Stars See Me [Interstellar] | Chapter 62 | The Start of the Plot | Novela.app

For Lei Ting, his student life always passed with incredible speed. ...As did his internship periods. In short, the days trickled by one after another. During this time, he experienced much—attending lectures, training, and receiving gifts from various parties, including Angye, during the holidays. However, although he accepted those gifts, he never used a single one. After checking them several times to ensure they were safe, he simply dropped them off at the "Principal’s" "office" for "safekeeping." This left the "Principal" caught between laughter and tears every time, prompting her to remark that those people were truly lacking self-awareness if they thought they could corrupt him with material goods. To this, Lei Ting only responded with a smile and a greeting. He never got the impression that she was "dying." During these days, the "Principal" shared more stories with him. For instance, she told him how, during the era of the great exodus, any starship carrying "Hylin" and "Gomorrah" was destined to be locked onto by a devastating power. They could never have left normally, nor could they have left any earlier. The people on that ship had all signed consent forms before having their memories of the event erased to perform a play on the edge of life and death. Lei Ting found himself able to understand such a choice. In the following semester, Lei Ting finally found an opportunity to decline Lucas in person. Though the other man’s face turned slightly pale, he maintained his dignity as they thanked each other, and Lucas wished him happiness in his future personal life. Some time later, while passing a temporary brawl outside a training ground, Lei Ting was shocked to find Lucas there. He was working with Sandro and Susanna to pin down an unfamiliar individual, while Luo Xian... ...Wait, Luo Xian? Participating in a brawl? And his opponent was... Luo Mu?! Lei Ting’s pupils shook as he watched Luo Xian land a heavy punch on Luo Mu’s face, sending the latter flying back two or three meters. He realized that in these three years, they had all changed. If the Luo Xian from that original transport ship could see his current self, he would probably have to call himself "Big Brother." Lei Ting smiled with relief. Then, alongside some sentry drones and a few fourth-year students, he rushed in to restrain both sides, separating them to ensure no serious property damage occurred. As they stopped the fight, the expressions of Lei Ting and the fourth-years were all somewhat... paternal. To be fair, the combat power displayed by that group was almost "cute" to people like them, who had actually worked on the true frontlines of various Legion territories. Following that, the group had several more private brawls—large, larger, and even larger in scale. Eventually, because they were stopped every single time by the elusive combination of "Fourth-years + Sentry Drones + Lei Ting," they moved their fighting into the training grounds where combat was permitted. Finally, after one particular session where they physically beat each other into a sense of camaraderie, Lei Ting took them all out for a meal, and the brawling ceased. After all, they might encounter or cooperate with each other in different settings in the future. Continuing to fight would be disrespectful to both "Brother Lei" and the Academy. If there was a blood feud, they could just wait until they left the Academy to settle it! However, Lei Ting did manage to figure out why the grudge between the two Luo brothers was so deep. It was a melodramatic tale of family grievances—the kind that finally made Lei Ting understand why such dramas were still popular on the Star Net. Of course, because it was excessively soap-operatic, it isn't worth dwelling on here. Life continued day by day. By the second half of the third academic year, something occurred that was quite significant for Lei Ting: Valen was transferred away by his company. Lei Ting didn't know who the replacement was, even though the newcomer seemed to have come specifically because Lei Ting frequently bought various metals at the "Far-Light Fine Materials" store. From then on, he stopped going to "Far-Light Fine Materials" and even stopped visiting the commercial district entirely. He focused solely on his studies and training, making everyone realize just how terrifying the growth rate of a sane "Double S" could be when they actually applied themselves. During his third-year internship, he returned to the First Legion and personally dismantled one pirate group after another during his missions. His abilities grew so rapidly that during his third internship, he officially entered a new stage: the Expansion Phase. If the "Awakening Phase" was opening a water bottle, and the "Development Phase" was pouring a stream from that bottle, then the "Expansion Phase" was the stream flowing into a deep pit whose size was determined by one's mental strength. This pit would become the bed of his future lake. At this stage, both his observable mental range and the effective range of his superpower saw significant progress. At the same time, he learned that the upper limit of mental strength was not fixed—it was closely tied to a person's psychological state. If a person was originally weak but gradually became steadfast, they could potentially advance from D-rank or C-rank. Conversely, if a person’s mind collapsed, their mental strength limit would drop accordingly. To be an esper, mental talent was indeed important, but not "as" important as common people imagined. History was full of highly talented espers who died young before they could develop, and countless legends were forged by those below A-rank. In this life, talent is like money: it’s reliable under normal circumstances, but you can’t rely on it for everything. Knowledge and willpower are the most important things; otherwise, one will eventually reach the end of their rope. Thus, driven by Lei Ting’s example, the state of the Class of 3996 could be summarized in one sentence: "If you don't die from studying, study until you die!" As long as it was within their capabilities, the vast majority of students were desperately focused on reading and training. The atmosphere shifted from an initial "It would be rude not to study when everyone else is" to a frantic "Dammit! How can they be this competitive?! Fine, at worst I'll just study until graduation! Study! It's just studying! Someone bring me another two terabytes of data, I won't let this slide!" Eventually, the situation spiraled so far out of control that the Academy administration had to step in and force the Class of 3996 to take a holiday. Only then did everyone begin to calm down. However, the feeling of "attaining through learning" was addictive. Having tasted the sweetness of knowledge, the atmosphere of actively pursuing progress remained stronger in their year than in any other. But it must be said... The inherent danger of a military academy also began to manifest. As early as after the second internship, some students who went to certain Legions began to act strangely. By the third internship, serious casualties occurred among interns in several Legions performing joint resource collection missions on the frontier. Among these, the Legion with the most prominent reputation was the one ranked "Seventh." ... Lei Ting didn't actually remember much about the student named Taco. His strongest impression of him was when the boy said he wanted to go to the Seventh Legion. Beyond that, there were only hazy memories, much like most of the people who frequently chatted and discussed coursework and knowledge together. So, when Sandro brought up the image of a classmate who was naturally simple and shy, Lei Ting could only listen in silence like everyone else. When mentioning death, Sandro wasn't as lighthearted as when he shared gossip. And rightly so: no one should speak lightly of another's death, except perhaps the person facing it themselves. A familiar figure had vanished, leaving not even a body behind. Besides him, other scattered students had also quietly disappeared from the Academy. "I finally know why, when we first arrived at the main campus in second year, the upperclassmen looked at us with that weird, paternal gaze when we got into arguments," someone muttered, leaning back into a sofa in the lounge with a bitter smile. "...It turns out that being able to argue with someone is a good thing in itself." That day was the first time this group of people dispersed in such silence. As time went on, the external situation deteriorated step by step. Angye even sent messages to Lei Ting at odd hours, telling him to avoid crowded areas for the time being. Lei Ting didn't tell him the specifics of his superpower's progress; he simply acknowledged the advice, thanked him, and went back to his books or chatted with Valen on the Star Net. During the days Valen was away from the Academy, news of "Half-life" reappeared on the Star Net. His fans were overjoyed; after he streamed for three consecutive days, they all cried out that this was the "Resurrection of the Pigeon King." Lei Ting laughed for a long time over the eternal "pigeon" meme. During the final days of the fourth year, the atmosphere of the entire graduating class was very somber. Of course... the root cause wasn't just the overall environment, but also the "Graduation Project"—or rather, the "Graduation Summary," an ancient ritual Lei Ting never expected to encounter again in an interstellar society. At the First Military Academy, most students' graduation summaries were either theses or military merits accumulated during their internships. A tiny minority of students who had neither would have their graduation delayed until they obtained one of the two in the field. Lei Ting’s military merits were more than sufficient; if they could be shared, he could have graduated an entire company of people single-handedly. But that was impossible. However, during that final period of graduation preparation with few or no classes, he entered a state of having absolutely nothing to do. His courses were all perfectly completed, and he was so familiar with every training ground terrain that he could distinguish them by scent with his eyes closed. At this point, even if he were dropped into a tsunami training ground, it would be nothing more than a sightseeing trip for him. Aside from the time spent chatting with Valen, he spent his idle hours peacefully reading. Eventually, over the course of four years, he had plowed through the entire library of superpower and combat-related books held by "Pacific." Thus, his greatest hobby at this stage actually became "watching the second-year students who had just arrived at the main campus." Those students... the look in their eyes as they walked into this grand academy was just like his and his classmates' three years ago... ...Actually, they weren't that innocent back then either. It was hilarious. Lei Ting put away his terminal visor after sending his application for a temporary leave from the Academy. He prepared to depart and only return on the day of the graduation ceremony. He could feel the new students secretly staring at him, whispering things he could actually hear clearly. But he didn't care... ...Until he turned his head and saw a pair of purple eyes behind the crowd. Lei Ting frowned slightly. That eye color reminded him of Yolanda, but she could never look at him with such... worshipful and yearning eyes. He looked closer and saw a handsome youth with blonde hair and purple eyes. There was a tear-shaped mole under his left eye, and he wore the blue collar exclusive to Omegas. His gaze suddenly froze. In an instant, blurred memories of a past life surged forth. A golden light flashed briefly in his eyes. Then, he gave a slight nod toward the crowd and turned to leave. [Student Lei Ting: Your application has been approved. Access permissions granted. Please depart within 24 hours.] —Yes, he had known all along, he thought. The year he graduated was 4000 AD. It was also the time when the plot of "that novel" began. --- Glossary: