These past few days, Jiang Xingze had been experiencing an unprecedented torment.

Since childhood, he had always been the center of attention, a favored son of heaven, even in the elite Central Military Academy.

But now, countless people discussed and mocked him behind screens, pointing fingers even when he walked down the street.

All of this was Rong Shi’s fault!

The more Jiang Xingze thought about it, the angrier he got. Lin Feng’s military rank application being rejected, he didn’t believe it had anything to do with Rong Shi. A new student not even paired with the military wouldn’t possibly have that much power. The whole thing could only be a coincidence.

“How about it?” Jiang Xingze suppressed his emotions, “Using a test for recruitment, it wouldn’t make sense for you, as chairman, to have no ability. Consider it setting an example for these kids.”

Everyone in the hall watched them.

Although their voices weren’t loud and their attitudes weren’t intense, they sensed a dangerous smell of gunpowder.

“I’ve said it before, I’ve never considered you an opponent.” Rong Shi turned off the voice control system. “Dealing with you brings me no benefit.”

His calm demeanor sharply tugged at Jiang Xingze’s nerves.

“Stop babbling! Do you dare to compete?”

His peripheral vision swept over Lu Ming, not far away. Rong Shi sighed softly, shaking his head: “At least you were the previous chairman. You’ve been used as a gun for so long, and you haven’t felt a thing?”

Jiang Xingze narrowed his eyes: “What do you mean?”

Rong Shi looked at him with an expression like he was looking at an idiot: “Someone pulls a small trick and snatches the opportunity from your hands, yet you’re completely oblivious, even treating an enemy as a comrade. Did you hit your head?”

“You damn—”

The suppressed emotions ignited by that sentence, Jiang Xingze threw a punch at Rong Shi’s face.

Exclamations erupted in the hall—

“They’re fighting already?! What do we do?”

“We… just watch from the front row?”

“Should we inform the director of education? Holy crap, why do I feel a little excited?”

“Jiang Xingze’s solo combat assessment is AA! Rong Shi might not be his match!”

Lu Ming stood by, observing, a barely concealed smirk on his face.

He just needed to wait quietly, watching the “knife” in his hand eliminate his enemy for him.

Rong Shi slightly tilted his body, firmly gripping Jiang Xingze’s wrist.

“Lu Ming is going to replace you in the Seventh Legion, you wouldn’t know that, would you?”

Jiang Xingze’s face suddenly changed, then he forced a sneer, pretending not to care, “You think I’d believe that?”

Rong Shi said indifferently: “You’re probably the only one who doesn’t know this news. But since it’s a snatched spot, it’s only reasonable that he’d keep it from you.”

Staring at him for a full three seconds, Jiang Xingze forcefully pulled his hand back and turned to look at Lu Ming, who was standing behind him.

New students were almost never assigned any missions. Firstly, their coursework was intensive, and secondly, their professional knowledge was insufficient. Even Jiang Xingze only started getting missions in his second year.

These new students had been enrolled for less than a month. If what Rong Shi said was true, then it was clearly abnormal for Lu Ming to get this spot.

Once the seed of doubt was planted, many overlooked details played out like a movie in his mind.

Was Lu Ming’s approach to him flattering or purposeful?

Was the other party repeatedly suggesting ways to deal with Rong Shi, inciting conflict between them, in order to find an ally, or to use him as a tool for murder?

“You could have gloriously stepped down under the admiring gazes of everyone, yet you’ve ended up like this.” Rong Shi’s voice was relaxed and casual, as if merely an afterthought. “Can’t you see who benefited from this whole affair?”

Rong Shi’s words carried a strong psychological suggestion, making Jiang Xingze unable to help but imagine.

If he hadn’t listened to Lu Ming’s instigation, how glorious would he be right now!

The voice control system was off, so Lu Ming couldn’t hear their conversation, but the glance Jiang Xingze cast his way gave him a very bad feeling.

Something was wrong! What was Rong Shi saying to him?

In just two minutes, Jiang Xingze turned and strode away.

Lu Ming’s gleeful smile completely vanished.

The discussion in the hall was constant—

“That’s it? All bark and no bite.”

“What did Jiang Xingze even come here for? So comical.”

“Watching the drama unfold? What if they actually fight, how would it end?”

“I knew they wouldn’t fight. Rong Shi isn’t that irrational.”

Rong Shi reactivated the voice control system, and his clear, magnetic voice resonated throughout the training hall.

“Alright, the test begins now.”

—On the way back to his dorm, Rong Shi’s words replayed repeatedly in Jiang Xingze’s mind.

The Seventh Legion was departing in the next few days. If Lu Ming was truly going on a mission, then he would leave school within these two days.

Having been sharply warned by Lin Feng before, he had planned not to bother him recently. But with this matter at hand, he had to get confirmation.

