Lu Qiao returned to his room and changed out of the sleeping robe. He thought that after washing it clean, he would find an opportunity to return it to Yan Qiu—but it would probably really be difficult to see Yan Qiu again in the future, right? Unless he could enter the military? But even if he entered the military……
Lu Qiao stared at the sleeping robe on the bed, somewhat dazed.
After a moment of silence, he took a deep breath and decided not to think about all that nonsense anymore. He folded the clothes neatly and put them away first, then ran out of the room.
It was still early. The sudden unlocking had already sent the entire online world into an uproar, but there was still only Lu Qiao at the training center, and it was completely quiet.
Morning sunlight streamed through the windows. He mopped the floor once, then downed a nutrient supplement and a genetic stabilizer. By the time he was finished, it was already seven-thirty, and the trainees at the center began arriving one after another.
This training center was located on a Third-Class Star, what was known as a slum district. The owner had opened it out of nostalgia for his hometown, so the fees were also very low.
Moreover, the owner himself had quite a background—he had once served in the Empire’s First Legion, the legion currently commanded by Yan Qiu and the strongest legion in the Empire. Because of this, whenever the training center recruited students, the scene was extremely lively.
Lu Qiao had joined this training center after graduating from school. He couldn’t really be considered a student, because he had already learned everything he needed to learn back at school.
Currently, he worked at the center as an assistant instructor and did odd jobs. The owner provided him with accommodation and paid him a salary.
And Lu Qiao’s most important task at present was to overcome his genetic disorder.
At this moment, the owner, an uncle, came swaying over. He wore an expression of such excessive teasing that it was almost unbearable, and he brought a group of little kids over with him.
In an extremely oily tone, he asked, “Hmm? I heard Qiao Qiao, you got locked with someone? Who is it? Where does he work? How many years have you known each other?”
Lu Qiao took a step back, the corner of his mouth twitching. He hadn’t expected the deputy owner to spread the news so quickly.
There were several little kids at the training center who were only in elementary school. Their parents had sent them here during the vacation. They practically treated the owner like the king of the mountain and followed him around every day.
Now they surrounded Lu Qiao one after another, their clear voices sounding like little birds.
“Qiao Qiao, Qiao Qiao, Qiao Qiao! Uncle Deputy Owner said you got locked with someone!”
“Qiao Qiao, Qiao Qiao, are you dating someone?”
“Qiao Qiao, Qiao Qiao, is she a beautiful woman?”
The owner cut in, “Apparently it’s a handsome guy!”
The little kids sucked in a collective breath.
Then they all immediately turned to Lu Qiao.
“Qiao Qiao, Qiao Qiao, it’s really a handsome guy?!”
Lu Qiao had originally intended to muddle through the questions. But when he heard how quickly the little kids had changed direction, he was instantly speechless.
He helplessly said, “Fine, he’s a handsome guy. But don’t get any ideas. My friend and I are just fri—ends!”
The little kids immediately exploded.
“Qiao Qiao, Qiao Qiao, could you be gay without knowing it?!”
The owner burst into laughter.
“Hahahahahaha!!”
Lu Qiao: “……”
Other students at the training center passed by them. Seeing the scene, some curiously gathered around to watch, while others simply smiled and walked into the building.
Some of them, like the little kids, were only here for vacation. Others were full-time students studying at the center.
The latter mostly came from extremely poor families. Their parents and children still wanted to give it a try, but they couldn’t afford the tuition at regular schools, so they had no choice but to entrust their children entirely to the owner.
The “gang up on Qiao Qiao” activity was still going on when a pair of siblings got out of a luxurious aircraft in the distance.
As they approached and heard what everyone was talking about, the brown-haired younger brother asked with interest, “Hey, Lu Qiao, don’t tell me you got linked to Song Yue?”
The little kids froze.
Song Yue was Lu Qiao’s friend in the military. He had even visited the training center before, so everyone knew him.
Beside the younger brother, his blond-haired older sister said sarcastically, “That would be nice too. Song Yue is in the military, right? If you teleported there, then you finally got to see what the military looks like? You should celebrate properly. You have him to thank for that.”
Lu Qiao’s expression immediately became cold.
The owner also stopped smiling.
The little kids sensed the change in atmosphere. They all fell silent and hid behind Lu Qiao and the owner, peeking at the siblings.
The siblings were named Chris and Ellie. They were the only exceptions at the training center—children from a noble family.
