The Data of the Ten Children

Ling Lan reigned in her elation, turning to ask Han Jijyun quietly, "What are the requirements to be a qualified soldier?"

Han Jijyun was very surprised by Ling Lan's random question, but still answered seriously, "Passion and loyalty in service of our beloved Chinese Federation, and to respect, trust, and care for our fellow warriors with a pure heart …" Han Jijyun recited the oath all soldiers had to swear under the flag of their country when they qualified to become a soldier and put on their uniforms; the oath already included all the qualities required of a soldier.

As she listened to Han Jijyun's recitation, Ling Lan's eyes grew brighter and brighter. She then continued asking, "And what are scout academies?"

"Nurseries for future soldiers," said Han Jijyun without any hesitation or doubt.

The smile on Ling Lan's lips became even more noticeable. "Then, we shouldn't lose our pure hearts to respect, trust, and care for our fellow warriors."

Han Jijyun abruptly came to a realisation, and his eyes brightened up. He finally understood what Ling Lan was hinting at.

"Qi Long, Luo Lang, go help Han Xuya and Luo Chao," shouted Han Jijyun to the two running at the front.

"Ah …!" Qi Long almost tripped over his own feet in surprise. Why did they have to help those two girls who were holding them back?

"I'll explain once the test is over." Although Han Jijyun agreed with Ling Lan's assessment, he didn't want to waste time arguing and so decided not to give Qi Long and Luo Lang an explanation right now.

Naturally, Qi Long listened to Han Jijyun. He gradually lowered his speed, dropping from first place to the last. Seeing this, Luo Lang hesitated for just a moment before following suit. Remember, one of the two girls who needed help was his own biological sister — in contrast, Qi Long had no direct relation to either girl.

Also, while it was true that Luo Lang wanted to beat Qi Long once, he didn't want to win in this way. The prideful Luo Lang wouldn't accept this sort of shameful victory.

Undeniably, Qi Long and Luo Lang had the best physical fitness among the ten children. (Ling Lan didn't count due to her being touched by the gods.) Even though they each took on the burden of another person, their speed was not reduced by much. In no time at all, the two of them had barrelled forward again, once more taking up their positions at the front of the group.

********

In a particular observation room, the officer who just happened to switch his screen to view room 72 let out a surprised shout. Each officer in the room was in charge of monitoring ten rooms. The officers would switch their individual screens between rooms every one minute, going through all ten rooms in ten-minute intervals, and this officer had just happened to start viewing the feed from room number 72.

The officer seated right beside him had been focused on his own screen, but couldn't help looking up in surprise at his colleagues' shout. He took a glance at his friend's screen out of curiosity, and when he saw what was happening, he also started to exclaim, "Oh, how interesting!"

Their cries attracted the attention of the superintendent, who walked over with a frigid expression on his face. "What's going on? Why did you both break the command to maintain silence?"

"Sir! We've noticed some promising recruits," hurriedly reported the two officers, saluting the superintendent. There was no chagrin at all in their voices, instead, their tone was matter-of-fact. They knew that they were in the right because there was an overriding command in the military — the discovery of any promising recruits was to be reported immediately … and that was precisely what they were doing now.

Upon hearing this, the superintendent's expression thawed. He looked at the screen, and with just one glance, his demeanour changed. What he saw on the screen had truly shocked him.

The two officers glanced at each other feeling proud of themselves, but also relieved that the children were still performing brilliantly at this bloody important moment.

Sadly, the screen wasn't cooperative; the superintendent had only observed for a few seconds when the feed switched over to that of another room.

"Wu, switch the feedback to the previous room," ordered the superintendent.

"Yes, Sir!" Officer Wu was the one who was in charge of monitoring Ling Lan's group. He quickly adjusted the feed so that the screen was fixed on the room Ling Lan's group was in.

From the screen, they could see that the two girls, Han Xuya and Luo Chao, who were originally being dragged around by Qi Long and Luo Lang's brutal pace, had now been piggybacked by the two boys. From the looks of it, the two girls had completely depleted their energy and could no longer run on their own.

Meanwhile, behind them, the six remaining children, including Ling Lan, had started running in a rotation, making sure to assist the two children with the weakest stamina. Of course, they also helped each other, giving each other a push or a supporting shoulder when necessary as they ran, so nobody had been left behind.

This current situation was a direct result of Ling Lan and Han Jijyun's decisive actions. If they hadn't reached out first to help the weakest two of their teammates, there would have probably been a few less people in the group by now.

Their actions had sparked some realisation in the other teammates, whom they didn't know as well, so when those teammates saw that they were growing tired, they had actually stepped up and offered to take over and help. Thus, the current situation came to be as seen on the screen.

