After having 07 run a toxicity test, Song Jin scooped up a spoonful of strawberry jam and popped it into his mouth, his mood instantly lifting.

“I didn’t expect Wei Feng to be so tactful.”

“He has spent years balancing both sides of the law, after all.” Seeing Song Jin’s expression of pure satisfaction, Li Xiao asked with a hint of amusement, “Is it good?”

Song Jin fed him a spoonful. “The texture is different from what I used to eat, but it’s pretty good.”

The strawberry jam wasn’t sickeningly sweet; it was at a level of sweetness that Li Xiao could at least tolerate. It also had other fruits mixed in, giving it a light, refreshing tartness and a rich, fruity aroma.

Li Xiao nodded. “It’s a flavor that children would like.”

Song Jin: “…”

Once 07 finished testing the chili sauce, Li Xiao scooped out a spoonful to taste it. It tasted exactly the same as before—it was definitely Wei Feng’s own blend.

Seeing him eat it with such relish, Song Jin leaned over. “Let me try some?”

Li Xiao: “Kids can’t handle this.”

The more he said that, the more Song Jin wanted to eat it.

Li Xiao dodged Song Jin’s approaching mouth and pulled the spoon away.

Song Jin narrowed his eyes slightly, pinned Li Xiao’s head, and leaned in for a kiss. He managed to lick a bit of the chili sauce and tasted it triumphantly, only for his expression to change instantly. He silently let go of Li Xiao, turned his head away, and let out two soft coughs, completely dropping the matter from just now.

Amused, Li Xiao asked, “Still want more?”

Clutching his jar of strawberry jam, Song Jin coldly declined, “Enjoy it yourself.”

As Li Xiao stored the crate of chili sauce in the kitchen, he spotted a small piece of paper at the bottom of the smaller box with a line of handwriting on it:

[The strawberry jam was made by A’Jiang. If you like it, I’ll send you more.]

Using his backup terminal, Li Xiao sent a message to Wei Feng:

Li Xiao: [I received the jam. Compile the reporting list and give it to me.]

The reply from the other side came very quickly.

Wei Feng: [I’m already having the clan elders compile it. Do you want the dead ones too?]

Li Xiao: [As long as there’s a record, I want all of them.]

Wei Feng: [Understood.]

Thinking back to the raw material base incident from before, Li Xiao sent another message over:

Li Xiao: [Have you received any threat messages recently?]

Wei Feng: [Not since returning from S80. I spoke with A’Jiang’s father and the others; the captured clansmen have been systematically tortured and killed by the Meng family over the years. Even if there are still raw materials locked up, there aren’t many left.]

Li Xiao stared at this line of text and pondered for a moment.

The scarcity of raw materials aligned with his previous hypothesis, but this introduced another problem.

The Meng family was actually generous enough to expose a precious raw material base just to lure the Raven into the trap. If it were a countdown explosion threat video like before, they could claim it was anywhere, and the Raven would have no choice but to go.

This way, they could lure the Raven into the trap without truly exposing the location of the actual raw material base. Even if the plan failed, it wouldn’t cause too much loss.

Did the Meng family feel that the raw materials weren’t that important anymore, or were they overconfident? Or was it that without providing genuine information about the base, they wouldn’t be able to lure the Raven into the trap?

At this point, Li Xiao suddenly recalled how Wei Feng used to always talk about “taking commissions.” Back then, he had assumed it was just a flimsy excuse Wei Feng fabricated, but could someone truly be commissioning Wei Feng to investigate the cyborgs?

After weighing his words, Li Xiao edited a text and sent it over:

Li Xiao: [Did the Meng family use to send you fake information in the past?]

Wei Feng: [Those bastards do that all the time, but I have a channel to verify the truth.]

Li Xiao: [A channel?]

Wei Feng: [That’s a commercial secret, not convenient to disclose~]

Wei Feng: [Let me know when you finish the chili sauce and I’ll send you more. That’s all for now, sending love~]

Li Xiao: “…”

“The moment a vital piece of information is brought up, he runs away.” Sitting on a high stool beside Li Xiao, Song Jin looked at the message interface on the screen and let out a soft snort. “This old fox won’t be honest unless he’s beaten up.”

