Chapter 23 - We Are Not Sexist.

The hot spring was in the innermost part, and the water temperature was too hot.

The five men got into the water and let out a sigh of relief in unison, "It's so comfortable."

It felt so good to soak in a hot spring after escaping. 

Astra leaned against the pool and closed his eyes to rest with a satisfied expression while the mist rose, steaming over his face. He was so happy that even his spiritual energy sprang to life, a white light scurrying randomly beneath the water.

JiYu and Simon looked at his spiritual energy  strangely, "why is it so lively?"

The spiritual energy circled intimately around him, then ran in a flash to another person.

There was only so much that boys could talk about. Thus, they began playing with the water after a few chats. The members who had just wanted to observe the show were still implicated, ending up with dripping hair. Astra had a lot of fun. Excitedly, he cupped some water in his hand, targeting the wrong person. JiYu was embarrassed, "Listen to my explanation!"

Astra wiped the water off his face and smiled sinisterly, "It's too late!" He stood up to loosen his muscles and lunged in their direction.

Midway through the truce, Wen went ashore to get towels for the group when he heard a faint scream coming from his left. 

It was a girl's voice.

The five men froze. Wen quickly grabbed a bath towel, wrapping it around his waist. He frowned, shouting tentatively to his left in the dark, "Senior Sister?"

Those who could get five stars were primarily seniors.

 The screaming girl was mortified, "Yes, sorry."

She slowly emerged from the darkness, her thin white legs taking timid little steps. When she bowed her head, she was flushed red from her neck to the back of her ears.

She explained fumblingly, "I thought, I thought there was no one in there ..."

The voice got lower and lower, like an introverted girl prone to shyness.

Wen and the girl froze, one on the left and the other on the right. Astra trod on the water and went ashore, the water parting from him with a splash; the sound startled the two on the shore, and both subconsciously looked toward him. The girl's eyes widened, then squeezed shut. Her face was so red that her head seemed to be smoldering.

To be fair, Astra had always maintained an appreciative attitude towards women; this appreciation had nothing to do with love or impure thoughts. In his eyes, these women had their own loveliness, especially those who had a sincere attitude and dared to love and hate.

 He thought the girl in front of him was oddly cute, and not wanting to make the little girl continue to be embarrassed, he spoke in a teasing manner, "Where did the little beauty run out from?"

The group of brothers behind him looked at him with contempt, giving him a thumbs up when he glanced at them from the corner of his eyes. Each of them regretted that they didn't react as quickly as Astra had.

The girl was too ashamed to move her feet and whispered, "You ... you talk properly."

Very soft and coquettish.

Wen's expression fell, and without saying a word, he sat beside Astra, rubbing his calf muscles vigorously.

After rubbing it a few times, Astra squatted in front of him, and the heat from soaking in the hot springs rushed towards Wen. He took Wen's hand away from his calf and pressed his own against it, "cramp?"

"Yeah," Wen laughed bitterly, "I didn't think I'd get cramps at this age."

"Little brother, How old are you?" Astra raised his eyes and smiled. Wen's calf muscles tensed, becoming tight and taut like a hard stone. Astra's palms were warm, and there was no need to moisturize them. He kneaded from the middle to the other sides, rubbing all the tenseness away.

The girl stood behind him awkwardly, tears dotting her eyes, on the verge of crying out in helplessness.

Wen raised the corners of his lips, put on his most amiable smile, and pointed her to the way out, "You can go out from there, there are several hot springs ahead."

However, the girl pretended not to notice that beautiful smile. She looked at Astra back aggrievedly, said thank you, and ran away, fluttering like a butterfly.

Wen's smile remained unchanged. But, Astra paused his movements and looked down. Wen also lowered his head and looked at him. Looking into his eyes, Astra asked uncertainly, "Are you in a bad mood?"

Wen was a little surprised. After pondering, he said what was on his mind, "I just think that girl likes you, but not me."

She might as well like him; that way, Wen won't be confused by all these love affairs.

