The test results appeared on the large screen.
A prominent “A” letter flashed, indicating Yun Xingze’s mental power had ascended to A-rank.
Richard’s eyes flickered slightly. He had initially believed Yun Xingze could operate mechs beyond his level, but this result left him somewhat disappointed.
Olly squeezed to the front of the screen, eyes widening as he looked between the display and Yun Xingze. “You’ve already reached A-rank?!”
Yun Xingze was equally surprised. He hadn’t expected his mental power to silently break through the A-rank barrier without him noticing.
Though Yun Xingze didn’t appear capable of operating mechs above his level, advancing from C-rank to A-rank in just two or three months was exceptionally rare. The other team members regarded him with envious glances.
Richard concealed his disappointment and shook his head. “This A-rank is newly achieved, which essentially makes it A-minus. Performing well in the National Military Academy Mecha Tournament will be harder than scaling the heavens.”
His words cast a solemn atmosphere over the group.
Yun Xingze knew Richard wasn’t an easy character, and given his longstanding rivalry with Yun’s mentor Zhuo Feiyue, it was natural for him to be harsh. Still, Yun recognized the truth in Richard’s assessment.
After removing his helmet, Yun Xingze moved to observe his teammates’ tests when suddenly a large hand grasped his wrist.
Luo Wenchuan quietly pulled Yun Xingze to his side, shielding him from Richard’s view.
Yun blinked in surprise. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t listen to Richard,” Luo whispered close to Yun’s ear, his voice low. “Reaching A-rank so quickly proves your remarkable potential.”
Realizing Luo was protecting him from Richard’s harsh words, Yun felt warmed by the gesture despite not being particularly affected. He couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you, senior.”
Seeing Yun’s smile, Luo relaxed. Only then did he notice he was still holding Yun’s wrist and quickly released it with slight awkwardness.
The warmth of Luo’s touch lingered on Yun’s skin.
As team members took turns testing, results appeared on screen in descending order: Luo Wenchuan SS+, He Haoming S+, Ke Lei S, Aixili S, Chi Yu A+, Kalibo A+, Sato En A+, Ou Rui A+, Olly A+, and Yun Xingze A.
Among them, Sato En and Ou Rui were fourth-year veterans, a male Beta and female Beta respectively. Yun Xingze was the only Omega, while the other seven members were all Alphas.
Overall, the team’s strength slightly surpassed last year’s level.
The results confirmed Yun Xingze indeed had the weakest mental power on the team, explaining Richard’s earlier remarks.
Following mental power assessments, physical tests were conducted.
Yun Xingze’s physical strength ranked B still at the bottom, with everyone else maintaining at least A-rank.
When Yun’s results appeared, Richard actually chuckled, his gaze unreadable yet undoubtedly mocking.
“You all know your own capabilities by now,” Richard said, his cold voice carrying an authoritative tone as he glanced at the test results on his optical computer. “I hope you understand that since you’ve passed the school’s mecha competition and made it into the top ten, you now represent the honor of Starsea Military University. You must perform well in the league matches; do you hear me?”
“Yes, sir!” Everyone stood ramrod straight under Richard’s scrutiny.
“I’ve already registered you,” Richard continued while operating his optical computer. “For the next two weeks, train until you drop got it?”
The group promptly responded in unison, “Understood!”
Yun Xingze received an email on his optical computer from an account labeled “NCLM Organizing Committee.”
Opening it, he found a brief introduction to the league competition.
[To motivate military cadets across the empire to actively study mecha combat, the empire holds an annual “National Cadets’ League of Mecha” tournament. Simply participating in this competition is an honor in itself.] Yun Xingze skimmed through the email quickly, gaining a deeper understanding of the event.
The original novel’s plotline in his mind had barely touched on this. By the time the original host had died from gland removal after the broken engagement, the league had only just begun, meaning it originally had nothing to do with Yun Xingze.
The National Cadets’ League of Mecha, abbreviated as NCLM, was a prestigious annual tournament coveted by military cadets across the empire. It included both solo duels and team battles, with rules that had undergone multiple revisions over the years.
Before NCLM began, the Empire’s Ministry of Education and Ministry of Military Affairs would jointly assess the strength of various military academies, awarding sixteen qualification spots divided into four groups for preliminary rounds. The top teams would then advance to compete for the championship.
Starsea Military University had consistently secured NCLM qualifications over the years, owing to its long history having once been the Imperial Royal Military Academy centuries ago before reforms transformed it into its current state.
Starsea had once firmly ranked among NCLM’s top three, but that was during an era when only basic mechas like light-sword and meteor models existed. When the wave of new-generation mechas swept across the galaxy, Starsea failed to adapt, leading to its decline.
