Universe King

Central Star:

This is a planet in the Arlenberg Galaxy, a stellar system located in the star domain of the Milky Way.

It is about 1.4 times the diameter of the Earth, with a large rocky layer on the outside and boiling lava on the inside, orbiting the Arlenberg Star. It rotates 428 times per orbit around the Arlenberg Star, so a year here is 428 days long, and each day is 83 minutes longer than on Earth.

After the New Federation Government discovered the planet, it took more than a century to transform it into a livable planet, and in the 5142nd year of the Earth calendar, it was designated as the New Federation's capital planet.

In 6457, the New Federation moved its capital to Sanctuary Star, and Central Star was retained as a secondary capital. Although it is no longer the centre of the human world, much of its former prosperity remains, and it continues to this day.

The Central Star is the city of Phoenix in the Gresson region.

Standing in front of the academy's gates, Jonny Reynolds looked at the ancient complex with curiosity, awe and a touch of admiration. Its exterior was simple and weathered, and in a complex full of modern technology, it was like a stubborn old man, steadfastly holding onto its territory.

This is the Alpha Military Academy, which has a history of more than 800 years in the Central Star. Over the past 800 years, it has produced more than 3 million outstanding students for the Federation. More than 40% of these students have eventually become senior officers of the Federation, including 20,000 generals, 600 marshals, 28 military chiefs, and 2 Federation presidents.

It is this glory that makes it the best military academy in the New Federation. Every year, more than 100 million young people with dreams of becoming soldiers apply to this military academy, but Alpha Military Academy only admits 12,000 students.

It can be said that before the students here set foot on the battlefield, they will have to go through a war, a war of fighting and winning from among hundreds of millions of people.

As one of the 12,000 victors, Reno has finally arrived here. Looking at the ancient gates of the academy, a slight smile appeared on his slightly childish face.

He patted the B35 self-propelled robot beside him and walked towards the entrance, with the little robot automatically following behind.

A guard from the academy stopped him: 'New student, please show your admission certificate.'

Reno handed over the certificate: 'Excuse me, where is the ship branch?'

'Go straight ahead, and when you see a fork in the road, take the left one.' The guard returned the certificate: "Okay, you can go in, but you can't take the robot with you. According to academy regulations, all students are not allowed to use any domestic robots during their studies, and all students must rely on themselves to solve problems.'

'Okay," said Reno, taking his bag out of the self-propelled robot and handing the robot to the guard: 'This was a gift when I was three years old, and it has been with me for 15 years, so please take good care of it for me...'

Bang!

The guard had already skillfully disassembled the drive unit of the B35 and thrown it in the back, where Renault noticed that the self-propelled robots had already formed a small mountain.

Renault swallowed hard, '…okay, goodbye, my friend.'

Carrying his bag, he entered the gates of the academy and strolled along the academy's tree-lined path.

The academy was quiet. There were no flying cars in the sky, and only cadets wearing non-rank uniforms were walking on the path.

This was rare outside, and the Academy of Al was like an old and closed world, slowly revealing a mysterious corner of it to Renle in its own way.

Following the path indicated by the guard, Renle soon arrived at the Ship Branch. He went to the freshmen office to register, received the key for freshmen, and then went to the cadet area.

As soon as he arrived in the cadet area, he saw a large group of people standing in the playground, with various packages in their hands, obviously new cadets.

Opposite them, there was a large group of cadets in academy uniforms gathered together chatting about something, with a number of the latest XI model Strider airboats arranged around them. These airboats are suitable for single-person flight only, like an air motorcycle, and have anti-collision air cushions around them, which are very suitable for low-altitude flight.

When they saw Renault approaching, a trainee with a hooked nose shouted, 'Here comes another one. Hey you, go get him!'

A short new trainee had already run over and come up to Renault, grabbing him and leading him back to the group.

Renault stood still.

The short trainee tugged again, saying, "Don't resist, or they'll get you in trouble.'

Renault looked at the men, "But they're trainees too.'

'Second year!' The little man tugs Renault towards the line.

'What's so great about being a second year?'

'This is a military academy, where the juniors obey the seniors, the new recruits obey the veterans, so the new students have to obey the old students too! Don't worry, it's nothing, just a little welcome party, in a style that's not so easy to accept, of course.' The little man has already shoved Renault into the line and stood with him.

'You seem to know your way around here.'

The little man's face showed pride: 'I grew up here, I know everything around here. Oh yes, my name is Lucky, Lucky Witner, everyone calls me Little Man.'

'Jonny Renown, from the planet Zilel Don.'

