Song Jin’s casual nonsense ended up coming true. Just as the lunchtime bell rang, the news that the Second Prince, Li Xiao, had skipped classes on his very first day after transferring spread like wildfire across the entire school.

Someone posted a complaint in the communication section of the military academy’s intranet. Unexpectedly, the post’s popularity skyrocketed, drawing countless students to watch the drama unfold.

The comments beneath the post were filled with all kinds of sarcastic and mocking remarks, and the upvote count quickly surpassed ten thousand.

“People are royalty; they have the capital to skip classes. Unlike us, who train relentlessly and still might not get into a good legion.”

“The privileged class is just so amazing~”

“He went to Shengya to get a gilded resume, and now he’s here to do the same. Just watch the show, everyone.”

“No wonder people on the internet always say the Royal Family gets worse with every generation, haha.”

“As expected. What are you guys getting so salty about? Did you honestly expect a prince to roll around in the mud with you?”

Li Xiao and the four youngsters—including Jiang Hao—had agreed to meet up at Dining Hall 274, which had been recommended by Yan Qing. The moment they stepped into the restaurant, they were greeted by a barrage of strange, judgmental looks.

Song Jin let out a soft sneer, “What did I tell you?”

“Glances can’t kill anyone.” Li Xiao led him toward their reserved table. “If you care about what every single person thinks, wouldn’t you die of sheer exhaustion?”

Song Jin sat down, “Then whose opinion do you care about?”

Li Xiao flipped through the menu, “Take a guess?”

Song Jin: “…”

I refuse to believe I can’t pry this mouth open.

Jiang Hao and the other three had been training the entire morning. They stepped inside drenched in sweat, and the moment they sat down, they began scolding Meng Tao and his group.

“I’ve seriously never seen anyone so petty and narrow-minded.” Qian Can wiped away his sweat, casually draping his towel over his shoulder. “His skills are inferior, yet he bears a grudge. If everyone acted like him, people would be beaten to death in the military every single day.”

Qin Le added, “He has quite a few lackeys in the class. During the obstacle run this morning, Ah Can was nearly tripped by them.”

Jiang Hao downed a glass of ice water before turning to Li Xiao, “Big brother, you need to be careful. He got even angrier after his trap failed this morning.”

As someone with a psychological age in his thirties, listening to these youngsters’ earnest warnings made Li Xiao find the situation rather amusing.

“Mm, I won’t pay him any mind.”

Yet with some people, even if you don’t pay them any mind, they will deliberately shove themselves right into your face.

They had barely begun eating when Meng Tao, leading three of his lackeys, strutted past their dining table.

“I thought you were sick, yet here you are, perfectly fine and enjoying a meal.” Meng Tao eyed Li Xiao sideways, asking with a superficial smile, “Did the morning class not suit your taste?”

Meng Tao didn’t bother to lower his volume, successfully drawing the attention of several surrounding tables. The onlookers couldn’t help but quietly watch the commotion.

This plague of a person is simply never-ending. Qian Can slammed his hands on the table and stood up in a rage, throwing his towel forcefully onto the ground as he retaliated right to his face, “You still have the leisure to worry about others? Do your knees from this morning’s fall not hurt anymore?”

Meng Tao snapped, “I wasn’t speaking to you. Why are you sticking your mouth in?”

Two of Meng Tao’s lackeys stepped forward, intending to drag the annoying Qian Can away.

The moment they made a move, Jiang Hao and Qin Le bolted upright as well.

A heated shouting match erupted as the two sides began shoving one another.

Li Xiao set down his chopsticks in a slow, unhurried manner, gesturing for his group to stop before turning his gaze toward Meng Tao, “Can you not wait until I finish eating before speaking?”

Meng Tao sneered, “I just happened to pass by and show some casual concern. It’s not like it’s an important matter that requires us to sit down and discuss it slowly, is it?”

Seeing that the leaders of both sides had squared off, the bickering lackeys fell silent.

Li Xiao spoke with an entirely expressionless face, “If I remember correctly, this morning was a practical training class. My injuries haven’t fully healed yet, so I am incapable of performing high-intensity exercise.”

Qian Can, Jiang Hao, and the other two shot glances sideways at him simultaneously: “…”

You clearly just performed high-intensity exercise yesterday.

Noticing their shifting expressions, Song Jin, who was currently being forced to keep his mouth shut, thought to himself: “…?”

What on earth are these brats doing?

