The Imperial First Military Academy was a planet with a surface rich in artificial terrain.
Mountains, hills, forests, oceans, deserts, rocky outcrops... everything was there. Whether it was terrain suited for the people of Orion or alien environments they found inhospitable, this place had it all.
Those were the practice grounds where the students of the academy underwent adaptive training for different environments.
Of course, there was one type of terrain that did not exist here: the Abyss Rift.
It couldn't be helped; the planet wasn't particularly large to begin with. If a rift went even slightly too deep, it would crack right into the academy’s interior. If a few superpower training groups were tossed in there, they might accidentally shatter someone’s dormitory.
That simply wouldn't do.
The planet featured a perfectly circular depression, at the center of which sat a set of spiral interlocking gates for transport ships. After passing through several airtight gates, small short-distance shuttlecraft entered a hangar and docked. Once the students, transferred from the large public transport vessels, stepped onto the ground, they could see the unified registration area ahead.
Indeed, the moment Lei Ting stepped off the craft and looked up, he saw Enan Valen.
Valen was currently verifying his entry procedures for the academy headquarters. Hearing his name called, he instinctively turned around. "...Hm?" He spotted the surprised Lei Ting in the crowd and offered a slight smile.
As he spoke, the verification machine emitted a sharp *beep*, signaling that his paperwork had cleared. The people behind him urged him forward, so he could only smile and apologize to those around him before pointing to the optical computer at his ear.
[You’ve arrived,] Lei Ting saw the message pop up. [How have you been lately?]
[Not bad,] Lei Ting replied as he walked toward the student-only verification channel. [And you?]
[I’m alright. The company stuffed me into an inspection team... probably because they didn't want to waste my salary,] Valen complained.
[Inspection?]
[Yes, an inspection,] Valen said. [Because so many representatives from commercial companies gather here, in previous years, many companies that should have had no overlap ended up striking major deals here.]
[Understood,] Lei Ting replied.
After passing through security, he declined the guidance of an escort drone and walked quickly toward Valen, who was waiting not far away.
The handsome, black-haired man looked a bit more haggard than their last meeting; it seemed work at the headquarters was indeed taxing. Lei Ting’s gaze briefly swept over the other man’s shoulders—thinner now, yet still elegantly streamlined—before he offered a polite, appropriate smile. "Long time no see."
"Long time no see." Valen’s smile was incredibly gentle. He introduced Lei Ting to the team of subordinates following him: "This is... my friend, a second-year student in the academy’s Superpower Mecha Department, Lei Ting."
Lei Ting turned his gaze toward the group of interstellar white-collar workers and nodded a greeting. The employees seemed to have a vague inkling of his identity; their pupils shook as they bowed in flattered shock. "Hello, hello, hello..."
"...Don't be nervous," Lei Ting said, caught between laughter and tears. "I don't eat people."
Great. Once those words left his mouth, they seemed even more nervous.
Helpless, Lei Ting shook his head and activated his optical computer eyepiece. He looked at the detailed internal map of the academy, which marked restricted areas, and set his destination to his automatically assigned dormitory. He casually asked Valen, "Where are you all headed?"
"The management office in the commercial district. We have to register for the business opening," Valen said.
Lei Ting looked at him and raised an eyebrow: *Sent to plant the peach trees again?*
Valen met his gaze and curled his lip: *You bet.*
Then, under the supervisor’s helpless gaze, the black-haired youth nearly failed to suppress a laugh.
The group parted at a crossroad. Lei Ting went to the dormitory area—which, aside from the massive verticality of the terrain, was nearly identical to the one on the *Solaris*—to settle in. As he was heading out, he ran into an acquaintance.
"Luo Xi'an?" He looked at the youth coming down from the upper floor, surprised.
The boy, who had seemed somewhat frail over a year ago, showed no major change in appearance, yet a subtle sense of confidence now radiated from him.
While such a feeling was common everywhere in this school, it was a first for Luo Xi'an.
Of course, the moment he saw Lei Ting, that feeling vanished instantly, like a balloon that had finally been filled with a bit of hydrogen only to be pricked by a needle.
"It's you, Brother Lei," Luo Xi'an greeted him in a small voice. "What a coincidence."
"A coincidence indeed." Lei Ting nodded to him. Seeing that his presence seemed to be a blow to the boy's confidence, he bid him a friendly farewell, claiming he needed to check out his department's teaching grounds early, and made a quick exit.
Luo Xi'an silently watched his retreating back, his expression turning strange for a moment.
Then, he tightened his grip on a hand-strengthener ball and walked toward the public combat training grounds.
...
Starting from the second year, each department began to categorize its elite students—excluding the more average ones—into specialized small-class teaching.
The Superpower Mecha Department had three specialized tracks: Assault, Support, and Special Ops.
As the names suggested, Assault pilots were responsible for all-out head-on confrontations and attacking the enemy's vital points. The requirement for this track was "superpowers with powerful offensive effects."
Support pilots were responsible for field medicine, target protection, mecha maintenance, and resource transport. The requirement was "superpowers with defensive, healing, or buffing effects."
Special Ops pilots were responsible for everything falling under "special operations." This type was extremely mysterious. The requirement was "superpowers with stealth, interference, induction, or transformation effects, or suitability for covert assassination missions."
Excellent. At a glance, Lei Ting could apply for all three.
