novelraw Chapter 99 : Break Period
Chapter 99 : Break Period
The extremely spacious plaza had its central combat platform converted into the Competition Committee seating area, filled with numerous illustrious seniors.
"When will this meeting end? Teacher Yan said we have the day off today."
Zhou Chen had just walked in, sat down in the Zhu Jing Fu seating area, and immediately began probing the situation with Xie Chunshi beside him.
The Commander looked at him helplessly: "Weren't you off yesterday too?"
"Yesterday wasn't a day off. That was surviving tribulation."
Hearing his excuse, Chen Sui looked over curiously: "Didn't your good brothers invite you out to play?"
"You call riding a roller coaster playing? They were playing with me! Where did they even get tickets from?" Zhou Chen felt physically nauseated just thinking about the scene.
The Zone Eleven roller coaster was designed to accommodate Border Army training, with top-tier twists and steepness. The route featured various typical energy bodies, providing an immersive experience of rapid travel through energy fields.
Thinking of this, Zhou Chen's gaze fixed on Xie Chunshi, suddenly realizing: "You gave them the tickets, didn't you?"
He stated with certainty: "Only you have enough mission points to exchange for tickets."
"It has nothing to do with me," Xie Chunshi denied.
Many of the Border Army Zone's training facilities and attractions could be accessed by exchanging mission points earned from responding to recruitment calls. Chen Sui hadn't yet responded to any rescue or clearing missions, so she hadn't unlocked the mission points section.
But hearing Zhou Chen's words, she glanced at Xie Chunshi from the corner of her eye.
Had he participated in many Border Army missions?
The Commander unconsciously straightened his back, noticing Chen Sui's scrutiny. His gaze settled calmly on her: "Going to the training room today too?"
Chen Sui shook her head: "That depends on my teacher's arrangements."
Zhou Chen only later realized that when Chen Sui mentioned "teacher," she meant formal discipleship. He was curious: "You really became someone's disciple? That's surprising. I didn't think there was an analyst you'd respect enough."
He Lanxi had mentioned that even using his grandfather He Lan Yi's name couldn't fool Chen Sui one bit.
Chen Sui could tell what he was thinking and restated wearily: "I've already said, Master Yi and I aren't on the same path. I can't learn his methods."
Zhou Chen pouted, no longer curious about this question, but instead asked: "You mentioned modifying mecha weapons a few days ago. How's it going? How much has my Four-sided Mace been enhanced?"
"It's all been weakened, not enhanced," Chen Sui coldly retorted. Zhou Chen immediately clutched his chest in pain, "No way! We need to fight energy bodies in energy fields. If it's weakened, I'll look so incompetent."
His bantering made Chen Sui smile.
The snow bud branches' control-breaking properties combined with the fire crystal snow melting stone had been crafted into a dual control cannon that could switch between breaking control and controlling, with pure blood added. The control cannon's fire carried confusion effects, with strong counter effects against energy bodies.
As for Zhou Chen's Four-sided Mace, it was primarily enhanced for lightning conduction and insulation. The hidden flying needles inside were also adjusted to complement Puluo's shield umbrella, expanding the lightning's distribution range.
Then there was Blue Fin, which had been well-tested for its concealment effect in the Sultry Red Forest. Chen Sui applied the Blue Fin concealment coating to all Zhu Jing Fu mechas, enabling group concealment.
"By the way, Commander," thinking of this, Chen Sui looked at Xie Chunshi, reminding him: "You haven't given me your awakening detection report yet."
She needed the awakening detection reports to determine their summoning body value levels.
She already had everyone else's reports.
The wolf-tailed curly-haired young man paused, then lowered his head with a light smile: "Sorry, I'll send it to you now."
Chen Sui nodded, observing that as he retrieved the report, he seemed to input some password. Due to light brain privacy settings, she didn't observe closely, but from the exposed input cursor area, she caught sight of a Border Army mark.
Surely not—even the awakening detection was encrypted?
Chen Sui instinctively thought of the StarNet discussions about Xie Chunshi.
Supposedly, his awakening occurred in one of the ten major energy fields, an extremely dangerous process, and his core crystal subsequently suffered trauma.
But thinking of the spiritual body she had glimpsed in the energy field, Chen Sui pondered.
That creature, neither fully human nor fish, looked exactly like the legendary merfolk—a long-tailed, human-headed being that instinctively reminded her of the humanoid energy body on the starship.
Xie Chunshi had awakened in the God-Abandoned Domain. Could the two be related?