"Give me the data of these ten children." Even as he marvelled at the sight, the superintendent's brows furrowed. A seed of doubt grew in his heart. This team was altogether too coordinated, causing him to suspect that someone may have abused their authority to manipulate things so that these children had been put into one group on purpose.

Soon enough, the data of Ling Lan's group of ten had been retrieved.

********

Ling Lan: Son of Major General Ling Xiao, god-class operator of the IN mecha , vice commander of the Seventh Division of the Interstellar Forces. Inheritor of said major general's premium military benefits. Physical Fitness: [S] rank, Spiritual Power: Tier-2, Potential: [S] rank.

Qi Long: Son of Colonel Qi Yaoyang, ace pilot of the MT mecha , lead pilot of the Third Division of the Interstellar Forces. Physical Fitness: [S] rank, Spiritual Power: Tier-2, Potential: [S] rank.

Luo Lang: Son of Colonel Luo Qifeng, commander of the Third Fleet in the Ninth Division of the Interstellar Forces. Physical Fitness: [S] rank, Spiritual Power: Tier-2, Potential: [S] rank.

Han Jijyun: Son of Colonel Han Rong, deputy director of the Federal Central Military Intelligence Agency. Physical Fitness: [A+] rank, Spiritual Power: Tier-3, Potential: [S] rank.

Luo Chao: Daughter of Colonel Luo Qifeng, commander of the Third Fleet in the Ninth Division of the Interstellar Forces. Physical Fitness: [B] rank, Spiritual Power: Tier-2, Potential: [A] rank.

Han Xuya: Daughter of Major Han Yushao, acting head of the Federal Logistics Base on the Planet of Qiyuan. Physical Fitness: [B] rank, Spiritual Power: Tier-2, Potential: [A] rank.

Luo Shaoyun: Commoner. Nephew of Captain Luo Jiguang, commander of the Third Company of the mecha protective task force for mecha operators of the Thirteenth Division of the Interstellar Forces. Inheritor of said captain's premium military benefits. Physical Fitness: [A] rank, Spiritual Power: Tier-1, Potential: [A] rank.

Yuan Youyun: Descendant of the Yuan family of the Planet of Zhong Xing. Physical Fitness: [A] rank, Spiritual Power: Tier-1, Potential: [A] rank.

Li Jinghong: Descendant of the Li family of the Planet of Doha. Physical Fitness: [B] rank, Spiritual Power: Tier-1, Potential: [B+] rank.

He Chaoyang: Commoner. Adopted son of Captain He Shaoji, deputy captain of the Ninth Fleet Assault forces of the Seventeenth Division of the Interstellar Forces. Inheritor of said captain's premium military benefits. Physical Fitness: [B] rank, Spiritual Power: Tier-1, Potential: [B+] rank.

********

Taking in this data, the superintendent could clearly see that all the children came from different star systems, and had backgrounds from all walks of life, though over half came from traditional military families. Most importantly, however, even the weakest potential among the children was at [B+] rank. Even if that ranking might not qualify for the special classes, it was more than enough to ensure a spot in the regular classes.

The superintendent looked once more at the first line. Ling Lan's data, in particular, made a surge of emotion rise up within him. The god-class operator of the IN mecha Major General Ling Xiao … that man was the role model of countless soldiers … it was such a shame he had died in the death tunnel of a meteor field seven years ago. He could still remember what a shock it was when the news had first been received. The whole Federation had been shaken to its core, and all the military men had been greatly saddened by the tragedy.

For context, it should be noted that there were only 12 god-class IN mecha operators throughout the entire Federation. Each god-class operator was considered a national treasure, and was the representation of a country's might, acting as a deterrent to foreign enemies. And Major General Ling Xiao, in particular, had been the only operator to have ascended to god-class within the past ten years, and he had also been the youngest IN mecha operator.

Back then, everyone had been optimistic, anticipating that Major General Ling Xiao would be able to become the strongest god-class operator among the twelve, with youth as his greatest advantage. Sadly, the tree of his talent grew too high above the canopy — it was toppled by the wind long before he could truly spread out his branches.

Later on, the Federation's investigation had uncovered that the magnetic turbulence within the death tunnel was most likely a sinister plot hatched by an enemy nation, specifically targeting Major General Ling Xiao. Unfortunately, the Federal Intelligence Agency hadn't discovered this in time, and the painful price of their oversight was twofold — not only had the nation lost the potentially strongest god-class mecha operator of the future, but the two countries had also become bitter enemies, whereby the war between them would not stop till one side was annihilated.

The death of a god-class mecha operator would never be forgiven by the soldiers of the Federation!