Larry: Bo Tang, were you bullied by them this morning?
In the empty computer room, Bo Tang saw this message pop up the moment he opened his light screen.
Bo Tang: …
Sure enough, no matter where you are, rumors always travel faster than the truth.
Bo Tang: No.
Larry: Then why did I hear that Instructor Iman called you and Wicker aside alone?
Bo Tang: …He just assigned me and Wicker to the combat department together for firearm practical training.
Larry didn’t reply with text this time. Instead, a large video call prompt popped up.
Bo Tang clicked accept, and the light screen immediately displayed Larry’s wide eyes, his bright blue eyes currently filled with anger.
“Is the instructor crazy?! How could he let a beta like you do practical training in a place packed with alphas? This is too much! Isn’t this just bullying an honest person?” Larry was both angry and indignant. “Could it be that he’s deliberately torturing you just to climb up to the Fryman family’s high branch?”
After chattering away in a rush, Bo Tang couldn’t get a word in edgewise, so he simply rested his chin in his hand and observed the background behind Larry. There were people coming and going, it looked like the cafeteria.
Most of the boys and girls sitting near Larry had delicate features, looking like omegas, and Bo Tang could see quite a few people around them casting glances their way.
Seeing that Bo Tang hadn’t spoken for a long time, Larry finally stopped his rant and asked curiously, “Where are you? Why is it so dark?”
“The computer room.” Bo Tang flipped open the tethering pod hatch beside him. “I don’t have my own tethering equipment.”
Larry: …
Oh crap, I forgot that our new friend got into Bay University through welfare relief.
Nowadays, even the lowest end model of a tethering pod wasn’t cheap, it basically cost the equivalent of a family’s annual living expenses.
A beta who had to rely on relief just to go to school obviously couldn’t afford such exorbitant equipment.
Seeing Larry’s guilty expression, as if a sore spot had been poked, Bo Tang smiled. “There’s no need to walk on eggshells around me. At least I get to use a tethering pod now, don’t I?”
He added, “As for the bullying you just mentioned, that’s not true either. It’s just because my grades are relatively good, so the instructor pulled me over for extra training.”
Larry’s attention was successfully diverted. “Grades are relatively good?”
Though he really didn’t want to dampen his friend’s spirits, how could a beta possibly surpass an alpha?
…Wait, at the very beginning, he had even mistaken Bo Tang for an omega. There was nothing absolutely impossible in this world.
On second thought, considering the academic level of alphas who chose to major in medicine, perhaps Bo Tang was just the tallest dwarf in the valley?
“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Larry looked half-convinced, deciding to ask around again in the afternoon. “Then you’d better do your best in the afternoon’s mecha practical training too.”
Bo Tang gave a soft hum of acknowledgment and asked, “Do you know how mecha practical training is conducted?”
Regarding this, Larry scratched his cheek with a helpless expression. “Our omega physiques can’t support mecha piloting and combat, and my alpha brothers rarely talk to me about combat stuff. I’m sorry I can’t help you.”
Having guessed he wouldn’t get an answer when he asked, Bo Tang wasn’t disappointed. He only said, “It’s fine. I’ll ask someone else.”
“Alright then. If you get bullied, you must remember to tell me!” Larry shook his fist. “I’ll definitely let them know the consequences of bullying the weak!”
The “weak” Bo Tang smiled and said goodbye to him.
There were also two unread messages from Simon in his chat list, asking what had happened after they were taken away in the morning.
Bo Tang: We were just pulled away for extra training. No need to worry.
Simon: That’s good. I thought you guys were being singled out for corporal punishment.
Bo Tang asked about the mecha practical training.
Simon: The specific content usually involves simulating a space or wilderness environment, piloting a mecha to annihilate the Zerg, and scoring based on kill count or operation accuracy.
Simon: Although it sounds simple, the Zerg simulated by the system will become more and more agile as our training progresses. Only those with a mastery level application of spiritual power can precisely hit every single Zerg.
Bo Tang fell into deep thought.
Having transmigrated here for so long, he still didn’t know what spiritual power actually was, nor what state other people were in when using it. It would be hard to guarantee he wouldn’t give himself away.
Thinking of this, he asked Simon. Are there any techniques for piloting a mecha?
Seeing this message, Simon didn’t wonder why he asked.
As everyone knew, the vast majority of betas in this world had a spiritual power level of C-grade or lower. Even if they could pilot a mecha, they generally only did simple logistical work and wouldn’t participate in combat.
Simon didn’t know why Bo Tang hadn’t been assigned to the beta specific training room, but the school’s arrangements naturally had their own logic. He didn’t prejudge what Bo Tang should or shouldn’t be able to do just because he was a beta.
He assumed Bo Tang simply hadn’t been exposed to mechas much, which was normal for a beta’s background.
