Chapter 433: The First Men’s Military Academy!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
Night had descended, and the staff members at the registration hall who had been bustling around all afternoon could finally relax. The spaceport was about to close; almost all of the participating schools had already arrived …
That staff member who had promised to pass on a message for Luo Chao and Han Xuya picked up the paper note in the drawer of the counter, his expression troubled.
“Big Brother Xu, why haven’t you gone to eat?” It was already time for them to eat, so they were preparing to leave the hall. The one called Brother Xu sighed and said, “You all go ahead. Let me stay here alone.”
That person saw the note in Brother Xu’s hand and winked at him, saying, “So it’s all because of the obligation those beauties entrusted to you, Big Brother Xu!” He did not forget to knock shoulders with Brother Xu after saying this.
Big Brother Xu shoved the other, annoyed, and said, “Don’t talk nonsense. Just go away and eat.”
Seeing the other grinning cheekily as he packed up his things to leave with the crowd, Big Brother Xu thought for a moment and said, “Help me buy a takeaway meal.” Since he had made a promise, he would fulfil it.
“Got it, got it. I won’t bother you from carrying out the duty a beauty has requested of you.” That person waved and said nonchalantly.
Big Brother Xu smiled helplessly — even though the beauties were part of the reason, it was still mostly because he did not want to break a promise.
Soon, the hall had become silent and only Big Brother Xu was left sitting in the working area. He opened his communicator and began to browse through the relevant information on the year’s Mecha Grand Tournament.
“So it turns out that other than Qiao Ting from the First Men’s Military Academy, the Second and Third Men’s Academies are not willing to just roll over either. They’ve actually sent out sixth-years who have also achieved ace operator level … looks like this tournament will be a clash among tigers and dragons 1 .
“Even the Federal Co-ed Military Academy those two girls are from has a pretty good team leader. Lin Xiao 2 … I remember him. Eh? Not even indicating his mecha level. The last tournament, he had participated as well. Back then, as a third-year, he was already a special-class operator. Now that he’s a sixth-year, he can’t have stopped at special-class operator, right?” Big Brother Xu’s eyes were pensive. He still remembered Lin Xiao, mostly because this name sounded so similar to that of his idol Ling Xiao’s. It had made an impression on him.
“The tournament this year will be really interesting. These academies … in order to suppress the First Men’s Military Academy, they have actually sent out sixth-year students. It’s been many years since sixth-years have appeared in this tournament. I had almost forgotten that military academies are run on a six-year system,” muttered Big Brother Xu to himself.
“Which academies have sent sixth-years, Big Brother? Can you tell me about them?” Suddenly, a voice rang out by Big Brother Xu’s ear. Brother Xu’s heart clenched in fright and he snapped his head up, only to see a large head before his eyes. It was pillowed on the registration counter, staring at him with curious eyes.
Brother Xu calmed himself and only then noticed that two people had abruptly appeared out of mid-air in the hall. One of them was the handsome youth before him, staring at him curiously, while the other had his back to him and was looking at the door as if waiting for something.
“Hey, Big Brother, I’m asking you. Which schools have sent sixth-years? Tell me quickly please,” The handsome youth flashed a wide grin, so sunny that it could not be refused.
Big Brother Xu said, “It’s the Second and Third Men’s Academies, and also the Federal Co-ed Military Academy.” As soon as he said it, Big Brother Xu was rather annoyed at himself. How could he have just blurted this information out just like that? With a wary gaze, he asked carefully, “Who are you? Why are you here?”
That youth once again flashed a hearty smile and replied, “Sorry to disturb you, Big Brother. I’m called Xie Yi, and I’m from the First Men’s Military Academy.” He stood upright and when he saw Big Brother Xu’s attention flit to the person behind him, he raised his right hand and pointed with his thumb at the youth there and said, “That fellow is called Luo Lang. Big Brother, you can just ignore him. Whenever my boss isn’t around, that punk is always such a tight-lipped gourd.”
Subsequently, he asked, “Big Brother, how should I address you?”
The youth’s sunny and open smile, as well as his respectful attitude, set a good impression in Big Brother Xu’s mind. Big Brother Xu returned a smile of his own and said, “I’m called Song Yanxu. You can just call me Big Brother Xu.”
“Okay, Big Brother Xu.” Xie Yi was not shy, immediately adopting the new form of address.
“You all are from the First Men’s Military Academy. Have you all registered?” asked Song Yanxu as he turned on the optical supercomputer.
“The First Men’s Military Academy? So you’re here!” Before Xie Yi could reply, Song Yanxu suddenly exclaimed. He had just realised that the people before him were from the First Men’s Military Academy.
Song Yanxu quickly took out the paper note he had been entrusted with previously and passed it to Xie Yi, saying, “In the afternoon, two girls were here looking for you guys from the First Men’s Military Academy. They even left a note. Take a look and see if you know them.”
Puzzled, Xie Yi accepted the note and when he opened it, he cried out in surprise, “Ah, it’s from little sisters Luo Chao and Han Xuya!”
He had barely finished speaking when the note in his hand was whisked away by a slender hand. After he took the note, Luo Lang swiftly skimmed through the message and he could hardly contain the shock he felt inside, “They are actually participating in the Mecha Grand Tournament too …”
Reflecting back on when he had contacted Luo Chao a while back, she had indeed seemed very timid and evasive, extremely strange. Back then, Luo Lang had assumed that his little sister was just shy, but now things made sense — his little sister must have been trying to hide this from them to give them a surprise. Hehe, after being apart from him for more than a year, she had become rather audacious, actually daring to fool even him …
Luo Lang was annoyed. Setting aside the note in his hands, he stepped forwards into the light and pushed Xie Yi to one side to speak to Song Yanxu who still had his head bowed as he worked. “Big Brother Xu, did they leave any other messages?”
