General Ke Liang, Ke Yunyao’s father, had just returned from the front line when he heard that his precious daughter had been admitted into the Federation First Military Academy—his and his wife’s alma mater. Overjoyed, he immediately initiated a video call.
“Yunyao!”
Ke Yunyao replied in an upbeat tone, “Dad! I got in! Into the Mecha Department!”
“I know,” Ke Liang said. “I’ve already transferred a sum of money into your account. Spend what you need, buy what you need—don’t go thinking about doing research again!”
Ke Yunyao’s eyes darted around. “Got it, got it!”
At a glance, Ke Liang knew she hadn’t actually taken it to heart. He understood his daughter well—she was extremely frugal in daily life, all for the sake of funding her mecha research.
He couldn’t understand it. He and his wife were both highly placed officers—one a Commander, one a medic/pharmacologist. If their only daughter had chosen Command or pharmacology, she would have had direct guidance and resources from both of them. Yet she insisted on pursuing mecha engineering, a field with almost no inherited networks or support.
Mecha research was not something simple. A top-tier mecha engineer was built on vast resource investment. It was not an easy path.
But his daughter was stubborn to the core. She insisted on diving into it headfirst, even telling them she would one day build the best mechas in the galaxy for them.
Because she had no mentor in the field, her progress had been poor. He and his wife worried she might struggle to survive in the future, and also worried their own expertise would go unpassed down. So they forcibly made her learn Command and pharmacology alongside it.
Unexpectedly, she showed strong talent in both fields—far better than her unstable, half-developed mecha studies, in his opinion.
With her level in mecha engineering, he had even worried she wouldn’t pass admission into the Federation First Military Academy, which would waste her other talents.
Yet she actually made it in.
Was she really that talented after all?
He stopped thinking about it. In any case, the outcome was good.
Ke Liang chatted with her a while longer, reminding her of various precautions.
“I know. Mom already told me,” she said.
“Alright, then.”
What they could really say was limited to general academy rules and the credit system. Since they were not from the same department, they had little knowledge of departmental specifics.
…
Time passed quickly.
Ke Yunyao arrived one day early via spaceship at the academy’s home planet in the A-Star Ring system—the Federation First Military Academy, located on Kari Star.
It was a military planet; the entire world belonged to the academy. Although described that way, the campus only occupied one-fifth of the planet, with the rest covered in natural landscapes.
After disembarking, she found unmanned personal shuttles arranged at the spaceport for new students. They were free of charge; she only needed to enter her student ID to board.
What she liked most was that the entire process required no interaction with other people. The shuttle carried only her.
The distance was not far—about ten minutes—and she arrived at the main gate.
The entrance area was crowded, with queues at every department’s registration point.
She located the Mecha Department line and joined it.
“Hello, classmate.”
She tilted her body slightly, avoiding the hand reaching to tap her shoulder from behind.
A slightly chubby brown-haired boy behind her lit up at her reflexes.
“You’re really fast!”
Ke Yunyao looked at him warily, unconsciously reaching for her glasses—only to touch empty air.
She then remembered: her mother had strictly forbidden her from wearing that pair of glasses on her “cute face.”
She had initially resisted, but her mother had used her ultimate leverage—no compliance, no monthly allowance.
Her financial lifeline had been seized; resistance was impossible.
Her mother also added another pressure point: she knew academy instructors, and could “ask about her situation” at any time.
So she had tearfully agreed.
The real reason was simple: her mother wanted her to socialize more and stop staying indoors all the time.
The boy scratched his head. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not a bad guy. We’re going to be classmates.”
He genuinely didn’t understand why he looked suspicious.
He looked normal enough, didn’t he?
Ke Yunyao was nervous. It had been a long time since she had properly spoken to strangers.
After the boy’s comment, she realized her reaction was rude. She quickly withdrew her guarded expression, her tension easing slightly.
After a moment of hesitation, she forced herself to speak.
“Hello.”
The boy’s eyes lit up again. As expected—the girl’s voice matched her appearance: soft. Exactly like the kind of “little sister” he had always imagined.
He smiled broadly. “Hello! I’m Shou Yan, Mecha Class 1.”
Ke Yunyao paused. That’s a coincidence—same class?
Since he had introduced himself, she felt she should too.
“I… I’m also Class 1. My name is Ke Yunyao.”
“Such a coincidence! From today on, we’re classmates. Please take care of me!”
She smiled awkwardly. “Please take care of me.”
This person talks too much, she thought.
“Ke Yunyao, can I call you Yunyao?”
He smacked his lips, clearly pleased with her name.
Shou Yan had already, unilaterally, decided she was a “little sister” type he had always wanted.
“Whatever,” she replied, increasingly uneasy about his gaze.
“You know—” he continued talking nonstop.
She silently concluded again: this person talks too much.
Thankfully, the queue moved quickly.
Soon it was her turn.
“Junior, long time no see,” said the senior student handling registration.
Ke Yunyao recognized her—it was the same senior from the entrance examination.
After removing those “ancient-style” glasses, the junior no longer gave off any cold impression at all.
Soft features. Gentle voice. Completely different from before.
The senior had an idea but did not show it.
“Hello, senior,” Ke Yunyao greeted politely.
“My surname is Lin. Lin Hui. Just call me Senior Lin. Fill in your information here. This is your spatial storage device issued by the academy. It contains your uniform and equipment. Do not lose it—only this device is allowed during exams.”
“Okay, thank you for the reminder, Senior Lin.”
After completing registration and binding the device, the senior instructed her to go to the dormitory.
“Got it.”
Before leaving, she glanced back and nodded slightly toward Shou Yan, then turned and left.