There was another banqueting session at noon, so after setting down a preliminary operational plan with Gao Wanxin, Li Xiao and the others adjourned the meeting for the time being.

Returning to the side hall to change clothes, Song Jin reviewed Gao Wanxin’s rhetoric and asked Li Xiao, “How much credibility does Old Man Gao actually have?”

For a moment, Li Xiao couldn’t give an answer.

In his past life, without the cooperation of the Gao family, relying solely on the military strength of the Yi family and the reinforcements from the Shengya Empire wouldn’t have been enough to win against the Meng family.

However, his intuition told him that what Gao Wanxin said today was not the complete truth—at least, not all of it.

Li Xiao picked up his jacket. “Didn’t you tell me before? When you can’t see through a person, don’t look at what he says; look at what he does.”

Song Jin: “…”

Song Jin walked up to Li Xiao. “What did he do?”

Li Xiao helped him adjust his tie. “He exposed the Meng family.”

Song Jin: “So he isn’t an enemy?”

Li Xiao: “At least not for now.”

Dragging his voice out in a lazy tone, Song Jin spoke with a dead serious face: “These old men in Danse have more little schemes than the next. Without me by your side, what are you going to do?”

Amused by his overly mature and solemn tone, Li Xiao chuckled. “I can’t manage without you. As if you didn’t know that already?”

Song Jin raised an eyebrow. “Then are you still going to chase me back?”

Li Xiao: “I was tricking him. You actually believed it?”

Unable to suppress the upward curve of his lips, Song Jin wrapped his arms around Li Xiao.

Just as Li Xiao thought the little lion was going to lean in for a kiss, he heard the other party say with a beaming smile, “However, revenge that needs to be taken will still be taken. Wash yourself clean and wait for me, old man.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Whether you can exact that revenge or not depends entirely on your own abilities.

After the noon banquet, the exchange students from the Shengya Empire were set to board a space shuttle arranged by the palace to head to Space Station 1 of the Tianjiang constellation, where they would transfer to a starship sent by the Shengya Empire to depart from the Danse Empire.

Li Xiao led a group of Danse officials to see them off at the landing pad.

Leaving so abruptly, the exchange students were all a bit reluctant to part—especially Qian Can and Qin Le. Upon hearing that Song Jin wasn’t returning, they wanted to stay behind as well, only to be flatly rejected by Song Jin.

Rationally speaking, they naturally understood that a war was about to break out in the Danse Empire and that they had no choice but to leave. Still, leaving Song Jin here alone made them endlessly worried.

Refusing to give up, Qian Can pleaded softly with Song Jin, “Boss, at least let me stay behind! Otherwise, there won’t even be anyone by your side to take care of you…”

Song Jin remained unmoved. “I have Li Xiao to take care of me.”

“…”

An arrow struck Qian Can right in the knee. Struggling to make a last stand, he pressed, “If you can stay behind, why can’t I?”

Song Jin took it for granted: “Because I’m not dead weight.”

Another knife pierced Qian Can’s heart, leaving him even more despondent.

If you don’t work hard in your youth, you’ll be despised when you grow up. If I had known this earlier, why bother?

To the side, Jiang Hao and Qin Le were shaking hands in farewell.

When they parted last time in the Shengya Empire, they hadn’t been as close as they were now, and they had known they would see each other again soon. But this time was different.

Once a war started, it wasn’t something anyone could pause just because they wanted to.

Who knew when they would meet again next time?

Qin Le patted Jiang Hao on the shoulder. “Come over to my place to hang out whenever you’re free in the future.”

Jiang Hao nodded in agreement. He wanted to tell Qin Le to come over to his house too, but the words stuck in his throat, unable to come out.

He didn’t want to speak polite, fake pleasantries, yet he was equally unable to invite friends from “this world” to his home in “that world.”

The shuttle’s departure time was drawing near, and the exchange students boarded one after another.

Watching Qin Le and Qian Can wave at him, Jiang Hao’s hand hanging by his side twitched. He took two steps forward to catch up, plucking up the courage to say, “You guys should also come to my place to hang out when you’re free in the future.”

Both Qian Can and Qin Le were a little surprised.

Qian Can grinned. “Sure thing! I’ve been wanting to go see those waifus of yours for ages, heh heh heh.”

Qin Le nodded seriously. “I want to meet your mysterious elder brother.”

