As the spaceship headed towards Sand Dust Star, its speed gradually decreased as they approached. While the ship wouldn't be affected by visibility, it was safer to slow down in such an environment.
Sensing the deceleration, everyone looked out.
"My goodness, what is this color!"
They had never drawn Sand Dust Star as a venue when representing their academies in competitions, so this was their first time here, and they were all very curious.
Hui Xingxiu looked outside. Everything visible was yellow. From the ground, whether looking up or forward, anywhere they could see was yellow. How much sand dust had accumulated to create such an effect?
Jing Yuancheng gazed at the world outside and asked, "Isn't there any way to fix this?"
With such advanced technology, how could they not even solve the problem of sand dust?
Teacher Wang told him, "It's not that no one has tried to manage it. After spending a lot of money to fix it, it returns to this state within a few days. The cost is high and there's no profit. Since it's an thankless task, no one is willing to do it anymore."
Alright, everyone understood.
As they were about to disembark, Teacher Wang informed them, "Make sure to put on your goggles, and speak less once we're off the ship."
The group took out their pre-prepared goggles. After disembarking, they followed Teacher Wang to the hotel.
On the way, any time they spoke, their mouths were filled with flying dust. After a couple of instances, the group stopped talking. If they absolutely had to speak, they could only try to do so without opening their mouths.
Upon arriving at the hotel, they cleaned up. Their hair and clothes were covered in dirt.
Jing Yuancheng remarked, "No wonder there were no reporters greeting us when we disembarked today."
"Hahaha, perhaps the reporters didn't want to eat dust either!" Hui Xingxiu chuckled at the thought.
After cleaning up, they had to depart for the competition venue. Upon arrival, they saw everyone wearing goggles.
This competition was not as grand as the first one; only a few commentators were invited. The leaders from before had only come for the opening ceremony. They weren't free to come every time.
Marshal Meng felt a bit embarrassed to rush to the competition site as he had before, but he still watched the competition in his office during his free time.
Everyone gathered outside the competition venue. Zheng Yiran sensed something and said to her teammates, "Doesn't the atmosphere feel a bit off!"
"Does it?" The blunt Hui Xingxiu certainly couldn't notice.
Zheng Yiran explained to him, "The atmosphere from the Second Military Academy, the Fifth Military Academy, and the Asel Military Academy is one thing, but these few people's eyes are about to pop out."
After all, for their previous poor performance, both military academies had shifted the blame to the Second Military Academy. However, the Second Military Academy felt at peace facing the angry stares.
After all, they weren't unused to such hostile gazes; they always "acted up" every year.
But these were not the main points. The main point was that the other bottom-ranked military academies also felt somewhat unusual.
Zheng Yiran didn't say much more, merely keeping her observations in mind.
There were no rules to be explained today, as the rankings had already been determined. Entry into the venue was also according to order.
The teams ranked lower entered later, with a half-hour interval between each group. With twelve military academies, there was a significant time gap between the first and twelfth place.
Because of this, it was very difficult to surpass the rankings once they were set. Therefore, in competitions with such rules, people often hoped for good luck.
Since they entered in order, everyone started from the same starting position this time.
The Imperial Military Academy was ranked first in the previous points tally. The five of them waved to the crowd and stylishly entered the venue.
The audience watched this scene and happily posted comments: "Go, Imperial Military Academy, win first place again!"
However, in the eyes of some, this wave meant arrogance.
Especially for the people from the Second Military Academy. But at this moment, they wouldn't say anything. Because the live broadcast had already begun, every word they spoke would be heard by the audience.
But their gazes said it all. They looked at the people from the Imperial Military Academy with animosity, determined to make a comeback in this competition.
Feita felt the things in his pocket, his gaze fierce.
As Meng Huai and the others entered the venue, this arena was not like the previous one with forests and vegetation. What they saw now was a yellow expanse that stretched as far as the eye could see.
"I really can't see anything."
"Will the commander's ability be limited in this match?"
"I don't have 3S perception, nor am I a commander. I don't know what kind of operations a commander sees when navigating."
The Imperial Military Academy entered the venue first, and many viewers entered the Imperial Military Academy's live stream. This included viewers who wanted to watch other military academies, as it was boring to just watch everyone stare blankly at each other, and they wanted to understand the venue first.
The navigation issue that the audience was concerned about was indeed quite difficult at this moment.
Zheng Yiran released her senses to perceive everything within the venue, but she could feel nothing but sand.
The location of the finish line flag was completely invisible. Perception was equivalent to another pair of eyes. But in such an environment, eyes were of little use.
Zheng Yiran could only sense some large-level beasts, but nothing else.
She was also a bit troubled. At this moment, Meng Huai asked her, "Do you need help?"
As Meng Huai spoke, she took out another new gadget.
The four of them said in unison, "Do you have a solution?"
"Can you see clearly?"
"What is this thing?"
"Do you know where to go?"
Meng Huai pointed to the thing in her hand and said, "I can't see clearly, and I don't know where to go, but it does."
The camera also nimbly focused on a close-up of the item in Meng Huai's hand. The audience was full of questions.
"???"
"What is this thing?"
"She's here, she's here, she's here again with her novel gadgets."
No one knew what the thing in Meng Huai's hand was. Zheng Yiran and the others also leaned in to look.
It was a wooden object, circular in shape. The edges were carved with words, and in the center was a transparent thing with a pointer inside. One side of the pointer was black, and the other was red.
The pointer was still constantly shaking.
Zheng Yiran and the others also asked, "What is this thing?"
Meng Huai told them, "It's a compass. It's an expert at judging direction and the like."
As soon as the word "expert" was uttered, Zheng Yiran directly handed over the task of leading the way to Meng Huai.
However, Meng Huai would only help identify the direction of the finish line flag. Other route-related issues would still be managed by Zheng Yiran.
After all, Meng Huai was not a commander; she was just helping out a little, Meng Huai thought.
Meng Huai held the old compass in her left hand, formed a hand seal with her right, and mumbled to herself. The audience watched Meng Huai's appearance, and no one believed she could really determine directions.