After issuing the order to engage in battle, Li Xiao instructed the officers of the Third Legion to continue broadcasting the real-time combat status and warnings. He then strode out of the command cabin, giving orders to Yi Lian, who followed behind him: “Assign five thousand marine troops to me. The rest will act according to plan.”

Yi Lian: “Received!”

Yan Qing rushed toward the Principal’s office when a dull boom suddenly resounded. The glass exterior wall beside the corridor vibrated loudly. In the midst of the flames, black smoke billowed as metallic shards burst outward like tiny fireballs.

The altitude of the explosion was wrong.

Yan Qing’s steps came to a abrupt halt. Looking out the window, he saw an ultra-miniature tracking missile streak through the black smoke, striking a fighter jet that was strafing the roadway below.

The fighter jet couldn’t dodge in time and disintegrated in an instant.

Onboard the fighter jet, right before impact, the pilot pressed the emergency escape button and was ejected out of the airframe wrapped inside an escape pod. Feeling fortunate, he reported loudly over the public channel: “Invasion by hostile forces! Team 3 AF908 disintegrated! Requesting instructions from headquarters!”

However, after speaking, there was no response from the other end of the public channel.

“Calling headquarters! Calling—” Out of the corner of his eye, the pilot noticed a black dot coming toward him. Looking closely, it was a high-caliber incendiary shell. “Headquarters? Headquarters! Ahhh—!”

After the bullet hit the escape pod, it detonated with a loud boom, blowing it to pieces on the spot.

In the blink of an eye, the entire fighter jet echelon was wiped out—not even the escape pods were spared.

Watching the warships continuing to spread across the skies of the entire Military Academy, Yan Qing accelerated his speed and rushed up toward the Principal’s office. After knocking a few times to no response, he kicked the door open directly.

Inside the office, the Principal sat behind his desk with a blank expression, completely unfeeling even as the door was violently busted open.

Yan Qing dashed inside, slamming both hands onto the desk, and barked at the Principal: “Notify the security guards immediately to stop attacking the cadets!”

Yet even after he spoke, the Principal had no reaction whatsoever.

Yan Qing leaned over and grabbed the Principal by the collar: “Hurry up—!”

Only then did the Principal snap back to reality, yanking Yan Qing’s hands away as his eyes turned red: “You think I haven’t notified them? They don’t listen to me at all!”

Realizing what was happening, Yan Qing turned and rushed toward the office of Zhang Bin, the Head of General Affairs. But the office was empty, and communication requests couldn’t get through.

“Runs fast enough!” Yan Qing slammed a fist against the door and strode outward.

At the same time Li Xiao issued the order to engage in battle, fighter jets from various military bases across the Military Academy swarmed out, densely gathering toward the teaching area.

Seeing the commotion outside and hearing Li Xiao’s prompts through the voice-controlled system, the teachers and students inside various teaching buildings assumed the so-called enemy attack was an invasion by an external terrorist organization, and that the academy had dispatched fighter jet units to deal with the enemy.

They never expected these fighter jets to strafe straight toward the teaching buildings.

“Ah—! Run!”

Accompanied by the sound of shattering glass, super-large caliber armor-piercing rounds blasted through desks, triggering small-scale explosions. Many students sitting by the windows were injured by the blast, throwing classrooms into chaos.

Students spontaneously supported their injured companions, quickly moving toward the corridors.

The stench of blood filled the entire space, with screams and shrieks echoing everywhere.

“Everyone go to the corridor to take shelter first!”

“Aren’t those the Academy’s fighter jets? Why are they bombing the classrooms?!”

“Old Qian is injured and trapped under a desk, he can’t get out!”

“It’s still being bombed outside, we can’t get through!”

“We can’t just leave him behind either!”

Three students tried to dodge the bombardment to save their companion lying in the corner, but they were repeatedly driven back by bullets, growing increasingly anxious.

A flash of white light zipped across, destroying all fighter jets along its path.

The three students instinctively ducked behind desks and squatted down while clutching their heads. A powerful airburst pushed from behind, almost pressing them onto the floor, as dust accompanied by a pungent odor instantly filled the classroom.

Yet other than that, the anticipated explosion did not happen.

One of them cautiously turned his head to look out the window, unable to help exclaiming in awe.