So, he answered earnestly, after connecting to the mecha, your body will naturally perceive the machine body as a layer of exoskeleton. In other words, all operations of the mecha stem from your own combat quality. Offense or defense are both decided by your will, it’s just that finer operations consume more spiritual power.
He comforted him. You don’t need to worry too much, though. Current mecha models are all paired with auxiliary AIs. Even a C-grade spiritual power user can fight in a mecha for over 3 hours.
Bo Tang really wanted to ask what would happen if someone had no spiritual power at all, but he held back.
In fact, ever since he was initially identified as a kidnapping victim, he wasn’t sure if he could test for spiritual power like the natives of this world. Fearing that failing the test might arouse suspicion, he had used a small trick to bypass the spiritual power assessment.
Afterwards, it kept getting delayed until now.
He needed to figure out a solution.
After briefly expressing his thanks, Xu Shi posted a message in the newly created class group chat.
Xu Shi: Mecha practical training will begin in half an hour. Please prepare your tethering equipment, everyone. The tethering code is xjlysdh45. I hope everyone arrives on time.
Followed by a string of “Received” acknowledgments.
Bo Tang pondered for a moment and decided to connect ahead of time.
After entering the tethering code, Bo Tang lay down inside the soft pod body.
The exterior of the tethering pod was long and olive shaped, aside from a transparent panel used to observe the state inside the cabin, the outer shell was opaque metal.
As the metal shell slowly lowered, the space was sectioned off into a small, narrow enclosure.
The prompt tone for tethering sounded, the light inside the cabin instantly turned off, and the entire tethering pod became a sealed, independent space.
Bo Tang didn’t feel any discomfort, instead, his shoulders and back relaxed more and more.
Before his consciousness felt dizzy and spinning, he vaguely thought to himself that he must remember to buy a few suitable wooden boards online these next couple of days.
He needed a coffin.
A kaleidoscopic flash of meaningless scenes passed by. Once the dizziness vanished, Bo Tang opened his eyes.
What met his eyes were his own fingers, as pale as in reality, with prominent knuckles. He clenched his fists, the realistic tactile sensation hardly felt virtual at all.
He raised his head to observe the surrounding environment.
He was currently standing in a vast room. The lighting was extremely bright, illuminating the silver-white interior so that it appeared vast and cold.
It looked very similar to the training room he had been in that morning.
Except that compared to the even emptier firearm training room, there were far more objects here.
Inside the giant gourd shaped room, the nearly ten-meter-high walls were entirely embedded with floor to ceiling display cabinets, and every single cabinet displayed an empty mecha.
The mechas hung their heads naturally, resembling a group of sleeping Ymir giants. Bo Tang stood right in the middle of these colossal objects, making him look exceptionally small by comparison.
It was quite a shocking visual effect.
Even though he had seen various fantasy films and television works back on Earth, experiencing it in person was ultimately different.
However, time was short, and Bo Tang didn’t allow himself to indulge in admiring the beauty of machinery.
There was no one else in the room for the moment. Bo Tang looked at the console in the center of the room and walked over.
As he approached, a light screen rose from the console.
Welcome, trainee!
The current training room has not activated official tasks. Would you like to select trial mode?
Bo Tang clicked confirm.
Please place your palm into the sensor slot to determine your spiritual power level. I will match you with a suitable mecha model.
A silver sensor slot rose up.
This is just what I needed. Bo Tang paused and extended his palm into it.
Beep, testing… Testing… Test complete!
Looking at the level displayed on the light screen, Bo Tang slowly narrowed his eyes.
This won’t do…
“Will this trial result be recorded?” Bo Tang asked.
After official tasks are enabled, trial results will be cleared.
“Clear it right now,” Bo Tang said decisively.
You have not started the trial yet. Are you sure you want to clear it?
“Confirmed.”
Received. Data has been cleared.
Bo Tang tapped his fingers lightly on the console, a thoughtful look flashing in his dark eyes. With less than ten minutes left before roll call, he had to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.
Abruptly, he noticed that his reflection was clearly visible against the silver white metal wall.
In the reflection, his eyes were as dark as an abyss.
Come to think of it, he remembered cases reported in the news where some alphas coming down from the battlefield experienced brain domain damage or temporary shrinkage due to various reasons, resulting in a subsequent drop in their spiritual power levels.
And the brain domain was, to a certain extent, tied to a person’s cognition.
Did this mean that when a person deeply believed from the bottom of their heart that their brain domain had shrunk, their spiritual power level would also shrink synchronously?
The tapping motion on the console halted, and Bo Tang slowly walked toward the wall.
He saw a scarlet, bloody hue gradually spinning and spreading outward from his pupils, resembling a crimson black hole radiating a bizarre force, attempting to drag the sanity of everything living it gazed upon downward into an abyss.
In the mirror surface, Bo Tang’s gaze gradually grew vacant.
After finishing his break, Iman logged into the holographic training room via tethering, only to find someone who had entered even earlier than him.
