Ling Lan shook her head and said, "No need. Wait and see!"
The spaceship's captain must have some reason for suddenly acting this way. A memory of the manga Hunter x Hunter she had read in her previous life surfaced in Ling Lan's mind. From the moment Gon Freecss 1 got on the boat to take the Hunter Examination, the testing had already begun.
"Is this a show of force to put us in our place? Or is it, like I suspect, our first test? How interesting!" A trace of humour appeared at the corner of Ling Lan's lips. This originally dull journey had suddenly become much more intriguing.
At this time, the crew members began to hurl jeers and taunts at the students, as if purposely trying to incite the students' anger and make them choose to fight. However, their efforts were all in vain, because the students all managed to restrain themselves in the end, not responding to their taunts.
Frankly, this was all because Ling Lan had chosen to wait and see. Seeing Ling Lan's party's inaction, the slick Wu Jiong was naturally unwilling to make a move recklessly. And while Li Yingjie may be immature and brash, he was not brainless, so he of course knew as well that this was not the time to act rashly. Meanwhile, ever since the grand armed melee, the rest of the Central Scout Academy students 2 had gotten used to following the lead of the three major teams. Since the three major teams were biding their time, the other students naturally followed suit to observe the situation.And since a large half of the Central Scout Academy students had chosen not to do anything, the students from the other academies naturally would not be so retarded as to volunteer themselves as lab rats. After all, they were all elites from various academies — they were not so simple-minded that they would blow up from some taunting. Thus, this powder keg of a scene was resolved by the silent tolerance of one side.
********
Inside the captain's room, the captain could not hold back a curse, brusquely cutting off the video feed and auditory system on his end.
He turned to glare at the other person in the captain's room and barked, "D*mn, do these batch of students have no bloody guts?"
"They are just being rational. The provocation you arranged is too low-level. Any child with a bit of intelligence would be able to see that something wasn't right." The one who spoke was a middle-aged man dressed in a clean pressed major uniform. His air was dignified, and the flecks of white in his sideburns made him appear mature and reliable, a stark contrast against the captain's crude messiness.
The major passed a bottle of white wine over with a smile. The captain harrumphed, but accepted it, twisted the cap open, and began chugging it down.
"Don't drink so fast. Why are you taking out your anger on yourself?" chided the major."D*mmit, isn't there a single one of these little bastards who is more hot-tempered? After all these years, this is the first time I've seen something like this," said the captain in frustration.
Mind you, his task was to assess the students' capabilities and personalities. Provoking them right from the start had always worked very well for him, because there would always be that one or two hot-headed and impulsive brats who would jump out for him to use as an example. This would give him the opportunity to assess the students' attitudes when faced with overwhelming force.
"Well, it's not that there aren't any. They've just been restrained." The major walked over to the screen and replayed the previous footage. On the screen, they could see that there had been a few people who had stood up to protest, but they had been quickly stopped by the people beside them. The scene between Qi Long and Ling Lan was also noted by the two men.
The major enlarged one of the images. It was one of the students from the Central Scout Academy. He was tugging on his teammate's arm, using his gaze to point out a certain direction to his teammate, as if reminding the other that he should be aware of the situation.
Following the student's line of sight, the major scrolled across the image, and Ling Lan's, Wu Jiong's, and Li Yingjie's teams came into view.
"Do you not notice that these students were all waiting for the reactions of these few people?" said the major, pointing at Ling Lan's area.
"Tch, you think I can't see that? While I was speaking, this bunch of brats had obviously been enraged by me, but they all chose to look there at the first moment ..." The captain had noticed.
"That's right. I did a brief check and these students should be from the Central Scout Academy. You too know that a whole 10% of the First Military Academy student population comes from the Central Scout Academy. It goes without saying that within our military academy, the Central Scout Academy faction has the most members ...
"But, it is also the one with the least cohesion!" The spaceship's captain's face was filled with disdain. He himself had not come out from the Central Scout Academy, so he did not bear much good will for the Central Scout Academy. Even though the people who graduated from the Central Scout Academy were generally more talented and more capable than students from the regular scout academies like them, there was just too much infighting within their ranks. They were like a plateful of scattered sand.
"Yes. This is also why although the Central Scout Academy faction has the most people, it has never managed to become the top faction within the military academy! Forcefully being suppressed by the other scout academy factions ... this is their tragedy." These past three years in particular, the Central Scout Academy faction had been even more sluggish 3 — it had not even managed to rank within the top three.
"That's not the only point. Although the students from the Central Scout Academy are all very strong and talented, in our military academy, none of them managed to become the strongest in the school. This is also why they have been unable to make their faction the number one faction." The captain bluntly pointed out the weakness of the Central Scout Academy. Even though its students were more talented and stronger than other students across the board, the one standing at the peak just wasn't any single one of them ...
