First Battlefield Commander! - Chapter 142

Chapter 142: Server Downtime

No one came forward to explain the matter. The officials might have wanted to let it cool down, but found they couldn't; instead, it escalated. Whether someone intentionally fanned the flames was unknown.

Behind the decline of manually operated mechs hid a game of interests—this was already beyond doubt. This game ended with the Alliance's victory, but people had long forgotten to care about what sacrifices were made for this victory.

Where did Ji Ban's transforming mech come from? Where did its cutting-edge technology originate? What was his purpose in participating in the selection trials? What role did the First Military Academy play in this?

The Military Department made no statement, but the First Military Academy's leadership couldn't sit still and stepped forward first.

If this continued to be sensationalized, they feared they might be branded as reactionaries by various malicious speculations online.

The First Military Academy issued three statements, providing a complete response to the online speculation.

One, where did Ji Ban's mech come from?

Ji Ban's grandfather, Ji Xian, was once a technical consultant for the First Military Academy and also the head of Sanyao's research and development team at the time. The manually operated mechs he designed were the authority in the Alliance back then, both powerful and agile. After Sanyao's restructuring, he did not join the Alliance. Using the convenience of his status, he requisitioned Sanyao's remaining materials and continued to privately research and develop manual mechs. Of course, his mechs were not granted piloting qualifications, and their subsequent status was unknown. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it should be the one he pilots now.

Two, why did the military academy recruit Ji Ban? Moved by Ji Ban's dedication and effort, and unwilling to let the achievements of Senior Ji Xian vanish, they hoped to provide him with a platform for display. However, the military academy would not offer him any guidance, nor would there be subsequent special recommendations, and he did not need to attend classes at the academy. Recruiting him was purely out of sentiment.

Three, is there a need to revive transforming mechs? When manual mechs declined, transforming mechs had not yet appeared on the market or in the military. That should be a new function developed by researchers of Mr. Ji Xian's generation. With the advent of sensors, they never had a chance to appear and were regrettably buried.

However, it can be confirmed that the new mech incorporates new research achievements from the Alliance, while Sanyao's mech production level remains stuck a hundred years ago, and some functions were even reduced back then to ensure secrecy. The two are not comparable in any way. Judging the gap between manual and sensor mechs based on this is unreasonable. We hope everyone will view this rationally.

Put this way, people began to understand.

By improving upon blueprints from decades ago, such outstanding performance could be achieved. Compared to the new manual mech, they looked forward to what the Alliance's truly new mechs would be like and what functions they would possess.

However, Sanyao lacked the authority to negotiate; they were merely a combat platform.

Indeed, without mastering the technology, no matter how glamorous things appeared on the surface, they were still subject to others, their life and death held in the Alliance's hands.

Thus, the topic of online debate shifted again.

Although Ji Ban's was a manual mech, you were pitting a modern, new-type mech against their group using century-old mechs with nerfed data. That was too much! How could they even play?

Either restrict Ji Ban's mech, or the organizing committee should just give him a green light all the way through. Otherwise, him taking up a spot here was very unfair to other students.

Yet, from beginning to end, not a single person suggested that Sanyao should release the data for manual mechs so they could switch to the manual operation scene.

Ji Ban paid no attention to the external commotion. He was simply happy to have won.

Hundred Meter Flying Dagger had gone somewhere and couldn't be contacted. His father had little interest in the selection trials. Ji Ban could only talk to Lian Sheng.

Lian Sheng looked at the mortified Fang Jianchen, answered the communication, and then saw Ji Ban's excited face. She felt that life was truly unpredictable.

Ji Ban said: "I won!"

Lian Sheng: "Yes, congratulations. Your mech is amazing."

Ji Ban said: "It's the first time I piloted my mech! It's really powerful, with various folding weapons and enhanced mechanisms. Dad researched it for a very, very long time."

Although it was built, it wasn't allowed to be used. So it had always been kept in the basement. Ji Ban could only use its operating system to simulate training again and again, but he had never actually activated it.

Lian Sheng asked: "How long have you practiced?"

Ji Ban: "Me? I stopped going to school when I was six, that's when I started practicing. But the mech wasn't fully formed then, I just practiced its operating system."

Lian Sheng: "Practicing until now?"

"Yeah!" Ji Ban counted on his fingers, "I've practiced for almost fifteen years, maybe ten-plus hours a day."

Lian Sheng nodded. No wonder he had reached such a level; the effort he put into the mech was already dozens of times that of ordinary students.

