Chapter 4

Within the Alliance, the Highest Office was a rather unique entity.

From its inception, it operated independently from other divisions, under the personal command of Executive Director Fang Yanli.

Three years ago, following the capture of Yun Chi, the Highest Monitor, initially under the jurisdiction of the Highest Office due to being established solely for her, was transferred to other departments because Fang Yanli was continuously incapacitated by severe injuries.

Unexpectedly, shortly after Fang Yanli’s recovery, the Highest Monitor was destroyed.

Wan Feng had a general understanding of recent events, but he never expected that the person intercepting their starship would be Fang Yanli himself.

When he saw the sharp military uniform and the emblem representing the Highest Office appear, he was momentarily stunned.

There was no sign of recent illness on Fang Yanli’s face as he briskly led his entourage inside.

Although there weren’t many people on the Wan Family’s starship, totaling about a dozen, the moment he stepped inside, Fang Yanli’s gaze fell upon the person with flowing white hair by the window.

The Highest Office had been established for many years, and under Fang Yanli’s command, they had never faced defeat, earning him a widespread reputation. Consequently, few knew about his hidden ailment.

He could hardly recognize faces.

To him, whether someone was attractive or not made no difference.

However, his memory was sharp, and he was observant. Despite his prosopagnosia, not many were aware of this, relying instead on observations of other physical traits.

“Please present your identification,” Cheng Hao, beside Fang Yanli, said coldly.

Their accompanying personnel quickly approached, verifying the identities of the individuals on the starship.

Ji Fu sat first on the right-hand side. Cheng Hao, following Fang Yanli’s indication, was about to personally check her identity when the portable light-brain she carried suddenly rang.

After checking the message, his expression turned grim, and he quickly walked to Fang Yanli’s side. “An Zaiyang has already reported Yun Chi’s death.”

“It’s been approved above, and an official announcement will be made today.”

“What should we do? Should we suppress the announcement?” Cheng Hao couldn’t help but sneer, thinking of An Zaiyang’s actions. “In such an important position as the Highest Monitor, not having any surveillance is one thing, but not even having the files established when Yun Chi was imprisoned?”

“Are we just going to let it go now that someone’s dead?” Fang Yanli’s gaze remained on Ji Fu, appearing frail and weak with his thin figure and white hair, quite unlike the person he remembered.

He withdrew his gaze. “There’s no need.”

Cheng Hao’s expression changed drastically. “But Yun Chi…”

She wouldn’t die so easily.

“This has nothing to do with An Zaiyang,” Fang Yanli interrupted.

Cheng Hao looked up, meeting Fang Yanli’s cold, stern gaze. “Someone from the Alliance high ranks has confirmed Yun Chi’s death.”

After Fang Yanli finished speaking, without giving Cheng Hao a chance to continue questioning, he walked straight up to Ji Fu.

With his movement, the entire starship fell silent.

Wan Feng suddenly looked up, seeing the imposing military uniform, his expression changing slightly.

Since stepping onto the starship, Fang Yanli hadn’t directly identified himself.

The others on the starship found him remarkably handsome and unusually young, assuming him to be a newcomer just assigned to the Highest Office.

Among all the occupants of the starship, only Wan Feng knew the true identity of the young officer before him.

However, he had only glimpsed the Executive Director once before, and not knowing the intentions behind Fang Yanli’s presence, he remained silent.

“Hello, miss, please present your identification,” Fang Yanli said to Ji Fu, his words echoing those of the other personnel.

The moment he spoke, however, all eyes from the Highest Office fell simultaneously on Ji Fu.

Beside her, Wan Die couldn’t help but shrink back.

These people exuded an imposing presence with their stern military uniforms and vigilant gazes.

She even noticed the person behind the young officer reaching for the gun at his waist as he spoke.

Wan Die swallowed nervously.

In this setting, she almost felt like some notorious criminal.

“Ahem.” Ji Fu’s face was already pale, but it seemed even paler now.

Fang Yanli glanced at her and activated the light-brain.

In the interstellar era, everyone had a light-brain.

The light-brain could be used for internet access, connecting to all online information, and also had functions for identity authentication and recognition.

As the light-brain’s functions expanded and varied in price, the Alliance stipulated that light-brains should be in the form of wristbands for uniform management.

However, this person before him had empty wrists, devoid of any accessories.

After Fang Yanli spoke, Cheng Hao also noticed this.

His expression tightened, and he signaled to the colleagues around him.

Under the intense scrutiny, Ji Fu cleared her throat and retrieved an interstellar pass from her bag.

Seeing the pass, everyone around her was momentarily stunned.

With the rapid development of information technology, especially after the widespread use of light-brains, few people used these traditional passes anymore.

However, they hadn’t been abolished entirely, but were mostly used by the lower-class citizens.

Since this starship belonged to the Wan Family in the Weihai Star System, no one expected to find an ordinary person on board.

However, upon realizing that the person before them was just an ordinary citizen, the tension among the Highest Office personnel grew even tighter.

After all, Yun Chi was just an ordinary person with no talents whatsoever.

Fang Yanli remained calm. After taking her credentials, he scanned them with the light-brain.

“Beep.” With a soft sound, Ji Fu’s information appeared on the screen before Fang Yanli.

The information was normal, and her identity was verified.

Fang Yanli glanced at her and asked casually, “No talent check?”

The talent section was blank.

It wasn’t categorized as low-grade, nor was there any rating.

“No,” Ji Fu sighed, resting her chin on her hand. “Getting a talent check is so expensive.”

