Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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“Oh right! There are others too.”
After a brief moment of excitement, the military academy students finally came to their senses and sprang into action.
“Everyone, take pictures and upload them to the mission backend!”
“Ahhh, no, still no signal.”
“Let’s get out of the mountain first!”
Some took pictures, while others tended to the unconscious soldiers. All the Lia Star soldiers, including the officers, were tightly bound to the pillar by the military academy students.
Emerging from the mine, it was completely dark. A few dim stars dotted the night sky.
The group reached the foot of the mountain together, rescuing several fellow students along the way.
These students had gotten lost in the fog, constantly harassed by giant wolves, and were exhausted.
Only when the giant wolves stopped moving did they finally have a chance to catch their breath. They were overjoyed to hear that the situation was resolved.
However, this joy didn’t last long.
When they reached the foot of the mountain to submit their mission, they discovered that the three-star military merit mission was already marked as “completed.”
All the selectees were stunned.
What… what happened? Someone had completed the task ahead of them. But how could that be! They had been in the mine the whole time!
Someone exclaimed in surprise, “Could it be… could it be the people who kidnapped us?”
Although they initially suspected it was the Lia Star government, they would have killed them immediately if they wanted to, so it didn’t seem like they would go to such lengths.
But who else would do this besides those people?
Everyone couldn’t figure it out.
Beneath this huge mountain range, instead of joy, there was a wail.
A breeze blew by, carrying away a few fallen leaves. The leaves rustled and whispered.
Bai Yue seemed to sense something and looked up. But on that big tree, only moonlight shone down, and there was no one there.
Cao Xun noticed, “What’s wrong?”
“No,” Bai Yue shook his head, “I feel like someone is watching me.”
Although they didn’t know who had completed the military merit task first, they still obediently reported it.
The disciplinary team reported the matter to the military headquarters as they arrived.
After hearing that the Lia Star government was backing them up, the military headquarters attached great importance to the matter and prepared to send troops to the garrison.
However, the deployment would take some time, and before that, students would need to assist in controlling the scene.
“Thank you all for your hard work.”
The girl with the ponytail stood in front of the freshmen. Captain Fu Cheng had stayed at school due to other matters, so she was leading the team.
“Although you failed to complete the military merit mission, you captured more confidential intelligence. For this, we commend everyone.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the surrounding disciplinary team members applauded in unison.
“This incident was rather complicated, and then the reconnaissance bug was destroyed. We need time to analyze and evaluate it. The assessment results will be announced on the official website.”
Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
They thought that the mission was not completed and that this assessment would be invalidated.
The girl with the ponytail’s gaze swept over everyone, stopping on Mu Sihan.
In fact, she already had a score in her mind.
First was this person. He was the first to discover the strangeness of the giant wolf and find the culprit through clues. He stopped the giant wolf’s actions, buying time for the other team members.
Since Mu Sihan’s reconnaissance bug had been functioning normally, his performance throughout the entire process was observed.
Then there was another one.
Her gaze shifted to the right and stopped on Bai Yue.
It could be said that the opponent’s final performance was truly outstanding, a remarkable turn of events.
She had higher expectations for this S+ alpha than for the others, but his performance still far exceeded her expectations.
However, there was one problem: the footage captured by the reconnaissance bug.
Before the bug was destroyed, she did see a figure— the masked man.
Therefore, she wasn’t sure if that person had said anything to the student. After all, the organization’s brainwashing abilities were well-known. So after a moment of contemplation, the ponytail-wearing girl looked away.
“Dismissed for today. We’ll return to school together after the military arrives.”
“Yes, sir!”
After everyone left, the ponytail-wearing girl was about to walk back when a member of the disciplinary squad rushed over.
“Vice-captain! We found another person in the mine, a student from Imperial First. But not a selected student…”
He hesitated.
The girl with the ponytail frowned. “Just say what you want to say. What’s wrong?”
“Yes,” the team member nodded. “This person failed the preliminary selection. As for why he’s here… he said he’ll only explain if you come in person.”
The girl with the ponytail said, “Then lead the way.”
“Also, that person wants Bai Yue to come along too. Both of you must be there.”
Bai Yue?
The girl with the ponytail turned her head. The team had already disbanded, and the person was surrounded by the crowd, talking about something.
Could this matter be related to this person?
She fell into thought. After a moment of contemplation, she said, “I understand. Take him with us.”
Bai Yue followed the two into one of the tents.
This was a medical ward, with seven or eight simple beds. A person was half-lying on one of the beds. The injury on his shoulder had been treated and wrapped in white gauze.
The person’s glasses were broken and placed on a small table next to him.
It was Du Qin.
The girl with the ponytail recognized the person’s face and couldn’t hide her surprise.
How could it be this person?
One of the freshmen she had originally favored. His furtive appearance at the assessment site was bound to raise suspicions.
Du Qin, however, remained remarkably calm.
