The opening of the Grand Battlefield was nothing short of a city-wide event. Calling it a spectacle that emptied the streets was no exaggeration.
Cameras had been set up around every corner of the stadium. An hour before the match began, every seat was already occupied.
The university leadership sat in the front row, with the instructors and competitors’ families seated behind them. Many alumni had also fought to secure tickets through the university’s official website, timing their purchase down to the second, all for the chance to witness the battle’s breathtaking full-scale holographic projection in person.
The open space at the center of the arena was currently showing highlight reels of this tournament’s outstanding candidates. At precisely 10:30, after a familiar transition jingle, tonight’s host and commentator appeared on the screen.
The backdrop was stark white. A spacious desk stood in the center, and at one corner sat a black thermos flask – instantly recognizable to most Command Department students.
Before the commentator’s face had even come into view, a wave of perfectly synchronized cheers erupted from every corner of the already boisterous stadium.
The commentator, once again, was Mr. Luo.
No matter how this Grand Battlefield ended, the Golden Cup would, in all likelihood, go to Cheng Feng. So San Yao had handed the exclusive commentary rights over to UFU.
The host was a sweet-looking young woman whose main job was to keep the atmosphere lively. She had read the background materials beforehand, but she wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about the technical aspects of simulated battlefields.
One of San Yao’s administrators had reassured her. “You don’t understand it? Neither does most of the audience. So if something confuses you, just ask.”
Truly… a stroke of genius.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with the audience, the host began introducing the participating military academies, their commanders, and the commanding generals leading each force.
The broadcast cut from venue to venue across the various academies. As the host glanced through the feeds, she spotted something amusing and laughed.
“Cheng Feng already has a fan support banner! And it looks surprisingly professional!”
Calling it a “banner” was a bit of a stretch. It was actually a holographic projection created with optical computer, clearly the handiwork of Command Department students.
The moment the host mentioned them, the group shot both hands into the air, making the projected lights shine even brighter as they shouted Cheng Feng’s name in perfect unison.
The rest of the students in the arena quickly joined in. Soon, thunderous chants rolled overhead like crashing waves, reverberating off all four walls until the two words – “Cheng Feng!” – rang through the stadium with overwhelming force.
The camera zoomed in, revealing the slogans on the floating signs:
“May Boss Ye strip every goose down to its last feather!”
“Follow Boss Ye, and grenades will rain from the sky!”
“No jinx can stop us – keep the Golden Cup at UFU!”
“There are ten thousand ways to make you drop to your knees and call her Dad!”
“If Cheng Feng doesn’t soar to the heavens, then what’s the point of her name?!”
The host managed to read out a few of them before nearly losing her composure. She hurriedly turned to Mr. Luo. “Professor, which university do you think has the best chance of taking home the championship?”
Mr. Luo answered evenly, “Naturally, I’m supporting my own university’s students.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the cries of “Cheng Feng!” were joined by booming chants of “UFU!”
Students from the other universities were unwilling to be outdone. They immediately raised their voices in response.
Clenched fists pumped through the air. Though the match had yet to officially begin, the smell of gunpowder – the fierce spirit of competition – already hung thick in the atmosphere.
One of the instructors slowly panned his optical computer around the stadium, his face lit up with excitement. He didn’t forget to remind the colleague beside him,
“I’ll film the left side, you get the right. We’ll show it to Jiang Linxia and the others later. They never got this kind of reception last year! Hahaha, they’re getting to bask in Cheng Feng’s glory now!”
“The crowd is incredible! The livestream comments are flying by so fast I can barely read them!” The host, caught up in the almost combustible enthusiasm, was growing visibly excited herself. She glanced down at her optical computer and said a little breathlessly,
“The contestants are about to log in simultaneously. I’ve just received confirmation that everyone is ready. Before we begin, let’s take one last look at the examination sites.”
At each military university, a thousand candidates stood outside their respective simulation halls, arranged in tiered formations, shouting their university mottoes toward the cameras.
UFU appeared last.
Their formation was noticeably looser than the others’, clearly because they had something else planned. Cheng Feng had been pushed into the center, while the people around her stood or crouched, deliberately leaving a small circle around her, surrounding her like stars orbiting a single brilliant moon.
Their university motto consisted of only eight simple characters, yet the thousand voices shouting it together were so deafening that several students were on the verge of cracking their voices. The roar still surged heavenward with overwhelming force.
The host laughed loudly. “This wonderful sense of ceremony! It’s something you can never do without!”
Mr. Luo remained every bit the calm, unshakable expert. Only the faint upward curve of his lips and a small nod betrayed the satisfaction he felt.
Ten minutes later, the system finished loading its data, and all the candidates had successfully logged in.
The livestream’s main display switched to a large tactical map of the battlefield. An overlay appeared on the screen, outlining the rules for this match.
The Grand Battlefield was divided into two factions.
The Red Faction was responsible for defending the city, while the White Faction would be the attacking force.
Each faction consisted of three military academies.
UFU, together with UMU and the Second Military University, had been assigned to the Red Faction.
