The 150 students who won in the selection tournament were set to depart on Tuesday afternoon for the S1301 sector of the Sun-Yang seat.

The day before departure, the suppression collars sent from Shengya arrived. While everyone was gathered after dinner, Song Jin handed one to each of them: “These are still just test versions; they might not offer 100% protection, so don’t lower your guard too much.”

Jiang Hao took one and fastened it around his neck. Upon turning on the power, he immediately felt a tiny probe pressing against his gland, which felt a bit unusual.

“Will this get confiscated by security?”

Song Jin leaned lazily against the sofa: “Not in Shengya, but I’m not sure about Danse.”

Li Xiao, sitting in the sofa reading a book, turned a page and added casually: “Most planets won’t, but a tiny minority don’t allow neck collars due to religious or ethnic beliefs.”

“There are such bizarre customs? Does the Danse government just let it slide?” Qian Can couldn’t help but ask.

Li Xiao: “They’ve tried to regulate it, but it just leads to protests, so they have to let it be. It’s not a major issue.”

Qian Can muttered under his breath: “As expected of the loosely-organized Danse.”

Li Xiao’s backup terminal vibrated. He swiped to look at it—it was from the strange frequency.

【The King has arrived at S1301 and has temporarily changed his residence; it is not one of the twenty pre-selected options.】

Li Xiao replied: 【When did you receive the news?】

The other side replied: 【Ten minutes before arriving at S1301, we received a sudden notice from the Chief Assistant, stating it was personally designated by His Majesty.】

Li Xiao looked at this message and thought of his brother’s attitude during their video call earlier. He may have sounded stubborn, but he had actually listened.

Under the current situation, the inspection itinerary was truly difficult to adjust. Especially since the Inter-School League at S1301 had been heavily hyped by the Meng family, raising public expectation to its peak. If they failed to attend under any excuse, the Meng family would use it as a blade to attack the Royal Family. However, while the itinerary couldn’t be adjusted, the residence could. Changing his lodging suddenly without notifying anyone—leaving the Meng family no time to prepare—would at least avoid 50% of the danger.

At the Imperial Capital Star, Military Headquarters.

Upon hearing the report that Li Ji had changed his residence, Meng Jian sat with a dark face and didn’t speak for a long time.

His adjutant gauged his expression: “The time was too short; we didn’t have time to prepare. Could His Majesty have sensed something?”

Meng Jian stood up, pinched a bit of fish food, and tossed it to a group of precious small fish in the aquarium: “So what if he sensed it? Under the current circumstances, he doesn’t dare to cancel the tour.”

“Then should we adjust our plan?” the adjutant pressed.

Meng Jian watched the fish fighting for food with cold eyes: “No, proceed with Plan B.”

The adjutant acknowledged: “Yes.”

The next morning, after Li Xiao finished morning drills with his class, they gathered at the corner of the field.

Zhao De stood in front of the group, beaming with joy, his eyes crinkling with smiles. “In this Mecha Selection Tournament, five students from our class qualified! They performed exceptionally well! The rest of you shouldn’t be discouraged; focus on solidifying your fundamentals first—there are plenty of competitions to come!”

Qi Ge, Zheng Lin, and their group glanced toward Li Xiao, their moods quite sour. Li Xiao’s qualification had been part of an organizational arrangement, so the result was expected, but they hadn’t expected him to win so beautifully!

Not to mention Song Jin; his “slaughter” of Liu Jie was a legendary battle. Over the last two days, the internal network had been flooded with discussion posts. Second-year top student Lin Shuo had even started a tactical analysis thread, and even after scrutinizing it frame-by-frame, he hadn’t found a single mistake in Song Jin’s performance. Instead, it only highlighted the gap between Song Jin and Liu Jie, leaving many upperclassmen in awe.

After finishing, Zhao De looked at Li Xiao and the others: “You are departing at 2:00 PM. The team-leading teachers and instructors will contact you by noon. Remember to check your terminal information promptly.”

Li Xiao nodded.

