At 6:30 PM, Qin Le and Jiang Hao arrived punctually at the simulation training hall to participate in the preliminary rounds.

The waiting hall was packed with students, clustered in groups and excitedly discussing the upcoming matches.

As this was their first time participating in a mecha competition—and a multi-grade hybrid one at that—it was impossible for Qin Le not to feel nervous. Before setting out, he had spent half an hour in the training room practicing boxing just to expend some nervous energy.

“Let’s just hope we don’t go up against third-years right off the bat,” Qian Can said, massaging and slapping their shoulders to help loosen their muscles. “As long as you aren’t insta-killed in one move, it’s a victory!”

Jiang Hao rotated his neck and shoulders, saying earnestly, “Then I have the confidence to last at least three moves.”

Qin Le declared, “Betting on my dignity as the Student Council President, even if I can’t win, I have to last at least three minutes.”

Qian Can complained while continuing the massage, “Lele, I never realized your presidential baggage was this heavy.”

Song Jin truly couldn’t listen to this any longer. “I sparred with you guys for a whole week. Even if you don’t have confidence in yourselves, at least have some confidence in me, alright?”

Jiang Hao and Qin Le: “…”

Li Xiao chimed in, “Just perform normally. If you win, I’ll have Xiao Jin teach you another set of Class-A consecutive combos.”

Song Jin: “…” He had never promised any such thing.

Jiang Hao, Qin Le, and Qian Can: “…!!!”

Then losing was absolutely out of the question.

At 6:40 PM, Qin Le and Jiang Hao followed the crowd into the arena.

Song Jin and Li Xiao stood in a corner of the hall. Watching Qian Can tag along to cheer them on, they looked up at the virtual screens suspended in mid-air above the hall. Once the matches began, the screens overhead would broadcast the progress of all groups within this specific arena. Many students in the hall had also come simply to spectate.

At 6:55 PM, a prompt indicating the imminent start of the matches appeared on the massive display. Layers of screens projected outward, unfolding in sequence.

Noticing that the screens corresponding to Qin Le and Jiang Hao were near the front, Song Jin pulled Li Xiao forward. Quite a few students spotted them and curiously followed along.

The screens displayed the ID photos and names of both contestants, with an AI score for every single move displayed at the very top. The top $90\%$ of the winners would smoothly advance to the next round. Among the remaining students, regardless of victory or defeat, anyone whose accumulated points ranked in the top $10\%$ would also successfully advance.

At 7:00 PM sharp, the bell rang.

Everyone braced themselves, and the entire hall instantly fell silent. The combatants on every screen moved simultaneously.

The next moment, the crowd erupted into a stir again. Within a mere thirty seconds, a third of the screens in the hall went dark.

“So many first-years got eliminated!”

“A match between non-majors and majors is indeed an unfair fight!”

“They couldn’t catch this windfall of fortune at all.”

“This Qin Le is so strong! He actually held his ground against a sophomore from the Mecha Department!”

A large group of people gathered near Li Xiao and Song Jin, spectating Qin Le and Jiang Hao’s matches.

“He’s the Student Council President of Shengya Military Academy, of course he’s strong.”

“But Shengya doesn’t teach mecha piloting in the first year.”

“The senior is starting his combo! So fast!”

On the screen, the sophomore Alpha launched an aggressive advance, tilting his mecha slightly to the right while flipping his long blade, attempting to flank and strike hard from the right rear side.

Seeing Qin Le dodge to the left, Song Jin frowned slightly. “Idiot, it’s a feint.”

Just when everyone thought Qin Le had successfully evaded, the sophomore Alpha suddenly executed a lateral spin at the closest point to Qin Le. The rolling blade slashed straight toward the main circuitry of Qin Le’s shoulder.

“What a dangerous combo!” the students exclaimed.

The second- and third-year students present all felt that Qin Le was finished. Aside from their unpolished techniques, first-years had pitifully little combat experience. Once they panicked on stage, they might not even execute their movements fluidly, let alone handle such a point-blank ultimate attack.

