Twenty-six. Twenty-six.

The second day of military training followed the same old routine: mimicry restriction bracelets, weighted bracelets, and long-distance running. Today’s task remained five laps around the academy.

Following yesterday’s events and an overnight fermentation, the atmosphere between the Imperial Academy group and the Silver Star group was decidedly off. The two schools had never been on good terms, but now, the tension was palpable, thick with the scent of gunpowder.

Before training began, Yuan Hanshuang arrived early at the Imperial Academy’s track, sneaking around to meet someone.

"Are you the 'Let Me Graduate After Ten Years' person?"

She surveyed the young man before her, whose stubbly chin and age seemed entirely out of place for a freshman. She was stunned. "You haven't really been unable to graduate for ten years, have you?"

"When you enrolled, did no senior ever mention the unlucky guy who couldn't graduate for a decade?"

Mentioning graduation brought tears to Xiao Hua’s eyes. "I could have graduated last year, but I didn't have enough credits. I thought I'd come to military training to scrape some together, but who knew this year's training would be so hellish!"

"Never mind that. Sigh, are you sure you can take orders without violating the rules?"

Xiao Hua had not expected that the original poster of the "Don't Stop Me, I Want to Eat Another Billion" thread on the forum would be a pretty girl, five-foot-ten, with arms that looked even slenderer than his own. He was deeply skeptical of her department.

However, Yuan Hanshuang shut him down with one sentence: "I’m a Tier 4 Melee type."

Xiao Hua, a Support type, felt offended. "Is being a Melee type something to brag about?"

Yuan Hanshuang replied, "Of course. We Melee types can do whatever we want."

As she said this, she deftly unfastened Xiao Hua’s weighted bracelet and locked it onto her own wrist. Sure enough, even though the weight was transferred to one person, the bracelet did not trigger any alarms to the instructors.

"See? The rules allow it." Yuan Hanshuang waved her hand. "Pay up."

"Alright." Xiao Hua complied obediently, his expression fawning. "Tier 4 as a freshman? You’re intense, junior."

Honestly, after the torture of yesterday and fainting halfway through, he felt the money was well spent. Without these ten kilograms of dead weight, he certainly wouldn't have ended up in the bottom three hundred!

"You flatter me."

Having successfully completed her first transaction, Yuan Hanshuang’s confidence soared.

Once the run started, she didn't sprint to the front, nor did she settle in the middle. Instead, she cunningly dropped to the back of the pack, locking her sights on the stragglers. She called out, "Any students need a weight-lifting proxy service? Just pay, and I’ll take ten kilograms of weight off your hands!"

All the students who heard her: "???"

To be fair, many of these three hundred students had exhausted their physical strength yesterday, and quite a few had fainted on the spot. Even though the mimicry restriction bracelets were removed later, and they had undergone treatment and rested for a night, the mere thought of running so many laps today left them spiritless, their morale crushed before they had even started.

In this situation, Yuan Hanshuang’s call was like a demon’s whisper, easily stirring the laziness buried deep within them.

Soon, several students stuttered as they approached. "How can you take ten kilograms of weight? The instructors said we can't just take off the weighted bracelets."

Yuan Hanshuang patted her chest. "Don't worry about that. As long as you pay, leave this little matter to me."

"Besides, I’m right here, aren't I? I wouldn't lie to you. Silver Star students don't lie to Silver Star students!"

The sincerity contained in that phrase deeply moved the Support-type freshman. Ashamed that he had doubted a fellow student, he shouted, "Okay, I’ll transfer it!"

Another payment arrived, and Yuan Hanshuang’s eyes curved into crescents as she took the freshman's weighted bracelet and locked it onto her wrist.

"Wait, the 'orders' you mentioned—you mean you’re adding our weights to your own body?"

The students watching from the sidelines were clearly stunned by such a hardcore method of "power-leveling."

"Otherwise?" Yuan Hanshuang retorted. "Our mimicry is sealed; you don't expect me to cheat, do you?"

As she spoke, a student recognized her: "You’re that person from yesterday who suddenly accelerated on the last lap and passed Xuanyuan Sheng!"

"That’s right, it’s me. Don't worry, I wouldn't take this money if I didn't have the strength."

It must be said that this live demonstration was highly effective. Seeing one student successfully "eat the meat" (gain an advantage), others became restless.

Before long, Yuan Hanshuang had five weighted bracelets on her arms. During this time, she politely declined a hesitant military cadet who approached her: "Sorry, our two groups are competitors. For the sake of my professional ethics, I can help you, but it’ll cost extra."

Hearing that it would cost more, the proud military cadet, who had spent a long time mentally preparing himself, turned away in a huff.

"Looks like military cadets aren't that rich after all." Yuan Hanshuang sighed with regret and turned to continue expanding her business.

The scene of the crowd gathering at the end of the line could not escape the instructors following them. The bigwigs from the Third Legion and the top brass of the two academies were sitting in an office, drinking tea and discussing the administrative arrangements for after the training. There were more Imperial Academy officials, while Silver Star was represented solely by Zuo Zitao.