After class at noon, they specifically went to Restaurant No. 274 to eat. Li Xiao kept an eye on the students entering and exiting; the proportion of modified humans was notably higher than before.

Before the food arrived, Li Xiao stood up and followed a modified Alpha to the restroom. Seeing the modified human enter the innermost stall, he signaled 09 to record the blood-harvesting process while he casually entered the nearest stall.

09: 【Making me do dirty work again! Don’t blame me if I don’t put a mosaic on this.】

Li Xiao: “…”

The installation location of the blood-harvesting system had already been confirmed, and the clandestine filming went smoothly. To avoid suspicion, Li Xiao exited after two minutes.

As he prepared to wash his hands, he saw Liu Jie walking over in the mirror.

“What a coincidence.” Liu Jie walked to the sink next to him, smiling at Li Xiao: “Even our bathroom habits are synchronized; we really are a match.”

Li Xiao washed his hands slowly: “Chief Liu seems to have forgotten how you were beaten by Little Jin two days ago?”

Liu Jie’s face stiffened.

Li Xiao finished washing his hands, turned, and looked at him: “Actually, I admire your strength. After watching the match that day, I was even more certain that my judgment was correct. Although you lost to Little Jin, he is an exception, and the outcome between you two holds no reference value.”

Liu Jie’s brow twitched. First praise, then insult—what exactly is he trying to express?

Li Xiao: “What Danse lacks most is talent. With your ability, you are bound to make great achievements in the military in the future. Why be a mere pawn, rushing to be cannon fodder?”

Liu Jie vigilantly scanned his surroundings before looking back at Li Xiao: “What do you mean?”

“We have no grudges; I believe Chief Liu is not looking for trouble with me out of his own free will.” Li Xiao’s tone was calm and soft. “There are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests. Don’t you want a better future?”

Liu Jie’s eyes widened, his brows locked in a frown. Is Li Xiao actually trying to turn him?

Liu Jie: “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Li Xiao looked regretful: “I really wanted to make you a friend; what a pity…”

After saying that, Li Xiao bypassed Liu Jie and left, leaving Liu Jie standing there in deep thought. When another student came out of the restroom, Liu Jie suddenly snapped back to reality. Remembering that this was a monitored area, he pulled a paper towel to dry his hands and walked away, deliberately feigning disdain.

When Li Xiao returned to his table, the food had already been served.

Song Jin turned his face and smiled: “Only permanent interests… is this the script you use to trick people into falling for your schemes?”

Li Xiao was slightly confused: “Why are you the one triggered?”

Song Jin: “…”

Because their own relationship also started from mutual interests. Although it was Song Jin who suggested the marriage, and it wasn’t meant to be real, Li Xiao had agreed based on an assessment of his own interests. It was hard for Song Jin not to wonder: If I hadn’t made my move fast enough, would this kid have ended up marrying Liu Jie instead? The more he thought about it, the more he felt this was something Li Xiao was capable of. This person was gentle and steady on the outside, but cold on the inside; for the sake of what he deemed “worthwhile,” he would pay any price.

Song Jin: “If you dare to cheat, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

Li Xiao asked along with his prompt: “How ruthless?”

Song Jin: “I’ll buy a ton of chili sauce and put it in our house, then revoke your right to eat anything spicy.”

Li Xiao: “…” That’s brutal.

Song Jin: “Answer?”

Li Xiao: “The track hasn’t even been laid yet; where would I find a track to go off of (cheat)?”

Song Jin: “…”

Seeing the “kitten” squinting his eyes dangerously, looking as if he were about to execute him on the spot, Li Xiao didn’t dare to tease him further. He picked up a piece of meat and fed it to him: “I can barely take care of one cat, how could I possibly go touch other cats? Don’t be so jealous of everything.”

After eating the meat, Song Jin said slowly: “But Liu Jie is my personality type; he’s the kind you’d like.”

After he finished, he saw Li Xiao looking at him with a subtle expression. He was puzzled: “Is something wrong?”