That was his genuine thought. After all, no one would want to see their brother indulge in relationships. The pure men, according to Simon's words, were the first to become famous.

It wasn't too late to fall in love after you've made a name for yourself.

Astra snorted and slapped his leg with a loud sound, "Childish."

Wen, "Haha."

That's not childish. It's called looking out for your brother.

...

After they returned to school, they had a boring half-day class with the first-year students. The teachers in the class were very gentle to them. They asked them constantly if they understood and even blessed them in advance for the next mental power test they would take.

The students in the class were very curious about them. The large classroom with hundreds of people looked back and peeked from time to time. For these first-year students, the Dream Team was their first impression of Solaris Military Academy. They had a sense of distance.

They experienced a different world from time to time, and everything about the Dream Team intrigued them.

The peeking eyes made it seem like the members of the Dream Team were celebrities. Simon sat all morning stiffly and didn't dare to move for fear that he would lower his teammates' momentum. But unbeknownst to him, aside from the jealousy and envy, their team was already the most revered among the first-year students. Everyone had heard of them.

In fact, on more than one occasion, other teams went to the teacher asking to go on a mission after they had heard the Dream Team had taken it. Each group was unconvinced about its inability to beat the Dream Team. But they were all brought back by the teacher's spiritual power tool.

After class, the teacher led the Dream Team toward the physical training grounds. After hearing that the Dream Team would retake their mental strength test, the number of students watching the fun grew behind them. Eventually, hundreds of people came along.

They were still spreading the word.

"Come see the Dream Team members test their mental strength values, I have a hunch they're going to punch the current mental strength number one in the face."

"Let's hope so, after all, Si Wo Lin is possessed, I heard he hasn't rested for three days and nights trying to manifest his mental powers."

"I think there's no need to be so nervous; after all, anyone who can manifest their mental energy within a month is a genius among geniuses."

Someone picked up, "Can you not be nervous? After all, he's still the top freshman in terms of mental strength, and as a result, the two 1800+ people below him are already able to use their mental power proficiently, so if I were him, I'd put myself under immense pressure as well."

Those words broke into Astra's ears without exception. He was a little helpless and sympathized with the Si Wo Lin they were talking about.

Being compared with the protagonist and the first brother under the protagonist's name at such a young age must be aggravating.

Si Wo Lin arrived at the scene with his roommates in a hurry when he received the news that the Dream Team would have a mental strength test. Multiple eyes gathered on him when someone who knew him called out his name.

Those eyes were half sympathetic and half gloating.

Si Wo Lin's face paled even more, and he clasped his hands together, not looking at the others, his expression calm.

His roommate looked at his expression and reassured him, "Your mental power is a full 2031, no one can grow over 200 points in such a short period of time, don't be nervous Si Wo Lin."

"No, it's not. ..." However, Si Wo Lin did not know how to express his inner thoughts, so he stopped trying to explain, instead choosing to stare closely at the Dream Team in front of the test machine.

There were five of them, each tall, handsome and eye-catching.

Their closeness was evident in their conversational gestures as if confidence was their eternal theme.

A small, subtle light shone in Si Wo Lin's eyes.

After clearing the value to zero, the teacher laughed reassuringly, "Don't be nervous, this isn't the first time you've tested, just use all your energy to channel all your mental power to the sensor."

Simon, JiYu, and Linus tacitly left the grand finale position to Astra and Wen. The three of them tested their mental power one after the other. It was unknown if it were because they were often surrounded by the mental powers of Wen and Astra. But all three members' spiritual powers actually went up by a fraction!

It was not much, but it was really amazing!

The teacher's face was full of smiles, looking at them as if he had discovered a group of treasures. When it was finally Astra and Wen's turn, the teacher's tone could not be gentler, "Who will come first?"

Wen and Astra looked at each other, and then their little sun lifted his chin, stepped forward, and stood in front of the testing machine.

Instead of pretending to be forced, Astra felt that his mental strength would increase significantly this time.