Meng Tao choked on his words. Seeing Li Xiao appear at the military academy looking like nothing was amiss, he had completely forgotten the fact that Li Xiao had been injured.

But how on earth did this look like an injured person?!

The onlookers around them came to a sudden realization.

“So that’s why Li Xiao didn’t go to class. He suffered severe injuries!”

“The chat groups only claimed he skipped class, but they didn’t specify it was a practical training class. Framing it that way is simply too malicious!”

“He’s just pretending to be perfectly fine. He’s way too resilient.”

“Some troublemakers just want to watch the world burn.”

Before long, several posts tagged with trending keywords were published in the communication section, actively helping Li Xiao clarify the truth behind his absence.

Inside the restaurant, Meng Tao’s brain whirled rapidly as he pressed further, “In that case, are you skipping the mecha piloting class this afternoon as well?”

Without waiting for Li Xiao to respond, Meng Tao nodded to himself with a self-satisfied air, “Right, you have zero foundation in mecha piloting and you’re injured. Even if you go, you won’t be able to board a mecha. Sitting on the cold bench is entirely meaningless.”

His lackeys let out mocking chuckles, playing off one another’s words to add to the ridicule.

“No way, Li Xiao actually doesn’t know how to pilot a mecha?”

“Seeing how powerful he was during the desolate planet exploration, I thought his mecha piloting skills would be top-tier as well.”

“He wasn’t a military academy student before this, so it can’t be helped.”

They were practically spitting in his face at this point. Li Xiao could tolerate it, but Song Jin absolutely could not. He shot a freezing, razor-sharp glare toward them.

Meeting Song Jin’s gaze, the hearts of the three lackeys skipped a beat, and they instinctively shrank backward.

The terrifying display of skill this youth had shown yesterday remained un-countered by any top-tier experts to this day.

The ones who usually stayed silent were always the most ruthless characters.

Song Jin, whose throat was too painful to allow speech, uncapped his thermos and silently took a sip of his cooling herbal tea.

“I will be attending this afternoon,” Li Xiao stated calmly. “It’s the very first mecha class of my life. It would be a terrible shame to miss it.”

Seeing that Li Xiao had taken the bait, Meng Tao suppressed his smugness with immense effort, nodding with an air of casual indifference, “It’s not bad to come and spectate. You can learn how others operate them.”

“Are you finished speaking?” Li Xiao asked.

Meng Tao smiled, “I’m finished. Enjoy your meal—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Li Xiao pressed the recycling buzzer on the table and re-ordered a fresh batch of food for everyone at the table.

Jiang Hao whined, “Big brother, I hadn’t even finished eating yet. This is so wasteful.”

Li Xiao replied, “It’s covered in their saliva now. It’s no longer edible.”

Meng Tao’s face stiffened instantly. Gnashing his teeth, he swerved around and led his three lackeys away.

Qian Can couldn’t hold back a burst of laughter, “Shoving his own face forward just to get humiliated.”

Da Bei laughed along, “Serves him right.”

The afternoon mecha class gathered at Mecha Training Base No. 3.

More than one class was utilizing the space at the same time, so the moment Li Xiao and Song Jin entered the venue, it caused an absolute sensation.

Both possessed identical tall statures, long legs, and peak-tier visuals. Clad in their respective countries’ training uniforms, they inherently commanded the focus of the crowd simply by walking through the room.

“The thermoses they are holding look so beautiful! I want to buy the exact same model!”

“It’s not that the thermoses look beautiful; it’s the person holding them who looks gorgeous.”

“I heard Li Xiao has never taken a mecha class before and he’s currently injured. He probably won’t be able to learn a single thing during this session.”

“Song Jin probably doesn’t know how either. The curriculum at the Shengya Military Academy is different from ours; their first-year curriculum consists entirely of simulation courses early on.”

The students within their class observed Li Xiao’s arrival and tactfully retreated to the side. Not a single person dared to step forward and strike up a conversation, terrified of being targeted for retaliation by Meng Tao’s faction.

The mecha instructor was a middle-aged Beta named Zhao De. The moment class commenced, his very first sentence was: “I’ve heard that some students in this class have been casually skipping classes and refusing to submit to authority. Let me lay down the ugly truth first—anyone who dares skip my class will be penalized with a hundred-lap run, and twenty points will be deducted from their daily score until it hits zero. Even if the Heavenly King himself shows up, you will follow my rules!”