Li Xiao: “You and he are not the same type at all. Besides, who told you I like your personality type?”

Song Jin: “……?”

If Li Xiao doesn’t like this personality type, but likes him, doesn’t that mean Li Xiao’s affection is limited exclusively to him? Thinking of this, Song Jin tried hard to suppress his rising corners of his mouth, and his mood instantly improved. Sure enough, this kid is already hopelessly infatuated with me.

Qian Can, sitting opposite: “…” Boss, you are truly easy to coax.

After the meal, before they even returned to the dorms, they received a notification from the military academy’s back office, including the meeting time and location, and the contact information for the team leaders and instructors.

Whether it was a coincidence or not, Yan Qing was the team leader once again.

At 2:30 PM, they arrived at the No. 5 assembly hall on time. Yan Qing was checking information with several teaching assistants and students. Seeing them enter, he waved them over.

“There are only six first-year students this time, why did they have you lead the team?” Li Xiao asked.

Yan Qing looked helpless: “The third-year dean has another mission, and the second-year dean is newly appointed and hasn’t finished the handover yet. I had to do it.”

The instructor team consisted of ten people, all substitute instructors for the third year. One instructor, a Beta surnamed Cheng, walked over, greeted Yan Qing, and looked at Li Xiao and the others: “Old Zhao and I are good friends. He asked me to take care of you this time. If you run into any problems over the next few days, contact me anytime.”

Li Xiao nodded: “Thank you, Instructor Cheng.”

Over on the third-year side, Liu Jie looked toward Li Xiao’s direction without changing his expression. After Li Xiao returned to the public eye, the momentum of the Royal Family had grown stronger. If he could truly gain Li Xiao’s favor, the Liu family would inevitably climb higher, and he wouldn’t have to be bossed around by a few idiots anymore. But the prerequisite was that the Royal Family must win this showdown against the Meng family.

At 3:00 PM, all students set out fully equipped.

The flight to S1301 in the Sun-Yang seat took five hours; they would arrive around dinnertime.

In the rest cabin, Qian Can and the two others sat around a table playing a flying chess game while eating. Li Xiao and Song Jin sat by the window, continuing to organize the data Yan Qing had sent.

Song Jin’s knowledge of the Danse race wasn’t as deep as Li Xiao’s, so he chose to re-read the content regarding the Bi-Que race, hoping to find more useful clues. In the data organized by Yan Qing, it only said that 75 years ago, the Bi-Que race collectively migrated to another planet, but it didn’t explain why.

He checked the planet they lived on at the time; there were no natural disasters, massive beast tides, or sudden spikes in radiation that made it uninhabitable during that year. Ordinary families would consider moving carefully, let alone migrating a whole clan to another planet; there had to be a reason.

Was it related to the Golden Feather Sparrow Legion’s coup back then? But even a coup wouldn’t warrant the whole race being implicated. Why would they flee? Or was the Bi-Que race already suffering under the Meng family’s suppression before they migrated?

07: 【Master, the King of Danse has been attacked again!】

Song Jin snapped back to reality and casually opened the network platform.

Li Xiao had also heard 09’s notification and signaled for Song Jin to set the screen to public mode.

At the same time, Qian Can’s terminal vibrated non-stop. He glanced at it and hurriedly shouted at Li Xiao: “Boss Li, your brother has been attacked again!”

On the network platform, #His Majesty Attacked by Rebels in Street Bombing# and #S1301 Rebel Ravens# surged to the top of the trending list, with discussion volume hitting hundreds of billions.

【Breaking! His Majesty’s inspection of Sun-Yang sector S1301 was hit by a street bombing by Rebel Ravens. As of the time of reporting, casualties remain unclear; the rebels have fled the scene, and the military is in full pursuit!】

Below the trending topics were photos and videos of the bombing scene. The videos were filled with screams; bystanders were fleeing in all directions. Various charred fragments were scattered on the street, smoke filled the air, and the security team was maintaining order at the scene, covering the orderly evacuation of the public.