It was similar to her practicing swordsmanship back then. But her master was a very strict person, demanding she hold her sword even while eating and sleeping.

During the period when she didn't know what to do each day, it became the driving force supporting her.

Lian Sheng asked with difficulty: "Don't you need to attend classes? Learn math, languages, physics, things like that."

Ji Ban: "I do! I learn together with Moshi. I loaded all its data!"

Moshi was his mech's name.

"I like sitting in the cockpit. It's high up, and I can do whatever I want. And I like the mech; it listens to me completely. I need to add new commands for it to show how powerful it is," Ji Ban said. "And now someone trains with me!"

Lian Sheng said: "Then why didn't you go on Sanyao before? People would train with you. Didn't Sanyao have manual operation functions before?"

Ji Ban: "Of course not. It's not like they'd let me play just because I wanted to. Didn't I say our family's mech doesn't have qualification approval? It can only be stored."

"Huh...?" Lian Sheng was puzzled. "Then what about this time? After you entered the finals, Sanyao suddenly agreed?"

"I don't know," Ji Ban said. "Brother Dao asked someone to arrange it for me, and Sanyao agreed."

"..." Lian Sheng said, "That's good too."

Ji Ban bid her farewell: "Yeah! I'll go check when my next match is!"

But when Ji Ban went to check, he found he couldn't find anything.

Faced with this messy situation, the selection trial organizing committee was also somewhat bewildered.

Currently, it seemed unsuitable to let Ji Ban compete again. Regarding specific rules, neither Sanyao nor the various departments had responded. However, the Expeditionary Force told them to wait first.

So they waited. But they couldn't just wait idly; suspending the competition without reason would cause too much commotion. Thus, they decided to first remove Ji Ban's matches, while the others continued as usual.

Looking at the match prediction list, Ji Ban's name was finally gone. Although they couldn't understand the committee's intention, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Besides Ji Ban being unhappy, Fang Jianchen was also unhappy. He gritted his teeth, wanting to flip a table.

So he was the only unlucky one, right? He absolutely couldn't accept this! Life couldn't be described merely as bleak!

Inside the control room of the Expeditionary Force's Sixth Army Corps.

Everyone was urgently collecting data and compiling reports. Leaders from various army corps connected online to exchange intelligence and discuss meeting content.

Liliana sat with her legs crossed on a chair, suddenly saying: "None of this is needed. They won't look at it anyway. They will only consider two things: how much of their interests will be affected, and whether these are interests they must relinquish."

"Should we notify the Research Institute? The Council has always used the excuse of restricting civilian mech development to control ore materials, constantly raising material prices, and repeatedly cutting the Research Institute's funding to reap huge profits for their own faction. I think they should be very willing to cooperate with us."

"We haven't cooperated before, we don't know their attitude. Better not act rashly," Liliana said. "If they are smart people, and our interests align, then there won't be a problem."

"Why should the technology developed by the Research Institute, used for the mechs in our military's frontline combat, ultimately be decided by the Council? A bunch of short-sighted fools who understand nothing, transferring power back and forth, treating us as nothing, quite happy about it. But, there won't be such opportunities anymore." Liliana stood up. "The transfer of interests depends solely on the strength and weakness of positions. But since they've enjoyed the benefits for decades, I think they're prepared to return them. They've earned enough this time. If anyone still wants to cling on, don't blame us for being impolite."

A person walked in and reminded: "Colonel Liliana, the time has come. Please proceed to the conference room immediately."

Liliana's face was grim: "Mm."

Everyone looked at her.

Hundred Meter Flying Dagger swirled a cup of zero-alcohol beer in his hand. Seeing her aggressive, god-slaying demeanor, he said: "Very good. None of you stop her, this matter is guaranteed to succeed."

Liliana ignored him, picked up the optical computer beside her, put on her form-fitting military uniform, and walked towards the adjacent conference room.

A venue colored red, blue, and white.

The lights dimmed, and the projection lit up. Personnel from the three parties attended the meeting together.

"Is everyone here? Then let's begin." The leader of the blue faction, wearing a suit, spoke: "Regarding the sudden appearance of a new type of mech in this mech selection trial, I think the Council deserves an explanation. Mechs represent the Alliance's most cutting-edge and important data. Why has it fallen into the hands of a civilian student now?"

He finished speaking, looked left, then right. Neither side responded.

