Chapter 50

Ji Fu: …

If anyone else had said that, she wouldn’t have thought much of it, but coming from Qin Chu Yue, it was different.

Qin Chu Yue was always uninhibited, and when she mentioned “sleeping,” it only meant one thing.

Ji Fu couldn’t be bothered to respond and simply said, “Come help.”

Qin Chu Yue chuckled and didn’t say more.

Having been companions for many years, they all knew about Wei Lan’s obvious affection and possessiveness towards Ji Fu. It was never hidden, so there was no need to state it.

The formulation of the new potion was not going smoothly.

The selected exotic plants didn’t match well with the energy stone and the original potion, resulting in poor experimental outcomes.

Progress stalled.

There was still time, as the entrance exams between the Imperial Military Academy and Hanhai Academy had not yet concluded. There were still some days left before the end of the first official exam.

Ji Fu watched the live broadcast of the entrance exam while sitting on a soft sofa, flipping through her digital device. A light screen in front of her displayed the live exam footage.

The remark she made before leaving the examination venue had indeed planted the seeds of trouble for Hanhai.

It also extinguished any possibility of friendly cooperation between the two sides.

That same night, the Empire and Hanhai clashed, both sides suffering losses.

Given the current situation, it seemed inevitable that the Empire would win the competition and secure second place.

In terms of sheer strength, Hanhai was still at a disadvantage.

However, Shen Qinglan was indeed cunning, and with the addition of Hanhai’s hidden ultra-star mecha soldiers, they managed to catch the Empire off guard twice.

After two such encounters, the Empire was clearly growing impatient.

They decided to forgo further maneuvering with Hanhai and switched to overwhelming firepower.

The most striking highlight of the second half of the competition was the Empire deploying three ultra-star mechas, using sheer force to dominate.

With absolute superiority, Hanhai couldn’t hold out any longer.

So far, the Imperial Military Academy’s score had reached 28%, needing only a few more eliminations to secure second place and conclude this exam.

In the live broadcast, Ji Fu saw the camera pan.

Wu Yang, piloting a silver-gray mecha, raised his hand and locked onto an S-class mecha, bringing it down.

The speed, explosive power, and combat ability demonstrated while piloting the mecha far surpassed that of many previously eliminated ‘star-grade mechas.’

Wu Yang could swiftly maneuver under the bombardment of star-grade mechas, teaming up with Shen Qinglan’s sister, Shen Qingxue, to clear the obstacles ahead.

This powerful combat capability and terrifying instant explosive power were indeed star-grade.

He was one of the few standout performers on Han Hai’s side.

After eliminating five mecha soldiers from the Imperial Military Academy in one go, he took a deep breath and paused.

Ji Fu raised an eyebrow, watching Wu Yang sitting in the mecha’s control cabin, his expression calm. He pulled out a tube of nutrient solution from his side and drank it.

Ji Fu paused the live stream.

Normally, the live broadcast of the entrance exam couldn’t be paused, but Ji Fu was using her own system for the broadcast, so she could control it independently.

She enlarged the live stream screen, freezing the frame on the tube of nutrient solution in Wu Yang’s hand.

“It’s premium nutrient solution,” Ji Fu heard Weilan’s voice. He had finally dressed properly and was leaning against the sofa above her.

Since the new potion hadn’t been developed yet, he had only been undergoing simple treatments these days, without soaking in the medicinal bath.

However, his condition was still not good, and he spent much of his time sleeping.

He was positioned directly above Ji Fu, leaning forward slightly. From Ji Fu’s angle, she could see his broad, well-built frame beneath his hoodie.

Ji Fu paused and looked up at his eyes, asking, “What premium nutrient solution?”

He leaned down, nestling his head on her shoulder and nuzzling affectionately, softly saying, “I don’t know.”

“Si Fan also drank it.” During the years he was imprisoned, the Si family frequently visited.

Si Fan was Si Xun’s son, the most talented among the Si family’s generation, but still only at Star+ level.

He buried his head in Ji Fu’s shoulder, taking a deep breath like a cat, and then said hoarsely, “He drank it very often.”

Wei Lan hadn’t seen Si Fan many times. Each time they met, Si Fan’s eyes were filled with undisguised disgust.

Once, Si Fan even deliberately submerged him in the Black Sea water for nearly half an hour, then subjected him to high-voltage electric currents.

Ignoring the guards’ attempts to intervene, Si Fan had watched with great satisfaction as Wei Lan bled profusely under the severe torture, laughing heartily.

Then…

Wei Lan nearly choked Si Fan to death under the high-voltage current.

If not for the emergency measures taken by the guards in the glass room, Si Fan would have died by his hand that day.

