Chapter 18: Carrying Out the Mission

Lotus Fei never imagined that classes in the interstellar world could run nonstop from eight in the morning until eleven at night. If only she had eaten something beforehand.

Her stomach ached from hunger.

During the class, she discreetly observed the others. They showed no sign of distraction, fully engrossed in the lecture.

Well, she certainly wasn’t a good student. Her memory was poor, and even in her past life, she had relied on clever tricks to get by in school.

Fortunately, she hadn’t drunk much water and hadn’t brought any with her; otherwise, she wouldn’t know what to do when nature called.

Seeing everyone so focused, she wouldn’t dare ask to leave for the restroom.

But how could they endure not going?

Interstellar beings were truly formidable.

At last, when Situ Qing announced the end of class, Lotus Fei sprang up and dashed straight to the cafeteria.

Lilith froze momentarily but quickly followed. However, by the time she reached the classroom door, Lotus Fei had already vanished.

“Running so fast?!” Lilith puffed her cheeks in frustration.

“Lilith, what do you mean by that?” Xu Ang’s voice came from behind her.

Lilith rolled her eyes and turned around coldly. “What do you mean?”

Xu Ang frowned, anger flashing in his eyes. “You’re hanging out with that useless girl!”

Murong immediately tugged at Xu Ang’s arm, scolding him sharply. Then she looked apologetically at Lilith. “Sorry, you know Xu Ang has a temper and isn’t very smart. He didn’t mean it.”

Lilith sneered contemptuously, sizing Murong up and down. “Alright, playing the saint to deceive others is one thing, but don’t fool yourself.”

Murong was taken aback.

“Who I hang out with is none of your business,” Lilith said as she scanned the group. “Besides, I never said I’m a teammate or ally of yours.”

With that, she turned and strode quickly in the direction Lotus Fei had gone.

Xu Ang was furious and wanted to retort, but Murong stopped him.

“Don’t be impulsive, Xu Ang. After all, she is the heiress of the Zarokte family…”

“She’s a fake heiress! She’s been kicked out!” Xu Ang shouted, cutting her off.

“A skinny camel is still bigger than a horse,” Murong added.

Xu Ang fumed but was held back by Murong, so he stomped off in the opposite direction of Lilith, clearly upset.

Murong sighed and followed after him.

The others exchanged greetings and gradually dispersed.

“Zheng, are you feeling alright?” Pei Lanlan clung to Luo Zheng’s arm, her face full of concern.

Luo Zheng smiled and rubbed Pei Lanlan’s head. “I’m fine. The treatment pods here are top-notch, and they have the best spiritual power supplements at will. What could go wrong?”

“It’s all Lotus Fei’s fault!” Pei Lanlan pouted angrily. “If not for her, you wouldn’t have overexerted your spiritual power!”

Luo Zheng chuckled at her blind loyalty. “You’re so biased.”

Pei Lanlan puffed out her cheeks. “You’re my boyfriend. If I’m not biased toward you, who else should I side with?”

Luo Zheng kissed her on the cheek. “Alright, alright, I’m honored to be the object of your affection.”

Pei Lanlan blushed and hugged Luo Zheng.

At the moment everything happened, she had been upset and blamed Lotus Fei for everything.

But upon reflection, she knew it wasn’t fair to blame Lotus Fei; she just didn’t want to admit that Luo Zheng fainting was due to his own lack of strength.

In her heart, her beloved was the strongest.

If her beloved got hurt, it had to be someone else’s fault!

“It’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me, you’d be reporting to the Gale Xi Military Academy now,” Pei Lanlan sobbed. “You worked so hard for years to get in, and now it’s all for nothing.”

The Federation had four major military academies: Oliver Military Academy in Zone 1, Kongsang Military Academy in Zone 3, Elota Military Academy in Zone 7, and Gale Xi Military Academy in Zone 9.

There were two ways to enter: through normal academic promotion or by taking the military academy’s recruitment test at eighteen.

The latter was much harder, with a lower acceptance rate.

Out of ten thousand candidates, only one would be admitted. Sometimes, if too many students entered through normal promotion, the recruitment quota would be cut drastically.

In short, if you didn’t enter through normal promotion, getting into military academy was almost impossible.

Pei Lanlan and Luo Zheng were neighbors and orphans who had supported each other since childhood.

This year, Pei Lanlan was selected to participate in the Eden Project.

Luo Zheng, unwilling to be apart, gave up the military academy he had just been accepted to and resolutely followed her.

