After crossing paths that night, Li Xiao had guessed there was a high probability the golden lion wasn’t from Raven. However, with no other clues, he could only start investigating from Raven. He hadn’t expected the other party to show up at the Central Military Academy.
As the highest institution in the military field of the Holy Ya Empire, this wasn’t a place just anyone could sneak into.

Meeting the golden lion’s probing gaze, Li Xiao suppressed a bellyful of questions and played dumb: “Apologies, I don’t understand Holy Ya language.”

Li Xiao’s expression was too sincere, and he had a face that looked like it disdained to lie. The group of people around all thought he really couldn’t understand.
Walking behind him, Meng Tao and a few others silently exchanged glances, unable to hide the disdain in their eyes.
He couldn’t even speak the most basic foreign language. If it weren’t arranged by His Majesty, with Li Xiao’s level, how could he possibly have gotten the qualification to be an exchange student?

Had it been anyone else, Song Jin would have already patted his butt and left. But since Li Xiao was good-looking, he didn’t mind looking at him a bit longer. He patiently asked in Danse language: “Where have we met before?”
Li Xiao maintained a calm expression: “Just on the way here, I saw you from a distance. Your hair color is very unique.”

Song Jin’s gaze swept over Li Xiao’s ear, and he slowly replied: “Your earring is also very unique.”
“It’s just a cheap street stall good, you can see them everywhere in our country. If you want to talk about unique—” Li Xiao motioned for Song Jin to look at Meng Tao behind him, “His ear thread is haute couture, you can’t buy it on the market. Both the craftsmanship and the material are the best.”

Standing to the side, Jiang Hao secretly peeked at Li Xiao: “…”
The boss started praising people again.

Not expecting to suddenly be called out, and with a compliment no less, Meng Tao’s mocking smile froze on his face. He quickly walked to Li Xiao’s side, his face full of smiles: “I didn’t expect you to like it. I’ll give you a pair when we get back?”
Li Xiao: “Thank you.”
Meng Tao looked at Song Jin: “If you don’t mind, I brought some new accessories. I can give you whichever one you like.”

Being on the very first day in Holy Ya, it was exactly the time to expand his network. Meng Tao naturally wouldn’t let such a good opportunity slip by.

Having grown up in the top-tier circle of power since childhood, no petty actions or hidden intentions could escape Song Jin’s eyes.
He had no interest in inquiring about the gossip among these exchange students, nor did he plan to get involved. He casually pointed: “I just like cheap street stall goods like his. Do you have any?”

Li Xiao, who was pointed at: “…”
This little golden lion is ruthless in action and vicious with his mouth.

Meng Tao: “I don’t have that kind of style.”
Song Jin: “Forget it then.”
Meng Tao felt somewhat awkward, secretly cursing that people in Holy Ya truly had no taste.
Any single one of his accessories was extremely valuable; how could they not compare to Li Xiao’s broken earrings?

Watching Song Jin cause trouble, Qian Can burst out laughing, only to receive an elbow from Qin Le.
As the student council president, enjoying the show was one thing, but Qin Le still had to step forward to manage the overall situation. After checking the check-in registration information for the exchange students, he led them to their respective dormitories.

Whether it was a coincidence or intentionally arranged, all the exchange students lived on the same floor as Song Jin.
Watching Li Xiao enter the dormitory directly opposite his, Song Jin slightly raised an eyebrow. His depressed mood over the past few days took a slight turn for the better.
Both were running missions, but facing a beauty was always better than facing a bunch of demons and ghosts.

Qian Can followed Song Jin’s gaze for a long time, resting his chin in his hand thoughtfully: “Among this group of people, he has the highest background, right?”
Although he didn’t have flashy decorations, one could tell the difference between him and the others at a single glance.
Song Jin: “He himself said it was a cheap street stall good.”
Qian Can: “…He was talking about the earring, boss.”
Song Jin: “Isn’t it the same?”
Qian Can: “…”
How is it the same?

The system allocated rooms based on the order of the exchange student roster. Li Xiao and Da Bei shared a room. Jiang Hao was assigned to the room next to theirs, sharing with an exchange student named Qi Ge.
The dormitory had already been cleaned; at the very least, it was cleaner than his side hall.
The only large pieces of furniture in the bedroom were a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe—simple and generous, very characteristic of a military academy.

Li Xiao picked a room at random. After dropping his backpack, he opened the floor-to-ceiling window on the balcony for ventilation.
The golden lion was a student at the Central Military Academy—now this matter had become interesting.
Did the golden lion represent the military academy? Why did he want to snatch the Bique tribe’s blood?
Judging by the relentless pursuit that night, the blood was very important to the golden lion.
He couldn’t really believe that the blood could enhance pheromones and extend lifespan, could he?

Also, he didn’t know if he was confused by those amber eyes, leading to preconceived notions, but he always felt the golden lion looked somewhat similar to Song Yu. Yet he remembered Song Yu only had one useless older brother, with no other brothers.

There were too many questions.
However, the most important thing right now was to figure out a way to establish contact with Song Yu first.
The time given to him was at most a month; he couldn’t afford to waste it here.

