a high-purity micro-energy field has been opened in the ward. Remember to control your energy to avoid interfering with the field's purity."
High-purity micro-energy fields generally used relatively gentle energy fluctuations to simulate healing or curative attribute waves.
Cheng Wei lay in the treatment pod. Hearing voices, he looked up.
His red hair was scattered in the pod, soaked in repair liquid, looking like a hairy bayberry. His face still had greenish and reddish marks.
"How are you?" He Lanxi sat down on the long bench, legs spread widely, and pressed the communication button on the medical pod. Cheng Wei's voice came through: "F*ck, why are you all here? How was the competition?"
He Lanxi and Xie Chunshi exchanged a glance. "See, I told you his first words would be about the competition."
Chen Sui peeked out from the side. Seeing her, Cheng Wei was startled, then his eyes brightened: "Suisui! You're all here! Does that mean it's over?"
"Tsk, what do you mean," He Lanxi frowned. "Seeing me and immediately doubting the competition results? What, you think we're so easily eliminated? Where's the trust between people?"
Cheng Wei chuckled a few times: "Just worried about you guys, you were down to three people."
"Even with three, we still advanced," Tong Wei flicked her twin ponytails. Looking at Cheng Wei's appearance, her eyes showed a hint of tears. She leaned on the edge of the medical pod: "Cheng Wei, you look so ugly!"
"Nonsense!" Cheng Wei stretched his mouth into a smile. "When has your brother not been handsome?"
"Say less," Zhou Chen shook his head, seeing him forcing himself.
Noticing the bruises on Cheng Wei's face, Xie Chunshi lowered his eyes to the medical pod's repair program. "Hasn't the repair liquid treated the injuries yet?"
Cheng Wei nodded: "Oh, the doctor said the energy concentration in the repair liquid is slightly high. My energy chaos hasn't been sorted out yet, so they dare not increase the concentration. Currently, they're just using dilution for relief."
That's why the bruises on his body hadn't dissipated yet.
"Cheng Wei, don't say your brothers aren't reliable," Chang Sheng patted his pod door. "We even eliminated First Ring Fourth Academy."
"Holy shit! Really?!"
Cheng Wei excitedly raised a fist: "Ow!"
The movement pulled at his wounds, making him grimace and cry out.
Xie Chunshi nodded; his words always carried weight.
"All eliminated. By timing, their hospital area should be around here too."
"Really?" Chen Sui heard this and looked sideways.
Xie Chunshi felt his heart skip, his voice quickly and calmly stating: "Fighting and brawling are strictly prohibited at transit points."
He was afraid Chen Sui would go put sacks over First Ring Fourth Academy's heads.
Chen Sui indeed showed a disappointed expression: "Is that so..."
Seeing her expression, Cheng Wei knew the school team had put in a lot of effort. He flashed his big white teeth: "Thanks to all you brothers and sisters for venting my anger!"
Chen Sui patted his medical pod: "You focus on your treatment. When you're better, we'll transit back together."
Cheng Wei had been lying in the medical center for quite a few days. Once the analyst's spiritual healing and sorting were done, followed by high-concentration repair, he would be finished.
Hearing this, he struggled to make a saluting gesture: "Don't worry, I recover super fast."
After saying this, looking at Tong Wei leaning on the glass with a dejected expression, his tone softened: "Don't cry, okay? I'll continue protecting you in the next competition."
Tong Wei nodded, her twin ponytails swaying: "You promise."
"Rest assured," Cheng Wei lightly pounded his fist against his chest.
The school team subsequently visited another classmate, Isis. Her injuries were slightly lighter than Cheng Wei's. After one more day of repair, she could be discharged.
Coming out from the hospital corridor, Xie Chunshi was discussing precautions for the next elimination match with He Lanxi.
Chen Sui, walking in front, looked across the corridor toward the other side of the medical center building.
A group of elegantly dressed people escorted a middle-aged man in noble attire out of a ward.
The medical practitioner at his side was calmly narrating something, with an unpleasant expression.
