Seeing that the thirty students who had instigated the fight were actually more severely injured than those they had attacked, Gao Jia looked at Li Xiao and probed calmly: “Were they beaten by Lin Shuo and his two companions?”

“I was the one who beat them.” Li Xiao did not shy away from it, meeting Gao Jia’s inquisitive gaze. “When we tried to dissuade them, they refused to stop their violence, so we had to take coercive measures.”

These people had intended to break Lin Shuo’s legs, and coincidentally, they all ended up with leg injuries. If anyone called that a coincidence, Gao Jia would never believe it, even if his life depended on it.

Having received the surgical results, Li Xiao thanked Ye You and left with Song Jin.

After walking a few steps, Li Xiao stopped and turned to look at Gao Jia: “If there are any issues with communicating with the school administration, tell them to come find me directly.”

Gao Jia agreed. Watching Li Xiao and Song Jin leave hand-in-hand, he thought to himself: Does this mean he isn’t prepared to give up even half a step? Even if the school administration didn’t agree, he was determined to see those thirty students completely kicked out of the military academy. He just wondered if the school’s senior leadership dared to go head-to-head with Li Xiao.

Early the next morning, General Affairs head Zhang Bin went to the Principal’s office after the morning meeting.

“I’ve already heard,” the Principal said leisurely, placing a chess piece and looking at the endgame on the board. “The Black pieces were clearly one step away from completely annihilating the White pieces. Who could have imagined that the White pieces could rise abruptly and counter-attack?”

Zhang Bin sat opposite him. “The situation is already set; no matter how aggressive he is, a desperate counter-attack is impossible, and the odds of winning are slim.”

The Principal placed a White piece down: “I don’t know if the White pieces can win, but if we don’t avoid the sharp edge of his sword, we will immediately be eliminated from the game by the White pieces.”

Zhang Bin looked at the surrounded Black pieces on the board, his expression unhappy. “If those families ask, what should we say?”

The Principal looked up at him: “We are simply acting according to regulations. If we really let the Second Prince release that video, it won’t just be those thirty students who end up dead.”

A large-scale bullying incident occurring in an area supervised by the guard unit meant that the Student Council, the security department, and the guard unit would all be under investigation, and the leadership would inevitably face collateral responsibility. The Royal Family was likely just waiting for a reason to sanction the Meng faction; if they refused to act, they would be walking straight into the crosshairs.

Li Xiao’s stance was very clear: hand over those thirty students and the rest wouldn’t be implicated, but if they tried to shield them, he would deal with them too.

“But what right does he have to interfere with the management of a military academy?” Zhang Bin muttered, growing angrier the more he thought about it. “He says ‘cancel them,’ so we cancel them? If we are completely led by the nose by him, how will we get anything done in the future?”

Principal: “What do you want to do?”

Zhang Bin thought for a moment and used his terminal to call Gao Jia via video: “Was there perhaps some misunderstanding between those thirty students and Lin Shuo last night that led to a fight by accident?”

The implication was obvious. On the other end of the screen, Gao Jia didn’t buy it at all and operated his terminal: “I have sent the Second Prince’s video to you. The Second Prince instructed that if you have any questions, you should contact him directly.”

Zhang Bin frowned: “What, threatening me?”

Gao Jia: “I am merely relaying the Second Prince’s intent. If there is nothing else, I will head to class.”

The call ended, and Zhang Bin felt even more irritated. Gao Jia was the grandson of Gao Wanxin and wasn’t someone he could easily manipulate.

Principal: “Watch the video.”

Zhang Bin played the video. After listening for only a few sentences, both their expressions collapsed.

The Principal checked the time: “Go sign the student status cancellation documents.”

Zhang Bin hesitated: “Perhaps there is another way? Why don’t you talk to Li Xiao personally?”

“Can’t you see it yet?” Seeing that Zhang Bin still refused to give up, the Principal raised his voice. “Li Xiao cannot back down on this matter! If those thirty troublemaking students aren’t severely punished, everything he did before will have been in vain!”

After being shouted at, Zhang Bin gritted his teeth, knowing full well this was true. But precisely because he knew it, he couldn’t yield. If he could goad the Principal into forcing Li Xiao to back down, they could reverse the situation and extinguish that budding flame.

