CFRSIO Chapter 38

The Interstellar Capital Academy had been established for over a hundred years, and through years of operation, it had gained its current reputation. Now, the entire galaxy took pride in being able to join the Interstellar Capital Academy. This situation was not only prevalent among commoners but also among nobles.

Therefore, the students of the academy gradually developed from ordinary people to basically all being children of nobles, or at the very least, children of wealthy merchants.

Thus, if any one of them were to have an accident, they would not be able to afford the compensation.

Naturally, all dangerous situations had been anticipated before this drill. Before the drill, they had even dispatched dozens of teachers to the areas they would visit, marking all dangers and beast lairs.

The academy had maps. Therefore, they also knew what dangers lay in these areas.

However, they never expected that a student would actively run towards a beast lair.

Especially when that guy was…

Lin Yunliang was a troublemaker at school, so his locator card was the most special and easiest to identify. Several teachers recognized it at a glance.

They immediately panicked and rushed towards the fire ant lair. They had fought against beasts for many years and understood the situation with large numbers of beasts.

Therefore, when they were still three kilometers away from the fire ant lair, they disembarked from the starship and slowed down, gradually approaching the fire ant lair.

Surprisingly, normally, as soon as they got within one kilometer of the fire ant lair, the scouts within the fire ants would detect their presence and launch an attack.

What was going on?

Tukuman, Xu Yi, and Sasha exchanged glances, seeing surprise and confusion in each other’s eyes.

“Don’t let your guard down,” Tukuman was the most experienced of the three teachers. He had participated in at least five, if not ten, academy drills. Naturally, he was more aware of the prowess of these beasts. He immediately spoke up to remind them.

The other two tightened their grips on their pistols.

They slowed their pace, gradually approaching the fire ant lair.

The area around the fire ant lair was covered in blood and the bodies of fire ants.

“This is…” What was going on? The few people were clearly a bit frightened by the scene.

This situation was beyond their comprehension.

Near the fire ant lair, there were scattered fire ant corpses, shattered into several pieces. At a glance, it was obvious that a fierce battle had just taken place here.

But why? What had happened?

“Go and check,” Tukuman ordered.

The three then dispersed, each finding a direction to investigate.

Tukuman did not find any trace of any students and was relieved. He immediately prepared to contact the other two teachers to understand their situation.

Before they could even begin their inspection, Teacher Sasha sent a message first.

“Teacher Tukuman, Teacher Xu Yi, please come over here!” Teacher Sasha’s voice trembled slightly.

What exactly had happened? With such doubts, the other two teachers quickly ran towards Teacher Sasha’s location.

Even before they got close, they knew why Teacher Sasha had immediately called them over.

Because right next to the fire ant lair lay a beast, the same one that had been entangled with Lin Yunliang just now. However, this one was now lying on the ground, completely lifeless.

One of its hands was missing, and the remaining hand was almost entirely gnawed away by the fire ants. Its tail was also a bit shorter. The entire beast looked extremely battered.

They knew this beast. Its attack power was not small, and its beast hide was almost impenetrable. They knew of its existence when they came to inspect the area. However, there was no way to drive it away. Moreover, what would happen after driving it away?

Wouldn’t it be a greater disaster if it broke into the town?

Therefore, they had only lured the beast over, and the tasks assigned to the students were kept as far away from the beast’s location as possible, precisely to prevent any accidents.

But now, this beast was dead?? And it died near the fire ant lair. The fire ants in the lair had also suffered heavy losses, essentially a mutual destruction.

Naturally, the beast had suffered more severely, as it had lost its life.

“Did our students do this?” Teacher Sasha asked, not believing that students could have done it.

“Besides the beast carcass, did you find anything else?” Tukuman asked Sasha.

Sasha shook her head. The area around the fire ant lair was still quite open, with no places to hide. If there were other people around, they would have been discovered immediately.

“Teacher Xu Yi?”

Xu Yi also shook his head.

Tukuman was somewhat relieved. Regardless of who killed the beast, as long as the student whose location they had seen was safe, that was enough.

