Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Ruo Manni quickly browsed through all the discussion posts about her, ensuring that her identity was well-concealed before letting out a sigh of relief.

She had to thank Mentor Fang for the decision made back then; since her rebirth, she had rarely gone outside, so apart from Captain Lin and his wife, no one knew about her recent increase in psychic power.

It’s important to note that the original personality had only a C-grade potential in psychic training, which certainly didn’t match the astonishing level she now exhibited. Thus, those who knew her before wouldn’t easily suspect it was her.

Ruo Manni didn’t want the entire empire to know that the original personality had been deceived into using the second-generation gene enhancement drug.

Although it was the original personality’s actions, she was the one reaping the benefits, and she definitely didn’t want to take the blame, especially not for something that could become common knowledge.

After all, the sale of the second-generation gene enhancement drug had been banned. Who knew what kind of trouble might arise from its circulation?

Ruo Manni had previously told those familiar with the original personality about her drastic changes because she needed a plausible reason for such a transformation.

To be honest, she herself couldn’t quite determine whether the changes were due to the drug or her rebirth; she suspected it was a combination of both.

However, after some thought, she set aside her worries. Tomorrow would mark the end of the admissions process at the Xuan Gu First Military Academy, and by then, the eyes of the Gus Empire’s citizens would surely shift away from this event.

As long as she safely made it through tomorrow’s challenge, she could relax completely, and there would be no more news about her. The public’s attention would gradually divert, and once the heat of the situation dissipated, no one would investigate her identity any further.

After browsing through the posts about herself, Ruo Manni decided to check out the threads related to other candidates. To be frank, only the top ten candidates were drawing significant attention.

If she was the primary hot topic, then Hua Deli was the second, followed by Mina Olli as the third.

There was also a highly discussed post about a noble from the Atchison family of Imperial City. After looking at the boy’s photo, she noted his hair color, demeanor, and cultivation level, leading her to suspect he was the one known as Neptune.

Additionally, the post about the boy ranked third, Gao Haitao, a level-four martial artist, was also quite popular.

Not only was he a top talent, but like the genius girl, his background was somewhat mysterious, as he had never appeared on the youth rankings of SkyNet before.

Some people said he was from the central star region, while others claimed he was from the outer planets; in short, no one had any concrete evidence.

Ruo Manni was interested in these rumors because these people would eventually be her classmates, so it was good to know a bit about them.

After reading the gossip, she quickly returned to her training. Unbeknownst to her, shortly after she logged off, a post emerged claiming that the genius girl was a citizen from the third-class star, an orphan with deceased parents, along with other secret information. According to the post’s hints, even bigger revelations were expected.

Some quick-clicking onlookers, excited by the news, wanted to comment urging the poster to share more, but the post was suddenly deleted within twenty seconds.

Not many people had seen the post, and no one had time to save or share it. Consequently, the eager onlookers continued to pursue information, only to have their posts deleted and receive warnings about leaking state secrets, threatening severe penalties for further posts.

Instantly, all the onlookers who had been trying to uncover the genius girl’s identity fell silent, realizing why there had been no information about her before—it all made sense now.

Immersed in her training, Ruo Manni was unaware of the minor commotion occurring online. Preoccupied with her own identity, she completely forgot to check on Aoi Dan, who was likely fuming again.

At first, Aoi Dan was pleased to find her ranking was even better than she had expected, successfully entering the top thousand at 734th place, and she smiled with self-satisfaction.

However, when Aoi Dan scrolled up the screen and saw Ruo Manni’s name still within the top ten, her expression darkened.

Yesterday, due to her failed schemes, Aoi Dan had inadvertently boosted Ruo Manni’s strength, which infuriated her.

Despite her attempts to confront Ruo Manni, she found the door closed and resorted to reporting the incident out of frustration. This didn’t lead to any trouble for Ruo Manni but resulted in a communication from Captain Lin, which was disguised as gratitude but felt more like a warning, leaving her unsettled and forcing her to suppress her thoughts.

Initially, Aoi Dan had hoped that Ruo Manni’s lack of real combat training would lead to a low overall combat score, causing her to drop out of the top ten after today’s ranking matches.

But she didn’t expect Ruo Manni to be much stronger than she estimated, losing only one match and dropping just one place in the rankings. The difference between sixth and seventh was still significant.

This meant that Aoi Dan had altered Ruo Manni’s life trajectory in this lifetime.

In this life, Ruo Manni wouldn’t have to wait until next year to apply to the Xuan Gu First Military Academy, and she wouldn’t be enrolling in the mech manufacturing department, but in the mech combat department instead.

In this life, Ruo Manni would be attending Xuan Gu First Military Academy this year, which greatly increased her chances of avoiding her catastrophe next year.

With her assistance, Ruo Manni became a completely different variable in this life compared to the last, and this variable was created by herself. The worst part was that Ruo Manni knew she harbored ill intentions toward her.

Ruo Manni’s overall strength was already so formidable without systematic training in martial skills. Once she entered the top class at Xuan Gu First Military Academy, Aoi Dan couldn’t fathom how strong Ruo Manni would become. Would she seek revenge then?

Aoi Dan’s gaze turned icy and ruthless. No, in this life, the variable must be herself; she was the destined one.

This variable named Ruo Manni could not be allowed to exist. She needed to obtain that specially-made holographic game pod from the battle realm.

It seemed even Captain Lin had begun to suspect her motives. If she didn’t act soon, she would lose the chance to acquire Ruo Manni’s unique game pod.

Resolute, Aoi Dan opened a secret online battle forum and left what appeared to be an innocuous message. Twenty minutes later, the message vanished, and simultaneously, her secret account lost three-quarters of its credit points.

As the “sun” of Topaz Star faded into the night, it gradually transformed into a dim “moon.” By late night, most lights were extinguished, and under the faint glow, the empty streets became eerily quiet.

Due to the demands of the admission assessment, Ruo Manni was physically and mentally exhausted. To recover quickly, she had not entered the battle realm to complete tasks for the past two days and instead chose to lie in bed and sleep.

While Ruo Manni was deeply asleep, she was not completely unaware. Suddenly, she sensed something touching her bedroom window, and she immediately woke up…