“Such precise control! To explode at such close range without affecting the classroom!”

Seeing this, another student bent low and moved toward the corner: “Quick, save him!”

In the corridor, before the students who dodged a bullet could celebrate, gunshots rang in their ears, followed by ear-piercing shrieks.

Fully armed security guards suddenly appeared, their gun muzzles strafing the crowd.

Unless out on missions, students weren’t allowed to carry firearms during regular classes, leaving them completely passive in this situation.

“Are you crazy?!”

“We aren’t the enemy! Stop—!”

Students closest were hit as their companions took fatal shots for them. Seizing the opportunity, some snatched the guards’ guns to launch a counterattack, dragging their injured comrades back toward the classroom doors while firing furiously at the security guards, roaring: “Retreat! Quick, retreat—!”

There were too many people jammed in the corridor. The students in the middle were squeezed so tightly they couldn’t move an inch. Hearing even denser gunfire, they fell into despair—only to see the security guards collapsing one by one, as a loud voice resonated in their ears.

“This is the Third Legion Ground Combat Unit, Detachment TT968. We are here to protect you, please do not panic and follow us to the safe area for shelter!”

“Repeating, this is the Third Legion Ground Combat Unit…”

Along with the voice, a group of soldiers wearing Third Legion combat uniforms surrounded the front and back of the corridor, and Li Xiao stepped out from the crowd.

The students were thoroughly terrified, momentarily unable to tell whether the Third Legion was good or bad. It wasn’t until Li Xiao appeared that they finally felt a sense of salvation.

Looking at the ground covered in injured students, Li Xiao waved at the soldiers: “Check all the wounded and transport them to the nearest medical center for treatment.”

Soldiers: “Yes!”

Seeing that it was Li Xiao, the student who had just snatched a gun called out loudly for help: “Your Highness, please save my brother Zui, he took a bullet for me!”

Li Xiao walked over, glanced at the location where the student was shot, pressed his hand against his carotid artery to check his pulse, and had soldiers call over a stretcher robot: “He can still be saved.”

Together with Li Xiao, the student placed the wounded companion onto the stretcher. Seeing a large pool of blood stained on himself, he suddenly suffered an emotional breakdown. Gritting his teeth, he wiped away his tears and followed Li Xiao and his team as they quickly left the teaching building.

Reaching the first floor, the students seemed to only just react, asking questions one after another.

“Did the enemy disguise themselves as the security guards?!”

“Why would the security guards bomb the teaching buildings?!”

Li Xiao strode in front, feeding real-time intelligence from the scene back to Yi Lian through the public channel so he could update announcements promptly, and answered: “The enemy didn’t disguise themselves as security guards; the enemy was inside all along.”

One sentence explained everything.

The students who heard it understood almost instantly, seized by extreme fury.

Regardless of whether the Meng family had engaged in those filthy deeds or not, turning their guns on their own people was absolutely unforgivable!

Before reaching the main hall, they ran into another group of students coming from the opposite direction. Many in the crowd called out to warn them:

“Watch out for the security guards! We were just attacked!”

“Follow the Third Legion! Running around wildly is too dangerous!”

The students coming over nodded in agreement, walking briskly toward them.

When a third-year Alpha came within three steps of Li Xiao, he suddenly released his pheromones, pulled a gun from his lower back, and aimed it at Li Xiao.

Li Xiao raised his leg, kicking the student’s gun away, and pinned his neck to the ground.

The next moment, the student’s three accomplices were subdued by the soldiers.

The other students were surrounded by the Third Legion Marines before they even had time to pull their guns, not daring to make another move.

The students behind Li Xiao were completely stunned.

They had instinctively treated the incoming group as companions, but in reality, if they thought about it, the one thing not lacking among the students was the Meng family’s lackeys.

The Alpha whose back of the head hit the ground felt his consciousness dazed for a moment. Struggling desperately, he yelled at Li Xiao: “Are you crazy?! You actually let the military bomb the Academy and killed so many people!”

Li Xiao tightened his fingers: “Wasn’t it your Meng family who bombed the Academy?”

“Cough cough cough…” The Alpha kept kicking his legs and struggling, repeating his previous lines like a chant.

The students behind Li Xiao couldn’t stand listening to it anymore and berated him sternly.

