Lin Xiaohe pressed her lips together, staring intently at the examinee’s face before her, not missing a single twitch of his expression. “What do you mean you can’t log out?”
The examinee had completely lost his nerve. His teeth chattered audibly, his eyes shimmering with sheer panic, and his voice cracked as he spoke. “I… I can’t reach Nuwa! I can’t find the emergency SOS button!”
Those words hit the room like a thunderclap, scaring the wits out of the other examinees.
“Are you out of your mind?! You wait right there! If I can connect to Nuwa, I’m gonna tan your hide!” another examinee stammered, trying to contact [Nuwa] himself. But there was no response.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, muttering, whether to the others or just to reassure himself, “It’s fine, it’s fine… I’ll just press the emergency SOS button…”
The next second, he fell utterly silent, like a duck suddenly grabbed by the throat.
How could this be? Where did [Nuwa] go?!
This is really bad!
Lin Xiaohe tried it herself. After confirming that there was absolutely no way to exit the exam arena, the sense of dread that had been hanging in her heart finally settled.
I knew it, she thought. Every single exam I take is plagued by bizarre and sudden incidents. How could this extra credit exam possibly have been smooth sailing?
So that’s the catch!
Even though Xinbao couldn’t break through the barrier to connect to the outside world, Lin Xiaohe felt a calm confidence born from a situation finally making sense.
We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Fate is on my side!
“Alright, don’t panic. I’ve got this! Spread the word through the examinee channel. It seems the exam arena has malfunctioned. No one can log out at will. Tell everyone to stay sharp and don’t mess around. If something happens here affects reality, crying won’t help.”
“Big Boss… aren’t you scared?” one examinee asked, his voice warbling.
Lin Xiaohe leaned back in her chair, propped her feet up on the desk, interlocked her fingers, and allowed a mischievous, confident smirk to curl her lips.
“Hmph, scared? No. This is the rhythm I’m used to!”
That adrenaline-pumping thrill of walking the line between life and death sent shivers of electricity from her tailbone all the way up to her scalp.
She was afraid of dying, but once she was actually on the battlefield, that fear transformed into a wild, heaven-defying confidence and madness!
Just like back on Blue Star, before any major exam, Lin Xiaohe would be too anxious to sleep. But the moment she stepped into the examination hall, her mind would become completely clear, and she would perform beyond her usual ability!
Seeing Lin Xiaohe so calm and collected, everyone else seemed to find their anchor and quickly composed themselves.
As Lin Xiaohe walked, she gave orders. “Anyone who isn’t confident in their own abilities can apply for a transfer to the logistics department.”
She narrowed her eyes slightly and said with a cool, sharp tone, “In the face of absolute power, all schemes and tricks are just paper tigers! Just follow my lead, and I’ll carry you to victory!”
So cool!
So awesome!
Big Boss is incredible!
The examinees gazed at her with starry-eyed admiration. *So this is the aura of an 18-year-old Captain?! Absolutely love it!*
After calming her fellow students down, Lin Xiaohe returned to the war room.
Lin Ye and You An were already there waiting for her.
Lin Ye’s palms were slick with cold sweat. He lowered his voice and asked, “Big Boss, could that… certain individual be behind this?”
Lin Xiaohe raised an eyebrow. “He doesn’t have this kind of capability. Back in the Fifth and Sixth Star Rings, he only dared to use sneaky, underhanded tricks. This examination is under intense public scrutiny. Would he really have the nerve to pull something on this scale?”
If that man possessed such audacity and power, she would have been dead seven or eight hundred times over already.
You An frowned deeply. “Then who could it be?”
“I don’t know.” Lin Xiaohe opened the real-time military tactical display and said calmly, “It doesn’t matter who they are or what their goal is. We just need to break out of this trap.”
“How do we do that?”
Lin Xiaohe: “Didn’t Johnson say it himself? We need to win this planetary war.”
Lin Xiaohe closed her eyes, seemingly falling asleep. In reality, she was having Xinbao assist her with calculations.
[Xinbao, based on the Imperial army’s offensive intensity and our own casualty rates, extrapolate the enemy’s total offensive troop strength.]
Xinbao quickly calculated a number.
Lin Xiaohe’s eyes snapped open. This number… it doesn’t add up. How could the Empire possibly have this many troops? Where did they come from?
If she ran a simulation based on this number, the Imperial army could simply steamroll straight through the Federation lines.
So, something was definitely wrong somewhere.
“General Lin, Mount Heng is in critical condition! They can only hold out for another 12 hours. Should we dispatch reinforcements?”
“General Lin, our Spatial Jump Point designation 0783 has been ambushed by the Imperial Third Mixed Fleet! It’s fallen!”
The situation was deteriorating rapidly.
The Federation’s space fleet, which had been freshly generated upon entering this new exam arena, was once again taking a severe beating from the enemy.
If the Federation lost its space superiority, the entire war effort would be beyond salvaging.
Everyone looked anxiously at Lin Xiaohe, hoping she could devise a countermeasure.
Lin Xiaohe’s hand moved over the real-time tactical display, zooming in, zooming out, zooming in again—back and forth several times.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
…
At the Big Whale Hotel, the parents of the examinees were weeping with joy and relief.
“That’s wonderful! They finally realize something is wrong with the exam arena!”
“They’ll definitely be able to protect themselves and lay low until the officials come to rescue them.”
Some parents were less optimistic. “Time is running out for the Federal government. Judging by the battlefield situation, Mount Heng will be breached within a day. Once the Imperial forces achieve their objective there, they’re bound to make an even bigger move.”
“Yes, after crushing the Federation’s space forces, the examinees will face total defeat within three days.”
Lin Chiyang couldn’t make heads or tails of the colorful tactical displays and asked directly, “How much longer can the examinees hold out?”
“Five days at most. If the Federal government can’t find a solution within five days…”
“What will happen?”
No one answered.
What else could happen? The previous batch of examinees who were forcibly ejected from the exam arena had all suffered brain death.
Surely the Federation will figure something out, right?
In reality, the Federal government, upon which such high hopes were pinned, was plunging deeper into panic.
The top brass convened another emergency meeting.
[Nuwa] didn’t give anyone a chance to speak first, delivering her report immediately.
“Within the virtual exam arena, following the Federation forces’ loss of Spatial Jump Point 0783, the hacker’s capabilities have increased by 10%. The southern Wochi District of Haige Star’s Starnet has fallen under hacker control. I have lost control of the Starnet in the Wochi District.”
This statement landed like a massive bombshell, stunning everyone present.
The Governor of the Fourth Star Ring couldn’t stay seated. “Are you saying that if the Empire scores successive victories within the virtual exam arena, the hacker’s power will grow and affect other Starnet regions in reality?”
[Nuwa]’s voice was colder than ever before. “Affirmative. To ensure the security of the Starnet, I recommend severing the connection to Haige Star.”
“Absolutely not! Haige Star is the political and economic hub of our Fourth Star Ring! If it’s blockaded, the entire Star Ring’s economy and military operations will be crippled!”
Without the Starnet, how could they issue orders? Without the Starnet, wouldn’t they become deaf and blind, like fish on a chopping board?!
[Nuwa]’s proposal met with vehement opposition from the Fourth Star Ring delegation.
In just the ten minutes spent arguing, within the virtual exam arena, the Federation had lost yet another major city.
Shortly thereafter, in reality, the Starnet covering Haige Star’s Wulishan District also fell.
