Not the Only One Who Knows How to Be Disgusting

Xu Lingqu had asked Su Li whether those eight words were absolutely necessary. She wanted to know if there was something shorter—Longyuan, for instance, got by with just four.

Su Li nodded solemnly. It had to be this exact phrase. No changes allowed.

This was the motto Caesar Uriphis had personally written for Moye and the Galaxy Admiral when Moye Military Academy was founded.

In the early days of the Empire, the Galaxy Admiral and Caesar had "rebelled" from where the Empire's three star systems now stood, taking Liuming and Chiren with them.

The two of them had practically turned half the galaxy upside down before the current layout of Empire and Federation—one on each side—came to be.

Back then, every battle the Galaxy Admiral fought was a victory. The four words "unmatched and undefeated" were truly earned by him, and applying them to Moye was Caesar's own expectation for the academy the Admiral had founded.

Senior Colonel Ren, sitting in the commentator's booth, was moved by the sight. "Moye feels different this year."

Professor Zhuang nodded. Last year he'd sat at the same commentary desk, and watching Moye's chief commander stammer out those words with such timidity had nearly made him furious.

The opening ceremony officially ended, and the two commentators began moving the program along. Next up was the draw for the first round of one-on-one matches in the three qualifying rounds—tense and exciting.

Before tens of thousands of live spectators and billions watching the Sky Network livestream, the Federation's inspector general drew half the lots on their side. Once that was done, the remaining pool was drawn by Lieutenant General Jia Deli.

More than eight hundred Empire military cadets waited in silence. Soon, their opponents began to materialize in the air.

After about four pairs, Xu Lingqu looked up and saw the name Moye appear.

First match of the three qualifying rounds, 1v1: Empire Moye vs Empire Shaji.

The barrage of comments immediately buzzed with excitement:

【Teacher, Shaji really came to slaughter chickens this time】

【Holy crap, I'm a Shaji grad, how'd we get so lucky this time? We used to always draw Longyuan or Dolanston】

【Has the map come out yet? Feels like a three-hour speedrun】

【Honestly, Moye's about to get hammered. Shaji always goes beast mode in their first match—Lianda, Longyuan, and Dolanston have all gotten thrashed by first-match Shaji】

【Of course. Everyone knows first-match Shaji and later Shaji are two different academies...】

【Can you guys stop with the jinxing? Our little Shaji gets stronger against strong opponents, but against weak ones, who knows...】

...

The match map still had to be drawn by the two chief commanders in person. Xu Lingqu and Guan Chuanjun followed the staff to the machine for drawing the map.

Guan Chuanjun flashed what he thought was a charming smile at Xu Lingqu. "Your first match isn't commanded by you, so I won't bother being gentle—I'm going to hit Moye hard."

Xu Lingqu pressed the button to draw the map, then looked up at Guan Chuanjun.

"I see why Shen Shouli hates you so much."

Guan Chuanjun's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"

"You actually like him, don't you?" Xu Lingqu wore a slightly mocking expression. "That's why you're so fixated on everything about him. You can't let go of anyone who appears beside him—you just want to get his attention..."

Guan Chuanjun felt his stomach churn with disgust. For the first time, he gave Xu Lingqu a rather ferocious glare. She wasn't afraid of him at all and calmly stared back.

"Can you not be so disgusting?"

Xu Lingqu sneered. "Now you know how disgusting it is when someone babbles nonsense."

Guan Chuanjun: "..."

At that moment, the map they had drawn appeared on the big screen.

An unremarkable wilderness map, with fairly standard weaponry—just ordinary firearms, armored vehicles, machine guns, mortars. No mechs or heavy equipment, no new black tech from the Military Department.

A battle that truly tested mobile combat and command skills, and one where major upsets were unlikely.

【Shaji vs Moye on this map is so boring】

【Calling it now: tomorrow Shaji steamrolls Moye. Nothing worth watching—I'm heading to another stream】

【But there aren't really any strong teams left in this bracket. The Sky Network must have rigged the draw again】

【Go watch Dolanston vs Federation Xili, it's pure domination】

【No way, I'm watching Cimei vs Du'e. They got a high-end map like the space transport line—the Cimei girls' specialty. You'd be a fool to miss it】

...

Guan Chuanjun had originally wanted to tease Xu Lingqu—ask if she'd go on a date with him after Shaji beat Moye—but those two sentences from her had completely killed that thought before it could surface.

He watched Xu Lingqu walk off with a flourish and narrowed his eyes. Once he actually won, he could go make that request to her face then.

Feng Bu was waiting in Moye's lounge for the details of his one commanded match. When he saw the map, he actually breathed a sigh of relief. He'd studied this map before—at least he wouldn't get lost in complex desert terrain again. There was a ready-made battle formation he could use directly.

The only downside was that Xu Lingqu had drawn Shaji. Feng Bu gritted his teeth secretly. Shaji was known to be in top form at the start of the league, and if he remembered correctly, that Guan Chuanjun was the biological grandson of General Wan, with S-level psychic power to boot.

He figured he had almost no chance of beating Shaji. Xu Lingqu had done this on purpose—their agreement that Feng Bu would hand over command if he won could never be fulfilled.

Feng Bu secretly shot Xu Lingqu a dark glare. Even so, he couldn't lose too embarrassingly. The match wasn't until tomorrow, so now he had to properly exercise his authority as commander.

"Instructor Kai Ang, mobilize everyone. I want to hold a pre-battle meeting," Feng Bu said, standing up. He knew nobody would listen if he spoke directly, so he started ordering Kai Ang around instead.

Kai Ang genuinely wanted to slap him across the face. Only his teacher's ethics held him back. He thought Instructor Chen's method of settling scores after the fact was quite effective—once this kid graduated, he'd have to stuff Feng Bu in a sack and beat him senseless.

The group reluctantly gathered at Instructor Kai Ang's summons. Feng Bu stood at an elevated spot, enjoying the feeling of looking down at everyone.

His gaze wandered around until it finally landed on Xu Lingqu, leaning against the wall. His face instantly darkened. "Xu Lingqu, if you don't want to listen, please leave."

Feng Bu clenched his fist. He had to establish his authority over this generation of Moye participants first. In his mind, he needed to make an example of someone—and singling out Xu Lingqu was pure personal grievance.

He still held a grudge over those words: "Then go die."

Everyone's gaze converged on Xu Lingqu all at once. She said nothing, simply turned and walked away with ease.

The moment she left, Shen Shouli, Xu Xiqin, Liu Zheng, Jin, and the usually invisible Tang Muwen followed immediately. Wang Qihu and Guan Zhongli began to stir restlessly as well.

Only Feng Bu, his face black as thunder, slamming the door shut and standing in front of it, managed to stop the restless crowd from leaving.

It was all Xu Lingqu's fault. He'd even drafted how he was going to communicate with Shen Shouli and Liu Zheng—and they just followed her out like that!

TL Note:

unmatched and undefeated (所向披靡) = a four-character idiom meaning invincible and triumphant in every battle.

jinxing (毒奶) = Chinese internet slang for someone making predictions that backfire; used here as "stop jinxing."