They normally attended the Royal Academy. The reason their parents specifically sent them to this training center during vacations was supposedly because their parents were old acquaintances of the owner and knew how capable he was. They hoped he would properly polish the two of them.
On the first day they were sent here six months ago, the siblings had shown complete disdain for this planet, this training center, and everyone at the center.
It wasn’t until they had each received several rounds of the owner’s “beating” that they finally realized their parents hadn’t sent them here purely to torment them.
Then they received several rounds of “beating” from Lu Qiao, the assistant instructor.
They……of course, they didn’t respect Lu Qiao the way they respected the owner.
Instead, they were simply unable to accept that this guy, only four years older than them, from a poor family, who drank only three nutrient supplements a day, couldn’t enter the military, and couldn’t even control his own genes, could completely suppress them in every aspect!
Yet the owner loved throwing them to Lu Qiao.
After all, he had so many students.
The siblings were unhappy?
So what if they were unhappy?
When it came to fighting……they couldn’t beat Lu Qiao anyway!
Thus, the siblings were crushed by Lu Qiao countless times. They became increasingly displeased with him, and there was no way they would shut their mouths because of it.
Besides, even if they shut up, Lu Qiao would still train them.
They had seen this point very clearly and had simply given up resisting.
At this moment, Ellie was still trying to provoke him, but the owner grabbed his hair and interrupted her.
He lazily said to Lu Qiao, “It’s about time. Take them to the classroom. Have them train separately for two hours first. Get their muscles and bones warmed up.”
The expressions of Ellie and Chris immediately changed.
They looked terrible.
Ellie stiffly asked, “Owner, you’re not going to supervise us again today?”
“Of course I am. How could I not?” The owner smiled. “But I have so many students. I can’t only take care of the two of you. Your level is also different from the other students, so there’s no way you can attend group classes with them.”
He grinned.
“Qiao Qiao is pretty great, right? He’s the strongest person in the center besides your uncle here!”
Lu Qiao glanced indifferently at the siblings.
“Come with me.”
Ellie and Chris: “……”
“A one-on-two lesson. How wonderful!”
After the three of them left in a strange atmosphere, the owner remained standing there and clicked his tongue in admiration.
One of the little kids tugged at his pants and looked up hopefully.
“Uncle, I want to play with Qiao Qiao too.”
The owner smiled and patted his head.
Once you’ve seen Lu Qiao beat someone up, you won’t want that anymore, little cutie.
The siblings followed behind Lu Qiao.
After recovering from what had just happened, Ellie forced out a laugh and said coldly, “That friend of yours named Song Yue seems to be nothing more than a third-class soldier, right? I’ve never seen what a third-class soldier’s military camp looks like.”
Without turning his head, Lu Qiao said, “Then you’ll know once you enter the military yourselves.”
Ellie and Chris froze.
Once they understood what he meant, they exploded.
Among each graduating class in the entire Empire, outstanding students who entered the military could directly become first-class soldiers.
Of course, the two of them were aiming for exactly that.
Yet Lu Qiao had just said that once they entered the military, they would be able to see what a third-class soldier’s military camp looked like.
In other words, he was saying that after graduation, they wouldn’t be able to become first-class soldiers and would only be third-class soldiers!
What an insult!
“You—” Chris’s face turned bright red. He angrily said, “You actually look down on third-class soldiers too! If your friend finds out—”
“Me?”
Lu Qiao stopped at the classroom door. He turned sideways and glanced at them.
“I don’t look down on anyone. I’m just stating the facts. The two of you simply don’t have the ability to jump straight to becoming first-class soldiers yet.”
He paused.
“Besides, you investigated my affairs so thoroughly before. You even found out that my friend was a third-class soldier when he first entered the military. Don’t tell me you didn’t know that he was promoted to first-class soldier half a month ago?”
Song Yue was his classmate and his best friend. When he was promoted half a month ago, he had excitedly called Lu Qiao and chatted with him for two whole hours.
Chris and Ellie: “!!!”
When did that happen? Why didn’t they know?!
Lu Qiao disdainfully said “tch” inwardly, then pushed open the classroom door and walked inside.
There were several students in the classroom, standing together and chatting. At the upper corner of the classroom, a holographic television screen was playing the news channel, with the anchor broadcasting the morning news.
When they saw Lu Qiao, several people politely greeted him before leaving the classroom to them.
Lu Qiao noticed that they hadn’t turned off the television, but he didn’t mind. He actually wanted to see whether the C1 Star Domain Administration had any follow-up reports about yesterday’s virus invasion.
