บท 21: Chapter 18: Sleep, Is It Good?_1
"You're overthinking it, there's nothing going on. She's just a friend's younger sister."
"Dude, EMP pulled a big one this time, holy shit, have you seen it, it was so damn awesome, thrashing the Martians. Could you believe he used the Armor Tiger to destroy the Sky Wolf V6? That poor guy is completely humiliated. I heard the Yan Wolf Team from Aos kicked out Stane, haha, that's the most satisfying moment of the year!" Zuo Xiaotang said excitedly, displaying an image of Armor Tiger striking a pose on Skynews.
"Isn't it like an air of unrivaled dominance? So cool, it's like he just broke through an army."
Li Hao laughed and scoffed, "You're exaggerating so much, it was just one battle."
"Bro, are you being jealous? It was the most satisfying victory recently, beating a heavyweight Martian warrior. EMP is trending fifth on Skynews. I bet that pilot is a seasoned veteran, his every move was filled with contempt for his opponent, That feeling was awesome, man! I've said there are many hidden talents on Earth, huh, we are definitely going to turn the tables this year!" Marlon's statement represented the viewpoint of many people. Even though Earth had suffered losses, it is not something to be taken lightly. A triple crown? Dream on.
Musashi was comparatively calm, "Hey guys, would you like to come to my house this weekend? My grandpa has invited you."
"Sounds good, can I bring my girlfriend? I heard the Wu family owns one of the oldest mansions in Sky Capital. It would be a great opportunity to broaden our horizons." Marlon seemed interested.
"Sure."
To Li Hao and Zuo Xiaotang, free food was all they cared about.
"Marlon, what were the last two points..." Zuo Xiaotang asked.
Marlon was thrilled, the child can be taught! And then only Marlon was left in the dormitory, sharing his experiences, from theory to practice, guiding the others... it felt more like he was showing off, but surprisingly the rest were quite engrossed.
In this respect, Marlon was a genius.
The next day, early in the morning, many people had skipped breakfast in case they vomited during the biology class of the universe.
Li Hao, Marlon, and few others arrived early. Just then, Zhou Naiyi and Ye Tong showed up. These two were quite famed recently, their newly formed team was the cynosure of many eyes. Zhou Naiyi, with her ponytail and Ye Tong, with her short, suave hair, instantly attracted all the attention. The two had been inseparable lately, clearly having common goals and topics.
Upon seeing Li Hao, Ye Tong's eyes lit up, she immediately came up to him with Zhou Naiyi at her heels. Marlon was smart enough to offer them a place and gave Zuo Xiaotang a quick kick.
"Had a good sleep, Second Brother?" Ye Tong leaned in and whispered.
Li Hao caught a hint of pleasant fragrance, he subconsciously touched his nose, attracting amused glances from those around him.
What? Sleep? Sleep what?
"Don't mess around." Li Hao had no clue what this girl was thinking, but she always enjoyed messing with him.
Ye Tong and Zhou Naiyi let out soft laughter, letting him off the hook. However, the sight of these beauties sent the male students gawking. In Sky Capital MechArts, the male to female ratio was 6:4. Outstanding girls were bombarded with attention since their freshman year, upperclassmen included.
Zhou Naiyi received flowers almost every week throughout her freshman year. It took few months before she managed to put a stop to this, making her suitors back off. In Marlon's words, most girls feared "smothering", but Zhou Naiyi, with her clear goals, was an exception.
Now there was Ye Tong as well. If you wanted to date her, you had to first beat her in a fight. Several had already landed in the infirmary, which had given her suitors a bit of pause.
Ye Tong's combat power was not to be underestimated.
Then came Professor Njinsk. The noisy class soon quieted down.
Following the "Butcher's" habit, this was a big class with new students, nine times out of ten, there would be a dissection exercise.
Njinsk, a professor of universal biology, liked to dissect various organisms in class, earning him the nickname "the Butcher" from the students.
The lesson mainly focused on the integration of gene technology and the human body, including the natural selection and dominant traits on various planets in the solar system. Nowadays, it also included the silicon-based lower giant alien life on Kepler-22b. With the true meaning of extraterrestrial life, it is the most popular topic of research in universities across the solar system, and the students were highly enthusiastic.
What's more, the Sky Capital MechArts had specimens of such life.
Looking at the packed 300-seat amphitheater, Njinsk was extremely satisfied, and his iconic mustache perked up.
"Students, especially the new ones, today I will open the gate to a new world for you. There will be surprises."
The students were all prepared, and there was a round of laughter from below. Of course, many were still not convinced. Why, on what basis?
Those who have managed to get admitted into Tianjin Mecha Military Studies are of considerable mental fortitude.
Njinsk opened the Sky News and played the precious data of Kepler 22b, "Isn't it beautiful? The Kepler planet is God's gift to humanity, with a natural environment even more beautiful than Earth, abundant water resources, mineral resources, unparalleled habitability, an atmospheric structure almost identical to that of primitive Earth, gravity more than twice ours, and extremely low difficulty for transformation. It especially contains the important elements currently restricting our advancement from Earth into the Milky Way."