The man in black leaned back in his chair, hands clasped in front: "I don't know what data Ji Xian took back then, but judging from the current situation, it's definitely not insignificant. I checked the records; this seems a bit different from the Research Institute's previous reports."

On the right, Lin Lie, dressed in a white research uniform, said: "I don't understand your meaning. This happened so many years ago, are we going to start assigning blame now? I can only tell you, the Research Institute's personnel have changed many times. We only inherited the data; we know nothing else."

The man tapped his fingers on the back of his hand: "Shirking responsibility like this isn't good, is it?"

From the Military Department on the left, Liliana in the second row said: "Weapon development has always been a key project supported by the Alliance, yet no matter how fast it develops, no reports are ever made public. Ji Ban, a civilian student, relying solely on private skills, produced the latest transforming mech, even completely crushing older mechs. Isn't that enough to illustrate the problem?"

The man in the suit looked at her.

The person next to Liliana shifted uncomfortably. Liliana glanced at him, and he sat properly again.

"The Alliance opens hundred-year-old technology to the public, yet our military has to select from these students every time and retrain them. Precisely because of this, during the students' most suitable period, even basic military mech training cannot be implemented, wasting precious time." Liliana said, "I really don't understand, what is the purpose of all this concealment?"

The man in the suit said: "For no reason other than it concerns Alliance secrets. Not every risk is worth taking. After all, no one wants to hand over secret data to some individual again."

Liliana: "Alliance secrets? Only critical information that must not be leaked is called an Alliance secret. Things that clearly don't conform to norms and hinder development can only be called bad practices."

The man's constantly moving fingers paused. He said: "Are you saying our Alliance's mech technology is outdated? Colonel Liliana, please say that again."

"Please don't misunderstand. My position is the Military Department; I am merely offering reasonable suggestions," Liliana said. "Regarding the level of Alliance mech technology, the Military Department and the Research Institute know better than you gentlemen. However, hundred-year-old technology is undoubtedly outdated."

Both sides looked towards the Research Institute.

Someone from the Research Institute said: "Completely abandoning any technology is inadvisable. This incident has already proven that manual mechs are not without value. Compared to sensor control, for certain precision tasks, manual mechs actually have an advantage."

"A single Ji Xian left behind technology that won't be inferior for decades. How many other cutting-edge technicians have been excluded due to the barriers erected by the Alliance? Those lost designs might already be outdated. But undeniably, current mech development has reached a bottleneck, and we also need new development. Is maintaining the status quo forever truly beneficial to the Alliance's development? Even if it's a reshuffle, I think it's been long enough."

"Are you contradicting yourselves? What exactly is your view?" The man in the suit spread his hands. "Do you want to develop sensor mechs or manual mechs?"

Liliana: "Different views, that's all. I never said we belong to the same faction. We just happen to have reached certain consensuses on certain matters occasionally."

"From what I hear currently, I don't find it contradictory. It only suggests there are too many areas the Alliance needs to open up and improve," Lin Lie said. "Of course, I am only speaking from the perspective of the Research Institute."

The political faction looked at them, silent for a moment. They decided to attack the Research Institute first; after all, the Military held real power and was too dominant. He said: "Listening to your ideas, you want to reintroduce the promotion of manual mechs? Did you hear some news that prompted this impulsive idea? You yourselves are professionals, so you should know that mech research and development is definitely not something achieved overnight. Restarting a project stopped for decades is equivalent to starting anew. By the time results emerge, it will already be decades later."

"We are very calm; this is the result of our long-term internal discussions," the Director of the Research Institute said. "The so-called Alliance, the so-called government, isn't their purpose to consider the long-term plans for the people? Otherwise, who else would consider it? So what does a few decades matter? Someone will eventually take over and complete our work."

Lin Lie put down her optical computer: "I only refute one point. I disagree with the statement that restarting research means starting over. While we abandoned manual mechs, some researchers never stopped. They have continuously improved and perfected past mech technology; Ji Ban's mech is proof. We can absolutely hire them or ask them for help. If possible, we could even request to use their mechs for research. That wouldn't be starting over; it would be a huge leap forward."

The man in the suit quickly said: "They won't agree."

Liliana interjected: "After our military's brief contact with them, the current person in charge, Mr. Ji, expressed great willingness if it benefits the development of manual mechs."

The man in the suit narrowed his eyes.

"Speaking of which, I find it rather strange. Why would Sanyao agree to input their new transforming mech? Who gave the authority? Who gave the approval?"

