Tempest of the Stellar War
chapter-385

It could be said that Zhang Shan had completely redeemed himself. Meng Tian and the rest were over the moon, although nobody gave Lear a hard time either. Clearly, he had done better than the rest as well, and was much stronger than them. If it had not been for him and Zhang Shan, the Solar System Federation would definitely have failed at this stage, but now the Solar System team would enter the next phase with excellent results. Furthermore, Zhang Shan holding out had bought precious resting time for Wang Zheng.

Looking at the others celebrating, Lear departed alone. His sidekick Fatty Luo immediately caught up with him. "Boss, Boss, wait for me."

Lear ignored him, but Fatty Luo had skin as thick as city walls, and cared not at all. "Boss, it was really unexpected that that punk Zhang Shan would be so lucky."

"Even trash can shine sometimes," Lear said indifferently.

"Hehe, but that said, Boss, didn't you purposely taunt him before the competition?" Luo Fei pointed out smugly. He knew Lear all too well. He would not do needless things. Zhang Shan was the type to respond to taunts, performing better the more heat he received. To this type of person, conversely, encouragement was not useful.

Lear coldly looked at the overconfident Fatty. Fatty shuddered a little, and groveled behind Lear, making a note to speak more prudently.

A day later, Wang Zheng returned to the team. The official leader had returned. In truth, Lie Xin and the rest had been discussing who was more suited to be leader between Wang Zheng and Lear. At first they had favored Wang Zheng, and then later Lear, and now it seemed to be Wang Zheng again. Although the process had been a little convoluted, keeping and expelling Zhang Shan from the team would have led to vastly different results, because they now had another dependable teammate. That said, Lear's view was not completely unjustified either – such luck could not hold.

Nevertheless, peace was restored within the Solar System team, and their hearts were burning with a conviction that this IG would not end so quickly for them.

The next competition round had begun.

After the last competition, everyone had been anticipating the next competition's rule announcement.

After all the eliminations, things had reached a climax. Only one task remained. After its conclusion, the remaining 64 teams would enter elimination rounds. Those that had been offered direct invitations, such as Aslan, had requested that these invitations be canceled, as they were willing to compete through the elimination rounds in the spirit of fairness. However, given their standards, it was simply warm up, which would serve them well later.

Everybody was waiting in the great hall for the general's arrival.

"This time around it's really freaking difficult. Atlantis is really harsh this time, looks like they've hardened their hearts and are set on consolidating power."

"I hear the prince himself is leading a team. That's too much. But winning the whole thing is going to be no bed of roses. I'm betting on that monster from Arbiter."

"Eh, these are trivial concerns. The key to everything is the format of the IG. It's become even more difficult to predict. Although the previous years weren't too far off, at least they used to give some heads-up. This time, it's completely secret."

"The various big powers are using this IG to demonstrate their strength. It could be said that although this IG is more challenging than any previous one, it's definitely the fairest iteration as well."

In the past, the smaller countries could never access these rumors and hints. Although a semblance of fairness was maintained, when it came to the details, the influential countries always had a head start. This time was different. Everyone started on the same level field, and even the host, Aslan, had not an inkling of forewarning.

"But the most unconventional team has been the Solar System team – they actually struggled all the way till now. But they do have some undisputedly dodgy abilities. Who else could think of using displacement to bury himself in a dead worm's stomach, and be carted back as food?"

"Haha, thanks to him, we rested a few more days as well."

"Keke, besides, I can't wait for our team to go up against the Solar System."

The Solar System had been the main topic of discussion these few days. It was both unconventional and out of the blue. They had become the dark horse of the tournament.

Still, one did not begrudge them too much. The Solar System had languished for many years. They had accumulated talent for so long, and it was about time they made a name for themselves.

"See, he's here, isn't he?"

"Their leader is out of the hospital. Looks like it was nothing serious."

"Serious my ass. Sustaining injury in a C-rank mission, that's a disgrace."

"It could even be D-rank, haha."

Everyone was eyeing Wang Zheng and Zhang Shan. These two were definitely the MVPs of the Solar System.

Leader Wang Zheng, with his unparalleled luck. To be chosen for revival in the resurrection round.

And Zhang Shan, a freak of nature who had driven the Aslanian army crazy, driving the Solar System team's ranking up to the front. At the same time, their spectacular rise spelled trouble in the later days. Defeating the Solar System used to lack a sense of accomplishment, but things were different now. It would be a feather in someone's cap.

Aurora smiled, unruffled. "I hear the newcomer you invited to the monastic convention is that Wang Zheng? After IG ends, we could headhunt him."

Oz's mouth scrunched, then shook his head. "Could be difficult."

Aurora was surprised. "Hasn't his performance fulfilled our criteria? Even if you call it luck, his ability is recognized."