The little man's eyes sparkled: 'The Zilliton Star from the Rainbow Star Belt? I've heard that the starry sky there is beautiful, with three moons that shine in three colours at night. They say that the headquarters of the Star Pirates is there.'

'That's exactly why I joined the army,' answered Reno.

'You don't like them?' Little Dot asked a stupid question.

'They killed my parents.'

'Oh... I'm sorry.'

'It's okay.'

In the meantime, the hawk-nosed man in front had shouted, 'Shut up, no talking.'

All the new students stopped talking at the same time.

The hawk-nosed man had grinned, 'Okay, rookies, welcome to the Alpha Military Academy, the best military academy in the entire Federation. As a welcome to the new recruits, we will hold a grand welcome party for you!'

Someone raised their hand and said weakly, 'Can I not go?'

'No way,' the crooked-nosed guy said with a wicked smile. 'That's tradition, every new student has to go. If you don't go, it means you're breaking away from the group. Do you know what breaking away from the group means in the army?'

The new student immediately stopped talking.

'Very well, that means there are no objections. Next, we will announce the rules for the welcome party.' The man with the hooked nose clapped his hands, and a few seniors in the distance slammed open the doors next to them. The searchlights slammed open, illuminating the inside and revealing a row of old steamers. It looked like they were old in colour and ancient in model, and it was not known how many years they had existed.

'It's the A-series steam boat made by Eyer Company. Damn, these old cars have been discontinued, so where did they get so many?' Little Lucky whispered.

This type of car is now known by another name, Old A, to describe their antiquity.

Hook-nosed Eagle shouted, 'The rules are simple. Everyone gets a vintage A. Ride it from here to the top of the hill on the other side. Anyone who makes it to the top will be greeted with a big party. For safety reasons, all the scooters have been programmed to limit their height. You and we can't fly more than three metres above the ground.'

'Is that all?' someone asked stupidly.

Hook-nosed Eagle's face broke into a smug grin. 'Of course, there will be a few minor problems. That is...'

He suddenly rolled over and got on the steam walker next to him, and took down an old-fashioned live-ammunition rifle from the steam walker and said, 'We'll chase you from behind.'

Everyone's face turned white with fear.

Reno looked at the gun and suddenly said, 'Are those rubber bullets in there?'

The man with the hooked nose froze for a moment, looked at Renault, and shrugged: 'Well, finally a smart guy.'

He turned the gun on Renault and suddenly shot, and a rubber bullet hit him in the face.

It was burning hot.

The man with the hooked nose patted the barrel and said, 'Although it's a rubber bullet, it still hurts a lot when it hits you. Run as fast as you can before we catch up with you and finish you off! Hahahaha!'

He laughed wildly.

'But that's not fair. You get to drive the latest steamers and have guns, while we have to use those old cars!' A new student protested.

'Shut up!' Hawknose shouted. 'This is the Ship Branch of the Alpha Military Academy, and everyone who comes here is someone who will become a captain in the future! How can a captain be afraid of challenges! Remember, a good captain will never let someone shoot down his ship, whether it's a starship or a steamer!'

Little Dot leaned over to Reno's ear and said, 'I bet he didn't invent that line.'

Reno nodded in agreement.

'Of course, we will give you some opportunities,' the man with the hooked nose continued, 'you can set off one minute in advance.'

'What's the use of one minute? It's not even enough time for me to familiarise myself with the performance of that old car,' muttered Little Dot.

Many functions of this old car are different from those of modern cars, so you definitely need to get familiar with it before you start driving it.

Renault replied, 'Don't worry, the old A is actually very simple. The biggest difference between it and the current steam boat is that it doesn't have an automatic flight system, it's all manual. The red dot on the left hand joystick is the start part, but you have to press it three times instead of once. The stop part is not in your hand but at your feet.'

The little one was surprised to hear this: "You've driven one of these?'

Renault replied, "Children without parents are usually poorer.'

The big man with the hooked nose continued to laugh.

He laughed for a long time before stopping: 'Don't worry, this happens every year here, it's very safe. So, what are you waiting for? Get going! The countdown began, one!'

Damn, the timing didn't start from getting into the car.

All the new students cursed together and turned around and rushed towards the garage.

The man with the hooked nose aimed his gun at the sky and pulled the trigger, sending a stream of rubber bullets into the sky.

He screamed maniacally, 'Move, run, jump, cheer. This is the Alpha Military Academy. Remember my name, Speed Matthew Alifred!'

'I'll kick your butts!'

With a whirring roar, the little Racti's hovercraft was already in motion.

Reno was right. The biggest drawback of this old car was that you had to press the start button three times. If Reno hadn't reminded him, he would have wasted a long time on this.