Weilan had used the high-voltage chains to lock Si Fan’s throat and broke Si Fan’s arm to prevent him from deploying his mecha.

That day, Si Fan barely survived, and the first thing he did upon waking was to shakily pull out the nutrient solution and drink it all in one go.

Wei Lan remembered that nutrient solution because of that incident. In subsequent brief encounters, Si Fan no longer dared to provoke him or step out of the glass room.

But during the five or six visits, Si Fan drank that stuff two or three times in front of him.

The premium nutrient solution looked similar to ordinary nutrient solutions on the surface but was actually different.

The container for the nutrient solution was unique, made of a special material that shimmered like metallic silver in sunlight.

Just like the tube Wu Yang was holding now.

Weilan recalled, “The taste is also similar to ordinary nutrient solutions.”

He had never drunk it himself, but when he choked Si Fan that time, he had been close enough to catch a whiff.

It was almost tasteless.

However, because he had been soaking in the Black Sea water for so long, his senses were heightened when he emerged, allowing him to notice the faint scent.

Ji Fu remained silent, but her communicator suddenly rang—it was Tan Xi calling her.

Ji Fu raised her hand to answer, but before she could, Wei Lan grabbed her hand.

She turned to face his deep, stormy eyes filled with a mixture of anger and frustration.

“Who is it this time?”

Ji Fu blinked. “A classmate.”

Weilan suddenly stood up, moving behind her to embrace her tightly.

His unexpected action made Ji Fu pause.

She wanted to push him away, but as she lowered her head, she saw the bandages on his wrist.

Those were injuries from long-term exposure to high-voltage currents. When Ji Fu had treated his wounds after his escape, the flesh on his wrist had already fused together.

Remembering what he had just shared, she finally raised her hand and patted his head.

Then she answered the call.

Weilan’s eyes darkened, and he remained silent.

“Ji Fu?” Tan Xi’s voice came through the communicator.

Ji Fu responded softly. She didn’t enable the video, opting for audio only.

Before she could speak, Wei Lan lifted his head, his eyes dark and intense. Without saying a word, he bit her earlobe.

It was more of a suck than a bite.

Ji Fu: …

She hadn’t expected Weilan to do this and reached out to push him away. He took the opportunity to fall onto her, leaning down to seek her lips.

“What’s the matter?” Ji Fu, startled by Weilan, covered his mouth with one hand and silently mouthed, “Stop it.”

Weilan lowered his gaze, hiding the turmoil in his eyes.

He didn’t want to lose control in front of her, but every time she softly called someone else’s name, he felt like going mad, wanting to possess her completely, wanting her to see only him.

Yet, he never showed that dark, crazed side to her.

So, in front of her, he was always particularly obedient and well-behaved.

The only exception was last night, when his madness was nearly triggered by the effects of the drug, making it almost uncontrollable.

“The first entrance exam has ended, and the Empire took second place,” Tan Xi paused, then continued in a somber tone, “Hanhai suffered a great loss this time, and Shen Qinglan is about to be teleported out.”

“He asked for your contact information in the three major military academies’ group.”

The group Tan Xi referred to was a casual chat group he had joined a long time ago. It had thousands of members, and Tan Xi rarely spoke in it, so no one paid much attention to him.

Today, he had noticed constant notifications from the group, and upon checking, he saw that Shen Qinglan had joined.

Given that this group was a loose organization with people of no particularly notable backgrounds, Shen Qinglan’s sudden entrance had caused quite a stir.

However, Shen Qinglan hadn’t said much after joining, posting only one message:

“Who has Ji Fu’s contact information?”

There were still quite a few students from the Interstellar Academy in the group, but Ji Fu hadn’t interacted much with other students since entering the academy. Thus, few people actually knew her.

Tan Xi’s voice was cold and grave, “Shen Qinglan is not an easy person to deal with.”

“Hanhai suffered a big loss this time, so his reaching out to you likely doesn’t mean anything good.” Especially since one of Shen Qinglan’s star-grade mecha soldiers was also eliminated during the Empire’s final burst of power.

Ji Fu had seen it.

Coincidentally, the eliminated person was Wu Yang.

Wu Yang was actually quite capable, deserving of the star-grade mecha soldier title.

But in the last fifteen minutes, he hesitated during a retreat, giving his position to Shen Qingxue.

That moment of hesitation allowed a super-star-grade tracking missile to catch up, eliminating Wu Yang and several other Hanhai Academy students.

Wu Yang’s mecha was also damaged.

The super-star-grade tracking missile was overwhelmingly powerful, even destroying half of his mecha before he was teleported out.

“If he’s looking for you, it probably isn’t for anything good,” Tan Xi specially reminded her. Ji Fu didn’t say much.