Within the power of "Yang Xing," the external portion possessed absolute destructive force. Furthermore, he could accelerate wound recovery by manipulating the metallic components within the human body, and... through certain fine-tuned operations, if he wanted to kill someone secretly, it would be incredibly simple.
So simple, in fact, that he could make the victim's state appear so natural that even an autopsy wouldn't find a problem.
But sadly, reality was not a novel; he couldn't enroll in three specialized tracks at once.
After all, a person's time and energy were limited. In the past, there had been students like him who were suited for multiple branches, but none of them had successfully withstood the test of time. Eventually, they couldn't even withstand the academy—the school was afraid you'd drop dead from overwork if you tried to study three branches at once.
Lei Ting sighed for a moment, then, with a calm and gentle expression, signed up for the Assault branch, which suited him best.
Although this was exactly what everyone on the academy forums discussing this star student had expected, his arrival still made the registration teacher overjoyed. The teacher, face beaming, quickly processed the paperwork and shoved the specialized data pad for Assault students into his arms, moving so fast it was as if he feared Lei Ting might change his mind.
Nodding his thanks with a wry smile, Lei Ting followed the instructions to fold the data pad into a small gadget resembling a folding fan or a mechanical rectangular prism and tucked it into his pocket.
Then, he quickly climbed the stairs and walked across a suspended bridge sealed by a repulsion barrier toward the dedicated training grounds for the Assault branch, intending to familiarize himself with the place where he would be sweating for the next few years.
However, he soon received a message—it was from the "Principal." She informed him through "Pacific" that he didn't need to waste effort on other training grounds. Aside from regular classes, he would have his own exclusive training area, just like every student receiving the academy's focused cultivation.
In that case, he had nothing else to do today.
Lei Ting breathed a sigh of relief. After fighting for an entire internship period, he wanted to take a short break.
But if he were to rest, what should he do?
At the edge of the mechanical bridge, the black-haired youth relaxed slightly, gazing out at the vast internal space of the "Academy" that seemed to stretch beyond the horizon.
For some reason, in the gaps between those suspended bridges and steel classrooms... he always felt as if something was missing.
What was it?
He didn't know.
Perhaps it was just an illusion brought by "Metal Manipulation" after he had learned how to sense the uses of metal and acquired a vast amount of mechanical knowledge.
Lei Ting narrowed his eyes, looking at the brightly lit interior of the planet, toward the only aperture that was slightly dimmer.
Around that aperture were layers of turbine-like blade structures. The thinnest part was about fifty centimeters thick, while the thickest part, near the steel outer wall of the planet's interior, was nearly eleven kilometers.
A nested, layered structure... both his superpower and his scientific knowledge told him that it could be opened.
But... if it were opened, what would it be used for?
Lei Ting walked slowly, his gaze sweeping over the upperclassmen passing by occasionally, and then lingering among the incomparably massive, old-fashioned load-bearing frames within the planet.
A moment later, his gaze suddenly fixed. His brow furrowed as he stared at a giant pillar structure nearby.
That was...
"...A hydraulic pillar?" Lei Ting stared blankly at the structure, which looked perfectly suited for lifting or supporting something heavy, and murmured to himself.
"It just looks like a hydraulic pillar. This is a design from the era of the Third Total War; naturally, it wouldn't be something so primitive." Valen, who had approached him at some unknown point, spoke softly. "But the direction of your guess is correct... their function is indeed very similar to 'hydraulic lifting columns.'"
"..." Lei Ting blinked and turned his head to look at that handsome face.
Valen was currently looking up at those mechanical structures, his gaze scanning the fine scratches and scars within them.
As he looked up, the lines of his profile and jaw were clean and sharp. His neck arched at a beautiful curve, and the protrusion of his Adam's apple caused Lei Ting's gaze to flicker for a moment.
"Found it," he said.
Found what?
Lei Ting followed his line of sight and saw an old scar on a structure resembling a hydraulic pillar, as if it had been scraped by something sharp.
"It's said that before the students of this school graduate and leave, they all leave something behind," Valen said softly, staring dreamily at the scar. "Some leave signatures, some leave objects, some leave commendable articles, and some leave exclusive backdoors in 'Pacific's' virtual system..."
The first few were fine, but hearing the last one, Lei Ting’s eye twitched: *Can't you guys from the Information Engineering Department leave something good for once?*
"...And twenty-four years ago, before 'Star-Flow' left this place, he carved the word 'STAR-Flow' onto those load-bearing pumps of the planetary warships that could no longer be used."
Valen spoke softly.
"Actually, his original intention was just to curse some people, but because of this, he still received a major disciplinary action right before graduation. And in the disciplinary notice, that word was used for the first time to refer to the man himself."
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 螺旋咬齿大门 | spiral interlocking gates | The mechanical entrance to the academy planet. |
| 超能机甲系 | Superpower Mecha Department | The academic department Lei Ting belongs to. |
| 突击 | Assault | One of the three mecha specializations. |
| 支援 | Support | One of the three mecha specializations. |
| 特种 | Special Ops | One of the three mecha specializations. |
| 太平洋 | Pacific | The academy's AI or central computer system. |
| 星流 | Star-Flow | A legendary figure or title; a former student of the academy. |
| 第三次全面战争 | Third Total War | A historical conflict mentioned in the lore. |
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