“A channel to verify the truth…”

Li Xiao looked thoughtful. “Who could possibly know about every single base established by the Meng family?”

Song Jin: “Either the Meng family leaked it themselves, or an insider emerged within the Meng family’s alliance.”

Li Xiao tilted his head to look at Song Jin. “This insider sells the information to the Raven. What do they want?”

Song Jin: “It must be driven by profit.”

The most obvious members of the Meng family’s alliance were the Qi family and the Zheng family. In their previous life, these two families had followed the Meng family all the way until their defeat. If it were an insider from them, they had failed way too spectacularly.

Li Xiao: “We need to find an opportunity to talk to Wei Feng in person.”

“I don’t think he necessarily knows the other party’s identity either.” Song Jin placed the strawberry jam in his hand onto the bar counter. “And the information he knows is likely very limited, otherwise, given Wei Feng’s temper, he would have acted long ago.”

“Mm.” Li Xiao picked up the jar, intending to screw the lid back on and put it away. However, upon closer inspection, the five-to-six-hundred-milliliter jar was already empty. “…”

Was it really okay to eat it like this?

The sound of the door opening rang out, and Jiang Hao’s group of three came over from the neighboring dorm.

Qian Can walked quickly to Song Jin’s side, projecting his terminal screen. “Boss, the Fifth Legion has posted an update again.”

Hearing this, Song Jin and Li Xiao looked toward the screen together.

Ever since the day rumors spread that Li Xiao had been blown to pieces on the battlefield, the relevant hot keywords had never left the trending searches. Every day, countless people went to the Fifth Legion’s official page to demand the truth.

The latest update had been posted half an hour ago:

[The self-detonation accident of the transport vehicle carrying the Second Highness has drawn immense public attention. Immediately following the accident, the Fifth Legion established a specialized investigation team. After half a month of non-stop, day-and-night investigation and evidence collection, we have finally uncovered the cause of the self-detonation.]

Beneath the text were sixteen images, featuring photos of the accident scene, close-ups of rescue vehicle component fragments found on-site, a panoramic view of the same model of rescue vehicle, and a structural diagram of part of the energy system. Each image was accompanied by a detailed textual description.

Song Jin reached out, enlarging all the images and projecting them into mid-air.

Virtual screens unfolded one after another, clearly displaying the images and text:

[We enlisted the legion’s most experienced mechanics to test the energy system of this model of rescue vehicle and discovered a significant safety hazard.]

[Under high-intensity, continuous operation conditions, ambient temperature, sound waves, and radiation values will all affect the normal functioning of the energy system, posing a certain risk of self-detonation.]

[We extracted the operational data of the rescue vehicle and discovered twenty-three instances of improper manual operation, which caused the energy system to undergo sustained overloading.]

[Combining all unfavorable factors, we simulated the battlefield environment at the time of the self-detonation. Out of twenty trials, we succeeded twice.]

In addition to the text explanation, a vehicle inspection report was attached. The entire thirty pages were filled with professional data, which looked no different from an incomprehensible book to anyone outside the professional field.

The comments under the update read:

“It turns out to be a quality issue with the rescue vehicle. We completely misjudged the Fifth Legion before.”

“Where are those conspiracy theorists now? Feeling slapped in the face?”

“My heart goes out to the Fifth Legion. After fighting tooth and nail on the frontlines for so long, they still have to face doubts from a bunch of keyboard warriors.”

“As long as it wasn’t targeted at the Second Highness, it’s fine. The vehicles should just be replaced.”

“Wait, are military vehicle quality inspections really this careless? This kind of vehicle can actually be deployed to the battlefield for use?”

“Which military factory manufactured this? It almost cost the Second Highness his life! The person responsible needs to step out and take a beating!”

