Tempest of the Stellar War - Chapter 271

Chapter 271: Leader

"You must learn to deal with stress, not just physical, but also mental . In the battles to come, fairness will not exist . Most times, you will find yourselves battling against the odds . I hope that in these tough times, you will remember your goals and principles," Zhang Jingqi said . Although he did not explicitly say so, they saw what he was hinting at .

One's attitude must be good .

Zhang Jingqi glanced at Wang Zheng . "Wang Zheng, your performance was the best . Come with me . "

Wang Zheng left with Zhang Jingqi, a little surprised . The rest looked at each other . Achilles, who had been in a direct confrontation with Wang Zheng, was smiling a little bitterly . Lie Xin's smile was playful, while Lear could not muster one .

They had expended all their energy and ideas, yet they ended up making Wang Zheng look good .

To Achilles and Lie Xin, they would rather have Wang Zheng, rather than Lear, take the leadership .

The Ares College students were overjoyed . At the start, they felt unsure of themselves, but now it seemed like there might be hope .

Strength was confidence .

Wang Zheng had awakened . Regardless of what issues it had, he at least could hold his ground .

And as for battle foundations, he was unbeatable there .

Zhang Jingqi was also surprised at the coolness of the youth beside him . Before IG started, who would have thought that this youth would come out of nowhere? It had been Achilles' playground until this dark horse appeared . One must also move in accordance to the way events played out . Before the power balance had been upset, they would not give him this chance .

"General, he's here," Zhang Jingqi reported respectfully .

Meng Ao nodded . "Come in . "

Wang Zheng did not know what Meng Ao was playing at, pulling him out even before the training had concluded, and in front of all the students .

Meng Ao sized Wang Zheng wordlessly, secretly admiring . He purposely remained silent, testing his response .

Calm, and then more calm . His gaze did not waver, but neither was he one to jump to orders blindly . It must be confidence .

At that age, such confidence was rare . Besides a lack of reputation and background, this kid was a good sprout .

"Wang Zheng, are you interested in being the leader?" Meng Ao asked with a smile .

Wang Zheng thought he was going to be questioned about the fight or his Ability X . This was unprecedented .

"What, no confidence?" Meng Ao pressed .

"Sir! I am confident . I will continue to work hard . I wish to go to Aslan and bring glory to Earth!"

Wang Zheng said . Wang Zheng was not lacking in confidence . He simply realized that empty words were useless, and his actions had to prove his wishes .

"Very good . Then now I formally announce that you are one of the potential leaders . One amongst you, Lear, Achilles, and Lie Xin will eventually become the leader . "

Meng Ao said . He needed to reward this boy and at the same time add to his burden in order to have him taste responsibility .

This kid had yet to finish maturing . His power was strong and his leadership skills equally good, but he had not yet experienced the responsibility that leadership entailed .

A leader needed not only to be strong, but also to be aware .

On the way back, Wang Zheng was a little bubbly . Although Bonehead's training preached coolness under all circumstances, he was human as well, not a robot . He had taken another huge leap towards Aslan .

However, Wang Zheng did not feel as though he had already won . Lear liked to play his cards close to his chest and would not act until the crucial moment . Lie Xin seemed flamboyant, but she had the advantage that only girls had . Her personal charm was also considerable, and she simply hid her feminine wiles most of the time .

As for Achilles, he was indeed admirable . Strength determined confidence, and he was a worthy opponent .

In the training to come, Achilles, Lear, Lie Xin, and the rest would start to get serious as well . The replacement of Qiu Si and the appearance of Zhang Jingqi marked the beginning of a new phase . If they did not bring their abilities to bear now, then there would be no other chances .

The Earth sector's tests were divided into two major categories, mech control and shooting .

It was completely attuned to testing the students' ability to resist interference and their fine motor controls .

Although Achilles and the rest had started to give it their all, Wang Zheng continued to clinch first place in the subsequent tests in stable fashion . Although the gap was not huge, he was consistently ahead . Achilles and the rest did not use their Ability X again . Ability X, to a mech fighter, was an emergency measure used to save lives . It was definitely not something one used regularly . Furthermore, knowing that Wang Zheng had Ability X as well meant that this would no longer be an advantage .

"How good are Zhang Shan and Wang Zheng? It feels frightening that they can compete against Achilles for leadership . " To Yuan Ye, who had no Ability X, he was both filled with admiration and wistful longing . The four Ares College students all had abilities, but only he was unable to awaken .

"I'm not too sure myself, but it's awesome for sure . We have to support Wang Zheng for leader, this nomination is his for sure!" Zhang Shan said .

In comparison to Achilles' aloofness, Lear's pretentiousness, and Lie Xin's arrogance, everyone generally preferred Wang Zheng . But the number of people remaining was not high, and everyone already had their affiliations . To change now was nearly impossible .