The Principal put the handful of chess pieces back into the container: “Not only can we not bargain, we must actively strengthen school supervision. There absolutely cannot be any more incidents in the coming period. I am about to retire, and I don’t want to lose my reputation in my final years.”

Zhang Bin said disdainfully: “Is that necessary? He’s just a prince with no real power; what is there to be afraid of?” Even the one in the Palace wasn’t something to fear; soon, they would be nothing.

The Principal laughed in anger: “I see you’ve wasted your time for all these years! No more nonsense—go draft the student status cancellation documents!”

Walking out of the office, Zhang Bin felt a surge of rage at the prospect of facing inquiries from above.

In the morning, there was an additional Mecha Competition Theory class. In the back row of the classroom, Song Jin had already fallen asleep on the desk. Li Xiao sat next to him, listening to the lecture while idly sketching the sleeping Song Jin on his draft paper, his mind working on three things at once.

His backup terminal vibrated. Li Xiao had 09 read the information. An information window appeared in his field of vision; it was from Jiang Chi.

Jiang Chi: 【I found a blood transport chain at N9680. The next stop is Sub-vult 180 Medical Space Station.】

Li Xiao replied via thought.

【Have you found the base?】

Jiang Chi: 【Still tracking.】

Li Xiao: 【Stay safe.】

Li Xiao looked up the Sub-vult 180 Medical Space Station; the transport direction from this station only led to the Sub-vult and Heaven-fall constellations. The Heaven-fall constellation was densely packed with military bases. Although they were currently controlled by the Yi family, just as there were over 800 genetically modified humans lurking in the military academy, they were surely present in every base.

To meet the survival needs of so many modified humans, a massive blood supply chain was required. Thoroughly investigating every medical space station in the five constellations was the simplest method, but they had few people available to use, and they had to avoid being detected by the Meng family, so they could only proceed step by step.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Li Xiao wanted to visit Lin Shuo, so he pinched the face of the still-sleeping Song Jin: “Class is over, go back to sleep later.”

Song Jin grabbed the hand that was harassing him and rubbed against it. His eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. When he sat up and saw the draft paper by Li Xiao’s hand, he leaned in with bleary eyes: “Where did this wild cat come from?”

On the draft paper was a fat cat lying on its back with its belly exposed and legs kicked up in a stupid pose. Beside the cat’s head was a speech bubble containing a small cookie.

“It’s mine.” Li Xiao picked up his books and walked out with him. “It’s spoiled, so it is a bit wild.”

Song Jin: “……?”

After walking a few steps, Song Jin’s brain finally woke up, and he squinted slightly at Li Xiao. That stupid cat dreaming about a cookie couldn’t be me, right?

Li Xiao played dumb: “What’s wrong?”

Song Jin draped his arm over Li Xiao’s shoulder: “Add a dancing coal-ball in the speech bubble.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Song Jin: “It also promised to dance a striptease for me, but it’s a pity you woke it up.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Li Xiao: “What’s the fun in dancing alone? Why not do it together?”

Song Jin chuckled: “Dance if you want to dance. Tonight, let’s go on the Star Battle platform—whoever stops dancing first loses.”

Li Xiao said with a straight face: “It wants to see you dance in person.”

Song Jin: “…”

The noisy hallway was filled with students after class. Some students came out of the classroom diagonally across and gathered to chat about gossip.

“I just heard in the group chat that Lin Shuo got beaten up!”

“Which Lin Shuo? The second-year top student? Who dares to beat him?”

“I don’t know, they say he’s hospitalized. Everyone in the chat is saying he offended someone he shouldn’t have.”

“Could it be because of what happened on the intranet yesterday? Is it that scary? Bullying?”

“Keep your voice down! What if you get targeted by those people?”

What happened last night had indeed spread. Even if Lin Shuo and those around him didn’t say anything, the troublemakers would find ways to spread the news to achieve a deterrent effect, letting every student know the consequences of speaking up for Li Xiao.

The vast majority of ordinary students didn’t have much at stake, and under the threat to their own safety, they would likely choose to remain silent the next time Li Xiao ran into trouble. If this was repeated two or three times, no one would dare to support Li Xiao ever again.

Listening to the discussions from near and far, Song Jin asked Li Xiao: “What did the school administration say?”

