The students participating in the competition lay down into the Star Network connection pods.
The live stream rooms opened simultaneously, and within moments, 200 million viewers poured in, with the number of viewers continuing to rise rapidly.
Many popular online streamers started their own live broadcasts, analyzing the competition in real-time, which attracted some viewers who weren’t familiar with the battlefield.
Crazy Lao Cao, who once studied at the Strategic Command College but dropped out in his junior year to dive into the live streaming industry, certainly wasn’t going to miss out on this massive wave of viewership.
In his live stream room, he sat together with a few retired military officers, sipping tea and sharing their thoughts.
“Many people romanticize the Central Military Academy, but only after you actually get in do you realize it’s a place that strongly enforces the law of the jungle.”
Guest Rio nodded in agreement: “The Space Combat Department, Alien Planet Combat Department, and Mech Department have swept the top three spots for thirty consecutive terms now. No one has ever managed to break their monopoly.”
Crazy Lao Cao said regretfully, “I had high hopes for Lin Xiaohe. As the Federation’s youngest Stardust Plant Manipulator, she had a real chance of making it to the finals. But what a shame—the heavens are jealous of geniuses. Her mental energy was severely damaged, so she won’t be able to compete in this match.”
Rio asked, “Who do you think has the best chance of winning? Beasts? Or Li Hao?”
Crazy Lao Cao stroked his chin and analyzed, “Beasts is in a league of his own among the new generation. Plus, their department recruited Cassius this year, so their combat power is off the charts. Li Hao can’t match Beasts in individual ability, but he has Chu Xue supporting him, and he also brought in tournament king Yiwande. Looking at it from all angles, I’d say it’s a fifty-fifty shot.”
Rio agreed: “Now it all depends on what the new competition format looks like and which side it benefits more.”
Crazy Lao Cao glanced toward the Agriculture Department and sighed quietly. It seemed Lin Xiaohe really had fallen.
The live stream chat was flooded with comments, all arguing about who would win.
Out of the 23 departments at the Central Military Academy, 22 of them had their own supporters. Only Lin Xiaohe from the Agriculture Department had no one rooting for her.
But one minute before the competition officially began, the [Star Mushroom Party] mobilized!
In Crazy Lao Cao’s live stream room, a golden comment appeared: 【Lin Xiaohe, go for it!】
Lao Cao was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, “Well, Lin Xiaohe does have some supporters after all. I hope she recovers soon and steps back onto the competition stage.”
The viewers in the live stream room laughed along, knowing full well that Lao Cao was just being polite.
【Lao Cao, do you really believe Lin Xiaohe can recover? Or do you believe I’m the Federation President?】
【I believe you’re the President!】
The next second, Nuwa’s voice rang out from the official live stream.
【The Central Military Academy’s internal competition countdown begins. Three, two, one!】
【Attention, all participating contestants. For this competition, the chosen venue is Kepler 503 Arena.]
【The competition rules are as follows:
① This competition uses a point-based system. Rankings will be determined by the total points earned.
② Each department’s participating team must not exceed 100 people. Only the team points, which are the sum of individual points, will count toward the rankings.
③ Completing the main quest will earn 1,000 points. Based on performance during the quest, you will be ranked S, A, B, or C, with corresponding point multipliers of 2, 1.5, 1.2, 1.1, and 1.]
【Main Quest: Brave soldiers of the Federation—Kepler 503 is one of the Federation’s shining jewels. Please maintain peace and protect Kepler 503.]
After explaining the rules, the scene shifted, and all the contestants found themselves on Kepler 503.
It was a habitable planet with a dense population, well-developed infrastructure, and maglev tracks running all across the globe. The ultra-high-speed maglev trains traveled at over 2,000 kilometers per hour.
Each department’s students landed in different locations. Some became patrol officers directly, some were assigned to logistics departments as clerical staff, and others were posted to the planet’s hospitals as doctors.
After a brief moment of shock, the students quickly adapted to their new identities and handled their tasks in an orderly manner.
Outside the arena, Crazy Lao Cao said with slight disappointment, “It’s just the common point system from mech leagues. The format isn’t surprising at all—it’s just lost its fairness.”
The live stream viewers also commented that making team points the sum of individual points was unfair to smaller teams and logistics-oriented departments.
Rio clicked his tongue lightly. “The Central Military Academy is as arrogant as ever. Everyone should just treat this as a show and watch it for fun. Even I can guess with my toes that, unless something unexpected happens, something unexpected is definitely going to happen.”
Sure enough, robbers appeared on the streets, trying to take hostages. But Beasts and his team, who were on patrol, shot them dead, earning the team 10 points.
Over on Li Hao’s side, they discovered an escaped criminal and successfully captured him, earning the team another 10 points.
What followed felt like a showcase match between these two departments—one arresting criminals, the other hunting down rebels.
Their team points quickly rose to 300 points, with the Mech Department close behind at 120 points.
Crazy Lao Cao let out a huge yawn. “Is this really the level of the Central Military Academy’s big competition? Or are they purposely lowering the difficulty so they don’t embarrass themselves in front of the entire Federation?”
Rio took a puff from his e-cigarette. “This is like playing house. I really don’t understand why Man Yinlai and Kailyn Renault came to watch this.”
Crazy Lao Cao burst out laughing. “I bet they’re forcing themselves to stay awake right now, smiling through it.”
“Ugh, this is such a waste of Federation resources.” Rio stood up. He didn’t want to watch anymore. It was boring.
Just then, chaos suddenly erupted.
The bustling crowd let out high-pitched screams, filled with fear and panic.
Beasts, who was patrolling nearby, immediately led ten students and rushed over.
“Monster!”
They looked on in horror as a giant, ugly creature with a black shell—one of its front limbs skewering a low-flying passenger maglev bus—came into view!
It lifted the maglev bus up like it was some kind of toy, swinging it around in the air.
The driverless maglev bus, sensing danger, automatically opened its windows and doors, allowing passengers to escape.
But this made things awful for the passengers inside.
They clung desperately to their seats, terrified of being flung out.
Still, quite a few passengers tumbled out of the windows and doors with loud crashes.
Those who were lucky—or had strong physiques—survived the fall without dying on the spot, but a dozen or so passengers died instantly.
【Nuwa: 15 citizens of Kepler 503 have died. The Space Combat Department deducts 15 points!】
Beasts’ body jolted. NPC deaths result in point deductions! He scanned the area and saw at least a few hundred people on this street. If they didn’t stop this monster, the Space Combat Department’s points would go into the negatives!
Beasts didn’t hesitate any longer and immediately organized his teammates to attack the monster.
The monster’s black shell was dark and glossy, and its four long legs were as sharp as steel blades, easily slicing through the maglev bus’s body.
Even more terrifying was the sharp, vicious mouthpart on its head, from which green liquid dripped onto passengers with broken legs.
“Ahh!” A passenger let out a miserable scream, quickly corroded into a pool of bloody pus.
“Restraint net launcher!” Beasts ordered.
A small launcher fired a projectile toward the monster’s feet. With a few clicks, it rapidly expanded into a highly adhesive, high-strength net.
The restraint net bound the monster.
Beasts was about to give another order when he saw the monster’s four legs tense slightly. With a light flex, the restraint net tore apart like a broken spiderweb, left in tatters.
