EROS [Zerg]

Eros, parched, was forced to swallow a bellyful of unsatisfying "chicken soup."

He didn't heed Brandt's final words of encouragement.

Suddenly, a low chuckle and a reproachful voice came from beside her ear: "You little female insect, you're so dishonest."

Along with the sound came a glass of water.

Eros took the cup and gulped it down in one go.

Brandt smiled frivolously: "If I hadn't noticed, were you just going to stay thirsty forever?"

Eros gasped for breath twice. "May I have another drink?"

Brandt gently pointed to the water dispenser behind him.

Eros paused, then picked up the cup and poured himself another glass of water.

Clean water is no longer a valuable thing to him, but the struggle for survival resources during his time in the underground auction house left a deep impression on Eros.

Water, food, medicine, and even rest time are things that insects would rather abandon their dignity for.

Brandt never imagined that just drinking water could cause Eros such a complex emotional journey.

“I’ve created a new account for you in the virtual training arena. You can use this account I’ve registered for you to train from now on.” Brandt installed a special gene-sensing device on the mental transmitter probe inside the “egg pod” and placed a square chip in Eros’s palm.

"From now on, you will need to bring this gene chip when you enter the virtual training ground."

After Eros inserted the chip into the gene sensor, he sat down in the "egg-shaped capsule".

A brand new interface quickly appeared before his eyes.

Unlike the first time when he entered and found himself in complete darkness, when Eros opened his eyes again, he found himself suspended in a cosmic space studded with countless points of light.

A blue subtitle appeared before his eyes.

[Welcome to the virtual training ground, Eros! I am your companion system. Please name me.]

Eros remembered the system named [EROS], his lips twitched, and driven by a sense of unwillingness, he opened his mouth and said, "Arveson."

Arveson is a homonym for Aivensen.

The blank system name quickly changed to [Arveson].

【Arveson】: 【Eros, a new player, is giving you a tutorial demonstration. Please study carefully and don't get distracted.】

The system's cold, mechanical voice rang out, and around Eros, rows of data frames floated, each displaying a piece of information and a code.

The system is providing a beginner's guide, gradually explaining the information in each data frame to him.

Eros didn't consciously try to memorize them, but he had unintentionally memorized them all.

[Arveson]: [Please select the mech model you wish to pilot.]

It's said that you have to choose the model of the mecha you're piloting, but it's really just about choosing the color of the mecha that the operator likes.

Without hesitation, Eros chose white.

He believed that the dirt-prone white color would make his mistakes more obvious.

Because of the experience he gained from being beaten up before, Eros didn't need to learn the initial beginner's tutorial to be able to control the mecha to perform some of the most basic actions.

After briefly learning about the mech's weapon configuration, Eros immediately entered the intelligent combat mode.

The intelligent battle mode is a battle mode developed by the Zerg military after integrating and aggregating the combat data of many excellent female warriors. In this mode, the virtual opponent will analyze the various commands issued by the operator as well as the psychological and physical reactions, and then deduce the operator's attack methods based on this, and attack the operator accordingly.

It can be said that the virtual opponent in the intelligent battle mode is a powerful and difficult enemy to defeat.

Constantly fighting such enemies allows the female insect's combat strength to improve dramatically in a very short time.

Unsurprisingly, Eros lost all fifty-odd battles before stepping out of the "egg pod," but he has now become proficient in operating the mech.

When Eros emerged from the "egg pod," the sky outside the window had already darkened. Brandt was not in his office, but he had left him the office key and a note.

Now that Eros has the key, he can come to Brant's office to practice anytime.

As Eros stepped out of his office to lock the door, he happened to run into Principal Joseph, who was also coming out of his office.

The overhead incandescent light cast a stark white glow down the corridor. Eros looked at the elderly man, whose back was already slightly hunched, and respectfully greeted him.

"headmaster."

"It's Eros."

Joseph also saw the little female insect in front of him and gave a kind smile: "You haven't left yet, so late."

Eros nodded: "We just finished practicing and are heading back to the dorm now."

“I’ve been hearing Brandt talk about you a lot lately; he thinks highly of you.”

“I am honored as well,” Eros nodded modestly.

Joseph smiled and said, "I'm happy too. Actually, when the other faculty members and I received Enel's letter of recommendation, we were quite hesitant about whether to approve your application to the academy."

“En’er initially wanted to recommend you for the Star Class, but considering your physical condition and past experiences, we decided to put you in the Comet Class instead.”

"However, based on my observations of you over the past few days, we were overthinking things at the time."

After speaking, Joseph looked at Eros, whose face remained expressionless: "Now that you know all this, will you feel any regret?"

Eros shook his head without hesitation: "No."

"The students and teachers in the Comet Class are all very nice people, and I like them very much."

"I just didn't expect Commander Ener to have such high expectations of me."

“Enl is an excellent female insect. Back then, he was a civilian female insect from a remote star system who came to the Imperial First Military Academy, just like you.”

The night was still bitterly cold, and a cold wind swept through the corridors of the office building. Eros went downstairs with Principal Joseph and heard from Principal Joseph about some of Enel's stories from his time at the academy.

In the empire, only nobles had surnames.

Enl was born into a well-off family on a moderately resource-rich planet in the seventh star system.

His female father was a female servant of his male father, who was gentle in nature, had no female slaves, and rarely treated his female rulers and female servants with violence.

Enl was the only baby insect in that family, so he had a happier childhood than the female insects of the same age.

En'er grew up in this relaxed and happy environment, and his academic performance was among the best in the entire resource planet. Later, he entered the Heavenly Star Class of the Empire's First Military Academy with excellent grades after passing a series of selection examinations.

Then, on his very first day at the Imperial First Military Academy, this little female insect, who had enjoyed a smooth and successful life, kicked the two biggest "steel plates" in his insect life.

One of them was named Evanson Eastland.

The other one is named Irving Wendts.