After what happened with Halder, Lin Xiaohe was more certain than ever about one thing.
In this interstellar era, the moral standards of these exam candidates were seriously questionable. Compared to the model youths from her Huaxia days, they weren’t worth trusting at all.
There was a dimensional wall between Lin Xiaohe and these students who had never taken an Ideological and Moral Education class!
Going solo was the only way. She had to work alone.
The Firebird mecha wobbled and lurched through the jungle like it had Parkinson’s disease.
A nearby Imperial squadron spotted the lone surviving Federation mecha and immediately activated their high-speed thrusters to give chase.
“Leave no survivors!”
Inside the mecha, Lin Xiaohe was drenched in sweat, frantically trying to figure things out.
She was about to lose her mind. Were mecha designers out of their minds?! They had neural sensors—why were there still manual buttons to operate?
The neural link speed was faster than the second-gen mechas she was used to, leaving Lin Xiaohe completely disoriented.
Her hand speed just couldn’t keep up with her neural transmission speed, making her mecha movements utterly uncoordinated.
Crash!
Her left foot tripped over her right, and the Firebird went sprawling face-first into the dirt.
The pursuing Imperial squadron was so baffled they almost froze.
Was this a trap?
Surely no one could be this clumsy unless they had no idea how to pilot a mecha!
The cautious squadron kept their distance and opened fire with energy cannons.
Two shots could easily take down a Firebird.
Ten shots were more than enough to blast this supposedly cunning Federation soldier into oblivion.
Tian Tian blocked all of them.
In that flash of an instant, Lin Xiaohe made a snap decision: abandon control of the mecha and play dead.
Dead. Totally dead. No need to chase anymore…
The Imperial squadron saw the energy shield flicker once, then the entire mecha crashed to the ground.
“Target down. Requesting return.”
“Return approved.”
Night fell, pitch-black.
Lin Xiaohe waited until the Imperial squadron had left the area before climbing out of the cockpit.
She glanced back at the Firebird, frowning deeply.
There was no way she could learn to pilot this thing in such a short time.
But on a battlefield without a mecha for protection, trying to break into the capital and rescue the president was pure fantasy.
What was she supposed to do?
Lin Xiaohe plopped down on the ground, propped her chin on her hand, and fell into deep thought.
The audience, who had been watching her every move with microscopic intensity, quickly analyzed Lin Xiaohe’s predicament.
Edwin, Chief of Staff of the Fourth Ring Military Region, offered a sharp observation. “Lin Xiaohe doesn’t know how to operate a mecha. Her humble background has limited her experience and exposure.”
The pink Beetle mecha was designed by her father, so she could operate that one with ease.
But now that she had to use the standard-issue Federation Firebird mecha, she was completely lost.
For the other candidates, however, their personal fifth- or sixth-generation mechas shared some commonalities with the Firebird, so they could pick it up quickly.
Cassian, the Central Military Academy’s headmaster, shook his head slightly. The advantages that other candidates had built up over more than a decade couldn’t be erased so easily.
Melina’s heart was in her throat. Facing such a dire situation, could Lin Xiaohe still prove her excellence?
Many viewers felt disappointed, thinking she lacked both the iron will of a soldier and the talent to instantly master anything she touched.
Maybe her stellar performance in the first two exams had just been riding on the coattails of the pink Beetle mecha.
These viewers turned their attention elsewhere.
Most candidates had landed inside the capital. Juan, Lin Ye, and Gabriel from the Second Ring had all quickly rallied nearby candidates.
Currently, the 1,000-plus candidates had split into three main groups. Juan’s group was the largest, with a full 500 members.
Lin Ye led over 200 people, moving to link up with Juan.
The hundred candidates from the Second Ring had gathered around Gabriel but showed no signs of wanting to join Juan’s group.
The remaining candidates were unlucky, scattered across the capital fighting alone. They’d likely be discovered and eliminated by Imperial soldiers soon.
As for Lin Xiaohe, she seemed to be completely out of this exam. A candidate who couldn’t operate a mecha and was far from the core exam zone had no chance of turning things around.
“Has anyone found Lin Xiaohe?” Juan asked over the encrypted channel.
“No.”
Juan raised an eyebrow. Lin Xiaohe was certainly cautious—she hadn’t left a single trace.
After Lin Ye joined up with him, Juan immediately called a strategy meeting.
“This exam simulates the Battle of Serfa Star. Two-thirds of the colony cities have fallen, two cities were completely destroyed. The Federation has lost all air superiority, and the ground defense forces are fighting isolated battles, being picked off one by one by the Empire.”
“We’re not getting reinforcements.”
Lin Ye added, “That’s fine. We have the answer key to follow. The Federation’s Fifth Corps Special Forces Battalion successfully rescued the Serfa Star Executive by contacting the red double agent Bone Flute and escaping through a secret passage. We can do the same.”
Victor asked, “Does anyone know who Bone Flute is?”
Bone Flute was a codename, not a real name.
With over a million civilians in the capital, where were they supposed to start?
Susie reminded him quietly, “Victor, don’t you remember? In the third practice exam, there was a fill-in-the-blank question about Bone Flute!”
Victor rubbed the back of his head with an awkward smile. His academic performance was inversely proportional to his combat skills.
“So, should we still contact the Second Ring candidates?”
In theory, the Second Ring candidates were far superior to the average Third and Fourth Ring candidates. Teaming up with them would increase their chances of success.
But this wasn’t a real battle. It was an exam.
Who would willingly share the spotlight with others?
Juan made the call. “Finding the Second Ring candidates would take too much time. Let’s go straight to Bone Flute.”
Meanwhile, the Second Ring candidates had already located Bone Flute’s estate.
A boy with a baby face lurked like a night owl in an empty house near the estate.
His lips barely moved as he spoke over the encrypted channel. “Gabriel, are we still waiting? Why not just contact Bone Flute?”
He glanced up at the starry sky, bored. “Is Nuwa going easy on us? I remember the last StarNet simulation exam was brutally hard.”
Gabriel and the others were hiding in a museum two kilometers from the estate.
“Stay hidden. Let Juan and his group test the waters first.”
The baby-faced boy drawled lazily, “Fine, I always listen to you. I wonder where our dear Captain Lin has run off to. She’s not actually trying to storm the Presidential Palace, is she?”
The thought made him snicker.
The Battle of Serfa Star was a standard part of their curriculum, but candidates from the Fifth and Sixth Rings might not have even heard of it.
Just thinking about how he had the answer key while Lin Xiaohe was running around like a headless chicken on a fool’s errand made the baby-faced boy struggle to contain his laughter.
It was only natural that remote regions failed to produce top talent. The invisible barriers created by the education gap would isolate them from the inner rings for generations to come.
Outside the exam hall, the tension eased. The exam was almost over, and it was just a matter of whether Juan or Gabriel would complete the task first.
“Lin Xiaohe isn’t all that impressive. Marshal Chu must have made a mistake.”
The chosen name—Edwin—made its appearance.
