Chapter 64

Those who received this news had mixed feelings.

It was unclear what the people from the Empire and Hanhai thought, but most of the students at the Interstellar Academy felt a sense of relief upon hearing it.

Ji Fu collected all her belongings and left the interrogation room after dark.

Zhang Huan and the students from Class S were waiting outside. Seeing her walk out as if nothing had happened, Zhang Huan’s expression finally softened a bit.

“Are you okay?” Shi Xueying quickly stepped forward.

“The highest authority enforces the law strictly and strictly prohibits the use of private punishment,” Tan Xi said softly.

He and Li Yunyi stood in the night, looking at Ji Fu with complex expressions.

Most of Class S was present, except for Zhou Lu Hai and Zhou Mo.

After putting on her optical brain, Ji Fu received a message from Zhou Lu Hai. He had returned to the Zhou family on the Imperial Star and would not be back until just before the third joint exam started.

What Zhou Lu Hai didn’t mention was that Zhou Xing had been the one to assert Ji Fu’s guilt. After Ji Fu was detained, Zhou Xing returned to the Zhou family, intending to have the family intervene on Ji Fu’s behalf.

While Ji Fu ended up being fine, Zhou Xing remained with the Zhou family.

Among those who returned was Zhou Xingyu.

Zhou Xing also informed his father that he had been too close to Ji Fu.

Zhou Lu Hai’s father, the current head of the Zhou family, had not seen his son in a while. Their first encounter upon reunion was placing him under house arrest.

When he messaged Ji Fu, he was lying on the soft bed at home, his eyes deep in thought.

Hearing the notification sound, he opened the holographic screen.

“I’m back at school. See you at the next joint exam.”

Zhou Lu Hai paused, then slowly typed, “Okay, take care.”

He stared at the chat window for a long time before finally choosing to close the optical brain.

Meanwhile, after leaving the interrogation room, Ji Fu received her reward for the first place in the group battle: a top-tier Star+ material.

She accepted the material and boarded the giant starship sent by the Interstellar Academy to bring her back to school.

The starship, representing the highest honor of the Interstellar Academy, blocked most prying eyes.

Ignoring the suspicion cast on her this time, just her performance in the second round and the Star+ material she held were enough to attract attention.

If she had been convicted, it would be easier to explain. But now, she walked out of the interrogation room as if nothing had happened.

Some people were probably itching to take action.

Fortunately, the Interstellar Academy valued her as a rare mecha talent and sent a direct starship to pick her up.

With the Academy’s clear stance and her high profile on the internet, no one was likely to make a move against her at this peak moment.

Even so, once they arrived at the Academy, Zhang Huan advised her to rest well and avoid leaving the campus unless necessary.

Ji Fu agreed on the spot but soon after reaching her dormitory, changed clothes and piloted a small starship away from the Academy.

She left without even activating stealth mode, boldly heading out.

Given the attention on her movements, it was precisely because of this that people might subconsciously believe she wouldn’t leave so openly.

When she registered her departure, she used Shi Xueying’s identity.

Once aboard the starship, its security system was so advanced that unless it was intercepted and scanned, her identity would remain unknown.

As she piloted the starship away, she sensed several scanning signals.

But they quickly disappeared without deep probing.

Most likely, they identified the departing individual as Shi Xueying and didn’t investigate further.

Ji Fu flew the starship to some of the busiest nearby star systems, lingered for half an hour, then activated stealth mode, rendering the starship invisible, and returned to the asteroid.

The asteroid was just as she had left it.

She arrived late at night, the base still brightly lit.

Wei Lan, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, was sitting on a beige sofa in the center of the base. Hearing the noise, he turned around immediately.

Seeing her, the cold expression in his eyes vanished.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” Ji Fu walked to the back of the sofa and ruffled his hair.

He seized the opportunity to hold her hand, pressing his face to her palm, and said softly, “I was waiting for you.”

After completing the mission, Ji Fu’s situation had become complicated. For her safety, they had cut off communication.

Even without explicit statements, he knew she would return tonight.