The first call went unanswered. He endured for a few minutes but couldn’t sit still, so he dialed again.

This time the call connected, and Lin Feng’s impatient face appeared on the screen.

“What’s so urgent that you have to bother me these two days?”

Jiang Xingze stood up abruptly, his hands at his sides clenched into fists: “Colonel, I heard my spot was given to Lu Ming. Is that true?”

“Lu Ming?” Lin Feng clearly didn’t want to deal with such a trivial matter, but the name sounded somewhat familiar. “Lu Youqi’s son? How could he possibly come to the Seventh Legion?”

Jiang Xingze breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Rong Shi had indeed lied to him. He gritted his teeth and said: “Everyone at school is saying he’s taking my place on the mission. It seems it was just a rumor.”

“You called me for such a small matter?”

Lin Feng annoyedly loosened his collar, about to scold him, when he suddenly heard his adjutant, who had come to deliver documents, say: “There is indeed an intern named Lu Ming who will be joining the group.”

Having already prepared for a reprimand, hearing this, Jiang Xingze’s mind exploded with a boom.

Lin Feng took the document: “How come I don’t know about this?”

Adjutant: “Yesterday, Lu Youqi spoke with the General. I don’t know the specifics of their conversation, but he asked me to add Lu Ming’s name to the intern list.”

“He absolutely cannot have that spot!” Jiang Xingze was so agitated he almost lunged at the screen, quickly accusing: “He’s the one who kept instigating me against Rong Shi! I was used!”

Lin Feng: “What’s going on?”

Jiang Xingze: “If he hadn’t stirred things up, Rong Shi and I wouldn’t have had such a big conflict. It was all his doing, he’s the one who caused you to miss your promotion!”

At this point, he seemed to suddenly understand something and then eagerly added: “It must have been Major General Lu’s instruction! Otherwise, how could someone like Rong Shi have such great capability?”

Lin Feng had been like a ticking bomb these past few days because of his promotion. At Jiang Xingze’s sudden mention, his face immediately darkened even more.

Lu Youqi’s grandfather and his own grandfather had once been rivals for the marshal position. Both families held immense and intertwined power within the military, occasionally having minor skirmishes.

In recent years, they had gradually reached a consensus to not interfere with each other.

But Lin Feng simply didn’t believe they would truly abide by that.

“Tell me everything, from beginning to end.”

Jiang Xingze reported everything in detail, finally saying: “The Lu family incited conflict between me and Rong Shi, using both sides to suppress each other, thereby creating chaos to divert attention. Suppressing me and rejecting your promotion application were all to suppress you!”

Lin Feng knew his promotion application was rejected by the Second Prince. This wasn’t convenient to explain to Jiang Xingze, but he wasn’t sure if the Second Prince’s reaction was also part of Lu Youqi’s calculations.

Lu Youqi calculated to get his person out, and arranged for his own son to come to his territory to gain military merits for free. Who could endure this blatant provocation?!

If word got out, where would his Lin family’s face be?!

Lin Feng: “Strike Lu Ming off my list!”

The adjutant hesitated: “But this was decided by the General.”

Lin Feng: “I’ll go explain to Zhang Deming later.”

Adjutant: “Alright.”

After hanging up the communication, Lin Feng leaned back in his chair and thought for a long time, then sent out a communication.

Once connected, he said to the person on the screen: “The Ninth Legion just applied for a batch of new military equipment recently, right?”

“Yes, it has been delivered to the military supplies headquarters and is being incorporated into units. It will be sent to the Ninth Legion in the next two days.”

Lin Feng rested his chin on his hand, his eyes fierce: “Intercept it for me and send it to the Seventh Legion.”

“Ah, for what reason? We can’t just openly seize it.”

Lin Feng: “The Seventh Legion is about to deploy. Isn’t that reason sufficient?”

As soon as the Seventh Legion departed, Lu Youqi learned about the matter from his adjutant, almost in disbelief.

“Lin Feng seized our new military equipment?”

The adjutant looked anxious: “I’ve verified it. They claim it’s an urgent transfer due to impending deployment.”

“What the hell!” Lu Youqi walked back to his office, snatched off his military cap, and slammed it onto the table.

He had put in a lot of effort to get this batch of military equipment, only to have it benefit that old fox Lin Feng!

The adjutant stood in front of the desk: “He’s already taken this batch of equipment to the front lines. The possibility of getting it back afterwards is very low. What do we do now?”

Lu Youqi’s fingers tapped lightly on the desk, his eyes calculating: “He’s heading to Ursa Minor this time?”

Adjutant: “Yes, Ursa Minor A231X, a Class 4 danger zone.”

Lu Youqi: “Intercept his supply line.”

Adjutant: “!”

The day after the re-evaluation, Lu Ming received the Seventh Legion’s notification as he was pulling his luggage towards the school gate.

The notification stated that his basic physical qualifications were unsatisfactory, and his intern application had been rejected.