Li Xiao quickly flipped through and clicked on another video. In the video, Li Ji, protected by the Imperial Guard, was walking down the local busiest pedestrian street. Officials on the side were passionately introducing various local special industries and customs. Many passersby were gathered on both sides of the street, blocked off by the guard team; most were taking photos and recording videos, excitedly waving at Li Ji.

Everything was harmonious up to this point.

Suddenly, a hand was raised from the crowd ahead, holding a canister-like object larger than a water flask, and threw it in Li Ji’s direction. The guard team immediately shielded Li Ji. Before they could intercept it, the object exploded in mid-air. Looking at the video, at least five people had thrown bombs, and because the throwing altitude was very low, they all detonated at low altitude.

“This explosion distance is very dangerous.” Qin Le’s expression was serious. “Is this area not under control? How did they let these people mix in?” Fortunately, the guard team activated protective measures in time, otherwise half of the citizens would have died.

“The enemy is in the dark, we are in the light; not only did they mix in, but they also escaped.” Song Jin sneered, replaying the video and freezing it at the moment the hand was raised. “It looks like a modified micro fuel tank.”

Li Xiao nodded: “These civilian fuel tanks are used very frequently.”

Jiang Hao was puzzled: “How did they know it was the Ravens?”

Qian Can flipped to a certain point and zoomed in for them to see: “Here! They actually hung up a banner!”

Not far from where the assassins had stood, a black banner hung on the outside of a building with white characters: The Royal Family massacres millions of my fellow clansmen, inhuman, blood debt paid in blood! The signature read: Ravens.

The five of them: “…………”

It was beyond words.

“The methods are crude, but they work.” Song Jin rested his chin on his hands, speaking gloomily. “The simpler and more violent it is, the easier it resonates with public sentiment.”

Li Xiao swiped open his terminal, sent a message to the mysterious frequency asking about his brother’s situation, and edited another message for Wei Feng—unexpectedly, the other side had already sent one.

Wei Feng: 【It wasn’t the Ravens. Even if my brain was crushed by a door, I wouldn’t do something this stupid.】

Soon, the mysterious frequency also replied.

【His Majesty is fine, but the inspection has been interrupted.】

Suffering a terrorist attack during an inspection was bad enough, but it also harmed ordinary citizens. If this wasn’t handled well, the Royal Family would face further criticism. As expected, before long, public opinion online was guided by malicious actors, beginning to develop in this direction, shifting from scolding the guards to attacking the Royal Family, while the garrison that had truly failed in their duties remained perfectly invisible.

Some marketing accounts dug up the Ravens’ “dark history,” editing and stitching videos together to portray bombing space pirate groups as bombing ordinary residential planets, claiming they had committed crimes no fewer than thirty times.

【It is said that the rebel group ‘Ravens’ is controlled by a group of Bi-Que people; these people are extremely cruel and have been listed as Class A wanted criminals by the military.】

Once the post was released, it caused an uproar online. Because they had heard of the “Ravens” not long ago during the S80 beast tide, most observers were familiar with the name. But last time it had been a misunderstanding; this time, it was supposedly for real.

In an instant, even the Bi-Que race, which was not known to the general public, was scolded onto the trending list. The language under the trending words was intense, demanding that the military execute these “terrorists.”

“How much does the Meng family hate the Bi-Que race to pin every label on them?” Song Jin browsed the news. “Luckily your brother has a group of reliable guards around him now, otherwise it really could have been a total disaster.”

Li Xiao felt something subtle. The situation might not be this simple. The Meng family dared to act during his brother’s inspection; they must have made full preparations. He just didn’t know if they only wanted to create chaos this time, or if they truly wanted his brother’s life.

At 6:00 PM local time in S1301, the military academy’s spaceship landed at Homing District Platform No. 6. The Homing District had built the largest mecha competition base in Danse, hosting thousands of events every year. When they disembarked, staff were already waiting, leading them toward the arranged accommodation area.