Qian Can looked thoroughly disgusted. “The top three hot comments are clearly orchestrated by their internet paid posters. They really know how to control the narrative.”

Qin Le: “They look like old hands at this.”

Regardless of who had orchestrated the rescue vehicle’s self-detonation, the Fifth Legion could not escape responsibility for poor supervision. Previously, Qi Ge had targeted Song Jin and attempted to shift the blame to the Shengya Empire, risking diplomatic conflict between the two nations just to save his own skin. This time, they were even more direct, shifting it entirely onto a vehicle quality issue.

Song Jin stood before the screen with his hands inside his jacket pockets. “We clarified the Raven matter last time, and now the self-detonation is also deemed a quality issue. With this, the Fifth Legion has completely whitewashed themselves.”

Qin Le: “If they take this opportunity to replace the rescue vehicles, they can even pocket an extra sum of military funding. It’s a guaranteed win without any losses.”

Jiang Hao was puzzled. “What about the issues regarding inadequate material supplies and delayed rescue efforts?”

Li Xiao shook his head, taking over the conversation. “How many materials are required to transfer a certain number of personnel, or how many troops need to be dispatched to reinforce against a specific level of beast tide—even if all the data is exposed, ordinary people have no concept of it. Plus, there will be discrepancies in actual operations, leaving a massive amount of room to manipulate the narrative.”

Jiang Hao thought about it and understood. “So they’ve been pulling this for so many years without being discovered?”

“It’s far more than just not being discovered.” Qian Can’s tone was disdainful. “They’ve even packaged their image to look incredibly noble, earning the trust of the entire nation.”

Song Jin looked at Li Xiao. “Are we just going to let them off like this?”

Watching the real-time updates of the comments on the network, Li Xiao used an alternate account to casually edit an update and post it under the hot keyword section.

Song Jin glanced at it. “Just like this? You have that much confidence in them?”

“In the past, absolutely no one would dare to stand up, but now—” Speaking up to this point, Li Xiao paused briefly. “It’s a perfect opportunity to test the attitude of the military factories.”

The Royal Family had only subtly indicated their stance this time, yet quite a few fence-sitters were already wavering. No one chose a side without being driven by interests; if standing with the Royal Family offered the potential to gain more, they would shift their alignment without a second thought. This wave of public opinion would cause quite a few people to lose sleep, and it would force certain individuals to make a choice.

Capital Planet, Danse Royal Palace.

Li Ji received the self-detonation accident investigation report submitted by the military.

He flipped through a few pages casually before tossing it onto the table. “They have already publicly announced this?”

Lao Liu stood respectfully to the side. “They have announced it. It appears the majority of the people are willing to believe this report.”

Li Ji picked up his teacup and drained a massive gulp of strong tea, suppressing the anger rising inside him. “The next step will be them reaching out their hands for money!”

The teacup slammed heavily onto the table, cracking into two halves.

Lao Liu skillfully pulled a highly absorbent handkerchief from his pocket, cleaning up the mess in a few swift motions. “I wonder if the Second Highness will make a move.”

Li Ji gave him a strange look. “What move could he possibly make?”

Lao Liu: “Perhaps the Second Highness holds evidence of the self-detonation from back then?”

Li Ji fell into silence. This wind didn’t know how long it would blow; he hoped everything would still be in time.

“What time do we depart tomorrow?” Li Ji asked.

Lao Liu: “Departing from the palace at nine in the morning. The first stop is Canopy Seat T115. We have already communicated with Admiral Yi; this royal tour will only take the Royal Guard and the combat units assigned by Admiral Yi.”

Not long after, Lao Liu received a report from his subordinate. Looking somewhat bewildered, he said hurriedly, “Your Majesty, the military factory has stepped out to clarify.”

Li Ji raised his head from the documents, signaling him to open the network platform.

Following the Fifth Legion’s investigation announcement, a massive sensation was triggered on the network. The assassination incident of the Second Highness, which had been discussed for half a month, turned out to be nothing more than sub-standard vehicle quality in the end, leaving many onlookers highly disappointed.