Qian Can: “Ah, me too! The Legendary Crotch-Grabbing Eldest Brother Jiang—and you’re his closed-door disciple!”

Qin Le: “…Can you stop bringing that up?”

Jiang Hao watched them walk away chatting and laughing, then turned his gaze toward Li Xiao standing not far behind him.

As long as he could be of more help, sooner or later he could ask Eldest Brother to get his brother a household registration. Wasn’t this exact goal the reason why he had left home and come to “this world” in the first place?

After the exchange students’ shuttle took off, the students from the First Legion were also preparing to return to school.

Li Xiao instructed Yan Qing, “Stay safe on the road. Song Jin and I will return a couple of days later. If there are any important announcements from the school, please inform us.”

Yan Qing nodded. “I will.”

Not long after the starship from the Shengya Empire flew out of the Danse Empire’s territory, sensational news that shook the entire nation broke on the Xingya social platform once again.

The trending term #Meng Shan Mental Illness# hung at the very top of the entire platform’s headlines for a full day. The debate under the topic was fierce, but after arguing back and forth, no one could arrive at a definitive conclusion.

Many people analyzed the previous video of Meng Shan repeatedly, discovering that he stared at the camera multiple times and shouted the name “Wei Feng”, appearing to be in an abnormally hyperactive state that didn’t look like a normal person at all.

Compared to the psychiatric evaluation report provided by the Meng family—along with various physical data and medication records from his treatments—the previously leaked video of Meng Shan was merely a video after all; verbal claims carried no proof.

Countless netizens went under the official accounts of the royal family and the military to beg for the truth, yet received no response whatsoever. On the contrary, garrison accounts across various planets in the Nanming constellation forwarded the Meng family’s clarification update one after another, making their stance glaringly obvious.

At three in the afternoon, Military Headquarters.

Zheng Kangan looked at the message received on his backup terminal, his face looking utterly dreadful.

【It’s your turn to step forward, ally.】

Meng Jian’s series of operations had pulled the bowstring between the Meng faction and the royal family tighter and tighter. War was on the verge of breaking out, and sitting right in the center of the storm, the Zheng family had nowhere to hide.

Zheng Kangan wiped his face. After sitting in silence for a long time, he finally made up his mind, swiped open his terminal, and used his personal account to forward the Meng family’s post.

【Elder Meng is getting up there in age, and his mental state has been rather poor since a year ago. Please be more tolerant toward an elderly person. I hope Elder Meng recovers at an early date.】

The moment he posted it, garrison accounts across various planets in the Suyang constellation forwarded it one after another, triggering yet another new wave of public discourse.

The close relationship between the Zheng family and the Meng family was no secret in the Danse Empire. But for Zheng Kangan to dare step into the arena personally to back the Meng family during such a sensitive period—aside from their friendship, was it really possible that Meng Shan was genuinely mentally unstable?

By five in the afternoon, comments on the network expressing belief in Meng Shan’s mental illness grew more and more numerous. Under the manipulation of the Meng family, public opinion gradually reversed, and some people even began to feel sympathy for Meng Shan.

Before any official response from the royal family arrived, Yi Yongning’s personal account published a text-only update instead.

【One can be tolerant toward the elderly, but against criminals, one should strike with full force. No one can forgive a murderer on behalf of the victims!】

Yi Yongning didn’t mention the Meng family by name, yet every single word struck right at the Meng family’s vital spots.

The comments under the update—

【Leave it to Admiral Yi! Hearing this makes me feel so refreshed!】

【I honestly don’t know what mindset those people feeling sorry for criminals have.】

【The Meng family’s brainwashing packages are way too much. My dad asked me today who was framing Meng Shan, I’m seriously at a loss.】

【Someone please drop an official response already! I’m almost being branded a traitor by my own family!】

【For Admiral Yi to respond like this shows that the military definitely possesses more substantial evidence!】

【To those washing the Meng family’s hands clean, I wish you run out of toilet paper every single time you go to the restroom in the future.】

At five-thirty in the afternoon, it was right around the time most people were getting off work.

On a crowded floating shuttle, a sharp scream suddenly erupted from the crowd, scaring others into thinking they were about to crash.

“Someone posted evidence of the Meng family’s crimes online! Go look, quick!”

