Make money by hiding in the interstellar battlefield!

After submitting to the Windsor family, Jian Sheng barely had a moment to catch his breath before Percival gave him his first order—to prepare for the entrance exam for the Mech Officer School two months later.

The family's leadership had already decided that on the perilous homeworld, a sniper capable of piloting a mech was far more valuable than an ordinary individual sniper. Only by enrolling in the Mech Officer Academy, obtaining a formal position, and acquiring his own mech could Jian Sheng truly become a valuable asset to the Windsor family.

The two-month intensive training program is conducted entirely according to the entrance examination standards, divided into two core modules: written and martial arts tests. The Mech Officer School focuses on cultivating combat-ready personnel. The written test has only a passing score; passing it is sufficient. Final admission rankings and assessment of student qualifications are determined solely by the martial arts test. This examination is open to the best candidates from across Seven Rings City, with only one hundred students to be admitted. Once accepted, students will be directly issued customized C-grade mechs. For the lower-level martial artists of Seven Rings City, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to completely change their destiny.

The written test consists of only two subjects: the history of human colonization on extraterrestrial planets and basic knowledge of mecha operation.

The instructors assigned by the family quickly covered all the test points in just two days. The content was simple and easy to understand, posing no challenge to Jian Sheng, whose brain capacity far exceeded that of ordinary people. It was during these two short days of instruction that he came into contact with the colonial secrets that overturned his previous understanding, resolved many doubts in his mind, and fully learned about the origin of Seven Rings City.

Thousands of years ago, humanity devoted itself to developing colonies outside the solar system, but was unable to break through the speed of light barrier. Manned starships simply could not complete the long-distance space voyages that often took hundreds of years. With no other options, humanity placed all its hopes on a super AI, which controlled unmanned colony starships to drift through the universe at near-light speed, enduring long journeys, and finally reaching their home planet.

Upon landing on Mother Nest Star, this super AI immediately initiated a biological cell improvement program. Combining the atmospheric composition, gravity coefficient, and ecological environment of Mother Nest Star, it genetically modified the original human embryos. After several generations of cultivation, a new type of human was finally born who could fully adapt to survival on Mother Nest Star, and who are the ancestors of the current humans of Seven Ring City.

The "patch" system within Jian Sheng's body is based on the super AI that created the human colony, and it has the supreme and exclusive codename—Mother Goddess!

The fact that the super AI chose the current coordinates of Seven Rings City for its landing was no accident. This region is the smallest peninsula continent on the mother planet, with far less survival pressure than other land areas; the peninsula's terrain is surrounded by forests on three sides and faces the sea on one side, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack, which is just right for humans to establish themselves and build defenses in the early stages; most importantly, within a 500-kilometer radius of Seven Rings City, there are all the basic mineral and energy resources needed for the development of human industrial civilization, enough to support early colonization.

However, after the unmanned colony starships arrived at the mother planet, their energy was exhausted, and they were powerless to completely wipe out the native intelligent race of the mother planet—the intelligent beasts. Humanity could only retreat to the peninsula, hastily build defensive fortifications, and struggle to survive.

After seventy years of arduous development, humanity has gradually expanded its cities and strengthened its defenses, eventually achieving the current balance of power between the Seven Rings City and the intelligent beasts, who have long been in a standoff and do not invade each other.

Another fatal truth, enough to shake the entire city, was also fully revealed during the lecture: the core reason humanity has been able to develop peacefully for seventy years is that the intelligent beasts are still at the stage of primitive tribal civilization, with scattered groups fighting their own battles, and have not yet formed a unified tribal ideology and centralized organization. Once humanity expands too aggressively outwards and carries out large-scale extermination of the intelligent beasts, it will inevitably stimulate the major intelligent beast tribes to accelerate their integration and unification. At that time, with humanity's current military strength, it will be impossible to withstand the frenzied siege of intelligent beasts across the entire territory, and the only way out will be the extinction of the entire race.

This centuries-old secret of colonial history brought clarity to Jian Sheng's long-held doubts, but it also brought a deeper sense of bewilderment. Why did he travel to this world? Was it a pure accident, or was it intricately connected to this super AI called "Mother Goddess"?

There is currently no answer to this question, nor is there any way to explore it.

The martial arts test is also divided into two core parts: talent and physique assessment and actual combat duel.

The original owner had lived in the lower rungs of the Sixth Ring Road since childhood, suffering from chronic malnutrition and a weak constitution. His family scheduled his talent examination for two weeks after the start of his special training. Jian Sheng knew perfectly well that with his mediocre talents of D-level crystal energy perception and D-level electromagnetic tolerance, he was nothing more than a useless piece of chicken in the eyes of the deeply rooted top noble family, Windsor. If he was not careful, he would once again become a worthless pawn.

He must improve his talent level, and the only safe option is to break through to C-level. C-level talent is just enough to enter the Windsor family's training threshold, has sufficient training value, and will not attract the family's suspicion and prying because the talent is too overpowered. It is the safest and most pragmatic goal at present.

As one of the top three families among the nine major families of Seven Rings City, the Windsor family's foundation far surpasses that of ordinary exploration teams and small and medium-sized forces. Even the most basic D-level mortal mechs equipped by the family outperform the same equipment used by wilderness exploration teams.