The rust-red sea of the God-Abandoned Domain was also the source of the mecha's red rust.
What exactly was red rust?
These questions could only be answered by entering the God-Abandoned Domain.
As Chen Sui pondered, her light brain vibrated—it was the awakening report he had sent.
"I've sent it to you. Also, don't rush with the summoning body matter. After today's farewell party, they'll select the energy field in advance. We can adjust the summoning bodies and mechas based on the energy field situation."
The last day of the break period coincided with the farewell to the 45 teams that hadn't qualified. The sub-team had passed the White Sand Sky Pillar Sea Domain selection but unfortunately lost to Na Luo River in the ten-to-one competition and was about to head home.
Since it was their first visit to the Border Army Zone, Cheng Wei and the others had been touring around with temporary passes after receiving them, having a great time.
It was only at the moment of parting that these five could be seen.
Golden Tower and Jacques Delot were also about to board the return jump.
The farewell party would follow the opening ceremony.
On the combat platform, Chairman Zhao first announced the start of the official competition, followed by introductions of the teaching and rescue teams.
When announcing the analyst teaching team, a tall figure emerged from the Border Army crowd below the arena.
The newcomer wore a black uniform with Zhu Jing Fu's totem pattern on the drooping sleeve buttons.
As he walked through the crowd, passing the livestream screen, everyone could clearly see the row of badges on his chest.
Since joining the Border Army, he had completed over a hundred missions, participating in various energy field rescue operations.
At this moment, Chairman Zhao read the last name on the list.
"For this analyst teaching, Zhu Jing Fu area supervisor: Fourth Star Ring Analyst Association recruited analyst, Song Xingzhang."
The appearance of this name seemed to press a mute button in the crowd.
Whether at the Analyst Association seats above, the contestant seats below, or the rows of Border Army soldiers standing straight around them, all fell silent for two seconds.
Then they watched the thin middle-aged man slowly walk to the seat with his name placard.
Ji Qing was at his side, with He Lan Yi on the other. Both managed to control their expressions in front of the livestream, but their hands beneath the table were clenched, trembling uncontrollably.
[I suspect my ears are broken]
[Who did you say??]
[Master Song, is it really Master Song?]
[No way, Zhu Jing Fu's supervisor is usually the analyst's teacher, right?? Have I misunderstood something??]
[So Chen Sui really is a strong-attack flow analyst, damn. And the StarNet has been mocking her for so long??]
[When Master Song and Vina were mentioned, people accused others of moon-landing plagiarism. Now with Master Song's endorsement, let's see who still dares to criticize]
[Chen Sui's style is obviously strong-attack system]
[The Analyst Association information has been updated, Chen Sui's information now includes discipleship]
[Holy shit I'm about to cry, the student column under Master Song's name has lit up, the row above is still gray]
[Restore the glory of strong-attack flow!]
[Everyone stand up, Emperor Sui is about to receive an epic buff]
[Honestly, it's unimaginable. Chen Sui at this level still has room for improvement—how terrifying would that be]
[I think her endurance isn't great. I remember Master Song once said that strong-attack system analysts must pay attention to battle rhythm, maintaining engagement with energy bodies, which is battle endurance training]
[It's over, Emperor Sui's only weakness is about to be fixed]
[She can get up in the middle of the night to mine, I can't imagine if she had energy—she could fight from dawn till dusk]
[Damn, I'm about to cry. The Three Musketeers of Zone Eleven, reunited]
[What's this Three Musketeers of Zone Eleven?]
[It refers to the three sitting in the Analyst Association. In Master Song's generation, there were the Three Musketeers and Four Directional Flowers, all now pillars of the analyst world]
[LOL, this title—I didn't think anyone would remember it. It's almost a relic of the past. Master Song's generation had the Three Musketeers, and Director Zhao and her three friends were the Four Directional Flowers. Master Song's generation also had Song Baining, Vina, and Xie Liuyun, known as the Five Colored Stones because their mechas all had colors]
[Wow, I think this generation could produce one too]
[Your Sui and Noya could form a rice ball soup—not kidding, they'd be perfect]
[They don't need to form anything. Look around—each of the five academies has an eye-catching package looking around. I already have a name for them: The League's Five Fools]
[True, Zhou Chen could just say hello, why does he need to stand up? He's really conspicuous]
Chen Sui looked at Zhou Chen who had suddenly stood up, also confused. With a glance from her, Puluo's long arm reached out and directly pressed Zhou Chen down.
