Chapter 18: The Preliminary Trials

The airship began to descend noticeably at dawn. The destination was approaching.

A beam of morning light shone in, illuminating Qian Ye’s face. He had actually woken up a long time ago, quietly leaping out of the cockpit and walking to the porthole to look outside.

Below him lay the tilted land, and a steel city, which seemed to be about to topple over, overwhelmed the horizon.

The most prominent sight in his view was a tall tower, located in the heart of the city. It shimmered with silver radiance, resembling a peak of a thousand feet, spewing out white steam from its top like clouds. The base of the tower was incredibly vast, covering three or four blocks.

It was Qian Ye’s first time seeing the heart of a human city, the Eternal Drive Tower. Built with the cheapest black stone and the most affordable steel, it was a miraculous structure that operated day and night, providing energy for the entire city.

The cargo airship slowly drifted past the southwestern part of the city. The number of airships in the airspace ahead gradually increased, each with different styles. Surprisingly, several of them were of the light boat type, adorned with intricate bow carvings.

Indeed, too many airships had applied for entry, and they had to queue. The cargo ship began to circle in the sky. From the coarse language and complaints of the pilot, Qian Ye learned that, besides the public passenger and cargo ships, there were many private airships today. The family crests on the bow carvings of these airships symbolized immense power and wealth.

Xiangyang was one of the regular recruitment bases of the Imperial Military, attracting thousands of young people from all directions every year. This year, the number of applicants was particularly high, including many noble offspring, because the new recruit list included two behemoths: the Fallen Angels and the Red Scorpions.

The Great Qin Empire placed great importance on military achievements. Even for the aristocratic families, enlisting and achieving military honors was a shortcut for their descendants. Joining a special legion was almost synonymous with an immediate rise to prominence.

And the Fallen Angels and the Red Scorpions had always been among the top five of the Empire’s over a hundred special legions. It was their recruitment that roused many aristocratic families, who spared no effort to send their most outstanding descendants to participate in the assessment.

Qian Ye’s airship, being affiliated with the military, secured a relatively advanced position for entry. It was only after landing that he fully experienced the grandeur of the recruitment day.

The airship base, which was merely one of the transportation hubs, was already crowded with various people in the early morning, mostly young individuals around twenty years old, each exuding confidence, vitality, and hope. Outside the base, a long line of diverse land vehicles had formed.

Shi Yan started the heavy truck. Even among the numerous vehicles, it was still a large one, roaring out through the military channel. Xiangyang ranked third among the empire’s military-industrial cities. Apart from half of the city being under military control, both the ground roads and aerial routes had designated military channels.

Qian Ye, with his eyes wide open, took in the scenery outside. The route they were traveling was through the military district. Unlike the plain and functional style of the Yellow Springs training camp, the buildings here had more decorative elements, but they still retained a stern and imposing appearance.

At the end of the road, the recruit camp could be seen in the distance, with the long registration queue already extending beyond the archway.

In the midst of the noisy crowd, Shi Yan loudly declared to the officer in charge of registration, “I need to go straight to the re-examination area!”

He flashed his identification, leading Qian Ye directly into the main camp, completed the registration process for him, and then handed him a copper nameplate representing his identity. The name Lin Qianye was stamped mechanically onto the plate.

Staring at the character Lin on the nameplate, Qian Ye felt an indescribable emotion. For the first time in his life, he felt a sense of belonging. This Lin character was not only imprinted on the nameplate but also etched in his heart.

Next, Qian Ye was led into the inner camp by a soldier. The inner camp was the examination area, where Shi Yan could not enter.

Only after stepping into the inner camp did Qian Ye realize that this military camp was much larger than it appeared from the outside.

Thousands of young people who had passed the initial screening were arranged into various barracks according to the numbers on their nameplates. Tomorrow was the official examination day, and today they would rest, hoping to perform at their best.

Many of the young people had arrived by vehicle or even passenger airships, all powered by black stone steam, sharing the common characteristic of noise and jolting. Such long journeys were very exhausting, affecting their physical condition, and naturally, their performance in the exams.

In matters related to military examinations, the Empire was always very fair, rarely giving special treatment to children of noble families.

This was the foundation of the Empire. Otherwise, if an incompetent playboy were to lead troops into battle, it would be a disaster. The dark races would not care about your status or identity when they killed.

The recruitment exam consisted of three parts: origin power, combat skills, and firearm use.

After dinner, the examinees were sent back to their dormitories to sleep. Qian Ye, accustomed to following orders, went to bed as soon as the lights were turned off and quickly fell into a deep sleep. However, the other examinees in the dormitory were either excited or nervous, unable to sleep. Two young men from the same remote city even started chatting quietly.

After what seemed like a long time, the sleeping Qian Ye suddenly felt a jolt of unease and immediately opened his eyes. Although his body showed no movement, all his muscles were tensed, ready to strike and kill at any moment. His eyes, barely open, discreetly observed his surroundings.