“You even shot at the Second Prince! Playing the thief crying ‘stop thief’, how despicable!”

“It was clearly your Meng faction holding protest marches and flying fighter jets to bomb classrooms! Don’t try to pin the blame on the Royal Family!”

“Do you know how many students were injured because of you?!”

“You don’t deserve to be Danse soldiers!”

The marine squad leader asked Li Xiao for instructions: “Second Prince, please give your command.”

Li Xiao lifted the Alpha and stood up. Looking at these young faces surrounded by his men, he said coldly: “Search them. Anyone carrying a gun will be executed on the spot; bring the rest back to the Legion.”

Squad Leader: “Yes!”

The surrounded students’ faces turned pale with terror. Seeing the approaching soldiers, they shouted one after another:

“Can the Royal Family just kill people indiscriminately?!”

“We are innocent!”

“I am a student of the First Military Academy! You can’t kill me!”

“The Royal Family is committing a massacre!”

Li Xiao stood in front of the formation without saying a word.

Accompanied by several gunshots, the killers were executed one by one.

The Alpha in Li Xiao’s hand shook like a sieve—let alone struggling, he didn’t even have the strength left to yell.

Li Xiao raised his eyes to look at the corridor surveillance camera: “Are you satisfied?”

In the surveillance center, a group of Meng faction members who were gathering materials were suddenly given a death glare by Li Xiao, sending a chill down their spines.

“If you don’t have enough material, I can provide some more.”

In the surveillance feed, Li Xiao pulled out his sidearm, pressed it against the Alpha’s mandible, and pulled the trigger decisively. “The Royal Family will not let off a single person who dares to turn their hands against their own compatriots.”

With that, Li Xiao tossed the Alpha aside and walked out, stepping over the corpses covering the floor.

The group from the Meng faction was terrified. Only after Li Xiao disappeared from the monitor did they snap back to reality, realizing retroactively that their backs were drenched in cold sweat.

“We’ve been exposed! Hurry up and transfer the materials out!”

“I’m already done on my end!”

“Hurry, if we don’t run now it’ll be too late!”

Just as they were speaking, a muscular man wearing a sexy tank top popped up on the screens in front of them. In his open palm were the video materials they had just transmitted out. Using a raspy, boyish voice, he said: “I’ll admit defeat if you manage to send that out.”

The group from the Meng faction was shocked. They quickly checked the system status, thinking it had been infected by a virus.

However, after pressing just a few keys, they found the system unresponsive. The screens were covered with pictures of Meng Jian, overlaid with a blood-red “X”.

The image rapidly radiated across the surrounding screens, and soon, all monitors were left with only this striking “screensaver.”

“Something’s wrong! Quick, run!” Someone realized something was off, jumped up, and rushed toward the exit.

09: “This place is already surrounded. You can’t get out.”

The moment they opened the door, several people saw the Third Legion Marines waiting outside, their legs immediately turning to jelly.

09 spread his hands and said helplessly: “Refuse to listen to a hunk’s advice, suffer the consequences right before your eyes.”

First Military Academy, Second Military Base Command Center.

A Lieutenant walked up to the control console and asked impatiently: “The launch sequence still isn’t ready?!”

Operator: “System failure! It was just repaired; the light cannon can be activated within one minute!”

Lieutenant: “Hurry up! They’ve already fought their way to the front door!”

While speaking, a high-frequency sound wave suddenly sounded through the voice-controlled system. A group of Meng faction members collapsed to the ground from the sharp sound waves, writhing frantically.

Beside them, several officers whose expressions had been dazed a moment ago gradually regained their senses. Seeing the situation, they quickly subdued the Meng faction members on the floor, handcuffed them, and threw them far into the corner.

An Alpha Lieutenant Colonel rubbed his throbbing temples, wobbling over to the control console to terminate the launch sequence.

A coarse voice suddenly came through the public channel: “This is the Third Legion Command. All Academy base command centers please respond! Have the rebels been subdued? Do you require backup?”

The Alpha Lieutenant Colonel turned on the public channel: “This is the Second Command Center. The rebels have been subdued, and all heavy weaponry is being shut down. No backup needed.”

“This is the Fourth Command Center. The rebels have been subdued, no backup needed.”