Liliana retorted sarcastically, unfazed: "It seems that in the Council, assigning blame is always more convenient than dealing with issues. When a pile of problems is difficult to solve, using simple matters to brush them off is also a quick way to handle things, isn't it?"

The man in the suit frowned and snapped: "Major General Leiming!"

The Major General in the front row sat upright, unshaken: "My subordinate doesn't know how to speak properly, apologies for the embarrassment. She has always been unruly, impulsive, and reckless. You needn't take her words to heart. Her only merit is piloting mechs well and earning a few military honors."

The Research Institute had also come prepared today. Originally filled with anger, maintaining their sternest expressions, aiming for eloquent debate, with intense confrontation as the bottom line, determined not to rest until their goal was achieved.

But looking at it now, compared to the explosive tempers of the Military Department, they were truly too gentle.

Civilized people weren't impressive enough. But listening to them snipe at each other felt quite satisfying too.

The atmosphere was tense, like drawn swords and bent bows.

The political faction clearly understood as well.

Politicians and soldiers are different. Politicians must strive to coordinate relations between various departments and absolutely cannot, for personal reasons, represent the party in antagonizing the military, leaving unresolved issues for their successors.

The Alliance's safety rested directly in the hands of the military. Now the military was being assertive; even if excessive, they could only smooth things over.

Moreover, they did hold extra power, and the other side was coming to demand it back.

The political faction ignored the military and continued discussing matters with the Research Institute.

"I'm not against your proposal, but the Alliance has its own considerations, and your topic is somewhat unfeasible," the man in the suit said. "Suppose we really restart research on manual mechs, how would personnel be selected? When would mech pilots start training? You can't extrapolate from one person's success to everyone. As far as I know, Ji Ban has trained rigorously for over a decade, and now happens to be at the peak of his hand speed and brain function, hence his level. What about other students? If they start training in university, by the time they reach proficiency, they'll already be nearing retirement age. So, is there any meaning to manual mech training?"

The man beside him snorted: "Changing the entire Alliance system because of one special case. Too absurd."

Liliana interjected again: "I only recognize the strong. Those who can't do it, why don't they learn to reflect on themselves."

The man in the suit paused: "Major General Leiming."

The Major General looked straight ahead: "Mm, I think my subordinate spoke well. Strength proves everything; that's how I train them too."

The man on the right snorted angrily: "Hmph!"

"Coincidentally, regarding the reform of the education system, the Military Department has a similar proposal," Liliana stated forcefully. "Please allow the disclosure of partial mech data, delegate effective soldier training to various universities, so they can at least receive formal training during their university years. Simultaneously, I request a reduction in the frequency of military training sessions. It's simply a waste of time and manpower; our military doesn't have that many idle instructors."

A man in a suit in the back row spread his hands: "See, this is the benefit of sensor mechs. Just by training physical fitness and combat awareness, one can operate a mech well. If it's just these things, those interested in the military can start corresponding training from the beginning. Even if they don't join the military in the future, physical exercise is never wasted effort. Can manual mechs achieve this?"

Liliana said dismissively: "Have you ever touched a mech? This isn't some simple model you played with as a child. Please don't use assumptions to guess reality."

The man in the suit said: "The Alliance cannot guarantee that everyone who learns manual operation will eventually stand in the cockpit. How will they be arranged afterwards?"

Lin Lie: "Indeed. The Alliance also cannot guarantee that every student who studies will become successful. Did the Alliance arrange things for them?"

The middle-aged man leading the military delegation spoke: "From various aspects, the age for formal military education in the Alliance is too high, which is indeed unreasonable. The period of fastest adaptability and best physical condition is wasted on meaningless, monotonous training. This is actually not good for cultivating mech pilots. It's equivalent to postponing the pressure and then suddenly imposing it on them."

Liliana said: "They don't consider this matter. They only consider things directly related to interests."

The man turned his head, warningly: "Colonel Liliana."

Liliana crossed her arms and didn't reply further.

The Research Institute listened to them talk, and finally couldn't hold back: "So, is this something your Council and the Military Department can just decide directly? Does our Research Institute have no right to speak? If so, perhaps just tell us the result, and we'll leave first."

Liliana: "Of course not, we need the Research Institute's support."

Lin Lie: "Then, there are primarily two matters now. Stop Ji Ban's mech usage, or update Sanyao's mech data."

Silence fell in the conference room.

This question was equivalent to: should they yield to a young man's mech, or timely display the Alliance's cutting-edge technology?