The Fifth Legion was innocent and could no longer serve as a punching bag, so the public directed all their fury onto the culprit—the military factory. Countless people denounced them on the Fifth Legion’s page, demanding to know which military factory had manufactured the piece of junk that had almost cost their favorite Second Prince his life.

However, the Fifth Legion played dead after posting the update, refusing to disclose the serial number of the military factory no matter how much the netizens clamored.

With no outlet to vent, the furious netizens fired salvos in all directions, forming groups to visit various military accounts to demand they disclose the military factory’s serial number. They even dragged out and targeted the accounts of quite a few officials, and the traffic on the Royal Family’s public page surged by hundreds of times. Many mainstream and independent media outlets emerged to harvest the traffic, analyzing the Fifth Legion’s announcement in various ways and speculating which factory the rescue vehicle originated from.

At around six in the evening, half an hour after the announcement was made, someone forwarded an update in the discussion section:

[Family, I found it!]

The post forwarded was a fresh account with the ID “LIX,” containing only a single, brief sentence:

LIX: [This model of rescue vehicle is uniquely manufactured by the Suyang Seat SR800-2 Military Vehicle Factory.]

Some people first searched for the serial number of this military factory to find its official page. The military factory would only disclose a limited number of equipment models each year, most of which featured sloppy descriptions that only showed the shape without even providing specific serial numbers or models.

Scrolling all the way back to an update from three years ago, they finally found the post introducing this model of rescue vehicle. The introductory text had specifically included the words “Exclusive Production.”

Now, the evidence was ironclad.

The page views of the military factory’s homepage, which previously had barely any traffic, experienced an explosive surge. Within a few short minutes, it refreshed the viewing records of the entire past year. The comments were filled with vile insults, and even other military factories arrived to add fuel to the fire:

TF932-66: [This is where you went wrong. To actually manufacture defective products. Unlike me, who always strives for perfection.]

ZA699-41: [We agreed to push boundaries together, yet you secretly slacked off and left us out of the loop. How low of you.]

NK684-39: [If I knew this, I wouldn’t have needed to run factory inspections tens of thousands of times, boohoo. Does a hardworking person like me not deserve to be noticed?]

The comments below read:

“Have those accounts above been hacked?”

“Daring to step out with their main accounts to be so sarcastic, are they tired of living?!”

“Hahaha, are the employees of the military factories joining the onlookers too?”

“It turns out the internal military factories are so united (dog head).”

“As expected, the ones who kick you the hardest are your own people.”

_

Suyang Seat SR800-2 Military Factory, Director Major General’s Office.

A group of people huddled around a round table, every single one of them looking pale. Sitting at the head of the table, an old Beta wearing a Major General uniform stared at the comments on the homepage, kicking a stool leg to pieces in his fury.

“When there’s a good thing, no one thinks of me. But when it comes to shifting blame, they can precisely dump it right on my head!”

A middle-aged Beta sitting on the right-hand side spoke: “Given the current situation, the damage to our factory’s reputation is an absolute certainty.”

“A damaged reputation is the least of our worries.” An Alpha nearby took over the conversation. “With things making such a huge scene, the military might issue a disciplinary action just to pacify public opinion.”

The middle-aged Beta: “They will likely just go through the motions—disciplined in name, but not penalized in reality.”

The Alpha: “The military might not penalize us, but what about the Royal Family? This involves the Second Prince. Given the Royal Family’s recent conduct, they will absolutely never back down.”

The Royal Family and the Meng family faction had clashed up to this point; it was impossible for them to shrink back at the final moment.

The middle-aged Beta let out a frustrated sigh. “When gods fight, we mortals suffer.”

The Alpha: “Then what can we do?”

As the argument went back and forth, a loud slam suddenly rang out, causing everyone to fall silent instantly.

The Beta Major General slammed the table, his face highly grim. “We absolutely cannot accept this blame. Issue a press release to clarify immediately. Dump the quality inspection reports and factory testing reports, and don’t mention anything else.”

