This year’s Federal Central Military Academy inter-school competition not only features a completely upgraded arena but also has its own dedicated live stream on the StarNet.
In the month leading up to the competition, promotional content for the event is everywhere on the StarNet.
The four major military academies have always been shrouded in mystery.
So when they voluntarily lifted a corner of that veil, they immediately captured the attention of a large number of Federal citizens.
Especially since the Federation provided substantial internet subsidies this time, and many sponsors also launched very affordable services.
For example, the Chaoyuan Group, hoping to repair its image from the Fourth Star Ring incident, proactively offered to upgrade the StarNet for free for viewers watching the Central Military Academy competition.
Driven by multiple forces, the cost of accessing the StarNet to watch the Central Military Academy live stream dropped significantly.
Many citizens who previously couldn’t afford to go online could now join in on the excitement.
Even before the live stream started, forums were already being set up.
The pinned hot post featured 3D profiles of the student council presidents from the Central Military Academy’s 23 departments, alongside their basic information, such as height, weight, physique, and psychic energy.
Below each profile was a voting button. Fortune Betting would use the voting results to determine the odds.
Currently, the lowest odds were for Baishide and Li Hao, while the highest odds were for Lin Xiaohe.
【What’s going on? Isn’t Lin Xiaohe the youngest Stardust Plant Manipulator? Why is everyone so down on her?】
【The person above definitely didn’t read the info carefully. If you had taken just one more look, you’d know Lin Xiaohe’s psychic energy dropped to one point, and she was reassigned to the Agriculture Department.】
【Huh? As an agriculture student myself, how did I not know the Central Military Academy even has an Agriculture Department?】
【Am I the only one curious about why Lin Xiaohe’s psychic energy is so low?】
【I want to know more—can she even access the StarNet with such low psychic energy? Will she be able to compete in the inter-school competition?】
【Inside scoop: Lin Xiaohe probably won’t be able to compete. She was put in confinement for begging on campus and still hasn’t been released yet.】
What?!
Wesley, who was just about to vote for Lin Xiaohe, was kicked off the StarNet by Nuwa due to an intense emotional fluctuation.
Red-eyed, he contacted the core members of the Xinghe Party, like You An and Lin Ye. “Have you heard?”
Tears glistened on You An’s eyelashes. “Our party leader… our party leader truly gave everything for us.”
Lin Ye said angrily, “The party leader has boundless power! How could she possibly have only one point of psychic energy? This is absolutely suppression, it’s revenge!”
Wesley nodded heavily. “The internal competition at the Central Military Academy is extremely fierce. Military students from noble backgrounds control over four-fifths of the school’s resources. Our party leader is a genius who climbed up from the bottom—of course she’d attract jealousy.”
Victor punched the air. “I just checked the official Fortune Betting website. Not a single person had placed a bet on our party leader. So, in a fit of anger, I put in all my allowance.”
“Heh.” Lin Ye sneered. “Not only are they hurting our party leader physically, but they also want to insult her spiritually and crush her. Even though the Xinghe Party is just an unknown little faction, we absolutely cannot let our party leader suffer this kind of humiliation! I propose we use party funds to place a bet on our party leader in the name of the Xinghe Party!”
“Exactly! We need to show those stuck-up nobles that our party leader has the Xinghe Party behind her! Picking on her means picking on our entire party!”
The members unanimously agreed to take out five million star coins and bet on their party leader.
You An’s face was as dark as water. Lin Xiaohe’s odds had already reached 100.
Clearly, the entire Federation, including the betting companies, had no faith in her, even doubting whether she could show up for the competition.
“Wesley, our Xinghe Party is still too weak. We need a voice of our own to escape today’s humiliation.” You An messaged Wesley privately.
Wesley understood what he meant. “Then let’s go to the Sixth Star Ring. That’s where our party leader was born. Maybe we’ll gain more support there.”
“Okay.”
The buzz around the Central Military Academy competition grew day by day, quickly surpassing the newest hit drama, In the Name of the People.
What pushed this fervor to an even higher peak was the announcement that Mannin Lai, the second-in-command of the Republican Party, would attend the competition in person as part of the observer group.
The Democratic Party quickly followed suit, declaring that their own formidable figure, Kailin Reynolds, would also join the observer group.
What had initially been a celebration for the masses instantly took on a heavy political tone.
Many families and conglomerates with keen political instincts shifted more of their attention to this inter-school competition.
After arriving at the viewing area, Kailin Reynolds went straight to see her son. “Baishide, this competition is very important—even more important than your campaign for school student council president. I want you to be far ahead, no matter what methods you use. Do you understand?”
Kailin Reynolds focused intently on her prideful son, her gaze resolute and determined.
Baishide received his mother’s message, and his personal assessment of the competition’s importance rose several notches. “I’ll get it done.”
Kailin Reynolds softened her expression, reached out, and helped Baishide straighten his collar. With a slight sigh, she said,
“I originally wanted you to build a good relationship with Lin Xiaohe, to continue our friendship with Marshal Chu. But since you feel differently, I respect your choice.”
Huh?
Baishide was stunned.
Kailin Reynolds smiled like a flower, but her eyes were ice-cold. “You’ve turned out better than Baijade. You understand that if you can’t be friends, you become enemies. And you never show mercy to enemies. Well done. A psychic cripple, even if she is Marshal Chu’s student, won’t pose any threat to you.”
Baishide said unhappily, “Mother, it wasn’t me.”
“Then who was it?”
Baishide… how should he know?
Kailin Reynolds smiled. “Alright, I know it wasn’t you. Tsk tsk, you’re truly a Reynolds—you have a politician’s talent. I look forward to your next performance. Don’t disappoint me.”
Kailin Reynolds waved goodbye to her son and, on her way to the observation area, ran into the Republican Party’s Mannin Lai.
This hypocrite, who claimed to provide aid and welfare to commoners, was smiling at her. “Beautiful Kailin, I thought you’d be busy dealing with your party members and wouldn’t have time to come.”
Kailin Reynolds shook his hand. “Dear Mannin Lai, weren’t you preparing to visit the Fourth Star Ring for a condolence event? Why the sudden change of plans?”
Mannin Lai smiled. “In the Name of the People is so brilliant that it made me want to come and see if Lin Xiaohe, who also comes from a humble background, can create a different kind of ending.”
Kailin Reynolds said, “Art is art, life is life. Artists always dramatize everything with conspiracy theories just to grab more attention. Just like In the Name of the People—it’s essentially slander against political parties.”
Mannin Lai just sneered repeatedly.
Cassian quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “Honorable councilmembers, the competition is about to start. How about we focus on that?”
Internally, Cassian was sick and tired of these politicians.
The Republican Party produced In the Name of the People, aiming straight at the Democratic Party’s corruption.
To suppress the heat from that, the Democratic Party hyped up the Central Military Academy competition.
Mannin Lai used the wave of attention to step forward and gather public support. The Democratic Party immediately dispatched Kailin Reynolds to compete for the public’s focus.
A perfectly good competition had turned into a political circus.
Cassian could already imagine how bloody and stormy this live stream would become!
