Today is a big day—the partner pre-selection. After a month of training, we’re officially saying goodbye to the early phase and moving into the mid-phase.
Everyone’s packed into the main hall, craning their necks, waiting for the results to be revealed. The announcement is, as always, made by Dr. Jacob. He takes the stage, sweeps his gaze around, and says, "Cadets, based on your performance, grades, progress, potential, and personal preferences, we’ve come up with the following preliminary rankings."
Since compatibility testing has to be done one-on-one—no way to do it for everyone at once—the Mecha Hunter think tank came up with a theory. Using this priority system, they can estimate a pairing plan in advance. After actual testing, if things don’t work out, they can still shuffle things around—just like speed dating, really.
"Before I announce the results, I have to make one thing clear: In the upcoming compatibility tests, anyone with a combined Spiritual Load Capacity below one hundred, or compatibility under sixty percent, is out. To fight the monsters, we’ve got to reshuffle and prioritize those with real potential." Dr. Jacob scans the crowd, giving Jill Young a pointed look. "Any objections?"
This rule is actually a compromise Dr. Jacob and Cost fought tooth and nail for—mostly aimed at Jill Young. If The Queen and The Teacher’s compatibility is low, or their total score doesn’t hit one hundred, there’s a solid reason to rearrange things. And that reason? Totally legit.
Sure enough, everyone nods, "Got it!"
"Good." Dr. Jacob glances at Jill Young and says, "Let’s begin. Brighton brothers, you’re a team. Gao sisters, you’re a team. Landon father and son, you’re a team..." As Dr. Jacob reads the names, everyone looks like they expected this. These folks were always going to be paired up—no surprises there. Out of all two hundred and twenty-seven cadets, there are a dozen or so fixed pairs with sky-high compatibility.
Once those names are done, everyone perks up—the real show’s about to start. A Mecha Hunter partner could end up being your ride-or-die buddy, or maybe something more. It’s just like picking seats on the first day of high school: everyone’s hoping to end up next to their favorite. Guys want pretty girls, girls want hot guys, and schemers want fellow schemers.
"Swallow’s partner is..." A bunch of guys lean in. "It’s Blue Wolf."
"Ah..." Some guys can’t help but sigh—especially those who had their eye on Swallow. But this pairing makes sense; those two have always been close. So, while there are a few sighs, it’s not a big deal. Blue Wolf shoots King Kong a smug look, grinning like he just won the lottery.
“So what, you don’t buy it?” Jill Young suddenly cut in, cool as a cucumber.
“I...” The guy stammered, “You’re throwing away your talent! You’re a top-tier candidate—if you teamed up with someone else with actual skills, you’d go way farther. But if you pick him, you might not even get the mech started, so how could you work with a loser—”
He barely got the word 'loser' out before Jill shot him a glare. Her eyes, calm a second ago, suddenly went razor sharp—he froze, unable to finish. Sweat soaked his shirt, but he didn’t even notice. Someone next to him yanked him back into his seat, and it took him a while to catch his breath.
For a moment there, he genuinely thought he was gonna drop dead.
Jill didn’t say another word. Freaking out this weirdo was enough—she wasn’t about to waste any more energy.
After Skale’s outburst, the mood in the room got heavy. But that actually helped Jacob finish announcing all the pairs—no more interruptions. It was mostly strong with strong, weak with weak. By now, everyone knew their place. The weak-with-weak pairs? Pretty much hopeless.
Still, the weaklings had one last wild card—compatibility.
Compatibility’s the big deal for two-person combat—it tells you how well your minds click. The higher the score, the tighter the neural link, the better the sync, and the longer you can keep it going. Less wasted energy, too. Even if both pilots have low spiritual load capacity, if their compatibility’s sky-high, they might just make the cut as official pilots.
Of course, there was always a backup plan: if pairs like Swallow and Jingzhe bombed the compatibility test, someone else could get swapped in. Especially Jill Young—she overheard people whispering to Skale, 'If that idiot gets booted, maybe we’ll get our shot.' Jill just yawned and forgot about it like it was nothing.
“Alright, time for the compatibility test!” Jacob called out, as the tech crew pushed up the gear. Same helmets as before, but now they’re double-linked. “Everyone, for this round, each pair puts on a helmet. The machine’ll spit out your exact compatibility percentage. I’ll call you up in order...”
“Hold up!” Jill Young wasn’t about to wait her turn. She popped up, strode right past Jacob, and headed for the machine. “I’ve had it with all the pointless gossip. Watch closely, folks—this blockhead is my ride-or-die partner. Blockhead, get up here and test!” Jill waved, and Jack followed orders, no hesitation.
Jacob frowned, leaning in to whisper, “You sure about this? You’re a hundred, but he’s zero. You need at least ninety percent compatibility to qualify. The Yang brothers hold the record at eighty-nine—they’re basically telepathic. You really wanna risk it?”
“Risk it? Please! How could I not be compatible with myself?” Jill snapped on her helmet, waved at the operator, and grinned. “Let’s roll!”
“Yes, ma’am!” The operator bobbed his head and hit the button.
