Chapter 612: Chapter 631: A Single Red Dot in a Sea of Green
The difference became even more obvious once they entered the mecha hangar.
Lined up among rows of R3 heavy mechas, a single A3 looked particularly small and delicate.
A Light Armor mecha.
Many of the students exchanged glances.
’This isn’t a trivial matter...’
Jiang Qiuqiu, who had earned the title of Outstanding Mecha Soldier during military training, had originally been a target for many in Class A1. But now?
A top-tier soldier piloting a Light Armor mecha.
’No matter how good she is, that’s her limit.’
After everyone had been paired with a mecha in the hangar, the way they looked at Jiang Qiuqiu began to change.
Teacher Mao noticed the shift in the students’ attitudes. If he had his way, he wouldn’t get involved in this sort of thing. Sigh. Student drama could be such a handful sometimes.
"What are you all looking at? Stop gawking. Today’s practical lesson is about to begin."
"Yesterday, your TA, Teacher Ning, was here. Today, I’ll be continuing your instruction. Let me first go over the syllabus. By the end of today, you must all learn how to board your mechas. Starting next class, we won’t be covering boarding anymore; we’ll move directly to mecha piloting."
"Maintain silence, hold your breath, and concentrate. Activate your Genes, and board your mechas."
Jiang Qiuqiu focused her mind and boarded her mecha.
The Light Armor mecha was very similar to the one she had piloted back at the garrison, though this one at Federation University felt heavier, likely due to stronger gravity.
Fortunately, Jiang Qiuqiu never slacked on her physical training. While this level of strain was a bit difficult, she could handle it.
It was just... there were too many stares from those around her.
Since arriving here, this was the first time she had been bathed in such complicated gazes.
’It seems everyone really has a lot on their minds.’
But that had nothing to do with her. Jiang Qiuqiu focused intently, listening as Teacher Mao explained the mecha’s internal structure, how to establish a spiritual connection with the components after entering the cockpit, and how to link her Spirit Sea to the mecha.
Then came checking weapons, linking weapons, syncing movements, and so on.
In short, each of these tasks seemed simple and straightforward on its own, but performing them all rapidly in a compressed sequence, all while enduring the heavy gravity, was incredibly difficult.
Everyone was a bit flustered and clumsy.
Teacher Mao’s voice boomed over the comms, scolding them. "What do you think you’re doing? So slow! Connect faster! Is this the speed you’re showing after a whole afternoon of training?"
"Your standard is the battlefield! A regular army corps only needs fifteen seconds to complete all operations. After this training, I want you to get your boarding time down to fifteen seconds!"
For the students, that seemed almost impossible.
’Fifteen seconds...’
’Do they expect us to use shadow clones?! There’s so much to do!’
"Alright, everyone out of the mechas. We’re going to run a timed test to see who’s the fastest and who’s the slowest."
Everyone disembarked from their mechas. Teacher Mao shouted, "Three, two, one, go!" and they all sprang into action.
Activate Genes. Upon connection, the mecha’s cockpit would pull the soldier in directly. After landing inside, they had to begin building a bridge to link their spiritual power with the mecha.
Of course, the outcome of this process was not guaranteed. One could succeed, or one could—
"Li Anxiong, failure."
"Lu Yawei, failure."
"It’s better to be slow than to be wrong. If you make a mistake, you have to start over."
By the time Teacher Mao finished speaking, thirty seconds had already passed.
Not a single person on the field had completed the task. It wasn’t until the 39-second mark that the lights on the first mecha lit up.
"Good!"
Teacher Mao glanced at the control console. "As expected of an S-Level soldier. The first to finish is Huo Jia!"
Once there was a first, a second soon followed.
The second was an A+ Level, wolf-type soldier.
And the third—
Just in the final second before the timer hit the 40s, Jiang Qiuqiu connected to her mecha.
"Third place is student Jiang Qiuqiu. She wasn’t even here yesterday, but her speed is still this fast today. For those of you who were surpassed by someone whose progress should be behind yours—are you ashamed?"
