The first lecture collapsed mid-way through its introductory ramblings. Lei Ting was urgently escorted away, while Teacher Li Fu remained composed at the front, soothing the bewildered crowd before resuming her lesson.
The subject of this class was *Galactic Conventional Tactical Command Training*. Li Fu also served as the lecturer for *Race Relations* and *Introduction to Long-Range Strikes*, though those were scheduled for the day after tomorrow and the day after that, respectively.
However, none of this concerned Lei Ting now. Escorted by a drone squad, he was descending slowly in an elevator located near the classroom.
Beyond the blast-proof glass—identical to that in his dormitory—the silver-white structural reinforcements of the walls seemed to repeat in an endless loop. Before long, however, a bright tunnel opening appeared before him.
The screen of his personal terminal lit up slightly, and the instructional message from 'Pacific' quietly surfaced: *Please proceed forward.*
A series of arrows appeared, and Lei Ting followed them. Only two of the anti-gravity service drones remained by his side; the others ascended with the elevator and departed.
The path wasn't particularly winding; after all, this was the interior of the colossal ship, the *Sun*. If the structure were too complex, it would be highly impractical.
Lei Ting’s terminal had been disabled here, but he didn't mind. He simply scanned his surroundings calmly within the permitted scope.
Based on his rapidly growing perception of metallic structures, he was approaching the central core of the *Sun*—the power bay that served as the foundation for most starship designs.
Indeed, the range he could sense through his super-ability was gradually expanding...
Ever since he had looked upon that steel Earth and a strange emotion had stirred in his heart, his ability—which should have already passed its awakening period—seemed to have entered a new stage.
Books on super-powered individuals called this the 'Development Phase.' The name was plain, but the effect was obvious. Power was restless within his body; he had only been able to manage it by quickly melting an alloy tabletop on a control console and recording the process to send to his instructor.
In less than five minutes, the instructor had arrived with a team, stating that the Principal wanted to see him.
This was not surprising.
It was common knowledge that a super-powered individual's mental strength and their level of ability development were independent of each other. While the former determined the ceiling of the latter, under the same conditions, it was the effect of the ability itself that determined the individual's importance.
If the 'weight' of the 'Calcium Manipulation' ability was a 1, then the baseline weight for 'Metal Manipulation' was at least 100. The two were simply incomparable.
The term 'metal' encompassed far too many substances.
So many that from the moment it manifested, every technological product within Lei Ting’s sensory range was no longer invulnerable.
Upon reaching his destination, Lei Ting was surprised to find that this wasn't the power bay, but a massive... hangar?
Under bright lights, hundreds of spacecraft of various sizes were stationed. High on one side was an opaque, semi-circular chamber emitting a faint blue-white glow, looking like some sort of docking command station...
But as he stared at it, a voice drifted from nearby: "That's my office."
"!" Lei Ting turned his head sharply—he hadn't sensed anyone there at all!
The voice came from atop a spacecraft. There stood a man and a woman dressed in minimalist white uniforms. The man was handsome with long, snow-white hair, sitting cross-legged with his eyes quietly closed. The woman, whose features were merely decent, had black hair and azure eyes. She stood beside the man, smiling at Lei Ting from a distance.
"Hello, young Lei. I am the Principal of this academy," she said with a smile. "You don't need to know my name; just knowing I'm the Principal is enough. I heard your ability isn't 'Calcium Manipulation'?"
"Hello, Principal. Indeed, it is not," Lei Ting nodded. "Do you need me to prove it?"
The Principal raised an eyebrow with interest and, in a flash, flickered from the top of the ship to stand right before Lei Ting.
Then, the white-haired man remaining atop the ship raised a hand. A pile of shipping containers in the corner of the hangar quietly drifted over and landed heavily on the ground.
"This portion I brought over is all metal from my personal stores," the Principal said, patting the wall of a container. She accidentally dented the alloy shell. "Ah..."
She paused for a moment, withdrew her hand as if nothing had happened, and said, "These are galactic standard medium-sized civilian containers. Each one is loaded with fifty tons of metallic materials. Can you sense the specific properties of the metals? Or can you only control them crudely?"
"..." Lei Ting didn't rush to answer. Instead, he tilted his head and looked at the Principal.
The Principal smiled.
"Come," she said. "Try to find the densest metal in here... then, take it out. Use your least hazardous method, and your most hazardous method."
"...???" Lei Ting was stunned. *Wait, ma'am, this is a hangar, isn't it? If you let me run wild like that and something goes wrong, I don't have the money to pay for it!*
"How can you prove that you are the Principal and that you have control over this place?" The black-haired youth narrowed his eyes slightly, making no move.