The entire carriage paused for two seconds. Everyone swiped open their terminals simultaneously, unhesitatingly selecting Xingya among numerous social platforms. Sure enough, under the top trending topic, there was a brand new top comment.

【Who said everything a mental patient says is nonsense? Mental patients are so adorable, how can you discriminate against them?! As a moral and responsible good citizen of Danse, today I must step forward to speak up for mental patients—Everything Meng Shan said is true!】

Attached beneath the post were over twenty text screenshots, photos, and videos.

The first three images displayed a timeline, documenting the process of a race called the Keba, whose population drastically plummeted from four million to thirty thousand between eighty-one and seventy-eight years ago.

In just a few short years, having gone through racial civil war, infectious diseases, and collective displacement, the region where the Keba race originally lived turned into a desolate ghost town.

The timeline highlighted how the Meng family instigated war within the Keba race, how they bribed security inspectors to secretly slip viruses into vegetables, and so forth. Every step was backed by ample evidence, and even the personal files of the suspects were listed—all pointing precisely at the Meng family.

Apart from that, it also mentioned that two generals born of the Keba race had successively died in accidents right around the time the Keba race suffered their tragedy.

After this post was frantically retweeted, the trending term #Evidence of Meng Shan’s Genocide# rapidly topped the hot search list.

The comment section under the topic blew up completely.

【It’s unimaginable what scale of disaster this was. A top-tier insect tide causes casualties only on the hundred-thousand level, yet the moment the Meng family makes a move, millions are dead or injured!】

【The Meng family has completely extinguished their humanity!】

【If this is true, I wish it were fake; if this is fake, I wish it were true.】

【@Meng Shan, get the hell out of Danse!】

【The dragon slayer eventually becomes the evil dragon. No matter how many achievements the Meng family has, it can never erase the sins they’ve committed!】

【Currently on Planet N194 in the Nanming constellation. I saw a lot of garrison patrols on the streets, I don’t even dare to step out of the house anymore.】

【My parents are still in our hometown in the Nanming constellation. They are so panicked right now that they can’t work at all! Begging the royal family for protection QuQ】

Not long after the update was posted, Military Headquarters issued a new statement, requiring garrisons on all inhabited planets in the Nanming constellation to elevate their prevention and control levels to ensure the personal travel safety of residents.

Imperial Capital Star, Military District.

After finishing dinner, Jiang Chi drove his car around the military district like a headless fly again. This was the most legitimate job he had on his hands right now.

“If I keep driving around like this, won’t I turn stupid?”

Jiang Chi babbled to himself, looking at the luxurious villas outside the car window, swallowing his saliva.

The architecture in the military district was exceptionally well-planned. There wasn’t a single flashy spot on the exterior, but at a single glance, it looked grand and expensive—a place that someone like him could never afford to live in, no matter how rich he got.

Out of the corner of his eye, a hovercar flew in from far away in the front-left direction, swaying unsteadily. Jiang Chi took an extra look out of curiosity; judging by the model of the car, it should be a vehicle reserved exclusively for high-ranking officials.

These past few days, he hadn’t discovered anything else, but he had thoroughly researched military vehicle models and houses inside out.

“Who’s driving that car? Way too uncomposed.”

Jiang Chi lowered his altitude to steer clear of the military vehicle on the lane above, complaining, “With this kind of driving skill, he actually managed to apply for a job as a chauffeur?”

The military car on the highest lane was swaying violently from side to side.

“Sir, the vehicle’s smart system has completely lost control! I am currently trying to switch to manual control. It might get very bumpy, please hold tightly onto the handrail!”

The soldier in the driver’s seat urgently switched modes. Although he could control the direction now, the speed was still dominated by the smart system.

The conflict between the manual operations and the onboard smart system’s commands caused the car to sway left and right, vibrating incessantly.

In the back seat, a middle-aged Beta wearing a major’s military uniform asked urgently, “Everything was fine when we left, why did it suddenly lose control?”

The soldier in the driver’s seat was breaking out in a cold sweat. “The system is performing a self-check. It might have been breached by an external program!”

Director of the Intelligence Bureau, Yi Anhe, gripped the handrail tightly, his hawk-like eyes scanning the outside of the vehicle.

Three small black dots appeared at the three o’clock, nine o’clock, and eleven o’clock directions respectively, rapidly expanding to the size of coins.

