The three people let out meaningful laughs, especially Ji Xiu, with a villainously complacent smirk that earned disdainful glances from the Command Department’s Marville and others nearby.
In the central square, Meng Keqin, dressed in a majestic Colonel’s military uniform, shone with the gleam of military rank—the perfect testament to her excellence.
She moved around the screen with the grace of a flitting butterfly, her military boots equipped with a special floating device, designed by the R&D department specifically for generals, which allowed her to walk in the air with ease.
The pair she wore was the "Lotus Steps" model, tailored for female generals. With each step she took in the air, a lotus-shaped energy glow would emanate from beneath her feet.
Paired with Meng Keqin’s perfect features and confident smile, who knows how many pure-hearted young men she enchanted.
At this moment, she even stole the limelight from the contest participants.
On the podium, Principal Xia Zeming, who had to be there, whispered to his assistant, "What’s gotten into that girl Keqin?"
"What’s the matter?" The assistant saw nothing amiss.
"She’s too high-profile, not as composed as before, seems a bit too eager to show off," frowned Xia Zeming. "As a host, her main duty is to introduce the students, set the mood, but now it’s become her show. She even wore boots that even I don’t have."
The corner of the assistant’s mouth twitched as they thought: Are you really just concerned about the boots?
However, the assistant was quick to catch on, furrowing their brows and soon spotting the issue, "Meng Keqin is neglecting our Elbert."
"Not too slow on the uptake."
In the audience seats below, Lin Fu noticed as well. The host had talked at length, introduced the characteristics, talents, honors, and online popularity of each school’s pilot, but completely failed to mention the Flying Team led by Xu Jinglan.
Lin Fu slowly clenched her fists, feeling a great pressure—it was from Meng Keqin, who unaffectedly jeopardized the hard-earned presence of Elbert.
Elbert was isolated once again.
The faces of the others weren’t looking good either, and they couldn’t say anything about it, because she hadn’t given them any handle to criticize her.
Even if they spoke out, people would only applaud and cheer for Meng Keqin.
"Meng Keqin is a graduate of the First Military Command College, from the same year as Major General Fu Xing. Her stance has never aligned with ours."
Instructor Omina whispered, "By convention, our school should be the third to be introduced, but now the top ten military academies have been introduced, and ours hasn’t come up yet. This is a clear snub."
The atmosphere in the Elbert-specific seating area was like a clouded overcast sky, different from the other military academies.
Flanked by rival parties, mocking glances were thrown their way.
"It’s nothing," Lin Fu said with a firm voice. "What’s this? Thinking such small tricks can bring us down? Naive! Xu Jinglan will show everyone up with her performance."
"Right! Performance is what really matters."
"I’m really looking forward to the results."
Lin Fu had faith in Xu Jinglan, and once the competition ended and Xu Jinglan took the first place, she wondered where Meng Keqin would place her face.
As a Colonel and host of the competition, to have overlooked the leading candidate was either her fault or that of the First Military Command College—they had to take the fall for one or the other.
"The competition begins."
Announced the male host with a voice that was as hoarse as it was powerful, as the screen transitioned to a space scene with a dense asteroid belt all around. Countless meteorites severely obstructed the view and path, where even the slightest error could result in loss of both machine and life.