Lei Ting had a dream.
It was a hazy, blurred dream.
Actually, saying that felt a bit redundant, as dreams were inherently hazy. He thought he had simply gone home for a meal. Yet, the smell of disinfectant from the hospital in his dream remained vivid. *I’m never eating leftover sautéed wild mushrooms from the fridge again,* he thought. *It’s too easy to end up seeing little people rowing boats across the ceiling.*
When he woke, he pulled back the curtain to see the cold, silent void of deep space through the porthole.
Soft, pale yellow curtains hung around the bed. Combined with the warm-toned lighting, they provided the injured boy with a strange sense of warmth.
Lei Ting turned his head to watch the night sky. The rhythmic *beep—beep—beep—* of the life-sign monitor echoed on both sides of the fabric.
A moment later, a hand pulled back the curtain, which was decorated with small rabbits.
Lei Ting didn't need to look back to know who it was. He didn't waste the energy to turn around, simply greeting her in a soft voice: "Hello, Instructor."
"You're awake?" Instructor Kingsley let out a short laugh and sat by the bed. "Do you know? I’ve worked for the Academy for forty years and taken in countless students, but you are the most ridiculous one yet."
*Forty years...*
Lei Ting slowly turned his head to look at Kingsley. She was an exquisite, beautiful young woman with a face that looked no older than twenty, possessing long, silver-white hair and matching silver eyes.
"You look twenty at most," he said honestly.
Kingsley laughed. She didn't delve into that topic, instead shifting the conversation. "You almost killed someone, you know?"
Lei Ting didn't answer whether he knew or not. He stared blankly for a moment before asking quietly, "Who... were they?"
"People from a certain Legion. I can't tell you the specifics," Kingsley said. "They eliminated the star pirates who attacked us..."
"The star pirates actually came?"
"Yes, but that’s not the point." Kingsley sighed. "The point is, they aren't the enemy."
This made Lei Ting chuckle.
"Not the enemy, and yet here I am, lying in this bed?" the youth asked mildly. "They were going to attack me and my classmates, Teacher."
Kingsley seemed to feel a twinge of guilt at his words. "They considered it a mere exercise," she said. "But I have already applied for disciplinary action against those responsible. They will compensate you."
Lei Ting said nothing more. He could even understand where those people got the confidence to harm Academy candidates: the Academy admitted fifty to seventy thousand students from various star systems every year. Under normal circumstances, it was difficult to ensure the safety of every single one.
Moreover, the biggest issue was that they were in deep space.
The term 'Deep Space' was no joke. It was a place where the reach of the law was non-existent, far from any civilization. If a ship didn't enter a guided warp mode to jump to the nearest star gate, it would take three thousand one hundred and sixty-eight Earth years just to fly at full speed to the nearest planet.
In an environment where only the interstellar network connected everything, those with martial power held absolute authority.
Casualties on a ship due to various reasons weren't rare accidents. Those people were likely long accustomed to using violence to settle everything. If things could be talked out, they’d let the medics save the person; if not, the person died, and it was just a matter of a death quota and a sum of money.
"My classmates... are they alright?" Lei Ting didn't dwell on the other issues, asking this instead.
Kingsley, who seemed to be lost in thought, snapped back and smiled at the question. "They're fine. Do you want to see them?"
Lei Ting was stunned. "Can this ward fit over ninety people?"
Kingsley was also stunned. "You weren't just talking about the few sitting next to you?"
"..." A look of profound confusion appeared on Lei Ting's face. "Are the other people in the cabin not my classmates?"
"Ah, yes, of course they are... uh..." Kingsley’s expression turned strange. "...But why do you care about them? You don't even know them."
"It's only natural to care about the people around you." The black-haired youth lying on the bed nodded calmly. "Though, looking at it now, it seems I’m the one who needs more care."
His words made Kingsley stare at him for a long time. Then, as if remembering something, she sighed.
"With a personality like yours, why did you apply for a military academy?" she asked, then shook her head. "Fine, you don't have to answer that. Every young person comes here for different reasons... The Principal and the psychologists are the ones who should ask you that, not me."
"Rest well. Your injuries have healed, but your body is still too weak. Once your Awakening Period officially passes, you can leave the Medical Department."
Lei Ting blinked with feigned confusion, watching her back as she walked through the warm yellow curtains. In the artificial gravity environment, the curtains hung as smoothly as they would on a planet.
A moment later, Kingsley, who had reached the door, suddenly spoke: "Raytine."
"Present," Lei Ting responded instinctively.
"You are the only Double S-rank in nearly three hundred years. As long as you keep going, you have a great future ahead of you."
Kingsley clicked off the external optical computer terminal mounted on her ear and said hoarsely, "Remember what you said today... never forget the reason you held in your heart when you spoke those words. Never."
