No Third Person Will Ever Know

Psychic power activation and testing were mandatory prerequisites for selection into interstellar military academies. In fact, in the current climate where the Empire and the Federation stood opposed, with the entire population mobilized for war, nearly everyone underwent psychic power activation and testing.

But those who truly qualified to become cadets, to become mech pilots, were as rare as phoenix feathers across the entire interstellar expanse.

Two hundred years ago, when mech research first emerged in the public eye, the essential piloting condition that came with it—human psychic power—also entered everyone's awareness.

To enter a mech, one's psychic power level had to be at least B. Piloting a basic mech required level A, and the more advanced mechs could only be piloted by those with an S-level psychic power.

Fifty years ago, the Empire annually gathered all sixteen-year-olds nationwide for centralized psychic power activation and testing. Most people fell into the C and D grades. B grade was the entry threshold for non-mech specialties at the military academies, while entering the mech division required a psychic power level of at least A.

The original owner of this body had never undergone psychic power activation or testing. When she was sixteen, she had been living alone at the Zhuyun Frontier, a sickly thing in frail health. The staff hadn't pressed her to take the test.

No one expected anything from the test results of a sickly orphan girl.

After all, based on past experience, those with high psychic power levels rarely had poor physical constitutions, and they always excelled in certain fields. It was worth noting that many capable ordinary people tested at low psychic power levels, but due to the rigid requirements of the star mechs—the primary combat weapons of the interstellar era—they were turned away from the military academies.

Xu Lingqu still needed to undergo psychic power testing and activation.

This drove Xu Youwen, who had received his mother's orders, to the brink of exasperation. Cursing inwardly that Xu Lingqu was like some wild barbarian who hadn't even done psychic power activation and testing, he contacted a friend to borrow an instrument and brought it home specifically to test her.

She'd probably come out at C or D grade anyway, and squeezing her into Moye Military Academy would require thinking up some other angle. The more Xu Youwen thought about it, the more troublesome it seemed. He tossed the instrument to Gina and retreated to his study to work overtime.

Once fully assembled, the instrument looked like a telephone booth, its silver-white metal shimmering with flowing light, inlaid with what appeared to be glass-like transparent panels.

Madam Gina sent the two service robots out and said to Xu Lingqu, "Miss Lingqu, please."

Xu Lingqu didn't hesitate. She pulled open the handle and stepped inside.

The moment the door closed, her visual perception was abruptly stripped away. The artificial intelligence's voice sounded in her ears: "Psychic power activation and testing initiated—"

Immediately after, an immense pressure rapidly compressed her body from all sides, nearly suffocating her.

At that moment, her soul was torn back and forth by invisible hands, and a violent gale raged through her mind, wreaking havoc everywhere.

The scorched earth of the apocalypse gradually manifested before her eyes. The screams of humans devoured by mutant beasts echoed in her ears. The air was thick with the stench of death and despair.

The apocalypse world slowly reconstructed itself in her mind. She stood on a desolate street, gripping a longsword in her right hand, still wearing that "Law Enforcer" uniform. Not far away, a small mutant beast was closing in on a little girl weeping wretchedly. The girl tried to cling to the "mother" beside her, but the mother remained indifferent to her child's pleas.

Xu Lingqu didn't hesitate. She fired four shots from the gun in her left hand at the mutant beast, stopping its advance toward the little girl, and closed in quickly. When the bullets ran out, she placed herself in front of the girl. Just as she raised her sword with her right hand, the girl's "mother" suddenly lunged forward and snatched the longsword away.

The little girl let out a shriek. Without the longsword to block it, the mutant beast's spikes pierced straight through Xu Lingqu's body, and the corrosive acid coating them continued to burn her flesh. But she didn't make a sound. She merely drew a dagger from her waist, as if this were routine, and drove it viciously into the weak spot on the beast's head, listening to its harsh screech in her ear as it struggled for a moment before quickly losing its life.

Having dealt with the mutant beast, Xu Lingqu didn't hesitate. She threw the dagger, pinning the girl's "mother" who had stolen her sword. To the girl, the infected human before her eyes was still the mother she trusted and relied upon most.

Infected humans possessed hallucinogenic abilities, causing those closest to them to perceive them as still normal.

But in Xu Lingqu's eyes, under normal perception, their forms were grotesque, no different from zombies.

"Don't kill my mom!" The little girl tried to grab Xu Lingqu's leg, but was kicked aside with moderate force. Retrieving her longsword, Xu Lingqu beheaded the infected human without hesitation.

Behind her, the little girl broke down, cursing her: "You law enforcers are a bunch of heartless beasts! You've killed so many humans—you'll burn in hell eighteen levels deep!"

Law enforcers possessed the strength to fight mutant beasts. Every day they left the base to explore the outside and bring back supplies. But sometimes, the supplies they brought back were contaminated by mutant beasts. Consuming or using them would turn people into infected humans—it was unavoidable.

In a sense, infected humans were also created by the law enforcers, even though their original intent was to save people. What made it worse was that infected humans would emit signals to mutant beasts, attracting them, so infected humans had to be eliminated...

In the base, only law enforcers held the authority to kill.

That was why the families of the infected despised them.

Xu Lingqu had heard these words so often her ears were practically callused. She felt nothing, and instinctively reached to pull out a tool to report the situation to the central tower—only to find her hands empty.