After closing the door, he clapped his hands and calmly looked at the siblings.
“All right. Start warming up. After that, we’ll begin one-on-one training.”
Chris and Ellie gritted their teeth as they stared at him, as though they were looking at the devil himself.
Two hours later—
The television had already switched to another anchor, continuously broadcasting real-time news from throughout the Universal Alliance.
Ellie was already face-down on the floor, sprawled out in a huge X and completely wiped out.
Chris roared and turned around, swinging his hand at Lu Qiao.
Lu Qiao ducked beneath the attack and seized his arm!
Chris reacted sharply and turned around to counterattack. The two of them continued exchanging blows, back and forth, while the classroom filled with heavy breathing and the sounds of combat.
Although interstellar warfare relied primarily on technology and firepower, mecha soldiers were also extremely important.
Once soldiers became accustomed to being neurologically connected with their mechas, everything came down to their own combat abilities.
Therefore, physical combat was an indispensable course for soldiers.
Some individual generals didn’t even look at a soldier’s other grades when selecting recruits. They only cared about their individual combat abilities.
There were innate differences in talent, after all.
After another exchange, Lu Qiao caught both of Chris’s arms and slammed him hard against the floor!
Chris’s muscles bulged as he roared and struggled desperately, trying to get up.
But Lu Qiao held him down firmly, leaving him completely unable to move!
In the end, Chris gave up and collapsed onto the floor, panting heavily, his entire body drenched in sweat.
Lu Qiao had also worked up quite a sweat, but compared with Chris and Ellie, his condition was still much better.
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
Then he lowered his head and leaned close to Chris’s ear, slowly saying,
“Remember this. I’ll enter the military through my own abilities.”
Chris stiffened.
That sentence was a response to the round of mockery the siblings had thrown at him when they first entered the classroom.
He gritted his teeth and tried to struggle again.
Still, Lu Qiao didn’t budge.
Chris simply couldn’t understand what was wrong with this guy.
He and Ellie had received professional training since childhood. After entering the Royal Academy, they had consistently ranked near the top among students of their year.
How could people like them come to a rural training center and discover that, aside from the uncle their parents knew, there was someone else they couldn’t beat?
It was simply unbelievable!
Did this guy have excellent genetic traits?
Had he received training from childhood like they had?
Did he eat better?
Did he attend a better school than them?
What exactly did he have that was better than them?
The owner had an extremely powerful combat-species genetic trait, so they could accept being defeated by him.
But what about Lu Qiao?
He only had a completely unimpressive Featherwing Clan genetic trait, and he couldn’t even control it!
How could someone like this actually crush them?!
Chris felt as though his face had been stepped on.
He felt no submission whatsoever.
Only rage!
Just then, the anchor’s voice from the news reached both their ears.
The broadcast mentioned the name “Yan Qiu.”
Both of them subconsciously turned their heads.
On the holographic screen, beneath the “click-click” flashes of the media cameras, His Majesty the Emperor was meeting with the leader of one of the star nations within the Alliance.
Yan Qiu stood not far behind His Majesty.
He was wearing a formal military uniform, his expression indifferent, his posture straight, exuding an air of heroic spirit.
Lu Qiao was somewhat surprised.
That guy had appeared at such an important event so quickly?
Yesterday, he had actually acted as though he didn’t care at all whether they unlocked!
Feeling Lu Qiao’s grip loosen slightly, Chris remembered something and sneered.
“Heh…… So what if you enter the military? You don’t actually think you can compare yourself to Marshal Yan, do you?”
Lu Qiao’s body froze.
“Lu Qiao, you’re still far from being able to treat Marshal Yan as your rival!”
After being crushed by Lu Qiao for the first time, Chris and Ellie had investigated his background out of unwillingness to accept defeat.
Naturally, they had also learned that Lu Qiao had encountered Yan Qiu because of competitions and had even regarded Yan Qiu as a rival.
But in their eyes, this was simply a joke.
Who was Yan Qiu?
He had been a legend even when he was at the Royal Academy. He was the person he, his sister, and everyone at the school had worshiped.
Yan Qiu’s strength was absolute.
And what was Lu Qiao?
He had merely participated in a competition alongside Yan Qiu and actually thought he could compare himself with him?
Seriously, Chris didn’t even think Yan Qiu would remember someone like Lu Qiao.
Five thousand light-years away—
The meeting soon ended.