He waited until three in the morning, worried for her safety and because he missed her.

He hadn’t seen her in a long time.

“Are you feeling unwell anywhere?” Ji Fu, held by him, sat on the sofa and carefully examined his face.

A month of recovery had finally rid Wei Lan of his sickly pallor.

But today’s operation had taken a toll.

Ji Fu conducted a thorough checkup. Several hours after the attack on the Wu family, his readings had returned to normal.

Remarkably, his vital signs had reached 38% after the intense exertion.

Ji Fu raised an eyebrow; Wei Lan indeed had an exceptional body.

Typically, mecha soldiers in severe injury and high exertion scenarios would see little to no improvement in vital signs, let alone an increase.

She had known Wei Lan was physically robust, but seeing the data shift so clearly was astonishing.

After the checkup, she continued to explore his body.

Her hands moved from Wei Lan’s chin downward.

Caught off guard, he turned red-hot under her touch.

He wanted to stop her but found himself addicted to the sensation, his eyes fixated on her.

Ji Fu looked up to see his adam’s apple bobbing.

Wei Lan lay on the sofa, his ears burning, his black collar askew, revealing his pale collarbone.

At some point, he raised both hands, lying still, letting her do as she pleased.

When she stopped, Wei Lan lowered his hands, which he had raised to control himself from losing composure.

Ji Fu didn’t lean closer but still heard his drum-like heartbeat.

And… she had taken a physiology class.

An ultra-star-level mecha soldier indeed had impressive physical qualities.

She cleared her throat, sat up, and said, “I’ll go to the lab. You should get some sleep.”

Wei Lan paused, then chuckled as he watched her leave.

During his nearly two years in the dark prison, he had been mentally and physically exhausted. But just being near her brought him genuine happiness.

What could he do? He really liked her.

Meanwhile, Ji Fu entered the lab and took out the special-grade nutrient solution stored in the supercomputer.

The main reason she risked leaving the Interstellar Academy was to test this substance.

She placed the nutrient solution into the testing device and then went to her room to sleep soundly.

It wasn’t until the next day at noon that she woke up and went to the lab to check the test results.

Qin Chu Yue was also there. When she saw Ji Fu coming down, she first handed her a can of sweet milk and only spoke after she finished drinking it. “The results aren’t out yet.”

The equipment used for testing was the same advanced machine Ji Fu had used to test Lie Russell and Blue Russell, much more sophisticated than standard market devices.

Ordinary potions would typically produce results within 30 minutes.

But this special-grade nutrient solution had been running for over ten hours.

Ji Fu paused, then, after finishing the special nutrient food Qin Chu Yue had prepared, went straight into the lab.

The interface showed the testing progress was only halfway through.

The break between this joint exam and the next was only five days, and she didn’t want to delay. She directly opened the system to analyze and test the substance alongside the machine.

With her assistance, the results came out quickly.

In just three hours, all the components were identified.

“How is it? Is there any talent extracted in it?” Qin Chu Yue asked.

Wei Lan, who had just finished his treatment and entered the room, also looked at her.

Ji Fu’s eyes focused on one of the displayed materials.

She paused and said, “No.”

There was no extracted talent inside, which was expected.

However…

Ji Fu raised her hand and opened the holographic screen, signaling them to look.

She said calmly, “I found the reason why the Wu family is so desperate for Qionghai Flower Stone.”

“The main component of the special-grade nutrient solution is the essence of Qionghai Flower Stone.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Chu Yue’s expression changed. She jumped up, exclaiming, “Qionghai Flower Stone!?”

She hadn’t forgotten that the tragedy that befell Ji Fu’s remote star originated from Qionghai Flower Stone.

If that was the case, it seemed the plan to extract talent had been underway for many years.

And Ji Fu herself was repeatedly victimized by this matter!

“Yes.” Ji Fu’s expression was cold as she said, “This substance’s main use is to stabilize talent.”

In other words.

Her talent was extracted, while her parents and relatives became the nourishment for stabilizing others’ talents.

Extracting Qionghai Flower Stone and seizing Qionghai Flower Stone.