“This is the Seventh Command Center. Three rebels have fled, our unit is in poor condition and requires backup!”

…

In the skies above the Academy, explosions resounded continuously.

Under the high-pressure assault of the Third Legion, the Academy’s security guards retreated step by step.

Metallic debris fell everywhere across the campus, shrouded in pungent smoke.

Inside the main hall of the Disciplinary Office, numerous teachers and instructors were maintaining order.

Listening to the warnings from the voice-controlled system, Lin Shuo, Liu Jie, and others, under the direction of the teachers, moved the wounded into the hall of the Disciplinary Office to shield the arriving school doctors as they performed emergency treatment.

“Ah—!”

Hearing a sudden shriek, Lin Shuo looked over sharply.

An Alpha student suddenly squeezed another student’s face with a ferocious expression, looking as if he wanted to strangle him to death.

“Stop!”

Lin Shuo dashed over, his vision swimming for a moment as he smelled the pheromones.

During that instant of distraction, he saw Yan Qing rush out from around the corner and subdue that Alpha from behind. Shocked, Lin Shuo hurriedly called out a loud warning: “Teacher Yan, be careful! There’s something wrong with that person’s pheromones!”

“It’s fine, I’m wearing a suppressor ring.” Yan Qing knocked the Alpha unconscious using a mini stunner and examined the injuries of the attacked student.

“Cough cough…” The student held his neck, coughing so hard he couldn’t straighten his back. “I was attacked by him as soon as I came in! I don’t even know him, cough cough cough…”

Yan Qing glanced at the unconscious Alpha on the floor, his brow furrowed tightly.

Over on the other side, Ye You was crouching on the ground bandaging a wounded student. Seeing another injured person added over there, his head throbbed.

“None of you know how to show consideration for an old man.”

Hurried footsteps suddenly approached from behind. Ye You violently grabbed an anesthetic needle from his medical kit and spun his head around.

A tall Alpha student pointed a finger at him and warned fiercely: “You old dead guy, what did you say?! Who didn’t show consideration for you?! If you’re saving people then save people, what are you grumbling about?! Try saying another word!”

“I fucking—” Ye You was cursed at out of nowhere. Out of consideration that the other was a student, he forcefully swallowed a bellyful of profanities.

“Told you not to talk and you’re still talking?!” As he spoke, the Alpha raised a metal rod obtained from who-knows-where, about to swing it down at Ye You.

However, before the metal rod could fall, it was caught by a hand reaching out from behind.

Ye You instinctively took a step back, only to see the side of the Alpha’s neck attacked. The Alpha slumped softly to the ground, revealing Li Xiao’s stern face behind him.

“Are you alright?” Li Xiao asked.

Ye You let out a sigh of relief: “I’m fine, just almost given a heart attack from fright.”

After settling the injured student, Yan Qing walked hurriedly to Li Xiao’s side, scanning the entire hall vigilantly, and lowered his voice: “The Head of General Affairs has already fled. I just searched every possible location, and his assistant is missing as well.”

“Don’t worry, he won’t get away.”

Li Xiao had 09 initiate a network-wide tracking on Zhang Bin, and said to Yan Qing, “I need you to do me a favor.”

Yan Qing paused slightly: “Find the modified humans?”

Li Xiao nodded, handing him an anesthetic gun and a spare magazine: “Here are one hundred anesthetic needles. I will have the Marines cover you—only deal with modified humans who exhibit aggressiveness.”

Yan Qing took it, his brow furrowed: “What about the others?”

Li Xiao: “I want to see if they still have the value of being saved.”

Saying that, Li Xiao looked toward Liu Jie not far away, who had been stealing glances at him ever since he walked over.

Liu Jie had indeed been paying attention to Li Xiao.

Unlike Lin Shuo, who stood on Li Xiao’s side from the very beginning, Liu Jie’s family background made him feel unable to hold his head high whenever he faced Li Xiao.

Seeing Li Xiao wave at him, Liu Jie composed himself and walked over.

“Is there anything you need me to do?”

Li Xiao gave him a gun and issued the exact same order.

Liu Jie froze: “You trust me?”

Li Xiao countered: “Shouldn’t your abilities be put to use in places like this?”

Liu Jie’s hand holding the gun tightened.

So Li Xiao knew—he knew everything!