Comparatively, the public would prefer to see the latter. For appeasing public sentiment, they would also prefer to see the latter.

The man in the suit paused: "This is a matter requiring in-depth discussion. It concerns the future development of the Alliance and deviates from long-standing regulations. It's not something that can be decided in a casual meeting; it must at least go through both councils..."

"Whatever you want to know, we can tell you now," Liliana said. "This is indeed a matter worth in-depth discussion, but absolutely not something that can be delayed."

Lin Lie: "Apologies, sir, but if this matter isn't resolved, the mech selection trials cannot proceed normally. Sanyao and the organizing committee are awaiting our results. The Research Institute is very busy; we don't have a tradition of procrastinating on unresolved minor issues for years."

The two chimed in one after another. Liliana: "You misunderstand. In this meeting, we are not requesting anything major. The Research Institute merely wants to release some outdated data to society. This falls under the Research Institute's responsibilities and obligations. If even such matters require deliberation by both councils, then may I ask what your duties are?"

Actually, everyone knew.

Now it was about releasing partial data; subsequently, it would be military training reform. After that would come reducing mech material costs and promoting manual mech research and development.

Their two departments were quite harmonious, first opening a common channel, then gradually snatching meat from their mouths?

The meeting fell silent once more.

All three parties weighed the pros and cons.

The current situation was clear: at least two parties shared common interests, and judging by the outcome, the public would also side with them.

There seemed to be no room for maneuver. Since that was the case, they might as well try to gain some benefits.

Everyone looked at the figures in the projection opposite, waiting for someone to give the result first.

The man in the suit rested his hands on the chair's armrests, adopting a relaxed posture: "Let's discuss how you want to proceed."

Just as speculation ran rampant and students felt uneasy, Sanyao suddenly announced it would undergo server maintenance for an update. And the duration would be five days.

When was the last server downtime?

Anyway, since they were born, they had never heard of such a thing.

Simultaneously, due to Sanyao's downtime, the selection trials were also forced to pause for five days.

Although they didn't know the exact reason, something major must have happened, and they had become participants experiencing this change firsthand.

Students who hadn't been selected envied them, while those who were truly selected had complex feelings.

The selection trials had just begun, and already there was a twist. They didn't feel excited, but rather more nervous.

Sometimes change itself is a terrifying thing.

This nervousness was something even Zhao Zhuoluo and the others couldn't avoid.

The four, along with Lian Sheng and Zhou Shirui, gathered to discuss future matters.

Zhou Shirui tapped the edge of his optical computer: "I've found information on the next few opponents. I'll use this time to compile complete data, but it might not be useful. I think Sanyao's downtime this time is definitely for updating data, and only the Research Institute can provide them with data."

Cheng Ze: "Let me make a bold guess: are they updating mech types? Impacted by Ji Ban this time, Sanyao decided to officially introduce manual mechs?"

Lian Sheng glanced at him: "I think your boldness is really quite small. Several times now, you've added caveats. Can't you be a bit more exaggerated?"

Zhao Zhuoluo shook his head, rejecting the idea: "Unlikely. Sanyao itself has more comprehensive data on manual mechs, and the Research Institute hasn't been researching related projects recently. If the downtime is really to perfect data, then it's impossible they'd introduce manual operation."

The group looked at Lian Sheng and Zhao Zhuoluo.

"Aren't both your moms involved in Research Institute projects? Can't you give us a hint? It's just a matter of days," Cheng Ze said. "I'm feeling a bit... anxious here."

Lian Sheng said bluntly: "Nope. I'll wait. I'll eat a bowl of noodles first."

Everyone: "..."

Eat what noodles!

"I really don't know why you can always be so calm?" Fang Jianchen turned sideways to look at her. "Classmate Lian Sheng, aren't you nervous at all? Please take this selection trial seriously, and give us some dignity, thank you."

Lian Sheng glanced at them.

How many life-and-death situations had she experienced? This was just one small success or failure. It might represent an opportunity, but it didn't represent life itself. How nervous should she appear?

"So what should I do during these five days?" Fang Jianchen rubbed the back of his head. "Suddenly having free time, feels like wasting time, so unfair to myself."

Sanyao was inaccessible, so they couldn't conduct sensor training within the school. The thruster assistance practice, just started under Lian Sheng's guidance, had to be temporarily shelved.

It felt like if they missed the optimal period for this kind of thing, shelving it could easily lead to it dissipating. Starting again next time might be even harder.

