Ordinary observers in fast time travel

Chapter 1054 Midterm Exam
"Attention, target is approaching, all personnel prepare for battle!" Aria's voice came through the communication channel. She was the commander of this mission.

At this moment, students majoring in mecha combat, mecha manufacturing, and spaceship piloting at the First Military Academy are taking their mid-term exams on a desolate planet billions of kilometers away from the capital city, which also serves as their semester training.

Shi Jia noticed a box strapped to the approaching star beast. It was a supply package that the school had placed on the desolate planet in advance; it might contain water and food, or possibly damaged mechs or small spaceships.

They'd been stranded on this desolate planet for most of the day, yet hadn't found a single supply package. They were determined to get their hands on this one!

Everyone hid in the grass and bushes, watching the star beast, waiting for it to walk into their encirclement so they could begin the hunt!

"Huff... huff..." The sound of breathing, from who-knows-who, came through the communication channel, made the atmosphere even more tense.

Suddenly, a sharp shout of "Make your move!" rang out!
"Bang! Bang!" Two gunshots rang out in succession, and the star beast that was swaying and eating fell to the ground, followed by an angry roar!
Five figures sprang from the bushes and pounced on the star beast, which had lost most of its fighting power. The five powerful individuals attacked, and the star beast died in no time.

At this moment, the Star Hunter Team's score on the leaderboard changed from 0 to 3.
This means that this star beast has 3 points.

"Phew, at least it's not zero anymore." It's their bad luck to be thrown into a place where star beasts are scarce.

Aria immediately looked at Shi Jia, and after confirming that she was not injured, she breathed a sigh of relief before taking the supply pack off the star beast.

"It's a supplies package, with ten vials of nutrient solution, ten bottles of water, and ten tubes of repair fluid." Aria was somewhat dissatisfied with the amount of supplies.

In fact, the other nine people were somewhat disappointed.

Yes, each team consists of ten people: five combat specialists, one medical specialist, two mecha manufacturing specialists, and two spaceship piloting specialists.

“Everyone drink a vial of nutrient solution first, and we’ll share the water and repair fluid.” Aria made the decision immediately. “Let’s dig out the star beast’s core and continue our journey before the star sets.”

No one objected.

Their midterm assessment goal is to survive on the desolate planet for half a month, hunt a certain number of star beasts, find the final camp in the last minute, and arrive at it within the specified time.

If any condition is not met, the assessment will fail.

It seems their bad luck has passed. Next, Shi Jia and his team hunted down eight star beasts that cost 2 points each, bringing their total points to 19. They also obtained three supply packs: two life packs and one damaged mech pack.

Damaged mechs are both resources and tasks. Students majoring in mech manufacturing and repair need to complete the repairs. Successfully repairing a mech will earn 50 points.

“Let’s rest here tonight.” Arya inspected the cave and found only some dried grass clippings and a few clumps of dried feces inside, indicating that the cave had been abandoned for some time.

"Alright, let's rest for a bit. This will give Luo Peng and Yue Zhilan time to repair the mecha." Qin Fang glanced at Shi Jia, whose face was a little pale, and nodded.

“Okay!” Luo Peng and Yue Zhilan immediately went to clean up the cave and first set up a work area.

With the help of others, the cave was quickly cleared. However, they encountered another problem.

What kind of lighting should we use?
Aria frowned. "Although we obtained four supply packs, we didn't get any energy." Everyone's spatial buttons were checked before entering the desolate planet. Combat personnel were allowed to carry one weapon each, and mecha manufacturing and repair personnel could carry basic tools. Others were not allowed to bring anything in.

"We can use the smart brain for lighting!" someone said. "The smart brain uses light and heat energy, so there's no need to worry about energy issues."

“No, the AI’s lighting is limited, and prolonged use of high-brightness lighting consumes a lot of energy; it might not last until dawn,” Aria shook her head.

"Why don't we gather some dry branches to make a fire for lighting?" Shi Jia suggested. In order to follow her own superficial treatment method, she had studied a lot of traditional arts and culture.

“Okay!” Ailiya and Qin Fang both nodded. “We’ll go gather firewood, you two rest in the cave.”

No one else objected. After a long day's journey and hunting nine star beasts, they were exhausted and simply found a clean spot to lie down. Shi Jia also volunteered to gather firewood; she was very tired too. Compared to her mental strength, her physical constitution was indeed not as strong.

She touched her stomach and felt a little hungry, so she simply took out a bottle of nutritional supplement and drank it.

"Huh? Slana, didn't we just drink a bottle of nutrient solution?" Yue Zhilan asked in confusion. A bottle of nutrient solution could keep us full for a day.

"I'm hungry." Shi Jia rubbed her stomach, still feeling unsatisfied. She was a 3S-level talent and was still in her growth period, requiring much more energy than the average person.

She usually eats high-energy foods, high-grade energy vegetables, and high-level star beast meat, while the nutrient solution provided by the school is only of medium quality.

"Oh, okay." Yue Zhilan nodded, and the atmosphere fell silent again. They were all in a group arranged by the school and didn't know each other well.

"Do you need my help?" Shi Jia wanted to break the silence. "I mean, mecha repair. I like to read books on mecha repair when I have free time at home."

This is indeed one of her hobbies; after all, if you can pilot a mecha, you should also know how to do some basic repairs.

"No need, no need," Yue Zhilan quickly waved her hand.

"Okay, sure. Remember to let me know if you need any help."

Silence fell again.

Feeling a little awkward, Shi Jia simply found a place to sit down.

Just then, footsteps came from afar. The person lying on the ground quickly sat up and looked outside warily. It was Aria and her companion.

The firelight illuminated the dim cave, and everyone huddled around the fire, feeling warm and cozy. Luo Peng and Yue Zhilan got to work. Soon they finished inspecting the damage to the mecha.

Luo Peng said with a smile, "We are very lucky. Only a few parts of this mech are worn out. As long as the parts are replaced and we can get energy, we can use it again."

Everyone nodded happily.

“Alright, tomorrow we’ll focus all our efforts on searching for supply packs and acquiring energy to try and break into the top ten,” said Aria, the team leader.

Everyone was full of confidence.

However, upon opening the AI ​​and clicking on the leaderboard, he gasped in astonishment, "156 points! How did they do that?"

"How many star beasts must have been killed?"

Aria remained calm. "That depends on the star beasts they killed. If they were all 1-point beasts, there would be 156. If they were all 2-point beasts, there would be about 70. If they were 3-point beasts, there would be about 50. If they were 5-point beasts, there would be about 30. Of course, if they were 10-point beasts, there would be about ten."

"However, I'm more inclined to believe that they repaired two mechs."

Everyone was speechless at Aria's calm demeanor. They only had 19 points! 137 points away from 156!
Is this the confidence to break into the top ten?

"Don't worry, after we find the energy source tomorrow, we'll use our mechs to fight and hunt down level 5 or 10 alien beasts with ease," Aria said.

Shi Jia didn't think Aria was overconfident. When it came to combat and mechs, Aria had always been this confident. That was also why she was able to defeat the other three mech pilots and become the captain.

Upon hearing this, everyone thought it made sense and began to imagine how they would dominate the battlefield the next day.

As time went by, the temperature grew colder and colder, and the Star Hunter team drifted off to sleep.