Meng Tao’s lackeys led the rest of the crowd in whistling and jeering.

Before the official course commenced, they needed to perform a slow jog to warm up. Without waiting for Li Xiao to speak, Meng Tao raised his hand first, “Instructor Zhao, Li Xiao’s injuries haven’t healed yet. He can’t run.”

“So many troublesome matters!” Instructor Zhao pointed toward a corner with immense impatience, “Those who cannot run, go stand over there!”

Song Jin was just about to step out of the formation alongside Li Xiao when he was held back by the latter.

Everyone proceeded to run laps around the venue, leaving Li Xiao standing entirely alone in the corner like a solitary candle, looking from a distance as though he had been forced to stand in time-out.

Li Xiao sized up the entire training base. A massive quantity of mecha components of various models was stacked in layers across the surrounding perimeter.

This was the indoor teaching sector; actual practical operations required the students to transfer to a much larger outdoor base.

Compared to the Central Military Academy of Shengya, the facilities here were a bit inferior, and the student discipline was severely lacking as well.

A faint stench of rotten tomatoes mixed with the odor of machine oil drifted over. In the very next instant, a sharp metallic snap echoed from directly overhead.

Li Xiao raised his head.

A mecha arm measuring nearly ten meters in length was suspended high up in the air dozens of meters above. At this exact moment, the chains securing one side had snapped, causing the mechanical arm to wobble precariously.

If it fell down like this, it would land squarely on top of him.

Before Li Xiao could even move his feet, an unfamiliar voice echoed from the gaps between the component racks behind him.

“Stay right there and don’t you dare move!”

Snap!

The chains securing the remaining side of the mechanical arm snapped right on cue, sending the massive component plummeting downward at high speed.

“Ahhh—!” A few students within the venue noticed the anomaly and let out terrified shrieks.

Within the jogging formation, Song Jin had been keeping a constant eye on Li Xiao’s situation. Seeing the mechanical arm plummet, his footsteps ground to an abrupt halt.

“Boss!” Jiang Hao broke out of the formation and lunged toward the area, “Hurry up and dodge!”

Qin Le bellowed, “Li Xiao, get out of the way!”

Qian Can screamed, “Run, hurry—!”

Yet Li Xiao acted as though he was entirely oblivious to the surrounding danger, remaining standing perfectly still in that exact spot.

Boom—!

The mechanical arm slammed violently into the ground, instantly disintegrating into a shower of pulverized fragments as metallic shrapnel flew over a hundred meters away.

Meng Tao didn’t even dare to blink his eyes, terrified of missing a single detail.

Seeing the mechanical arm crash downward, the corners of his lips curved upward into a smirk.

“To think the backup plans weren’t even needed. What a waste of effort.”

All the surrounding instructors gestured for the students to crouch down and cover their heads, only moving forward to inspect the situation once the debris had settled completely.

“Li Xiao!” Zhao De’s face had turned completely pale from fright. He was the very first to sprint over, rapidly clawing through the mountain of wreckage while bellowing Li Xiao’s name. Yet within his heart, he understood perfectly clearly that being struck from this height meant the target had likely been reduced to a pulp.

“Were you calling me?”

A cool, crisp, and pleasant voice drifted over from behind him. Zhao De turned his head around, only to leap backwards in absolute fright, cold sweat pouring down his skin.

“Y-You… You’re fine?!”

Li Xiao swept a calm glance across the debris scattering the ground, offering a counter-question, “Should something have happened to me?”

After posing the question, he caught a subtle rustling sound emanating from the gaps within the storage racks. The individual hiding inside was currently sneaking away.

Before long, a virtual screen materialized within his field of vision, displaying a male student clad in a second-year training uniform. He wore an expression of deep annoyance and intense resentment.

09: [The brat who attacked you is precisely this guy!]

Li Xiao: [Track him.]

09: [Understood!]

Zhao De’s heart was pounding wildly. It took him a good while to thoroughly confirm that Li Xiao was indeed unharmed, causing him to demand with immense irritation, “Why on earth didn’t you dodge?!”

Li Xiao replied, “If I hadn’t dodged, I would currently be a pile of mush.”

Zhao De choked on his words.

Over on the other side, Jiang Hao and the group sprinted over. Seeing that Li Xiao was unharmed, everyone let out a massive sigh of relief.

Qian Can marched right up to Zhao De to deliver an intense accusation, “The structural safety of your facilities is simply atrocious! A mechanical arm of this scale falling down could very well crush a whole crowd of people to death!”

