Key Question

Wen Yu nodded at Huo Lan with an encouraging smile before walking off to his seat.

Qi San's seat was not too far away from his and he watched as the kid pinned Huo Lan with an accusing glare even though the latter wasn't even looking.

The questions soon arrived on the terminal attached to the maglev table. The cadets still had their bracelets on with them and would place it against the scan for proof of their identity.

Lingxiu Academy had no qualms with leaving their bracelets with them because the Academy had specialized blockers who easily cut their bracelets off from any and every external information with a single thought.

The identity scanning was done and the cadets were allowed to start. They only had 45 minutes to answer ten questions each from five different subjects and before, of course, the legendary key question.

So short, Wen Yu thought as silence settled heavily in the vast hall.

He stared at the various subjects with his lip between his teeth before clicking on Mecha. Better to start with a subject he was proficient in.

The questions ranged from historical Mechas to recently developed ones and the more questions he answered, the calmer he became.

He finished the Mecha exam in record time and with renewed courage, moved on to other subjects. The silence in the hall was really unnerving as every cadet focused on the table before them.

Soon enough the 45 minutes was up and the terminal screens of every maglev table in the hall went black.

Wen Yu's brows furrowed. He'd answered every question of course but was more surprised as there was no so called key question.

He thought back to his answers and nodded slightly in satisfaction. He was quite confident in passing remarkably.

Even if the screen was off, no cadet dared to rise from their seats without receiving orders.

They were all in the middle of exchanging confused looks when the screen before them lit up again and the voice of the AI rang out.

[[Main Assessment Completed. All Pre-enrolled Cadets Should Please Focus On Answering The Key Question]]

Wen Yu stared at the holograph that suddenly projected out of the terminal before him. The question was,

[In an alternate universe where the planet Earth is still inhabitable but comes into contact with the Xochs regardless, reenact the First Intergalaxian war without the discovery of the Xs gene.]

Wen Yu was stunned. Was such a question really meant for five year olds? What a strange question.

Putting aside the fact that the kids of this age would find it difficult to imagine life without spirit energy and Mechas, even he, a person from the old age, found this question absurd!

The question had layers upon layers of twists. Without the Xs gene, there was no way humans would've defeated the Xochs!

Even if they managed to figure out the workings of intergalaxy travel, they would have perished before doing anything with the discovery.

How the h*ck was he supposed to plan out a battle that ends in victory for the humans?! The more he looked at the question, the deeper his frown became.

He took a cursory glance around the hall. The kids were initially stumped by the question, but were now focused on writing as if the question was about what they ate for breakfast.

He bit his lips. How to plan out a victory for a race not only weaker than the enemy, but also with technology light years behind!

He absentmindedly tapped on the maglev table as the gears in his head turned. He was not a genius in his past life and absolutely loathed studying.

That being said, his cognitive processing ability was a bit behind others but now was not the time to gnash his teeth in regret.

He thought hard for a while but the only thing he could come up with was an extremely crude method.

According to history, the humans at that time, although rapidly dwindling, still had a population of about four billion. Compared to the Xochs that could be transported over at a time, that was a fairly imposing number.

If he made use of the method of dealing eight hundred points damage to the enemy but receiving one thousand points damage in return, the humans could win by a narrow margin.

He was already inputing his answer when he suddenly paused and erased everything. What was he doing? Lingxiu was an Academy that trained cadets to become soldiers for the Federation.

If he gave such an answer, there was no way they'd accept him. Who'd want a soldier who was willing to sacrifice so much that in the end, winning felt more like losing?

He'd more likely end up with the Federation monitoring him closely for terroristic tendencies!

Wen Yu deflated. What was he missing? The Academy wouldn't pose such a question if it was outside the abilities of the kids. Was it because he wasn't really a kid so he couldn't think like one?

How would the other kids answer this question? He glanced around again.

The kids were beginning to send in their answers and receive clearance from the AI to exit the hall. He began to sweat.

The more kids that left, the more anxious he became and the more droplets of cold sweat rolled down his back. The hall wasn't even hot in the least!

Wen Yu glared at the question with all his might. What really was this? He had read a lot of battle strategy this period and had basic knowledge of how a battle should go but this really was a lost battle.

The humans had no way to win. It was like bringing a feather duster to a gun fight. Useless. How to reenact the First Inter-galaxian war between the Xochs and the humans without the Xs gene?

The moment he repeated the question in his mind he paused. He drew closer to the holograph and had the urge to slap himself.

Was he an idiot?