Chapter 77: League Starts

Chapter 77: The League Begins

At the very front of the formation stood over a dozen lead instructors.

At their head was none other than Qin Feng’s “old acquaintance,” Professor Gu Yue.

Today, he was not wearing his usual research coat but a crisp, immaculate instructor’s uniform, his expression solemn.

Most of the other instructors were strangers to Qin Feng.

Though the square was packed with people, the discipline was remarkably good.

The students kept their ranks orderly of their own accord; even those who knew each well spoke in deliberately hushed tones, displaying exceptional personal conduct.

The entire square was steeped in a solemn atmosphere, yet also tense with the impending battle.

Just then, a low hum came from the sky.

Hum—hum—hum—

Everyone looked up as if by unspoken agreement.

High above, a massive black shadow was tearing through the clouds at a speed astonishingly mismatched with its colossal size, rapidly approaching the square.

It was a shuttle.

A behemoth brimming with futuristic sci-fi aesthetics.

Its exterior was perfectly streamlined, the hull long and slender, over three hundred meters in length, crafted from a dark alloy that absorbed radar waves, reflecting a cold metallic sheen under the sunlight.

On either side of the hull, several enormous psionic engines emitted pale blue flames, propelling the giant vessel to hover steadily above the square.

A planetary-class Type I transport shuttle.

Powered by high-purity psionic ore as its core energy source, it was designed for large-scale, efficient transport of personnel or supplies across a planet’s surface.

“My god… that’s so cool!”

Qian Duoduo tilted his head back, his eyes filled with longing. “I wish I could own a shuttle like that someday.”

“Is that a planetary-class shuttle?” asked Shi Potian.

“Yeah, Type I,” Qian Duoduo immediately slipped into “intel briefing” mode.

“The one before us is a planetary-class Type I, mainly for transport—huge, incredibly fast, but only equipped with the most basic self-defense weaponry.”

“One step above is the planetary-class Type II. That kind of shuttle is smaller but built purely for combat, loaded with numerous psionic main cannons and electromagnetic railguns.”

“As for the top-tier planetary-class Type III, it can no longer be called a ‘shuttle.’ It’s a mobile ‘space military base’ capable of housing hundreds of thousands of Star Realm soldiers, carrying hundreds of Type I and Type II shuttles inside.”

He paused.

“Even the most ordinary, civilian-grade little shuttle that seats only a few people starts at a million Imperial credits. A shuttle like this school’s planetary-class Type I is worth at least a hundred million. As for the Type II and Type III with formidable combat capabilities, money alone can’t buy them—they’re strategic weapons under strict Imperial control.”

“After all,” he lowered his voice, “an ordinary person, sitting in the cockpit of a planetary-class Type II shuttle, just by moving a finger and pressing a few buttons, could easily destroy a hive city in minutes.”

Qin Feng listened quietly.

When the Empire first conquered a planet, it would undergo various adaptations and modifications, then hive cities would be built. A hive city, after developing for a thousand or even ten thousand years, could grow into a planetary metropolis.

The planet Qin Feng was on, Qiming Star, was such a metropolis.

But hive cities and metropolises were merely distinctions in social hierarchy; in terms of scale, hive cities were enormous—some large ones even occupied a tenth of a planet’s surface.

And an ordinary person piloting a planetary-class Type II could destroy such a colossal hive city with just a finger’s movement… “So this is psionic weaponry?”

Qin Feng mused inwardly.

Just then, Professor Gu Yue’s voice, amplified by a device, rang clearly across the entire square.

“Attention, everyone! Board in order by grade! First-year students, enter Deck One; second-year students, Deck Two; third-year students, Deck Three! Maintain discipline, no loud talking!”

“Yes, sir!”

Thousands of students responded in unison.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The moment the command fell, all the students moved.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, without any crowding or chaos, forming three streams that swiftly passed through the shuttle’s descending tractor beams and entered their respective cabins.

Qin Feng mingled with the crowd, a hint of curiosity in his eyes, but more so a look of scrutiny and reflection.

“No wonder the school strictly forbids students from using high-powered psionic weapons during missions. Such things can indeed give an ordinary person terrifying destructive power in a short time, making it far too easy to become dependent.”

“But…”

Qin Feng thought, “If martial arts cultivation reaches a profound level, its power must be infinitely more terrifying than these psionic weapons. Otherwise, the Empire wouldn’t spare so many resources to tirelessly promote martial arts.”

In his mind, he recalled records from history textbooks and the internet.

“Not to mention anything else—if a martial artist reaches the ‘planetary level,’ they can cross the vacuum of space with their physical body, shatter asteroids, and even destroy a planet with their bare fists. If they reach the ‘stellar level,’ their power could even extinguish a star. And above that, there are ‘galactic-level’ and ‘black hole-level’ martial artists stationed on the Starry Wall at the Empire’s frontier, each with their fists, slaying billions of alien races…”

As his thoughts wandered, Qin Feng had already entered the spacious, bright Deck One cabin.

The interior of the shuttle was enormous; even with over a thousand new students entering, it didn’t feel cramped.

He found a seat by the window and sat down. The shuttle began to ascend slowly, then accelerated.

Through the huge porthole, the entire campus of Qiming First High School, and even the distant Qiming Metropolis, came into full view.

Countless skyscrapers pierced the clouds like a forest of steel. Between the buildings, tens of thousands of ships and civilian shuttles of all sizes, like glowing schools of fish, shuttled back and forth along fixed routes.

Gazing at the scene before him, Qin Feng’s heart felt expansive, a sense of exhilaration and boldness rising within him.

He couldn’t help murmuring softly to himself:

“A thousand towers weave fire, ten thousand shuttles flow like shuttles…”

“Giant towers dance in silver armor, lofty domes race in golden light…”

Just as Qin Feng was lost in thought, a hand reached out, offering an energy bar.

“Old Qin, what are you muttering about? So literary. Here, want something to eat? Replenish your energy.”

It was Qian Duoduo.

After two months of hard martial arts training, Qian Duoduo was no longer as fat as before; instead, he had become robust, his physique like that of a bear.

“Haha, where did you get an energy bar?”

Qin Feng smiled, took the energy bar, and started chatting with the chubby kid beside him and Shi Potian.

The shuttle was fast.

The scenery below rapidly receded.

In about half an hour, the shuttle hovered in midair, and Professor Gu Yue’s command for the students to disembark rang out.

At Professor Gu Yue’s order, thousands of students left the shuttle in an orderly fashion.

(End of chapter)