After hanging up the call, she saw a verification message on her optical computer.

“It’s Shen Qinglan.”

Tan Xi’s suggestion was to ignore Shen Qinglan.

Since the exams were still ongoing, he likely wouldn’t do anything to Ji Fu.

But Ji Fu only paused for a second before accepting the verification request.

After adding Shen Qinglan as a friend, as expected, he got straight to the point and sent her a message.

“For the second exam, Hanhai wants to cooperate with the Interstellar Academy. What do you think?”

It wasn’t a threat or a warning, but a surprising proposal for collaboration.

Ji Fu raised an eyebrow, casually replying, “What’s in it for me?”

Shen Qinglan was a businessman; he wouldn’t let himself suffer a loss.

He deliberately joined that group with students from the three major military academies, and as Tan Xi mentioned, many of those students were quite talented, meaning most of them were participants in this entrance exam.

By privately contacting Ji Fu, the news had likely already spread within the three academies.

Whether Ji Fu cooperated with them or not, it was now widely known that Shen Qinglan had targeted her.

In any case, Shen Qinglan would remain in a favorable position.

As for the sincerity of his cooperation…

Only he knew that.

At the same time, Ji Fu’s optical computer lit up with a notification.

Wu Yang had left the exam venue.

He hadn’t expected to be so severely injured in the entrance exam.

As he exited the venue, his expression was particularly grim.

This meant he was eliminated early in the exams.

In this situation, not to mention earning a good rank, all matters related to the entrance exams were now irrelevant to him.

He was extremely frustrated.

After leaving the medical room in the exam’s rest area, his face was still sullen.

With his mecha damaged, Wu Yang was also in bad shape.

He barely received some treatment and planned to head straight home.

He had run out of premium nutrient solution and needed to replenish his supply from home.

But before going home, he needed to stop by the school.

He had prepared extensively for the entrance exam, thinking it would take a long time. Besides the necessary items, most of his important belongings were stored at Hanhai Academy.

The academy had tight security, and the student dormitories were luxurious.

Assigned to an apartment by Shen Qinglan, Wu Yang’s accommodation was top-notch.

His things were kept at school, connected to his optical computer, so no one could enter his room without his permission.

In some ways, the student dormitories at Hanhai Academy were even safer than his own home.

But since he had been away from home for nearly ten months, all his premium nutrient solutions were depleted, forcing him to return home.

Otherwise, he should actually stay at the academy.

Returning to Hanhai Academy, he was quite relaxed.

His injured side was numb, making his steps sluggish.

Hanhai Academy was located among the most prosperous star systems in the interstellar region, and unlike the Interstellar Academy, Hanhai’s student dormitories alone occupied an entire star system.

Wu Yang’s apartment was on the main star.

During the entrance exam period, there were few students at the academy. Some were taking the exams, while others were on vacation at home.

Like Wu Yang, many students who were eliminated in the entrance exam returned to the academy, but the main star primarily housed the elite class students of Hanhai.

Besides Wu Yang, the only other ones from the elite class who were eliminated were the three star-grade mecha soldiers who had faced Ji Fu and Zhou Lu Hai. They had left a long time ago, leaving Wu Yang as the only person on the large main star.

Hanhai Academy boasted the best defense system in the entire interstellar region, with regular patrols by military academy warships around the student dormitories.

Even with few people on the main star, Wu Yang didn’t feel concerned at all.

He himself was a star-grade mecha soldier. Although he was seriously injured this time, he was still among the top talents.

Besides his damaged star-grade mecha, he also had an S+ grade mecha, which he had used for many years and was his primary mecha.

Thus, Wu Yang entered his apartment with complete relaxation.

The apartments on the main star were particularly luxurious. The one Wu Yang lived in was not just an apartment but a standalone three-story house.

There was even a special advanced medical pod placed on the third floor.

After the Li family’s demise, the Shen family had sought to take over the Li family’s assets, which included these advanced medical pods.

Upon entering the third floor, Wu Yang opened the medical pod, intending to lie in it for a few days before heading home.

The third floor’s setup hadn’t changed since he left, with the medical pod placed beside a desk that held some documents.

Most of the documents were related to Wu’s family matters and some tasks Shen Qinglan had assigned him.

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Wu Yang casually glanced around and then opened the medical pod.

Just as he was about to step into the pod, he sensed something was off.

He turned around abruptly, shouting, “Who’s there?”

Simultaneously, he instinctively pressed the alarm button in the apartment, which was connected to the entire security system of Hanhai Academy.

Normally, pressing the button would immediately trigger an alarm, and nearby patrol warships would arrive instantly.

However, pressing the button yielded no response.

This realization sent chills down Wu Yang’s spine.