He inexplicably thought of the look Jiang Xingze had given him then, and Lu Ming’s face turned grim.

On the way, the students who had just congratulated Lu Ming saw him returning with his luggage.

Someone asked: “Vice Chairman, did you leave something behind?”

But Lu Ming acted as if he hadn’t heard, walking away without a word.

As he reached the dorm building, Lu Ming stopped, watching Jiang Xingze walk towards him.

Lu Ming: “It was you?”

Jiang Xingze looked at his face, as if seeing his former self, and couldn’t help but smile: “How does it feel to be sent back by a notification?”

Lu Ming asked in a low voice: “Why?”

Jiang Xingze walked closer, looking at the blooming peach blossoms across the road.

“After you made me like this, do you think I’d let you off easy?”

Lu Ming was incredulous: “What did Rong Shi tell you? His words can’t be trusted!”

Jiang Xingze turned his head to look at him, sneering: “No matter what he said, it’s a fact that you snatched my opportunity.”

Lu Ming and Jiang Xingze’s dog-eat-dog fight gave Rong Shi a lot of peace.

He walked into the student council meeting hall with the list of successful applicants.

“Hello, Chairman, my name is Chen Mu.”

As soon as he entered, a beta came over to greet him.

Rong Shi’s gaze dropped slightly, revealing a face both familiar and unfamiliar to him.

[Chen Mu, beta, First Legion Network Security Expert, founder of the battleship AI intelligent Chiyou, and the adjutant’s capable younger brother.]

Chen Mu had a high talent in programming, and Rong Shi had learned a few tricks from him, but his other academic subjects weren’t as strong, and his grades remained average during military academy.

Rong Shi shook his hand: “Welcome aboard.”

Chen Mu was overjoyed!

This big shot publicly stated he only shook hands with those he respected!

Couldn’t help it, this hand wasn’t going to be washed this week!

Seeing Chen Mu take the initiative to greet him, others also came over one after another.

“Hello, Chairman, my name is Qian Duo.”

[Qian Duo, alpha, First Legion Logistics Officer for Material Supply, born into a minor noble family, an unlucky child who bankrupted his family to feed the legion.]

Rong Shi: “…”

Rong Shi took his outstretched hand and said expressionlessly: “Welcome aboard. Don’t spend money recklessly.”

Qian Duo: “? Okay.”

“Ch-Chairman, hello, my name is Wu Han.”

[Wu Han, alpha, First Legion Mech Repair Expert, mechanical genius, only repairs, doesn’t build.]

Noticing his trembling outstretched hand, Rong Shi reached out and gripped it: “Welcome aboard.”

Wu Han breathed a sigh of relief: “Thank you for shaking my hand.”

Rong Shi’s gaze swept over the three young, naive faces, and he silently thought to himself—Welcome back to the team.

That night, the news of Lu Ming’s return, after having left, successfully topped the forum’s homepage.

Hiding behind anonymity, all sorts of malicious and unintentional speculations flew around.

Qin Luo ran into Song Yu’s room, excitedly saying: “Brother, Lu Youqi and Lin Feng are fighting!”

Song Yu, solving a physics problem, chuckled: “Good move.”

Qin Luo sat cross-legged on the rug, laughing loudly: “Chairman Rong has something going on. I’m starting to like him.”

Song Yu didn’t even lift his head: “He’s my wife.”

Qin Luo: “…”

Song Yu looked at the problem and casually said: “If they don’t recognize the strength of their opponents early, they’ll destroy themselves without Rong Shi even needing to lift a finger.”

Qin Luo pondered: “Many times, he doesn’t feel like he’s eighteen at all. Who exactly is he?”

“Even we can’t find out. He’s certainly not an ordinary person.”

His terminal suddenly rang, and Song Yu casually swiped it open.

The magnified virtual screen displayed a medicine composition analysis report.

The formula contained over two hundred and thirty ingredients, eight of which were highlighted in red.

Along with the report, there was a text message.

[This medicine does not belong to any of the circulating medicines in the Empire. It contains eight prohibited ingredients and has some similarity to the illegal smuggled medicines Chestnut and his team found. Is there a source for this medicine?]

Song Yu meticulously reviewed the report item by item, then reread the text message several times.

[What is the purpose of this medicine?]

After a few minutes, the reply came back.

[Currently, the exact purpose cannot be definitively known, but judging from the dosage of the prohibited ingredients, it appears to be a pheromone stimulant-type drug. Excessive use can lead to pheromone rampage and permanent damage to the glands.]

With a snap, Song Yu broke the pen in his hand with one hand.

Author’s notes:

Rong Rabbit speaks, and the enemy’s den is instantly dismantled. End of the story (just kidding).

Rong Rabbit: Precision strike, effortless [hands on hips].

Song Cat: Bunny is amazing!