Empire Chief Commander Candidate
The first group of the second qualification match wrapped up without a hitch.
On the big screen, the latest rankings and qualification points were displayed:
1. Moye 3+58
2. Cimei Academy 3+47
3. Lianda 3+36
4. Situke 0+33
5. Zhicheng 3+25
6. Dongwen 0+11
Based on the top-eight cutoff from previous rounds, Moye had essentially clinched a spot in the quarterfinals.
In the latter half of the broadcast, Lieutenant Quan and Teacher Chang took over from Professor Zhuang and Senior Colonel Ren, who usually stuck to professional analysis.
The two commentators couldn't have been more different from their predecessors—they were all hype, and by the end of the match, viewers were practically brainwashed by their repeated chants of "Xu Lingqu is amazing!"
They did praise others when warranted, but it always felt like ten compliments for Xu Lingqu to every one for anyone else.
The moment Xu Lingqu pulled off her first encirclement-to-ambush, the two nearly jumped onto the desk in celebration. Both the live audience and stream viewers were stunned.
[Lieutenant Quan and Teacher Chang are basically Xu Lingqu's biggest fans...]
[I think those two have put a spell on my brain—it's just echoing "Xu Lingqu is amazing" over and over~]
[They might as well break into a song called "My Beloved Lingqu" right now]
[I'm their fellow fan too, no question. If you watched this match and still doubt Xu Lingqu's commanding skills, there's nothing more to say]
[All those know-it-alls who called her a lone wolf before, where are you now? Come out]
[Wait, is this really our Moye? With this score, we're competing for first and aiming for third...]
[Let's give some love to our Cimei too—they played the role of Commander Xu's elite shock troops today]
...
After frantic gestures from the director, the two finally settled down and got serious.
Lieutenant Quan: "Honestly, after the league team matches, we have the Empire vs. Federation all-star battle, right? I think Xu Lingqu should seriously be considered for Chief Commander. She handled Cimei and Situke effortlessly in this match."
Teacher Chang quickly caught on and nodded: "You can see from this match that her coordination is superb, and her attack style is thrilling—bold and sweeping. Sending Ye Yu straight at Fortress Point 4 was nerve-wracking to watch. If she had more troops, I bet we'd see even more spectacular plays. So that position really should consider Xu Lingqu."
The director facepalmed—they'd asked these two to chat a bit more, and they'd gone straight to campaigning for Xu Lingqu's Chief Commander position.
[Exactly right. In past all-star battles, Empire schools fought individually, never listening to each other. This year Xu Lingqu burst onto the scene with true commander's presence]
[Ugh, isn't it just beating Lianda? And they didn't even wipe them out. And now they're hyping "best commander" again]
[Can someone call me a prophet? Last time I said that as long as Xu Lingqu kept winning, jealous haters would claim Lianda, Dolanston, Longyuan, and Qingjun all lost their credibility. Ask them—Xu Lingqu's win doesn't count as a win]
[These haters are just secret fans, honestly. At the start, when they were surrounded on three sides, I was just hoping they wouldn't lose badly to Lianda. But the haters were expecting Xu Lingqu to lead Moye to completely annihilate Lianda]
[I tracked down that guy who was jumping around earlier to his Sky Network profile—he's a command student at some school, posted about his dream to be best commander in the league. What's wrong? Did Xu Lingqu ruin your dream? Come back when you can actually make the league]
...
In the VIP seats below, Jinfang Taibai, who had watched the entire match, shook his head at Gu Tingzhi: "Last time our best commander was you, right? You're screwed this time—Xu Lingqu's even more cunning than you."
Gu Tingzhi smiled enigmatically. Xu Lingqu's command in this match was indeed intriguing; he planned to review it thoroughly back home. As he left, he said to Jinfang Taibai, "Our match is in three days. Want to team up this time?"
"I'm not teaming up with you!" Jinfang Taibai fumed, still sore about the money he'd lost.
"Whatever, Du'e is really controlled by Li Muyi anyway."
"Get lost!"
After this match, calls for Xu Lingqu to be named best commander grew louder on Sky Network. The pre-league post titled "This Year's Best Commander: I Bet on Xu Lingqu" was bumped to ten thousand replies, with public sentiment shifting from meme-ing to serious discussion.
And Xu Lingqu herself was still seated in her competition pod.
Everyone else had already gotten out, but her pod's timer kept it sealed until it automatically opened. The Moye students thought their commander was about to do something grand, but she was just leaning against the side of the pod, fast asleep.
Meanwhile, the interstellar media, bulldozing in with twice as much equipment as before, were forced to slam on the brakes as Moye students blocked their path. But they still strained forward, refusing to give up.
Her previous interview video had gone viral—everyone was commenting on how the sharp-tongued, high-IQ commander clashed with a clueless, brainless reporter. One Sky Network post even analyzed in detail how many useless questions that reporter had asked, saying if they were Xu Lingqu, they'd have rolled their eyes and walked off. The fact that she'd endured so many questions was a testament to her patience.
This time, the media swarm claimed they wanted to "redeem themselves" in front of the commander, but really they were chasing clicks and views, all revved up to interview her. But she was leaning in her pod, fast asleep.
"Have you all even watched the match? Do you know she hasn't slept a wink in 48 hours?" Yun Yao, who had come to talk to Xu Lingqu, was furious at the sight. "You! Yeah, you in the green shirt! Look at your face—those are sleep marks! You're a match reporter who didn't even watch the match, went off to nap, and now you have the nerve to come for an interview?"
Yun Yao successfully drew away the swarm of reporters like moths to a flame, and Xu Xiqin quickly carried Xu Lingqu on her back toward the medical bay.
She was probably just exhausted, but they'd get her checked out to be safe. Liu Zheng, Jin, and Shen Shouli trailed closely behind.
As they entered the Moye rest area corridor, Xu Lingqu, who had been lying motionless on Xu Xiqin's back, suddenly stirred.
"Alright, alright. Put me down."
She'd looked so dead to the world that even the end of the world wouldn't wake her, yet now she was suddenly awake?
Xu Xiqin blinked, lowering her sister to the ground. Jin waved a hand: "See, I told you. The commander was just faking sleep to get away from those annoying reporters."
Liu Zheng nodded. Having been roommates with Xu Lingqu during the trial period, she knew Xu Lingqu stayed alert even in sleep.
Except that one time in the cafeteria—Xu Lingqu had probably been too exhausted then to have just dozed off like that.