The leaders had lunch afterward, but Yan Qiu declined to accompany them on the grounds that he still had many matters to handle.
“Return to the military headquarters first.”
After getting into the aircraft and telling the pilot, Yan Qiu raised his wrist and glanced at his terminal.
It was already ten-thirty.
He thought for a moment, then dialed Lu Qiao’s terminal.
It was a video call.
One second later, his video call was cleanly rejected.
Yan Qiu: “……”
At the training center, Lu Qiao removed the terminal from his wrist and tossed it aside.
He looked down at Chris from above, his tone icy.
“It’s still early. One more round. Get up!”
Chris lay sprawled on the floor like a dead pig.
Five in the afternoon.
Inside a classroom at the back of the training center.
A figure leaned against the doorway, watching Lu Qiao relentlessly pummel the punching bag in front of him.
“You should stop for a while. Continuing to train like this isn’t good for your body.”
The owner picked at his ear and lazily asked, “Did those two little brats get under your skin?”
Lu Qiao stopped.
Both hands braced against his knees as sweat dripped down his body.
Chris’s words were still echoing in his mind, impossible to erase.
The owner continued, “What could possibly be worth getting this angry over? Come on, tell your uncle about it.”
Lu Qiao was silent for a while before asking,
“Why won’t my genetic disorder get better?”
Genetic disorders could occur in any gene or combination of genes, and everyone’s symptoms were different.
The genes causing the disorder in Lu Qiao’s body were the ones controlling his wings.
The symptoms were therefore obvious.
Lu Qiao’s wings had grown out after his fever subsided back then, but he had never been able to control them.
For the past two years, besides taking medication, Lu Qiao had also undergone training specifically designed to repair his genetic disorder.
This kind of illness could be treated with supplementary therapy by adjusting the body’s condition.
He had been hoping to recover as quickly as possible.
Yet there hadn’t been the slightest progress.
The treatment cycle for this kind of disorder was indeed long, but it shouldn’t have been as bad as Lu Qiao’s case!
When he wanted his wings to appear, they wouldn’t.
When he didn’t want them to appear, they would grow wildly.
They simply refused to obey his commands!
Just like right now—
Lu Qiao closed his eyes and tried to extend his wings.
Yet there wasn’t the slightest movement on his back.
He clenched his fists.
The training plan had been set by the owner. The owner was experienced, and there was nothing wrong with the training plan he had designed for Lu Qiao.
So where exactly was the problem?
The owner glanced at Lu Qiao’s back, paused, and said,
“Your symptoms really are somewhat unusual. I asked some of my friends, and they’ve never seen a case like yours either.”
Lu Qiao had never missed a dose of his medication and was extremely diligent with his training.
In theory, there should have been significant improvement within a year.
Working himself to the bone only to remain exactly where he was—
Now that he was already twenty-four years old, with another year passing, he would permanently lose the chance to enter the military.
It wasn’t difficult to understand why he was anxious.
The owner sighed.
“I’ll think of another way. As long as we find the root cause, we can solve the problem.”
Lu Qiao only nodded silently.
But what if they couldn’t find the root cause?
What exactly was wrong with his body?
What exactly was he supposed to do?
Whenever he thought about these questions, he would fall into confusion, becoming completely lost.
After the owner left, Lu Qiao continued venting by himself for a while before finally stopping.
It was already approaching seven.
The trainees had all left.
As usual, he took his change of clothes and dragged his heavy footsteps to the shower room, washing himself gloomily.
What the hell?
What did he mean by, “You’re still far from being able to treat Marshal Yan as your rival”?
If it weren’t for this damn genetic disorder, perhaps……perhaps he would have already become a general!
Why couldn’t he regard Yan Qiu as his rival?!
……He was really depressed.
Lu Qiao miserably used a foaming net to spread soap bubbles all over his body, covering himself in foam.
He was just about to turn on the shower and rinse the bubbles away when, suddenly, his head became dizzy.
His vision went black, then bright again—
The next second, he heard a startled cry.
And, covered in foam, he fell straight into a familiar embrace!
Lu Qiao looked up in shock.
Once again, he saw Yan Qiu’s astonished face.
Yan Qiu was standing in front of an aircraft, apparently just about to get inside.
Behind him, Lu Qiao heard the “murmur, murmur” of people discussing the scene.
His head buzzed.
I’m done! I’m absolutely done!
When is this going to end?!
He swore he was never going to shower at this time again for the rest of his life!!!