“Big brother.”
Jiang Hao walked over from the next bedroom to the balcony. “Holy Ya’s school is so big, we even have to drive just to get a meal.”
Li Xiao: “Do you know how to drive?”
Jiang Hao nodded: “I do, but I don’t have a license.”
Li Xiao: “…It’s fine, swipe my card.”

This was Jiang Hao’s first time attending a normal people’s school, and such a high-spec one right off the bat. For a moment, he didn’t know where to start adapting, but he knew what he should do as a qualified underling.
How could he let his big brother drive for his underling? Tomorrow, he would go get his driver’s license.

Knock, knock, knock.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Brother?” Da Bei walked into Li Xiao’s bedroom holding a rag. “I’m going to clean the bedroom again. Do you want my help?”

Li Xiao waved at Jiang Hao, telling him to go do his own thing first, and turned back into the bedroom: “I’ll just do it myself.”
Da Bei looked disapproving: “How can we let you do these servants’ chores?”
“I’ve taken care of myself all these years, I’m used to it.”
Li Xiao took off his military uniform jacket and rolled up his sleeves. “We are the same age, just treat me as a friend, no need to be too restrained.”

Da Bei hesitated for a moment, then smiled and nodded: “Alright, but if you need any help, just say the word!”
“En.” Li Xiao faintly agreed and went to the small kitchen first. Regardless of whether it had been cleaned before, the bowls and chopsticks all needed to be washed again.

Da Bei closely followed, rolled up his sleeves to wash dishes, and casually chatted: “Brother, are you very close with Meng Tao and the others?”
Li Xiao wiped dishes with a dry cloth: “Just met them.”
Da Bei placed the washed bowls into the draining basket: “Seeing you praise Meng Tao’s ear thread in the corridor earlier, I thought you two had a really good relationship.”
Li Xiao: “Meng Tao’s grades at the military academy rank in the top five of his year, and his abilities are outstanding. I like making friends with excellent people.”

Da Bei tilted his head to look at him: “But Zheng Lin and the others are very strong too. I remember Zheng Lin ranked sixth in the grade on the last exam, only two points lower than Meng Tao.”
“Is that so?” Li Xiao lacked interest, his tone noticeably colder.

After the two finished cleaning the kitchen, they went back to tidy their respective rooms.
Watching Li Xiao enter his bedroom, Da Bei took out another terminal from his backpack, rushed into the bathroom, locked the door behind him, rapidly typed a line of text, and sent it out.
[Successfully arranged into the same dormitory. The Second Prince intends to befriend Meng Tao and is cold towards the others.]

–

At night, Li Xiao dialed Song Yu’s communication number from his memory, only to be prompted that he didn’t have permission to dial it, nor could he send messages.
Thinking for a moment, he simply opened the Holy Ya royal family’s public page, found a 24-hour complaint communication number, and dialed it.
It connected quickly.

Customer Service: “Hello, this is the public convenience hotline. How may I help you?”
Li Xiao spoke in fluent Holy Ya language: “I’m looking for Song Yu.”
Customer Service: “…I cannot recognize what you are saying. Please explain more concisely and clearly.”
Li Xiao: “I’m looking for the King, please help me transfer.”
Customer Service: “…I don’t have the authority to transfer you here. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Li Xiao: “…”

You could figure it out with your toes that this method wouldn’t work.
After forcibly leaving a record of a complaint against Song Yu, Li Xiao browsed through all the off-campus activities on the military academy forum to see if there was a chance to visit the Imperial Capital planet.
The result was still no.
Moving around Holy Ya as an exchange student came with a certain degree of restriction. If he couldn’t go through formal channels under a legitimate pretext, he could only think of another way.

At the same time, in the dormitory across the hall.
Song Jin curled up on the sofa, eating chocolate, and tapped open the exchange student information he had just received.
Quickly flipping to Li Xiao’s page, he paused.

The information showed that Li Xiao was eighteen years old this year, born in the civilian district of Tianjiang Planet T100. He had never left that district growing up until he tested into the Danse First Military Academy this year.
Compared to the resumes of the other exchange students, Li Xiao’s was simply too ordinary, without the slightest bright spot.

Qian Can leaned over with snacks to look: “Huh, just a commoner? Even the boss has times when his judgment fails.”
Song Jin: “How could such a resume get the qualification to be an exchange student?”
Qian Can joked: “Others rely on background, he relies on his face?”
Song Jin looked at the photo on the profile and nodded in agreement: “It’s not completely unreasonable.”
Qian Can: “…”
Are you serious?

Although he said that, Song Jin’s intuition told him Li Xiao wasn’t that simple. That night, he used various channels to investigate that civilian district, flipping through a mountain of information and accidentally staying up all night. Yet surprisingly, he couldn’t find anything at all.

The next day was the exchange students’ first day of class.
The first-year students of this batch were assigned to the same class as Song Jin.
With so many new students suddenly arriving, the homeroom teacher arranged for an initial assessment test.