Li Xiao: “They haven’t contacted me.”

Song Jin sneered: “That’s perfect, we can clean them up together then.”

Having Qin Le and the others go to eat first, Li Xiao and Song Jin went to the medical center to visit Lin Shuo. Near the door, they heard several people talking inside the ward.

“It’s already spread through the school this morning, and now it’s being discussed all over the intranet.” A second-year student in a uniform was standing by the bed. “They say you were beaten badly for defending the Second Prince.”

The curly-haired Alpha beside him looked furious: “Old Jiu and Old Liu were beaten too. They are just too lawless!”

“Keep your voice down.” The tall Beta standing at the foot of the bed looked at the door vigilantly. “When I first enrolled, I heard that the Imperial Capital Star crowd beats whoever they aren’t happy with. Look, even the Second Prince is bullied by them; how could we people possibly fight against them?”

Curly-haired Alpha: “Should we go to the Student Council for the video, and then go find the leadership at the political and educational office to reflect? They can’t just ignore it, right?”

“You’re too naive.” Lin Shuo lay on the hospital bed, his head wrapped in gauze, his face disfigured and slightly swollen. “The school’s administrative departments are all their people. I shouted for so long last night and the guard unit didn’t discover me, which means even if the guards weren’t transferred away, they had already been warned.”

All four were born into ordinary families and had heard many stories about the dirty dealings of big families, but being targeted themselves still made their backs feel cold.

The Beta who spoke first continued: “You should still be careful. If something really happened to you, how sad would your uncle and aunt be?”

The other two exchanged glances and echoed him with some hesitation.

“Maybe apologize first?”

“Except for bowing your head and admitting you’re wrong, there’s no other way.”

Seeing Lin Shuo fall silent, the curly-haired Alpha assumed he was unhappy and continued: “If you lose your life, you lose everything. Just be sure to avoid them in the future.”

The Beta who spoke first asked tentatively: “Delete that status update you posted on the intranet.”

Lin Shuo looked at them and said straightforwardly: “But the Second Prince saved me last night. If I did that, would I still be a human being?”

The three widened their eyes, neither of them having expected this.

“No one in the group said that.” The curly-haired Alpha opened the group chat and scrolled through it quickly.

Lin Shuo: “Of course they wouldn’t say anything favorable to the Second Prince.”

The tall Beta at the foot of the bed frowned and pondered: “Old Lin, you aren’t hallucinating, are you? How could the Second Prince be there?”

“I also thought it was a hallucination, but the thirty people who beat me were all dealt with by the Second Prince and his partner. This morning I asked the doctor, and those people are also hospitalized with worse injuries than me—their legs were smashed.” The more Lin Shuo talked, the happier he became, and he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Whoa!

The three gasped.

Curly-haired Alpha: “No one mentioned this either! I thought those people left after beating you up!”

Mentioning this, Lin Shuo gritted his teeth: “They were going to smash my legs! If the Second Prince and his partner hadn’t rushed over, I would only have one leg left!”

The three looked at each other.

“Since the Second Prince knows, will he step in to solve this?”

“But can the Second Prince handle them?”

“I think it’s iffy. Those people use every dirty trick in the book; how could the Second Prince handle them?”

Lin Shuo touched the wound on his forehead, feeling a bit depressed: “Even if they can’t do anything to them, I’m grateful the Second Prince stepped in to save me; at least my legs were saved.”

A message popped up on the floating virtual screen, and the curly-haired Alpha glanced at it subconsciously: “Holy crap!”

The other two’s hearts skipped a beat, thinking it was bad news, and crowded around to look.

“Don’t scare me, what happened now?”

“The Second Prince was beaten too?!”

The curly-haired Alpha’s voice cracked with excitement: “The political and educational office just issued a disciplinary announcement—all thirty of the people who beat him have had their student status canceled!”

Lin Shuo was startled and sat up abruptly, then lay back down in pain. “Quick, let me see the announcement!”

The curly-haired Alpha’s hands shook as he enlarged the announcement and projected it into the air: “The political and educational office has never been this efficient!”