Zhao De didn’t dare to clash directly with an exchange student. This incident truly stemmed from a safety hazard within the venue itself, forcing him to contact the safety department and unleash a torrent of furious curses.

Meng Tao stood frozen in place, his pupils dilated in absolute shock.

Impossible!

He had clearly witnessed that Li Xiao hadn’t dodged at all. Why on earth hadn’t he been crushed?!

Before he could pull himself out of his daze, he noticed Song Jin passing right before him. Raising his head, his eyes locked onto a pair of pupils filled with absolute killing intent and intense mockery. In an instant, Meng Tao felt as though his face had been stepped on twice, rendering him flushed with intense rage.

Song Jin walked over to Li Xiao’s side in a slow, unhurried manner, asking in a low whisper, “Are you injured anywhere?”

Li Xiao seized the opportunity to take him by the hand as they watched the team of safety officers arrive to inspect the equipment, “I’m fine.”

When he had dodged into the racks, the forward section of the falling mechanical arm had blocked everyone’s line of sight first, creating the illusion that he hadn’t moved.

The head of the safety team walked up to Li Xiao, offering a string of profuse apologies.

Catching sight of Meng Tao approaching out of the corner of his eye, Li Xiao remarked calmly, “Investigate whether this was an intentional human act.”

The supervisor gasped, “Understood!”

Meng Tao deliberately barked out a harsh scolding, “What absolute garbage equipment, nearly crushing the Second Prince to death! A thorough investigation must be executed!”

Seeing him speak up, the surrounding students chimed in with their agreement.

Leaving the scene to the safety officers, Zhao De guided the students to relocate to an alternate training ground.

Terrified that another issue might emerge with Li Xiao, he arranged for him to sit on a flight of steps not too far away, and even checked the surrounding perimeter repeatedly to ensure there was zero possibility of any objects falling from a height.

Meng Tao performed his warm-up exercises while casting a brief glance toward a specific direction.

Before long, an Omega student clad in a training uniform emerged from that sector, wiping away sweat as he strolled directly toward Li Xiao.

Li Xiao was currently watching 09 infiltrate the venue’s management system to track down the perpetrator. Hearing approaching footsteps, he looked up to find an Omega standing right before him.

“Li Xiao, you look so much better in person compared to your photographs!” The Omega stated as he prepared to slide down right next to him, “I—”

Midway through his sentence, a swift afterimage sliced across the back of his hand, slamming forcefully into the steps.

“Hiss!” The Omega clutched his bleeding hand, turning his head around only to discover that the projectile was actually a uniform button. He swept a sudden, terrified glance across the surroundings.

Where on earth did this button fly out from?!

Before Li Xiao could speak up, he detected an intensely powerful gaze. Raising his head, he locked eyes directly with Song Jin’s freezing, glare.

The little lion is jealous. How fierce.

Yet this fierce appearance looked incredibly adorable.

“My hand hurts so much.” The Omega seized the opportunity to try and sit down again.

“The smell of sweat on your body is rather overpowering. Could you please step a bit further away from me?” Li Xiao politely declined.

The Omega’s face stiffened. He was forced to leave a gap of one seat before sitting down, desperately fabricating topics to strike up a conversation with Li Xiao.

Li Xiao focused entirely on inspecting the surveillance footage retrieved by 09, ignoring him completely.

Seeing that Li Xiao wasn’t taking the bait at all, the Omega grew a bit anxious. Exchanging a brief glance with Meng Tao out of the corner of his eye, he proceeded to release his pheromones, asking in a probing tone, “How exactly did you manage to dodge just now?”

Upon posing the question, Li Xiao finally offered a reaction.

He raised his head and sniffed the air, asking the Omega, “Do you detect a highly bizarre odor?”

The Omega filled with shock and uncertainty.

He had actively deployed his pheromones, yet Li Xiao truly remained entirely unaffected and uncontrolled?!

Under Li Xiao’s piercing gaze, the Omega stated with a stiff face, “N-No, I don’t.”

Li Xiao knitted his brows, wearing a deeply profound expression, “Is that so? It smells precisely as though a restroom exploded somewhere.”

The Omega: “…………”

Your pheromones are the ones that smell like a restroom!

The Omega gnashed his teeth, “I don’t smell anything!”

Li Xiao remarked with an air of casual indifference, “Then it might be an issue on my end. My glands sustained damage during the previous injury, causing my perception of scents and pheromones to become entirely dysfunctional. I have no idea if it can ever recover.”