The middle-aged Beta: “Doing this will definitely offend the Qi family, which implicitly means offending the Meng family.”

“If we don’t clarify, we will be cannon fodder for both sides!” The Beta Major General walked with his hands behind his back. “Even if we truly side with the Royal Family, we won’t necessarily lose.”

Even Yi Yongning, who possessed the most conservative conduct, had shifted his attitude, suggesting that the situation at the top had undergone changes they were unaware of. If nothing else, the performance of the Second Prince this time made him look forward to it. If the Royal Family—this submissive cat—could hold their ground, who would willingly support a vicious hyena? It was practically asking for trouble!

At seven in the evening, Qian Can and his group of three discussed their plans to head to the training hall to practice. The mecha selection tournament was just a week away, but they hadn’t attended many mecha classes since arriving in Danse. Although they weren’t aiming to win, they couldn’t afford to lose too miserably either.

Li Xiao sat on the sofa, flipping through an extracurricular military book. Seeing them discussing how to conduct specialized training so seriously, he said casually, “If needed, I can help formulate a training plan for you.”

Qian Can and his group spoke in unison, “We really need it!”

Song Jin walked out of the kitchen carrying a cup of coffee. “I need it too.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Li Xiao raised his head to look at the person approaching from behind him. “Do you still need me to teach you?”

Song Jin leaned casually against the side of the sofa. “The focus isn’t the content, it’s the process of teaching. Don’t be so unromantic.”

Li Xiao: “…”

A person who doesn’t understand romantic words really has the nerve to call someone else unromantic.

“The military factory responded!” Jiang Hao looked toward the enlarged screen at the front of the living room.

Li Xiao and the others looked over together.

Twenty minutes after their homepage had been flooded with traffic, the SR800-2 Military Factory published a new update. The content was highly direct, starting with hundreds of pages of quality inspection reports with the confidential parts obscured, followed by numerous physical testing videos: the impact on the vehicle under extreme pressure, temperature, sound waves, and radiation conditions, various crash tests, limit operation tests, and explosion-proof tests.

These data parameters far exceeded the values presented in the Fifth Legion’s report, yet the vehicle was still able to function normally. Furthermore, there was an explanation regarding the vehicle’s onboard intelligence system:

[The onboard intelligence system can correct operational commands. At most, improper manual operation will only cause external collisions; it will not trigger an internal self-detonation.]

Not a single word in the entire update mentioned the Fifth Legion, yet every sentence stabbed directly into the Fifth Legion’s lungs.

No one had expected a reversal, and the entire network exploded.

“So the Fifth Legion is talking nonsense again?”

“The way they shifted the blame, I almost believed it! I knew the military factory wouldn’t be this unreliable!”

“This isn’t the first time for the Fifth Legion! Last time they even claimed the Second Highness was dead.”

“Those military factories that added fuel to the fire earlier must have known the inside story before coming over to mock them, right?”

“The Fifth Legion’s ability to control comments is far stronger than their investigation capability.”

The bit of reputation the Fifth Legion had just salvaged was wiped completely clean by this move, and they even suffered further losses. Seeing public opinion spiraling out of control once again, Qi Shoude had no choice but to ramp up his comment-control efforts. For a time, the two factions—those who believed the Fifth Legion and those who believed the military factory—tore into each other.

“Every day in Danse brings a new show.” Drinking his coffee, Song Jin watched the gossip in a great mood.

Li Xiao turned a page unhurriedly, using his mind to signal 09 to release the saved footage of the self-detonation. Before the self-detonation, 09 had regained control over the onboard intelligence, causing the vehicle to fly out a hundred meters, which naturally recorded the warning text displayed on the system right before the explosion.

Song Jin: “This won’t be enough to convict them.”

Li Xiao: “But it can shift public opinion. The internet never lacks people who love to watch a spectacle.”

The longer this matter dragged out, the more rotten the Fifth Legion’s reputation would become, leaving a deep and far-reaching impact. If no one believed a single word uttered by any of the military forces under the Meng family’s control, their salvation plan would be halfway to failure.