Thinking back to the Shengya emergency medicine used that night, Liu Jie bit his lip: “Is there still more of that medicine? My friend… he’s almost not going to make it.”

“There is,” Li Xiao said flatly. “As long as one is willing to turn back from the wrong path, it’s not too late right now.”

Liu Jie’s expression turned firm: “Guaranteed to complete the mission.”

Lin Shuo had managed to coax a lot of info out of modified humans before and knew quite a bit. Hearing the meaning behind their words, he said urgently: “Your Highness, I can help too! I’ve already memorized the list you sent earlier.”

Li Xiao nodded, signaling a soldier to hand him a gun.

“If there are reliable modified human companions, you can let them help identify others. The list might not be entirely accurate.”

After a period of time, some new modified humans might have been added, like Wei Wen previously.

Lin Shuo agreed: “Understood!”

Gao Jia was transferring wounded individuals into the hall with a companion. Seeing Lin Shuo and Liu Jie leaving under the escort of the Marines from a distance, he thought for a moment and walked up to Li Xiao: “Is there anything I can help with?”

“Just do what you ought to do,” Li Xiao said. Leaving behind a squad of soldiers to guard the area, he led the rest toward the next location.

Gao Jia watched him walk away, feeling increasingly lost in his heart.

What was it… that he ought to do?

He had never lost his direction before, yet looking at Li Xiao, Song Jin, Liu Jie, Lin Shuo… every single one of them was advancing firmly, while he was the only one standing still.

At the same time, almost all online platforms were brought to the brink of crashing.

When the Military Academy security guards launched the first wave of attacks, photos and videos of students being attacked and blood covering the floor were posted online.

[#FirstMilitaryAcademyRiot# Breaking! The protest parade at the First Military Academy was unreasonably suppressed, triggering clashes with ordinary students during the process and causing numerous casualties among teachers and students!]

Below the post were clips of students fighting each other in various classrooms and training grounds.

Not long after this post was heavily promoted, a new topic popped up: #RoyalFamilyBombsFirstMilitaryAcademy#, rapidly climbing to the top of trending topics as soon as it appeared.

[Shocking! The Royal Family ordered fighter jets to bomb protesting students! Countless dead and injured at the scene, severed limbs everywhere—it’s simply hell on earth!]

[The Royal Family has taken action against the First Military Academy! Sending fighter jets to bomb them, so ruthless! The Royal Family is utterly devoid of humanity! The students are so pitiful, wuuu… What did they do wrong!]

[Latest update! Someone among the security guards refused to execute orders and was killed on the spot! Is the Royal Family crazy?!]

Under every post were video footage and images of the bombing scene from all angles, including clear footage of injured students lying in pools of blood and shrieking in pain.

The entire internet exploded.

“I heard the fighter jets in the video are exclusive to the Academy, no mistaking it!”

“So tragic, wuuu, couldn’t they use a gentler approach?”

“It must be because those people attacked ordinary students first… The Royal Family must have their own considerations!”

“Even if it’s the Academy security guards, it might not be an order given by the Royal Family.”

“I feel like the Royal Family wouldn’t give such an order! Waiting for an update!”

“Am I the only one who thinks they deserved to be blown up? What kind of monsters and demons are supporting the Meng family?”

When public opinion reached its peak, Meng Jian’s personal account suddenly published a new update—a video featuring his face.

In the video, Meng Jian looked extremely haggard, as if he had suffered a severe illness.

“My apologies for only telling everyone now. My father, Meng Shan, lost his mind long ago. The reason it wasn’t made public was to preserve an old man’s dignity. Yet the Royal Family actually used the crazy words of an old man as evidence of crime, dragging my father—who dedicated his entire life to the Empire—out of his hospital bed and locking him in prison for severe interrogation. It truly breaks my heart.”

“I was also imprisoned under some fabricated charges. The Royal Family plotted to let me ‘die of illness’ in prison. Had an old friend not received word and risked his life to cover my escape, I would be a cold corpse right now.”

“For many years, the entire Meng family served the Royal Family with one heart and mind. Yet the Royal Family easily believed rumors, committed grave errors, and acted willfully, making me deeply disappointed.”