Lei Ting 'watched' her through the curtain. She opened the door, stepped out, and closed it—all without using her hands, controlled entirely by her optical computer. There was no such thing as a doorknob on that door; in a high-security military zone, everything was managed by the authorization system.
He stared blankly for a while, glanced at a gift bag the instructor had left on the bedside table at some point, and turned back to look at the desolate, silent infinity of deep space outside the window.
"Of course," he whispered.
Of course he wouldn't forget the reason he said those things.
Even if those words, at first listen, sounded so hypocritical they were hard to stomach.
...
After Instructor Kingsley stepped out, the indicator light on her external optical computer flashed with a *beep*, automatically resuming the previously interrupted conversation.
A slightly mechanical voice came from her earpiece: [Administrator Communication: Instructor Kingsley, you disconnected?]
"Yes," Kingsley admitted. She knew that denial solved nothing here.
[Submit the reason for your behavior.] the other party said.
"He knew my optical computer was recording the whole time. Understand? This kind of person cannot be compared to the B-rank and C-rank kids we usually deal with. People with high mental strength are more mature than their peers even before awakening, let alone now." Kingsley sighed, walking toward the end of the corridor.
[Administrator Communication: You mean you needed to gain his trust?]
"Exactly. Only then could I use my ability to read his emotions. His mental strength level is higher than mine; if I activated my ability rashly, there was a high possibility of being countered."
[Please submit the results.]
"He doesn't harbor negative feelings toward the Academy, it's just... er, he has a slight doubt about the security capabilities here." Kingsley’s lip twitched. "I’m telling you, you really need to crack down on those treacherous ingrates this time... Our only Double S-rank is doubting the security of a military academy!"
[Suggestion recorded. Will be discussed in this weekend's Administrator meeting. Issue Priority: 42. Submitter Name: Elin Kingsley.]
"Hey?!" Kingsley was stunned. "Why did you submit it already, brothers and sisters?!!"
[Question is meaningless. Refusing to answer.]
[Administrator Communication: The kid's ability assessment is out. It should be the transformation and manipulation of calcium. It fits the previous 'Material-type' hypothesis. It's basically a specialized heavy-attack type against most carbon-based lifeforms. Furthermore, calcium can promote hemostasis, aid in wound recovery, and reset broken bones.]
[Administrator Communication: Is that so? Then his ability's specialization likely stems from the injuries he sustained at the time.]
[Administrator Communication: Concur. However, if he hadn't been injured, would his ability have been even stronger?]
The communication channel suddenly went silent. A second later, the mechanical AI voice spoke again: [Calculation complete. The probability of this hypothesis being true is 78.620%.]
"..." Kingsley took a deep breath, clearly hearing the sound of her own heart breaking.
"Next time—I mean next time—if we ever encounter such a talent again in our lifetimes," she said with difficulty, "even if they're only S-rank, we must dispatch a dedicated ship and security personnel to pick them up. If there's no one available, send the teachers. If there's no ship, just strip the Principal's ship for parts."
[Administrator Communication: Hey?!]
[Administrator Communication: Oh, that matter... Proposal passed. I’ll open up the authorization for my personal ship hangar now.]
"Even though it's harder to tell you administrators apart when you talk all at once than anything else, there really is only one administrator who shows up the moment ships are mentioned." Kingsley gritted her teeth. "What do you plan to do about this? My student was beaten like that, and it even affected his future ability development—I’m telling you, I’m not letting this go until it’s handled properly!"
...
*Crackle.*
Having grown tired of the scenery outside the window, Lei Ting opened the gift bag.
He didn't use his hands; instead, a silver-white needle, shining with a brilliant luster, suddenly shot out from inside the bag.
A moment later, the needle flattened out, slowly rotating to slice open the gift bag. It transformed into a form like flowing silver liquid, carrying a slender data card that looked like a USB drive as it drifted out quietly.
Lei Ting reached out with the hand that wasn't connected to an IV tube. He watched as the gorgeously reflective silver substance and the data card flew into his hand. With a *shing!*, it instantly transformed into an 8x8x8cm cube with sharp edges.
He looked at it, let it float in mid-air, then picked up the data card and plugged it into the data-reading port of his external optical computer.
The optical computer's screen expanded once more. This time, a pop-up appeared first:
[Disconnected from Star-Net. Connecting to 'The Sun' Local Area Network.]
[Authorization successful. Identity confirmed: First-year Freshman [Lei Ting (Raytine)] - Male Alpha. Omega and Beta exclusive forum interfaces have been blocked.]
[Welcome, Alpha Student [Lei Ting]! Would you like to join the Alpha Student Exclusive Forum? Rest assured, there are no snitches in the forum; no teaching or management staff are allowed!]
Lei Ting: "...?"
Lei Ting: "..."
On the hospital bed, the black-haired youth's expression gradually became quite peculiar.
***