Sure enough, exactly as Li Xiao anticipated, although 09 had posted it using an alternate account, it was rapidly forwarded due to the exceptionally high heat of the trending keywords. In the video, the control console could be clearly seen, and the word “Self-Detonation” stood out starkly among a line of red text on the screen.

The comments under the update read:

“Ahhhhh, it really had a self-detonation program installed?! Whoever wants to kill the Second Highness, I’ll fight them to the death!”

“Terrifying, but where did this video come from?”

“There are traitors inside the Fifth Legion! The legion is still harboring them!”

“The Second Highness is so pitiful, he’s been blown up several times already, boohoo.”

“Blacklisted the Fifth Legion for life!”

“Manually tagging @Royal Family, thoroughly investigate the Fifth Legion and bring justice to the Second Highness!”

Not long after, the Royal Family’s public page issued a new announcement, stating that they would follow up on this matter and handle it severely if found true. Just two short lines of text harvested the goodwill of countless netizens once again. Leaving aside whether it could be thoroughly investigated, this feeling of having a response to every matter felt absolutely wonderful!

Qi Sen had originally assumed that things were settled—the report had been submitted, greetings had been exchanged with all parties, and he had even gone against his adjutant’s advice to open a bottle of red wine he had secretly brought to the legion to celebrate. Halfway through the wine, he received consecutive reports from his adjutant, causing him to grit his teeth and smash the wine bottle.

“Why didn’t I see them support the Royal Family this much in the past?!”

The adjutant lowered his head. “Then what do we do now?”

Qi Sen: “What else can we do?! Deny it to the death! Are we really supposed to push someone out and say he installed the bomb?!”

As he spoke, his terminal vibrated with a video request from Qi Shoude. Qi Sen picked it up: “Father, what’s going on with that video online?”

“I should be asking you!” Qi Shoude said with a stern face. “Investigate the people in your legion thoroughly. Who exactly leaked the video?!”

Although no one on the network could prove the video was real, they knew it full well in their hearts. The exposure of this kind of video indicated that an internal issue had arisen within the legion.

While the Qi family was completely overwhelmed, Li Xiao leisurely read his book, listening to Qian Can and the others discuss their respective deficiencies in mecha techniques.

“The tournament is just a week away, it’s making me so anxious.” Staring at the deficiencies recorded in his little notebook, Qian Can grabbed his hair and wailed, “If I knew this, I would have learned more from Prince Rong in the past!”

Qin Le rested her chin in her hands, looking worried. “Who isn’t in the same boat? I assumed participating in a mecha tournament would be something that happens at least after entering the second year.”

Seeing Jiang Hao snacking on peanuts without looking worried at all, Qian Can looked over. “Xiao Jiang, have you given up this quickly?”

Jiang Hao: “I have the all-powerful formula my brother gave me.”

Qin Le covered her face, the crotch-grabbing movement automatically flashing before her eyes. She would never use any all-powerful formula again in this lifetime.

“The opening hours for the mecha venues are very limited, and we even have to make reservations.” Qian Can sighed. “Calculating it out, we won’t get to practice many times.”

Sitting beside Li Xiao, Song Jin read the book along with him, listening to their deep sighs. He said casually, “Go practice online. What’s the use of sitting here and talking about it?”

“Star Wars?” Qian Can’s eyes lit up, looking expectantly at Song Jin. “Boss, are you free?”

Song Jin looked over. “Want me to act as your sparring partner?”

Qian Can nodded frantically. “You wouldn’t want me to lose face for Shengya either, right?”

Seeing Qin Le and Jiang Hao also looking over with sparkling eyes, Song Jin thought about it and asked Li Xiao, “Want to hop onto Star Wars tonight to play around?”

“I’m fine with anything.” After speaking, Li Xiao suddenly paused. “You guys play ahead on your own.”

Song Jin lifted his chin, looking at him with a beaming smile. “How can you go back on something you agreed to?”

Li Xiao: “…”