"True. Especially these last three years, there wasn't a single Central Scout Academy student within the top three. Even the strongest one is just at 5th place. Sigh, the well-established top Central Scout Academy has finally begun to decline ..." The major was affected by a wistful melancholy. Although he was not from the Central Scout Academy, his superior, mentor, and benefactor were all part of the Central Scout Academy faction. Thus, he still had a deep affection for the Central Scout Academy.
"However, this year might be different." The major's initially regretful gaze became focused in a split second. The students from the Central Scout Academy were surprisingly united this time — perhaps a true king had appeared among them, earning all of the students' deference. If that was the case, the power balance of the factions within the military academy may very well go through a momentous change with their addition.
"Perhaps, the assessment this time will give us a pleasant surprise." He and the captain had never been satisfied over all these years, because the students' final decisions had never truly been the answer they wanted.
"You think?" The captain, who had never thought well of the Central Scout Academy, did not think much of the students from it. Infighting was a characteristic of the Central Scout Academy from the start — could this batch really be an exception?
"Then let us just wait and see!" said the major good-naturedly with a laugh, not at all bothered by his friend's scepticism.
"Sure. But, I need to make them stop holding back as soon as possible, otherwise we won't be able to see what we want to see." A sharp light entered the captain's eyes, and a great force of presence silently began to spread. At this moment, he was no longer that rough and arrogant captain, but was more like a wild beast from the depths of the universe, powerful and dangerous!
********
Ling Lan had long known that these two days and one night would not be so peaceful, but she still could not put a finger on the reason for the captain's provocation. If this was really a test — then what were they testing for? Before she could figure anything out, an unexpected conflict occurred before her eyes.
The first half of the first day went by peacefully. Although the crew members would still throw in the occasional taunt, the now calm students managed to resist rising to the bait. However, this peace vanished by the time night came.
At dinner time, Ling Lan's group of six came to the cafeteria and ate a simple dinner. The ship provided a buffet-style meal, but the options were very limited, and the taste was not very good. Although the students were rather unhappy about it, they knew that they were now on the other's home ground, and so could only tolerate.
However, there were some things that could not be resolved just by tolerating them. Very soon, when a student who had finished eating was walking out of the cafeteria, he was shoved back. Quickly, several hulking crewmen had surrounded the student. One of the crewmen rubbed at his own shoulder, demanding arrogantly for the student to kneel and apologise to him for hurting him when he had crashed into him.
The student naturally would not agree to this humiliating style of apologising. He argued with logic, saying that he had been walking just fine — it was the other who had suddenly changed directions when they were about to cross each other to bump into him. He had no time at all to react, which was why the collision happened. If anyone should apologise, it should be the crew member.
"Looks like, that captain has made his move!" Ling Lan's brow furrowed. Could it be that the other wanted to see the students' combat ability? Or was he trying to see how the other students would react to this sort of scenario?
"To observe coldly from the sidelines, or take on the confrontation with righteous anger? Or perhaps they are trying to assess the students' true hearts?" Ling Lan looked at Han Jijyun, an inkling of realisation in her mind.
Han Jijyun also seemed to have figured something out. Without sharing a word, the frowning duo simultaneously thought of the time they had taken the enrolment tests for the Central Scout Academy.
"It's exactly like the Central Scout Academy's test." Not long after, Han Jijyun smiled in realisation.
"This time, the main content of the test is most probably unity!" Unlike before, Ling Lan slowly deduced the test's content.
"I agree!" Han Jijyun nodded. He too felt that this was the greatest possibility.
Against such a large bevy of well-built crewmen with deep bonds and great rapport, it was impossible to fight back as an individual or with the strength of several small teams. To obtain equal standing, they needed to have sufficient power to defend themselves and their rights — the weak have no right to speak ...
The disadvantage of their numbers required them to band together as one unit. Of course, individual performance and combat power would also be important areas of observation — how the students united would depend on the individual abilities of several people, while combat power was a condition to achieve equal status. Otherwise, even if they banded together, it would be a waste of energy if they did not have the strength to back it up.
"Killing many birds with one stone! A great plan!" Han Jijyun commented, tone admiring. The person who designed this test condition was undoubtedly a genius.
********
The major in the captain's room suddenly felt his nose itch, which caused him to sneeze loudly. He rubbed his nose and said bemusedly, "That's strange, why would I sneeze for no reason? Could the temperature regulation system be down?"
"Checking ... the temperature regulation system is functioning normally. Major Wang Yi, your senses are mistaken." The ship's mainframe did a self-check in response to the major's query and swiftly replied.
"Is that so? Could it be that someone is thinking of me? 4 " wondered the major.
"This question ... there is no detailed data for me to analyse. Please excuse me for not being able to provide an answer!" The mainframe answered dutifully, even though it felt that the major's question was really very pointless and idiotic ...
