Cimei Academy Rides to the Rescue

The moment she sensed Lianda's intentions, Yun Yao swiftly convened a meeting at Cimei Academy.

"We're short on time, so let me lay out the pros and cons clearly," Yun Yao said. "If we leave now, we can still grab a few fort points ahead of everyone else; hold them, and our final score won't be bad. If we choose to reinforce Moye, casualties are inevitable—that's unavoidable—and what we gain after rescuing them is far less certain."

The girls of Cimei murmured among themselves, all torn.

It was then that Ye Yu spoke up. "I support reinforcing Moye now."

She looked at her classmates. "When the lips are gone, the teeth feel the cold. I don't think we can truly stand alone."

Yun Yao shot her an approving look and added, "Personally, I also support reinforcing Moye—and not just because of this match. It's because most of us will be soldiers in the future. Today, Moye is our opponent in the league, but many of them will be our comrades on a real battlefield someday. We help each other, no reason needed."

The atmosphere at Cimei had always been democratic, welcoming dissenting voices. Even if Yun Yao was the commander and Ye Yu an S-class solo operative, this wasn't a one-woman show. Every student at Cimei weighed the matter quickly and made her own choice.

In the end, without a single exception, every one of them raised her hand. "I support reinforcing Moye now!"

Ye Yu climbed into a heavy combat vehicle and raced ahead, charging straight into Lianda's rear lines as the vanguard of the relief force.

The moment she attacked, Moye quickly registered the arrival of reinforcements—and that it was Cimei's Ye Yu.

Xu Lingqu's eyes flickered. She began issuing orders. "Shift the flank's firepower toward Zhicheng and Dongwen."

Cimei's main force arrived shortly after, joining Ye Yu in a ferocious assault on the Federation's rear positions.

Guan Zhongli was puzzled. Shouldn't they be concentrating fire to sandwich Lianda front and back and crush them?

But Lianda wasn't stupid enough to just stand there and let the two sides blast them from both ends. Tansen Meilin made the snap decision to split his forces in two, slipping into Zhicheng's and Dongwen's positions respectively, hoping to use them to turn the tables and envelop Cimei in turn.

Xu Lingqu, meanwhile, had Moye shift tactics and hit Zhicheng and Dongwen with everything the flank had. Seeing this, Zhicheng and Dongwen panicked at the prospect of Cimei swinging around behind them—turning them into the ones caught in a pincer—and promptly began scattering in other directions.

Tansen Meilin, reading the feedback from Yetai Yangquan and Jie Luo, slammed his fist hard against the side window of his vehicle. Those two cowards couldn't handle the big stage! When they were cornering Moye, they'd wanted Lianda to do all the heavy lifting while they took token potshots and reaped the benefits later. And now, even in this moment, they were so spineless they chose to retreat!

But there was nothing he could do about it now. The two halves of Lianda's forces would have to retreat along with them and regroup later. Tansen Meilin gritted his teeth and swallowed the bitter loss.

He had assumed that Situke had already slipped away, and that Cimei would read the situation and abandon Moye to their fate—they were even quite far from Moye! Who would have thought they'd come charging back to reinforce them!

The spectacular rescue battle played out on the arena canopy and the livestream, and both the venue and the chat exploded.

Senior Colonel Ren slammed the table and bellowed, "Excellent!"

Professor Zhuang also spoke with excitement. "Cimei's reinforcement came like rain in a drought, resolving Moye's crisis in no time. And Moye's command was equally brilliant—they made Dongwen and Zhicheng abandon any thought of continuing the siege, and split Lianda apart, forcing them to retreat as well!"

This was what they wanted to see! This was the kind of scene that belonged on this battlefield. Otherwise, three Federation academies ganging up on Moye alone while the two Empire academies stood by indifferent—what kind of spectacle would that be?

The comments were flooding with relief, endlessly repeating:

[You see that? You see that, Situke? Cimei was that far away and still came to reinforce Moye. All of you who made excuses for them earlier—you look like total clowns!]

[The three Federation academies aren't fully united either. The moment Cimei showed up, they tucked tail and ran. If Situke hadn't left, the Empire's three would have had the Federation's three completely surrounded!]

[This is exactly the kind of scene I watch the military academy league for. Call me radical if you want, I don't care—with soldiers like this, our future has hope.]

[Cimei's culture is so great. I got cut back in the day just because I wasn't tall enough. Such a shame.]

[Xu Lingqu's adaptability is so fast. Cimei supported quickly, and Moye matched the support perfectly. Wonderful.]

...

In the VIP seats of the venue, Gu Tingzhi spread his hand toward Jinfang Taibai. "You lost. Pay up."

Jinfang Taibai pursed his lips. They had made a bet on whether Cimei would turn back to help Moye. Having witnessed the ruthlessness and iron-handedness of those women from Cimei, Jinfang Taibai had instinctively assumed they wouldn't lift a finger for Moye.

Gu Tingzhi, however, had been steadfast in his certainty that Cimei would help Moye.

And so he lost ten thousand star coins to Gu Tingzhi.

"The smart brain transfer's already done—what are you holding your hand out for? Annoying." Jinfang Taibai grumbled as he sent the money. "How were you so sure Cimei would help Moye?"

Gu Tingzhi glanced at him and shook his head. "You can write the most profound code and crack the most complex systems, but you still can't read people. Li Muyi's social training for you was useless."

Jinfang Taibai, the genius hacker and S-class analyst, moved like an animal in everything he did—and it was precisely that which kept his greatest power and value from being fully unleashed.

"Quit putting on airs," Jinfang Taibai shot back. He truly detested the theatrical way Gu Tingzhi carried himself.

Inside the venue, Doctor Li was checking on the condition of several eliminated Moye students. She had seen the battle just now, and she felt a deep sense of relief. She patted each discouraged, eliminated Moye student on the shoulder to offer encouragement.

Ou Liefu had just returned from the Sky Network's medical center. He had gone as Moye's representative to spot-check the nutrients in the competition pods provided by Sky Network.

"Back? How is it?" So far, all the competition pod nutrients had checked out normal. Doctor Li had inspected them one by one.

Ou Liefu scratched his head. "Everything's normal."

Doctor Li nodded and looked up at the canopy to continue enjoying the match.

Ou Liefu hesitated, glancing at her as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he stayed silent.