The Omega had been planning to leave anyway, but upon hearing those words, his heart skipped a beat, “A dysfunctional perception of pheromones? Meaning he can’t detect pheromones at all?”

Li Xiao fabricated absolute nonsense, “Whether I can detect them or not depends entirely on sheer luck.”

Having secured this monumentally critical piece of intelligence, the Omega was entirely incapable of sitting still any longer. Pretending to head back to class, he bolted away at high speed.

Since Li Xiao’s glands are damaged, rendering him highly resistant to pheromone control, every single plan needs to be overhauled immediately!

Li Xiao swept a glance toward the direction the Omega had fled, delivering an intent-based command to 09: Track this Omega.

09: [Understood!]

Li Xiao: [How many targets can you track simultaneously?]

09: [As long as the energy stones are provided in sufficient quantities, tracking the entirety of Danse is zero issue!]

Li Xiao: “…”

Bragging again.

Once the warm-up concluded, Li Xiao returned to gather within the formation.

“During this class, we will be boarding the mechas to operate a few frequently utilized combat maneuvers.” Zhao De stood with his hands tucked behind his back, sweeping his gaze across everyone, “I will be grading each of you individually. Anyone whose movements fail to meet the qualifications will be penalized with a fifty-lap run next class!”

Meng Tao glanced sideways toward Li Xiao, “But Li Xiao is injured, so he can’t board a mecha.”

Zhao De looked over, “Mecha operations are executed within the cockpit; they don’t involve massive physical movements. Can you manage?”

“He has zero training in mecha piloting, so how is he supposed to board one?” Meng Tao offered a highly considerate explanation.

Several lackeys chimed in with their agreement, while the vast majority of the other students remained silent, quietly waiting to watch Li Xiao make a fool of himself.

“I can manage,” Li Xiao responded with an entirely expressionless face. “I watched the instructional videos prior to class.”

“Pfft,hahaha—instructional videos—”

A lackey let out a loud burst of laughter.

Song Jin found the continuous annoyance utterly intolerable. He delivered a swift kick directly into the back of that individual’s knee bend.

The lackey’s legs buckled instantly. Despite frantically clawing at the person beside him, he still crashed clumsily onto the ground, glaring back at Song Jin with absolute venom, “What on earth do you think you’re doing?!”

Song Jin looked down at him, “Noisy.”

The raspy, hoarse quality of his voice lent him an even greater aura of pure oppression.

The lackey shrank his neck back, failing to summon the courage to utter a single syllable as he silently scrambled back onto his feet to stand properly.

“What is going on in the back?!” Zhao De craned his neck and glared over.

Drenched in sweat, the lackey offered a dry report, “Nothing at all, sir!”

Zhao De activated his teaching terminal, explaining the sequence of movements required for this class session once more before guiding them toward the outdoor training base.

Along the way, Qin Le caught Jiang Hao muttering something under his breath. Assuming he was praying, he leaned in closer to listen, only to discover it wasn’t a prayer at all.

“3233233, 2232322… 3233233, 2232322…”

Over on the other side, Qian Can leaned his ear in to listen as well, his forehead filling with absolute confusion, “Xiao Jiang, what on earth are you chanting?”

Jiang Hao replied, “The universal formula.”

Qin Le asked, “A formula?”

Jiang Hao stated with absolute righteousness, “My older brother mentioned that whenever you encounter a vehicle you don’t know how to pilot, you simply deploy this formula.”

Qin Le: “…”

Are you sure you’ll be perfectly fine acting like this?

Qian Can: “…”

Just what kind of deity is that older brother of yours?!

Hearing the dialogue transpiring behind him, Li Xiao couldn’t help but let out a subtle smile.

Jiang Hao possessed an exceptionally high tier of natural talent when it came to combat, and his growth speed was absolutely astonishing. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have managed to become his right-hand man in their previous life.

“What did that person want from you just now?” Song Jin asked in a low whisper.

Li Xiao pulled his thoughts back, “No idea.”

Song Jin let out a soft snort, “He can’t even compare to a single toe of mine.”

Li Xiao quietly hooked his finger around Song Jin’s index finger, “He can’t even compare to a toenail.”

Song Jin: “…”

Glib-tongued.

Yet he thoroughly loved hearing it.

Song Jin insisted, “Say a few more sentences.”

Li Xiao: “…”