Rebirth: The Universe's Hidden Heiress-Chapter 90: Prison Break (2)

Fred, sitting nearby on the beach, snorted disdainfully, "A useless eater, unfit for the mecha specialization. I wonder how she even got admitted." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Ayoi and Alex turned angrily, ready to confront him, but Yuka held them back.

Fred didn’t treat either of them seriously. In his eyes, Ayoi’s Beatrix family was insignificant, and Alex had lost his competitive edge.

Fred was confident he would be the next emperor.

Still irritated, Ayoi retorted, "Who do you think you are to speak to us like that? Yuka belongs here because she earned all of it by herself, unlike you!"

"Yeah," another student who couldn’t bear to watch chimed in, "Even if Yuka’s grades aren’t great, that’s a mistake on UUA’s part in admissions, not hers. She’s also a victim. Maybe she didn’t even want to join the mecha specialization."

Yuka, surprised that someone understood her so well, handed them a coconut as a token of gratitude.

Ayoi muttered, "If anyone’s unfit, it’s those who bully and never help others."

"What do you mean?!" Fred stood up from the sand, shouting. "Ayoi Beatrix, how dare you speak to me like that?"

"Why are you arguing?" Kenji approached, frowning. "What’s going on?"

Seeing Kenji’s upset face, Fred’s bravado faded, and he sat down again, turning his back on Yuka and the others without a word.

Yuka looked up at Kenji and said, "It’s nothing, Mr. Kuba."

Yuka didn’t take Fred’s childish remarks to heart; after all, she had taught him a few lessons herself. But he seemed a bit slow to learn, persistently targeting her and facing repercussions each time, yet never learning his lesson.

Kenji, frowning, called everyone to gather and spoke sternly, "I’ll say this again: you are classmates now and will be comrades-in-arms in the future. You will fight side by side, not against each other. This training and competition are meant for fair rivalry, to enhance your skills, not to mock each other!" Fred clenched his fists.

"Now get back to your training," Kenji commanded, casting a glance at Yuka. Seeing that she wasn’t affected by Fred’s words and was still in good spirits, he felt relieved. He then led everyone to the next training exercise.

In the following days, the group trained in various maps that Yuka found familiar—barren mountains, cities, snow mountains... These maps were almost identical to those in the underground arena.

During a break, Yuka seized the opportunity to approach the person in charge of the planet, accompanied by Ayoi and Alex, and asked, "Excuse me, sir, who designed these maps?"

The person in charge, initially reluctant to speak, softened a bit at Yuka’s smile. He thought for a moment and said, "I’m not exactly sure who it was, but the previous person in charge mentioned that these maps were designed with help from the Alliance Science Academy."

"These are old maps, built and put into use decades ago. The temperature, density, terrain—all calculated by the Science Academy. I don’t understand the details," he explained, waving his hand. "My job is just to ensure regular maintenance of the maps by robots."

"I see, thank you, sir," Yuka thanked him with a smile.

The person in charge nodded at them and left.

In the evening, back at their temporary dorm, Ayoi lay on her bed, stretching wearily.

"Thank goodness tomorrow’s the last day," she said.

The grueling training was something she didn’t want to endure again for the rest of her life. They had been running frantically across several maps, completing frog jumps with weights, and engaging in combat and chase exercises, leaving them with little time to rest.

However, it was undeniable that the intense training had significantly improved everyone’s overall abilities. Even Mr. Kuba remarked that they should be able to avoid elimination in the first round.

Ayoi turned her head with a hint of sadness and asked Yuka, "If you go to the history department, will we see each other less? I’m gonna miss you so much."

"Don’t worry," Yuka reassured her. "You can always come to see me whenever you want."

This seemed to cheer Ayoi up a bit. After bidding Yuka goodnight, she buried her face in her pillow and quickly fell asleep.

It was Sunday morning, and everyone was excited about leaving that afternoon.

They trained with even more enthusiasm than the previous days, completing the day’s quota by noon.

Kenji was satisfied with their hard work. He collected their mechas and addressed them, "You’ve all done very well these past few days. But there isn’t much time left for self-training and review. The Tournament starts on Wednesday, and I hope you’ll be fully prepared to give your best."

"You’re free to do as you please now, but stay within the nearby area," Kenji continued. "We’ll gather here at three in the afternoon. The spaceship will arrive at four to take us back. Be sure to be here on time. Got it?"

"Got it!" everyone responded.

Yuka had been missing the coconuts at the beach for a while. She quickly pulled Ayoi and Alex into the beach map, where they picked some ripe coconuts. As they drank the coconut water, they observed sand fiddler crabs and moon snails along the beach.

Yuka discovered a sea anemone in a small hole. She crouched down, ready to dig around it to see how long it was. Meanwhile, Ayoi and Alex walked farther along the beach, looking for oysters on the rocks.

As Yuka was halfway through digging up the anemone, a shadow loomed over her. She looked up to see Fred, his expression dark.

"What’s up?" Yuka asked, raising an eyebrow.

Fred didn’t respond. He had come over without a real reason, drawn subconsciously by Yuka. He didn’t even understand why he targeted Yuka. Ayoi’s words from the other day echoed in his ears, darkening his mood further.

Ignored by Yuka, his anger grew. Just as he was about to speak, a loud crash echoed from the sea.

A wave surged towards the shore with more following. Yuka immediately let go of the anemone and started running towards the coconut grove.

Fred, momentarily stunned, quickly followed her.

Standing on higher ground, Yuka squinted at the sea.

A small spacecraft, emitting black smoke, was visible, along with several figures struggling in the water, swimming towards the shore.

A grim suspicion formed in her mind.

Fred, leaning against a coconut tree, asked with a trembling voice, "Is it... is it space pirates again?"

"Yes," Yuka confirmed. "Get ready to run."

She turned and sprinted away. Fred hurried to keep up.

As they ran, Yuka’s opticomputer beeped. Knowing she couldn’t check it while running, the butler automatically broadcasted the news: "Interstellarnet headline: The Alliance Prison Bombed! Suspected Space Pirate Jailbreak!"