【Last night, a serious group fight occurred in the training hall area. Thirty second- and third-year students assaulted three students including Lin Shuo, causing three to be seriously injured and hospitalized. Their attitude was extremely arrogant, the nature extremely vile, and the impact extremely serious. After a thorough investigation, the school has solemnly decided to immediately cancel the student status and military status of the thirty assailants, sending them back to their home planets with a lifetime ban on employment.】

【The school attaches great importance to this type of campus bullying and has urged all relevant departments to strengthen supervision and prevent similar incidents from happening again.】

The announcement directly published the names and student IDs of the thirty students.

Lin Shuo stared at the words “student status canceled.” The scene of Li Xiao and Song Jin coming to save him last night flashed before his eyes: “It must be the Second Prince who pressured the school administration. The Second Prince won!”

The four of them slapped their hands together in excitement.

“This slap felt so satisfying!”

“Directly canceled and expelled! My God! Is this real?”

“The Second Prince has skills!”

Outside the ward, Song Jin leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, listening to the four teenagers cheering inside. He looked at Li Xiao: “Isn’t it awkward if we go in now?”

Li Xiao took his hand: “Come back this afternoon.”

Song Jin walked back shoulder-to-shoulder with him and complained leisurely: “What a bunch of spineless cowards; they couldn’t even stand their ground.”

Li Xiao whispered: “The Principal is not a staunch Meng faction supporter.”

Song Jin: “That’s it?”

Li Xiao: “Let’s see how much sincerity they can show.”

The announcement from the political and educational office was synchronized to the intranet, and the situation exploded instantly. The comments on the intranet were almost one-sided, calling it satisfying.

“Key point: student status and military status canceled. Don’t mention serving in the garrison—even ordinary jobs will be heavily affected in the future.”

“Trying to shut people up but getting sanctioned instead; good riddance, hahahahaha.”

“I’ve been here four years, this is the first time I’ve seen the school administration be this efficient. Is this witnessing history? (Is it okay to say this?)”

“Some people’s methods are so dirty; finally, someone can stop them.”

“Senior Lin, the beating you took wasn’t in vain (doge emoji).”

“Hahahaha, I heard those thirty people were also beaten into the hospitalization department!”

“Even though everyone tacitly doesn’t mention it, this is truly a historic victory, hahahaha.”

Heaven-fall Constellation, Imperial Capital Star, Military Headquarters.

Qi Shoude was overwhelmed by the affairs of the Fifth Legion. The Royal Family had intended to suppress the Meng family and had been dragging out the handover of the Heaven-fall Constellation’s administrative rights. The Fifth Legion had just happened to arrive at the right time, becoming the battlefield for both sides. The transport vehicle self-detonation incident hadn’t been resolved, and now Li Xiao had been slandered at the military academy; the Royal Family had seized the opportunity to apply pressure, demanding to speed up the disciplinary actions and thoroughly purge the Fifth Legion. If he couldn’t stop it, not only Qi Sen but even he himself would be affected.

A knock on the door sounded, and an assistant walked into the office.

“Sir, there’s a new situation at the military academy.”

“What now?” Qi Shoude asked impatiently.

The assistant summarized the incident: “Just now, the school administration released an announcement. Among the students whose status was canceled, one is the grandson of Lieutenant Colonel Jin, and one is the grandson of Major General Fu.”

Before Qi Shoude could say anything, an adjutant entered from outside: “Sir, Lieutenant Colonel Jin and Major General Fu have matters to discuss with you.”

Qi Shoude rubbed his temples: “I’m not seeing them! They can wipe their own asses in the mess they created themselves!”

Military Academy.

Zheng Lin was eating in the cafeteria with a few lackeys when suddenly half the people in the cafeteria erupted into cheers. One lackey listened for a bit, and it wasn’t until he opened the intranet that he knew what had happened.

Zheng Lin looked over quickly, his face looking very ugly. This punishment was fierce and absolute. Li Xiao was clearly warning them: if they kept pulling little stunts, this would be their fate.

The lackey lowered his voice and asked: “It’s going to spiral out of control if this continues. Aren’t we going to do something?”

“Do what?” Zheng Lin looked at him irritably. “What else do you plan to do? You want to be expelled too?!”

The lackey shriveled his neck, pressed his lips together, and didn’t dare to offer any more opinions. If they wanted to make a move, they had to take advantage of the present. Li Xiao’s prestige in the military academy wasn’t stable yet, and if they made a few more moves, they could suppress him again, but the price was too high, and they would likely end up losing more than they gained.

