Huang Yan was well aware that his teammates were changing the subject, but when he thought about how they'd spent the past three days just eating and not causing any trouble, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Besides, the "supply pack" the trio had prepared for him had proven to be a huge help at the Academy of Sciences...
Seeing Sir Huang's expression shift from stormy to sunny, Jian Jingyu and Zhang Lyra knew the matter was settled. Not having to go on a diet with Sister Zebra—what a relief!
Returning to sit beside his two teammates,
"Sir Huang, did the Academy of Sciences have any good solutions for your mental energy? Like some kind of miracle drug or something?"
"Are you okay with your current level of physical fitness? Did they give you any advice?"
Everyone's expression turned serious when the topic of Huang Yan's physical and mental condition came up.
This issue had plagued their captain for over a decade. If it could be resolved once and for all, that would be wonderful!
Huang Yan first shook his head, then nodded.
The three days of testing were meant to get a clearer picture of our physical conditions. The Academy hasn't developed a suitable medicine yet, but Uncle Tao said they're working on it. When I left today, they did give each of us a training plan.
With that, he pulled up the spreadsheet on his holographic screen and showed it to his teammates.
Zhang Lyra's mouth fell open wider and wider as she looked at it. At this moment, she had serious doubts about the "scientific" nature of the Academy of Sciences.
Forcing a commander to follow this kind of training volume every day—he'd become a "Dreadnought-level Soldier" in less than two years! What would they do then?
Wang Tianwei's eyes widened in shock after seeing it clearly. This plan was meant to create a superhuman, wasn't it? Was this the training volume for double S-grade mental energy?
Wait—did that mean if she advanced to SS-grade, she'd have to undergo this kind of devilish training too!?
No wonder she'd advanced easily from B to A, but found it so hard to go from A to S! So every threshold came with exponentially higher physical requirements?
All three teammates fell silent. Huang Yan's eyes flickered.
"You've all seen it?"
"Yes."
They nodded in unison, and when they spoke again, their voices were heavy with gravity.
"Sir Huang, hang in there."
"Stay strong..."
"It's not all bad," one of them muttered. "Once you finish training... you can go enter the Soldier duel competitions."
Huang Yan raised an eyebrow, pulled the virtual screen back, and tapped a few commands.
"Well then, starting tomorrow, we're getting up at four-thirty. Got it?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Mm—wait, we?" Zhang Lyra suddenly felt something was off with that sentence.
"!?"
Wang Tianwei's eyes shot open in shock. What did he mean? What did Sir Huang mean?
Huang Yan glanced at them calmly.
"What? Aren't you all going to level up in the future?"
"..."
"Especially Sister Zebra. You're stuck right now too, aren't you? Same situation I'm in?"
"No! I'm not, I'm not..."
I'm just an A-grade! Don't you dare say that!
Wang Tianwei shook her head in despair, about to argue, but Huang Yan cut her off.
"And you think reaching S-grade is enough? Didn't you say before that we're the strongest squad on the surface?"
I was just bragging! Do you even know what bragging means?
Huang Yan completely ignored Wang Tianwei's pleading eyes and trembling lips.
"Besides, Goldfish and Little Bear—even commanders will someday surpass you both. Can you live with that? I can't."
Actually... it wouldn't be the worst thing.
"Full confession: what's S-grade mental energy really good for? In the future, we're going to..."
Before they knew it, the three teammates' expressions shifted from resistance to doubt, then to half-belief. By the time they stepped out of the mecha bay, they were brimming with motivation!
Mankind was born for great purposes... They were the Federation's most badass squad! One day, they'd be in the textbooks!
What was a little training? At least they weren't alone—and they could always rope in a few more people!
On their way to take Huang Yan to the salon, they ran into Valk's crew.
"What's up with Qilin? He looks like he's heading straight to the battlefield or something?" Taylor's nerves immediately tensed up. To him, Qilin was like a weather vane—better to follow his lead and prepare in advance.
Hiranuma Yusho was also stunned by Wang Tianwei's new hairstyle for a moment. Hearing Taylor, he shifted his gaze to Huang Yan, who seemed noticeably more relaxed than before.
"No clue. Why don't you go feel him out?"
If he wasn't mistaken, Huang Yan was really scheming deep... but then again, shared joy is double the joy.
Wu Fangyu looked suspiciously between Qilin's group and her own captain.
She had a feeling that some weird vibe had just passed between her captain and Huang Yan, but surely the captain wouldn't screw them over, right?
"Ah, fine. I'll ask around at lunch."
While Huang Yan was getting his hair cut, Wang Tianwei was still brooding over the physical training.
"Emm, Sir Huang, I suddenly thought..."
Without moving a muscle, Huang Yan pulled a few lunch boxes and a box of cake out of his space button.
"Oh, right. Here are the souvenirs from the Academy, and the cake."
Wang Tianwei immediately forgot what she was about to say and snatched them up in surprise.
"You actually brought them for us!"
Jian Jingyu and Zhang Lyra also leaned in. When they opened the lunch boxes, they found a bento—small portions, but a rich variety of side dishes, and even rice in several different colors.
"Wow!"
"These are special products from the Academy. The vegetables and rice are grown in-house—very healthy." Huang Yan said this without changing his expression.
He chose his words carefully. Healthy? Absolutely. Special? Only the Academy could produce them.
"Is this what you ate every day at the Academy? It looks so good in the box!"
Wang Tianwei picked up the bento and sniffed it—a very fresh smell. She immediately pulled three pairs of chopsticks out of her space button.
"...At least heat them up before you eat."
"It's fine, it's fine! I have a heating device right here! Just put it in—" the hairdresser hurriedly interjected, but Wang Tianwei waved him off.
"No worries. I'm just doing an experiment with mecha fuel. The temperature from that is perfect for heating food."
With that, she set up her portable workbench and heat-insulating layers on the open floor, put on her goggles, took out a stopwatch, placed the three bentos in the center, and arranged the "fuel" she'd made around them.
Activating her mental energy, the fuel changed color, the temperature rose, and soon the aroma of rice filled the air. She pressed the stopwatch again.
"Heating speed—ten seconds... pretty slow."
The shop owner stared in disbelief. Who conducts mecha fuel experiments in a barbershop? His hand slipped.
"Snap."
Huang Yan stared at the stray long strand of hair on the floor, confused. What was this?!
"Oh dear! So sorry, so sorry, young man... Let me give you a different hairstyle!"
By the time they walked out of the salon, Huang Yan's face was still sour.
His wolf-tail haircut was completely gone, replaced by short hair. Zhang Lyra called it "much sunnier," but that wolf-tail had been with him for eighteen years!
Wang Tianwei rubbed her stomach and let out a burp.
"Forget it, forget it, Sir Huang. This looks great too, really!"
Jian Jingyu had a pouch of nutrient solution dangling from her lips.
“Right, he looks really cool! And the boss didn’t even charge you. Now doesn’t the back of your neck feel wonderfully refreshed?”
“No wonder it’s a bento from the Academy of Sciences—the taste is really… rich and smooth?”
“Well, my appetite’s pretty much back. So, can we go eat now?”
“…”
