Settled

Xu Lingqu wasn't the only one vying for the commander's position.

At this very moment, Su Li stood in the principal's office. The academy's old-timers who held important positions had all finally shown up. Usually, they'd stop by for a quick cup of tea and leave, so getting all of them to sit down at the same table to discuss business was no small feat.

Su Li let her gaze sweep over them. Their full attendance didn't surprise her in the least—because she was the reason they were here.

"I'm resigning." Su Li had sent her ten-thousand-character resignation letter to everyone's personal terminals. Her superior at the Military Department hadn't received it, because Principal Feng Hui had urgently intercepted it and called this meeting.

No one knew the inner workings of Moye Military Academy better than these people. If Su Li left, Kai Ang, Instructor Chen, and the newly arrived Instructor Guan would all follow her out the door.

Most of them had come to Moye with the mindset of coasting until retirement. They didn't care one bit about the academy's development, but they certainly didn't want to see it collapse outright.

Feng Hui looked at the resolute vice-principal before him and rubbed his brow. He wasn't a military man by background—originally a professor of planetary environmental science at a comprehensive university, he'd been transferred to serve as principal of Moye, one of the six major military academies, purely because the Military Department wanted to use him to spite the institution.

What could an utter outsider possibly do to turn Moye around? Fortunately, this female subordinate of his was genuinely devoted to the academy. She'd shouldered most of the work, and Moye had even begun showing signs of improvement.

"Vice-Principal Su, if there are any difficulties, you can raise them first," an old man at the long table spoke up. "There's no need to jump straight to resignation."

Once he'd broken the ice, the others chimed in one after another.

"That's right, that's right."

"Vice-Principal Su, you've worked so hard to bring Moye back from the brink. Why leave?"

"Without you these past few years, Moye would have been completely ruined."

Su Li's face betrayed no emotion, but her mind replayed last year's military academy league—three crushing defeats, and the way these very people had demanded accountability from her and Kai Ang.

They conveniently ignored that the biggest failure last year lay with Principal Feng Hui, who sat across from her now, having personally installed his useless son as Chief Commander.

If she didn't flip this table first, the same disaster would be repeated this year.

"Fine, I won't resign." Su Li's voice was flat. "I'd be glad to keep serving Moye. But this year's league Chief Commander—I'm the one who decides."

The moment those words left her mouth, the old men who'd been smoothing things over suddenly went quiet, glancing nervously at Principal Feng Hui. Last year, they'd been his willing accomplices, letting his son Feng Bu take the Chief Commander position—with results everyone had witnessed.

Feng Hui let out a sigh. He knew exactly what kind of stock his son was. But Feng Bu had convinced himself he was destined to rival Longyuan's Gu Changting, and as a father, he naturally wanted to fight for his son's sake wherever he could.

But this year...

"Who do you have in mind—Liu Zheng or Shen Shouli?" Feng Hui asked. If it was either of them, Feng Bu probably wouldn't make a scene. Their Psychic Power Levels spoke for themselves, and Feng Hui would happily enjoy some peace.

"Neither." Su Li pulled up a holographic projection of Xu Lingqu's trial period performance data, displaying her strengths in stark clarity. She deliberately left out Doctor Li's physical assessment of the girl.

After Instructor Chen had reported the special physique to her, Su Li had decided to keep the matter under wraps. The five of them who knew would keep it to themselves—whether to reveal it would depend on Xu Lingqu's own wishes.

"She ranked first in this trial period," Su Li continued. "Her abilities are more than sufficient, and she commands genuine authority among the new students. For a detailed account of her command and coordination skills, see Kai Ang's report on the underground labyrinth exercise. I'm appointing her as Chief Commander."

The objections came as quickly as she'd expected.

"But her Psychic Power Level is only B-rank."

"No academy in the league has ever fielded a B-rank as commander. Why should Moye be the first to make a fool of itself?"

"With General Shen's grandson on the roster, putting her up there isn't appropriate."

Su Li cut them off. "It makes sense to restrict mech pilots by Psychic Power Level. But why should command be shackled by it? She has the capability, so the position belongs to her."

Feng Hui tapped the table. "Vice-Principal Su, perhaps you should think it over?" If this female student were chosen, Feng Bu would undoubtedly throw a fit, and no one would get a moment's peace.

"Either she's Commander, or I walk. You decide." Su Li had no patience left for debating with these people. Arguing with fools was like playing a lute to a cow—pointless. She watched their squabbling with cold detachment for several hours, until finally the old men, eager to head home, decided to settle it with a vote.

Watching the final tally come in with one more vote in favor, Su Li allowed herself a quiet breath of relief. She hadn't truly wanted to leave Moye. In other words, it was only a Moye without future or hope that drove people to flee.

With the matter finally settled, the old men scattered like startled birds. The office fell into a sudden calm and spaciousness. Feng Hui studied his female subordinate and sighed.

"You've gone this far for her. Can she really give you the result you want?" It was plain to see now that Su Li had staged this whole scene just to secure Xu Lingqu's position as Chief Commander. Feng Hui glanced over the student's file and saw nothing particularly extraordinary.

"Her being Chief Commander is the result I want." Su Li gathered her things, gave a slight bow, and left the office.

Su Li hadn't personally witnessed Xu Lingqu's full performance during the trial period, but she trusted Kai Ang's and Instructor Chen's judgment completely.

"You can start drafting the hundred-person roster for this year's military academy league." Su Li sent the message to Kai Ang and received a reply almost instantly.

Kai Ang shot up from his bed the moment he got Su Li's message. "Yes, my esteemed Vice-Principal! Consider it done. I'm cutting my vacation short right now—I'll drag Chen Ai back to the academy at once!"

In his eyes, with Xu Lingqu secured, Moye was basically a lock for the top eight this year. But confirming her as Chief Commander was far from an easy task.

Su Li could be headstrong at times, but she was always this reliable and trustworthy in matters like this. Come to think of it, she'd studied command herself back in the day.

Kai Ang gleefully started pestering Instructor Chen to cut his vacation short and return to campus with him. Surely he wouldn't get scolded this time—after all, Instructor Chen was the one who'd rated Xu Lingqu most highly.

Meanwhile, the object of all this confidence sat in the Moye training room, staring at the door that had been deliberately sabotaged to lock shut and the handful of people clearly looking for trouble gathered around her. She found it all rather amusing.

The story of the princess and the pea hadn't been adapted in this interstellar era, but school bullying was alive and well, exactly the same as ever.