Their schedule was disrupted, with no point of entry. This sense of emptiness left them feeling lost.

Lian Sheng said: "You can practice martial arts, strengthen your body."

Zhao Zhuoluo: "Combat sports?"

"Ah!" Lian Sheng clapped her hands. "You guys can try ancient martial arts!"

Hearing this, the group had an epiphany.

They hadn't been able to find a complete block of time before. They learned a little midway, but it was shelved due to scheduling issues.

Five days... a bit short, but better than wasting time here.

What Lian Sheng could teach them were disassembled moves, emergency measures.

For example, at what distance, holding what weapon, could one more quickly breach the opponent's defense and complete an effective attack.

When being pursued, what kind of footwork and feints could be used to deceive the opponent's line of sight.

These were direct and practical, much faster than Lian Sheng's own comprehensive learning followed by analysis back then.

Actually, Lian Sheng also wanted to explain to them how to judge the opponent's next attack based on their stance, angle, arm-raising timing, and speed, and preemptively block or attack.

If they could achieve this step, they could compensate for a certain attribute gap between opponents and forcefully achieve a counter-kill under disadvantageous conditions.

Everyone watched her demonstrate once.

Zhao Zhuoluo stated righteously: "This is something the naked eye fundamentally cannot distinguish. The limits of human rationality do not permit us to possess this function. Let's not mention it again."

For convenience, Lian Sheng didn't rent a classroom but held the class on the sports field.

Many students who were also bored saw the situation and joined in. It wasn't formal instruction, so it didn't matter if they were from the Military Academy or not. Practicing martial arts to strengthen the body was fine too. So Lian Sheng didn't refuse anyone, and their group quickly grew.

Guidance inevitably involved physical contact; after all, language alone couldn't convey the essence of movements. Distance was very difficult to grasp.

Lian Sheng focused on her own comrades here, demanding strictness.

With more people around, Zhao Zhuoluo felt even more uncomfortable.

"Yo yo yo!"

The more uncomfortable Zhao Zhuoluo felt, the more Lian Sheng deliberately went next to him, touching his sturdy waist, patting his broad back. Stroking her chin, she'd say to him, "Interesting."

Fang Jianchen and the others clicked their tongues, offering sincere sympathy.

Zhao Zhuoluo himself didn't know why he still subjected himself to this grievance here.

A few days later, Ji Ban sent over the mech data package he had prepared.

They couldn't access Sanyao now, so they could only replace the data after the maintenance ended.

Lian Sheng asked curiously: "You're at the factory every day, do you also build mechs?"

"I only know how to do debugging and some parts, but my dad knows everything," Ji Ban said. "My dad didn't know everything before either, but he taught himself later."

Lian Sheng expressed sincere admiration: "That amazing?"

Lian Sheng was self-studying the Alliance's curriculum every day; she felt it was simply a disaster.

Ji Ban said: "Yeah! Because I said I wanted to pilot a mech, but I couldn't pilot sensor mechs anymore, and the Alliance didn't have manual mechs. So he rebuilt the one Grandpa left behind."

There was definitely more to it than just one sentence.

Lian Sheng felt that Ji Ban could be so optimistic because he had a father who loved him very much.

Ji Ban didn't dwell on this matter, asking instead: "What have you guys been doing lately? Aren't there no matches?"

Lian Sheng: "Practicing ancient martial arts."

Ji Ban paused on the other end, then sighed with emotion: "That's great... Are there many people?"

Hearing the longing in his tone, Lian Sheng smiled: "Want to come?"

Ji Ban immediately replied: "Yes!"

Lian Sheng: "Then come! I'll take you to play!"

Ji Ban: "Okay!"

They didn't have much free time either. Ji Ban came to Alliance University that very afternoon. Lian Sheng went out of the school gate to pick him up and brought him over.

Zhao Zhuoluo and the others were practicing boxing freely.

Unexpectedly, Lian Sheng went out and brought someone back. Everyone stopped their movements and gathered around.

Seeing a very well-behaved boy, they were all a bit curious.

Cheng Ze wiped off sweat and asked: "This is?"

"This one," Lian Sheng introduced, "is Ji Ban."

Everyone was startled. They all turned around, then felt it didn't seem right.

Fang Jianchen walked closer, stared at him for a while, and asked carefully: "Are you the same Ji Ban from the First Military Academy?"

Ji Ban didn't answer. Lian Sheng spoke first: "I also thought they were the same person."

Then confirmed that they were indeed the same person.

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