Not Planning to Give It Up

Shen Shouli had impeccable timing when it came to messaging her.

Liu Ming watched the holographic image of a white rose from a garden that Shen Shouli sent to Xu Lingqu's neural interface, his heart pounding with trepidation. What was this kid trying to do?

What did it mean? Was he hinting that he had noticed something off about her back in the garden? Xu Lingqu instinctively tried to connect the two things, but quickly dismissed her own speculation.

Judging from all the evidence so far, Shen Shouli didn't seem like the type with enough depth to use this as a threat. If he wanted to "call her out," he'd had plenty of chances during the trial period. Going all the way home just to stage a scene in the garden would be too idiotic. It was probably just him wanting to show off his gardening skills.

Still, she couldn't afford to brush him off so carelessly anymore. Xu Lingqu replied with four words: "They look lovely."

General Shen had just stepped into his meticulously tended garden today when he spotted his grandson, who normally never gave these flowers and plants a second glance, skulking suspiciously in front of his prized pure-white Whisper.

"...Shen Shouli, if you dare touch a single one of my flowers today, I'll transfer you out of that school myself!"

Two people had already come to check on her, yet Xu Xiqin, usually the loudest of them all, had been strangely quiet. Something stirred in Xu Lingqu's heart, and she took the initiative to message her: "How's everything at home?"

Xu Chengbi had gone all out, and Madam Catherine was no pushover either. The Xu residence was probably in turmoil right now, but that was something she had to face on her own.

Xu Xiqin's reply came quickly, accompanied by a crying puppy emoji and a single line: "I want to get back to Moye soon."

So nothing major, just annoying. Xu Lingqu relaxed and headed out as planned, training as usual.

The facilities on campus were far better than that run-down place from the trial period. There was a dedicated physical training room stocked with all kinds of professional equipment for students, no need to go outside and run aimlessly anymore.

With these machines, Xu Lingqu could calculate her physical limits with much greater precision. By the end of the last day of training, she could clearly feel herself right at the edge of her limits—not a hair over, not a hair under. It was the perfect state of self-improvement, just as Doctor Li had described.

At the school infirmary, Doctor Li still hadn't returned, but at least there was finally a doctor other than robots.

Doctor Ou Liefu had just gotten back from the military's special training program that Moye's second-years and third-years had been sent on. It was as relaxed as always, and thinking that there wouldn't be much to handle back at Moye, he was just about to play a new song from an interstellar star when the half-dead Xu Lingqu walked in.

"Who did this to you?" Ou Liefu was taken aback. Wasn't that lunatic Kai Ang still on leave?

"Myself." Xu Lingqu stood perfectly familiar in front of the Xilek beam coagulation machine, refusing to move.

How the hell did she so precisely zero in on the most expensive treatment device in here? Ou Liefu's mouth twitched, but since she was already standing there unable to walk and looked pretty rough, he let it go. Might as well use it, expensive as it was—it basically sat idle at Moye anyway.

"Thanks."

Ou Liefu watched her climb in and lie down with practiced ease, when his personal neural interface suddenly buzzed with a message from his vacationing colleague, Li Haisha.

"You're at Moye now, right? When you've got nothing to do, a girl named Xu Lingqu will come give you something to do. Record her body data as much as you can, but keep your mouth shut. I'll be back soon."

Ou Liefu glanced at the identity info registered in the treatment system. The girl who navigated the infirmary like she owned the place really was named Xu Lingqu, a first-year. Li Haisha might as well have grown eyes in this infirmary.

As a result, he didn't dare slack off. He stared at Xu Lingqu for a long time, even through the machine, but after the treatment ended, he couldn't figure out a thing.

Xu Lingqu walked out feeling refreshed. The first treatment shouldn't be subject to data comparison like Doctor Li used to do, so she could afford to come back regularly once her leave ended.

Ou Liefu watched her walk away, weirdly feeling like Li Haisha had played him.

Today, Moye's second-years and third-years returned to campus. The military academy league was imminent. Although it was hosted by the Sky Network, it was ultimately a battle between the Empire's and the Federation's younger generation—a key metric the Military Department took seriously, organizing joint training for all major academies before the competition each year.

But there were gaps between these training sessions. Moye had lost so embarrassingly last time that some higher-ups in the Military Department already had it out for them. This time, the training felt as pressure-free and difficult as abandoning them outright—even less intense than the new student trial period.

Some Moye second-years and third-years felt humiliated by this, but others wore it as a badge of honor, believing they'd chosen the right school in Moye—the best military academy for coasting through.

Xu Lingqu planned to head back after dinner. At the cafeteria, the crowd had swelled noticeably, and she could clearly overhear the conversation at the next table while she ate.

"Heard about it? Dolanston's got a new commander this year—an S-level psychic."

"An S-level psychic going into command?"

"Tsk, you think the commanders at the other top five academies are as useless as ours? Every year, the chief commander they report for the competition is their best student. Not like us... last year there was Feng Bu..."

"But didn't a few pretty strong new students come this year? Shen Shouli's here, and there's that S-level psychic sharpshooting champion Liu Zheng. Feng Bu can't just hog the position forever, can he?"

"Shen Shouli didn't declare for the command track, I think. Ah, what's that saying—a mighty dragon can't crush a local snake? Anyway, Feng Bu's got a principal for a father. It's not beyond him to offend General Shen just for his own son, hahaha."

"Hey, speaking of new students—didn't you say you had a junior named Sun who asked you about the trial period before? How'd it go? Did he make it in this year?"

"Don't even mention it... bad luck. Ares sent a team to Star System No. 2, and the deputy governor was taken away on the spot while still giving a speech. His case was serious—something to do with the construction of a planet in that system. Word is he killed a bunch of people. They'd been investigating him for a while, and with solid evidence, they just closed the net. His downfall took a whole bunch of people in Star System No. 2 down with him. My junior got it worst—I heard his family's been given special attention..."

Xu Lingqu finished eating and stood up to leave.

The Ares they'd just mentioned was probably some organization serving the royal family, and it wasn't hard to guess that Jin was behind the "special attention" Sun Liao's family was getting.

She owed him a favor, but what Xu Lingqu cared more about was the "useless commander from last year" they'd mentioned—Feng Bu, the one with a principal for a father.

The mecha soldier slot she could give up, since her psychic power couldn't be exposed, but she had no intention of giving up the commander's position.