“Just in case. Let’s check this area again. If there are no problems, we’ll go back.”

“Yes.”

Tukuman had more than just a precautionary reason; he was also interested in fire ant crystals. Since something like this had happened at the fire ant lair, was it possible for him to take advantage of the situation?

With this thought, he re-examined the area.

Although he didn’t find any fire ant crystals, the remaining fire ant eggs were still a gain. Tukuman was not disappointed. At least there was some reward.

It’s just… who was that student whose location was marked here? He was curious.

Where was this student now? He was on his way to find Zhang Qing’an.

Zhang Qing’an had high scores at the academy, and his overall ability and competence were not low. If not for Zhang Qing’an’s identity, many people would have wanted to be in the same group as him for this drill.

Zhang Qing’an was quite lucky; the escape pod landed in a water source. After getting out of the escape pod, he first collected some water. After resting for a while, he began to check his belongings.

Unfortunately, he discovered that his communicator was malfunctioning. He couldn’t contact Lin Yunyong and the others. Also, they were out of food. The food they had brought with them was not much.

They were here for a drill, not for camping. Moreover, there were quite a few beasts in this area, so they had brought dry rations, but only a small amount. Now, all of it was gone.

He sighed helplessly. Fortunately, other items were still usable. After a simple packing, he didn’t linger here for too long.

Staying in one place for too long would attract beasts.

Beasts prey on humans. Over many years of combat, humans had accumulated a lot of experience. This experience had been compiled into books for interstellar residents to use for survival in times of danger.

By the stream, he found some special herbs. Applying this herb to the body could mask one’s scent.

However, after walking a few steps, he heard some sounds. Zhang Qing’an had been very cautious all along, so at the first sound, he immediately hid himself.

He had also deliberately chosen this path. If he encountered beasts in an open area, it would be difficult to escape, and some beasts could even merge with the sand.

Therefore, it was better to walk in dense areas where visibility was not excessively obstructed.

Zhang Qing’an waited for a while and listened carefully, judging that the sound was a beast drinking water. Not all beasts were ferocious and difficult for humans to deal with.

Some beasts were cute and delicious.

Zhang Qing’an peeked out and confirmed the beast’s identity: it was a rabbit.

This rabbit beast was much larger than the rabbits on Planet Blue. Its size was such that it could even be used as a mount. Its fur was also blue, and it had a pair of floppy ears. It was drinking water by the river in small sips.

Zhang Qing’an looked at the rabbit and couldn’t help but swallow.

He took out the dagger hidden in his boot, slowed his pace, and planned to attack from behind. Since he had applied the scent-masking herb, it would be easier to sneak up from behind. Rabbits were timid and fast, so Zhang Qing’an had to be cautious.

A laser sword was not needed to deal with a rabbit for now.

This rabbit was quite vigilant. After drinking a few sips of water, it stopped, its pair of red eyes scanning all around. Finding nothing, it continued to lower its head to drink water.

Zhang Qing’an approached with steady steps. He was very cautious, but he couldn’t prevent others from acting.

A series of hurried and chaotic footsteps approached.

The rabbit was startled and turned to run. Its speed was too fast for Zhang Qing’an to catch up. He was somewhat annoyed but quickly calmed down.

Because the footsteps were getting closer and closer.

Since this drill involved splitting into groups, they were naturally in competition with each other. While there had been team cooperation in the past, it often led to conflicts during the final distribution, which in turn reversed the entire situation.

Therefore, from the beginning, Zhang Qing’an had never thought about cooperating with anyone.

Of course, people were not inflexible.

Turning around and seeing familiar people, Zhang Qing’an remained calm.

The person who saw Zhang Qing’an alone first smiled and said, “Student Zhang, how are you?”

“Alright.” His gaze fell on the others behind him.

This team seemed to be much luckier than their own team. Not only had they not been separated, but all their belongings were also intact. No wonder the few people looked so relaxed. At least they were more relaxed than Zhang Qing’an.

“What about the Crown Prince and the others?” This guy wasn’t actually concerned about Lin Yunyong and the others.

