First Jump Experience

The moment Instructor Chen finished speaking, the students erupted into restless murmurs, their unease palpable. Some, on the verge of breaking down, tried to reason with the instructors.

"You brought a warship just to give us one jump experience?"

"God, I'm already nauseous just thinking about it."

"What is this? Hazing the freshmen?"

Xu Lingqu didn't quite grasp the situation. Everyone around her was visibly anxious, and Xu Xiqin was nowhere to be found. She turned her head and found a pale face staring back at her.

In an era where laser eye surgery was easier than a blood draw, the girl still wore round-rimmed glasses, her delicate face etched with terror and unease.

Xu Lingqu's gaze lingered on her for a brief moment before she turned to leave. But the girl grabbed her sleeve.

"Your psychic power level must be really high, right? Is it S-rank?" the girl asked nervously.

Xu Lingqu hesitated, but didn't shake her off. "No, I'm only B-rank."

The girl's eyes widened in shock. "Then why are you so calm..."

Before she could finish, a loud boom shook the ship as it powered up. The massive spacecraft lifted off from Moye Military Academy's central plaza, carrying a group of bewildered freshmen straight into space.

At the academy's main gate, Xu Youwen, who hadn't left yet, stared in disbelief at his friend from the Yuheng base. "The madmen at Moye borrowed the Stalker-R3 from your base just for the training period?!"

His friend lit a cigarette and patted his shoulder. "We only found out today too. They called it a jump training exercise. Don't worry—no one's going to die."

Jump training? Xu Youwen's heart sank.

He remembered his first jump experience. He was a senior back then, having studied the theory for four years and mastered psychic power application. Even so, he'd felt unbearably awful, and he and his roommate had to support each other to avoid collapsing on the floor.

"These lunatics... How can I not worry..." Xu Youwen yanked off his cap in frustration. The Stalker-R3 was already out of sight.

His friend couldn't help but tease him. "You're such a sis-con. You know your sister's level—she's A+ in psychic power. Why worry so much? Come on, let's go grab a drink."

With a tug and a pull, he dragged Xu Youwen away from Moye's front gate.

Meanwhile, the Stalker-R3 had entered space.

Before most students could even adapt, Deputy Instructor Chen's voice echoed again.

He said only four words.

"Prepare for jump."

The students, who had still been hoping it was just a bluff, now felt their hearts plummet. The instructors meant business.

As soon as he spoke, the cabin began to flicker with yellow-green lights, and the entire ship started to tremble—the precursor to a jump.

The girl beside Xu Lingqu tightened her grip on her sleeve.

The whole ship seemed to plunge into an unknown dimension. The cabin was completely sealed, and the instructors hadn't provided any display screens showing the outside, heightening their fear of the unknown.

Xu Lingqu only felt a slight ringing in her ears, but around her, people were already beginning to gag and collapse to the floor.

The girl next to her was in agony, barely able to stand, using Xu Lingqu's support to stay upright.

The air in the space grew thick and viscous. Most people were clearly struggling to breathe.

Xu Lingqu, feeling perfectly fine, looked around in confusion. Her gaze happened to meet Shen Shouli's, who was standing to her right and slightly ahead.

Xu Lingqu, Shen Shouli: ...

Shen Shouli: "You..."

Suddenly, the earlier question from the girl flashed through her mind—about her psychic power level and why she was so calm.

Xu Lingqu finally understood. People with high psychic power didn't suffer the negative effects of interstellar jumps.

That explained why, while others were collapsing in droves, Shen Shouli was standing perfectly fine.

But she was supposedly B-rank, so standing there as if nothing was wrong was utterly unbelievable.

Without hesitation, Xu Lingqu put on a performance—feigning faintness and collapsing to the floor under Shen Shouli's scrutinizing gaze.

She deliberately chose a spot clear of others' vomit.

In the cockpit, the instructors were intently watching the monitors, evaluating the results of their first lesson.

