I Won't Change

Truth be told, she'd half fallen for their provocation—that fight had cost her extra injuries. Xu Lingqu silently acknowledged this to herself.

She hadn't been sure how good Instructor Zhang's marksmanship was, but she should have trusted her own instincts.

Biting back the sharp pain radiating from her abdomen, Xu Lingqu studied the instructors. They were all so tightly wound they hadn't noticed her at all. It struck her that they were being rather rigid.

Instructor Zhang had told them to hold position and not move, so that's exactly what they did—not a single one of them had the field awareness to watch their own backs.

Qualified soldiers, but unqualified instructors.

Vice Principal Su really got the short end of the stick with these people, didn't he? Xu Lingqu thought as she raised her rifle and swept fire across their exposed backs in rapid succession. The bullets screamed through the air, and only then did they realize they'd been hit from behind. Their carefully chosen hiding positions became a liability as they instinctively flinched forward, and the stalemate shattered in an instant.

Shen Shouli's group opened fire in tandem, and Liu Zheng's heavy sniper rounds tore through the night sky without mercy, homing straight for them.

With Instructor Zhang gone, they truly fell apart like scattered sand. Caught in a crossfire, they panicked, though they recovered quickly enough to mount a desperate counterattack. In the chaos, they managed to trade blows and take down Xu Lingqu and Jin, who'd exposed himself while adjusting his position.

And just like that, every instructor sent to purge the assessment grounds was eliminated. Some of them were still in shock; others had fully grasped what had happened, lying flat on the ground, utterly defeated.

This was humiliating. Absolutely humiliating. Whether it was their early carelessness or their later inflexibility, it was painfully obvious that without Instructor Zhang they scattered like grains of sand, toyed with by five students.

If Longyuan or Dolanston students had outperformed them, that would've been normal. But this was Moye—these were Moye's freshmen.

One instructor, who wore a smile that set him apart from the despairing faces around him, patted a colleague who looked ready to die of shame. "Hey, marksmanship scores aren't something all of us know. We mostly just run physical training drills. And you—you basically ran the supply depot. How were you supposed to know these five monsters could pull this off? Come on, don't take it so hard. Everyone slips up now and then."

At least he had a good attitude.

Back at the assessment assembly point, Instructor Zhang, who'd left ahead of them, had already comforted the five who'd been eliminated first, then the fourteen who came out after, and he was explaining his nose to Kai Ang. "Traded a couple of moves with Cadet Xu."

Kai Ang winced at the sight. Then Xu Lingqu and her team came down.

Of the five, only Liu Zheng, Shen Shouli, and Xu Xiqin had survived. They immediately assigned the twenty-point bounties on their own heads to Guan Zhongli, Lin Xiao, and Wang Qihu—the ones who'd contributed the most—and also handed out the faction points they'd promised to the remaining students from the ordinary group.

Vice Principal Su Li's expression grew darker by the second. Seeing this, Kai Ang shot Instructor Chen a look. Instructor Chen sighed and pulled Su Li aside.

"The 'outstanding new recruits' the Military Department sent us this time—only Instructor Little Zhang and Instructor Little Song actually came from Shaji and Du'e, respectively. The rest are mediocre at best. We never let them fully embed into the training period anyway. But what Kai Ang told you wasn't a lie—they really are more useful than our own third-years. At least they have discipline and organization," Instructor Chen said, trying to salvage the situation.

Su Li just waved a hand, his face cold. "I knew the Military Department wouldn't give us anything good."

It was a fact that most of the Military Department looked down on Moye. The only reason they'd sent anyone at all was because Su Li had worked for months to make it happen. Otherwise, Moye would have had to scrape by with third-years again.

"Instructor Little Zhang isn't bad, though," Instructor Chen offered, ever the fair judge.

Meanwhile, in the student ranks, most of the cadets were cheering loudly, celebrating the fact that five freshmen had truly defied authority and turned the tables, eliminating every single instructor.

Kai Ang stood off to the side. The final scoreboard for the entire trial period had just come out—it determined who stayed and who left, who would become a mech soldier, and it marked the end of this hellish training.