“Boss, do you know, it costs a whopping five thousand interstellar credits?” She held up five fingers, her eyes clear and bright. “And besides, my family are all low-grade citizens. So, I guess it’s not surprising.”

Despite the tense atmosphere, she spoke in a casual tone, reflecting the plight of ordinary lower-class citizens.

But it made people’s hearts race nonetheless.

Coming from a financially strained family, all low-grade citizens, born on a remote planet.

These were all things identical to Yun Chi.

Fang Yanli raised his gaze, meeting her meaningful eyes.

“Get the talent detection device,” Cheng Hao whispered urgently in his ear, reacting immediately to the situation.

Their equipment was complete, and soon someone was fitting Ji Fu with the device.

As they waited for the device to finish its scan, many held their breath.

The black detection device was placed on her head, emitting a continuous red light.

She looked relaxed, even somewhat eager.

However, for some reason, Fang Yanli sensed a hint of mockery in her expression.

…Nothing matched, yet everything felt like that person.

It was hard to tell when she was being deliberate and when she was not.

Five minutes later, the machine provided a specific rating.

“Your talent level is: F.”

When the machine announced the grade, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Cheng Hao, in particular, visibly relaxed.

F-grade was the lowest among all talent levels, but even so, she still possessed a talent.

For a low-grade citizen, it was impossible to have a talent throughout their entire life, no matter how hard they tried.

Compared to the differences between talent levels, this was the insurmountable chasm that ordinary poor people couldn’t cross in their lifetime.

She had talent, which meant she couldn’t possibly be Yun Chi.

Yun Chi might feign death, but talent couldn’t simply appear out of thin air.

Only Fang Yanli continued to stare at her intently.

“What’s wrong, boss? Is something amiss?” Ji Fu asked, meeting his gaze unflinchingly.

Fang Yanli lowered his eyes, and the information about her talent rating also appeared in the data column before him.

Indeed, it was an F-grade.

“Boss,” Cheng Hao whispered beside him, “there are several other starships nearby that haven’t been checked. Wei Xin just sent a message saying that one of them found a low-grade citizen on board.”

Fang Yanli nodded slightly, returning the interstellar pass to Ji Fu.

She took it and calmly

met his gaze. “Safe travels, boss.”

Fang Yanli remained silent, only giving her a glance before turning to lead all the Highest Office personnel away.

As they exited the starship, he heard the girl beside Ji Fu ask her, “I was scared to death just now. Sister Ji, who do you think they’re making such a big fuss over? Who are they looking for?”

Ji Fu smiled. “They must be looking for a rare and talented genius.”

Click.

The starship door closed in front of him. Fang Yanli turned back, only to see Ji Fu’s smile, enigmatic and ambiguous.

He stopped in his tracks, then turned to Cheng Hao. “Where are these starships headed?”

“This direction should be towards the Interstellar Academy.”

“Have someone keep an eye on the situation at the academy,” Fang Yanli ordered.

Cheng Hao hesitated. “Keep an eye on whom? Wan Feng?”

He had some information; Wan Feng seemed to be the most talented person of this generation in the Weihai Star System.

But Fang Yanli, expressionless, said, “Ji Fu.”

The blatant aura of malice emanating from her reminded him all too much of the deceased.

Following the routine check, they encountered no further obstacles until they reached the interstellar academy.

After several days, they finally arrived at the galaxy where the interstellar academy was located.

Star in the Sky.

The deadline for new student registration was on the last day, and the main star was filled with various starships and hurriedly arriving new students.

Ji Fu’s dazzling white hair attracted quite a bit of attention upon her arrival.

It was well known that people with extremely high talents often exhibited some degree of physical deviation.

However, after hearing the talent detection device report an F, all that attention disappeared.

Among this year’s new students, there were those with talents ranging from F to A, and even absolute geniuses with the S-level talent.

A new student with an F-level talent was indeed not worthy of much attention.

The only surprising thing was that during the new student registration, they would choose different majors according to their preferences.

The Interstellar Academy had a history of several hundred years, producing a large number of high-quality talents for the Alliance.

And in the entire interstellar realm, the most revered professions were the mecha soldiers and mecha pilots. Almost all outstanding figures came from these two professions.

In addition, in recent years, due to the emergence of a certain individual, the profession of mechanic was created.

Mechanics studied the creation of machinery other than mechas, making it the best choice for many people with lower talents.

Although mechanics did not manufacture mechas, they could produce many parts that could be used for mechas, and most of the machinery used in daily life was also involved.

As the Interstellar Academy expanded and accepted many common students from non-aristocratic backgrounds, mechanics had always been the most popular profession among these ordinary students.

So at first, Wan Feng also thought that Ji Fu came to the Interstellar Academy to become a mechanic.

However, when she applied for her major, he heard her utter a name that was very unexpected.

Under the azure cloudless sky, Ji Fu extended her hand and pointed to a column on the screen. “This one.”

The student who was filling out her information visibly hesitated. “Pharmacist?”

“Yes, pharmacist.”

A pharmacist, one of the most obscure majors in the entire academy, with fewer than five students in total.

So obscure that even the teacher for this subject had nothing to do and was helping students fill out their information.

Upon hearing the news, the teacher found Ji Fu immediately.

With boundless enthusiasm, he shook Ji Fu’s hand, moved to tears. “Classmate, thank you for choosing pharmaceutical studies.”

The teacher’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “You must have a deep understanding of pharmaceutical studies to make such a resolute choice.”

Ji Fu nodded and raised a finger.

The teacher became even more excited. “A bit… a tiny bit?”

Ji Fu’s voice rang out loudly. “Absolutely clueless!”