Just as Li Xiao entered the arrival hall, three Alpha soldiers in Royal Family uniforms rushed over, stating they were acting under the King’s orders to pick him up. Li Xiao greeted Yan Qing, who had come over.

“I’m having dinner with my brother; I’ll be back by tomorrow morning at the latest.”

Yan Qing inspected these three Alphas, verifying their credentials one by one before nodding. “Send me a message to report in once you’ve arrived.”

Li Xiao nodded, signaled for Jiang Hao to follow Qian Can and the others, and took Song Jin onto the hovering car sent by the Royal Family. The other students watched this scene silently, secretly envious of Song Jin.

“His Majesty just suffered an attack; the Second Prince must be worried to death.”

“I saw the news too; that ‘Raven’ group is so terrifying, how did they break in?”

“They even detonated bombs on the street; it was a indiscriminate attack!”

“Didn’t you see the banner? It said the Royal Family massacred millions of Bi-Que people; don’t know if it’s true or not.”

“Heard the Raven leader is Bi-Que; what a wicked race!”

Yan Qing walked at the front of the group, his expression gradually turning cold. He never thought that one day, hearing the three words “Bi-Que race” from his students would end up like this.

A student asked Yan Qing: “Teacher Yan, do you know about the Bi-Que race? Is this race too scary?” After asking, the student heard no response from Yan Qing for a long time. Thinking he hadn’t heard, he was about to ask again when he was interrupted by Jiang Hao.

Jiang Hao walked behind Yan Qing and turned to look at the student: “How can individual crimes be escalated to the race? If we counted that way, everyone would be a criminal.”

The student paused: “You’re right.”

Yan Qing snapped back to reality, feeling moved by Jiang Hao’s defense. He looked at the student who asked the question and answered with a smile in his usual tone: “You really stumped me. I’ll make up for my lack of historical knowledge and answer you later.”

The student was fooled and continued discussing the news with his companions. Yan Qing turned back and nodded slightly at Jiang Hao in thanks. Seeing this, Qian Can and Qin Le intentionally diverted the topic to the local garrison, and soon the surrounding students stopped mentioning the words “Bi-Que race.”

A luxurious hanging garden in the Homing District.

The transparent trapezoidal building was covered in layers of meticulously pruned greenery. Artificial waterfalls gushed down from a height, flowing into landscape levels imitating a primeval forest, gathering along the rocks into a huge pool in the center.

Song Jin and Li Xiao walked in the corridor surrounded by vegetation, looking at the pool hanging high in the air. At the bottom of the pool was a transparent protective cover with small, fine openings; water fell like rain, creating a rainforest landscape on the lower level. From time to time, water splashed onto their clothes. Song Jin took back his gaze with little interest: “The humidity is so heavy; the elderly will get rheumatism if they live here too long.”

Li Xiao: “…” Brother isn’t that old yet.

The Alpha who was leading them nearby laughed when he heard this: “It’s your first time seeing such a magnificent ecological building, right? There is a very complete air purification system here, so such problems won’t occur.” His tone sounded somewhat sarcastic due to his lack of respect, implying Song Jin was inexperienced.

They hadn’t even met the host yet, and he was already trying to intimidate him.

Song Jin sneered: “It is indeed my first time seeing it.”

Alpha: “Opportunities are rare today; you should take a good look around.”

Ascending a hundred meters into the air via a transparent lift, they reached the third floor at the top. There were guards on duty every three meters in the corridor. The Alpha led them to a door and made a respectful gesture: “His Majesty is already waiting for you.”

The door opened slowly. Song Jin was about to enter, but was pulled back by Li Xiao.

“Your shoes are covered in water; it’s inappropriate to meet my brother like this.” Li Xiao looked at the Alpha: “You help him wipe them clean.”

The smile on the Alpha’s lips stiffened, and he bowed his head to comply, squatting down to help Song Jin wipe his boots. Song Jin glanced at the almost invisible water stains on the military boots, and his mood improved instantly. Old man Li’s protection is hard not to enjoy.

