VAP - Chapter 114
Chapter 114: The Marshal's Journey is the Sea of Stars (10)
The relatively leisurely days were over.
All because of the Main System's inexplicable mission line, Yue Du had no choice but to focus her energy on investigating the Federation's various secrets—using her inherent advantage as a System.
Compared to Yue Du's native world, the information technology of the Spiral Star System's small world, having developed to an interstellar age, was more than a single step ahead. This added a considerable degree of difficulty to her work.
For example, strong artificial intelligence.
The Federation's AI technology was highly advanced. Even household robots were extremely agile, to say nothing of the AIs that assisted in government affairs or the military-grade intelligences. They possessed the ability to learn autonomously and think independently, and their defenses were impregnable.
In a sense, Yue Du herself was currently just a slightly more advanced AI than they were.
She was thankful that this world's technology hadn't yet reached its ceiling. If this mission had to be carried out in the world where the Silent Watcher originated, Yue Du would likely have a hard time winning.
By comparison, her current situation was quite good.
Sheng Xuejiu had "lent" her marshal identity to Yue Du. With marshal-level clearance, infiltrating the database was much more covert and harder to detect.
In any case, no AI or human had discovered her.
"I think your Main System is seriously overdue for a reformat," Sheng Xuejiu said with genuine feeling.
As far as the Marshal was concerned, she didn't care about stirring up trouble.
But causing trouble that left Yue Du with no time to spend with her was intolerable!
Yue Du was busy breaking through a sophisticated firewall and couldn't spare a moment to talk to her host.
Only when the task at hand came to a temporary halt did she let out a soft breath and turn her head. "Not only is it overdue for a reformat, but it's also in need of a sound beating... I mean, education, from socialism."
Yue Du recalled the Main God she had seen before coming to this world. That Main God was shrouded in a blurry mist of light, making its appearance indistinct, but its voice could be heard, and it sounded utterly dejected.
It was probably the Main System—and even if it wasn't, it was on the Main System's side.
After collecting the information from the internal website of the Administrative Council, Yue Du didn't rush to analyze it. Instead, she quietly withdrew.
Still, no artificial intelligence or person had discovered her visit, so naturally, no one knew of her departure.
Retracting the data connected to the device, Yue Du sighed with a hint of fatigue and leaned back, completely relaxed, against the chair.
"There's still class this afternoon, right..." she said with her eyes closed.
Sheng Xuejiu checked the time. "It's still early. Rest a bit more. If you're still tired, just take a leave of absence."
Yue Du mumbled something in reply. Sheng Xuejiu got up and walked away, returning with a cup of Kafta in her hand.
Kafta was a traditional beverage of the Spiral Star System's people. It was light blue in color and had a fatigue-relieving effect.
However, this drink had a unique characteristic: the ratio of its ingredients had a massive impact on its taste. Even a minuscule difference could result in a flavor that was worlds apart.
It was said that some people had even managed to concoct durian and chili-flavored versions...
There was a shop on the capital star that specialized in Kafta. The owner had mastered a very subtle ratio, creating a drink that had the flavor of "standing under a flowering tree in spring and breathing deeply."
One could say it was quite artistic.
Yue Du liked Kafta. She took a sip from the Marshal's hand and squinted in satisfaction. "It's warm."
Sheng Xuejiu: "I just adjusted the temperature. Is this ratio okay?"
"Mhm, the sweetness is just right," Yue Du commented objectively, before adding a touch of personal feeling, "Anyway, the ones you make are the best."
Sheng Xuejiu smiled but didn't reply.
When the cup was nearly empty, she said slowly, "I want to try some too."
Yue Du was trapped in the small space between the Marshal and the back of the chair. The person who had imprisoned her was drawing out the sweetness from her lips, moving from shallow to deep in an exceedingly tender and lingering manner.
After a long while, it concluded with a gentle, soft bite.
Sheng Xuejiu straightened up, the tip of her index finger resting on her red lips as she savored the taste. "It is indeed very good. I'll use this ratio from now on."
Yue Du: "..."
A ploy. It was all a ploy.
No matter how much it made her heart race and her face flush, it was still a ploy!
The afternoon class was the combat practice session taught by Sheng Xuejiu. However, today's lesson was a little different from usual. It wasn't held in the training grounds but on the military's holographic simulation arena on the StarNet.
The holographic simulation arena was divided into two categories: one for simulated mecha battles, and the other for pure combat without any virtual weapons or equipment. Sheng Xuejiu wanted the students to experience the latter.
This decision had originally been met with a lot of opposition. After all, according to the teaching plan, simulated arena combat was a course for second-year students and had to be conducted under the joint supervision of two instructors.
The reason was simple: the simulation arena allowed for casualties—of course, the casualties here only referred to the consciousness uploaded to the holographic network and caused no harm to the physical body.
Even so, the shadow cast by death was very realistic. That was why this simulation system was for military use only, intended to train the Federation's soldiers and future soldiers.
How could a group of freshmen who had just entered the military academy be sent into the arena?
Even if the proposer was the Marshal, it wouldn't do!
Sheng Xuejiu simply said, "Save it. How many children of military officers have been crawling and fighting on there before they even came of age? If we don't let students from other backgrounds join in, the gap will only grow wider. Is that what you hope to see?"