All three vehicles were heading toward him at high speed.

Something was wrong.

Yi Anhe issued a command in a deep voice: “Prepare for an emergency—”

Just as he opened his mouth, the piercing alarm of the vehicle’s smart system blared inside the car.

【Warning! Warning! Warning!】

【Self-detonation program will initiate in three seconds. Three…】

Yi Anhe’s face shifted drastically.

The soldier in the driver’s seat rapidly opened all vehicle doors, slammed the emergency escape button, and pushed the control joystick all the way to the top at the same time, climbing altitude at maximum speed while yelling with all his might, “Sir, run—!”

The seats of Yi Anhe and the Beta major were ejected out of the vehicle. In the very next second, a deafening explosion echoed in their ears.

The sweeping shockwave pushed them, causing them to roll and plummet rapidly through the air.

Yi Anhe deployed his parachute. Watching the car explode right in front of his eyes, he was consumed by uncontrollable rage: “Meng Jian!”

The jagged metal fragments flying from the explosion sliced through the top of the parachute, leaving several deep, bloody cuts on Yi Anhe’s body. Coupled with the sweeping shockwave, the descent process became extremely treacherous.

The three military vehicles coming from different directions were already right before their eyes, yet they were still hanging mid-air.

The Beta major didn’t have time to contact the guard unit and had no choice but to maneuver over to Yi Anhe’s side first, trying to find a way to protect him.

Yi Anhe noticed a hovercar crawling leisurely down below and yelled toward it in desperation: “Help! Help—!”

With an explosion that loud and fragments clattering noisily against his car, Jiang Chi would have to be stone-blind not to notice something was wrong.

Any situation that could erupt inside the military district was no small matter. Jiang Chi knew very well in his heart that this wasn’t something a pirate like him could casually get involved in.

He originally didn’t want to be dragged into it, but hearing that desperate, roaring cry for help, his hands tightened on the steering wheel.

If the person I rescue turns out to be a good guy, I’ll take the opportunity to demand benefits from him.

If the person I rescue turns out to be a bad guy, I’ll hand him over to the Second Prince, and then demand benefits from the Second Prince.

“Alright, action!”

Jiang Chi slammed on the gas and spun the steering wheel hard. The car drew a standard large loop in the air, flying straight toward the two people hanging mid-air.

The three military vehicles were already closing in.

Yi Anhe attempted to adjust his parachute to avoid collision with the cars.

“Sir, watch out!” the Beta major screamed hysterically.

Yi Anhe barely dodged the vehicle coming from the nine o’clock direction, but his parachute was struck, almost losing control completely.

Before he could stabilize himself, the vehicle from the eleven o’clock direction slammed toward him head-on.

Unless he unbuckled his safety harness and jumped straight down, he had no way left to dodge. Yet jumping down from this height made survival virtually impossible.

Yi Anhe was unwilling.

He couldn’t die yet!

A flash of silver light zipped past his eyes, and Yi Anhe’s eyes widened slightly.

The hovercar that had been dawdling leisurely just a moment ago cut off the military vehicle’s collision with absolute dominance, resembling a fighter jet.

Jiang Chi rapidly turned the vehicle’s head, keeping an eye on his surroundings with his peripheral vision. After predicting the next move of those three military cars, he orbited closely around the two hanging in the air for three rapid loops, popped open the rear door, and yelled at the two outside, “Get in!”

The speed and angle were spot on. Without needing Jiang Chi to say another word, the Beta major had already grabbed the car door, unbuckled his safety harness at the same time, and wriggled into the car.

With a sharp fishtail maneuver, Jiang Chi swerved off a military car while aligning the door on the other side toward Yi Anhe.

In the back seat, before the Beta major could sit firm, he was thrown and slammed heavily against the car door.

Yi Anhe unbuckled his harness and prepared to crawl into the back seat. Noticing a gun barrel poking out from the military car’s window out of the corner of his eye, he hastily ducked. A bullet flew past his body at an angle.

At the same time, another military car rammed straight toward Jiang Chi’s vehicle.

Jiang Chi was forced to drop altitude to dodge.

Yi Anhe stepped into empty air, grabbed the door frame abruptly, and swung dangling outside the car.

“Sir!”

The Beta major lunged over and grabbed Yi Anhe. “Give me your hand!”