But now, he was bound to be one of the first to go out, which would give him a chance to become one of the new students to fly to the top of the hill.

That was the pride of all new students!

'Ha! Let's go, Reno,' Lucky shouted.

Looking back, Lucky was dumbfounded.

Reno was running up to the cadets and shouting, 'Press the red button three times, that's the start button! The brakes are on the foot!'

As Reno ran, one steamroller after another roared into life and raced out of the garage.

'Reno, what are you doing?' the little one shouted. 'We could have been the first ones out!'

Reno looked back at him.

He shook his head and said, 'They are not competitors, they are our classmates and future comrades-in-arms!'

Lucky froze for a moment, then he turned to the other trainees and shouted, 'Hurry up, press the red button three times, and remember to put your foot on the brake.'

More steamers rushed out of the garage. Seeing that everyone had gone out, Renault got on the last A-series.

As the last person to choose, Renault naturally rode the most broken one, and even the rearview mirror was broken.

But he didn't care. He started the old A, nodded to Lucky, and the two of them raced out of the garage.

At this point, the one-minute mark was almost up.

Seeing everyone racing out of the garage, Matthew and the other trainees were filled with looks of shock.

Last year, a third of their freshman class just collapsed in the garage.

Are this year's freshmen all on drugs? They're so strong.

Matthew couldn't wait any longer and shouted, 'Time's up, everyone in the car!'

In fact, there were still five seconds left, but at that moment, Matthew couldn't hold back any longer.

Just as he shouted time's up, Renault and Little Dot had already rushed out of the garage.

Hearing Matthew's shout, Renault looked back and saw the group of seniors already getting into their cars.

A sudden flash of light appeared in Renault's eyes.

He slammed on the brakes and turned the car around, rushing towards the direction of the seniors.

'What the hell are you doing, Renault?' Little Dot shouted in fear.

This was the second time he had shouted those words.

The sudden impact left everyone stunned.

The speedboat, spewing white plumes of air, rushed up to the seniors, like a huge rubber bullet rumbling past.

One after the other, the strollers soared into the air, flipping the seniors sitting in the cars.

The flying cars, the dancing seniors, the terrified shouts and the angry ruckus created a spectacular scene.

Old A drew a graceful arc in the air and rested above the seniors' heads. Renault gave everyone a salute: 'A good captain never lets others shoot down his ship and will fight back if necessary.'

With that, he slammed on the accelerator and the classic speedboat took off.

'Well done, Renault!' Little Drop Larchi shouted excitedly, driving his old A after Renault.

'Asshole!' Mathieu angrily pounded on his Stroller.

He turned back and yelled, 'What are you waiting for? Catch that bastard and finish him off!'

'Kill him!' all the seniors shouted.

They picked up the Striders, and with the roaring engines turning, one after the other, the Striders sped out in pursuit of Renault.

They flew through the air of the academy, unable to fly higher due to the height limit, so they had to weave in and out of the buildings. The high speed made the drivers have to concentrate fully on driving, otherwise they might crash into a wall. Even with the airbag, the feeling of falling from a height of three metres is not pleasant. You could even break a bone.

But the cadets don't care.

They drive the ROV like crazy, holding rifles in their hands and firing rubber bullets at the front end non-stop.

The bullets whiz past Renault's head, hitting the walls and car around him with a crisp sound.

Renault ducked his head and steered his speedboat sharply, making a 90-degree turn just before it hit a glass window, and flew past it. The cadet behind the window whistled in admiration, not worried about the broken glass. All the windows and walls here have been specially reinforced to deal with this kind of situation.

The whistling group of speedboats formed a huge torrent that raced past the academy, and there were countless pairs of eyes watching the scene everywhere in the academy.

This is a reserved annual event at the Naval Academy, and people judge the next possible stars in this way, occasionally placing a small bet on something, such as how many people will successfully reach the top of the mountain this year.

The distance from the academy to the top of the mountain is not short, and at Old A's speed, it is impossible not to be caught by the Striders. The only hope they have of escaping to the top is the restricted height. There are buildings in the academy and trees on the mountain. The speedboat must weave between the buildings and trees to reach the top.

This is an obstacle race, not a pure speed competition. Here, the role of technology is maximised to make up for the shortcomings of the vehicle.

Despite this, it is still a difficult challenge for most freshmen. The second-year seniors have already had a year of training and adaptation, and their skills are definitely much better than those of the freshmen, and they are also familiar with the terrain.

Therefore, in previous years, most freshmen ended up being shot down.

However, this year is somewhat exceptional.

Renault glanced back, and the whistling group of speedboats was hot on his heels.