Seeing the middle-aged man's appearance, Chen Sui narrowed her eyes and stopped in her tracks.
Beside her, Gu Qinxue couldn't help squeezing her palm.
Chen Sui looked down, lowering her voice to the others: "Is that the Gu family head?"
Gu Qinxue nodded, expressionless as she scoffed lightly: "After beating a dog, the master has to comfort it, right? Otherwise, why would the dog be so loyal?"
Her tone was somewhat cold, dripping with sarcasm.
Just as she finished speaking, the middle-aged man opposite looked up.
His gaze was sharp, scanning the crowd with implicit disgust.
Zhou Chen didn't even look at him, deliberately making a gun-shooting gesture at the air in front of him.
The guards beside Gu Haichuan became alert, two stepping forward to block, but were waved back.
Across the long corridor between the two buildings, his resonant voice carried over.
Chen Sui noticed his voice was very deep, carrying the aura of a superior who commanded respect without anger. It sounded very authoritative, making people instinctively comply—different from the image of a despicable villain portrayed in rumors.
Indeed a cunning old fox, Chen Sui thought.
Gu Haichuan glanced at them: "Just some young punks, no need for such fuss."
After saying this, he fixed his gaze on Gu Qinxue in the center: "It seems after leaving the Gu family, you've completely degenerated, hanging around with such dubious characters all day."
After speaking, he turned away with a somewhat haughty posture.
Chen Sui heard these words, thought for a second, then turned to ask Gu Qinxue sincerely: "Xue, who is this 'dubious character' referring to?"
"The dubious character is referring to you," Gu Qinxue replied.
Chen Sui nodded: "Oh!" She scanned Gu Haichuan up and down, saying matter-of-factly: "Indeed a dubious character."
That look was caught in Gu Haichuan's peripheral vision. He paused, his eagle eyes turning toward Chen Sui, suddenly laughing a bit, his smile somewhat contemptuous.
"Presumptuous."
He calmly uttered these four characters, then feeling it beneath his dignity to argue with these young people, he straightened his sleeves, lifted his neck, and walked haughtily toward the other end of the corridor.
Chen Sui watched his retreating figure: "The Gu family head looks somewhat different from the rumors."
Zhou Chen and Gu Qinxue both looked at her, then heard Chen Sui raise her hand, her mechanical eye rotating. She made a grasping gesture at Gu Haichuan's neck position: "Twisting at this angle should be a bit faster than a quantum gun, and not so difficult to kill."
After saying this, she looked at Zhou Chen, as if asking 'why didn't you succeed?' Zhou Chen realized her meaning and looked at her in shock: "F*ck, you're getting more and more audacious."
Chen Sui lowered her hand, turning to reveal a harmless smile: "I'm just joking."
Gu Qinxue lowered her eyes, a trace of a smile passing over. Chen Sui didn't seem to be joking.
Her emotions toward people were very obvious. She must have sensed a threat from Gu Haichuan, which generated this killing intent.
Chen Sui didn't say it aloud, and the others treated it as an insignificant interlude.
She looked at the ward door revealed after Gu Haichuan left, guessing it must be First Ring Fourth Academy members.
It's a pity; her energy wasn't so easy to sort out. The analyst was thoroughly ruined, and as for the agile attacker—let him taste the feeling of permanent trauma.
Still missed Gu Lingke though. Would make up for that eventually.
Chen Sui thought.
After leaving the medical center, Chen Sui noticed Gu Qinxue wasn't in a good mood. Once separated from the group, she quickly caught up to her.
"Going to train later?"
Chen Sui noticed her footsteps were heading toward the training room.
Gu Qinxue turned her head, her white hair sweeping past Chen Sui's neck, guessing with a smile: "You followed me to ask something?"
Chen Sui blinked, feeling awkward about the comforting process.
She paused for a moment. Chen Sui bluntly thought, in the past when people she cared about were affected, the factors were always aliens, and Chen Sui's way of comforting them was to kill the aliens.
Now, she viewed Gu Qinxue as a good friend. What affected Gu Qinxue's mood was a person, the Gu family. Currently, she couldn't exactly go kill the Gu family.