In the previous test, he was unfamiliar with how to use all his mental strength, but now it was different. With his proficiency, his mental power had become easier to operate. He pressed his hand on the sensor and concentrated.

Wen, next to him, said, "Don't lose to me."

Whether I lose or win doesn't depend on how happy you are.

Astra complained, became more serious, and channeled all his mental power to the sensor.

Si Wo Lin involuntarily took a few more steps forward.

The data on the test machine continued to soar and soon rose to a value of 1800. The students watching the fun with bated breath were focused on the value at that moment, wondering if it would be the same or higher.

They got the answer the next second; the growth rate of the mental power did not slow down at all, breaking through the 2000 mark in seconds.

 He really grew so much…

The roommate next to Si Wo Lin gasped, ignoring that he was still by his side, "Isn't this too powerful?!"

It should be known that only a little more than two weeks have passed since the first spiritual power test. After the mental power value stabilized, Astra withdrew his hand. His teammates wrapped their arms around his neck, each more excited than Astra himself.

"Fuck Astra," Simon whispered, "You must treat me! I want to go to the Sky Garden virtual world to play! Play the paid universe version!"

As soon as he said this, JiYu and Wen snickered. Completely unaware of what had transpired, Linus raised his eyebrows, his expressionless face somewhat confused, "What?"

What happened to them that he didn't know?

The teacher narrowed his eyes as he watched them play. Holding a pen, he happily wrote 2150 after Astra's name.

The talent value of the best student in the history of Chengyang Military Academy was 2300. Astra's spiritual power undoubtedly had a certain gap with him. Still, this result made the teacher very happy, whether it was his speed of spiritual power growth or control.

He felt like he had found a treasure and won't lose money this year!

Then it was Wen's turn. When his mental strength value stopped, the only people in the audience that could cheer were the members of the Dream Team. The students who had initially come to watch the fun had suffered two blows in a row; they could still say something before, but now they were silent. Feeling a little powerless but also very envious.

Wen still controlled his mental power to a low level this time, but the data was the same as Astra's, which was also 2150. He walked up to Astra happily and asked, "No. 1, how do you feel now??"

Astra held his chin in thought, "Keep up the good work and tie for first place?"

Wen laughed.

After that, there was nothing to do except physical training. The Dream Team were about to go to the training ground when they saw a small group of people approaching them.

The five looked at the group, and the roommates who followed Si Wo Lin felt like crying. They braced themselves, not wanting to lose face, but their hearts were weak, and they felt weak in their legs.

They just saw Si Wo Lin going over there and assumed he would pick a fight. Although they felt the odds would not be in their favor, they still followed because of roommate love. But now they regretted it.

The members of the Dream Team were all watching them.

That gaze was tenser than a teacher's gaze.

Si Wo Lin was also very nervous. He clenched his hands tightly and pinched his fingernails to speak, "My name is Si Wo Lin."

The poor little guy whom the others compared to the main character.

Astra smiled, "Hello."

His smile was bright, and he looked considerably gentler than the others. Several people were relieved. Si Wo Lin looked at them, and the light in his eyes grew, "I want, I want…"

He stammered.

Waiting for a good show, the surrounding students were anxious for Si Wo Lin. How could he make trouble with this momentum?

But he finally said, "I want to join your team."

This little genius with a mental strength of 2031 was sweating nervously, "Please let me join your team."

The members of the Dream Team were stunned. They looked at each other, suspecting they had misheard, "What did you say?"

Strange. Why were there still people who had not formed a team at this point? Did this Si Wo Lin not have a team of his own?

"Please let me join your team!"

After the first attempt, the second attempt was even more powerful. Si Wo Lin couldn't hide his anticipation and nervousness. His eyes turned to everyone in the dream team, and the eagerness in his eyes made the onlookers look on, stunned.

This Si Wo Lin was, a little, a little silly, ah.

 It seemed like he really wanted to join them.

The team members looked at each other and finally at Astra together. This look made him helpless. He turned to Wen and said, "You solve it!" 

