This opening exhibition match had cranked up the excitement for the mecha tournament to the highest level.

By nine in the morning, before the official start, the forums were flooded with posts discussing mecha techniques.

Jiang Lin, face dark with anger, had just finished running 100 laps. Before he could even get back to his dorm, he couldn’t help but vent his frustration by kicking and breaking a passing cleaning robot.

In front of all the teachers and students, he had accepted the wager. Even the teacher had accepted the punishment—if he didn’t go, he would only be looked down on even more.

It was a complete humiliation!

He, the department’s top student, had lost to a freshman—someone he had actively challenged! How was he supposed to show his face around campus after this?!

Afraid he might lose control of his emotions, Jiang Xingze had been waiting downstairs at the dorm early. As soon as he saw him, he led him inside.

“Rong Shi’s strength has always been… unnervingly out there. What’s most important right now is not to overthink—just hold steady—”

Jiang Xingze was halfway through his words when a loud bang rang out.

“You’re not the one who got humiliated, of course you’re fine!” Jiang Lin slammed his fist on the table, teeth gritted. “I’ve become the laughingstock of the entire school!”

As if he didn’t know what it felt like to be humiliated by Rong Shi.

Jiang Xingze’s face darkened, his tone cold. “What’s done is done. What you should be thinking about is how to fix it, not take it out on me.”

Jiang Lin slumped into a chair, burying his head in his hands.

“Completely crushed—how am I supposed to fix that?!”

Jiang Xingze thought for a moment. “Say something that sounds good, make others think you let him win. After all, your military merits are there for everyone to see. He just won a non-official exhibition match—doesn’t prove anything.”

Jiang Lin rubbed his face and stared at the cup on the table for a long while.

“Just what kind of person is he?”

In several encounters, he had never once gotten the upper hand against Rong Shi.

Jiang Xingze was in no great mood either. “I heard from Colonel Lin that his father’s an officer—maybe his starting point was higher than average.”

Higher than average?

This was straight-up sky-high!

Jiang Lin’s feelings were complicated.

Since he was a child, he had always been the genius in other people’s eyes—number one in every field. Before competing against Rong Shi, he had always believed his level far surpassed his peers, even matching seasoned veterans with years of battle experience.

But all that confidence had been shattered by Rong Shi.

That unhurried playstyle, the control over high-difficulty maneuvers, the adaptability under pressure—he couldn’t even come close.

He even had the feeling that the other man hadn’t shown his full strength.

Jiang Xingze stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder. “First match is about to start. Set up a livestream Q&A, and slip some information out while you’re at it.”

Before the match, Jiang Lin posted the livestream link in the department group chat.

The moment it went live, a flood of students poured in. Viewers quickly broke ten thousand.

“You couldn’t even beat a freshman, and you still have the nerve to livestream? Misleading students now?”

“What kind of idiot is that? If you don’t like it, leave!”

“Senior Jiang, what exactly happened yesterday? Is Rong Shi really that good?”

“Don’t tell me you let him win?”

Jiang Lin kept his expression in check, glanced quickly at the comments, and forced a stiff smile. “Since it was an exhibition match, the focus was naturally on putting on a show.”

The moment he said that, the tone in the comments shifted.

At nine sharp, the match began.

Jiang Lin streamed the match while explaining things to the viewers in the chat.

With the comment section filling with compliments, his confidence began to return.

Jiang Lin: “The E300’s agility isn’t enough—when cutting back, you need to use the thruster boost. I usually boost it up to 5.8…”

Suddenly, a viewer questioned him.

T99 War Wolf: “That’s not right, is it? I asked this same question yesterday on a thread by Analysis Emperor, and someone replied that when cutting back, thruster boost shouldn’t go above 5.5 or precision will drop.”

In a flood of praise, this comment stood out like a thorn.

Being questioned made Jiang Lin bristle inside, though he didn’t show it. “That’s for beginners.”

T99 War Wolf: “I tested it myself last night at different boost levels. Precision definitely drops past 5.5—has nothing to do with experience.”

Jiang Lin pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, getting impatient. “When you first start learning mecha, you tend to obsess over numbers. But once you’re actually on the battlefield, you’ll find that instinct and feel matter more than stats. My advice—get more real combat experience.”

Many in the comments defended Jiang Lin, saying this T99 War Wolf was just looking for trouble and suggesting Jiang Lin ban him.

T99 War Wolf: “No need, I’d rather go talk to that guy from the forum. Bye.”

To Jiang Lin, that was pure provocation.

Unable to hold back, he clicked the person’s profile to see who dared pick a fight in his stream.

Scrolling down to the real-name verification, the name made his face burn.

