The Interstellar Queen of Scavengers

Chapter 184: Chapter 184: Learning from Others’ Strengths to Offset Weaknesses

Simulation field, students’ howls are everywhere, one after another in sorry states, coupled with the occasional ear-piercing sound from melodramatic scenes, truly unbearable for everyone. Yet, as the top students of the S level withdrew one after another, it turns out there’s no one left who can save the day—

Pitiful.

Regrettable.

...

Only after making sure she had thought things through did Ji You finally step out.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

...

With every step, she moves with particular difficulty, swaying and looking like she might float off into the sky at any moment—making onlookers almost desperately want to wipe sweat on her behalf. But oddly enough, Ji You, number 4444, never falls or stumbles, firmly staying on a straight line...

Since everyone was idle anyway, the students started placing bets:

”Do you think, at which step she’ll fail?”

”Looking at her like this, probably after 2 more steps, she’ll definitely fail...”

But their faces were slapped quickly; as soon as this student finished speaking, Ji You had already taken those 2 steps. Therefore, the student couldn’t help wiping the sweat from his forehead, saying, ”Well... let me give her some confidence. I think within 10 steps, she’s bound to fail.”

Then—

With every step Ji You took, each seemed perilously thrilling, but she still firmly stayed inside the line, making that student feel as if his face was swollen. Finally, he said, ”Alright, I guess she’ll withdraw halfway through, that can’t be wrong, right?”

Indeed—

Ji You is known as a talentless waste, and so many talented individuals had retreated, there’s no reason Ji You could succeed.

This is simply unscientific.

No matter how little faith the other students had in her, every single action Ji You took at this moment was still incredibly gripping.

As Ji You’s steps carried her further and further, the surrounding students began to focus their attention on her:

”Hey! Number 4444 is walking further than Yue Qiguang had, right? How many meters did Yue Qiguang walk again? Was it 5 meters?”

”Not at all! 3 meters is already an overestimation.”

Yue Qiguang, hearing this conversation beside him, had a face so dark it seemed to burn with anger.

Then, someone else asked:

”By the way, how far did Yue Qiyuan walk?”

”I remember it was around 11 meters, right?”

”Tsk—”

”Our classmate Ji You has already walked 14 meters now.”

The implication was clear.

Yue Qiyuan was just gleefully sneering at his seemingly simple-minded older brother’s darkened face, feeling somewhat relieved it wasn’t about him, but as soon as someone mentioned his name, his face turned dark as well.

”These two brothers, neither’s up to par!” finally, someone concluded decisively.

Yue Qiguang: ”...”

Yue Qiyuan: ”...”

Yue Qiguang felt an itch to fight, suddenly stood up wanting to thrash someone, but then he heard Shen Changqing next to him saying, ”Don’t move rashly, watch Ji You.”

Yue Qiguang, bewildered: ”???”

Yue Qiyuan, thoughtfully: ”Eh??”

Chu Jiaojiao, stroking her chin, ”Is that even possible? Ji You is so clever! Indeed—she’s as pretty as one can be.”

Yue Qiguang: ”What are you all talking about?”

Shen Changqing kindly added, ”Take a close look at classmate Ji You’s movements.”

Yue Qiyuan concentrated and saw the light in his eyes flash.

Lou, Lance, and others also focused carefully, and after this observation, they all began to see a pattern.

Of course, there were also many people whose vision was not keen enough, completely missing what was apparent, only feeling that Ji You’s movements at this time seemed ludicrous. Unlike others who managed to maintain all limbs at a point of equilibrium, she was hunched over and bent at the waist, with hands and feet poised as if sneaking to steal something.

”???”

”What is she doing?”

”Am I the only one who thinks No. 4444’s movements are quite lewd right now?”

”You’re not alone!”

”You’re not alone +1”

”You’re not alone + Alliance citizen number.”

Ji You was under considerable pressure at the moment, not from others’ ridicule and confusion, but from the omnipresent gravity. Combining the failed experiences of Chu Jiaojiao, Shen Changqing, and others, Ji You thought that to pilot a mecha for free travel and navigation through space, it was absolutely not enough to contend with the universe’s gravity solely through one’s own strength.

What mistakes did Yue Qiguang, Yue Qiyuan, Chu Jiaojiao, Shen Changqing, and others make? Their line of thought was actually too narrow and biased, believing that piloting a mecha in outer space was identical to how they usually trained in gravity in the training room. Therefore, everyone’s initial approach was to proceed in the way that was customary for a regular training room—

Mechanical Driving—

The protagonist is not just the pilot; it also includes the mecha itself.

So—

Ji You felt certain that the problem lay with the mecha.

Under normal circumstances, one could only pilot a mecha smoothly after achieving a sufficient match between the human body and the mecha. Therefore, the mechas chosen by the students were basically those that suited their combat style and matched well with their own.

Obviously, when on the ground, everyone could already use the mecha as a body and walk normally, but why does it fail once they enter the space environment?

— Gravity.

Gravity is, of course, an unignorable factor.

But what else?

— The Mecha.

Because everyone failed to let the mecha truly play its role in this kind of environment.

Ji You spent 200,000 to purchase training equipment, which also included a human weightlessness training program. Initially, she couldn’t resist the gravity at all, but with step-by-step training, and strengthening practice gradually, her body became capable of walking in the simulated weightless environment. Previous experiences made it easy for her to misunderstand, assuming that after mentally connecting with the mecha, she could pilot it using the past training methods.

Earlier, people like Chu Jiaojiao made this mistake.

But this was not enough, thoughts must leap further.

Thanks to the high compatibility with the Small Mecha, Ji You, after entering the space environment, only felt the pressure of weightlessness without detecting any issues in connection with the mecha. Therefore, before she acted, she tried to make many slight and strange movements, some of which were successful, and some were not. She carefully analyzed the reasons for success and failure, finding that the issues still lay in her control over the mecha.

The unsuccessful movements, Ji You gave up on directly.

For the successful ones, Ji You discovered that many of these movements actually stemmed from the mecha’s own anti-gravity devices.

Actually—

Many mechas are designed with their adaptability to a weightless environment in mind, with most equipped with related devices. Even if the pilot has a bodily issue, as long as the route is pre-set, the mecha can follow the programmed route to reach the destination.

So what then?

Ji You had a flash of insight, deciding to reduce her own role in the mecha and amplify the mecha’s inherent capabilities.

She moved step by step with a sway, heading towards the predetermined route. During this, most of the time, all she needed to do was to precisely control the balance of her limbs and torso with her spiritual power, and then let the mecha walk on its own—

It was both worry-free and effort-saving.

What’s this called?

Cheating?

No, no, no...

This is called playing to strengths while compensating for weaknesses.