Jian Sheng's mecha combat training was conducted entirely under the one-on-one guidance of professional instructors from the Windsor family, and he was never arranged to spar with trainees from other families. Jian Sheng saw through the family's intentions at a glance—they were simply trying to prevent the forces they cultivated from secretly colluding and forming alliances, eliminating the possibility of rebellion at its source, and firmly controlling every pawn in their hands.

During training breaks, Jian Sheng seized every spare moment to carefully and secretly draw energy from the mecha's energy tank. He only extracted a tiny amount of energy each time, acting with extreme caution and secrecy. The Windsor family was large and powerful, and their control over mecha energy consumption was lax, so no one noticed this negligible energy loss.

Accumulating silently day after day, the system's energy reserves finally reached a critical value after a training session, enough to support a breakthrough in talent and a comprehensive transformation of physique.

That night, in the dead of night, Jian Sheng locked the door, cutting off all external interference, and quietly activated the system in his mind.

"Patch, start the crystal energy sensing upgrade program."

A system notification sounded immediately, and the body constitution modification process began simultaneously, with a fixed total time of eight hours. In addition to the basic constitution modification, the system proactively asked whether users wanted to perform custom body fine-tuning.

After receiving a positive response, Jian Sheng carefully planned the direction of the transformation, avoiding any overly exaggerated adjustments to prevent exposing the system's secrets. He changed his naturally curly hair to smooth, straight hair, retained his original eye color, and avoided making his appearance too eye-catching. He directly optimized his vision to the limits of human physiology, without making significant changes to his facial features or physique, only subtly increasing his height by two centimeters, while simultaneously focusing on increasing muscle density to enhance his explosive power and endurance.

After much deliberation, he also made targeted optimizations to his body. Once all the improvement plans were confirmed, a massive amount of energy surged into his body. Extreme fatigue and numbness swept over his entire body, and Jian Sheng instantly fell into a deep coma, his body entering a state of complete transformation.

The next morning, Jian Sheng slowly awoke, the tension in his body immediately confirming that the modification was complete. But when he looked down at the bed, a complete human-shaped bloodstain came into view, and a large amount of dark red, filthy bodily fluid soaked through the sheets, a shocking sight.

His heart tightened instantly. After thinking it over, he could only grit his teeth, cut the bed sheet into pieces, and secretly burn them in several batches to thoroughly clean up all traces and ensure that no one would notice.

After dealing with all the potential problems, he immediately communicated with the system to check his physical condition after the modification. At this time, the system's energy storage was almost exhausted, with less than a million kilocalories of energy remaining. He was at risk of brain death at any time, but Jian Sheng did not care. With the physical examination imminent, he could not recharge the system rashly and cause abnormalities.

Two days later, the talent and physical fitness test was held as scheduled.

At this moment, Jian Sheng's internal energy was stable, and all his physical data were completely stable, so there was no need to worry about any abnormalities being detected. The final physical examination result was without any suspense—a double C-level extreme talent.

This achievement is already top-tier among ordinary gene warriors. It not only completely dispelled the Windsor family's concerns but also officially confirmed his value in training, completely escaping the fate of being abandoned at any time.

The next day, before the special training session, an unfamiliar blonde female instructor walked into the training ground and directly replaced the original instructor.

Her golden hair cascaded down her back, her blue eyes sparkled, and her figure was tall and slender. Her brows and eyes were etched with the innate pride and nobility of the Windsor family. Her appearance was stunningly beautiful and aloof, and her aura was sharp and intimidating, making people dare not look directly at her.

"Jiansheng, from today onwards, your exclusive training will be entirely under my supervision." The female instructor spoke, her voice clear and melodious, carrying the unique elegance of a nobleman, her gaze sweeping over him condescendingly. "I am Windsor Louise."

Jian Sheng's hands, hanging slightly at his sides, tightened slightly. There was no surprise in his heart, only a deep-seated wariness. This was an instinct stemming from his painful past experiences: the more beautiful a woman was, the more wary he should be, and the further he should keep his distance.

Louise's gaze was indifferent as she cut to the chase: "I've seen your medical report. You have double C-level extreme talent, which is outstanding among ordinary martial artists. You should have no problem getting into the mecha officer school, but you're still far from making it into the top twenty in the exam."

"I was previously in the Sixth Ring and had never seen a martial artist above Double C level. My family's initial requirement was simply for me to pass the entrance exam smoothly." Jian Sheng's tone was calm and neither humble nor arrogant.

Louise smiled faintly, but the smile didn't reach her eyes, carrying an aristocratic detachment: "This exam is special. Seven Rings City will launch a large-scale expansion plan next year. The top twenty in this exam will be awarded the rank of captain upon enrollment and will be able to independently form a standard mecha battle team."

Jian Sheng remained silent. He was at the mercy of others, like a fish on a chopping board. He had no right to bargain, but deep down he knew that his life was now completely secure.

"Your file indicates that your specialty is sniping. This martial arts test has a special specialty assessment. You must remember that the regular combat team structure of the Mech Officer School is vastly different from the wild exploration team outside the city. You must memorize the configuration standards of the regular Mech Combat Team."

Louise's tone turned stern as she clearly explained the standard combat team organization of the Mech Officer School to Jian Sheng, word by word, while also pointing out the core shortcut to the assessment.

As soon as he finished speaking, a sharp glint flashed in Jian Sheng's eyes.

The player with the best sniping skill will be guaranteed a spot in the top 20 and the qualification to form their own team.

He was determined to take this path.