Right then, a bizarre feeling hit. It wasn’t like logging into the quantum network, or getting your spiritual load tested. It was like a hole popped open in her brain—a mental pipeline that linked two people into one whole. Jill felt her consciousness slide down that pipeline to the other side, where the mental energy was strong, pure, and rock solid.
No wonder the spiritual load tests always came out zero. Those tests work by draining spiritual energy, but what Jill sensed wasn’t water—it was ice. Crystal clear, perfectly still, totally unmovable. Nothing could be siphoned off, so the machine couldn’t measure it at all.
But Jill could tell—this mental lake was way stronger than her own spirit. At least twice as powerful, maybe more.
So this is Jack’s mental lake? For the first time ever, Jill could actually sense her own spiritual power.
The very next moment, Jill’s consciousness dove right in. From the outside, the lake looked frozen solid, but her mind just melted into it—like water mixing with milk, no barriers at all.
In a split second, memories started swapping and swirling. Most were her own, so no confusion there. But Jill also glimpsed scenes she’d never seen before.
One night, she got up and whipped up a midnight feast for a pitifully hungry Su Yue, teaching her the secret tricks of cooking.
Another night, a mosquito tried to mess with her, but she shredded it with a burst of micro-martial arts.
There were flashes of running from monsters with another girl, dueling underground, and more. The scenes zipped by, crystal clear—Jill realized these were memories from her subconscious.
Thanks to her neural link with Jack, Jill managed a brief, unprecedented chat between her subconscious and her conscious mind. She had no clue what it meant, but she felt a little more complete.
That feeling of perfect teamwork—like left hand and right hand moving in sync—came back, clearer than ever.
Time in her head was fuzzy, but when Jill snapped out of it and opened her eyes, she heard a chorus of gasps. She turned to look—and her vision felt off. Everything was ridiculously clear. She could see every pore, every wrinkle, every muscle twitch in the crowd.
“Whoa—my vision’s always been sharp since meeting Snowfall, but unless I’m cranking the super-vision, it’s never been THIS nuts.”
Wait—my voice sounds weird, too. It’s familiar, like back when I first landed in Black Dragon Village and my real voice didn’t quite match what I thought I was saying.
The next moment, Jill felt her consciousness dive into that mental lake. From the outside, it looked like solid ice, but her mind slipped in effortlessly, blending together like water and milk—no barriers, just perfect harmony.
It’s like I’m talking in both a guy’s and a girl’s voice at the same time!
“No way—it's a hundred, it’s a hundred!” someone shouted. “How is this possible? They scored a perfect one hundred percent compatibility!”
Jill turned to look at the guy yelling, and suddenly her hearing felt even more three-dimensional. Wait, why do I have two views? In one, there’s a tech nerd jumping up and down. In the other, I see the same guy’s back—and the rest of the room.
It’s like having a hand an inch from your eye while you’re staring into the distance. You see everything, and the hand, at the same time. The images overlap but feel totally natural, like you were born to see this way.
That back of the head looks... familiar...
Suddenly, Jill’s heart skipped a beat—the back of the head turned around, and at the same time, her other perspective flipped too. She saw Jack looking at her, face full of curiosity and surprise—and in the other view, herself, wearing the exact same expression.
“Hahaha—ha!” The two of them burst out laughing in perfect sync—same tone, same moves, same wild joy. Then, dead stop; they both leaned in, pinched cheeks, squeezed noses. It was like a mirror in the middle—totally synchronized, or perfectly mirrored.
The crowd was floored—especially the Queen’s Faction. “Did that idiot just become The Queen’s... clone?!” someone muttered.
“Sensory Sharing? Synchronized control?” The two on stage suddenly high-fived, grinning like maniacs. “I’m invincible now!”
It’s like I’m speaking in both a male and a female voice at the same time!
“Oh my god, no way—it’s one hundred, it’s one hundred!” someone shouted. “How is this possible? Their compatibility is actually one hundred percent!”
Jill turned to look at the guy shouting—and her hearing felt more three-dimensional than ever. Wait, why do I have two perspectives? In one, there’s a tech nerd jumping up and down, pounding the table. In the other, I see the same guy’s back of the head, plus the rest of the room.
It’s like having a hand in front of one eye while looking far away—you see everything, and the hand, at the same time. The images overlap but feel totally natural, like you were born that way.
That back of the head looks... familiar...
Suddenly, Jill’s heart skipped a beat—the back of the head in her vision turned around, and at the same time, the other perspective shifted too. Finally, she saw Jack looking at her, face full of curiosity and surprise—and in the other view, she saw herself, making the exact same expression.
“Hahaha—ha!” The two of them suddenly burst out laughing in perfect sync—same tone, same moves, same wild joy. Then, at the exact same moment, they stopped, leaned toward each other, pinched cheeks, squeezed noses. It was like there was a mirror in the middle—totally synchronized, or perfectly mirrored.
The crowd was dumbstruck—especially the Queen’s Faction folks. “Did that idiot just become The Queen’s... clone?!” someone muttered.
“Sensory Sharing? Synchronized control?” The two on stage suddenly high-fived, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m invincible now!”
(End of chapter)