Wang Zheng's scores were slightly ahead, but the advantage was not huge . Could this slight edge be enough to overcome the reputation of the other three? It remained a huge problem .

Atos only returned after two days, and he had fallen behind considerably . His fingers had made a full recovery and his hatred for Wang Zheng had not diminished . To be accurate, he disdained everything about Earth .

To have lost face in front of so many had made Atos even more sullen . Even his friends were disapproving of his rage .

Only Taros treated him well, and in that period, Taros became his confidante .

In the end, all training was for the sake of battle . Atos kept harping on this point, having no intention of changing . He felt that this was a lost cause and that Earth's sh*tty training was meaningless . His results continued in the downward spiral .

Finally, the training reached its conclusion . Everybody was gathered together . Till the end, they had not had the chance to actually fight with mecha .

Zhang Jingqi surveyed the bunch of youths in front of him . In this period of training, their basics had been polished to excellence . Of course, he was aware that these youths thirsted for battle and to train with blood and fire . But this thinking was naïve . As a soldier, such opportunities would come by more often than one wished . In fact, it was at these times that one would look back longingly on the luxury of training .

"According to the training results, Wang Zheng, with a high score of 92 points, receives Earth's vote . Therefore, in the fight for leadership, Wang Zheng need only receive one more vote to become the official leader!"

As Zhang Jingqi spoke, the Ares College students burst into cheering . They had been waiting for this moment .

Wang Zheng's performance was the inhibitive type . It was as though he had been born for the training . Behind his back, he had become the instructor's pet . Whatever the instructor said, he followed to the letter . They had never seen someone so serious about it . Although everyone was serious during training, no one threw their heart and soul into every moment . They could not bring themselves to do it either, without the thrill of competition that is . But Wang Zheng had completed every last detail .

As long as the instructor set the task, he would finish it perfectly . On this point, he had been recognized by Zhang Jingqi . As a soldier, the most important thing was to carry out one's orders perfectly .

Although the saying went that those who only followed orders blindly were weak, Wang Zheng was not one of those .

What was curious was that Zhang Jingqi had a nagging feeling that Wang Zheng did not seem like a new soldier . His execution of orders was fairly flawless, as though it was like clockwork .

Besides a louder-than-average Zhang Shan, there was lackluster response from the rest . They did not know how to voice their dissatisfaction . They did not wholeheartedly agree with the vote .

In the end, it came down to the fact that Wang Zheng's solid foundations were not indicative of his true ability .

All it meant was that he was good at training .

But this was Earth, and Earthlings' decisions held water . Everybody knew that protests were futile and could only swallow the fact that their training skills were not the best .

A silent majority did not mean complete silence . Atos could not hold himself back .

He was clearly beyond caring .

"Sir!" Atos raised his hand .

"Speak . "

"May I say my piece?" Atos said .

"Permission granted . Speak . "

"Although foundation training is important, if you consider the Solar System, no, the Milky Way, such one-dimensional training only produces grunts, not leaders, let alone generals who can change the world . If our Solar System Federation is to break through, we need strong people with leadership, and not obedient babies . Excelling at training is useless . As you Earthlings say, only a race will tell if it's a stallion or a donkey!"

Atos said, completely ignoring the heated looks from Zhang Shan and the rest .

"For example, although Zhang Shan's results are significantly better than mine, if we switch to mecha, I can thrash him with ease!"

Atos had started to taunt the crowd again . Zhang Shan stared . He had pushed himself hard throughout this training in order to get his revenge as well .

No one else said anything, but their expressions were approving . Although the military had set the rules, they were not formal soldiers . Would they not consider some form of concession?

Zhang Jingqi quickly sized up the general sentiment, reading their expressions . He turned to Wang Zheng with a smile . "Wang Zheng, seems like some of them feel you haven't proved yourself fully yet . What are your thoughts?"

Wang Zheng smiled . As Bonehead would say, a snarling dog did not bite . While Bonehead had ruthlessly cured his bad habit of snarling a long time ago, the world was not the same . "

"I welcome all challenges!" Wang Zheng replied .

"Excellent . As the last task of the training, to obtain this vote as leader, everyone is to accept challenges . The victor will obtain the vote . If a leader loses, they must give up leadership . If a member loses, they will be eliminated . "

Zhang Jingqi stated . This was clearly no last minute decision, but something he had already prepared .

Zhang Jingqi wanted to convey a message to them: That if one wanted to gain something, one must pay the price . A person like Atos, who fought and gave up at a whim, had nothing but street-brawl attitude .

Everyone was exchanging glances . Who would have thought that after all that training, there would be such a golden opportunity in front of their eyes?

Challenge Wang Zheng!

Nobody actually knew Wang Zheng's true strength . Until now, nobody actually had the opportunity to fight with mecha .

He had proved he could drill, but how was his battle ability?

Risk and opportunity went hand in hand . Everyone could hear their hearts thumping loudly, evidently affected .