Chen Sui spoke softly, somewhat dejected: "Star Alliance law stipulates that killing people leads to detention in the Prison Tower. I still need to finish the competition with you all, so..."
Gu Qinxue burst into laughter: "What are you thinking about?"
"Who do you want to kill? Gu Haichuan? Or who?"
Chen Sui looked up at her, saying from the bottom of her heart: "I won't kill people now."
She rarely killed people, actually.
She had killed mostly aliens.
But it wasn't that she hadn't killed before—comrades confused by brain-eating worms, traitors who betrayed the underground city. Chen Sui knew how to kill people; she just couldn't do it now.
Gu Qinxue heard the conditions in her words and instinctively placed her palm on her shoulder: "I'm fine."
She sat down on a bench by the roadside. The space station rotated on the satellite line of the Dawn Star Cluster. Through the transparent window made of special materials, one could see the vast sea of stars.
"I thought I would have many emotions too," Gu Qinxue said quietly, her gaze falling vaguely on a point in space. Suddenly she laughed very lightly: "But when I actually saw Gu Lingke, I found that rather than hatred or anger, I just felt she was pitiful and pathetic. Seeing Gu Haichuan, I only felt irony. Maybe this is what mom called completely letting go."
At this point, Gu Qinxue suddenly turned to look at Chen Sui: "I haven't told you about my mom, have I?"
Chen Sui showed an interested expression.
Gu Qinxue opened her light brain, displaying the image of a very gentle woman's face: "She's like you, also a repair technician! The Gu family's mecha, Ghost Blade, was repaired by her."
Ghost Blade, like Black Arrow and Song of Praise, was a mecha designed and built by Master Jin at the founding of the Star Alliance.
Ghost Blade was once the mecha of Master Jin's student, the then Border Army's chief single combat unit Gu Canlin.
Chen Sui was currently repairing Black Arrow. The more deeply she understood this mecha's structure, the more she realized how difficult it was to repair a mecha of this caliber.
"Very impressive," she sincerely marveled.
Gu Qinxue nodded, her face showing some filial admiration: "Mom is the most amazing person I've ever seen."
As Gu Qinxue said these words, her expression was very soft, making Chen Sui also carefully look up at this mother whom she respected.
Chen Sui had no memory of parents.
The person who assumed the role of a mother in her life was her teacher, Chen Jia. She could understand Gu Qinxue's feelings because she also believed that Chen Jia was the most amazing person, capable of anything.
"I can face the Gu family. I'm no longer that fragile little child from before, so don't worry about me."
Gu Qinxue's ice-frost eyes looked at Chen Sui.
After finishing, she laughed lightly: "And you don't need to do illegal things for me." Gu Qinxue's warm hand held Chen Sui's.
From this gesture, Chen Sui felt a vigorously growing strength. She knew Gu Qinxue wasn't sad, and this realization reassured her.
"If there's a chance to meet Auntie, we can exchange insights on mecha repair!"
Chen Sui was somewhat interested in Ghost Blade and equally curious about Gu Qinxue's mother who could repair it.
Gu Qinxue smiled with pursed lips: "There will be opportunities in the future."
Chen Sui didn't press her on why it would be "in the future."
Knowing Gu Qinxue was fine, Chen Sui headed to the training room with peace of mind.
Halfway there, crossing the rotating staircase, she happened to see two men coming down the stairs, arms around each other's shoulders.
The peach blossom-eyed man with another man with facial scars.
Oh my.
Seeing the two men's faces, Chen Sui immediately exclaimed that the world was indeed small. You can't lie to someone you've only met once, or you might run into them face-to-face someday.
"Director Jian," she nodded to Jian Run in his formal attire, then narrowed her eyes, looking to the side at a tall man properly dressed in a Border Army uniform. Her gaze swept over his badge.
"What are you looking at?" Lu Cuining's face darkened. His finger lifted his badge, rough fingertips tracing over the text, reading word by word: "Border Army, Sixth Military Zone, Colonel Lu Cuining."