Chapter 12: The Frog in the Well

"Cut."

Chen Tong snorted coldly and said no more.

At that moment, the training mecha controlled by Su Ming started to accelerate gradually, attracting the attention of everyone around.

Inside the cockpit of the Iron Head training mecha, Su Ming constantly pulled the control stick, gradually pushing the power control stick to increase power output.

Although his nerves were tense and fine sweat appeared on his forehead, he still enjoyed this feeling immensely—it was truly fantastic.

He glanced at the time displayed on the operation screen. Half an hour of training time had passed all too quickly, and only five minutes remained in a blink of an eye.

Su Ming's eyes flickered slightly as he exhaled softly, adjusting himself to the optimal state before slightly advancing the power control stick.

Buzz~

Accompanied by the increasing noise of the power engine, the Iron Head training mecha moved faster, almost jogging.

"Wow~"

"Amazing!"

...

Many students exclaimed in amazement.

Tang Yan was also delighted, not expecting this real-machine training to bring such unexpected gains.

Soon, the rotation training period ended, and Su Ming controlled the training mecha to return to its starting position.

Click~

The cockpit opened slowly, and Su Ming clumsily climbed down.

Clap Clap~

Applause broke out, and Su Ming, slightly startled, looked up to see Tang Yan approaching with many students.

"That was fantastic, Su Ming handled it very well!"

Tang Yan said with a beaming smile.

"No doubt, Su Ming, your handling was awesome, especially that acceleration at the end. It was so cool!"

"Really amazing."

...

Zhao Ran and others excitedly praised him.

Su Ming, slightly embarrassed by their compliments, could only respond with a smile.

"Thank you...."

Seizing this opportunity, Tang Yan inspired the other students.

"Everyone, train hard, and you can do as well as Su Ming."

"Okay, teacher."

The students excitedly responded.

At this moment, Zhang Tai saw a group of rookies barely learning to walk and smugly showing off, and his face showed a mocking expression as he condescendingly shouted to the excited crowd.

"A bunch of frogs at the bottom of a well, are you that happy?"

As soon as these words came out, Mink and others looked up at Zhang Tai, replying somewhat angrily.

"What did you say?"

"Do I have a problem? Please, get one thing straight, your current operating level is just like that of toddlers barely able to walk. Even a slightly larger movement could make you fall, not to mention fighting. What's the use? Though we are all the same grade, we are already in actual combat. That's the difference between the clouds and the mud."

Zhang Tai ridiculed mercilessly; his words fell like a bucket of cold water directly on the heads of those spirited people.

For a moment, Mink and the others were completely dumbfounded.

Tang Yan also looked at Zhang Tai with great annoyance. He had gone to great lengths to bring the students here for real-machine training in hope of igniting their fighting spirit. It was not easy to boost their confidence, and then this guy had dashed it with a bucket of cold water. Wasn't this sabotaging?

Just as Tang Yan was about to scold Zhang Tai, a shout came from the gate.

"Mr. Tang, could you come here for a moment?"

Tang Yan turned his head and saw a man with wrinkles on his face, somewhat gray-haired, dressed in a teacher's uniform, standing at the gate.

"Isn't that Teacher Chen Yi?"

"Yes, what is he doing here?"

...

Huang Mao and others started discussing in confusion.

Tang Yan then instructed everyone.

"I'm stepping out for a bit, you guys continue to train properly. Mink, you take charge of organizing the next phase of training!"

"Okay, teacher!"

Mink promptly responded.

Tang Yan then walked toward the gate.

Outside the training room, Chen Yi lowered his voice to Tang Yan.

"Why did you bring the whole class to the actual Mecha training field? That's not according to the rules!"

"I know it's against the rules, but I still wanted to give them a chance,"

Tang Yan shook his head as he replied.

"I understand, but if things go wrong, the school might have complaints, and you might end up getting reprimanded, perhaps even lose this year's bonus."

"It's okay."

"Forget it, if you think it's okay, I won't say more."

"Right, why did you come here though?"

"My students are here."

"Your students? Don't tell me Lin Chuyu and the others are the ones you're in charge of?"

"They are the ones I'm in charge of. Also, I have something to tell you, I've already filled 28 slots. If all goes well this year, I should be able to fill up 30 slots and then apply for a transfer."

Chen Yi said with a smile to Tang Yan.

This time, he was almost certain of it.

"Oh, congratulations."

Upon hearing Chen Yi's words, Tang Yan also showed an envious expression.

"Thanks, how many slots are you short of?"

Chen Yi casually asked Tang Yan.

"I'm still far off, I've only filled three slots, who knows when I'll be able to fill them up."

Tang Yan replied bitterly.

"No worries, take your time!"

Chen Yi extended his hand and patted Tang Yan on the shoulder to comfort him.

...

Inside the training room, seeing his classmates all a bit listless and lacking the previous fighting spirit and excitement, Mink raised his voice to inspire everyone.

"Listen up, everyone, we are in the prime of our youth, and as long as we work hard, we will definitely be rewarded. I believe we can all shine in the city exams and enter the Imperial Court Military Academy together!"

"The class president is right, we can definitely do it!"

"Yes, as long as we work hard!"

...

For a moment, some disheartened classmates regained their confidence.

Su Ming couldn't help but take a few more glances at Mink, who truly was fit for the role of class president.

Thud Thud~

At this moment, Lin Chuyu, Zhang Tai, and the others walked down from the observation deck. They were about to leave the training room to find their instructor Chen Yi.

They came down just in time to hear Mink and the others discussing the Imperial Court Military Academy.

Zhang Tai immediately felt very annoyed, as if his dream had been tainted, and he sneered.

"It seems you're not only frogs in a well but also not fully awake, daydreaming in broad daylight."

"Don't go too far, can't we have our own goals and dreams? Only you are allowed to aim for the Imperial Court Military Academy and not us?"

Mink angrily retorted.

At this moment, Zhou Wei, with his hands in his pockets, shook his head and smiled as he spoke.

"Tsk tsk, although I find Zhang Tai annoying, what he said isn't wrong. You guys probably don't realize how strict the admissions are at the Imperial Court Military Academy. The Imperial Court Academy does give us 10 internal school slots, but do you know how many from last year managed to get in?"

"How many?"

Iron Head instinctively asked.

Su Ming was also curious as he looked toward Zhou Wei.

"Not a single one, to be precise, it's been five full years since anyone from the Thirteenth District got selected for the Imperial Court internal school."

Zhou Wei responded with a smug smile.