“I believe justice still exists in this world. I hope the Royal Family turns back in time and stops making mistake after mistake, giving the Meng family justice! Cough cough cough… cough cough…“

Reaching an emotional point, Meng Jian couldn’t stop coughing.

Just after the news broke that the Royal Family bombed the First Military Academy, Meng Jian stepped out right after to play the victim. Though the tactic was crude, it was effective, solidly winning back a tiny bit of public sympathy.

The comment section engaged in a fierce battle, as some strange comments gradually began to surface:

“Listen to advice, hurry back to the Imperial Capital. The medical technology there is good; if you come to the Nanming Constellation, you’ll die of illness anyway.”

“Actually, two members of the Meng family have gone crazy: one was just diagnosed, and the other thinks he isn’t sick.”

“We citizens of the Nanming Constellation are wealthy and don’t really want that 1-million-Star-Coin bounty. Let’s leave it to the brothers of other constellations. (Decent smile)”

“We citizens of the Suyang Constellation aren’t poor either, let’s leave it to big brother Tianjiang Constellation.”

“We citizens of the Tianjiang Constellation are actually staring eagerly at this 1 million, but the old guy isn’t giving us a chance!”

“Would using a cat teaser stick work? (Scratching head)”

The comments gradually strayed off-topic, blatantly discussing weird methods to trick Meng Jian into coming back to the Tianjiang Constellation.

Meng Jian was originally full of confidence, but seeing these comments, his face turned green with rage.

“Continue guiding public opinion!”

The assistant hurriedly complied: “Yes! Already working on it!”

Less than ten minutes after #MengJianAppears# topped the headlines, Yi Yongning retweeted the Meng family’s video with the caption:

[Distorting black and white! This is the first time I’ve seen someone describe breaking out of prison in such grandiloquent terms!]

Just as numerous netizens following the drama couldn’t figure out the situation, the official account of the First Military Academy posted an update:

[The Second Prince is currently leading the Third Legion to drive back enemy forces. I will not allow anyone to miss out on seeing their sharp, heroic bearing!]

Under the post were many combat videos of various Third Legion units, as well as footage of Li Xiao leading rescue operations.

Immediately following, the Military Headquarters posted a new update:

[The military is currently cooperating with the Second Prince to capture the rebels who planned and participated in this bombing operation. The identified participants are listed below [Image]]

The image contained a list of up to several hundred people, including names, resident numbers, positions, and other details.

Netizens discovered that every single one of them was internal personnel of the Academy, including even cadets.

Comment Section:

“I told you it couldn’t be an order given by the Royal Family!”

“It was definitely done by the Meng family! Beasts!”

“They’ll do anything just to splash dirty water on the Royal Family!”

“Now I believe the Meng family would massacre other species. In their eyes, the lives of ordinary people aren’t worth mentioning!”

“Thankfully the Royal Family reacted fast enough! Otherwise, how many students would have died?!”

Many people spontaneously flooded to Meng Jian’s post to hurl abuse and report it in turns. Netizens with IPs from the Nanming Constellation even called out hacker masters to crowdfund finding Meng Jian’s location to present to the Royal Family, begging them to quickly capture him back.

First Military Academy.

All teachers and students were either busy taking shelter or busy dealing with the rebels, having no time to go online at all. By the time they saw the news on the internet, they were cursing in rage, posting updates one after another to clarify the truth.

When Li Xiao heard Yi Lian mention the online situation, he had just entered the Principal’s office.

Yi Lian: “I’ve already asked my father to dispel the rumors, and the Third Legion has posted quite a few updates. Do you think you need to clarify as well?”

Li Xiao looked at the Principal, whose expression was dazed, and said flatly: “It is indeed time for the person who should clarify to clarify properly.”

After ending the communication, Li Xiao looked at the Principal: “Not running?”

The Principal’s face was ash-gray: “Where else could I run to?”

Five minutes later.

Under the supervision of soldiers, the Principal started a livestream using his personal account.

“I am the Principal of the First Military Academy. I am deeply sorry for such a severe enemy attack taking place within the school. There are a few matters here that I need to solemnly clarify—”

Standing before the desk, Li Xiao listened to the reports of operational progress from various Third Legion units over the public channel.

His terminal vibrated. Sliding it open, Li Xiao saw a message from Song Jin:

[The Suyang Constellation is in chaos.]