“They got separated. Alexin is with the Crown Prince.” Zhang Qing’an could see the other person’s intentions.

It wasn’t just this guy’s intentions; several people in front of him were also quite interested in Alexin. He knew this.

Speaking of which, most people in the academy were interested in Alexin. Among the teachers, besides Master Speyer, several other teachers also found Alexin to be an interesting person.

It seemed that the only ones who truly disliked Alexin were him and… Lin Yunliang. Lin Yunliang’s targeting was only to anger the Crown Prince.

Zhang Qing’an’s thoughts drifted for a moment, and the few people who appeared exchanged glances. They all had an idea in mind.

“Zhang Qing’an, since you’re alone now, how about allying with my team?”

Zhang Qing’an’s strength and achievements were quite good. If such a person joined them, it would be a good thing.

“Besides, it’s not easy for you to break through alone.” The person in front of him said, revealing a cunning smile, “This is the Swamp Forest.”

The Swamp Forest was no good place. It was the area with the highest mortality rate. The Swamp Forest also contained swamp monsters. Normally, they looked like ordinary small stones by the roadside, but once they acted, the area within a ten-meter radius would instantly turn into a swamp, making it impossible to escape no matter how capable you were.

Many senior students had suffered losses in this area before.

Zhang Qing’an really didn’t want to fall here alone and be unlucky. The most important thing now was to leave the Swamp Forest immediately.

“Alright.”

Seeing that the person agreed, the other person cheered, “Quick, welcome the master of martial arts in our grade to join us!”

The people behind them also cheered. A group of people exchanged knowing glances at Zhang Qing’an.

Zhang Qing’an knew they were mocking him. For many years in the galaxy, almost everyone could awaken a spiritual body, with only differences in strength. People without spiritual bodies were almost nonexistent; he was the anomaly.

During the mental power confrontation class, he couldn’t even last for a second. He could only devote more energy to other areas.

“Do you have any nutrient paste?” Zhang Qing’an had long been accustomed to being mocked.

There wasn’t much edible food among his belongings. He was about to go hunting, but these people had interfered. Since they were now allies, asking for a nutrient paste was not a problem.

Seeing that their mockery had failed and the person was indifferent, they muttered a few words to themselves and signaled to a subordinate. What if the person couldn’t keep up with them? Wouldn’t that be a loss for them?

The subordinate understood, but understanding was one thing, and making things difficult or unpleasant for someone was another. He took out a nutrient paste but deliberately let go of it as the person reached out. Although it was clearly intentional, he still pretended to say, “Oh, I didn’t mean to. You’re not angry, are you?”

Not now, but it was hard to say after the drill ended.

The people beside him also laughed merrily. The person who had spoken to him so eagerly played the peacemaker, saying, “They didn’t mean it. Don’t take it to heart.”

Then, there was nothing else. It was clear what their attitude was.

Zhang Qing’an still maintained the same expression. He calmly picked it up, brushed off the dust, ignored them, and started eating. Dealing with Alexin and the others on the starship had already taken a lot of his energy, and now he didn’t want to waste any more energy on this matter.

Seeing that they had failed to achieve their goal, the person remained very calm and then sheepishly touched his nose. He didn’t say anything more.

“Alright, we’ve rested enough, let’s set off. We have a mission.”

This mission was not difficult; it was to rescue a hostage. There was an abandoned building here, and a top interstellar mental power expert had been kidnapped and was inside that abandoned building. The mission for all students was to bring the expert back unharmed, while also eliminating the bandits.

These were not difficult tasks. What was difficult was that there would be various beasts appearing along the way. Most of them disliked humans, so passing them would not be easy.

In addition, for the sake of the mission’s fun (not!), the academy had specifically arranged for people to set up supply points along the mission route. These supply points were not fixed. Some were easy to obtain, while others required some effort.

Everything depended on the students’ abilities.

Zhang Qing’an was not too worried about Lin Yunyong. That guy had some ability. It was just… Alexin was also following along. They should know how to complete the mission. Perhaps they would meet near the building.