First Military University, meanwhile, was grouped with two other universities as part of the White Faction.
Although several schools fought under the same banner, each university’s score was calculated independently.
Points were awarded based on a number of categories, including the number of surviving candidates, confirmed kills, the percentage of enemy structures destroyed, the rescue rate of NPC civilians, and several other objectives.
The faction that ultimately won the battle would receive an additional 50% score bonus.
Under this scoring system, the academy with the highest score was not necessarily guaranteed to belong to the victorious faction. In practice, however, such upsets were almost unheard of. Across the hundreds of tournaments held throughout the league’s history, they had occurred only a handful of times – the 50% victory bonus was simply too significant.
The most recent exception had been… the previous tournament.
Xiang Yunjian’s faction had successfully captured the city.
Unfortunately, Tao Rui had pulled off a brilliant last-minute counterstroke, striking at the very foundation of UFU’s position. In the closing moments of the battle, he wiped out the majority of their remaining candidates.
With so few survivors left, even the 50% victory bonus wasn’t enough. UFU ultimately lost to First Military University by a narrow margin.
It had gone down as a humiliation.
Three minutes after the rules had been displayed, they disappeared from the screen.
Without the slightest hesitation, the livestream director gave the very first camera feed to Cheng Feng.
The first thing Cheng Feng did after entering the battlefield was send a mass message to the commanders of every opposing university.
“Alliance? ”
The replies came almost immediately.
“No need.”
“…Are you okay?”
“Sweetie, we’re on opposite sides.”
“What do you think?”
“Even if I dared, do you think anyone would believe it?”
Chen Huayue watched her entire exchange in silence. He opened his mouth, utterly baffled. “…What exactly was the point of that?”
Was she just trying to embarrass herself?
Cheng Feng looked at him. “You don’t get it?”
“I really don’t.”
“They don’t get it either.” Cheng Feng closed the communications panel, wearing the cool, composed expression of someone who had everything under control. “I’m disrupting their mental state.”
Chen Huayue: “…”
A truly masterful strategy.
Cheng Feng pulled up the tactical map and skimmed through it at high speed, searching for routes suitable for ambushes and rapid troop movements.
A system notification appeared.
The White Faction will be authorized to begin its siege in five minutes.
If Tao Rui managed to unify the three military universities under his command and secure true overall command authority, then assembling the forces, assigning routes, and distributing equipment would likely require even more preparation time.
The moment they launched their assault would give a rough indication of how well the enemy side had organized itself.
The Second Military University’s commander, Cheng Feng had met several times during the training camp, but they weren’t particularly familiar with each other. She only knew that he was bald and that his name was Kang Zhenxue.
After replying to Cheng Feng, he quickly added, “We’ll defend the upper route.”
The message was sent directly into the faction command channel, where the various commanding generals could see it as well.
The UMU’s commander immediately followed up. “We’ll defend the lower route.”
The UMU’s commander was named Tong Xun. He was a professional Class-A commander, though Cheng Feng was not familiar with him either.
The two teams had clearly begun excluding UFU, openly displaying their intention to split the forces.
UFU’s situation was extremely unfavorable.
Cheng Feng had already anticipated that the major military universities would join forces to suppress her this time. It wasn’t just the opposing faction – those on her own side were also eyeing her like wolves, eager to tear off a piece of flesh for themselves. So this decision was hardly surprising.
Chen Huayue had mentally prepared himself for this. Even so, he deliberately put on an angry act and started shouting, “Why should we defend the center?! The entrance to the city is directly facing the central route, isn’t it? Under normal circumstances, shouldn’t we be the ones exchanging personnel with you? The match has barely started and you’re already trying to take advantage of us?”
Cheng Feng was just about to respond when his sudden outburst startled her so much that she completely forgot what she was going to say.
Kang Zhenxue, the Second Military University’s commander, replied with a grin, “Of course it’s because your university is the one that can’t afford to lose. Naturally. Though if you don’t want to defend it, you don’t have to.”
“Sorry. It’s mainly because we have to consider the bigger picture.” Tong Xun was clearly more tactful in his wording. “Avoid unnecessary damage, preserve our strength.”
Chen Huayue spat in disgust. “Shameless! You have no sense of collective responsibility at all. We’re allies in the same faction right now, and you’d rather help Tao Rui win the championship than betray your own teammates and act without honor! Do you have no shame? Is it really worth it?”
Cheng Feng was stunned by Chen Huayue’s current appearance.
His face carried a mocking expression, his brows drawn tightly together, his features cold and severe. It was completely different from his usual image of a refined, gentle scholar who wore glasses. There was a fierce, intimidating edge to him that made people instinctively want to keep their distance.
While his words were harsh and accusatory, his hands never stopped moving. He marked several locations in the middle section of the map, silently signaling Yan Shen to take his sniper squad there first and get into position.
Shen Dan coordinated with him, taking responsibility for the data on the western side.