"What are you doing?"
Zhou Chen stared at the stage in shock, maintaining this expression since Song Xingzhang's appearance. Across from them, He Lanxi excitedly showed him something on his light brain. Zhou Chen couldn't see clearly and had to stand up a bit more to understand the situation.
Without time to respond, after being pressed down, he immediately accessed the league area on his light brain. At this moment, hot forum posts had already accumulated tens of thousands of replies.
"You, you, you, don't tell me," Zhou Chen was so shocked he could barely speak clearly, "the teacher you mentioned is Master Song?!"
Chen Sui wondered what he was making a fuss about and nodded matter-of-factly: "Yes, didn't I say so before?"
"You didn't say anything!" Zhou Chen's voice rose, and he quickly lowered it, baring his teeth at Chen Sui with an expression made comical by his astonishment.
"This is Song Xingzhang!!"
"Aren't you an output? You—" Chen Sui amusedly pointed ahead, "You're even a fan of analysts?"
"I'm shocked! You know, since Colonel Vina's death, Master Song vanished like he'd evaporated," Zhou Chen gestured for Chen Sui to look at the platform, where the two people sitting beside Song Xingzhang had glistening eyes, seeming close to tears. "Don't be surprised at my reaction—look at Master Ji. If not for the livestream, tears would be falling already."
Chen Sui glanced over, indifferent to the commotion stirred by Song Xingzhang, but the lively atmosphere around her made her look up.
Her impression of He Lan Yi came from his various works. This elder habitually used calm, concise language to explain every analyst problem. He himself was also very efficient. Though middle-aged, he remained full of vitality. Only now could one see some trace of grief in his face.
Chen Sui observed the analyst seats for a few seconds before her attention was drawn to the rescue team, as she heard a familiar name.
"Rescue Team Three, Qiao Ji, Bai Yang—"
She looked up, and in the crowd, a short-haired female teacher in a crisp Border Army uniform looked over with gentle eyes, seemingly encouraging.
Chen Sui sensed she was looking at her and respectfully nodded in return.
She felt genuine gratitude toward this entrance examination teacher whom she hadn't seen in a long time.
For Qiao Ji, seeing Chen Sui on the Star League competition stage filled her with immense satisfaction.
This child, once viewed as unable to pass even the assessment, had become a rising figure on the Star League competition stage.
And Chen Sui's path was far from over.
"Military school students."
Zhao Loulan's calm, level voice spread throughout the arena via the central broadcast.
All discussions and conversations fell silent at this moment.
She began the speech repeated at every league competition, which, though familiar, still stirred the blood when heard.
"On the Star League competition field, you will face the most real battlefield. Energy fields are capricious and ever-changing, energy bodies are violent and brutal. You will eventually overcome everything—"
"Declare war on alien races."
Behind Zhao Loulan were images of countless Border Army rescue missions.
These were data published at every league competition, showing how many descents the Star Alliance had suffered in the past year, and how many sacrifices had been made.
When these data were presented alongside the league competition, no military school student could remain calm.
Those who died were their compatriots. Among them were even their own relatives—children who chased mechanical butterflies every morning, who couldn't speak clearly but would enthusiastically call their names with broken syllables.
This wasteland was once their homeland, now covered by energy field boundaries, becoming territory where energy storms freely invaded, never to be entered again.
Silent resolve accompanied by burning fighting spirit spread through the crowd.
Everyone's gaze fixed on the words revealed line by line on the light screen. Glory and cheers lost their color before such bloody scenes.
Zhao Loulan finished reading all the data, and the light screen remained on scenes of corpses and ruins caused by energy fields and energy bodies.
Her voice choked for a moment. This young Border Army leader composed herself and began leading the entire venue in reciting the Border Army oath in her characteristically calm, almost mechanical voice.
—Defend Star Alliance territory, protect Star Alliance people, expel alien races, safeguard peace, no regrets in life or death.
The passionate oaths rose like waves, surging toward the livestream screen. At this moment, the bullet comments also scrolled with identical lines of text.
As the thunderous voices gradually subsided, Zhao Loulan pressed the energy field selection button.
"Star League competition's first match, the selected arena is—"
On the light screen, countless energy field scenes shifted.
Until the countdown reached zero.
Snow-capped mountains appeared on the screen, with a crescent red moon like a bow or string, casting blood-red light across the deep white snow.
"SS-level energy field [Red Moon Snow Plain]."