The Interstellar Queen of Scavengers

Chapter 666: Speculations About the Final Exam

On the first day of the Basic Mecha Driver’s License assessment, only seven students from the 131st Combat Department batch - Shen Changqing, Xuzhou, Chu Jiaojiao, Sheng Qingyan, Yue Qiyuan, Ji You, and Yu Yi - passed the assessment. Ji You had the highest score among them, followed by Shen Changqing, Sheng Qingyan, and Yue Qiyuan.

Mu Jianling gave the students three days, with two days remaining. The students were not too anxious, but everyone trained even harder without needing to be pushed; everyone was very conscientious.

Not only did the students who failed the assessment work hard, but also those like Ji You and Shen Changqing who had passed. After the exams, they did not waste any time and took the initiative to train in the training rooms.

Mu Jianling watched this group of students, her icy eyes gradually softening. She said in a gentle tone, "Today’s assessment is over, continue tomorrow, class dismissed."

Upon hearing this, the students all stood still.

Mu Jianling furrowed her brows and asked, "What, why aren’t you leaving?"

Ji You, courageously asked, "Teacher... may we keep the mechs used for the assessment for the time being, without handing them back?"

Usually, everyone trained with castrated versions of mechs, with about only 50% of the functions of real mechs, especially the weapon system of the mech, which although looking intact, lacked actual lethality. Other systems, like the energy system, also only had about half of the capabilities of a real mech, making them incomparable to real mechs.

Though the castrated version had many drawbacks, why still use them? Actually, their biggest advantage was safety! Especially for students like Ji You, who just entered university and were new to handling such large, lethal equipment, these castrated mechs were specially made by the Alliance for students’ safety.

As the students’ capabilities improved, as long as they obtained the Basic Mecha Driver’s License, the permissions to drive mechs would gradually be opened to the students.

...

Ji You asked this question not because she wanted to keep the mech and play with it longer, but to train her mecha driving skills further.

That was Ji You’s intention, and naturally, the other students thought the same, especially those who failed the assessment; they wanted to keep the mechs to familiarize and train with them in their spare time.

Thus, represented by Ji You and having raised the question, all the students stared eagerly at Mu Jianling.

Facing the students’ eager gazes, Mu Jianling’s lips curved slightly, her normally indifferent face gradually smiling, appearing somewhat amiable and approachable—

Is this?

A hope?

The students all widened their eyes, waiting for the teacher’s approval.

Then—

Mu Jianling said, "Yes!"

"Yay!"

"Wow!"

"That’s great!"

...

Ji You furrowed her brow, feeling that there might be a catch...

Sure enough—

Mu Jianling raised her hand, interrupting everyone’s cheers, and said indifferently, "Rental fee is 500 credit points per hour, all damages are your responsibility."

Students: "..."

The cheers suddenly caught in their throats.

Mu Jianling continued, "Of course, you can use points instead, 5 points per hour, entirely voluntary."

Students: "..."

Mu Jianling said, "Those willing to rent, apply through the system now. During the rental period, the mechas can only be used within the examination room and must comply with the mecha usage rules. Violators will have their Basic Mecha Driver’s License assessment cancelled along with their final exam for the semester. Significant incidents will carry legal responsibility. Look up the other rules yourselves."

After that, Mu Jianling waved his hand and said, "Alright, once you’re done filling it out, get out of here early."

Although it was a bit of a rip-off, no one left early; everyone stayed and filled out the application form.

Ji You did the same.

After filling out the forms, everyone left the training room one by one.

The group rushed towards the cafeteria full of excitement, with Ji You, Shen Changqing, and Chu Jiaojiao leading the way, eagerly discussing their experiences with the driver’s license, with only one person remaining silent throughout —

— Yue Qiguang.

Among the group, Yue Qiguang was the only one who had failed the test twice and had not passed, making him very depressed and reluctant to talk.

At this moment, Ji You and others did not tease or mock Yue Qiguang about it, which slightly relieved him. He silently resolved that after meal and cleaning duties, he would rush back to the training room for additional practice.

Everyone lined up at the braised pork ribs serving window, chatting with each other.

Shen Changqing said, "I’ve applied to rent for two days, but I didn’t request an antique mech, I applied for Shouheng." Both Shouheng and Po Jun belong to the Heavy Armor series, Po Jun being more offensive with balanced defense.

Shouheng, too, was well-balanced in offense and defense but primarily focused on defense, hence its agility and mobility were not as high as Po Jun’s.

Everyone was stunned to hear Shen Changqing’s decision, Chu Jiaojiao said, "Shen Changqing, aren’t you going to continue your research on antique mechs? I thought you were going to die diving into those antique mechs."

Shen Changqing’s face turned slightly red as he was about to speak—

Beside him, Ji You, with a slight squint, interjected, "What a jerk! Going for the new love and forgetting the old, the antique mech would be heartbroken if it knew."

Shen Changqing: "..."

"Cough..." Taking a deep breath, Shen Changqing’s face turned red as he was about to explain when Sheng Qingyan rolled her eyes at Ji You and teased, "Hey poor dead, did you apply for an antique mech yourself?"

Ji You grinned and said, "Of course—Not!"

Sheng Qingyan immediately retorted, "What a jerk!"

Yue Qiyuan followed up with, "Jerk!"

Yue Qiguang and Shen Changqing opened their mouths to say something but eventually shut it.

Yue Qiguang had failed the assessment and had no interest in chatting, while Shen Changqing wanted to agree with Sheng Qingyan and Yue Qiyuan, but felt it was a bit impolite to speak directly about fellow student Ji You, so he held back his words.

Only Chu Jiaojiao kept her eyes brightly fixed on Ji You, naively smiling, "Ji You still looks so pretty, even when being mean."

Ji You cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject, asking, "Shen Changqing, why did you switch mechs?"

Considering Shen Changqing’s stubborn nature, akin to trying to pull back eight bulls, his proactive mech switch was rather strange.

Feeling everyone’s eyes on him, his face still flushed, Shen Changqing nevertheless raised his head, looking at everyone, and said, "Because I think for this semester’s finals, the school might allow us to drive real mechs."

Huh?

Chu Jiaojiao widened her eyes, "That’s impossible, right?" No previous freshman class was allowed to pilot real mechs for their assessments; they all used neutered versions, and it was the same on Lanyue Star and in other military academies across the Alliance.

First-year students, frankly, had limited training time, and their proficiency and professionalism in mecha driving were not sufficient. Having such large-scale lethal weapons in their hands was as dangerous as a child carrying a cannon.

So, Shen Changqing making such a statement left everyone somewhat disbelieving.