To those aristocratic families, they were nothing but mobile blood bags.

Snap!

Qin Chu Yue crushed the test tube in her hand.

She was so angry that she couldn’t speak, only wanting to curse those vampires’ entire families.

Ji Fu remained relatively calm, her voice chilly. “The Qionghai Flower Stone matter was initially handled by the Qin and Wang families.”

The Qin and Wang families were among the former Four Small Families, destroyed over three years ago, primarily responsible for the tragedies that reduced their families to second-class citizens.

“After the Qin and Wang families were eradicated, the Qionghai Flower Stone business was taken over by the Shen family. In three years, the Shen family grew significantly, producing two geniuses, Shen Qinglan and Shen Qingxue, thanks to Qionghai Flower Stone.”

After joining the Interstellar Academy, Ji Fu had investigated all available literature and materials but found no potions that could heal talents.

It now seemed the formula for talent healing had likely been monopolized by top-tier families.

Ji Fu had speculated that various mishaps were inevitable during the extraction and transfer of talents.

From the special-grade nutrient solution she obtained, a noticeable side effect among those ‘geniuses’ who had taken others’ talents was unstable talent.

This condition was the most prevalent, as she had observed it in the Li family’s son, Wu Yang, Si Fan, and many other ‘geniuses’ from the Empire and Hanhai. They all showed signs of unstable talent.

Unstable talent affected their combat and daily life.

At such times, they relied on continuous use of special-grade nutrient solutions to stabilize their talents.

That’s why Wei Lan saw Si Fan frequently drinking it, and Wu Yang and Jiang Wencai couldn’t go into battle without it.

The special-grade nutrient solution made from Qionghai Flower Stone was essential for these people.

And recently, because of the joint exams, the number of injured and eliminated participants had increased.

Moreover, the production of such top-tier potions had a certain failure rate, increasing the demand for Qionghai Flower Stone.

The Shen family had thus raised the Qionghai Flower Stone collection quota, forcing the Wu family to boost production.

These Qionghai Flower Stone  were essentially to supply the privileged class who preyed on others.

Qin Chu Yue’s eyes darkened. “The evidence released by the slaughterhouse earlier also included the Wu family supplying Qionghai Flower Stone to the Shen family.”

Ji Fu paused. “If nothing unexpected happens, the Shen family should be figuring out how to respond soon.”

The words of Shen Qinglan and the events involving the Wu family had negatively impacted the Shen family.

The Shen family was also holding an auction this month.

Given their interests, they would certainly react.

“Should we take action against the Shen family?” Wei Lan looked at Ji Fu.

Ji Fu shook her head. His recovery was still limited, and she never intended to sacrifice his health for any goal.

They had too many enemies to face, not just the Shen family.

However…

“Since we’re idle anyway, it’s been a while since the three of us went out to have fun.” She turned and smiled at them.

Meanwhile, the entire Shen family was busy.

The auction was imminent.

After the third joint exam, it was time for the Shen family’s auction. The Shen family had even prepared the promotional details, but now so many issues had arisen.

Most of the Shen family members, including Shen Qinglan, had gathered at the main house on the imperial star to discuss how to address the public opinion crisis.

In the tense atmosphere, someone hurried to Shen Qinglan’s side, asking about the final transport route.

The Shen family always handled things meticulously, and important resources for the auction were sent in batches to the main house on the imperial star for safekeeping.

With the prior incidents involving the Si and Han families as a cautionary tale, the recent transport routes had been guarded by star-grade mecha soldiers.

Today’s shipment included three ultra-star-grade top materials, the most valuable batch in the past three months.

Originally, the Wu family was responsible for the transport.

But with the Wu family mostly destroyed by the slaughterhouse, the remaining members were marginalized figures.

Thus, the resource transport had to be handled by others.

Currently, this task had been entrusted to the Jiang family.

After hearing the report, Shen Qinglan’s eyes darkened.

Much of the recent public opinion turmoil was related to him, and this batch of resources had to arrive at the imperial star by tomorrow for final inspection and subsequent promotion.