This was what Zhang Qing’an was thinking, but unfortunately, his teammates were not so capable.

—

What about Alexin and Lin Yunyong? They were lucky; their landing spot happened to be a supply point, and it was the easiest and best to find, with the best quantity and quality of supplies.

This was also intentional by the academy teachers. Everyone wanted good things, so whether they could find and obtain them depended on their own abilities and luck.

Teachers in the back:

“Who are these two lucky guys? They just happened to fall on our big gift package,” Xu Yi said teasingly, looking at the light spots on the display screen.

They had thoroughly inspected the area and found no suspicious personnel, so they were relieved and could now afford to joke. They happened to see this situation.

Tukuman and Sasha also leaned over and smiled when they saw the light spots on the screen.

“These two are really lucky,” Sasha also sighed, then slapped her forehead as if remembering something, “If I remember correctly, inside that…?”

Even without finishing her words, the two people beside her understood. They had also graduated from this academy and had been tormented by academy teachers before graduation. Now that they were rehired, they naturally had to start playing pranks.

This hostage rescue mission was different from the previous ones. Although it was still a hostage rescue, the hostage was not in the location they were initially informed of. This was also intentional.

They wanted to let them experience the dangers of the outside world before leaving school. Therefore, they had deliberately leaked false information, and then it was up to them to see how they handled it. If they could discover it in advance, the drill would be considered excellent.

If not, their performance along the way would be graded.

Naturally, for such a matter, they would not leave any clues. They were within those supply points, and as long as they were cautious enough, they would find relevant clues.

And the biggest and most obvious clue was within this most obvious supply point.

This was also a little trick they had played. The more obvious something was, the more easily it was overlooked. Moreover, precisely because it was so obvious, not only students but also the beasts in this area would discover it.

At that time, it would be a struggle between the students and the beasts.

Let’s see if they would choose to play it safe or take a risk.

These were naturally their own choices. The teachers had only placed them there.

“Could these two be the best performers in this drill?” Sasha said.

Tukuman, however, did not think so, “Let’s keep watching. Perhaps there will be variables.”

Indeed, there would be variables. Of course, this variable was someone that no one would have expected.

“Teacher Tukuman is right, but it’s really strange this time. Usually, this supply point is discovered the earliest,” Teacher Xu Yi sighed, feeling that some students were getting worse with each generation.

—

Lin Yunyong went down first. He cautiously looked around. Finding no signs of beasts, he then reached out to the person still in the escape pod to help him out.

Alexin’s ears turned red, but he did not accept. Shaking his head, he said he could do it himself; he wasn’t someone who needed to be carefully protected.

Lin Yunyong did not force him, but merely kept his hand extended, hovering to prevent him from falling.

Alexin, not paying attention for a moment, did fall. Fortunately, Lin Yunyong caught him with a quick hand.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Alexin avoided Lin Yunyong’s gaze and said in a small voice, “Thank you. Please put me down.”

“Okay.” Lin Yunyong smiled, showing no intention of teasing Alexin. This also relieved Alexin.

Standing steadily on the ground, Alexin asked doubtfully, “Where is this place?”

As a prince, he had some advantages. Not only Lin Yunyong but also Lin Yunliang had a map. Opening the map, he roughly understood where he was.

“The abandoned building is on the left,” Lin Yunyong said. He was concerned about the mission, but not overly so, because after saying only a few words, he saw Alexin’s attention drawn away by something else, and then he quickly followed.

“Alexin!” He quickly followed and shielded Alexin behind him, “Don’t run around! What if there’s a trap?”

Alexin knew he had been reckless. He smiled apologetically and pouted his tongue cutely, “Sorry, I just thought that thing looked too much like the supply point the supervising teacher mentioned.”

Hearing this, Lin Yunyong looked more closely. Indeed, it did look somewhat similar. There was a scarecrow placed near the supply points.

“Let’s go take a look,” he said, looking at Lin Yunyong with anticipation.