Some data is not disclosed to the public. The beautiful sceneries, dazzling colors, and magical flora and fauna all greatly touch everyone, leading to great excitement in the classroom. Whether as a developer or otherwise, entering Kepler means a promising future.
Njinsk smiled, his small mustache quivering slightly, "Beautiful, right? Now, let's look at the other side."
What came next were ghastly photographs. Steel-based bases torn to pieces with ease, multitudes of giant insects flocking in. The surface of the giant insects, just like the beauty of Kepler, under the illumination of Kepler's "sun", radiated a silver brilliance. That red, it was all human blood.
He then displayed pictures of space, "This is the ground. Isn't it heartening to those involved in the starship system that the air force has great benefits and less danger? Right, here is the condition of the fleet in space."
In the imagery, blue light balls cut through the thick atmosphere of Kepler and shot into space. Once they reached a certain distance, the light balls were seemingly drawn towards the warships. The energy shields of the warships could not offer sufficient protection, and one after another, the warships turned into sea of fire.
One after another, the small lifeboats were launched into the sky, but most of them were engulfed in space before they could even reach the lifeboats.
Njinsk observed the reactions of the students, and knocked on the blackboard, "This is the real Kepler. It is not a tourist resort at the moment, so everyone should brace yourselves. Today, we will discuss genetics..."
Needless to say, the sharp contrast between the two realities brought every student to sobriety promptly, and they started to attentively listen to Njinsk's lecture, which mainly dealt with the natural genetic adjustment called "Eevent gene".
"The so-called 'Gold gene' is simply a term, and there are traces of it in everyone who can get into Tianjin Mecha, so don't feel smug. In fact, the genetic community believes that there will soon emerge, or have already emerged, two 'perfect genes': the first is 'perfect adjustment' and the other one is 'perfect retrogression'. Who can explain?"
Njinsk looked at those who had raised their hands, "Good, Ye Tong, you share."
"Professor, the first concept refers to the phenomenon when excellent genes are combined with excellent genes, giving birth to a perfect heir who inherits all the positive traits. When this reaches a certain limit, 'perfect adjustment' emerges. The second phenomenon is peculiar, this person's body will reject modified genes. As genes naturally select the fittest, even better natural genes will emerge to replace the modified ones, referred to as 'retrogression'. When this state reaches a certain peak, we see the emergence of 'perfect retrogression'."
Ye Tong had all eyes on her, as outstanding girls were naturally popular. Of course, she was used to that by now.
"Very good, while the two conditions are not entirely isolated and do alternately appear in a magical way within the human body. This is our advantage as humans, and it's a blessing from the universe..." Njinsk indicated for Ye Tong to sit down.
Ye Tong leaned over to Li Hao's ear, "Big Brother, Sirian is an example of the first case. The Murphy Family has always dedicated itself to this, but I think the latter one is stronger. The former is chosen by humans, the latter by God."
Li Hao's ear was a bit itchy from Ye Tong blowing in it...
"Class is in session!"
Jealous glares were all around. Young men who were longing for attention couldn't stand it. 'Why does Li Hao get this special treatment?'
"I'm studying," Ye Tong retorted playfully.
Li Hao always felt that Ye Tong was doing it on purpose, but he had no proof.
Njinsk continued with the Sky News content, "First, let me introduce you to some giant insects. Some of you might very likely confront these situations directly in the future. If we want to develop Kepler, safety comes first. We need top-tier mobile warriors and starship teams to bear long-term gravity more than twice ours. So most will be selected from the military and existing military schools. As your teacher, my first hope for you is survival, or rather, live a little longer."
"Here are the five most common ones: the Razor Giant Worm, Corrosion Giant Worm, the Ambusher, Fire Bomb Giant Worm, High-energy Worm."
The Razor Giant Worm, weighing between 5 to 20 tons, has sharp mantis-like claws that can easily tear through a mecha.
The Corrosion Giant Worm, around 50 tons, can spout lethal corrosive acid that dissolves metals and has a mimicry ability.
The Ambusher, around 30 tons, has a pair of mandibles and six pairs of lower legs, specialized in drilling the ground, has the ability to mimic its back, and can shoot out barbed claws to drag prey under.
The Fire Bomb Giant Worm, over 200 tons, can spout high-energy flames and the shell on its body acts as a host for explosive bombs. As soon as an enemy gets closer, it shoots out, with an explosive force equivalent to 1 ton of TNT.
The High-energy Worm, over 200 tons, looks like a giant worm, moves slowly, and can form a nuclear fission inside its body. It has two antenna-like tentacles on its head and can shoot high-energy balls from its mouth. Upon human's initial arrival on Kepler, we encountered attacks from the High-energy Worms, with over a dozen warships destroyed.
"The High-energy Worm has the ability to attack interstellar targets. Which means, their high-energy balls can break through the atmosphere and directly hit space targets, and have a certain ability to scout. As for the way they pinpoint their targets, it remains unknown to us."
What followed was an analysis of the giant insects' organization structure. In the future, their attack methods will be further discussed, and even a fool can see at this point that these insects, though primitive, are no less developed than humans in some areas.
"You're rather fortunate, just a couple of days ago a live one arrived. Soon we'll visit the lab."
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