Suddenly, Qin Le’s mecha dashed backward to evade. The exact instant the sophomore Alpha landed, Qin Le lunged forward at maximum speed, thrusting his long blade straight into the opponent’s chest.

Before the sophomore Alpha could even input his next directional command, a red warning flashed on his screen, indicating that the main circuitry had been severed. The mecha had suffered a critical system failure and could no longer operate normally.

At the top of the hall’s screen, the AI awarded an $8.9$ score to Qin Le’s final killing blow, ruling him the victor.

The crowd fell silent for a moment. It had all happened too fast; many people only understood what had occurred after watching the slow-motion replay.

Qian Can whistled excitedly, “Lele is awesome!”

A student standing nearby looked at Song Jin and asked curiously, “How did you know just now that it was a feint?”

Song Jin shifted his gaze toward Jiang Hao’s side. “Guessed.”

The student: “…”

Even though the surrounding crowd had a stomach full of questions, facing the aloof and hot-tempered Song Jin, none of them dared to ask further.

Li Xiao noticed the students’ reactions. Without even trying, he could guess most of their thoughts. Most of the time, the little lion wouldn’t lash out at people unless he couldn’t help it.

“In that kind of situation, flanking is not the optimal offensive strategy,” Li Xiao explained casually. “Combining that with the skill level this senior displayed earlier, he should have had better methods than a flank. Basing it on that, it was determined that the move was likely a feint. To put it simply, it’s combat awareness.”

The group of students suddenly understood. Put that way by Li Xiao, it really seemed to make sense!

Five minutes into the match, half the screens in the hall had gone dark. Yet, Jiang Hao and his opponent were still locked in a stalemate.

Many spectating students gravitated toward that side. Seeing Jiang Hao trading blows back and forth with a senior ranked in the top one hundred of the sophomore Mecha Department, they were utterly astonished.

“Jiang Hao’s moves are so unusual. It feels like the senior is starting to struggle.”

“Winning by catching him off guard, right? He wouldn’t have an advantage playing it by the book.”

“Everyone prepared so thoroughly!”

Li Xiao watched the screen. Jiang Hao’s mecha training time was too short, meaning his moves could currently only undergo violent, streamlined adjustments. However, judging by the results, the effect was decent.

The sophomore Alpha failed a surprise spinning straight-slash attack. Capitalizing on the exact moment the opponent turned around, Jiang Hao utilized the universal formula given by his older brother. After a full-speed lunge, he swept back horizontally. The long blade left a deep gash across the opponent’s chest, instantly sending sparks flying everywhere.

The AI evaluated Jiang Hao’s decisive strike with a score of $9.0$. A prompt window popped up in front of the screen; the sophomore Alpha’s mecha had suffered a critical system failure, and Jiang Hao was declared the winner.

“So strong!” A wave of gasps echoed through the hall.

By 7:10 PM, both Qin Le and Jiang Hao had smoothly advanced. Now, it was Qian Can’s turn to feel anxious. Both of his old buddies had made it to the next round—if he lost, wouldn’t it be incredibly embarrassing?

Song Jin glanced at him, speaking flatly, “You’re just here to make up the numbers anyway, why worry so much?”

Qian Can covered his face, “…” So harsh. But unarguable.

All competing players had to wait until the matches concluded before they could leave the arena. Fearing the hall was too noisy and might deafen his spouse’s ears, Song Jin led Li Xiao to a distant rest area to sit down.

A beam of red light cut through the floor-to-ceiling glass, shining inside. Song Jin pressed down on Li Xiao’s hand, looking over alertly. He initially thought it was a targeting laser, but unexpectedly, the light grew larger as a medical hover-vehicle descended.

Shortly after, three medical personnel accompanied by two stretcher robots hurried past the front of the rest area, heading rapidly toward Zone B of the training venue. The crowd in the corridor automatically parted to make way, whispering and discussing non-stop upon seeing the situation.