Astra believed in the protagonist very much because, in the original book, he could always pick out the best teammates from the crowd and find the rarest treasures among the items.

Wen observed Si Wo Lin with the expectation of one becoming his teammate. He smiled finally: "Sorry, our team is already formed, and it is not a good time to add unfamiliar people at the moment."

The light in Si Wo Lin's eyes suddenly dimmed. There was dead silence; the onlookers became noisy, and the whispers got louder.

The remaining members of the Dream Team sighed.

But unexpectedly, Si Wo Lin raised his head again and firmly said: "Then I will wait until a good time; I will try my best to get acquainted with each of you; please give me a chance!"

Wen also nodded solemnly, "We will."

Not giving up hope as long as there was a chance, Si Wo Lin bowed to them and left with his friends.

His back looked unwavering.

"He's pretty good," Wen shrugged with his teammates. "Just wait and see." The teammates nodded.

 They've always appreciated genuine people.

By the time they returned from the physical training, several people had heard about that incident. On the way back to the school building, Astra and the others were peeped at, becoming increasingly thick-skinned.

When they were about to go downstairs, a young man walked toward them angrily, "You stop!"

This young man was blond, blue-eyed, and very handsome, but his face was full of anger and aggressiveness. He came to them in a flash, and his eyes swept over them. After a while, he finally stopped on Astra and gritted his teeth, "It's you!" 

Astra was confused and pointed to himself, "Are you sure the person you're looking for is this handsome?"

The teenager sneered twice and went straight to the topic, "You must take responsibility for my sister!"

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the people present changed.

Astra frowned, "Your sister? Classmate, you've got the wrong person, I don't know any girls."

The only person he was familiar with in the whole school was Na'an. Simon and the others nodded; they hadn't seen any girls throughout their time with Astra.

 The boy's anger became even stronger, and he barely suppressed it. "Last night, my sister went to the hot spring and ran into you. You molested her. Who will be responsible if you are not allowed to be responsible?"

Astra: "…"

Seeing that he had nothing to say, the young man sneered again, "Am I wrong?"

"You are wrong," Astra laughed, "If you think like this, then there will be more people I have to be responsible for."

He casually pulled a teammate and held his hand, "It's done. Do I have to be responsible?" Wen, who was touched by the hand, was speechless, "Hehe."

The boy blushed angrily, "How can a boy be the same as a girl?!"

"Are you sexist?" Astra frowned and looked at him reproachfully.

The young man who was suddenly charged with a major crime was stunned, looking at Astra dazedly, "You, you—"

"I don't talk to people who are sexist," Astra said confidently, not at all ashamed of bullying other children, "Tell me about your sister's problem when you can correct your thoughts."

After speaking, he took Wen's hand and left. Wen couldn't help but be happy. He laughed unabashedly behind him, "Astra." 

Really fucking thick-skinned.

Astra breathed a sigh of relief after entering the room. He thought the boy was right. 

After the teammates laughed ruthlessly, they checked who the brother and sister were. Linus quickly got the information and understood, "It's a child of one of the school's executives."

No wonder she could enter the hot springs that had a restricted entry.

JiYu joked: "It's good to have you take responsibility, that girl is cute." Astra was shocked, "You are also sexist?"

He stretched out his hand to pull Wen again, but Wen stepped back and avoided him, smiling at his joke.

JiYu also joked, "Well, I'm not sexist, you not only touched Wen's hand, you also took a bath with him, took off your clothes, and slept in the same room for so long. Since I'm not sexist, I must hold you accountable for Wen."

Astra expression was complicated.

 Simon and Linus were happy when they saw his expression. Since they felt it was pleasant to be able to diss Astra, they followed suit: "We must be responsible for Wen, who made us not be sexists."

Wen looked at Astra with a troubled face and leaned in to tease him: "Did you hear that?"

"Don't make trouble," Astra said with a serious face, "Everyone is a man." The more he was like this, the more excited they became.