“What an interesting little one.” Weasley listened to the resolute female voice in his earphones, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Pragmatic, but overestimating herself.
“Tell Shi Qiang to come back. Since Lin Xiaohe wants to meet on the battlefield, then the battlefield it is.”
Weasley rubbed his blue hair and let out a big yawn.
How boring. He had gotten into a military academy in the Fourth Star Ring, but was sent by that person to the Fifth Star Ring, just to deal with a little girl.
Originally, he planned to detain her for a few days, making her miss the assessment time, so he could still rush back to the Fourth Star Ring in time for the military academy’s practical combat assessment.
Unfortunately, she saw through it.
There are paths in heaven she doesn’t take; the gates of hell she insists on barging into.
“Then I’ll have to use your worthless life as the loyalty I offer to that person.” Weasley’s gaze turned cold and deep. He turned and walked through the special quarantine passage, leaving this disgusting area.
…
The encounter with Shi Qiang cast a heavy shadow over the Lin family’s hearts.
Lin’s father’s eyes were filled with immense guilt, his head almost drooping to his chest.
“Dad, this has nothing to do with you. It’s aimed at me. Even if we hadn’t met Shi Qiang, it would have been someone else,” Lin Xiaohe comforted him.
Lin’s father opened his mouth but felt too ashamed to tell his daughter that he had offended quite a few people in the Fifth Star Ring, not just Shi Qiang.
Lin Chiyang slowly regained consciousness. An injury that would lay someone else up for ten to fifteen days would, for him, be mostly healed in just an hour or two.
He defended his family protectively: “How can you blame Xiaohe? It’s clearly that guy being too petty.”
Grandma Lin wholeheartedly agreed. Her own child was so good, it must have been someone else’s fault!
The family waited quietly in line for quarantine. Afterwards, Lin Xiaohe planned to find a hotel to settle the family, and then take a military ship to the military district to report for duty.
In the Federation, treatment for soldiers was quite decent.
Every planet had military hostels, free for officers to stay in, while military family members needed to pay.
“Second Lieutenant Lin Xiaohe, Special Reconnaissance Battalion, 5th Division, Miluo Star, Sixth Star Ring?” The receptionist verified Lin Xiaohe’s credentials.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“The waitlist is 15 days out. Do you still want to be on it?”
As she finished speaking, a Sergeant came in to register for the waitlist.
Lin Xiaohe’s sharp eyes noticed that this Sergeant was actually placed ahead of her.
She asked the receptionist calmly, “What is the order of the waitlist based on?”
The receptionist said lazily, “Priority by rank, then by registration time.”
Lin Xiaohe pointed at the Sergeant who had just left: “Why is he ahead of me? His rank isn’t higher than mine, and he came later than me.”
The receptionist lifted her eyelids impatiently and said, “Second Lieutenant, is this your first time out of the Sixth Star Ring? Learn about rank conversion before you go out!”
What did that mean?
Lin Xiaohe watched helplessly as a dog in combat gear strutted in proudly and directly checked in!
A Second Lieutenant was less than a dog!
Unconvinced, Lin Xiaohe immediately asked Xinbao to look up the information.
Xinbao: [A rank from the Sixth Star Ring is automatically lowered by one level in the Fifth Star Ring, by two levels in the Fourth Star Ring, and so on.]
It wasn’t a direct demotion in rank, but treatment, authority, and all aspects would be considered inferior.
Lin Xiaohe: “What about the Sergeant just now?”
Xinbao: [From the Fourth Star Ring.]
Lin Xiaohe asked reluctantly: “And that dog?”
Losing to people was one thing, but losing to a dog?!
Xinbao: [Fourth Star Ring Beast Corps, Sergeant rank.]
Damn, really couldn’t beat a dog.
Lin Xiaohe grumbled: “Are the soldiers from the Fourth Star Ring so free? Not guarding the Federation, what are they doing in the Fifth Star Ring?”
If she couldn’t stay at the military hostel, she’d have to go to a hotel.
Xinbao said that parents of candidates coming to the Fifth Star Ring for exams all chose the Outlets Hotel.
It wasn’t far from the spaceport, the prices were reasonable, and more importantly, since most guests were parents of candidates, it was very convenient to exchange information.
Catering to the needs of candidates and their parents, the Outlets Hotel had specially launched a Fifth Star Ring College Entrance Exam channel. It allowed real-time querying of exam information and even had a direct line to the military district to get first-hand exam site materials.
The Lin family was lucky. When they arrived at the hotel, there was only one suite left, costing 10,000 star coins a day, excluding meals.
Being away from home required money everywhere.
Gritting her teeth, Lin Xiaohe recharged 300,000, with the unused portion refundable.
The hotel was shaped like a sailboat, and the Lin family’s suite was right in the middle of the sail. One floor up was the executive lounge.
The executive lounge was the parents’ favorite spot. It was an open space, with a rectangular structure in the very center displaying all kinds of information on its four sides.
Surrounding the rectangle were rows of ergonomic sofas.
Many parents sat on the sofas, chatting with each other.
“In a few days, it’s the military academy practical assessment. Where’s the combat zone this time?”
“Not sure. The military district is taking this exam very seriously; so far, not a single piece of information has leaked out.”
This situation was somewhat unusual.
In previous years, scattered information always came out, allowing students to prepare.
But this time, there wasn’t even a hint.
A lady sitting at the front sighed deeply: “Because this year, many candidates are coming from the Fourth Star Ring to take the exam in our Fifth Star Ring.”
“Ah? How can that be?”
“This is so unfair to us in the Fifth Star Ring.”
The educational resource gap between star rings was huge. You could apply upwards, but few people applied downwards.
Other parents confirmed the news: “It seems competition in the top three star rings was fierce this year, with many geniuses emerging. Some students from the Third Star Ring went to the Fourth Star Ring to take the exam, and students from the Fourth Star Ring who got wind of it early came to the Fifth Star Ring.”
Everyone was picking on the weak.
As for why people from the Fifth Star Ring didn’t go to the Sixth Star Ring? Of course, because once you go to the Sixth Star Ring, it’s hard to climb back up.
Bitter smiles hung on the parents’ faces: “They’ve had more resources than us since birth, and now they’re even coming here to take food from our plates.”
“Nothing we can do. I heard there’s also a specially admitted student from the Federation Central Military Academy in the Sixth Star Ring who will participate in this practical assessment.”
“Oh my god! Is there any way left for ordinary students?”
Wails filled the room.
Not hearing any useful information here, Lin Xiaohe decided to take the elevator back to her room.
Outside the elevator lobby was a high-altitude balcony where two men stood smoking e-cigarettes.
Lin Xiaohe looked straight ahead, but suddenly heard her name from these two men.
“That specially admitted student is called Lin Xiaohe. The person’s meaning is that they don’t want to see her pass the assessment.”
“I understand. We candidates from the Fourth Star Ring are one unit anyway. I believe under Young Master Weasley’s leadership, our plan to snipe Lin Xiaohe will definitely succeed!”
“Be very careful. She holds the rank of Second Lieutenant. If we’re too blatant, it’ll be hard to explain to the military district.”
“Don’t worry, we have experience, don’t we?”
The two men burst into laughter.