Zheng Lin kept a tight face, thinking back and forth, but still couldn’t come up with a way to break the deadlock. Li Xiao was different from anyone they had dealt with before; he was truly too strong. None of the many tricks they had used before could deal with him.

After finishing classes in the afternoon, Li Xiao and Song Jin went to Lin Shuo’s ward again. The school doctor, Ye You, was doing his rounds. When they entered, Lin Shuo had just removed the treatment lamp. The burly, tall man lay in the single hospital bed, appearing somewhat cramped.

Seeing them, Lin Shuo felt somewhat awkward: “Thanks for last night, and for the disciplinary matter as well.”

“Feeling better?” Li Xiao walked to the side of the bed, his gaze sweeping over the data on the instruments before finally landing on Lin Shuo.

Lin Shuo signaled for them to sit down: “Much better, though the wound on my head needs to be observed for another day.”

Ye You put away the instruments. Seeing they had things to talk about, he gave a few instructions and left, thoughtfully closing the ward door behind him.

Song Jin stood beside Li Xiao with his hands in his jacket pockets and asked Lin Shuo: “Besides the intranet post yesterday, did you have any other disputes with them before?”

Lin Shuo asked with confusion: “Why do you ask that?”

Song Jin bluffed casually: “Last night, the feeling I got was that it didn’t seem like the first time they were looking for you.”

Lin Shuo was stumped for a moment, desperately trying to think of when he had seen them before.

“I really haven’t seen them, but I have had contact with people from their side before.”

“People from their side?” Song Jin raised an eyebrow.

Lin Shuo touched his nose and bit the bullet: “The people who support the Meng family; they always stick together, it’s easy to distinguish.”

Li Xiao asked him: “Did you take the initiative to contact them?”

Not knowing why they wanted to ask these things, Lin Shuo answered truthfully: “They came to find me. During the second half of my freshman year, there was a period where they came by particularly often. I didn’t know anything then and thought they just genuinely wanted to be friends with me.”

Song Jin: “Thought? What happened later?”

“It’s not really that anything happened.” Lin Shuo thought about it. “A classmate warned me: if I didn’t want to be a running dog for the Meng family, I shouldn’t get too close to them. And they also said something particularly outrageous.”

Li Xiao and Song Jin exchanged an implicit look, asking calmly: “What was it?”

Lin Shuo said while recalling: “They said there was a classified military project. Only those who received an invitation could participate. They just needed to use a drug that was being developed in secret, and I could permanently raise my strength by one level.”

Speaking of this, Lin Shuo laughed: “They treated me like a fool. How could such a good project ever come around to me?”

Song Jin: “Maybe it really existed?”

Lin Shuo looked disdainful: “My father is an entrepreneur. I don’t know how many similar scams I’ve heard from him; how could I have fallen for such a low-end scheme?”

Song Jin/Li Xiao: “…”

Being born into a merchant family really makes one harder to trick.

Lin Shuo felt something subtly and looked up to observe their expressions: “Is there a problem with this project?”

Li Xiao didn’t answer, turning instead to ask: “Did they say how to use the drug, where to use it, and if it was a one-time thing or continuous?”

“His exact words were that as long as I used that drug, I could permanently improve my strength. It sounded like a one-time thing was all it took.”

Lin Shuo recalled carefully, “He didn’t specify how to use it. I refused directly at the time. Later, they came to find me several times, but I intentionally avoided them, and after that, it just petered out.”

Song Jin: “Do you know anyone else who received an invitation?”

“I didn’t specifically ask. At the time, I just heard it and moved on, not taking it to heart.”

Seeing them ask so many follow-up questions, Lin Shuo felt even more that the matter was suspicious: “Did someone get duped by them?”

Li Xiao nodded: “But it’s still in the investigation stage and cannot be disclosed to the public, including our conversation just now—you cannot tell anyone.”

Lin Shuo’s spirits were lifted: “I promise I won’t say anything!”

After speaking, Lin Shuo added: “If you want to know who was invited, I can help.”

“There is a great risk in this matter.” Li Xiao looked at him: “If you are discovered by them while asking for information, it’s possible that what happened to you last night will repeat itself. Do you still want to do it?”

