The Interstellar Queen of Scavengers

Chapter 660: Chapter 660: Knows How to Make Ends Meet

Crossing the obstacle zone took 59 seconds, one second less than Ji You anticipated, but she didn’t revel in the momentary victory. Instead, Ji You, with a stern face and focused eyes, paid even closer attention to the path ahead, not daring to be negligent—

The third stage.

The Mecha was about to enter, but the checkpoint of the third stage was set very high, at about 5000 meters, requiring the Mecha to take off into the air to enter. Moreover, unmanned bombers were additionally placed at the checkpoint, and the students must find a way to escape immediately after rushing into the third stage.

Ji You took a moment to glance at her energy reserves: 69%.

98% remained after the first stage, but by the second stage, it had already dropped to 69%. Clearly, the energy reserves of the antique mech were insufficient and it consumed too much, requiring careful and precise energy management.

Inside the examination room, apart from Ji You’s own breathing and heartbeat, everything was silent. Outside the waiting room, the noise seemed like a different world to Ji You.

Suddenly, the silent Ji You gently flicked the control key—

Outside:

”Here she comes!”

”She’s going to rush through it.”

”Will she succeed?”

...

Students craned their necks, anxiously awaiting. Even the always nonchalant Mu Jianling raised his head, his eyes sharp like a falcon, intently watching Ji You inside the examination room.

After pressing the rush key, the slight hesitation and anxiety in Ji You’s heart suddenly vanished in that moment; her eyes and heart held only two words: Charge!

Swoosh—

Everyone saw the antique Mecha slightly bend its knees and forcefully push back, performing a beautiful frog jump and soared into the air, instantly rushing into the third stage.

At that moment when Ji You entered, 10 unmanned bombers appeared behind her.

Boom—

Boom—

Boom—

Above, below, in front, behind, left, right—the unmanned bombers launched Particle Cannon bombings from all around the antique mech, leaving no blind spots in a 360-degree assault!

Before Ji You even landed, she utilized the remaining thrust from the jump and made a fierce leap onto a square tile.

The square tile was a temporarily safe place, but it only provided 5 seconds of safety. After that, it would disintegrate on its own, and then the bombing from the unmanned aircraft would follow suit...

The task of the third stage was to jump across 100 square tiles. Each tile had a 1000-meter gap, and with only 5 seconds allowed to pause, it was crucial to remain vigilant and keep jumping...

Moreover, these tiles were not fixed; they swayed left and right, up and down. A slight inattention, failing to land on a tile, meant a failed assessment.

Here, it greatly tested the Mecha Driver’s operational skills.

Ji You frowned:

This stage, too, couldn’t save energy, but after careful consideration, there was still a way. With this thought and principle in mind, Ji You thought it through; after each jump, it was possible to turn off some of the mech’s functions to reduce energy consumption. As for how to accurately land on the tile? It could be done with some inertia and wind, but this required an even greater test of Ji You’s balance control.

Let’s try!

seconds, just as the tile was about to disintegrate, she clenched her teeth and leapt up without hesitation, and at that moment, she turned off 80% of the mech’s functions—resulting pleasantly: right in the center of the second tile.

The watching students all gasped:

”I thought she was going to fall!”

”Holy shit! I saw the Mecha pause mid-air and thought it was done for.”

”She just turned off more than half of the mech’s functions!”

”666!”

”She’s totally fearless! Just one millisecond off, and it would have been over for her!”

”I was wrong, number 4444 really is more than meets the eye. How could I have ever thought she was weak?”

...

Amidst the noise and amazement outside, Ji You remained as if deaf to it all, her eyes steady, she energetically started on the third tile.

The fourth tile.

The fifth tile.

...

With every thrilling leap she took, the students’ hearts pounded along, eyes wide, mouths open. From enthusiastic discussions at the start, to utter silence now.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Around, not a single person spoke, only the clear beating of students’ hearts could be heard.

blocks!

Halfway there!

By this point, Ji You’s Mech’s energy was still at 50%. The closer she got to victory, the colder Ji You became, without a hint of complacency or pride. She focused her gaze and leapt again!

Swoosh—

Landing!

Swoosh—

Landing!

The students blinked: ”Huh?”

After the leap, the Mech no longer paused at all. What did this mean?

It meant Ji You had reactivated all functions of the Mech.

Was she no longer conserving energy?

...

In fact, the students guessed correctly. For the remaining 50 blocks, Ji You decided to complete them in one go! Turning off some of the Mech’s functions consumed too much spiritual power and put too much strain on her. Being constantly tense was not beneficial for the upcoming fourth stage, so, she had to start nurturing her spiritual power from now.

After changing her strategy, Ji You’s jumps got faster and faster, with the remaining 50 blocks taking barely 2 minutes at a pace of 2 seconds per block.

Next—

Was the fourth stage!

Shooting!

Upon bursting into the fourth stage, there was no need to hop or jump, nor worry about unexpected gunfire from behind. But, the shooting targets, a total of 10, were not stationary; they moved constantly, thus severely testing the Mecha Driver’s shooting skills.

To hit at least 8 out of 10 targets was necessary to advance to the final stage.

Upon entering the fourth stage, Ji You stopped, completely motionless.

The 10 targets, within this illusory space, moved ceaselessly at speeds comparable to light, making it nearly impossible to distinguish each one with the naked eye.

Ji You didn’t rush to act, instead, she furrowed her brow and focused on her energy box.

Energy reserve: 29%.

The consumption in the third round was too great. At this rate, there wouldn’t be enough energy for the return trip.

Looks like, she had to endure tough times.

Ji You lifted her hand, pinched the bridge of her nose, and muttered, ”I hate scrimping days!”

Really!

Enough was enough.

After speaking, Ji You controlled the Mech, knelt down simply, laid flat on the ground, set up the gun, and aimed at the moving targets all around.

The students: ”...”

”Is she not planning to move?”

”Shooting from this position?”

”Look, she only kept the monitoring and shooting functions of the Mech active, all other energy-consuming features were turned off.”

”Cough... Ji You is really good at managing daily life.”

”Think about Shen Changqing, that wasteful spender who exhausted all his energy in the second stage. Could Ji You have maintained 29% of her energy till now if she wasn’t good at managing?”

”Cough cough...” Shen Changqing, sharp-eared, suddenly choked.