Luo Zheng held Pei Lanlan tightly, comforting her, “It was my choice, Lanlan. Without you, even mountains of gold and silver wouldn’t make me happy.”

Pei Lanlan cried louder.

Luo Zheng gently patted her back.

“And look, if we win the Eden Project game, we can still go to military academy—any of the four we want.”

Pei Lanlan looked up with teary eyes. “It’s not that simple! In all previous editions, it’s always been just a few planets winning. We’ve never won!”

Luo Zheng wiped away the tears at her eyes.

“This year, we will win.” Then he glanced toward the direction Lilith had left. “That Lotus Fei is the biggest wildcard.”

Pei Lanlan puffed her cheeks, indignant. “Zheng, she even caused you to overexert your spiritual power, and you’re still talking to her!”

Luo Zheng and Pei Lanlan had grown up together and knew her nature well.

She didn’t really blame Lotus Fei; she was just stubbornly refusing to admit it.

Luo Zheng appreciated Pei Lanlan’s straightforward bias.

He smiled and explained, “Do you remember Lilith once said why you can’t see someone’s spiritual power or personal info?”

One can only see basic information like name and address, but not spiritual power.

Either the person has zero spiritual power, or their personal data is locked and highly confidential.

“Lilith was raised in a noble family on Sarenfo Star. Nobles are the most selfish and opportunistic. To achieve their goals, they’ll go to any lengths, including sacrificing themselves,” Luo Zheng said. “Now that she’s so close to... no, flattering Lotus Fei, she must know something.”

“She must know that Lotus Fei’s personal info isn’t visible because it’s not that her spiritual power is zero!” Pei Lanlan answered eagerly.

“Exactly,” Luo Zheng nodded. “So Lotus Fei, whom Lilith flatters, must have something special.”

Pei Lanlan curled her lips. “So should we flatter Lotus Fei too?”

Luo Zheng shook his head. “We left a bad impression on her at first. Suddenly trying to flatter her will only make her suspicious... Let’s take it slow. For now, just don’t stand against her.”

Pei Lanlan nodded, then recalled how Xu Ang had been provoking Lotus Fei. She asked, “Should we tell Murong and the others?”

Luo Zheng said, “Don’t bother with them. Let’s just focus on ourselves.”

He had a poor impression of Murong and the others.

Just as Lilith said, Murong always played the saint on the surface.

She would publicly defend this side and that, but often she was the one subtly leading others—especially Xu Ang—into foolish acts, then cleaning up afterward.

She built her image by stepping on others.

With this in mind, Luo Zheng told Pei Lanlan, “Stay away from Murong and the others. Don’t believe a single word Murong says.”

Pei Lanlan nodded. “I’ll listen to you, Zheng.”

...

Meanwhile, the moment Lotus Fei heard "class dismissed," she bolted toward the cafeteria like a runaway dog.

Within three minutes, she had covered a distance that should have taken ten.

But just as she burst through the cafeteria doors and saw the crowd at the buffet counter, she slammed on the brakes in shock.

“Hey, Lotus Fei, so fast?”

The speaker was none other than the Zone 10 Military Commander.

“Teacher Shen, what a coincidence, you’re eating here too?” Lotus Fei smiled, though inwardly full of complaints.

Seriously, was the military commander so idle?

No military affairs to attend to?

And shouldn’t someone of his stature have meals delivered to his office?

How unlucky, how unlucky!

The Zone 10 Military Commander chuckled. “I came looking for you, and while I’m here, I wanted to try the food supplied exclusively to the Gesero Star Eden Project contestants.”

Being sought out by a teacher like this...

Lotus Fei felt like digging her toes into the ground.

Had she done something wrong?

No, she hadn’t done anything.

She had only attended one class with the commander.

“Looking for me?” Lotus Fei asked cautiously. “Is there something you need?”

The commander scooped some meat onto his tray.

“Don’t be anxious. You’re hungry too, right? Get your food first, and we’ll talk while we eat.”

Hearing this, Lotus Fei’s whole being radiated refusal.

She disliked eating with others, especially elders.

“Teacher, please just say what you want.”

As she spoke, she began planning to return to her dorm, pick her meal, and have Xia Lin deliver it.

But this meant she’d have to endure hunger for at least another half hour.

Sigh, why was the Zone 10 Military Commander here?

She just wanted to eat immediately!

The Zone 10 Military Commander smiled warmly. “I want to invite you to carry out a mission.”