First Battlefield Commander! - Chapter 163
Chapter 163: Test
The men were startled by his words.
He hesitated and asked, "You...watch? Our training videos?"
"As the vice commander, I must understand your mechs to conduct analyses. This includes your movement speeds and attack ranges - all fall under my responsibilities. Otherwise, with insufficient data, assigning teams and modeling would be extremely inconvenient." Lu Mingyuan's eyes itched when mentioning the videos, so he rubbed them before continuing, "But there are no instructors here doing data statistics. It's all self-directed training, so I can only watch the training videos."
The male student exclaimed in surprise, "There are so many people! When did you find time to watch them all?"
"There's always time. During mining breaks or rest periods," Lu Mingyuan said. "This is the vice commander's job."
The student pressed his lips together and muttered quietly, "But the Expeditionary Force has so many mechs. Would you have to memorize each one when the time comes?"
"Impossible. Vice commanders are different from frontline soldiers." Lu Mingyuan lectured seriously, "During actual combat, there isn't just one vice commander - there will be many assistants. The data is extremely vast and not limited to just mechs. Some are responsible for maps, others for reconnaissance data verification. In short, data analysts exist to obtain sufficient data. The only reason we wouldn't have certain data is if there's no way to obtain it, not because we gave up."
Zhao Zhuoluo added from the side, "And they wouldn't deploy mech soldiers on a massive scale anyway. Or do you want to destroy an entire city?"
The male students' expressions kept changing as they listened, their mouths twitching slightly. Then they bowed slightly before somewhat awkwardly fleeing the scene.
Lian Sheng scratched her head and continued eating.
That evening, while everyone was doing physical training, the instructor announced their advancement test, sending it to their optical computers via the internal network.
He personally came to the training field to explain the rules.
The base's so-called test had two parts: a balance test and a speed test. As the senior students had said, the pass rate wasn't high.
Of course, this pass rate wasn't due to test restrictions, but because the test itself was extremely difficult.
Those senior students had to pass this test when they first advanced to begin learning mining.
They needed to perfectly control speed and mech center of gravity changes before starting precision attack training.
The first part was foundational - it couldn't be skipped. The instructors just saw potential in these outstanding students and wanted to try screening them out early. Most would continue their daily mining routines.
The test still used sensors, with the first being balance.
The freshmen put on their equipment and went straight into the training room to begin.
There weren't any special restrictions - they just had to safely complete the designated course within the allotted time.
The classroom opened at 5 AM, with flexible scheduling until noon when time would be called. Anyone who hadn't completed the task by then would fail.
Since there was no attendance check on test day, Lian Sheng didn't wake until 5:30. She conveniently missed the cafeteria rush, ate quietly, then calmly walked over.
By the time she reached the training room at 6 AM, continuous cursing could be heard inside.
Just then, Ye Buqing came out and nodded at her before leaving.
Lian Sheng asked, "Finished already?"
"Done," Ye Buqing said. "I'm going back to sleep first."
Since starting work here, he felt constantly sleep-deprived.
Lian Sheng raised an eyebrow, selected a mech, and boarded it.
After logging into the base network and selecting the assessment, a small map and countdown appeared in the upper right corner of her vision.
This was an even more complex map than the mining area - or rather, more oppressive.
It was pieced together from different terrain maps. The first was a mountain path.
The walkway was extremely narrow with occasional scattered rocks, while below lay an abyss. Later sections included mountain climbing and snowfields with hidden traps.
The map didn't change randomly, but the route did. They had to follow the green arrows on the mini-map to reach the endpoint.
Comparing the time in the corner, Lian Sheng calculated the speed and roughly understood.
It mainly tested speed and agility, requiring various climbing, jumping, and observation actions.
Actually, the difficulty was already quite lenient compared to real-life obstacle courses. But when your perspective was higher and body larger, it created discomfort. Especially after prolonged mech use - if you weren't accustomed to it, you'd constantly adjust your center of gravity, slowing down and failing to meet time requirements.
For those accustomed to it, it wasn't difficult - just like regular obstacle training. But for the unaccustomed, it seemed impossible.
Lian Sheng first tried walking through twice to familiarize herself with the map. Then she accelerated, calculating required speeds.
Different maps had varying difficulties, requiring adjusted speeds and times. She recalibrated based on feel before making her attempt.
Midway through practice, the instructor's voice came through the sensor equipment: "You have all morning. Those who meet standards can take the speed test this afternoon, then attend evening lectures. Eliminated students report to mining at noon!"
A male student sighed: "Sigh...not even leaving us time to cry? Heartless bastard!"
Instructor: "I can hear everything you say. Take care."
The student immediately shut up.
For Lian Sheng, this test wasn't difficult. She completed it successfully and left early to rest.
According to fellow students, the morning stability test eliminated half of them.
After clearing out, some hugged the sensor room boxes, sobbing and begging the instructor for another chance.
Having run all morning, they were pale and exhausted. Their wailing got them scolded by the instructor and handed over to robots, who herded them to the cafeteria before shipping them off to the mines.
The afternoon speed test ran from noon to 7 PM.
Lian Sheng arrived around 2 PM.
This round was even worse. Upon arrival, all she heard was the sound of retching.
Coming from all directions, rising and falling continuously.
Several male students sat by the sensors, clutching their chests and dry heaving. Sweat and saliva ran down their haggard faces.
Lian Sheng also felt nauseous.
The environment was contagious.
Soon more joined the vomiting brigade.
"Bro, how's the puking going?"
"Got some stomach acid out."