The scene before her twisted once more, collapsed, and plunged into darkness again. A spot of light flickered in her mind, first transforming into a soaring dragon, then into a perfect, massive mech radiating a cold, moon-white glow.

The giant mech knelt on one knee, extending its hand toward Xu Lingqu, like a subject devoutly paying homage to a new king.

The moment she touched it, the entire world went dark once more. When she opened her eyes again, she was still inside the testing instrument. Everything had been an illusion brought on by psychic power awakening and testing. Sweat beaded on Xu Lingqu's forehead, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

The apocalypse scenes had been too real, the mech vision too dreamlike, leaving her momentarily disoriented in the real world.

Once her trembling had mostly subsided, Xu Lingqu pushed open the door of the testing instrument. She was about to check her final grade when she saw Madam Gina standing nearby, her expression grave as she operated a smart terminal.

It was clearly something urgent, so Xu Lingqu cooperatively stayed quiet. By the time Madam Gina rose and turned to look at her, Xu Lingqu had already finished disassembling the instrument.

"Miss Lingqu..." Madam Gina's expression grew even more severe.

Xu Lingqu instinctively assumed she'd broken the instrument and was about to inspect it when Madam Gina transmitted a test report to her smart terminal.

"Your psychic power instrument automatically tested you twice... The first time returned nothing. The second time—" Her brow furrowed deeply. "It was SS-grade..."

It was an unprecedented psychic power level. Previously, only S grade existed, and after one instrument improvement, it could measure S+ and S−.

The first test likely came up empty because even the instrument was "stunned." Double S—the entire interstellar era had never heard of such a thing.

Thinking of the giant mech in her mind just now, Xu Lingqu pressed her lips together. A level like this appearing now wasn't good news for her. This body was still frail and sickly.

If the Military Department learned of this grade, they would inevitably launch a series of investigations. If they discovered anything amiss about her, she could very well become a lab specimen in this era, studied and dissected.

She was, after all, a ghost from the apocalyptic age.

Even if she weren't locked in a laboratory, an SS-level psychic power was not something everyone would rejoice over. Everyone admired geniuses—but once a genius couldn't be made to serve one's own interests, they became an enemy.

And Xu Lingqu had no intention of "submitting" to anyone.

"I hacked into the Military Department's psychic power statistics system just now and deleted your report," Madam Gina said coolly.

"You hacked into the Military Department's system?" Xu Lingqu was genuinely surprised. She had assumed Madam Gina was merely a capable assistant working for Xu Chengbi, but she hadn't expected her to be this capable—she was practically omnipotent.

Madam Gina looked at Xu Lingqu before her, her expression complex.

"Will you report this to Admiral Xu Chengbi?" Xu Lingqu asked softly.

Madam Gina said nothing.

Seeing her reaction, Xu Lingqu formed an idea in her mind.

"You could have kept this from me entirely, done what needed to be done, and reported it directly to Admiral Xu Chengbi. That would have saved you a lot of trouble. But you chose to tell me instead. That means there's still room for negotiation between us about whether this information reaches a third person."

Xu Lingqu couldn't be entirely certain what Madam Gina was thinking. She was gambling completely. If Xu Chengbi learned of this, she would fall completely into a passive position.

The thought of killing the Madam Gina before her flashed through her mind, only to be quickly dismissed. If not for Gina, the Military Department would probably already be on its way to find Xu Lingqu.

Besides, dealing with the aftermath of a murder would be even more troublesome. If it could be resolved through another means, that was naturally best.

Madam Gina stood in place, looking at the young woman before her. The little finger of her right hand twitched involuntarily. The faint hesitation in her heart was caught by Xu Lingqu.

She truly didn't want to report this to Xu Chengbi. First of all, she knew his personality—once he learned of this, Xu Lingqu would likely never leave Xu Mansion again.

But for this sickly young woman she'd only known a few days, her pity wasn't enough to justify that hesitation.

More than that, over the years she had discovered that what Admiral Xu actually did had drifted further and further from what she had hoped he would do.

This made her begin to doubt—was it correct to serve Xu Chengbi? Did everything she did under his orders truly align with her original intentions?

"I don't know why you tested at SS-grade psychic power... but I do know what would happen to you if this got out." Madam Gina spoke slowly. "If keeping silent means one fewer person gets hurt, then I'll keep my mouth shut."

After saying this, she felt a weight lift from her heart. This was, in truth, a betrayal of Xu Chengbi—yet she felt a sense of relief at finally doing something she didn't have to go against her conscience to do.

"When I'm capable enough to climb high enough, I'll repay you with everything I have." For now, Xu Lingqu could only dangle a promise in front of Madam Gina.

From Gina's response, she could sense the woman's inner conflict. She was a person with independent thought and ability—not a mechanical "death soldier" under Admiral Xu Chengbi's command.

"I look forward to that day." Madam Gina smiled. She knew perfectly well that Xu Lingqu's words were nothing but empty promises. The things she wanted to see happen could only be achieved by an Empire admiral, or someone of even higher authority.

Could Xu Lingqu become an Empire admiral? Her body was so weak... even getting through this stint at the military academy would be a struggle. But then again, who could say? The SS-grade psychic power test result was something Madam Gina had witnessed with her own eyes. Maybe she really could reach that position?

But that would probably be decades from now.

Regardless of what the future held, Gina knew one thing clearly—she didn't regret what she'd done today.