Oz shook his head. "It's not a limitation on our side. He might not be willing to join us."

"Even in this year, are there actually people willing to stay in the Solar System rather than join us at Aslan?"

Aurora was in disbelief. Overall, Aslan was entirely worthy of the title of first in the galaxy. Perhaps other empires like Arbiter, Manalasuo, or the Gabriel Alliance could hope to compete in terms of empire strength or military power, but in this aspect, Aslan was a cut above.

Oz still shook his head. "Aurora, not everybody admires Aslan!"

Aristocratic arrogance reared its ugly head again. They always thought they were the best. Aslan was indeed good, but not everybody was willing to abandon their own country, especially warriors.

Sword Saint Aurora gave a noncommittal smile. "Perhaps you are right."

All of the teams that had avoided elimination so far had gathered on a field, awaiting the next order to action.

At this moment, more than 10 IG officials and IG judges made their appearance on the field's main podium.

The atmosphere became nervous. They were about to announce the next round of IG's competition format.

"Everyone, you are indeed fortunate to have come this far. Your individual quality and ability have deemed yourselves worthy of being the elite in the Milky Way Galaxy. While you still may have some weaknesses, your advantage is your youth. Many are still students learning in the military. Very admirable. Although the path you walk is not cast in stone, many lie open before you. Your futures will be brighter than you are today…"

Akerlof's speech was galvanizing.

Below the stage, everybody listened intently. Yet, no matter how you took it in, something was off. It sounded like a principal's address at a school opening ceremony, or a class monitor's speech before the grade examination. But as an authority in the Milky Way, everybody still accorded him their respect. Many amongst them had their eyes set on the position of Akerlof's subordinate.

"Alright. My speech ends here. All of you, please enter the library classroom."

Huh… Everyone below was stunned. Wasn't today competition day?

Enter the library classroom? What was going on?

The team members began to feel uneasy…

The electronic classroom was capable of holding 2,000 people. Everybody was separated.

Words in various languages appeared on the screen. They all said the same thing – Cheating was prohibited.

Uproar…

The whispering had suddenly turned into a heated discussion.

What!

It was really an exam?

Damn it, what were they playing at? They had come to IG to compete. They had come to pit themselves against the elites of other countries in a head-on fight!

"Cease all chatter! Cheating, plagiarism, and communication will all be accorded 0 marks. A minor offence means suspension, a major offence means individual elimination." An official's voice roared out, subduing the commotion.

Wang Zheng was a little off-balance as well. He had not expected this round to be an examination, but after thinking about it, it made some sense.

The foundation of the IG was to have both brains and brawn. They were competing to be the elite of the Milky Way, and this was not something that could be determined by battles alone. As a result, the first round of IG selections had been restricted to the better military schools that had high standard results.

Some countries' members had black expressions. These had all not been military school candidates. Some had been directly selected out of the military. Their battle prowess was indisputable, but a writing test…

Tch! If they could score well, they would not have entered the military at such a young age, would they?

The examination had begun.

The test paper was directly transmitted to everybody's Skylinks, lighting up their screens. At this time, the dividers emitted a filtering beam, which restricted them to only be able to see their own screens, preventing cheating with the naked eye.

At this time, these so-called elites had all kinds of expressions on their faces. Some, who might not have batted an eyelid when faced with an army of thousands, stared at the screen sickly, as though they had been poisoned.

"Please elaborate on the specific role of planetary gravitation and stellar gravity in interplanetary starships. Please write specific parameters…"

It seemed rather easy. They had learned similar things in high school. It could be called general knowledge, but everybody was normally so damned busy with training that even remembering general knowledge was not bad. To remember specific parameters? This tested them on the mecha system, not battleship command systems!

Wang Zheng and Zhang Shan were clearly cocky, writing freely. Was this really a test? Kindergarten level stuff. They had underestimated their intellect, these two were physics geniuses!

The advancement classroom's atmosphere worsened. Those that were stumped by the paper made up the majority, although there were quite a few who were writing at tremendous speeds. The Aslanian team, especially, had faint smiles on their faces.

Arbiter had a few cocky faces as well, smirking. These questions? Easy peasy.

The Atlanteans, who had been comfortably leading until now, had run into trouble for the first time…

The first few questions that were related to battles were still manageable. There were common points that they could answer. However, the questions behind that were related to human technology…

How could they answer these?

Although everybody developed at roughly the same pace, everybody developed in completely different directions. Some of the questions were not even regarded as problems back on Atlantis. The basic power of runes could easily overcome these trivial problems, but for mankind, these were problems that fleet commanders had to seriously consider.

Difficult, too difficult!

Don't know, skip. Don't know again? Skip. Another blank? Continue skipping…

The good thing was that many were multiple choice questions, and one could still make a blind stab at them.