“Shit! That Wolf is actually Qiu Tianhao?! Fourth-year mecha department’s top student! He’s already a second lieutenant—hardly ever even shows up at school—how is he here?!”

“Ahhh, my god! I just insulted him! How could I?!”

“Looks like yesterday’s exhibition really drew in a lot of big names.”

“Who’s the one Qiu said he’s going to talk to? I’m going to check!”

Qiu Tianhao’s influence in school was on par with Jiang Lin’s—they were the same type of genius, except Qiu was more reserved. By third year, he was mostly on missions and rarely on campus.

This little incident made viewers drop sharply, with many running off to the forum to wait for Qiu.

The reply he mentioned was soon dug up. The ID was a random string of numbers ending with an “R.”

This R had answered many questions in the analysis thread, with most original posters replying back to thank him.

“Genius! Adjusted as you said—smooth as silk now!”

“Holy crap! Your way of thinking is so fresh—mind if we exchange contact info?”

“Your method’s simple and effective—the lag in my combos is completely gone! Incredible!”

Finally, they found that Qiu Tianhao’s ID had indeed replied to one of R’s posts.

Who was this R? Even Qiu Tianhao, a second lieutenant, sought him out for advice?!

While more and more people clamored to find out R’s identity, Rong Shi was calmly making breakfast for the whole family.

He carried a tray into the living room. Song Yu was reviewing reports from his subordinates.

“Eat first.” Rong Shi set the food down on the low table. “Where’s Mian Mian?”

Song Yu tapped his keyboard and pointed toward the balcony. “Fell asleep standing there.”

Warm starlight streamed in. The two little buns, hair sticking up, in loose pajamas, stood at the floor-to-ceiling window with their heads resting together, fast asleep.

Rong Shi: “…”

That morning, Song Yu had made them stand as punishment for ten minutes—no climbing into adults’ beds without permission.

Judging from the scene, the punishment had clearly failed.

After replying to a few messages, Song Yu happily ate the sandwich his bunny had made him.

“That shameless Jiang Lin opened a livestream—want to open one yourself?”

Rong Shi poured soy sauce over Mian Mian’s fried egg. “No time.”

His terminal suddenly buzzed. It was a message from Chen Chen.

【President, that R in my post is you, right?】

Rong Shi glanced at it and casually replied with a single “Mm” before closing it.

As the day’s matches went on, forum discussion spiked sharply. By night, the topic #FindRGod was trending on the front page.

“Is R a professor from the mecha department? His analysis is so thorough!”

“Tried his advice today—felt like I was blessed by the gods! Won all three matches!”

“I’d been struggling with cut-backs for half a year—R’s one sentence fixed it this morning!”

“I need to know who he is! Could it be who I’m thinking?!”

“Wait, don’t go—I have a bold guess too!”

“If we don’t find out tonight, I won’t be able to sleep!”

Chen Chen waited until peak traffic, then posted.

【Morning Light: Mystery solved—confirmed with the person himself. The R you’ve all been looking for is actually——】

Refresh—4,586 replies.

“Ahhh it’s him it’s him it’s really him!”

“My god! Is there anything he can’t do?!”

“That plain ID reeked of salted-fish energy—I should’ve guessed. [doge]”

“His Q&A is way better than Jiang Lin’s!”

“Jiang Lin said last night was just for show—ha! Doesn’t your face hurt? Our Rong God doesn’t need your charity—he crushes you with skill alone!”

“With this level of technical knowledge and operational mastery, Senior Jiang really is far behind the president.”

Not long after, another post also blew up onto the front page.

【T99 War Wolf: Bro, I’ve got a few questions for you. Add me? @R】

Replies flooded with screams and teasing.

“Ahhh Qiu God publicly hitting on President Rong! Watch out, goddess might kill you.”

“Goddess incoming with a brick in five seconds.”

“Qiu God, you still have time to delete this post.”

In the dorm, Jiang Lin scrolled through the posts and smashed a teacup in rage.

Qiu Tianhao was famously aloof—hardly interacted with anyone. Now he was chasing Rong Shi for contact info?!

“This was all your lousy idea!” He glared at Jiang Xingze, fuming. “We worked all day just to become his stepping stone!”

He’d slogged through an exhausting Q&A, thankless work—while Rong Shi had casually replied to a few posts and was now being worshipped by everyone!

Jiang Xingze’s lips tightened, his face grim.

He knew Rong Shi was trouble to deal with. Having Jiang Lin livestream had been his best attempt to avoid Rong Shi’s potential impact.

But the outcome was still unavoidable.

The terminal suddenly rang. Seeing the caller ID, his scalp prickled.

As Jiang Lin kept ranting, Jiang Xingze snapped and shouted for him to shut up, then answered.

Colonel Lin Feng’s hologram appeared before them.