At that moment, Qian Ye was shocked to see a middle-aged man’s face appear in the small window of the door, staring expressionlessly at everyone in the room!

However, apart from Qian Ye, no one else noticed the man! One of the examinees clearly glanced at the window, yet seemed to have completely missed him.

The middle-aged man suddenly looked at Qian Ye and then turned to leave.

Only after he disappeared did Qian Ye recover from his shock. But this time, he found it impossible to fall asleep again.

A short while later, an unremarkable middle-aged man left the dormitory building and entered another one. By the time he finished his rounds of all the dormitories, most of the names on his thick stack of lists were marked with an X, while only a few had numbers ranging from 1 to 9.

Beside Qian Ye’s name, however, there was a star. Among the thick list, only fourteen names had this mark.

Unbeknownst to Qian Ye, he had inadvertently passed the first test.

The next morning, a piercing bell awakened all the examinees from their sleep. Qian Ye, along with the crowd, rushed out of the barracks and lined up on the parade ground. Here, the examinees were divided into three groups, each assigned to different tests.

Qian Ye’s group would first take the origin-powered firearm shooting test.

The exam-specific origin guns provided to the examinees had greatly reduced power and lower origin consumption. Even a level one soldier could fire six or seven shots continuously. Only in this way could they complete all the exam sections. If equipped with standard origin guns, even the most basic level ones, it would be hard for even Qian Ye, with his dense and refined origin power, to complete all the shooting exercises.

After checking the origin gun, Qian Ye, along with nine other examinees, stood at the firing line. Ten stationary targets, all depicting humanoid spider demons, rose a hundred meters away.

While familiarizing himself with the weapon and waiting for the shooting command, a young man to Qian Ye’s left looked at him, grabbed his crotch, whistled, and said, “Kid, ever played with a gun?”

With his suggestive expression, this was a lewd and provocative remark.

Qian Ye glanced at him and said calmly, “Never played, but I’ve crushed a few. Want to try?”

The young man burst into exaggerated laughter, saying, “I’m really scared! Kid, do you know who I am, talking to me like this?”

“Regardless of who you are, it won’t add to your score, will it?” Qian Ye responded calmly.

The young man’s face turned beet red, and he snapped, “How arrogant, kid! But don’t make wild claims. The Empire’s aristocratic families wouldn’t stoop so low as to cheat in such an exam! Since I don’t like you, I’ll win fair and square!”

“Win against me? No chance,” Qian Ye replied with a maddening calmness.

The young man’s face immediately fell, “Then let’s bet?”

Qian Ye raised an eyebrow, “What’s the bet? Too small, and I’m not interested!”

The young man reached for the necklace around his neck, pulling it off and presenting it to Qian Ye. The necklace was silver, ending with a thumb-sized square plate engraved with an eagle head.

The young man said, “Let’s bet on the results of this exam! If I lose, this is yours!”

Qian Ye extended his hand, curiously touching the small plate, and asked, “How do you use this thing?” From his tone, it was clear he already considered the necklace as his.

The young man was furious, sneering, “Do you really think you’ve already won?”

Qian Ye nodded seriously, “Of course.” Then, he added, “How do you use this thing?”

The young man gritted his teeth, “This is my token! With this, you can make a request to my family. As long as it’s within my authority, we can fulfill any request!”

By now, the other examinees had noticed the argument and looked over. They all noticed the eagle head on the square plate, and some instantly recognized the emblem.

“Could it be from the Wei family?” someone whispered.

Hearing the murmurs, the young man immediately perked up, raising his chin like a bantam rooster.

But Qian Ye did not react as he expected, merely making a sound of acknowledgment and looking at the young man with suspicion. The meaning was clear: with your appearance, how significant could your authority be?

The young man, once again angered, shouted, “Are you betting or not?”

Finally, Qian Ye nodded, “Alright, I’m in.”

The young man, no longer wasting words, lifted his origin gun and waited quietly for the exam to begin.

The exam started with a whistle. The ten examinees all raised their origin guns, aiming carefully.

Most origin guns had poor shooting accuracy. Hitting a target a hundred meters away was easy, but hitting the bullseye, which was only as big as a fingernail, was extremely difficult. A bullseye scored 100 points, but missing it by just a little meant only 80 points. All types of shooting targets were scored this way.

Soon, a gunshot echoed. A thin red beam hit the target, causing the metal target to wobble. A small hole appeared in the upper portion of the target. The shot was powerful but not very accurate, barely hitting the target.

“20 points!” the examiner announced, while another recorded the score.

The gunfire followed in order, and eight of them hit the target, but the highest score was only 50 points. In no time, only the young man and Qian Ye had not fired yet.

The young man had been aiming for a long time, and Qian Ye had been watching him. Under Qian Ye’s gaze, the young man felt agitated. When he pulled the trigger, he immediately cried out, “Damn it!”