Chief Assistant Old Liu was waiting in the outer hall. Seeing Li Xiao and the others enter, he hurried over and signaled for the attendants to go guard the outside.

Li Xiao: “Where is my brother?”

Old Liu led them to sit down and personally made tea, placing it in front of them: “His Majesty is currently on a call with General Qi; it might take a while.”

Li Xiao: “What happened today?”

Mentioning the street attack, Old Liu’s expression changed slightly, and he explained the entire process: “The area His Majesty visited started strengthening control a week ago; for the past two days, the public has needed security checks to enter or exit. The garrison and guards were already on high alert, but we didn’t expect such a major incident.”

Old Liu’s account of the incident was about the same as what Li Xiao and the others saw online.

Li Xiao: “The bombs they used were modified 344 energy canisters; no matter how strict the security checks are, it’s useless, unless you close all the shops.” That would make it safe, but it would lose the meaning of the inspection.

Old Liu looked astonished: “How did you know that?”

Li Xiao: “I saw the video online.”

Old Liu immediately contacted the person in charge of the guard team, asking them to investigate in this direction, but he also understood that the hope of finding anything was slim. Everyone knew who was playing tricks behind today’s incident, but without evidence, it couldn’t be said on the surface.

Suddenly, a slight shattering sound came from the inner hall. Old Liu greeted Li Xiao and hurried over there.

In the inner hall office, Li Ji was furious. The teacup by his hand lay shattered in the corner, tea spilling all over the floor.

“The Fifth Legion just had such a huge failure, and now there’s an incident here again!” Li Ji glared at the holographic projection of Qi Shoude and questioned sharply, “Is it that the people in your hands are incompetent, or is your management capability insufficient?!”

Qi Shoude lowered his head, his face tense: “I am deeply sorry; I have just checked the garrison’s security work, and there were truly no lapses.”

Li Ji slapped the table, his voice rising by an octave: “Then how did those rebels mix in?!”

Qi Shoude: “The ‘Ravens’ have always been a tumor, truly hard to guard against. I have ordered them to conduct a thorough search of the Homing District to ensure no corner is left unsearched, and we must capture them.”

“Trying to pull that on me?” Li Ji was so angry he laughed. “This explosion even implicated innocent civilians. If you can’t capture them within 24 hours, you can get out of your position as the supervising General!”

Qi Shoude’s mouth twitched slightly, and he resisted his patience to respond.

“I definitely won’t let you down.”

When Old Liu entered, the video call had already ended, leaving only the enraged Li Ji in the room.

“Your Majesty, the Second Prince and his consort have arrived.”

Hearing the word “consort,” Li Ji didn’t react for a moment, suppressed the anger in his heart, and walked out. Footsteps came from the inner hall. Song Jin lifted his eyes, meeting Li Ji’s gaze as he walked over. Although both sides had learned about each other through various channels, this was their first meeting.

Li Ji’s photo resembled Li Xiao by five or six parts, but in person, the resemblance wasn’t as high. Song Jin felt this had a lot to do with his demeanor. One could tell from the brothers’ expressions that they had completely different personalities.

While Song Jin was sizing up Li Ji, Li Ji was also sizing up Song Jin. Just by one glance, he could determine that Song Jin’s identity was not simple; this kid didn’t show the slightest hint of timidity upon seeing him, but instead exuded a relaxed ease.

Li Xiao looked on and took the initiative to introduce them.

Song Jin smiled: “Brother-in-law, I’m really sorry I didn’t bring a gift; I’ll make up for it next time.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Li Ji’s brow twitched. What the hell kind of address is “brother-in-law”?

Li Ji said with a straight face: “You are not officially married yet.”

“Then—can I follow Xiao-Xiao and call you ‘Brother’?” Song Jin smiled. “However, I’m used to calling my brother by a nickname.”

Li Ji: “A nickname?”

Song Jin: “Old Man.”

Li Ji: “…”

This kid is even wilder than Xiao-Xiao.