"Shen Shouli, the grandson of General Shen," Instructor Kai Ang said, tapping his finger on the monitor showing Shen Shouli standing. "S+ psychic power. That's how it is."

This year, the best news for Moye Military Academy was that Shen Shouli had enrolled.

To think, admission officers from other military academies had practically camped out at the Shen family's doorstep. The entire Empire had its eyes on the S+ genius, wondering where he'd end up.

But back then, everyone assumed the general's grandson would definitely choose Longyuan, his grandfather's own academy, and everyone else was just hoping to grab a slim chance.

In the end, Shen Shouli chose Moye—the only academy that hadn't come courting him.

At the time, everyone was shocked, not understanding why he'd pick a declining academy to suffer for no reason.

Even now, Instructor Kai Ang himself didn't understand why Shen Shouli had thrown his lot in with Moye. But since he was here, why dwell on it?

Of the six military academies, Moye had snagged the only S+ psychic power recruit—the strongest freshman class in the past decade. Kai Ang sighed in admiration.

"And her, Liu Zheng, from the Fourth Galaxy. S-rank psychic power," Deputy Instructor Chen added, pointing to a girl with long black hair on the other side.

Kai Ang nodded. Liu Zheng was standing like a statue, unshakable. Her background was simple—growing up in the Fourth Galaxy was almost like growing up at the border, a child of hardship. Unlike the young ladies and gentlemen of the elite, she had no backing. Even though she was S-rank and likely to become a mech pilot sooner or later, in the future, she'd need connections to survive in the Military Department.

Moye's admission officers had done extensive homework on her and made many promises about her future to secure her enrollment.

Kai Ang privately believed these two would be the leaders of Moye's new generation of rising power.

This year also boasted many excellent A+ psychic freshmen. Deputy Instructor Chen pointed to Xu Xiqin, the girl with a golden high ponytail on the screen. "This is General Xu's daughter. Like father, like daughter."

Kai Ang nodded appreciatively, then, as if remembering something, asked, "I heard General Xu's other adopted daughter also enrolled? In the command track, with B-rank psychic power?"

Deputy Instructor Chen, who had familiarized himself with all the freshman files, pointed to a spot next to Shen Shouli. "She's on the floor..."

Kai Ang raised an eyebrow. "Both from the Xu family, but the gap is huge."

"She also applied for the command track, and her psychic power is only B-rank," Deputy Instructor Chen explained. "Plus, she's lived in Zhuyun frontier fortress for years. She's only been back for a couple of days, and there have been rumors about her poor health. Passing out is normal."

Kai Ang let out a wry laugh. "Bad health, and she comes to a military academy?"

Deputy Instructor Chen shook his head with a smile. "The Xu family's eldest son personally pulled strings in the military. It's on General Xu's authority. Nothing we can do."

Every year, generals and commanders would stuff their useless offspring into the academies.

Usually, Moye wasn't on that list, but given the current circumstances, Moye needed General Xu's support.

Kai Ang fell silent and finally looked away.

A mechanical voice announced, "Jump complete."

The jump had finally ended. In reality, only tens of seconds had passed, but to the students, the agony felt like an hour.

Xu Xiqin was still standing, but she was dizzy from the jump, though it subsided somewhat when it ended. Hearing people nearby mention that someone had fainted, a bad feeling crossed her mind.

It couldn't be Xu Lingqu.

Xu Xiqin walked toward the corner where a crowd had gathered, pushed through, and sure enough, there was Xu Lingqu, unconscious. She rushed forward to support her, then looked up at Shen Shouli, who was still standing nearby, and asked, "Why did my sister faint?"

Shen Shouli: ...

Xu Lingqu quickly came to before he could describe what had actually happened, "reviving" with a gentle stir. "I'm fine."

She patted Xu Xiqin's shoulder and stood up, once again meeting Shen Shouli's gaze for the first time since the garden at the Xu residence. She looked back at him with the same calm, unflinching expression.

Who said fainting couldn't have a delay and a wind-up?