Her words left the objectors speechless.
Thus, the decision was ultimately put into effect, with the sole condition that another instructor be assigned to assist.
This was Yue Du's first time on this small world's holographic network.
All her senses felt very real. She looked down, making grasping and stretching motions with her hands, and felt no sluggishness. It was almost identical to being in the real world.
But in terms of realism, the environment of the System group chat room was still superior... After all, it was a product of the Main God's space.
Sheng Xuejiu's teaching attitude was very clear: let them be, and let the students grow wild.
The instructor sent by the school, on the other hand, was very serious, constantly emphasizing precautions and stating that if anyone felt unwell, they should terminate immediately.
Sheng Xuejiu herself couldn't be bothered to say all this and was happy to be idle, standing beside Yue Du and listening.
"I used to come here often when I was little. It was useful at first, but it got boring later on."
Yue Du keenly noted, "When you were little?"
Sheng Xuejiu: "Yes. I was about seven at the time. My opponents easily underestimated me, so winning gave me no sense of accomplishment."
Yue Du: "...This tells us that it's wrong to judge people by their age."
Sheng Xuejiu continued, "Fortunately, the forums spread news fast enough, letting them immediately understand that a seven-year-old child also had her methods."
"After that, people started to concede as soon as they saw me. Underestimate me? Whoever looked down on me could just wait to die once—"
Evidently, from then on, the little girl had become the challenger that everyone in the military department was most reluctant to face.
Yue Du imagined a seven-year-old girl killing people deftly in the arena and actually found it a little cute.
At that moment, the other instructor finished speaking.
"Marshal, do you have anything to add?"
Sheng Xuejiu: "I do."
Under the instructor's suddenly brightened gaze, the Marshal said calmly, "All of you, be careful not to get killed."
The instructor: "..."
The already nervous students: "..."
The military holographic system could completely simulate a person's physical fitness. The students present were basically all Sentinels who had passed rigorous selections to enter the military academy, and their physical fitness far surpassed that of most people in the army.
So, everyone was a bit confused by this reminder. They were nervous about losing, but no one had ever thought they would be directly seriously injured or judged as dead by someone with inferior physical fitness. For a moment, their minds couldn't quite process it.
Only those students who had logged into this holographic system before understood the meaning behind her words. They all stood on high alert, knowing that this was by no means an exaggeration or a joke.
The facts soon proved that the kids who didn't take her words seriously were too naive.
The majority of people in the military were, naturally, ordinary soldiers. Most of them were not as gifted as these talented students from the First Military Academy.
And those at the top of the pyramid were, after all, a minority. The probability of being matched with them as an opponent was very small.
But this didn't mean that the academy students could beat the ordinary soldiers.
People who had truly experienced bloody battles were different. Compared to these soldiers whose eyes were filled with nothing but survival and killing the enemy, the students were still too green.
And so...
One by one, the bewildered-looking young people were ejected from the holographic system.
This was the platform's self-protection function. After being judged as dead in the arena, they were automatically logged off to prevent mental damage.
Yue Du could hardly bear to watch.
As far as she knew, regardless of whether they were veterans or new recruits, generals or soldiers, they would all use this arena for training in their spare time. The students' losses were truly not unjust in the slightest.
The freshmen, who hadn't felt the situation was that grim just a moment ago, fell into a collective silence.
One boy muttered, not quite convinced, "It's mainly because we can't release our Quantum Beasts. If we could add our Quantum Beasts, they wouldn't necessarily lose."
Sheng Xuejiu, as expected, heard him and mercilessly mocked, "Your Quantum Beast is a wolf, right? Believe me, even if you released that wolf of yours, whose attacks have no strategy whatsoever and whose spiritual strength is weaker than tofu, your opponent would have absolute confidence in crushing it."
The boy said in a questioning tone, "Even if some of them can't even see it?"
Sheng Xuejiu: "That's right, even if the opponent is an ordinary person."
Yue Du could see that the boy didn't believe it, though he didn't show it obviously. Sheng Xuejiu seemed to have noticed as well and let out a soft snort. "Wait until I call some of my men over. Then this bunch of brats will know."
Yue Du: "..."
Lighting a candle for them.
Among the people who went up to fight one after another, Yue Du saw the female lead, Ying Wei. Her feelings about this small world's female lead were a bit complicated.
On one hand, Yue Du knew she was the female lead, but on the other hand, due to the lack of any related plotline information, Ying Wei seemed more like a stranger she had met in advance, with no sense of reality at all.
What's more, this mission line didn't seem to be related to Ying Wei. Did this mean she didn't need to pay special attention to the female lead's status?
Just as Yue Du was pondering, Ying Wei had already defeated her opponent.
She was indeed a rare and powerful female Sentinel. Neither her background from a remote planet nor her low-key disposition could conceal this fact.
Sheng Xuejiu noticed. "Why do you keep staring at her?"
Yue Du: "She's the female lead. Although I don't know the relevant plot, one should always pay some attention to the female lead."
After hearing this, Sheng Xuejiu turned her head to size her up, then said indifferently, "Oh."
She turned back again. "Actually, the villain is more worthy of attention, don't you think?"
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