Chapter 952 - 971: Qiudao, Arrange for Me to Be a Judge

Even after setting down his terminal, Mo Si struggled to pull himself out of that atmosphere. He felt highly restless.

Sigh. Every time this happened, she would tease him without restraint. Yet, when it truly mattered—when he actually wanted to be teased—she would only push him away. Though his mind was full of complaints, a remarkably sweet smile hung on his face.

Out of habit, Mo Si pulled that photograph from his bag and gently stroked it. He thought, "She is so disobedient. We were originally going to have the eleventh all to ourselves."

After that thought, he immediately sent a comm to Qiudao.

"Is there something you need, Admiral?"

"Huh?" Qiudao was taken aback. "That competition?"

"Are you saying you want to attend in person as a judge?" It felt surreal to him. The Admiral had never involved himself in such events before. Not to mention, he had already explicitly rejected this exact invitation earlier.

"Understood, I’ll arrange it right away. The match on the eleventh? Got it."

After hanging up, Qiudao felt a bit baffled, but he quickly contacted the organizers anyway. With such a major figure wanting to attend, the organizers naturally didn’t refuse. They immediately agreed to have Mo Si come and guaranteed the Admiral the seat of honor.

With everything arranged, Qiudao sent the schedule to Mo Si.

Meanwhile, the organizers wasted no time. In the blink of an eye, they added a banner to the ticketing page: *The Empire’s Admiral Mo Si has also been invited to be our live judge!*

Consequently, within the next two hours, all live tickets—infield, outfield, and standing room—were completely wiped out. Not only that, but after the live tickets sold out, the online streaming passes were also snatched up in record time. This alone was enough to show the immense influence the name Mo Si held over the interstellar people.

Over on Qiuqiu’s end, after her roommates heard the news, they quickly sent a screenshot to their dorm group chat.

Meng Chun: [Good thing we bought them! What a steal!]

[Our idol is going too!]

[The tickets have already paid for themselves!]

The girls took turns chiming in, though none of them knew why Mo Si would suddenly decide to attend this competition. Qiuqiu hid her involvement, lurking quietly in the group chat without saying a word.

December 11th brought beautiful weather.

It hadn’t snowed, so the lighting in the open-air plaza was excellent. It wasn’t too cold, bathed in gentle sunlight. Qiuqiu, Tingting, Michelle, and Meng Chun wore their own casual clothes as they navigated through the venue.

The spectators arrived first, as everyone coming to watch this were Mecha Soldiers. Regardless of their academy, Mecha Soldiers were trained to the rigorous standards of actual troops. Everyone was highly punctual, entering the arena well before the opening.

The competition was set to begin at 8:30 a.m. At 8:20, the judges began to enter one by one.

Mo Si arrived as the finale. When he walked in, the host hadn’t even taken the stage yet, but thunderous applause had already erupted across the venue. From such a distance, Qiuqiu couldn’t make out his facial features; he was just a somewhat blurry silhouette. She only saw him raise his hand in a military salute before taking his seat.

The arena instantly fell silent. The time was exactly right, and the host stepped onto the stage. The massive screens around the stadium slowly lit up, displaying the center of the "Isolated Island" on the field.

The six judges were also watching the floating screens, seated around them. The host stood in the center. Since this was a military-themed program, everyone chosen to be on camera had a rather upright and formal presence. It was worth noting that Qiudao, as Mo Si’s adjutant, had also received a separate invitation. He sat directly opposite Mo Si.

Just like thousands of other programs before it, the show opened right on time. Over in the remote valleys of the arena, the teams had already begun reorganizing and preparing to compete. On the main stage, banners unfurled, and while the teams drew their tasks, the host took the opportunity to introduce the judges.