Jiang Xingze spoke first. “Colonel Lin, the plan failed. We’re just going over—”

“Who the hell asked you about that?!”

Before he could finish, Lin Feng’s furious outburst stunned him.

It was already late at night, yet Lin Feng was still in uniform, his anger barely contained.

His gaze locked onto Jiang Lin, his voice rising. “Have you offended Song Yu?”

Jiang Xingze’s stomach dropped. Had something happened?

Jiang Lin was already on edge. Now, under Lin Feng’s glare, he snapped.

“So what if I did? Just some spoiled rich boy—what’s the big deal?”

Jiang Xingze quickly explained, recounting what had happened in the student council office.

Jiang Lin yanked up his pant leg, showing his ankle. “He even threatened to cut my Achilles tendon! Bastard!”

“Achilles tendon?” Lin Feng gave a cold laugh. “Right now, I want to kill you myself!”

Jiang Lin froze.

“Do you have any idea how much damage you’ve caused me?!” Lin Feng slammed the table and began pacing in agitation.

He hadn’t slept since last night.

Cargo that had passed multiple inspections had suddenly been seized at the final checkpoint.

High command had suspended all of the Seventh Legion’s deployments for the next six months under the pretext of failing the annual armament review.

Five trusted allies about to enter the council had their personal files seized, stuck right before their appointments.

His resubmitted military rank review was suddenly flagged for five violations—now under formal investigation.

All of it had happened almost simultaneously—and if Song Yu’s hand wasn’t in this, he’d eat his boots.

Song Yu had been looking for a reason to move against the Lin family, and they had handed him one on a silver platter.

The more Lin Feng thought about it, the angrier he got. “Why the hell did I take on two useless disciples like you? It’s bad enough you’re worthless—you keep dragging me down!”

Jiang Xingze’s face was grim, but as they had the same master, he could only bow his head and take the scolding.

Jiang Lin, still confused, bit out, “Then I’ll go apologize—”

“Even if you chopped your head off and delivered it to him, he might consider forgiving you!” Lin Feng roared. “How many times have I warned you not to provoke him?! He’s a lunatic—capable of anything!”

In the past, with His Majesty keeping him in check, Song Yu had no way to make any big moves. But now, the situation was different.

His marriage to Rong Shi seemed to have completely relaxed His Majesty’s guard. Without pressure from above, Song Yu acted with increasing recklessness, and the Qin family grew more domineering alongside him.

What happened today wouldn’t be hard for the Lin family to counter, but the consequences might be more than they could bear.

Whether it was the Qin family or Song Yu—aside from His Majesty, no one could touch them.

They held a “death immunity” token in their hands—only they could hit others. If anyone tried to hit back, it might provoke an even harsher backlash.

Barefoot people aren’t afraid of those wearing shoes. Whoever provokes them is the one who will suffer.

Song Yu had made that message abundantly clear.

The Lin family was already in a panic. In just one weekend, their influence had taken a significant hit. But since their opponent was Song Yu, they could only swallow the loss in silence.

A bigger reprisal from Song Yu would be one thing—but if His Majesty decided to pressure the Lin family to compensate his son, it would be a disaster.

After all, in His Majesty’s eyes, Song Yu was now the prince who had given up the throne, abandoned everything on the Imperial Capital Star, and been exiled—a weak party in the situation.

No matter how much His Majesty disliked this youngest son, he was still a prince, still royalty, and His Majesty would never allow anyone to trample on him lightly.

---

“Making such a big move—won’t it attract the organization’s attention?”

In the kitchen, Rong Shi was putting cookies into separate jars.

Song Yu leaned back against the counter, watching him work.

“Anything I do will attract their attention,” he said. “But with the temper I show to the outside world, not doing anything at all would be even more dangerous, don’t you think?”

“Your ‘public’ temper?” Rong Shi looked up at him.

Song Yu counted on his fingers: “Madman. Bad character, no bottom line. Capable of doing anything extreme. Touch me and you’ll get crazily retaliated against… that kind of thing?”

Rong Shi nodded. “So you don’t think you’re crazy?”

Song Yu looked puzzled. “I’m so kind—how am I crazy?”

Rong Shi: “…”

Teetering between betraying his conscience and risking his life, Rong Shi decided to say nothing. He picked up a broken piece of cookie and held it to Song Yu’s lips.

Song Yu obediently opened his mouth and ate it. After a moment, he casually added, “If I really had to admit to any character flaw, maybe it’s just that I’m a teeny-tiny bit short-tempered.”

Rong Shi: “…”

---

Author’s note:
Song Cat: I’m not crazy, I’m just a teensy bit short-tempered.
Rong Bunny: Mm, good boy—now put the knife down.