Turning the Tables

“I don’t think anyone could have called this before the match,” Professor Zhuang said, genuinely stunned.

Space warfare had always been Lianda’s forte, and Tansen Meilin’s specialty. The fact that the opening had been a deadlock was already a pleasant surprise for many.

But now, Lianda’s command ship and medium-class vessels had been destroyed one after another, leaving only a ragtag remnant fleeing through the arena.

“I’ve always believed it’s wise to keep an eye on Moye Military Academy,” Senior Colonel Ren said, echoing Professor Zhuang’s surprise. “But even I didn’t expect them to reach this point.”

“Still, the Lianda students remaining here are the cream of the crop when it comes to starship piloting. There are still forty minutes before the speed map channel opens. Moye needs to eliminate them and secure the win within that window. If they actually let the record holder, Tansen Meilin, into the speed map... that could get really problematic.”

She was genuinely concerned about Moye’s chances of victory.

Professor Zhuang nodded in agreement. “If this were an ordinary match, Moye would already have the win locked down. But this map just happens to be a hybrid—the speed race mechanic is practically keeping Lianda on life support. I hope Moye can cut through the knot quickly and take the match within the limited time.”

【Space battles are just so much more satisfying to watch. I was getting tired of all those ground combat maps before—this is what we should be seeing】

【The spaceship battle in the qualifiers wasn’t much to look at, but this one is. Moye’s redhead and Shen Shouli teaming up to push Lianda’s Lipu into their own blades was just too cool, ahhhh】

【I originally thought Moye was doomed in a starship battle www since most of them are freshmen】

【That’s right, Xu Lingqu is a freshman, isn’t she? She’s been holed up in the command ship all day without moving. She probably never formally studied starship piloting? I’ve finally found one of her only two weaknesses. But with her intelligence, she’ll go from novice to expert in two months】

【Not necessarily, friend. Xu Lingqu not piloting doesn’t mean she can’t. She just had confidence she could win this one without lifting a finger】

【Don’t speak too soon—the speed map hasn’t opened yet. If Tansen Meilin actually survives until then, it’s all over】

...

“We could split off some personnel, or have one of the Qiwei-class ships join the fight, and corner the rest of them in a dead zone for total elimination.”

Inside Moye’s command ship, Guan Zhongli shared his plan with Xu Lingqu. “We can finish the match before the speed map even opens—a complete wipe.”

“I know.” Xu Lingqu lowered her gaze, removed her commander’s cap, and leisurely pulled off her white gloves. “But there’s no need. Chasing them around like this is fun enough.”

Out in the arena, Moye’s starships and Lianda’s were playing a game of cat and mouse.

With their command ship destroyed and no place to resupply ammunition, Lianda’s combat vessels had fired off every last round, making them little different from scout ships—just bigger and more cumbersome.

They had no means to fight back, forced to flee passively, doing their best to shield Tansen Meilin’s starship from being shot down by Moye’s combat vessels.

But their efforts were essentially in vain, because Xu Lingqu had ordered her forces not to touch Tansen Meilin. Before the match, they’d unanimously agreed to wipe out Lianda completely to vent for the girls of Cimei.

Xu Lingqu had always lived by the principle that practice is the sole criterion for truth.

She wouldn’t engage in the war of words over whether Lianda had been wrong to treat Cimei that way. She would simply let Lianda’s people feel firsthand the weight of their own actions and judge for themselves whether they’d gone too far.

The way they’d once dragged out Cimei’s survivors, deliberately refusing to strike at Yun Yao in order to force a full wipe—Moye was doing the exact same thing to them now. It was only fair.

Tansen Meilin could feel the humiliation keenly.

When he made a piloting error and accidentally drifted into a Moye combat vessel’s firing range, only for that ship to deliberately turn away and target another Lianda vessel instead, he felt both relief and fury.

Was Xu Lingqu really that confident? Did she truly not fear that letting him escape now would backfire? Didn’t she know he was the record holder for the coming speed map?

Tansen Meilin gritted his teeth, continuing his desperate flight through the arena. Xu Lingqu really didn’t care about his strength—she didn’t even care he bore the name Merlin!

He had to survive into the speed map. From today on, he would make Xu Lingqu remember his name, remember his record.

The pattern of Moye’s cat-and-mouse—catch, release, catch again—was obvious to everyone.

They could all see what was happening, and Professor Zhuang and Senior Colonel Ren grew more worried the longer they watched.

“Moye seems to be deliberately dragging things out with Lianda’s survivors. There are only ten minutes left before the speed map opens... Lianda still has five starships fleeing, Tansen Meilin among them. They need to snap to it and eliminate him in the remaining ten minutes to avoid future trouble!” Professor Zhuang was growing anxious.

Senior Colonel Ren waved a hand to calm him down. “You can see that Moye is intentionally sparing Tansen Meilin. Even knowing his ship type and record, they still chose to do this, and now he’s activated stealth mode—Moye can’t catch him anymore. On the surface, this command looks like a lapse in judgment, but the last time we thought Xu Lingqu had a lapse, we ended up with egg on our faces. So I believe Xu Lingqu operates by her own logic; we just need to keep watching.”

“Xu Lingqu is basically avenging you all, isn’t she?” Jinfang Taibai said in a sour tone. “Must be nice.”

Cimei was truly Moye’s sister academy.

Yun Yao was beaming, and even Ye Yu, who rarely cracked a smile beside her, wore a rare grin.

The two of them had finally truly moved past the shadow of their last defeat.

“But what’s Xu Lingqu’s angle in not finishing off Tansen Meilin?” Hei Yingzhi was certain she had some scheme, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

Jia Xiangying had an idea. “Jinfang Taibai, can you see the record for the most dangerous flight course in our starship simulation room?”

Her pink pupils gleamed like transparent rose crystal.

“I suspect Xu Lingqu already broke this map’s record long ago. She’s just toying with Tansen Meilin now.”