Song Yanxu raised his head at the question and when he saw that familiar face, he perked up and said happily, “You’ve come at the perfect time! The people from the First Men’s Military Academy are already here. I have just handed over your note to them.” He pointed at Xie Yi and added, “He’s from the First Men’s Military Academy. You can ask him about it.”
When Xie Yi heard this, he instantly burst out laughing. Meanwhile, Luo Lang was apoplectic, his entire face turning bright red. Aaaaargh, he was a man, a man, a man, A MAN!
Xie Yi’s laughter startled Song Yanxu, and when he saw that the familiar face before him was not sporting a bashful smile but fuming rage, he felt that something was not right. And then, when he saw that the other’s uniform was exactly the same as Xie Yi standing beside him …
“You … you … you’re male?” Song Yanxu pointed at Luo Lang in shock, his face a picture of disbelief.
Xie Yi slung an arm over Luo Lang’s neck and explained with a smile, “Yes, he is my brother, also a student of the First Men’s Military Academy, called Luo Lang. The one you saw, Luo Chao, is this fellow’s twin sister, yo.”
Only then did Song Yanxu believe it. He could not help but say under his breath, “How eerie. How could he look exactly like his younger sister? Not at all like a man?”
Although Song Yanxu had been speaking extremely softly, who was Luo Lang? Of course he heard everything loud and clear. His eyebrows rose sharply, but just as he was about to explode in anger, Xie Yi, who had also heard what Song Yanxu had said, quickly stepped in to stop him. “Boss will be here soon. Don’t cause trouble.”
Only then did Luo Lang rein in his anger. He hated most when others said he looked like a girl — if not because he did not want to cause trouble for his boss, he definitely would have challenged the other to a duel.
Sure enough, not too long later, footsteps could be heard coming from outside the hall. The noise suggested that the number of people was considerable.
The one in the lead was a dashing youth dressed in a white military uniform. His almond eyes were sharp and penetrating — he was definitely someone who did exactly as he said. Song Yanxu knew that only duxes had the right to wear this colour. Moreover, the bearing of this person and the reverence the others around treated him with all marked this person as the primary force of the First Men’s Military Academy.
Song Yanxu stood up and asked loudly, “From the First Men’s Military Academy? Please come and register.”
At his words, the white-clothed youth led his entourage right towards him. Xie Yi smiled at the sight and brought Luo Lang with him to retreat to one side, giving way to the other.
“Excuse me, how should I address you?” asked Song Yanxu respectfully.
“Qiao Ting!” replied the young man crisply. Immediately after, he drew a nameplate out of his pocket and handed it to Song Yanxu.
Song Yanxu accepted the nameplate and scanned it with the optical supercomputer, and the computer instantly registered the information in the nameplate. As expected, this youth was the rumoured second Ling Xiao, Qiao Ting. His mecha level was ace, and he was also the primary power candidate of the First Men’s Military Academy.
After Qiao Ting was done registering, Song Yanxu handed him a room card. This would be the place Qiao Ting would be resting at for the next half a month. This also meant that Qiao Ting was done with his registration procedures. Those following behind Qiao Ting immediately took out their respective nameplates and handed them to Song Yanxu for registration as well. This was a necessary procedure — if they did not register, they would lose the right to participate in the Mecha Grand Tournament.
There were 20 people who had come along with Qiao Ting. As Song Yanxu was the only one left to handle their registrations, he was so busy that his head was spinning, and his forehead was soon dripping with sweat. After much effort, these people were finally all done registering. Only then did he remember that the two who had first arrived still had not registered yet. He was just about to call them over when he saw Qiao Ting pass by those two …
Xie Yi and Luo Lang did not behave respectfully like the others; instead, their expressions were carefree and relaxed. Xie Yi even greeted the other casually, “Senior Qiao, hello~”
Song Yanxu could only stare blankly at the sight. The primary force of an academy was the strongest person in said academy, and he would be used to the respectful behaviour of those following him. Xie Yi and Luo Lang’s rather casual and irreverent demeanours surprised Song Yanxu, and so he swallowed his words to call them over, planning to let the situation play out a little further.
Qiao Ting’s steps halted when he heard the greeting. He turned his head to look at Xie Yi and Luo Lang, but he did not seem at all angry at their demeanours, nor did he ignore them. Instead, he actually took the initiative to say, “Your boss is right behind me. He’ll be here soon …”
Your boss? Could it be that the First Men’s Military Academy had sent two factions this time? And these two factions did not get along with each other? Song Yanxu was curious now. Even those not from the academy itself knew the rules of the First Men’s Military Academy. Every Mecha Grand Tournament, the ones sent to represent would inevitably be the mecha clan which had earned the title of number one faction within the academy.
“Thanks, Senior Qiao!” Xie Yi thanked Qiao Ting with a smile. Qiao Ting was about to say something more when he noticed a large batch of First Academy students coming up behind him. So he stopped and merely nodded to Xie Yi before saying, “We’ll head off first.”
Done speaking, Qiao Ting led his group out of the hall, while Xie Yi and Luo Lang turned to place their attention on the people who had just walked into the hall. They were the battle teams from Tianji and Wuji. The battle teams each took up one side of the hall — the two sides stood very far apart, so it was clear at a glance that the group was made up of two different parties.