Lin Shuo’s eyes flashed, his lips pressed tight. After hesitating for a moment, he said: “I want to do it. I will try my best not to be noticed by them.”

Li Xiao: “Aren’t you afraid?”

“I am afraid. It’s precisely because I’m afraid of what happened last night repeating that I must do it.”

Lin Shuo looked at Li Xiao with firm eyes: “Only by eliminating this threat early can I avoid living in fear in the future. I believe that with your ability, you can absolutely do it.”

After speaking, seeing Li Xiao and Song Jin fall into silence, Lin Shuo’s heart sank.

Did he misunderstand? Did Li Xiao not intend to take down the Meng family?

Li Xiao patted Lin Shuo’s shoulder: “Focus on healing first.”

Lin Shuo’s eyes lit up. Did that mean he agreed?

Li Xiao withdrew his hand: “Who was the person who mentioned that project to you at the time?”

Lin Shuo: “Liu Jie, the current top Mecha department student in his third year.”

A file for Liu Jie automatically popped up in Li Xiao’s field of vision. Liu Jie’s father, Liu Yan, was an operations officer for the 36th Legion and was one of Zheng Lin’s people.

Li Xiao had 09 leave a counter-tracking monitoring program in Lin Shuo’s terminal: “Their goal is likely students with excellent grades. If you find anyone suspicious, you can tell me at any time.”

Lin Shuo agreed solemnly: “Just stick to the questions you guys asked me just now, right?”

Li Xiao nodded: “No need to rush. Prioritize your own safety.”

It was almost time for the medical center to deliver meals, so Li Xiao had Lin Shuo rest, let 09 lift the hijacking of all equipment in the ward, and left with Song Jin.

Watching the door close again, Lin Shuo’s heart pounded. Thinking about working under the Second Prince in the future, he couldn’t suppress his excitement. He opened the chat history with his old man and flipped through the business-trick guidebooks he had once looked at with such disdain, reading them seriously.

On the way back to the dormitory, Song Jin steered the wheel, thinking about Lin Shuo’s performance just now.

“Is it suitable to make him an intelligence operative?”

Li Xiao: “He’s well-liked and has a sense of justice. As a top student, he has a certain amount of appeal and influence. For now, there’s no one more suitable than him.”

However, just in case, Li Xiao had 09 strengthen the surveillance on Lin Shuo—one, to ensure the other’s safety, and two, to confirm if this person was truly trustworthy.

Returning to the dormitory, Qian Can and the others had already finished their meal and returned, changing their clothes in preparation to go to the training hall.

Seeing the two of them return, Qian Can signaled them to look at the virtual screen in the middle of the living room: “One of those thirty people from last night has jumped out to play the victim.”

Li Xiao looked at the screen. A third-year student named Fu Xin had posted an update on the intranet.

【They say I assaulted Lin Shuo?! It was clearly me who was assaulted! I was beaten into serious injury by Song Jin, and the moment I woke up, I saw the announcement that my student status had been canceled. But Song Jin, the one who beat me, is completely fine. Is this fair?! [Image][Image]】

The images were Fu Xin’s physical examination report and a close-up of his bandaged right leg.

Qian Can looked disgusted: “He really has the nerve to come out and bark.”

Jiang Hao: “If he didn’t bark now, he wouldn’t have the chance to.”

Li Xiao moved his gaze to the comments.

“So the one who did it was Song Jin; worthy of being a T0 god! A good beating!”

“Don’t you have any idea why you were beaten?”

“Why didn’t Song Jin just tear your mouth off while he was at it; you’re so good at yapping.”

“When you were attacking Lin Shuo, why didn’t you think about whether it was fair?”

“If Song Jin is there, then the Second Prince is there too, right? Little lovebirds dating outside so late, hehehehe.”

“So they were caught in the act by the Prince and his partner? If no one had discovered it, Lin Shuo might have been beaten to death on the spot. Scum, get out!”

“Song Jin has always been heavy-handed; it’s not your first day knowing that. Why were you so bullheaded as to rush forward?”

Seeing the last comment, Li Xiao: “…”

I always feel like the military academy students have less and less of a bottom line when it comes to their tolerance for the little lion.