ABFMV Chapter 23 Part 1

After dozing for a while, Xu Linlang noticed that many seats in the exam hall were already empty.

It looked like quite a few people had turned in their work.

Under the proctor’s surprised gaze, Xu Linlang placed her fully assembled component on the submission table and walked out of the exam room with casual ease.

The proctor froze when he saw the piece—its curves flawless, its structure precise. If he remembered correctly, Xu Linlang had been asleep until just now!

That meant she had already finished the assembly before taking her nap.

And it had taken her only twenty minutes!

Even the best students in the maintenance department needed at least half an hour to put this part together. If he hadn’t personally been supervising the test, he would’ve thought it impossible.

How could anyone be that fast?

Staring in disbelief, the proctor picked up the part, turning it over and over in his hands. There wasn’t a single flaw—every joint was seamless and perfect.

His expression grew complicated as he set it down. The admiral’s concern hadn’t been misplaced. Without interference, Xu Linlang really might have made it into the mecha maintenance track.

As for her supposed skill, the proctor refused to believe it. More likely, the Marshal’s wife had bribed someone in maintenance to leak the test question to her.

If you practiced only one component day and night, of course, your time would be faster. Familiarity breeds speed.

At that moment, another candidate came up to submit his work. Nervously, he bumped the table, sending both his piece and Xu Linlang’s clattering to the floor.

When he picked them up, he placed one on the maintenance submission table and the other on the manufacturing table.

“Sorry, teacher, I was too nervous and knocked over someone else’s work,” the student said, glancing up at the proctor.

The proctor snapped, “Clumsy hands! I’d better collect all the parts into the admissions box right now before anyone else like you messes things up.”

The candidate stammered his apologies and hurried out, while the proctor quietly noted that his mission was complete.

—

The mecha piloting exam was the most anticipated event of the year at the academy.

The test was open to the public, so students from every department could come and watch. Since the format was head-to-head battles, the matches were both thrilling and highly entertaining. The atmosphere was electric.

The examiners sat in the front row, judging each cadet’s performance to decide who would be admitted.

In the preparation room, Yao Mo stood before a training mech, her eyes burning with longing. Soon, she too would have a mech of her own.

For someone from a civilian background, it was something she had never dared to dream of.

Yet now, everything she once thought unreachable was within her grasp.

It was all thanks to her number-one entrance score. Countless nobles and powerful families were eager to recruit her into their factions.

Civilian. Female. Top of the class.

Those three qualities combined had made her a darling among the commoners. Whoever won her over would gain enormous political capital.

Yao Mo understood this perfectly and made sure to play up her advantages, finally choosing the most prestigious family to extend an olive branch—

The Peter family.

She had accepted Admiral Peter’s sponsorship.

Her reasons were many: not only was the admiral’s sister the queen herself, with immense political clout, but also Admiral Peter and Marshal Xu were known to be rivals.

To win people’s admiration, talent alone wasn’t enough. You needed a foil.

Someone to step on.

Only when people saw how terrible one person was could they truly appreciate how exceptional another was.

And to secure unwavering support from the commoners, you had to stand against the nobles they resented.

Xu Linlang happened to be the perfect target. To Yao Mo, she was an ideal stepping stone.

But now, something unexpected had happened.

Xu Linlang was nothing like her. She had striking, almost aggressive beauty, while Yao Mo’s looks were mild and innocent.

At the welcome party, Yao Mo noticed that many people couldn’t take their eyes off Xu Linlang at first sight.

From that moment, cracks began to appear in Yao Mo’s carefully built confidence.

What’s more, Xu Linlang wasn’t the brainless fool the rumors had painted her to be. On the contrary, she seemed calculating, even shrewd.

Her stunning performance at the welcome party and then exposing Yao Mo for hiding Qi Ye’s true score proved it.

Had she been deliberately hiding her abilities all this time?

But why?

Was it because she carried the Xu family name, and with her brother Xu Gongyu’s talent already making waves, she didn’t want to draw too much of the emperor’s suspicion?

But her C-grade genetic rating wasn’t fake.

It didn’t make sense. If she had really been playing dumb before, why stop now?

After thinking it over, Yao Mo suddenly understood.

Xu Linlang was targeting her on purpose. It was probably because her crush had rejected her outright and declared his “ideal type” was Yao Mo.

No matter how well she hid it, being humiliated like that by someone she liked would be unbearable.

That was why she had come to Lilan Military Academy. That was why she was picking fights with Yao Mo.

Feeling like she had uncovered the truth, Yao Mo gave a cold laugh. Thanks to Xu Linlang, her life had indeed become a lot messier.

Losing the “number one” halo was like losing her golden brand.