This was precisely why Starsea, which previously imposed stringent background requirements on students, had recently opened admissions to cadets from fringe planets; students like Luo Wenchuan, Su Zinan, and He Haoming were all on that enrollment list.
The top three NCLM winners would receive substantial cash prizes and military recognition, with opportunities to join elite mecha corps.
The champion team’s MVP would additionally be awarded a custom SSS-grade mecha designed by the organizers, its type and appearance specified by the winning player himself.
When Yun Xingze saw “SSS-grade mecha” listed under rewards, he couldn’t help but swallow hard.
Was he getting ahead of himself? Actually, fantasizing about winning the championship?
Last year, Starsea had barely advanced past preliminaries before immediate elimination, ranking eighth. For the decade prior, they hadn’t even made it out of group stages.
After the registration concluded, the organizers quickly proceeded with the group draw to allow participating military academies to prepare for their opponents.
Richard had terrible luck in last year’s draw, landing in a group with two formidable opponents. If it weren’t for Luo Wenchuan’s exceptional performance, advancing would have been uncertain.
This year, Richard decided to let his arch-rival Zhuo Feiyue handle the draw instead.
The organizers had each academy select a number between 1 and 16. Richard messaged Zhuo Feiyue: “Old Zhuo, which number should we pick?”
Zhuo Feiyue was currently helping Lu Ranxu with questions related to mechas. Recently, Lu Ranxu and other Omegas were planning to establish an “Omega Mecha Association” and had asked Zhuo Feiyue to help set the assessment criteria.
Originally, Lu Ranxu wanted to ask Yun Xingze for assistance, but Yun Xingze was too busy with the school team’s training.
“The physical endurance criteria can’t be too lenient. Since Omegas already have a disadvantage in stamina, they need to work even harder.”
Mid-sentence, Zhuo Feiyue noticed the message on his communicator and frowned. He turned to Lu Ranxu and asked, “What’s your lucky number?”
Lu Ranxu replied, “88.”
Zhuo Feiyue said, “Pick one between 1 and 16.”
Lu Ranxu was puzzled. “You can just choose a lucky number?”
Zhuo Feiyue urged him to hurry up.
With no choice, Lu Ranxu casually said, “Nine.”
So, Zhuo Feiyue replied to Richard: “Pick 9.”
Fortunately, “9” hadn’t been chosen by any other academy, so Richard submitted it to the organizers.
The next day, when the group assignments were announced, Richard stormed into Zhuo Feiyue’s office first thing in the morning. The old man was practicing Tai Chi when Richard bellowed, “Damn it, old man! This is all your fault!”
His eyes were wide with fury, the scar at the corner nearly twitching.
One look at Richard’s expression told Zhuo Feiyue the group draw must have gone poorly. “What, did we get last year’s tough opponents again?”
Richard flung the group list in front of him. “See for yourself!”
Zhuo Feiyue glanced at the list and immediately stopped his Tai Chi, stunned by the names listed: “Gikot First Military Academy, Yuanshan Military Academy, and Saint Clytus Mecha Institute. Holy hell, did you grab the wrong list? How could these three monster schools end up in the same group?!”
Gikot First Military Academy, the undisputed champion of the Gikot Star System, last year’s third-place winner, a terrifyingly strong team with multiple past championships.
Yuanshan Military Academy, the strongest academy in the Ancient Plains Star System, last year’s fourth-place contender after narrowly losing to Gikot in the battle for third. Their strength was nothing to scoff at.
Saint Clytus Mecha Institute, the dark horse of the Black Swan Star System. Despite its modest size, its mecha prowess was astounding. Though they underperformed last year and placed fifth, they had consistently ranked in the top three in previous tournaments.
In short, all three schools were championship favorites.
Stuck among them was Starsea Military Academy, which hadn’t advanced past the preliminaries in ten years and was eliminated immediately after barely making it last year standing out like a sore thumb.
“I laughed out of sheer rage when I saw this,” Richard said, now beyond furious. He crossed his arms and sneered at Zhuo Feiyue, “Go wash your face and hands. The grime you scrub off could dye a Storm-class mecha black.”
Zhuo Feiyue retorted, “Then why didn’t you do the draw yourself? Don’t blame me for your bad luck!”
“I see you’ve finally managed to get a student into the official school team,” Richard retorted sarcastically. “That’s why I gave you this lottery chance, but who knew your student’s skills would be so mediocre and your luck even worse!”
Zhuo Feiyue bristled with anger, his beard practically quivering: “What’s wrong with my student’s skills?! Go on, tell me what’s wrong!”
“An Omega who just reached A-rank actually becoming third in the school team.” Richard shook his head with a grave expression. “People would laugh if they heard this.”
“Yun Xingze won through sheer ability—what do you know?!” Zhuo Feiyue argued vehemently. “Richard, there are only two weeks left. You’d better focus on training the school team instead of mocking my student!”
