The Interstellar Queen of Scavengers

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: The Exercise Begins

Square No.1

When Ji You arrived, the square was already swarmed with people, a clear sign that many students had responded to the broadcast notification.

Ji You hurriedly squeezed into the square, and just as she was wondering where to go, the broadcast announced, ”Line up according to your respective departments, majors, and classes.”

Immediately, a series of virtual screens spread out around the square, providing guidance on departments, majors, and classes...

The crowd quickly dispersed.

Following the directions, Ji You rushed to find her class and took her place. Her class was easy to find, unlike other classes that had department and major prefixes, Ji You’s class was called the ’1307 Era of New Age Technology Innovation Experimental Class’. This name was excruciatingly long and a bit of a mouthful, so most people preferred the somewhat derogatory nicknames ’Self-funded Class’ or ’Young Masters’ Class’. The reason for these names was simple; the students who could afford the enrollment were mostly from wealthy families, for whom the sponsorship fee of mere one million and several hundred thousand in tuition fees per semester were insignificant.

However, the Military Academy wasn’t a place to slack off. Parents eager for their children to succeed didn’t allow them to just coast through, so even if these second or third generation students had poor grades and were reluctant, they were still packed off to school by their parents.

Yet, over the years since the self-funded classes were initiated, its educational outcomes had been dismal, hardly producing any talented individuals amidst all the students despite the school’s strict teaching.

In short: hopeless.

”10...”

”9...”

”8...”

The broadcast was playing a countdown.

By the time it ended, Ji You was the only lonely figure standing in the self-funded class’ line. It was said that there was supposed to be 100, or perhaps 99 classmates in her batch.

Now—

Ji You: ”...”

She looked around and failed to find even a single classmate, which left her quite dumbfounded by the situation.

Over the broadcast, a resonant voice declared, ”Time’s up. All students who failed to enter the square will lose 10 points and carry a 50-pound weight.”

”Ah~”

A wail spread across the square.

Those who were just ten meters away, a few meters, or even a few steps from entering Square No.1 let out a collective cry of dismay... Losing 10 points before the term had even started officially; what a shocker!

Upon hearing the broadcast, Ji You felt a surge of relief.

Thank goodness.

Thank goodness.

...

Sister Lingzhi had informed her yesterday that points from drills were extremely hard to earn. If she had lost 10 points just for being late, she would have nowhere to cry.

Following that, the male voice on the broadcast introduced himself. He was the vice-principal of Lanyue Star Military Academy and also the head of the Mecha Combat Department. His name was Hong Jiang. Vice-principal Hong Jiang didn’t drag his words; after a brief introduction, he immediately commanded, ”Attention everyone, head to Supply Point 3 on Square No.3 right away to collect your supplies!”

Supply point?

Collect supplies?

Right now?

Ji You was completely baffled.

This wasn’t following any normal procedure at all.

Not providing a simple introductory overview, just straight up ordering to collect supplies.

Sigh!

After receiving the command, despite many people complaining incessantly, they still rushed towards the supply point as instructed.

What if they were too late and the supplies were gone?

Obviously, this thought was not unique; a dense crowd in the square immediately started rushing toward the target. The crowd swarmed in that direction...

Not only those who arrived at the square on time, but also those who were late and had not yet made it here, immediately changed paths upon hearing the broadcast without a second thought.

At this moment, Ji You’s short legs and poor physical strength became glaringly obvious; she started running almost at the same time as the taller and longer-legged individuals in the square, but it was only when others had already sprinted away that she managed to take her first step.

By the time Ji You burst out of the square, the available self-operated Floating Cars had already disappeared; she had no choice but to rely on her legs to run. Initially, Ji You was in the lead, but soon one figure after another started overtaking her, creating a growing distance between them.

Ji You clenched her teeth and sprinted desperately, spending 20 minutes to rush to the temporary supply point.

By then, only 10 portions of supplies remained unclaimed at the supply point, Ji You hurried over and lined up.

”Ha ha ha...”

”The last 100 fools rushing here can only get two 500g bottles of drinking water. Nothing else... Ha ha ha...”

”Short legs, so pitiful...”

”Not even a nutrient solution.”

”These fools, in this desperate situation, might as well try tasting the soil.”

The surrounding comments were all gleefully schadenfreude.

Ji You raised her hand, the robot at the supply point scanned her Light Computer and handed her one of the remaining 10 portions of supplies; she opened it and almost choked:

Sure enough—

There really were only 2 bottles of drinking water.

Seeing this meager supply and then looking at the big and small packages carried by those ahead of her, Ji You had a bad premonition, which immediately came true. Principal Hong Jiang’s voice, sinister like a devil, came through the broadcast to all the freshmen present: ”The supplies you hold in your hands are all you have for the next three days. During this period, you cannot get any external assistance from the school; everything is up to you.”

”Uh...”

”3 days? 2 bottles of water?” Ji You thought, according to human needs, it’s true that drinking only 2 bottles of water in three days won’t kill a person.

After finishing his speech, Principal Hong Jiang implied with a smirk: ”Of course, without the school’s assistance, you can think of other methods, robbing? Cheating? Hmm... all good ideas.”

Sss—

Is this really a school?

A typical school should teach students about unity, love, mutual aid, and so on, right?

How could they encourage students to do these things?

Ji You was puzzled, then she heard Principal Hong Jiang say: ”Because, among the 5000 people here, all are your enemies. Only 500 of you will survive.”

Sss—

The crowd gasped in shock.

people, what kind of odds are those?

Does this mean that out of every 10 people, 9 will be eliminated? And this year, there are a total of 5000 freshmen, among whom there are many geniuses with A-grade physical strength and spiritual power, and even—it is said that there are several S-grade geniuses in this batch.

Talent and strength are not entirely equivalent, but students with high talent definitely have a head start of hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of meters...

After hearing this, Ji You couldn’t help but glance at her thin arms and short legs... With these conditions, could she survive among so many people?

She was very doubtful.