Having nothing better to do, Qian Can wandered over to eavesdrop on the gossip for a bit before returning to his seat. “I heard a student went into shock inside the examination room in Zone B. Getting that stressed over a single selection trial—how are they going to handle a real battlefield in the future?”

Soon, the stretcher robots passed by the rest area once again. Li Xiao casually glanced up, not expecting that both individuals lying on the stretchers were cyborgs.

“It’s starting,” Song Jin said in a very low voice.

With the blood supply compromised, the cyborgs were beginning to experience issues one after another. According to Wei Wen, a new ferryman would be arriving in a couple of days. Before that happened, they had to map out the entire blood supply system completely.

At 2:00 AM.

Li Xiao woke up precisely on time. Looking at the soft little lion sleeping soundly in his arms, he gave him a gentle shake. “Jin?”

Receiving no response for a long moment, Li Xiao planted a kiss on his temple and got out of bed very quietly. Just as his toes touched the floor, he was embraced from behind.

“I’m coming along,” Song Jin said, leaning against Li Xiao. His voice was raspy and sluggish, thick with residual sleepiness.

Li Xiao rubbed his hair. “It’s fine if I go alone. Go back to sleep, you’re still a growing kid after all.”

Song Jin had been incredibly sleepy, but hearing the last half of the sentence, he woke up completely. He lifted his head gloomily. “I’m a kid, then what are you? An old man who’s only a few days older than me?”

Li Xiao: “…”

At two in the morning, the campus was entirely deserted. Only the sound of the wind echoed around them, with patrolling units from the guard corps occasionally flying past in the distance.

The two activated their stealth armor mode and flew to Restaurant No. 39. The restaurant was pitch black, with only the streetlights along the perimeter corridor lit.

Li Xiao had 09 hijack the nearby surveillance cameras, and they entered through a small side door used by staff, heading straight for the restrooms. Entering the men’s room, Song Jin walked toward the innermost stall. The stall was too small, making it cramped for two people to enter together.

Song Jin pulled Xiang Hong’s terminal band from his pocket. “Running to a restaurant restroom in the dead of night and squeezing into a single stall with two people—following you means doing nothing but perverted things.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Li Xiao took the band. “What kind of perverted things were you thinking about?”

Song Jin: “Exactly what you’re thinking about right now.”

Li Xiao: “Comparing who can pee further?”

Song Jin: “…” Kid.

Placing Xiang Hong’s terminal band onto the spot where the cyborg had put it earlier that day, a slot in the wall opened soundlessly. The voices of 07 and 09 echoed in their ears simultaneously.

07: [Intelligent blood supply system hijacked.]

09: [Confirmed. The library card is used to activate the operation of the blood supply system.]

If library card privileges could open this blood supply system, then many things suddenly made sense. The Sky Bar served as a transit station for the blood, while the Shike Used Bookstore acted as the operational hub. Xiang Hong periodically visited the bookstore to confirm the quantity of blood with the people from the Sky Bar, as well as the schedule for transporting it into the military academy.

Furthermore, Meng Tao and Zheng Lin would bring suitable candidates to the bookstore to issue library cards, and then mutually confirm with Xiang Hong whether to activate the privileges, when to activate them, and so forth. Xiang Hong didn’t need to participate in anything after the privileges were activated. Even if someone suspected him, they wouldn’t find any clues within the military academy.

As for Xiang Hong’s method of communication with both parties, Li Xiao speculated that he likely placed sticky notes with code words into a specific book. Even if someone accidentally borrowed it, it wouldn’t arouse any suspicion. With no direct contact between the parties, the risk of exposure was significantly reduced.

Song Jin asked 07 in a low voice, “Is this system separate from or linked to the military academy’s intelligent management system?”

07: [It is separate. No other devices tied to the system have been detected so far.]

Li Xiao: “Delete the log of this activation.”

07: [Clearing log data—Cleared.]

The two quickly walked out of the restroom and moved along the corridor. After bypassing two forks, two metal doors appeared ahead in the passage, bearing warning signs that read “Authorized Personnel Only.”

Li Xiao gave the door a push; it was locked, and with a mechanical lock at that.

“Move aside.” Song Jin raised his hand, and 07 transformed into a silver air gun in his grip, its muzzle aiming straight at the mechanical lock.

“Wait,” Li Xiao pressed his hand down, wanting to see if there was another way to pick the mechanical lock.

Song Jin pulled his hand away, blew the mechanical lock apart with a single shot, and pushed the door open. “See how simple that was?”

Li Xiao: “…”

Inside the door lay a very long passage, the temperature dropping lower the further they ventured inside. There were several metal doors on both sides, labeled as cold storage rooms for vegetables and meat according to the signs. Following the path where the pipes extended, the two pushed open the meat cold storage room on the left, and a blast of cold air rushed over them.

The interior was pitch black, so Song Jin switched on a flashlight. The cold storage space was massive, with various types of meat categorized and arranged neatly. The two searched around, but even after walking to the innermost section, they found no abnormalities.

“Judging by the location, it should be here.” Song Jin surveyed the surroundings, his brows knitting in discomfort at the faint, distinct smell of blood from the meat.

Li Xiao swept the flashlight beam across the positions of the freezer units. More than twenty rows of freezers were arranged in sequence, except for a section five meters ahead where the freezers were shorter by a segment. There were also several curved scratches on the ground nearby.

Li Xiao walked over and knelt down to inspect them.

Song Jin: “Underground?”

Li Xiao: “This is the only spot around here with scratches.”

Song Jin shifted his angle to look closely, only then faintly catching the incredibly subtle marks under the reflection of the light. He cursed under his breath. Only an old man like Li Xiao could spot this kind of trace.

Li Xiao rapped his knuckles against various parts of the floor, then stood up and walked toward the wall, inspecting it inch by inch. “09, is there a program in the blood supply system that controls a hidden door?”

09: [Aside from that slot, there's nothing else. I can't detect any intelligent programs on this wall either.]

Recalling the wall at the raw materials base, Li Xiao tried pressing a few spots. The area beneath his palm suddenly lit up, accompanied by a clicking sound as a door opened within the metal wall.

Song Jin raised his flashlight. “To think you could actually find it.”

Hearing a subtle movement in his ear, Li Xiao’s expression changed instantly. He swiftly grabbed Song Jin and dove to the ground.

The pitch-black space suddenly lit up as bright as day, followed by a thunderous explosion a moment later. The freezer units along the path shattered completely, sending shredded meat and metal fragments flying everywhere. Li Xiao shielded Song Jin’s head, covering him securely beneath his body.

07 and 09 automatically initiated defense mode, wrapping them within a protective metal barrier. The metal fragments fell like rain, making crisp clattering sounds.

Song Jin removed his hands from where he had been protecting Li Xiao’s head and patted him. “Are your ears okay?”

“I’m fine.” Li Xiao sat up. Just as he was about to have 09 check the situation outside, he heard the warning it issued.

09: [A huge wave of AI patrol units just came out!]

07: [They're carrying large-caliber light cannons! Great-grandpa and I can't tank this!]

Song Jin: “Hijack them.”

09’s voice sounded muffled: [They're also using the 384 energy system, and their defense level is insanely high. It'll take roughly five minutes to successfully hijack them.]

In five minutes, they would already be cold.

Li Xiao frowned. “Switch to armor combat mode.”

Patrol AIs flew out of the rotating metal door one after another. Based on their appearance alone, they were entirely different from standard patrol units. They were larger, equipped with air guns and light cannons, and possessed extremely high sensory capabilities and defensive power.

07 marked a material reference for the AI’s outer shell, and Song Jin took an extra glance. In Shengya, the scarcity of this metal material was on par with the morphing metal used for combat armor. Its greatest feature was its extreme sturdiness and durability. To think it was being used on patrol AIs in Danse—wouldn’t a single unit of these cost over a hundred million to manufacture?