Once everyone was present, he began his confession.
After hearing his explanation, the ponytail girl’s emotions shifted from surprise to shock, and finally to anger at his apparent incompetence.
How could she have ever imagined that the person secretly helping the Lia Star government was actually a student of their Imperial First Academy?!
From Du Qin’s account, it seemed he had instigated the Lia Star government to lure them into arresting all the military academy students.
The ponytail woman took several deep breaths to barely suppress her rage.
“Thank you for your honesty,” she said expressionlessly, “but I’m sorry, you’ve done such a thing, we can only deal with it according to the law.”
“There’s another question. Who gave you so much highly lethal military equipment?”
After all, no matter how outstanding Du Qin was, he was just an ordinary military academy student. Not from a military family, he couldn’t easily obtain such things.
“That person didn’t reveal their identity.”
Now that things had come to this, Du Qin had no need to hide anything.
“However, he intentionally tried to win me over and provided a lot of highly lethal military supplies. I believe it’s someone from the Federation.”
Upon hearing this, the woman with the ponytail was shocked.
Behind this seemingly simple three-star military merit mission, there were actually Federation agents at work?
The other party had used students from their Imperial First Military Academy. Since they could directly contact the person, they were likely on campus.
In other words, their Imperial First Comprehensive Military Academy had actually been infiltrated by Federation spies!?
This matter was more serious than imagined and needed to be reported immediately.
She didn’t dare delay and immediately left the tent.
After the girl with the ponytail left, only Du Qin, Bai Yue, and another member of the disciplinary team remained in the tent.
Du Qin looked at Bai Yue: “You don’t seem very surprised.”
Bai Yue didn’t speak.
Previously, the mechanical voice had been speaking ill of the military academy and the Empire. He hadn’t overlooked this possibility. He just didn’t understand why Du Qin had called him over as well.
As if reading his thoughts, Du Qin said, “The reason I called you here is simple.”
“I have an obligation to explain this to you.”
He turned his head, his gaze falling on the white sheet. “Besides, I also owe you an apology.”
“What you said to me before I enrolled was meant to help me, right? But I was completely stuck in a rut at the time, and only now do I understand.”
He lowered his head. The stinging pain in his shoulder was still there, but this pain allowed him to think more calmly.
He was entirely in this predicament because of himself.
Indeed, the incident at Luohua Academy had made him lose face. But this had nothing to do with Bai Yue. Regardless of others’ attitudes, at least Bai Yue had never looked at him with any prejudice.
Du Qin: “It’s just a pity, it’s too late.”
Too late?
Bai Yue stared at him.
Indeed, the die was cast. Once Du Qin was sent to prison, it would inevitably leave an indelible stain on his resume. After his release, it would also affect his promotion.
However…
“Although it will be much more difficult, we must pay the price for our choices. Then, we’ll start over.”
Du Qin was taken aback.
“It’s not too late,”
Bai Yue said, looking at him. “It’s never too late to start making changes.”
“…”
Du Qin lowered his head slightly: “…I think I understand.”
Even without acting like him, there would naturally be reasons for people to flock to him.
Just then, the girl with the ponytail finished her report and walked in, her expression not looking too good.
She looked at the team members and new recruits in the tent and said, “You two, come out with me.”
The team members responded and went out first.
Bai Yue was about to follow when Du Qin stopped him.
The other party handed over a phone: “This contains my communications with that guy.”
“We probably won’t see each other anymore,” he said. “Whether to hand it over is up to you.”
Up to him?
Bai Yue reached out and took the phone.
Before he could ask any more questions, the girl with the ponytail’s urging voice came from outside.
“New recruit, hurry up!”
Bai Yue gave Du Qin one last look and walked out of the tent.
The girl with the ponytail was waiting for him outside. Seeing him come out, she said succinctly, “I’ve already reported what happened earlier to my superiors.”
“That’s the end of it. Don’t worry about it for now.”
Not only Bai Yue was stunned, but another team member was too.
“But…” the team member asked, puzzled, “Why…”
He was interrupted before he could finish. The girl with the ponytail said, “There’s no why. I’ve emphasized it countless times: following orders doesn’t require a reason.”
The team member trembled, “Yes, I’m very sorry!”
The woman with the ponytail nodded slightly and looked at Bai Yue again.
“And you. You’re a freshman, so you might not be familiar with our regulations. Orders from superiors must be obeyed absolutely and unconditionally. Efficiency is paramount. Learn to think for yourself.”
“Is there a problem?”
Bai Yue shook his head.
“Very good.” The girl with the ponytail patted his shoulder. “I look forward to your future performance.”
“Also, isolate Du Qin from the others. He’s not allowed to contact anyone outside the team.” The girl with the ponytail gave another order.
The team member saluted and obeyed.
Bai Yue put his hands in his pockets, holding his cold phone, as he lowered his eyes.
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