“So diligent?” Iman stepped forward and walked over to greet him.
The black haired beta turned his head with a slight delay, the dark, lustrous eyes quickly curving into a smile. “Instructor, good afternoon.”
Iman casually responded, “Came over so early to adapt to the mechas in advance? How is it? Did DEVI give you any suggestions?”
The “DEVI” he mentioned was the AI equipped in this holographic training room.
Bo Tang shook his head, looking somewhat embarrassed. “I just got here. I don’t know how to operate these.”
Iman tapped the light screen on the console and glanced at it. There were two usage records, but both had zero data, so he beckoned to him. “Well then, perfect. Come over here and test your spiritual power now.”
Obediently, Bo Tang walked over and pressed his right hand into the sensor slot.
Beep, testing… Testing…
Iman stood casually behind Bo Tang, his eyes locked between him and the light screen.
It was as if he wanted to confirm the student’s test results at the very first moment, yet it also felt like a form of preventative surveillance.
Iman had originally been slated to take up a post as an instructor in the command department, but right before his departure, the imperial authorities had issued a mission document.
The mission rank wasn’t high, its content was to monitor a student. Since Iman had previously handled intelligence related matters, this task fell to him.
The document stated that this extremely striking looking beta had suddenly appeared five months ago at the scene of a kidnapping arrest. He possessed no proof of identity and no entry/exit records, and after being brought back by law enforcement officers, he claimed to have amnesia.
Because this series of excuses looked far too much like the style of a Federation spy, this beta who called himself Bo Tang was placed on the surveillance list.
Iman had come to Medical Class A with a sense of vigilance, but the first time he witnessed Bo Tang showcase his skills, his judgment of him had wavered.
If he were a spy, the other party’s face destined him to stand out from the crowd, undoubtedly a hindrance to undercover work.
If he weren’t… that level of marksmanship was indeed far too extraordinary for a beta.
But then again, a professional spy shouldn’t display their skills so openly.
The two trains of thought tugged back and forth in Iman’s mind.
Bo Tang’s actions were riddled with oddities everywhere, but upon closer thought, they could barely be explained as the recklessness of an amnesiac youth. Moreover, Bo Tang’s unfamiliarity with various equipment didn’t look like an act either…
A thousand thoughts swirled in Iman’s head, though nothing showed on his face, and his gaze didn’t waver in the slightest.
Bo Tang lowered his eyes quietly, appearing exceptionally calm under Iman’s scrutiny.
Test complete!
The current detected spiritual power level is: D-grade.
“D-grade?”
Iman, conversely, lost his composure. He looked back and forth at the light screen as if he were about to reach out and smack DEVI the next second.
An angry emoji appeared on the light screen.
DEVI has never made a mistake!
“Ahem…” Iman dry coughed awkwardly. “Strange… how could it be D-grade?”
Someone who could hit seven 10 rings on a 200 meters stationary target, how could they possibly have such a mediocre level?
In interstellar humanity, an individual’s spiritual power level was directly proportional to their physical fitness, higher body control meant stronger spiritual power.
Originally, according to Iman’s speculation, Bo Tang should have been at least B-grade.
“D-grade…” Iman frowned.
For other betas, this might be a normal level, but Iman always felt this standard couldn’t be applied to Bo Tang.
Bo Tang’s expression was calm. “Instructor, is there a problem with my spiritual power level?”
“Huh?” Iman abruptly realized his reaction was too bizarre, practically looking as though he had been expecting this person to test out some astonishing result.
He dry coughed once more. “Ahem, nothing. Just feels a bit of a pity.”
“If you were even B-grade or A-grade, given the ability you displayed during firearm practical training, your future would have been absolutely limitless.”
Iman had originally just been fobbing Bo Tang off with perfunctory words, but the more he spoke, the more he convinced himself.
Real regret laced his tone.
Modern society indeed worshipped alphas, alphas possessed thick hides, towering spiritual power, and could fight a hundred men on the battlefield, they were soldiers favored by every single general.
The problem, however, was that alphas were far too susceptible to hormone influences.
That week or so during the rut and heat phases was the period when alphas were most prone to spiritual berserking. Even with suppressants or bite mufflers, it treated the symptoms rather than the root cause. Under the bonus of super strong combat power, persistent irritability and bellicosity extremely easily escalated into one or several brawls. Every year, just dealing with the losses caused by alphas during special periods consumed a massive chunk of military expenditure.
Even outside of special periods, the innate desire for conquest and exclusivity inherent to alphas created considerable resistance to military management.
This was not a gender suited for communal living.
Consequently, emotionally stable Iman thoroughly detested the alpha legions the Empire was so proud of.
Iman had originally thought that if Bo Tang’s background was clean, he could have groomed him.
What a pity.
Thinking with a mixture of relief and regret, perhaps he could finally submit that surveillance report.
D-grade destined him to be a beta with no military future.
And naturally, no future as a spy either.