There was no doubt that he had stirred up a hornet's nest. The seniors had stopped chasing the other cadets and were all coming after him instead.

Reynolds smiled, rotated his wrist, and the old A roared to life, accelerating. He performed another sharp turn in the air and flew into the adjacent lane. A large number of rubber bullets whizzed past him, smashing the windows.

A huge S-shaped white air current was drawn in the sky, winding its way into the distance and disappearing into the dark jungle.

They had finally flown away from the college and into the wooded area.

And so far, the seniors had not shot down a single freshman.

'Matthew, this is not going to work, we'll let everyone else get away! We can't keep chasing after that sly little guy, he's slicker than a fish,' someone shouted at Matthew.

'No way, I have to catch him!' Matthew shouted angrily, 'He's humiliated me.'

'If you don't stop chasing him, you'll make us all look bad. We'll be the first to let all the freshmen reach the top!'

Matthew froze, and finally shouted in resignation, 'Fine, Bayer, you and I will go after that guy, and the others can each find their own targets.'

'Understood!' The seniors responded together, and the team that had originally gathered together finally dispersed with a flurry.

Like hunters chasing their prey, each senior student had targeted a freshman and a chase ensued through the forest.

The whistling rubber bullets hitting the trees and leaves created a battlefield scene in the forest that looked just like a real war, which was exactly what the academy wanted its students to experience.

From the first day they entered this academy, they had to understand what their future was.

If they couldn't bear this atmosphere, it would be better for everyone if they quit now.

Bang!

A rubber bullet hit the back of a new student, and the pain made his hand shake, causing the vehicle to lose control and crash head-on into a tree. The airbag saved him from serious injury, but the shock of the fall from a great height still made the new student groan in agony.

'Got one!' An older student yelled triumphantly.

The next moment, a speedboat rushed out of the corner and crashed into him, knocking him and his boat to the ground.

'I've got one too,' said Renault, floating in the air.

He said to the freshman lying on the ground, "Can you get up?'

'I can," the freshman replied weakly.

'Then get up and keep flying.'

'What?' The freshman was stunned. 'But I've already been shot down.'

'The rules don't say you can't get up if you've been shot down, and there's a better one here anyway.' Renault pointed at the Stroller he had knocked over, smiled at the newcomer, and had already taken off in his old A at high speed.

Behind him, Matthew and Bayer were closing in, Matthew was furious.

The bastard actually had the time to do something else while he was chasing him, which was the greatest humiliation to him.

'I won't let you off the hook!' He noticed a freshman below who was going to help the stroller on the ground, and knew what he wanted to do. At that moment, he suddenly made a decision.

With a hideous smile on his face, Matthew turned the engine to emit a low rumble.

He lowered his altitude and rammed head-on into the freshman.

The fierce impact sent the freshman flying, and although the airbag prevented him from being seriously injured, the huge impact still made him feel dizzy and he collapsed to the ground.

Seeing this, Renault gritted his teeth and said, 'You bastard!'

'You're the one who got him into this, kid!' Matthew yelled furiously, looking like he was about to go crazy.

Anger was burning his reason because of Renault's repeated teasing, making him irrational. At that moment, he just wanted to catch up to Renault, drag him off the Old A, and then use the gun in his hand to teach the damned freshman a lesson so he would know the cost of arrogance!

He chased after him frantically.

Seeing this, Renault began to deliberately slow down.

He used the mountains to constantly avoid the bullets. As Mathieu and Bayer closed in on him, he suddenly reached out and pulled on a nearby branch.

The branch was bent by Renault's high-speed movement, and then Renault let go, and the rebounding branch jumped up violently, hitting Bayer, who was flying over, right on the head. Although the attack was not heavy, the sudden attack still made Bayer panic for a moment.

This panic resulted in him losing control and crashing headfirst into a tree.

'Beyer!' Matthieu shouted, looking at his partner, but decided to ignore him and continued to chase after Renault.

'I'll kill you!' Matthieu shouted crazily.

He replaced his gun with a new magazine and continued to desperately shoot at Renault. The rubber bullets carried his anger and sprayed wildly, hitting Renault in the back.

Reynolds shook, and Old A flew past a tree, crashing into the undergrowth. Reynolds rolled off the bike and into the grass.

Matthew laughed: 'Now you can't run away.'

He swooped in mid-air.

Just as Old A crashed into the undergrowth, Reynolds suddenly jumped up.

He leapt out of the grass, jumped high and grabbed a tree, then kicked Matthew.

The kick was so fast that Matthew felt only a sharp pain in his chest, and he was already being kicked off the speedboat by Renault.

