Chapter 80

Listen to the rules of the trial, which the school had repeatedly emphasized before departure. Besides the memorable "casualty indicators," the use of mechs above the Bronze Five-Star level, including their accompanying weapons and equipment, was strictly prohibited. However, modified mechs were not subject to this restriction.

Moreover, the quantity and quality of the concentrated organic nutrients, healing, and recovery agents carried by each student were strictly limited. At least on the surface, nothing that would disrupt the balance of the trial would be allowed to happen.

Before the trial began, every inch of the surface of the entire wilderness planet had been closely monitored by the military using various reconnaissance methods. When the students were dropped onto the planet's surface, the military's fleet of warships would patrol at an altitude of ten thousand meters, monitoring the status of each mech in real time.

All the native fierce creatures on the entire wilderness planet had been thoroughly investigated by the military's high command. Those with excessively powerful capabilities had already been eliminated beforehand, leaving only those that met the requirements of the trial. After all, although the trial was harsh, the military did not want the students to make unnecessary sacrifices.

The trial lasted for three days, during which each student would have two opportunities to receive logistical support, replenishing basic energy blocks, food, and medicine.

Each student had to kill various native fierce creatures on the planet's surface or find various usable resources, and then hand them over to the military to earn a certain number of battle merit points.

After the trial, the points of all the students would be tallied. Those with higher rankings would receive generous rewards, and the particularly outstanding ones had the potential to gain pre-admission qualifications to the Central Military Academy!

If a student was accidentally injured or voluntarily withdrew from the battle, they could send a signal through the battlefield recorder in their mech, and the warships in the sky would come down to pick them up. However, this meant losing the qualification to apply to the Central Military Academy, so no student would do this unless absolutely necessary.

The time to depart had arrived.

Several large transport ships were flying steadily in the planet's stratosphere. The launch ports on the ship's belly opened, and a mech was randomly launched at regular intervals.

This was a deliberate move by the military to ensure that each student landed in a situation where they were isolated and without support, increasing the difficulty of the trial and preventing the students from encountering each other too early and starting to kill each other.

"Alright, who wants to go first?" Inside the transport ship, Luo Tianxiong stood near the launch port and asked the neatly lined-up students.

Qin Huang looked at the more than fifty mechs ready to go, silently operated his Lightning Tiger to step forward, and said, "That's me!"

The instructor's voice came through the communication channel: "Very good! Remember to protect yourself and don't disgrace the face of Dinnan Military Academy!"

He acknowledged and the Lightning Tiger mech steadily stepped into the circular acceleration field near the launch port, then was "pushed" out of the transport ship by an orange light beam, plummeting rapidly toward the planet's surface.

The power of the traction beam was immense, and it took only a dozen seconds for the mech to approach the land surface. In the last few hundred meters, the speed of the traction beam began to slow down.

Qin Huang silently activated the mech's power module. The attitude control system immediately took effect, and the anti-gravity field lifted the mech body gently downward. All radar and detection equipment were activated, precisely scanning and recording the conditions of the ground below.

The mech saw an endless expanse of mountains.

"Based on the current situation, we have roughly landed on the eastern continent of the planet," Qin Huang said as he controlled the Lightning Tiger to slowly approach a steep cliff. His Arayashiki mind method was fully operational, focusing on sensing every movement around him.

A clear and beautiful voice came: "Have we arrived? Finally, I can take a breath!"

As she spoke, a beautiful, luminous moonlight emerged from the collar of his combat suit, lightly jumping onto the control panel. It was the fully evolved Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox.

Compared to before her evolution, her appearance had not changed significantly; she was just slightly larger and her eyes were more bright and charming.

There were no explicit rules prohibiting students from bringing auxiliary combat beasts during the trial, but Qin Huang still did not want more people to know about her existence. Therefore, before the mission, he had secretly hidden her in his chest, only letting her out now.

Qilin stretched gracefully and calmly combed the fur on her snow-white tail, saying, "The life force on this planet is very strong! There should be plenty of good things to eat, but many of these lives are hostile to you outsiders, so you won't have an easy time ahead!"

Qin Huang smiled, "That's normal, right? We're here to fight, not to sightsee! What I'm more worried about are my fellow students. To compete for battle merit points, anyone you encounter could be your enemy."

"Don't worry, I'll help you!" Qilin's snow-white fox ears moved skillfully.

He was moved and asked, "I see that you seem to have the ability to control and influence plants. I wonder to what extent you can do this. Can you tell me now?"

"Not just plant life!"

Qilin proudly puffed out her chest and said, "As long as they are within a few hundred meters of this mech, all carbon-based life forms can be influenced and controlled by my ability, unless their strength exceeds that of a Sixth-Stage Source Energy Cultivator! As for life forms at a greater distance, I can still precisely sense their movements! How about that? Pretty impressive, right?"

Qin Huang's expression changed slightly. The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox's ability was quite extraordinary, meaning he had a mobile "home field" at his disposal. No matter what kind of enemy faced him within this range, the outcome could be disastrous!

A Sixth-Stage Source Energy Cultivator, or a初级白银机甲师 (初级 means "初级" and "白银机甲师" means "Silver Initial Mech Pilot"), after the military's strong forces had cleared out the native fierce creatures on the planet's surface, those reaching or exceeding this level were not many. Therefore, with the assistance of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox, Qin Huang no longer had to worry too much about the negative impact of the surrounding environment, and could focus his main energy on dealing with challenges from other students!

"It seems we need to revise our previous combat plan," Qin Huang said with a smile. "You can help me find valuable resources to exchange for battle merit points, kill fierce beasts, and even..."

After a brief discussion, the human and the fox had a plan. The Lightning Tiger mech suddenly accelerated, heading toward a nearby mountain peak.

...

In the vast, dense jungle that blocked out the sky, a "tree canopy" about ten meters in diameter was slowly moving.

The tree canopy had a dark red appearance, with vine-like branches twisted and knotted. Each leaf was as large as a water vat, moving like a living thing.

Occasionally, pale red smoke would spout from deep within the tree canopy, swirling around and not dispersing, reflecting dark blood-colored shadows under the pale light of the stars in the sky, ex