The Principal blinked, her expression seemingly becoming even more satisfied.
She then tapped the external terminal at her ear and said, "The kid certainly has a sense of caution."
After a soft *beep*, Lei Ting’s terminal was re-enabled. The next moment, a slightly mechanical, androgynous synthetic voice rang out: [User 399645100, welcome to the 'Pacific' Management Communication System. Current Permissions: Listen Only.]
Then, the mechanical voice added: [Administrator Communication: Not bad.]
"...?" Lei Ting was dazed.
[Administrator Communication: Don't panic, young student. At your request, we are here to prove the person in front of you is the Principal.]
[Administrator Communication: So, couldn't we have just let 'Pacific' provide proof? Why did we have to pull him into the channel?]
[Administrator Communication: You lot never talk about anything serious in the channel anyway...]
[Administrator Communication: Stop, stop, stop! Isn't this serious business right now?!]
[Administrator Communication: ? Please, just prove my identity first, thank you.]
[Administrator Communication: Seconded. But I want to vote nay.]
[Administrator Communication: Seconded.]
[Administrator Communication: Seconded.]
[Administrator Communication...]
Lei Ting saw a look of utter speechlessness on the Principal's face.
"...Uh," he whispered, "since you really are who you say you are, then I..."
"Please," the Principal said crossly. Then, as if realizing her tone was inappropriate and that she shouldn't take her frustrations out on a student, she softened her voice and added: "There are five containers here, but only two portions of the 'densest metal.' If you can extract them perfectly, I'll give them to you."
Lei Ting’s eyes lit up.
"One least hazardous method, and one most hazardous method, correct?" He confirmed the instruction seriously, like a nurse repeating a doctor's orders.
"Yes," the Principal smiled.
Lei Ting nodded and closed his eyes, abruptly expanding his mental strength to precisely cover the five targets.
He didn't see the slight change that crossed the Principal's expression at that moment.
*The densest...* The youth pondered the requirement. This wasn't difficult for him, because he had yet to encounter any substance with 'metallic' properties that he couldn't interfere with. To him, these five containers were five treasure chests that he could browse at will.
And the things inside the treasure chests were very close to him.
He could make active metals suppress their reactions with other substances, make inert metals rapidly undergo oxidation, and make hard metals soften into a mass of water drifting through the air...
These operations were as instinctive to him as breathing.
In fact, now, as soon as his mental strength touched a certain metal, he could vaguely sense what it 'liked to become most.' He suspected that if he studied more systematic knowledge, he would one day be able to determine the most suitable use for any metal he encountered without the need for testing or research.
The metal forming the containers, the metal composing the electronic locks, the metal cast into sealed canisters, the metal securing the small and medium boxes...
His mental strength wandered through the sea of metal. Finally, Lei Ting opened his eyes.
"Found it," he said.
Then, he looked at the first container from the left.
Driven by cautious and meticulous energy, a faint golden light—like the one on the ship the day he awakened—shone in his eyes once more.
Wisps of golden mist quietly emerged in the air covered by his mental strength. Within this mist, the completely sealed container silently opened its doors. Then, under the Principal's gaze, countless sealed canisters and boxes inside shifted positions automatically, making way for a single box hidden at the very bottom center.
Subsequently, the screws on that box unscrewed themselves, the lid moved aside, and silver-blue metallic particles with a starlight-like luster rose quietly. They suddenly accelerated, shooting toward Lei Ting like bullets.
Then, as the Principal's eyes grew brighter and brighter, they obediently converged, merging into one, and were finally shaped into a basketball-sized cube with sharp edges.
Lei Ting looked at the Principal.
"Do you know what metal this is?" the Principal asked.
Lei Ting shook his head. He hadn't seen much and truly didn't know the scientific name for this substance.
"Osmium," the Principal said. "It was once the densest metal on Ancient Earth, but its natural reserves were extremely small. However, in this vast starry sky, while it isn't everywhere, it isn't that rare either."
This, Lei Ting understood. Before his past life's memories were triggered, he had enjoyed reading popular science books about Ancient Earth.
"The ease of your actions has changed my mind..." the Principal mused. "Now, let's change the conditions. Use your most hazardous method to extract the hardest metal here."
"..." Lei Ting was silent for a moment, confirming once more: "...Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." The Principal's eyes were sparkling. "Also, have you eaten?"
"...Huh?" Lei Ting, who was about to get to work, was stunned.
"I mean, have you had a meal? Not a nutrient solution... a real meal," the Principal smiled. "If you haven't, once you're done with this, we'll go eat. After that, I have some arrangements for you."
***
