The stronger the teammates were, the happier Vashi, as the commander, became. Even having one “troublemaker” in the team was something he could barely accept.
Since both Duan Yang and Jiang Tian also had self-protection abilities, things became much easier to arrange.
Originally, he had assumed that the non-combat members of the team would be relatively weak. So his initial plan was to split the team into three groups of 3–3–4, with him and the five combat students forming three escort groups to protect the four non-combat members.
Although this would reduce the probability of finding material and medical boxes, it was the best way to preserve overall strength.
But now things had taken a turn.
At this point, almost only one person still truly needed protection, while the others all had self-defense capabilities. This meant he could directly divide everyone into pairs.
Vashi patted Yan Zhou’s arm. “Yan Zhou, I plan for us to split into five two-person groups and search in different directions for the material and medical boxes. This will increase our chances.”
“In our team, only you are SS-rank in physical ability, and only you have enough spare capacity to protect Meng classmate.”
The unspoken meaning was clear to everyone: only Yan Zhou wouldn’t be held back by Meng Lingling.
Yan Zhou frowned slightly. Although he looked down on Meng Lingling’s ability, Vashi’s reasoning was correct. So he reluctantly agreed.
Meng Lingling didn’t care how the arrangement was made—as long as the strongest person in the team protected her, that was enough.
After solving the most troublesome issue, Vashi finally relaxed a little and continued assigning roles. “Yunyao, you’ll team up with Cixi.”
Yan Cixi had good ability, and as a fellow female student, she would likely communicate more easily with the quiet Ke Yunyao.
“Okay, okay! I fully agree!” Yan Cixi said happily. She was very satisfied with this arrangement.
Ke Yunyao nodded as well—she had no objections.
Meng Lingling frowned slightly. Why was the commander even addressing people differently?
Forget it. She was going to be a noble high-level potion maker in the future anyway. There was no benefit in getting too close to these people. Keeping some distance was fine—she was even afraid they might cling to her.
Vashi, unaware of her thoughts, turned to the remaining students.
Before he could speak, Duan Yang said first, “Captain, as the commander, you need someone to protect you. Let Yang Qi stay with you.”
Jiang Tian also nodded in agreement.
Ma Kaluo added, “Exactly. You’re the captain—Yang Qi should stay with you. Wang Yelin and I can team up with Duan Yang and the others. We won’t suffer for it.”
Vashi nodded and accepted the suggestion.
“Alright, then it’s settled. We’ll split up and head in different directions. Search for half a day—if nothing is found, return immediately and regroup here.”
“Yes!” everyone responded.
This was one thing Vashi was satisfied with: everyone was willing to follow instructions without trying to seize control.
Because power struggles could indeed happen.
For example, another team on the opposite side of the forest.
It was the team led by Li You, a branch genius from the Li family.
Because their commander’s mental power and physical ability were only A-rank, Li You—used to being pampered as a noble heir—refused to be under anyone else and directly seized command.
The others tried to please him and didn’t dare object. Even if the commander felt wronged, no one would speak up for him.
And it wasn’t just that team—others also had cases where instructions from the commander were not properly followed.
All of this was being observed by the instructors in the control room.
Why did first-year students have an entrance exam?
The school’s goal was to filter talent. The entrance exam only showed raw ability, but real training revealed character.
So although such exams exposed many flaws in new students, they also allowed teachers to tailor future training accordingly.
Battlefields never needed the myth of a single hero—they needed coordinated teams.
They needed soldiers who could fight together.
……
Ke Yunyao and Yan Cixi were already on their way to search for material and medical boxes. Along the way, when they encountered low-level star beasts, they didn’t hesitate to fight them bare-handed.
It was also a form of physical training, so neither of them held back.
Yan Cixi was very talkative along the way, trying to chat with Ke Yunyao, but Ke Yunyao was not good at conversation. She only responded every three to five sentences, though Yan Cixi didn’t mind.
After walking for a long time, Yan Cixi couldn’t help but sigh. “These boxes are really hard to find.”
Ke Yunyao nodded. The forest was vast and seemingly endless—it really wasn’t easy.
This couldn’t go on like this, Ke Yunyao thought.
To avoid missing anything, she tried releasing her spiritual power outward to scan the surroundings.
Yan Cixi’s ears twitched. She could feel a gentle wave of spiritual power brushing over her like a light breeze.
She looked at Ke Yunyao in surprise. Isn’t this kind of wide-range mental scanning something only commanders or planting department students can do?
Ke Yunyao noticed her expression change.
She casually made an excuse. “I trained it specifically for finding minerals.”
That wasn’t exactly a lie. It was indeed a commander skill taught by her father, but she mostly used it to locate ore.
Yan Cixi didn’t know what to say after hearing that.
Do mech crafters really need to personally search for minerals?
Isn’t it usually something people just deliver to them?
Ke Yunyao understood her expression and paused briefly. “It’s cheaper if I find them myself.”
Yan Cixi blurted out, “Do mech crafters lack star coins?”
Ke Yunyao thought of her past spending on mech research and sighed deeply. “Yes. I really lack them.”
“……”
Yan Cixi was confused. This wasn’t what she expected at all.
Ke Yunyao didn’t continue explaining. Instead, she pointed in a direction. “Let’s go that way. I saw some medicinal plants there.”
“Oh! Okay!” Yan Cixi quickly followed.
Less than fifty meters later, they indeed found the medicinal plants she had mentioned.
Yan Cixi suddenly reacted. “Wait—you… you also know medicinal plants?”
This mech crafter knew way too much.
Ke Yunyao squatted down and used a random branch she picked up to dig them out while answering, “Medicinal plants can be sold for star coins, of course I know them.”
Back then, in order to fund her mech research, relying only on her parents wasn’t enough. She also learned to make potions to sell. The most basic requirement for potion-making was knowing medicinal plants—and any unused herbs could also be sold for money.
However, she usually refined them into potions because that earned more.
“……”
Yan Cixi fell silent.
Alright. This mech crafter really did seem extremely short on money.
But she misunderstood.
She assumed Ke Yunyao came from a poor family but loved mecha research so much that she worked desperately to earn money.
No wonder she was so outstanding.