By the time the lead teachers finished their morning meeting and arrived, quite a few stalls in the first cafeteria had already closed early.
After selling out, why stick around? They still had to prep for lunch and dinner!
The twelve students had their tables piled high with food. For the second time in seven days, Valk and the First Military Academy’s advising teachers experienced the sight of a "full banquet" first thing in the morning...
Do you always have to make such a big scene the moment you get back?
Lin Youfu spotted Hiranuma Yusho mechanically shoving wontons into his mouth amidst the crowd, along with Taylor and Barry eating like starving ghosts, and finally covered his face, unable to bear it anymore.
Sorry, etiquette teachers—he had failed to uphold Valk’s standards...
Serena, on the other hand, thought it was good that the students were working out together early in the morning. After all, from the start of the league until now, each of them had learned a lot from one another, most of it positive.
Even though First Military Academy only placed third this time, and there were some negative voices online, it was clear that neither He Siyu, Fu Xingyuan, Leola, nor Wu Pingzhuo were taking it too hard.
She also felt a bit of hardship was good for the kids. Right now, all the students’ desire to grow stronger was practically written all over their faces...
Chao Hao, as if on autopilot, swiped two buns from in front of his own students and handed one to Fu Manli.
"Did you all go to the camp hospital? Dr. Lin, who handles mental energy, has been looking for me a few times... And don’t neglect those little injuries on your bodies—get them treated quickly."
"Right after we eat!"
"Mm-hmm, teacher, we need to eat first! Otherwise, our stomachs will be growling for the whole twenty-plus minutes in the treatment pod."
Fu Manli recalled her colleague’s request.
"Tianwei, Eugene said he found some information on the use of star shark oil. Give him a call when you have time."
"Oh? I haven’t checked my optical brain yet today. Got it, Teacher Fu!"
Wang Tianwei turned her head to reply, while across from her, Huang Yan calmly intercepted her chopsticks.
"Talk while you talk, but don’t reach for the egg tarts with those chopsticks."
"...Huang Sir, did you know everyone on the StarNet is calling you the ‘strictest father’?"
"I don’t have a daughter like you."
Hearing this, Chao Hao chimed in.
"It’s only thanks to the three of them tagging along that you got some discipline. Going that crazy on insect territory? Who taught you that?"
Wang Tianwei blinked her eyes wide.
"Chao... Teacher? Did you forget that you separated the three of us and threw us into Fear Ridge Mountain? And back when we first enrolled, didn’t you say, 'If you can train without dying, train until you drop'?"
Jian Jingyu overheard and nodded along.
"Yeah, yeah. You also said, 'Slacking off today is a boomerang that’ll hit you tomorrow.' And something like, 'Don’t fear a strong opponent, fear giving up on yourself first.'"
Another Valk advising teacher, Gaskell, frowned after listening and called up his friend’s communication line.
"Liu Lü, I’d like to ask—as a teacher, how many years could you get for inciting students to overwork with pep talks?"
Chao Hao wasn’t sure if slacking off was a boomerang, but something was definitely sticking him right now...
Soon after, Wang Tianwei’s optical brain buzzed.
"It’s Elizabeth."
As soon as the video call connected, the other side launched into a scolding.
"You’re all back and still haven’t called me? What’s that supposed to mean? Just because you’re in the top three, we fourth-placers don’t deserve attention?"
"No... mmph."
Wang Tianwei’s mouth was stuffed full. She elbowed Wu Fangyu, who was sitting beside her, signaling him to take over.
Wu Fangyu had been resting—those two hours of extreme training felt like they’d take a lifetime to recover from... He pulled up the virtual screen and gave a weak smile.
"Hey, Elizabeth... haven’t seen you in a few days. How are you guys?"
Elizabeth was startled by his haggard look.
"Whoa!? Were you bitten by a giant tube worm? Aren’t you back at camp? How are you worse off than on Erxunoxing?"
Wu Fangyu gave a pained twitch of his lips.
"Heh. Morning training, Qilin, together... Infantry."
Just four words, and Elizabeth understood everything. Sympathy instantly appeared on her face.
"You all trained together?"
"Yeah!"
"Damn... Warrior! Let me see your captain’s miserable state!"
"..."
Wu Fangyu slowly lifted his head. Captain Hiranuma Yusho was staring at him, chopsticks in hand, as if any "betrayal" would turn those chopsticks into flying weapons...
He turned back to the virtual screen, clasping his hands and bowing to Elizabeth. The meaning was clear:
‘Cut me some slack, lady. That’s our captain. One wrong move and I’ll drop dead on the spot...’
"Tch. Tightwad."
Elizabeth in the video was pretty unhappy but didn’t dwell on it.
"How’s Wang Tianwei’s mental energy? That whole mess was huge—did she level up?"
Wu Fangyu shook his head weakly.
That girl was more energetic than him after training, her complexion perfectly rosy... No matter how you looked at it, she wasn’t at her physical limit or close to advancing.
Wang Tianwei finally freed up her mouth.
"Thanks for asking. I guess this is what geniuses have to go through... No worries, I’ll keep training and it’ll work out!"
Elizabeth leaned back in her chair upon hearing this.
"Alright. Want to try my mental energy attack method? It might help."
"I’ve tried it. With limited mental energy, the attack power is limited, and all the enemies I face are too strong..."
She glanced around the table with a sulky look.
"Everyone can counter me way too easily!"
The others at the table all looked away in unison. Actually, it wasn’t that easy...
Elizabeth clicked her tongue.
"True, but if you try practicing with people at lower levels, they’re not safe either..."
Wang Tianwei waved a hand casually.
"Forget it, no use rushing. I’ll figure it out myself. How’s Liansheng? I saw in the playback that he was sick?"
Liansheng from Santorini heard Ma Jie call him and popped into frame, revealing half of himself.
"Don’t worry, Ma Jie. I got treated in the pod as soon as I came back. Just a cold. The tsunami and insects you guys ran into later were way scarier!"
Wang Tianwei examined his complexion carefully before nodding. At least in the interstellar era, medical care was reliable—better than anything!
"By the way, has Huang Yan gotten any notice yet?"
Elizabeth only remembered to ask at the very end.
"What notice?"
Wang Tianwei looked at Huang Yan, who shrugged.
"Ah... it might come soon. Some people might look for you. I can’t say too much. Gotta go—we have class. Tell Valk’s people to hold onto that grudge. Next time, I’ll get my revenge!"
"Sis, can we really not just let this one go?"