Mid-conversation, Feng Bai received a call from Instructor Niu.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Adjutant, a Melee student from Silver Star has started helping the Support students reduce their weight."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Wei Wenwei, sitting nearby, laughed. "It’s rare. It’s only the first day, and the little brats have already figured it out. It seems this batch of Silver Star freshmen is quick-witted."

Support types were naturally weaker in physical strength than other groups. Appropriate training could improve their stamina, but the current mission far exceeded their limits. As Yuan Hanshuang had guessed, the instructors were doing it on purpose.

They had intentionally divided the students into Silver Star and Imperial groups and used the arrival order to manufacture conflict between them. The purpose behind this crude provocation was simply to use this method to foster a sense of belonging to their respective academies. The method was simple, but effective.

If things proceeded as planned, the Silver Star group would gradually realize their overall strength couldn't compete with the Imperial group. Under the pressure of the resulting penalties, they would be forced to rack their brains. Once someone discovered that the bracelet wouldn't trigger an alarm if re-fastened within ten seconds, the instructors would drop a few subtle hints. The stronger students would then naturally extend a helping hand to their own lagging classmates, taking on the weight to achieve a collective goal. It was an old trick used by the Imperial Legion—every year when new recruits joined, they used the same tired methods to force them to integrate into the collective. It worked every time.

"No, Commander! It’s not what we imagined!" Niu Hu’s voice on the other end of the communicator sounded incredibly broken. "A Melee student is indeed helping the Support students, but that little brat is charging money!"

"Charging money?" Wei Wenwei didn't understand. "Charging for what?"

"She’s shouting for orders, charging money to help them lose ten kilograms of weight."

All the bigwigs present: "???"

"Cough, cough." Zuo Zitao, who was drinking tea, choked hard. Although it was unethical, it was hilarious. Could their Silver Star freshmen really produce such a talent? To hide his upturned lips, he suppressed his laughter. "Cough, this Silver Star freshman certainly has a head for business."

And how! A perfectly good act of mutual aid had been twisted into a monetary transaction! It completely stripped away the original intent of unity and friendship, filling a noble act with the stench of copper.

"No need to panic." It was Feng Bai who spoke. "Even if that student can take orders, she can only carry two weights at most." He had a headache as he added, "Now we need to consider how to stop this crooked trend; we must not let it lead other students to follow suit."

Niu Hu was silent for a long time. "No, Adjutant, you guessed wrong. That student already has seven weighted bracelets on her, and it looks like she still has energy to spare."

She did indeed have energy to spare.

Yuan Hanshuang had taken five orders, adding her own, for a total of six. Six bracelets were arranged on her wrists like nesting dolls. With so much extra weight, her pace had slowed significantly.

The Support student who had first approached her was terrified when he saw this. "Uh, classmate, are you okay?"

"I’m fine! Why wouldn't I be?" Yuan Hanshuang looked at him in confusion.

"No, I mean, you look like you can't run anymore..."

"Oh, this is just a bit of weight. It’s nowhere near my limit, don't worry."

As she spoke, the black-haired girl in double ponytails stopped by a flower bed and rolled up the pant leg of her camouflage uniform. To the astonishment of everyone nearby, her slender, fair ankles were already wrapped in several weighted bracelets—and they weren't the ones issued for the training.

Yuan Hanshuang quickly unfastened those weights and threw them into her space button. As a master of ancient martial arts, how could she not have a habit of carrying weight with her? Ever since she could walk in this life, she had been training herself. It was thanks to that constant, unrelenting perseverance that she was where she was today.

I deserve to make this money!

She stretched her limbs on the spot. "If nothing goes wrong, I should be able to take a few more orders. Any bosses looking for help?"

Everyone around her: *staring in disbelief*

Meanwhile, at the Imperial First Military Academy, every department head had a private living area. The Imperial Academy had a dedicated building for department heads and the student body president, including conference rooms, private offices, leisure areas, and training rooms.

In the president's office, a silver-haired youth stood by a transparent glass window. Behind him, the Seraphim Gabriel folded its wings and hovered silently in the air. When existing merely as a summoned mimicry, Gabriel’s face was blurred, shrouded in a halo. Following Lou Jia’s advancement, it could vaguely manifest the form of a four-winged angel, not far from the peak six-winged Seraphim form.

Lou Jia lowered his eyes, his vast mental power spreading like ripples as he looked down at the window. Down there, the freshmen in camouflage were miserably running laps around the two academies.

"Do you feel it, Gabriel? The aura of a mythical mimicry." He said softly, "The interstellar world has gained another awakened mythical mimicry among this year’s freshmen."

Mentioning mythical mimicry reminded him of something. Five years ago, he had been openly intercepted at the center of the ruins, a rare moment that left Lou Jia feeling frustrated. Unfortunately, after the core was taken, the ruins collapsed, and the Templar Knights managed to escape with nothing. Logically, such a conspicuous, giant bird-type mimicry should have left some trace once revealed. Especially in this era of universal mimicry, it was hard for such a thing to remain completely hidden.

That the Bright Temple remained unmoved was understandable. But the Dark Star, which always sought revenge for the smallest grievance, had long ago issued an underground bounty within its ranks. Even so, the owner of that mimicry had vanished like a stone into the sea, disappearing into the vast interstellar space for several whole years without a single trace. It was, to say the least, excessively strange.