It had ended far, far earlier than expected. But in that time, some of the young, energetic students had already formed bonds.

It was deep into the night now. A bonfire blazed as everyone gathered around, talking about the final assessment. The weight they'd been carrying had lifted, and the atmosphere was far more lively and warm than it had been by the river that day. Someone even dared to joke with Kai Ang: "Instructor, you can't flood us with river water this time!"

Kai Ang gave a fake cold laugh. "Worried about a mudslide instead?"

The students froze.

Kai Ang laughed and waved a hand. "Just kidding."

Today's outcome had surprised him, but in hindsight, it made sense. Sometimes he thought this defied all logic and averages, but the moment his mind drifted to Xu Lingqu, it somehow became perfectly reasonable.

Kai Ang looked at the scoreboard. Counting the hundred-point instructor kills Su Li had promised, Xu Lingqu had killed five tonight, Liu Zheng five, and Xu Xiqin, Jin, and Shen Shouli had each gotten an even three. Tang Muwen had one.

The top five on the overall leaderboard hadn't changed much. Xu Lingqu had secured first place. But a problem came with it.

As the top-ranked cadet, she was entitled to enter the ranks of mech soldiers. But her psychic power level was B-rank—nowhere near the threshold. She couldn't even meet the entry requirement.

What was he supposed to do about that? Kai Ang found himself genuinely torn for the first time. After mulling it over, he decided he'd have to discuss it with the other two.

Xu Lingqu, meanwhile, headed straight for the makeshift medical tent without a second thought, ran into Doctor Li, and voluntarily showed her injuries.

"Who did this to you?"

Xu Lingqu pointed outside. "Instructor Zhang, the one who just left."

"We'll do a quick patch-up here; then you'll go straight into the Xilake coagulation device back at base," Doctor Li said, frowning as she examined the massive bruise across her waist. For it to be this bad on the last day of the final assessment... she'd have to give Xu Lingqu the good, expensive treatment. Once Doctor Li was done, Xu Lingqu pushed the door open and stepped out. The initial frenzy of celebration had died down, and the crowd had quieted considerably. Tang Muwen was waiting for her alone by the door.

She hadn't told Xu Xiqin or the others she was hurt—they thought she'd just gotten tired from the day and gone to recover.

"Feeling better?" Tang Muwen asked.

Xu Lingqu nodded. At that moment, someone called her name.

It was that lackey who always followed Sun Liao around.

"Xu Lingqu, you're actually a really selfish person," he suddenly attacked, his voice loud, as if he'd been rehearsing this for a long time, so it came out smooth. "In today's assessment, you decided who lived and who died. The forty-odd of us were nothing but cannon fodder. The truth is, you had it out for us, and you used the goodwill you built back in the underground labyrinth to get what you wanted—killing us through someone else's hands."

He grew more agitated as he spoke. "Xu Lingqu, you're a terrible person. All that talk about your command talent and working together for everyone's benefit—it was all an act. Now your true colors are showing. You're just purging anyone who disagrees with you, crushing anyone you don't like. And you people! You people who trust her—aren't you afraid that one day she'll decide she doesn't like you and you'll end up just like us?"

When he finished, the entire gathering went silent for a moment—his voice was loud enough, and his nerve impressive.

But Xu Lingqu just smiled. She waved a hand at the others who were starting to stand up, signaling that she could handle it herself.

"Yes, I'm exactly that kind of person. You know why it had to be you forty who died? Because the rules of survival have always been set by the strongest. Unfortunately for you, here, I'm the strongest. What I say goes." The trial period was over, and she was in a good mood—she didn't mind wasting a few words on these 'rats' and 'cockroaches.' "You've provided a fine example that crossing me never ends well. From now on, I suspect that'll serve as a warning to quite a few people."

Moral condemnation had stopped working on her eight hundred years ago.

She tilted her head slightly, her eyes carrying a hint of mockery. "That's right, I'm just that bad. And I never intend to change."