Seeing this, the military cars outside took turns ramming into Yi Anhe, gunshots ringing out continuously under the night sky.

Jiang Chi not only had to predict the enemy’s collision points, but also observe the angles of their gunfire. He hadn’t fought this hard in a long time, and couldn’t help but regret poking his nose into other people’s business.

He wondered if the benefits he’d get would be enough to cover his burial expenses.

The Beta major gripped Yi Anhe’s hand, hauling him up with all his might.

Threading through the enemy’s pincer attack, Jiang Chi glanced at the rearview mirror, slowly tilting the car body so that Yi Anhe—who had managed to climb halfway—tumbled smoothly into the cabin.

Just as the car door was closed, a sudden loud BANG echoed. The car was rammed off course, flying far out into the air.

Jiang Chi cursed under his breath, quickly adjusting to stabilize the vehicle, and glanced at the warning window popping up on the control dashboard.

One side of the engine had developed a fault; the speed could no longer be brought up.

Continuing like this meant getting rammed to death sooner or later.

Jiang Chi urgently contacted Li Xiao while dropping altitude at the same time: “Listen up, the moment I stop, run immediately!”

“Understood.” Holding onto the car seat, Yi Anhe didn’t even have time to glance at the driver’s seat as he urgently contacted the nearby guard unit.

However, it would take time for the guard unit to rush over, and they might have been set up by the Meng family as well. For now, they still had to rely on themselves.

The only suitable place nearby to take cover was an underpass not far ahead.

Tricking the three pursuing cars with a series of feints, Jiang Chi parked the vehicle on one side of the underpass: “Go!”

Yi Anhe stepped out of the door, but the moment his feet touched the ground, his whole body suddenly pitched forward.

Jiang Chi, who was getting out from the front seat, instinctively caught him.

“How useless can you be? How did you even become an official?” As Jiang Chi spoke, he looked down at Yi Anhe’s left leg, only then realizing that his pant leg was already soaked through with blood.

Jiang Chi tsksed, failing to notice Yi Anhe’s instantaneous stiffening. He quickly glanced outside at the movements of the military cars, and just as he prepared to carry Yi Anhe on his back to leave, he caught the other’s gaze unexpectedly.

Under the dim lighting beneath the underpass, Jiang Chi stared blankly at this face—one that looked older than in his memory. Before he could think, the word slipped out: “Papa…”

Yi Anhe froze abruptly.

That was right—this voice had appeared in his dreams countless times.

“Xiao Chi?” The moment the name left his lips, Yi Anhe’s eyes turned red.

Countless chaotic memory fragments flashed rapidly before his eyes, and a sharp, piercing pain erupted in Jiang Chi’s temples—so painful that he couldn’t even stand firm.

“Hss!”

“Xiao Chi?!” Yi Anhe supported him abruptly.

“Sir, let’s leave here first!”

Observing the situation outside, the Beta major quickly hoisted Jiang Chi onto his shoulder, reaching out to support Yi Anhe. “The guard unit has already rushed over, just hang on for one more minute!”

Before they could even make their way out from under the underpass, a military car slammed toward them head-on from the front. A large-caliber gun barrel poked out from the lowered window, pointing straight at Yi Anhe.

The Beta major led them to dodge, firing a few shots in that direction, but all were evaded.

The distance was too close! The major dumped Jiang Chi to Yi Anhe, standing in front of them, preparing to act as a human shield.

In the next moment, the military car exploded outside the underpass with a deafening boom.

Yi Anhe wrapped his arms around Jiang Chi, turning sideways to tackle him to the ground, feeling the shockwave tread across his body.

Once the shockwave passed, the Beta major raised his head, his pupils shrinking. Outside the other end of the underpass, another military car was approaching.

He hurriedly scrambled up to protect Yi Anhe, but the military car exploded into fine dust right before his eyes once more.

The Beta major was overjoyed.

Did the guard unit arrive?!

Dust filled the sky, strange fragments drifting down from time to time, and the air was filled with a heavy smell of gunpowder.

Yi Anhe paused for a moment. After confirming it was safe, he sat up to check on Jiang Chi’s condition.

Whether it was the sudden headache or the shock from the blast wave, Jiang Chi had already passed out.

Footsteps sounded nearby, and Yi Anhe looked over vigilantly.

Li Xiao appeared out of nowhere up ahead, slowly walking toward them—