He hoped Lin Yunyong would agree, after all, their starship had a problem and exploded in mid-air. Many things had not been retrieved. The two of them only had weapons on them, but no food. So, if they really found a supply point, it would be a good thing.

“Okay.” Lin Yunyong couldn’t disagree. Besides, he was also curious. Therefore, he was even more likely to agree to this situation.

The two slowed their pace as they approached. Although the supplies were attractive, they still had to pay attention to safety.

Walking under the giant scarecrow, Lin Yunyong was still vigilantly observing from the side, while Alexin had already stepped forward, looking up curiously at the scarecrow.

It’s hard to say whether it was ignorance of danger or pure open-mindedness. Alexin directly reached out to pull the scarecrow’s straw.

“Wait a moment!” Lin Yunyong didn’t even have time to stop him before he saw Alexin make a move.

However, nothing happened. Lin Yunyong was finally relieved.

“Hehe.” Alexin was completely unaware and showed a bright smile, “My luck has always been very good!”

Lin Yunyong, who was originally a bit helpless, was unexpectedly infected by Alexin’s bright smile. He also curled the corners of his mouth, revealing a faint smile, and stepped forward, patting his head. All the words of admonishment finally turned into a slightly doting remark: “You.”

“Alright, alright, I know you have good luck. Don’t do that next time, okay?” After thinking about it, he felt it was still not right, so he added.

Alexin showed him a very bright smile.

The way they were, whether those who knew or those who didn’t, would not think they were here for a drill, but rather like a couple on an outing. It was really out of place.

Lin Yunyong was still not entirely at ease. His background made him unable to trust many things, so he still stepped forward and carefully inspected everything.

After confirming that there were no traps here, Lin Yunyong opened the small iron box hidden under the scarecrow’s support. Inside, there were indeed supplies, and many nutrient pastes.

“Great! There’s nutrient paste!” Alexin said happily, looking at the items in the iron box in Lin Yunyong’s hand as if they were treasures.

This innocent and pure appearance made Lin Yunyong smile again. Lin Yunyong was also willing to give good things to others, so he gave all the high-grade nutrient pastes inside to Alexin.

Alexin had said before that he came from a very remote place and had never eaten high-grade nutrient paste. After coming to the capital, he also had no opportunity to buy one due to his limited funds.

Now that they had obtained several for free, Lin Yunyong was naturally willing to give all the high-grade nutrient pastes to Alexin.

Alexin’s eyes lit up. He held all the high-grade nutrient pastes Lin Yunyong gave him in his hands. But then he saw Lin Yunyong purse his lips, unwilling to accept the nutrient paste, and instead reached out his hand.

“No. You can’t give them all to me!”

“Let’s split them half and half!” Alexin said, then showed an apologetic expression, and quickly added, “No, it’s not right. There’s also Student Lin Yunliang and Student Zhang Qing’an.”

“Most of our supplies were on the starship. They probably don’t have nutrient paste either. We have to save some for them.”

“Give me two, just two.”

Although he desperately wanted them, he still remembered the classmates who had targeted him earlier. Alexin’s kindness made Lin Yunyong feel immensely touched. He reached out and stroked Alexin’s cheek, “It’s okay. All of mine are for you.”

“Besides, if those two don’t even have a little bit of wilderness survival skills, how can they become excellent soldiers?” Lin Yunyong said nicely.

He clearly forgot one thing at this moment. Those two classmates were at least comrades-in-arms in this drill. As a comrade-in-arms, Lin Yunyong should not have said such a thing.

At the same time, one of those two, who had not awakened his spiritual body, could only rely on his own strength to confront beasts.

The other, from a blood relation perspective, was his brother, and as an older brother, he should care about him, especially since this younger brother was also a notorious good-for-nothing? He should care even more, right?

Alexin looked a little confused. Was it like this? “But…”

“It’s fine, they will take care of themselves,” Lin Yunyong said. After putting all the contents of the iron box into his spatial button, he returned the iron box to its original place.

Then he continued, “The most important thing now is to take care of yourself.”

“Let’s find a safe place first.”