He immediately tried to deploy his mecha.

But as he reached for the optical computer on his wrist, he heard a slight noise behind him.

Wu Yang swung his arm, throwing a powerful punch behind him.

As a star-grade mecha soldier, his physical strength was formidable, and he had a small mechanical cannon hidden in his sleeve.

As he punched, he activated the mechanical cannon.

Boom!

The punch missed, but the mechanical cannon fired, shattering the floor-to-ceiling windows on the third floor.

Hearing the explosion, Wu Yang felt a brief sense of relief.

In the student dormitories, the sound of a cannon would attract attention, even if the alarm didn’t go off, and patrol warships would come to investigate.

He didn’t know who had come, but he just needed to buy time.

Unexpectedly, just as he started to relax, he heard a sharp whistling sound to his left.

Boom!

The assailant, wearing a mechanical arm guard, struck with a heavy blow.

Wu Yang reacted quickly, dodging the punch and attempting to deploy his mecha from his optical computer.

But the optical computer remained unresponsive despite his repeated attempts.

His heart sank.

At this moment, he heard a cold voice, “How does it feel?”

Wu Yang looked up sharply, meeting Ji Fu’s eyes.

His expression changed dramatically.

The entrance exam had just ended, so there was no way he wouldn’t recognize her.

More importantly, she was originally his target.

Ji Fu wasn’t wearing a mecha suit, just a loose black hoodie with a large hood covering her white hair.

She wore a mechanical arm on her right hand and held a gun pointed at Wu Yang’s chest.

“Doesn’t the feeling of a disabled optical computer seem familiar?” she asked.

Wu Yang’s face turned grim.

He hadn’t expected Ji Fu to find him, let alone know about his involvement in the spatial rift incident.

But the military had claimed responsibility for that incident, and those who were supposed to be punished had already been dealt with.

He couldn’t understand how Ji Fu had traced it back to him.

Wu Yang opened his mouth, as if to ask something, but before he could speak, he raised both hands toward Ji Fu.

Hidden in his sleeves were S-grade cannons, which he intended to use to blow off Ji Fu’s head.

But before he could fire, his arms were abruptly broken!

“Ah!!!” The intense pain nearly caused Wu Yang to faint.

He turned his head sharply, seeing a black unmanned mecha standing as tall as a person.

If he remembered correctly, this unmanned mecha was called Yan Yan.

This was Yan Yan’s second mecha form. Unlike the three-meter-high mecha mode, the human-sized form didn’t reduce Yan Yan’s lethality but made its mechanical attacks even more powerful.

Wu Yang had no idea when Yan Yan had appeared behind him.

Realizing what was happening, his arms were promptly dislocated.

It had already been three minutes since he had shattered the window glass.

Han Hai Academy’s patrol warships still hadn’t arrived.

Wu Yang’s face turned completely pale.

By now, he knew his chances of surviving were slim, but he still clung to hope.

Desperately, he turned his head to face Ji Fu, and in a hoarse voice, asked, “Who exactly are you?”

The orders from above had been to cooperate with the legion to kill a few students.

The task did not specify the reasons or the identities of these students; his job was simply to execute.

But by now, Wu Yang had realized something was very wrong.

Ji Fu, however, had no intention of explaining. She simply pulled the safety pin, and, under Wu Yang’s gaze, raised her hand and pulled the trigger without hesitation, blowing off his right leg.

Bang!

The sound of flesh being torn apart and Wu Yang’s own screams echoed in the empty main star.

Ji Fu glanced at the data on her optical computer.

Interestingly, after being injured, Wu Yang’s strength had dropped back to around S+ level.

That’s why his reaction speed was so slow, and he couldn’t sense Yan Yan’s approach or escape its suppression.

Ignoring his screams, she pressed the gun’s muzzle against his head.

Click.

In his agony, Wu Yang heard the sound, looked up abruptly, and saw the gun aimed at his head. His mind went blank.

In a state of panic, he heard Ji Fu ask, “Who ordered you to target the students during the training?”

Wu Yang’s lips trembled, but he couldn’t utter a word.

He wanted to live, but he also knew that even if the person in front of him spared him, speaking out would most likely still lead to his death.

Ji Fu noticed the cold sweat pouring from his forehead and his frantic, shifty eyes, but he still didn’t dare to speak.

She paused slightly and then said in a calm voice, “Shen Qinglan?”

Wu Yang was stunned at first, then shook his head frantically.

He stammered, “No, it’s not… This has nothing to do with Shen, uh!”

Before he could finish saying it had nothing to do with Shen, the person in front of him had already fired.

Bang—

The bullet penetrated his skull.

Ji Fu simply said, “Got it.”