Chapter 130
The twin sisters that were in her dorm would always try to egg Xuan Mo on to bring this issue up to their company’s commissar . Not only did Xuan Mo not take any actions, she even remained very confused at their words, not understanding why she should do so . Her reaction had the twins incredibly glum .
Xuan Mo’s perspective however was probably something only the people from Scorpio would understand .
If you were noticed during military training, that meant that you were one step closer to success . The instructor’s attention meant that they had noticed that your performance was outstanding . This was an honour of sorts . As for those that were trying to smoke their way through unnoticed and remain unmotivated… at least Xuan Mo had never seen anyone like that on Scorpio . Here on the Blue Planet however, it appeared this was a mentality that everyone bore during the military training this time . This was also the reason why she didn’t rebuke their opinions openly — she would be up against the majority if she did . Since they had differing opinions and perspectives, and had no common conversation topics, she couldn’t even bring herself to speak at all .
On the sixth day, the instructors started teaching hand-to-hand combat .
Every student would have encountered some form of hand-to-hand combat training during their military training in high school year one, of course what they learnt was just the surface . Even the military training instructors at First High didn’t finish teaching the set . As such, everyone had to start learning from the top .
Xuan Mo naturally remembered what she’d learnt, but she only replicated the moves after the instructor’s taught them . This made it seem as though she was simply a fast learner; no one noticed anything off .
The hand-to-hand combat sessions resulted in Xuan Mo being punished less . Though they only had one and a half months of military training, their schedule was packed, and hand-to-hand combat was only taught when they had extra time . As such, Xuan Mo’s punishment, which often occured during such extra time, was naturally called off instead .
After another eight days, or on the fifteenth day since the start of their military training, the students had learnt all the basic movements together as a troop; the beginner level items had also all been taught . After that, NDU’s actual military training for the freshman started proper . In other words, this was just the beginning of the trials that were being thrown their way .
After fifteen days, they had an off-day to rest . Everyone stayed in their dorms instead of heading out, planning to catch up on some rest . The person that should be the most exhausted out of everyone else, aka Xuan Mo, however was rather disappointed . On their rest day, she woke up bright and early, energetic as ever . However, there was no training, so she was very bored . Her three other dorm mates were still asleep, Lu Yu Chen was currently in training, and the others were having lessons . As such, the only thing that Xuan Mo figured she could do was… surfing the web .
Lying on the bed, she found a way to link herself up to the wifi once again and looked through the news randomly . After a moment of contemplation, she couldn’t resist but separate a strand of mental power to enter the internet once again, in search of the mental mark she’d make from last time .
As she had a specific goal in mind, all she needed to do was to find it . This saved her a lot of energy . As expected, the clip from previously was now gone . She looked through the clips from the surrounding surveillance camera in that area . To her surprise, she found another clip that recorded something similar .
They were within a large and tidy research lab in the clip . There were hundreds of foreign researchers in white coat walking around inside . Countless computers and research engines were placed in rows . The stone she saw from previously was zoomed in and projected at the centre of the lab, rotating slowly . Together with the projection were accompanying words and symbols that blinked, indicating each researcher’s progress for each other’s reference . The definition of the projector was not high enough, so Xuan Mo couldn’t decipher what was written in the projection .
The projection was suddenly zoomed in . Evidently, the person controlling the projector couldn’t see the remarks and comments accompanying the stone either . Pity the surveillance camera was placed very discreetly, so Xuan Mo couldn’t get a good view of the words . The angle however was convenient enough for Xuan Mo to notice the stone placed within the glass display cabinet underneath the large screen .
There was not much change to the stone; it looked the same . Beneath the light however, it seemed to reflect a colour that you usually wouldn’t expect from a stone . In fact, it made the stone seem as though it was a metallic material that had been sanded; it emitted a faint, blurry glow, making the veins running through the material all the more apparent .
Xuan Mo suddenly found it a little glaring to look at . She wanted to try if she could enter into the lab’s local intranet through the camera’s connection and check out the stone at a closer proximity .
As she slowly slid in with her mental powers, she could feel the sturdy defense of the intranet . At that, she frowned .
She’d barely learnt much regarding cyber attacks and defenses back with Zone Seven . Ever since the last counterattack against their enemies, she lost interest in learning after she realised that her mental barrier could block out all the cyber-attacks even when they were in a terribly disadvantaged position . Now that she was up against such strong cyber-defense, she couldn’t help but regret . She should have taken the time back then to learn how to spot loopholes or the likes .
Thankfully though, while her progress was slow, she was still nearing the stone .
The closer she moved, the more bewitching the stone’s surface felt . As this strange feeling became more prominent with time, Xuan Mo’s mental power investigating the stone also flowed with more urgency .
She drew closer and closer to the stone . Her mental powers was as though her hands, she could touch it, feel its strength, smell it…
“Zzz…”
The moment her mental power passed through the glass display cabinet via the wires to the lights to touch the stone, Xuan Mo could distinctly feel a blue ray of light streaming quickly through the veins on the surface of the stone, producing an activation sound as though it was being overcharged . When she retracted her mental power, startled, the blue light disappeared . As it did, chaos ensued in the lab . Researchers dashed towards their own computers to operate the settings . A few armed guards ran into the lab and surrounded the glass cabinet tightly . Following that, a red warning light blinked and the video delved into darkness .
The surveillance camera did not resume its operation even after a very long time .
With the electricity and the internet cut off, Xuan Mo could only retract her mental powers . Evidently, that lab was quite a distance away from here . The inertia she felt when pulling her mental powers back to herself was so large it had her entire mental-net trembling for a moment from the effort it took .
Xuan Mo closed her laptop and slowly sat up on her bed . She pressed her temples with both hands, expressionless .
The stone, no, it was definitely some sort of metal . The veins on the metal, the blue light in the veins, the feeling when her mental power touched its surface… it felt very familiar… she definitely must have felt the same thing before somewhere… but it didn’t make sense, ever since she’s awakened in the Blue Planet, she hadn’t felt anything similar…
That wasn’t something from you could find even in the Scorpio civilisation, but from somewhere else, somewhere, some place, long ago, far away . .
“Ah!” Xuan Mo’s eyes widened as she hit her bed in realisation . She exclaimed softly, no longer able to maintain her calm, “Elge Civilisation?!”
That Elge civilisation that’s being hunted down by many other civilisations?! That Elge civilisation that’s been on the run for abusing the space warp technology, one of the ten bans by the coalition?!
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