"Damn, impressive."
"My eyes are about to fall out. You going back in?"
"Gonna rest first, then try again."
Feeling queasy, Lian Sheng quickly entered the equipment.
The speed test involved vision rotating irregularly around a point while expanding range.
Targets of various colors and sizes would appear, requiring hitting specified ones per the corner instructions during rapid rotation.
Most crucially, the direction and motion paths were unpredictable - sometimes left, sometimes right.
The rapid spinning and directional changes instantly destroyed spatial orientation. It became impossible to judge speed and distance or rely on experience for shooting.
Meanwhile, to match turns, students had to shift positions constantly, feeling additional inertial forces.
With only blurry streaks in view, seeing clearly was impossible. Opening your eyes made the world spin. After two rotations, even Lian Sheng felt dizzy.
For poor shooters, they might not finish all targets before time ran out.
Lian Sheng clutched her gun, swaying unsteadily inside, barely able to stand.
The abrupt left-right spinning made her head ache dully.
Originally planning to finish quickly, she instead exited the sensor to join the dry heavers. After recovering slightly, she went back in.
Ji Ban also came to observe. The base had no hand-operated mech training program and was somewhat confused themselves, so Ji Ban's schedule wasn't detailed. It basically followed their training intensity, with evening physical training time reserved for his code memorization practice.
For hand-operated mechs, this task was much simpler.
Whatever requirements the task gave, he just input the target characteristics for system locking.
Watching Ji Ban stroll leisurely around the training room, the students were speechless. The world was truly unfair.
After this training, the freshmen were thoroughly divided.
Perhaps due to youthful competitiveness, they feared being categorized or falling behind. Yet as graduation and military service approached, categorization became inevitable.
Sixteen passed, including Ji Ban - far exceeding predictions.
The instructor massaged his temples while reviewing the data. Constantly writing reports made him feel like a clerk.
He truly hated report writing, hence truly hated training freshmen.
"This year's outstanding students are exceptionally remarkable," the instructor said. "They've only been at base a month with limited exposure, yet are already on track. Though still flawed, their future is promising."
His counterpart replied, "Times of change always produce geniuses."
"Bullshit," the instructor said.
"Truth," the other insisted seriously. "There's scientific basis for this."
The instructor said solemnly, "...Get lost."
"At least the publicity is good," the other said. "Pick an auspicious day to release your training software. People are clamoring to see how the legendary genius generation trains. We've even got a name - Project Ascension!"
"Ascension my ass," the instructor said. "What name? Everyone wants miracles, but any idiot can overtrain themselves into one."
Military academy training was actually quite ordinary - just held to stricter standards.
People forgot that before entering the base, these students started from the same line - the losers.
Too many fantasized about the finish line without taking the first step.
Regardless, the 36th District system indeed contained specialized training software for foundational skills like speed training - more convenient and effective.
It wasn't top secret. After approval, the instructor made the data public.
With clear training methods and timely results, mech training wouldn't remain vague and stagnant as before.
Some schools began incorporating this into high school military academy prep programs.
But external frenzy meant little to Lian Sheng's group. These trendsetters continued their mundane base lives.
Lian Sheng couldn't bear counting how long it had been since the protein powder ran out. Meanwhile, Ji Ban kept counting down to the selection tournament - he was simply too lonely.
Lian Sheng sadly realized time crawled. Over a week remained until September and the tournament.
The person across from her jiggled their leg anxiously, making their connected chair vibrate.
"I thought advancing phases meant promotion. If not promotion, at least some benefit," Fang Jianchen said, biting his chopsticks. "Instead, we went from mining to memorization."
They now had to learn precision demolition along with various cannon ranges, lethality, and environmental impact factors.
All requiring memorization.
They couldn't just be given a mountain and mech to blow up - certifications came first.
Lian Sheng first understood certification's importance here. It sounded more reliable than money.
Ji Ban asked, "There's a break coming up. Are you staying on base?"
Their faces fell as they sighed deeply.
Nowhere to go. Their hotel-stored snacks had all been offered to Doctor Lin, extinguishing any desire to leave.
Lu Mingyuan said, "I want to breathe air that smells like real food."
Fang Jianchen kicked excitedly: "Don't tempt me!"
"I didn't even name any foods," Lu Mingyuan said helplessly.
"I'd kill for gutter oil right now!" Fang Jianchen said. "I never want to see plain noodles again!"
Those around them looked equally pained.
Lu Mingyuan regarded them with veteran sympathy: "Congratulations on entering Phase Two."
Ji Ban asked curiously, "After Phase Two, will you start liking it?"
"No," Lu Mingyuan said. "Phase Two is dislike. There's no Phase Three. Just greater dislike until you can't take it anymore and go home."
The group: "..."
The group: "..."
Cheng Ze said bleakly, "The base must use this to drive students away."
Lu Mingyuan encouraged them: "Endure a bit longer. The autumn menu starts mid-September."
Lian Sheng asked hopefully, "Better taste?"
"Worse," Lu Mingyuan said calmly. "But at least there'll be more ingredients to hate."
Lu Mingyuan seemed to have achieved enlightenment.
Seeing their pitiful state, Lian Sheng said, "Let's go out. The base doesn't charge. While expensive here, occasional outings should be manageable. If we can't find good food, we'll cook ourselves."
They all looked up at her.
With burning intensity.
Lian Sheng clicked her tongue.
Who needed charisma to win followers? A single pot sufficed.
The school arc was truly over now.
Happy New Year's Eve everyone. Wishing you joy and family happiness.
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