“No wonder Brother Yang grits his teeth in hatred every time he mentions Danse,” Song Jin said, his voice frosty.

Li Xiao tried taking a few steps forward. “Be careful, they can see us.”

Just as he finished speaking, the first patrol AI that flew out suddenly turned its head toward Li Xiao, its cannon muzzle shifting in his direction.

Li Xiao activated his leg thrusters, flying out of the attack range while simultaneously spinning around and raising his hand. The metal in his palm rapidly morphed and elongated, turning into a cannon muzzle. As the patrol AI turned toward him, a blast from his light cannon aimed straight at the opponent’s muzzle.

With a loud bang, the patrol AI was launched into the air, smashing through the ceiling and embedding itself directly inside.

[System malfunction—Entering self-diagnostic program—Diagnostic failed—Attempting reboot—]

Despite being hit by a light cannon, the outer shell hadn’t deformed in the slightest. With metal of this grade, ordinary bullets or cold weapons wouldn’t have any effect at all.

Taking note of this, Song Jin executed a few leaps to dodge the patrol AIs rushing toward him, raising his hand to deflect one’s chassis with a light cannon blast. The patrol AI’s shot landed squarely on its teammate, sending the latter flying into the wall.

Li Xiao glanced at the hidden door and told Song Jin, “Lure them out.”

Hearing this, Song Jin retreated while fighting. “Make it quick, this place is going to collapse if this bombing keeps up.”

Li Xiao: “I’ll handle the five on the left. The four on the right are yours.”

Song Jin: “Four for you, four for me. Whoever’s faster gets the last one.”

Li Xiao: “…” That damn competitive streak.

The continuous bombardment left the cold storage room thick with dust, and obvious cracks had already appeared all over the metal walls. Song Jin controlled his armor to weave rapidly through the light cannon fire, taking out four patrol AIs in a couple of moves. Just as he was preparing to deal with the fifth one, he found that Li Xiao had already finished off his share and was landing gracefully in front of the hidden door.

Song Jin: “…” This brat.

Li Xiao: “Come over.”

As the final patrol AI crashed to the ground after a critical failure, Song Jin bypassed it and followed Li Xiao through the hidden door.

The space inside wasn’t large, measuring less than a hundred square meters, and it was completely empty. A spatial structural map of Restaurant No. 39 appeared in Song Jin’s field of vision; judging from the location, the wall in front of them connected to the other end of the pipes.

07: [Intelligent control program discovered—Attempting intrusion—Estimated time required: fifteen seconds—]

Li Xiao looked around the entire space, his gaze landing on several seams on the metal wall. These should all be capable of opening.

With a click, following 07’s prompt of a successful hijack, the smooth metal wall opened up into numerous slots. The entire control instrument was slowly pushed out from within the wall. The large storage containers on both sides were already empty, appearing to be meant for holding blood and an unknown solution.

The two walked up to the instrument’s control console, which featured a few simple operation buttons. Li Xiao toggled to the management backend and located the replenishment logs for the blood bank. Every batch of blood entering the inventory had its quantity and origin registered. The outbound logs recorded the timestamps and the names of the users for every single vial of blood.

Li Xiao: “09, back it up.”

09: [Backing up—Progress: 15%—49%—83%—99%—Oh no!]

A red warning window suddenly popped up on the virtual screen.

[Initiating self-destruct sequence: Five—Four—]

Li Xiao and Song Jin retreated rapidly, only to see the hidden door closing automatically. Li Xiao maxed out his thrusters, and right before the door shut completely, he braced his hands against it to force it open.

“Hurry!”

Song Jin’s reaction speed was fast enough, but he was still a step slower than Li Xiao. Right now, there was no time to argue with Li Xiao over who got to play the “protector,” so he quickly slipped through the gap in the door.