Without resolving the public opinion issues, the Shen family’s auction preparations couldn’t proceed, and he couldn’t leave at the moment.

He paused and then said, “Get Uncle Hong to help escort these materials.”

The alliance was conducting a global investigation into the personnel involved with the slaughterhouse.

Logically, they wouldn’t strike again at this time, but to be safe, Shen Qinglan made preparations.

The “Uncle Hong” he mentioned was his cousin, Jiang Hong, the highest-talented mecha soldier in the Jiang family.

Jiang Hong’s talent was just short of reaching ultra-star level.

Unlike the new generation like Jiang Wencai, his talent was stable, and he had extensive combat experience.

Excluding talent sharing, Jiang Hong’s strength surpassed even Shen Qingxue.

Receiving the news, Jiang Hong immediately headed to the star system where the materials were located.

These three ultra-star-grade materials had been obtained after the Shen family paid a high price to have ultra-star-grade mecha soldiers eliminate alien beasts.

The commission alone had cost billions of interstellar credits.

The Shen family placed great importance on this shipment, dispatching three interstellar warships.

With Jiang Hong included, there was a team of star-grade mecha soldiers present.

Jiang Hong stood in the warship, watching the star-grade mecha soldiers below load the materials onto the Shen family’s starship.

The Shen family’s accountant, Shen Qinglan’s trusted aide, had arrived three hours earlier than Jiang Hong.

Jiang Wencai stood behind his father, frowning slightly at the dozens of mechas surrounding the star system. “There are over 20 star-grade mecha soldiers, and yet you still came to oversee this personally.”

“Isn’t cousin being a bit too cautious?” He referred to Shen Qinglan as his cousin.

Jiang Hong replied coldly, “A bit of caution is good.”

“Did you see the report on Wu Qingyi’s death?” He turned to Jiang Wencai, his expression serious. “All five star-grade mecha soldiers were killed.”

Mentioning this, Jiang Hong found it laughable. “Yesterday at the imperial alliance meeting, the Si family strongly denied that the person who killed Wu’s five star-grade soldiers was Wei Lan.”

“What do you think?”

Jiang Wencai said, “There aren’t many who can wield an S+ mecha so terrifyingly. The opponent’s talent level must be ultra-star.”

“Whether it’s Wei Lan or not is uncertain.”

Jiang Hong stated directly, “That kind of explosive power, if it’s not Wei Lan, it means the opponent is an ultra-star+.”

Even he had to admit that among ultra-star-grade mecha soldiers, Wei Lan had no equal.

That level of explosive power, if not Wei Lan, could only be an ultra-star+.

By comparison, it might as well be Wei Lan.

At least, in the short term, Wei Lan was still just an ultra-star-grade.

With over 20 star-grade mecha soldiers outside, the entire star system under their system’s surveillance, and the resources being handled by the Shen family’s personnel, the Jiang father and son spoke with some relaxation.

They only kept an eye on the Shen family personnel loading all the materials onto the Shen family’s giant starship.

Jiang Hong watched as the Shen family’s representative double-checked everything, confirmed there were no mistakes, and signaled the surrounding three starships.

All star-grade mechas returned to position, fully guarding the Shen family’s giant starship.

The Shen family’s representative was the last to board the starship.

This giant starship had carried him from the imperial star Shen family all the way here.

To ensure safety, it had only made one stop along the way.

It was during the journey that he received a communication from Shen Qinglan, learning that Jiang Hong would come and delaying the transport by three hours.

The starship had stayed put for twenty minutes during the communication.

The stop was at a small asteroid, but he had never opened the hatch.

Inside the starship, besides him, there were five other staff members.

The resource acceptance had gone smoothly, without any errors.

Everything proceeded as usual.

The representative looked at the data on his personal assistant and softly said, “Let’s go.”

At his words, the starship activated instantly. The giant starship, loaded with many precious materials, still managed to speed up.

As the giant starship began to move, the representative looked up.

At first glance, he saw a man in a white Shen family uniform standing before him.

