"Congratulations? I'm now short of money and women. You patronizing me?" Yan Xiaosu shot a look at Jasper. He realized that these guys were thugs. The more you ignored them, the more they thought you were cool.
"Brother Yan is so funny. What's a small thing like money? We're all friends, so if Brother Yan needs anything, all of us will pitch in to help."
"That's true. Brother Yan, you must be here on Tita Star to accomplish great things. Remember to give your brothers a leg up, playing together makes things interesting." Pila also laughed. They were here to play only because they could not secure business. Who would have thought that the butterfly of fortune, that they had chased for so long, would come to sit on their shoulder when they took it easy?
Jasper was grumpy. These louts. He had been the one to find him.
"Brother Yan, you're too low profile. KING's program success is a huge lucrative thing."
Yan Xiaosu was taken aback. He had just received the news from Xiao Fei, and these people already knew. It looked like Jasper's strength was in his organization, to be able to obtain information so fast.
"Ah, you mean the space warp program? Success? Impossible. The company evaluations say that it needs another decade at least. It's only been a short while." Mitchell said.
Jasper ignored Mitchell. His last vestige of doubt disappeared. He had wondered how a person like this could be just manufacturing sanitary towels. The space program was a bottomless hole, and to finish it so quickly, they must have been burning money furiously.
All one could say was that the Tyrant of Earth did not walk the path commonly trod. He must hanker after a different pace.
"I always thought that I played high-stakes games, but that's nothing compared to Brother Yan. As one of the 3 major shareholders of KING company, you must be rolling in the money this time round."
Yan Xiaosu waved it off. "Don't harp on it. That broken plaything is indeed a bottomless hole that's finally succeeded. But the reach of the program is widespread, and all the countries want it. It's fine that you know about it, but don't spread it about. I'm just a humble sanitary towel seller. I know nothing, and care about nothing."
They looked at each other. The more Yan Xiaosu spoke this way, the more they were convinced that he was somebody special. They also did not care about money, but were preoccupied by their influence. Money meant nothing. Being awesome at this age was to master skills, resources, and networks.
KING Company could obtain the ore, and also mastered the technology. All that was left was to create their networks. These young men were practically drooling.
If they could help to secure this program, or even to secure a possibility for KING to sit down for talks, that would be a huge accomplishment.
Clearly, the Solar System Federation would lay claim to this technology, and it would be elevated to the national level. It would be difficult for business groups to intervene, but any financial group who did not chase technology in this era was finished. At a certain point, money was simply numbers. What was more important was assets that would continue to appreciate. Of course, control was even better.
Their gazes on the fatty grew hotter. Even Pila's girl felt that being given away was not a bad thing.
Basically, with such a turn of events, Yan Xiaosu also knew that the initiative was with him now. He knew that these guys were the rich-heir type, who still wanted to accomplish things. They would make excellent "cooperative partners".
Elite Academy's mecha qualification competition had finally started. All of the eligible participants had been randomly assigned to 5 groups. The competition would be held in the evening in order to avoid interrupting the lessons, injuries excepted.
The preliminaries used a battle simulation on the school-wide network, which meant that even Academy students could observe.
Wang Zheng had been assigned to Group 2. He could not help snorting. The school was pretty lazy, 5 Groups were really called Groups 1 to 5.
Each zone could only see 4 people ascend. The competition was intense, and the Xuan Grade's top 4 had been split up.
And in Group 2, the most famous was undoubtedly Vermillion Bird's King Hocatolin.
Once the groupings appeared, the audience's enthusiasm was lit. The only Group without one of the top 4 was Group 5, which meant that those there stood the biggest chance.
Zhang Shan had been assigned to Group 4, where the Azure Dragon Dominator Pampas was.
"Damn, this is bullshit. Lear's in Group 5. That cursed luck!"
Zhang Shan could not help complaining. He had hoped for Lear to be in the same group as Olivios, and then beaten soundly.
Olivios was in Group 3, so it looked like his dream fight was not happening.
Each group had a quota of 4, which Wang Zheng thought was rather generous.
"Oli, which group are you in?" ZHANG SHAN craned to look.
Oli's face reddened. Zhang Shan knew without guessing that it must be Olivios' Group 3. Zhang Shan was irritated. Was it so difficult to court someone? He did not get the Arbiters' way of thinking.
Since they had come out to the world, and seen all kinds of people, ZHANG SHAN still felt that Earthlings were the most normal.
Once the groupings had been confirmed, the first battle matchups were promptly released. The Xuan Graders hoped to meet a Huang Grader, and the Huang Graders also hoped to meet a Huang Grader. But the possibility was slight.
Of course, the truly strong did not care who they faced.
Wang Zheng did not feel much either way. He was still attending class as usual and preparing as usual. In this period, he was agonizing over how to attain Blade Skills. If he could get his hands on the complete 64 Point Blade Techniques, who knew what would result from the combination with Primordial Regression Technique. Even he himself was anticipating this eagerly. Perhaps miracles could be created.
The Milky Way Military Academy's school body was a floating space city. More accurately, it was a space castle, containing humankind's most developed technology. The school itself could transform into a military weapon in war. It could contain large numbers of warships, and was a real space mothership.
In the Milky Way Military Academy, one was groomed for leadership from the get go. Although practical skills were taught as well, such as shooting fights and mecha operation, but these were not the point. As a military person, one must possess a minimum level of fighting power, but more important here was the ability to command.
Piloting a warship was not so easy as well. The entire ship's life hung on each decision, and so a military officer needed to be well-balanced, and honed through experience.
Milky Way Military Academy's students needed to absorb and master large quantities of information. Honestly speaking, a higher level of intelligence was required from them, for example towards mathematical space physics, machinery etc. They did not need physical operation, but only an idea of it, on which they could make accurate decisions on the fly.
Milky Way Military Academy and Elite X Academy's pedagogy had their common points, but also vast differences.
Definitely, in comparison, the Milky Way Military Academy's fighting rehearsals were complex, while Elite Academy's mecha fights were more simplistic and direct. Large scale complex fighting scenarios required more time and involved more people. It not only tested one's individual abilities, but also group cooperation. It was highly demanding, and also tested a person's leadership and charisma. To raise the effectiveness of one's followers, a leader must be suitably influential.
Although Aina had not been in the school for long, but her name was already well known. Aslan people did not need foreigners. They already had enough human resource. Oz and Aurora could have gone to Elite Academy, but they had chosen to come here because being at the side of their princess was an honor, and also their life's purpose.
Aslan students' unique point was that they were holistically excellent. They were good in every aspect, whereas other countries might only have one obvious strength, but equally apparent flaws.
Such inside information was not something that any new country could mimic. It stemmed from the good accumulation of Aslan over a long period of time.
Aina had been very industrious since entering the school, even more so than the average student. When others were playing, she was still studying. Perhaps reading books was her relaxing activity.
Meng Tian had been even more hardworking after coming to Milky Way Military Academy. Because in terms of talent, she was average or below in the military Academy. The grooming from Earth was still deficient, but effort would patch these. Meng Tian loved the atmosphere here.
Before Aina came, she had known Aina, and Aina knew her as well. Only, they had never met in school. Once Aina came, her results had been exceptional amongst the newcomers. Meng Tian's results had been poor as the start, but as time passed, Meng Tian's results entered the front few as well. Her cool personality was very suited to this place. Her will was also uncommonly strong, which was most suitable for a commander.