The moment Li Xiao dashed out, the entire space began to vibrate violently. Exploded blasts echoed from deep underground, propagating upward at extreme speed. The cracks on the four walls of the cold storage room grew wider and wider, and the embedded patrol AIs fell back out amidst the shaking.

Such a massive commotion was highly abnormal. The two didn’t pause for a single second, using their maximum speed to fly out of the cold storage room. Left with no time to return the way they came, they shattered a window along the corridor and broke out directly.

Almost simultaneously, a piercing explosion erupted, and the expanding airwave packed a powerful blast that propelled their armor far into the distance. Soaring flames illuminated everything in the vicinity.

Once they flew to a safe distance, Song Jin turned his head to look at the location of Restaurant No. 39. It had already been leveled to the ground, completely engulfed in a sea of fire. With an explosion of this magnitude, had they been trapped inside that room, they would have been severely injured even with their armor on.

Air defense sirens wailed, gradually expanding their range as two patrolling guard squads rushed over from different directions.

Li Xiao inquired internally via his thoughts: [09, was the data backed up?]

09: [Successfully backed up in the final 0.0001 seconds!]

Now that the data was in hand, even if they didn’t want to arouse suspicion, the restaurant was already destroyed, so there was no point in lingering.

Returning to the living quarters, they could see the lights of the dormitory buildings turning on in clusters from afar. The piercing air defense sirens had startled everyone, and quite a few students stepped out onto their balconies to check the situation. Avoiding any eyes, the two took a detour back to their dormitory, drawing the curtains before turning on the lights as well.

Recalling the explosion just now, Li Xiao was somewhat worried about Song Jin’s condition. He hopped over to the adjacent balcony and, sure enough, found Song Jin leaning against a chair with a rather pale complexion.

“Are you hurt?” Li Xiao walked up to Song Jin, letting him lean against him.

Song Jin’s tone was irritated. “I got caught by the shockwave at the very end. My head is a bit dizzy.”

Li Xiao: “Should we go to the hospital to get it checked out?”

To avoid trouble, the medical center on campus was out of the question; they could only go to the Yi family’s clinic outside the academy.

Song Jin: “07 checked me over, there are no internal injuries.”

Li Xiao: “Then get some rest early.”

Song Jin: “Sleep with me, or else I won’t get better.”

Li Xiao: “…”

After slipping into the blanket, Song Jin caught Li Xiao’s scent and fell asleep almost the moment his head hit the pillow.

Li Xiao, however, couldn’t sleep. He tucked Song Jin in, then leaned against the headboard to review the content 09 had backed up.

The blood entering the inventory came from fifteen different sources, only three of which were located on the border of the Nanming Constellation. Li Xiao forwarded these fifteen locations to Wei Feng and Jiang Chi respectively, then searched online for the specialized medical space stations corresponding to each source, roughly narrowing the focus down to five.

Song Jin suddenly rolled over, a long arm dynamically slinging across Li Xiao’s chest. He was still frowning in his sleep, looking quite uncomfortable. Li Xiao shut off his terminal and lay down, massaging Song Jin’s temples to ease his discomfort.

Restaurant No. 39 had been completely destroyed. Putting aside whether the Meng family would suspect him, for the sake of those eight hundred-plus cyborgs, the Meng family had to repair the blood supply system as quickly as possible. This might turn out to be an excellent opportunity for him to dig out another batch of people in the process. He wondered if he could find any clues regarding the faction lurking in the shadows this time around.

As he was thinking, Song Jin suddenly sidled closer and snuggled against his neck, his furrowed brows relaxing considerably. Li Xiao brushed away the hair blocking Song Jin’s eyes. This picture of pure contentment really made him look like a clingy kitten. The very first time this guy had shared a bed with him, he hadn’t resisted at all; perhaps he hadn’t even realized it himself.

Just as Li Xiao was about to drift off to sleep, he was caught off guard and kicked clean off the bed by Song Jin.

“…”

Compared to the first time, he truly hadn’t improved one bit.