The man was tall, and his build did not match that of the starship’s representative he had in mind.

He also had deep blue hair.

Deep blue…

The representative’s face changed drastically, but before he could react, Wei Lan twisted his neck, killing him.

At that moment, the monitoring screens on the surrounding starships all showed the giant starship’s footage.

Everything appeared normal.

After giving a few instructions, the Shen family representative sat in his seat.

Jiang Hong glanced once and then looked away.

He didn’t know that Ji Fu had taken over all the monitoring footage on the starship.

Now, only Ji Fu, Qin Chu Yue, and Wei Lan were on the Shen family’s starship.

What the monitoring screens showed was an animation generated by Ji Fu’s intelligent system.

The starship’s control cabin was in privacy mode, so the star-grade mecha soldiers outside couldn’t see what was happening inside.

Ji Fu, seated to the side, had also infiltrated the systems of all the starships.

Within ten minutes of the starship’s journey, she had fully taken over.

She looked up and gave Qin Chu Yue a signal. Qin Chu Yue, sitting in the pilot’s seat, raised her hand and directly touched the control panel, changing the flight route using her authority.

As soon as the route changed, Jiang Hong noticed and instinctively wanted to ask why. But before he could, Qin Chu Yue had opened communications.

Her voice, modified by a voice changer, sounded exactly like that of the Shen family representative, and she called out:

“Mr. Jiang! We’re under attack!”

As she spoke, Ji Fu remotely controlled an unmanned mecha.

The unmanned mecha, an S+-grade model she had casually built last night, looked exactly like Wei Lan’s.

The unmanned mecha hurtled towards them wildly, triggering alarms throughout the system.

Red warning lights flashed incessantly inside the starship, and all the surrounding star-grade mecha soldiers instantly entered combat mode.

The nearby star warships quickly arranged themselves, tightly surrounding the giant starship carrying Shen family’s materials.

Qin Chu Yue raised an eyebrow and pressed the communication button, exclaiming, “Oh no! That mecha is loaded with a giant bomb!”

Her sudden exclamation, in the voice of the Shen family representative, threw everyone present into a panic.

It was well-known that the slaughterhouse specialized in bomb attacks, and no one below ultra-star-grade could escape their explosions.

At her words, several mecha soldiers fell out of formation.

However, the nearby star warships still closely followed them.

Qin Chu Yue smiled and didn’t make another move, while Ji Fu hacked into the systems of those starships, aligning their trajectories with each other and activating berserk mode simultaneously.

In berserk mode, starships could reach incredible speeds, and these top-tier starships from the Shen family could reach outer space in a second.

Under Ji Fu’s control, the starships collided head-on with each other.

Boom!!!

Out of the three speeding starships, only the Jiang family’s starship escaped immediate destruction but still went out of control.

Its weapons systems activated, launching indiscriminate attacks on the surrounding star-grade mecha soldiers.

Jiang Hong’s expression changed dramatically as he looked toward the giant starship. In the out-of-control warship, he and Jiang Wencai deployed their mechas.

But they were a step too late.

As they launched their mechas, Qin Chu Yue activated the giant starship’s berserk mode, and it sped away at light speed right before their eyes.

Jiang Hong watched as the giant starship disappeared from sight, his expression dark. He couldn’t understand how the enemy had manipulated the other two starships into colliding. He instinctively wanted to follow.

The giant starship was heading in a different direction than originally planned for the imperial star.

But before he could move, he heard the Shen family representative over the communications say, “There’s been an invasion on those two warships. We’ve informed the imperial star, and Mr. Shen has ordered us to make an emergency landing on K-233, where a nearby patrol fleet will meet us.”

Jiang Hong hesitated for a moment, watching the starship speed away.

“Something’s wrong.” He had just realized and wanted to say something when he saw a black giant mecha speeding towards them from a distance.

Ji Fu, seated in the control cabin, expressionlessly pressed a button.

Boom!!!

They had traveled quite a distance but still heard the earth-shattering explosion.

Ji Fu leisurely drank from a bottle of milk.

“I told them there was a bomb.”