There was a terminal on everyone’s desk; the displayed exam paper was only visible to the user.
Li Xiao didn’t rush to answer the questions. He skimmed through the exam papers for all subjects first.
The difficulty wasn’t considered high, but the scope of knowledge covered was very broad; one couldn’t score high just by rote memorization.
Compared to Danse’s formalism, Holy Ya was clearly pragmatic.

Playing the persona of a useless person who couldn’t understand foreign languages, Li Xiao randomly filled in a few multiple-choice questions as he pleased, while pondering ways to find Song Yu in his mind.
In the back row, Jiang Hao truly wanted to answer the questions seriously, but he also truly couldn’t understand.
A row away, Song Jin wrote his name with bold, flying strokes, lay down on the desk, and fell asleep.

Two and a half hours later, the exam ended. The system produced the scores within five seconds, and a virtual screen popped up in mid-air displaying everyone’s score rankings.
Seeing Song Jin with 0 points, Li Xiao with 3 points, and Jiang Hao with 9 points, the homeroom teacher trembled, unable to speak, and almost passed away on the spot.

In the hundreds of years since the Central Military Academy was founded, there had never been scores this terrible!
Catching a glimpse of Meng Tao and the others occasionally looking over out of the corner of his eye, Jiang Hao whispered: “Big brother, I’ve embarrassed you.”
Li Xiao: “It’s three times mine, not bad.”
Jiang Hao: “…”

Thinking of what happened in the corridor yesterday, Meng Tao walked up to Li Xiao and smiled: “Yesterday you said you didn’t understand Holy Ya language. I thought you were being modest; I didn’t expect you to genuinely know absolutely nothing.”
Li Xiao: “Are you free to schedule a time to study foreign languages together?”
Zheng Lin, standing nearby, laughed out loud, his tone laced with sarcasm: “Brother Tao has already studied Holy Ya language to the highest level. Did you think everyone was like you?”

“Is that so?” Li Xiao looked at the score rankings, somewhat puzzled. “It must have been the foreign language that affected your performance, right? Otherwise, given Meng Tao’s abilities, how could he only get tenth in the class?”
Meng Tao’s face slightly changed, his sense of superiority vanishing into thin air.
Holy Ya’s exam style was very strange; he hadn’t even seen many of the questions before.

The others’ attention was also drawn to Meng Tao.
This was just an in-class exam. As the one with the best grades among the exchange students, his rank was indeed too low.
“It’s normal not to adapt at the beginning,” Li Xiao patted Meng Tao’s shoulder. “The practical combat exam in the afternoon is your home ground. Among all these people, I only have high hopes for you. Adjust your mindset and prepare well.”

This comforting posture—it was as if the person who bombed the test wasn’t him, but Meng Tao.
Li Xiao’s words made Zheng Lin very uncomfortable.
Although Li Xiao’s opinion wasn’t important, his and Meng Tao’s grades were similar. Why was he only paying attention to Meng Tao?

Regardless of what they thought in their hearts, Li Xiao turned and left after speaking.
Just after walking out of the teaching building, he was blocked in the middle of the garden corridor by omegas swarming from all directions.
The omegas had been paying attention to Li Xiao since yesterday; there was even a whole page of discussion threads about him on the forum.
Li Xiao didn’t have the highest background among the exchange students, but he was the best-looking. His serious demeanor made him look especially easy to deceive, making him the top choice to make a move on.

Li Xiao’s sense of smell was unusually sharp, and his perception of pheromones was stronger than ordinary people’s.
Being surrounded by so many omegas at close quarters was simply a disaster scene for him.

After taking a few steps, not only did the omegas not step back, but they also squeezed closer.
Li Xiao indicated that he didn’t understand Holy Ya language, but the omegas continued talking to themselves anyway.
Throughout the entire process, both sides engaged in completely obstructed communication, with no one listening to the other.

Catching a glimpse of the little golden lion coming down the steps of the teaching building with a look as if he had just woken up, Li Xiao waved at him.
Song Jin gave him face and walked over unhurriedly.
“What?”

The omegas were no longer calm.
In terms of appearance alone, Song Jin was absolutely top-tier. But his aura was too strong, making it clear at a glance that he was not to be messed with. Even though their hearts were itching and scratching, no one dared to rush forward.
Two alpha with top-tier looks standing together—the visual impact was too strong.

Li Xiao: “Help me tell them I don’t understand what they’re saying.”
Song Jin: “Asking me to be your translator? The reward?”
Li Xiao: “I’ll treat you to a meal?”
Song Jin neither agreed nor disagreed, tilting his head to look at the others.
“He says he’s very annoyed by omegas who throw themselves at him uninvited.”

Li Xiao: “…”
Everyone else: “…”
Someone muttered in a low voice: “Really?”

Song Jin asked Li Xiao with a straight face: “You don’t understand Holy Ya language, right?”
Li Xiao: “…”
Nodding wasn’t right, shaking his head wasn’t right either. Li Xiao said expressionlessly: “I don’t understand.”

Song Jin looked at the others: “Did you all hear that? He says he finds it very annoying.”
Li Xiao: “…”