Jiang Linxia also joined in, shouting, “Losing to UFU isn’t something to be ashamed of, right? But running over to suck up to Tao Rui – aren’t you embarrassed?”
Kang Zhenxue replied, “We were never really comrades to begin with. At most, we’re just people who happened to be assigned to the same faction. Anyway, this year’s MVP? Tao Rui can forget about it. And Cheng Feng, you can forget about it even more. Don’t bother provoking us. It won’t work.”
Chen Huayue sneered. “You guys actually think you can stop both UFU and First Military University at the same time and wipe out both factions? Don’t dream too big. The sun hasn’t even set yet.”
Someone who normally seemed so honest and harmless could be terrifyingly sharp when he chose to strike.
Kang Zhenxue truly lived up to the Second Military University’s reputation for having a short temper. His composure was clearly lacking; Chen Huayue’s words had obviously gotten under his skin. He shot back angrily, “Even if we really end up being the fisherman who profits from the struggle, that’s my choice! UFU has no say in it. And honestly, I’m the one who’s unlucky. Why didn’t that disaster Tao Rui end up in the same faction as you?”
Tong Xun simply stopped responding. He took his troops down the lower route on his own, already beginning to establish defenses along the edge of the map.
Only then did Xiang Yunjian step forward and try to smooth things over. “Everyone, stop saying things in the heat of the moment. The Grand Battlefield is still extremely important in this league. If you really allow Tao Rui to break through the central route, then once they enter the city, neither the upper nor lower defenses will be able to hold. Cheng Feng isn’t nearly as troublesome as Tao Rui, right?”
Kang Zhenxue replied with a voice dripping with sarcasm, “Exactly. So thank you, UFU. Work a little harder and help wear them down for us. We won’t waste your efforts. We’ll definitely take that 50% victory bonus on your behalf.”
Listening to him, Cheng Feng gritted her teeth. “This guy’s really asking to get punched.”
“That’s the Second Military University’s innate talent,” Xin Kuang said with a laugh. “Ignore him. They’re just trying to influence your command team.”
Xiang Yunjian said, “Just treat this as UFU fighting a one-versus-five battle. This time, the people on our own side clearly don’t want to be allies.”
Cheng Feng gave a quiet “Mm.”
The three data analysts worked together to draw up the deployment map, and soon the positions of all one thousand candidates had been assigned. Following their respective captains, the teams moved into their designated locations and began preparations for battle.
Chen Huayue had finally run out of things to curse about, and the faction channel fell silent.
Shen Dan asked in the squad channel, “Anyone else want to curse at them? Hurry up and go for it. You don’t get many opportunities to insult people with complete justification. Don’t lose out.”
Cheng Feng was also puzzled. “Why are you being so quiet today?”
Shen Dan was genuinely someone with a long-term perspective. “I’m saving my voice. I’ll use it after the match is over. Right now, it’s not worth it.”
The commanders were heading toward the deepest part of the map.
It was the safest area, and also where supplies were stored.
Xiang Yunjian glanced at the time and said, “Commander, say something. The match is about to start.”
Every UFU student had been assigned to the central route. Anyone could tell they had been sold out by their supposed allies – at this moment, the entire army stood isolated and without support.
Even without anyone explicitly saying it, their morale would inevitably begin to decline.
After assigning the missions, it was customary for the commander-in-chief to say a few words before the battle. Usually, it was either to ease everyone’s nerves or to rally their spirits.
Cheng Feng understood.
She cleared her throat, slowed her pace, and shouted with full confidence, “Charge!”
Chen Huayue: “…”
Yan Shen: “Heh.”
Shen Dan couldn’t bear to listen. “Help. Someone help her!”
Xiang Yunjian was silent for two seconds before saying, “Maybe… think about it again?”
Then Chen Huayue’s deep, steady voice rang out through the channel. “Fearless and courageous! Unstoppable and invincible! UFU will win!”
Cheng Feng glanced at the person running beside her. With a satisfied expression, she nodded at him, then tapped her left chest and drew a finger across her neck in a killing gesture.
Chen Huayue’s voice rang out. “We have faced countless dangerous situations before, whether as students of UFU or as future soldiers! We have the resolve to face death, but no one can stop our advance, and no hardship can wear down our determination! Until the very last moment before death arrives, our army remains undefeated!”
Cheng Feng nodded enthusiastically. She pulled the rifle from behind her and raised it diagonally toward the sky.
Chen Huayue continued, every word ringing with force. “With an unstoppable spirit of determination! Brothers, charge forward! Let them see the unbreakable will of United Federation University’s students! Crush every scheme and conspiracy!”
Everyone responded with overwhelming momentum. “Yes!”
Jiang Linxia sighed emotionally. “The number of talented people around Cheng Feng really keeps growing. We’ve got an eighth-level straight man playing along, a tenth-level translator, and now we’ve even gained a god-tier voice actor.”
Shen Dan casually added, “And four useless parents.”
“What did you say?!” Jiang Linxia bared his teeth in outrage. “Aren’t you just another dead weight clinging onto someone’s thigh?!”