As soon as Renault let go of his hand, he jumped to the ground and kicked Matthew again, stepping on him and taking his gun in the process.

'You bastard...' Matthew didn't finish his sentence before Renault hit him with the butt of the gun.

The muzzle was pointed at Matthew.

The balance of power between the two men had instantly reversed.

Looking at Matthew, Renault said coldly, 'You shouldn't have done that just now.'

'I don't need you to lecture me!' Matthew said angrily.

Renault pointed the gun at Matthew's face: 'Are you sure?'

Matthew hesitated: "You dare not do it. My father is a general.'

Renault nodded: "Thank you for telling me the reason why you, being so incompetent, can become their leader. But I don't care.'

He pulled the trigger and shot all the remaining bullets at his face.

...

He dropped the gun and helped himself back onto his old A.

It had taken a knock, but it was still usable.

That was the beauty of old things sometimes, they were durable and hardy.

Re-mounting his old A, Reno took off.

This time, no one bothered him.

When he reached the top of the mountain, Reno saw that there was already a group of new students on the mountain.

A grand welcome party was being held at the top of the mountain, and the entire top of the mountain had been set up as a huge venue.

At the top of the venue was a high platform, and below it was a long table that surrounded the summit of the mountain. The table was covered in a snow-white tablecloth and was filled with fruit, wine and all kinds of rich food.

In the centre of the venue was the dance floor, and the trainees were talking and dancing below. The male trainees were handsome and charming, and the female trainees were bright and beautiful.

Above the high platform was a three-dimensional image screen that could be viewed from all angles and split into countless images.

When Renault arrived on the platform, he saw the countless split screens suddenly change, transforming into his own image, standing on top of a mountain.

A high-pitched and excited voice echoed in the air: 'Behold, our king has arrived!'

'Oh!' Everyone cheered.

Renault noticed that everyone was looking at him, and they were raising their glasses to him.

What was going on?

Renault still didn't understand.

One of the cadets had already come up to him and said, 'What's your name?'

'Jonny Reynolds,' Reynolds replied.

'His name is Reynolds!' the cadet shouted, and the loudspeaker he was carrying amplified his voice so that it could be heard from afar.

'Reynolds! Reynolds! Reynolds! Reynolds!' everyone shouted.

Reynolds saw Dot in the crowd and walked over to him. 'What's going on?'

'Nothing,' replied the little dot with a shrug, 'the annual welcome party of the Ship Branch will select the most outstanding freshman among the new students, and this most outstanding freshman will become the king of the night. Since you have performed most outstandingly tonight, 92% of the people voted for you, so you were elected by an absolute majority as the king of the dance tonight. As the king, you will have the right to choose any beautiful woman as your dance partner tonight, and the other party cannot refuse.'

The little man chuckled and said, 'Take your chance.'

Reno finally understood. He looked around and saw countless female cadets sending him secret glances.

As female cadets, they could choose not to participate in the speedboat race, but they had to accept the king's choice.

After thinking for a while, Reno asked softly, "What if I don't choose?'

The little man spread his hands, "That would mean breaking away from the group and alienating everyone. You know what that would mean in the army, right?'

Damn it!

Reno was helpless and could only look around.

The young girls were waving at him, and some of the bolder ones even made various seductive gestures at Reno.

His gaze scanned the girls, and finally, Reno's eyes fell on a young girl with long light blonde hair.

Her eyes looked very clear, and when Reno looked at her, she neither encouraged nor rejected him, but instead wore a faint smile.

This smile made Reno's heart flutter, and he walked over and stood next to the girl.

and said, 'Hello, I'm Joni Reynolds.'

'I know,' the girl replied, 'you said that before.'

Reynolds' face flushed, and he touched his head. He said, 'May I ask you to be my dance partner tonight? Well, I mean if you don't want to, that's fine, I can just...'

'I do want to,' the girl interrupted him, answering directly.

Reynolds was taken aback by this response, and the girl, seeing his reaction, smiled and took the initiative to go up to him, supporting him as she said, 'Claire. My name is Claire Jia Marshall, and I really like what you did tonight. You are the first freshman in the past ten years at Al-Fay Law School to take the initiative to help all the students leave.'

'Thank you,' Reynolds replied, entering the centre of the venue with the girl.

'Claire! He chose Claire!' a student shouted.

'Hoo!'

There was a loud whistle, and all the students whistled and screamed.

This confused Renaud a little: 'It seems I've chosen a remarkable girl. I thought you were a freshman.'

'I am a freshman, but the seniors here all know me,' Claire replied.

'Why?'

Claire's face broke into a sweet smile: 'Because my grandfather is the dean of the Military Academy.'