Chapter 66

Ji Fu opened her light-brain and checked Wei Lan’s physical condition while she was at it.

She looked at the steadily rising values and raised an eyebrow lightly.

The increase wasn’t as significant as when they repelled the Wu family, but there was still a small curve.

In the light-brain’s communication, Zhang Huan sent her several messages.

People from the academy are rushing over here, Zhang Huan asked if she was okay.

Ji Fu replied with a sentence: [No problem, it’s been resolved.]

Then he turned off the light brain and looked up into the azure-clear eyes.

Whenever he was in front of her, he would shed all his aggressiveness and appear very gentle and obedient.

“My room is upstairs. There’s an advanced medical pod inside. You go sleep for a while and rest well.”

Ji Fu had been staying in the laboratory for a long time, so Du Ming gave her the key to the attic on the top floor of the experimental building.

When she was researching potions, she basically slept here.

The advanced medical pod in the attic was installed by Ji Fu after she came out of the exam hall last time.

She administered a sufficient amount of potion to Blue, closed the pod door, and went downstairs.

Hearing the sound of the door closing, Blue opened his eyes.

This was… her room, her bed.

The surrounding area was filled with the light fragrance that she wore.

He couldn’t sleep.

Ji Fu came down from the attic, and the school leaders had already arrived.

Zhang Huan looked at the three bodies laid out in the laboratory, his expression particularly grim.

He had a good memory and remembered the incident a few months ago when a professional killer infiltrated the academy.

After this joint exam, in order to ensure Ji Fu’s safety, he even specifically set the academy’s defense system to the highest level.

Yet Ji Fu was still attacked within the Interstellar Academy.

Zhang Huan looked up and coldly said to Ji Fu, “Rest assured, the school will definitely give you an explanation for this matter.”

The Interstellar Academy was extremely concerned about this incident.

Within a day, not only did they investigate all the abnormal situations inside and outside the school, but they also directly expelled those spies from all directions outside.

Dean Yang was even putting pressure on the Imperial Star Alliance headquarters, demanding that the Shen family take responsibility for this incident and apologize to the innocent students.

Within the Imperial Star Alliance, there was chaos.

Online criticisms against the Shen family were escalating, and it had now developed to the point of questioning the Alliance’s laws.

Professional killers had always been in a gray area. Normally, when they were commissioned to do something, they were extremely discreet.

This time, appearing directly in public had triggered dissatisfaction among many citizens.

In order to quell the debate, the Alliance had no choice but to suspend all senior Shen family members who were officially associated with this incident.

And they ordered the Shen family to conduct a self-investigation. Until everything was clarified, all powers and positions would be temporarily suspended.

In the Shen family, the atmosphere was extremely tense.

But the one making decisions that would affect the overall situation was Shen Qinglan.

Due to Shen Qinglan’s exceptionally high talent, no one dared to show their dissatisfaction directly in front of him, but the dissatisfaction in their hearts was becoming increasingly difficult to conceal.

Shen Qinglan was indifferent to all this. He only cared about one thing now, and that was the smooth running of the auction.

He had invested a lot of effort into this, and it was a crucial step for the Shen family to enter the top three.

It couldn’t be affected by these matters.

Lost goods could be replaced by other means, and the losses suffered by the Shen family could be slowly settled afterwards, but the auction must go on.

This auction was aimed at high-end clientele.

However, now it was being influenced by public opinion. While the Shen family might not care about these things, the strong voices of opposition could affect the attendance of the major families at the auction.

The auction must proceed as scheduled.

Shen Qinglan’s father gave him only three days to resolve the trouble he had caused.

Shen Qinglan sat quietly in the villa for an afternoon before finally speaking up.

“Pick a super stellar material from the Dominator’s warehouse.”

Shen, who rarely smoked, had a table full of cigarette butts in front of him.

His eyes were bloodshot, and after a moment of silence, he said, “Forget it.”

“Use the core of the Moon Tide Beast.”

The Moon Tide Beast was a super stellar exotic creature.

Its core was the most valuable material on the creature.

Even his secretary, who had worked by Shen Qinglan’s side for many years, looked at him with astonishment.

Having worked alongside Shen Qinglan for many years, no one knew better than her how stingy the Shen family members were.

And now, he was directly taking out the core of an exotic beast.

The core was quickly brought over, and Shen Qinglan took a glance, confirmed its quality, and instructed someone to pack it.

“Go to the Interstellar Academy.” He remained silent for a long time before finally uttering these words.

Only one day remained before the start of the third joint exam.

And these few days had become the most lively days in the recent history of the Interstellar Academy.

In the afternoon, Ji Fu had just come out of the laboratory when she saw a group of people walking towards her. The leader was the arrogant Mr. Shen from yesterday.

Shen Qinglan personally carried a gift box and, in full view of everyone, walked up to Ji Fu.

Unlike yesterday, today Shen Qinglan had applied to the Interstellar Academy early in the morning. When he arrived, he even brought a few reporters with him.

Some of the reporters were even broadcasting live.

Shen Qinglan, unlike his attitude yesterday, held a press conference before coming, apologizing for his previous erroneous remarks during the joint exam and for intruding into the Interstellar Academy.

After it ended, he personally came to apologize to Ji Fu with full sincerity.

“What happened yesterday was Shen’s negligence.” Under countless gazes, Shen Qinglan’s eyes were deep. “Without evidence, Miss Ji was labeled as a thief.”

“I ask for Miss Ji’s forgiveness.” He paused for a moment, then opened the gift box in his hand. “This is a token of Shen’s sincerity.”

Under the live broadcast, everyone saw the excellent quality, shimmering with moon-white radiance, of the Moon Tide Beast core.

“Hiss, I thought he wouldn’t apologize.”

“If he didn’t apologize, the entire Shen family would have to pay for what he did.”

“…It’s called an apology, but it’s actually for the auction, isn’t it?”

Some disagree, while others agree.

The main point lies in the sincerity Shen Qinglan has shown, which is truly substantial.

[The value of exotic beast materials generally exceeds that of exotic plants. The Moon Tide Beast is a top-grade specimen, and the quality of this beast core is almost on par with the Super Star + Broken Dwarf Liquid Core in Ji Fu’s hands. Regardless of the reason, Shen Qinglan has indeed spared no expense this time.]

Of course, it’s a substantial expense.

This exotic beast core was originally prepared by Shen Qinglan for a long time, intending to give it to Shen Qingxue as a gift once she truly ascended to the Super Star level.

Now, giving it away like this, he doesn’t show it on his face, but his heart has already reached its boiling point.

“As for the matter of the professional killer, I think it’s necessary to explain it to you.” Shen Qinglan looked at Ji Fu, emphasizing each word, “The Shen family has never hired professional killers.”

“The assassination you encountered at the Interstellar Academy yesterday has nothing to do with me and the Shen family.”

On this point, Shen Qinglan made it very clear at the press conference.

The apology statement issued by the Shen family afterwards also made it clear.

The goods were robbed, they admit it, mistaking Ji Fu for someone from the slaughterhouse, they admit it too.

But the matter of professional killers indeed has nothing to do with Shen Qinglan.

If he wanted to act, he wouldn’t need to be so indirect.

[This statement does have a certain credibility, mainly because the Shen family’s goods were just stolen. According to Shen Qinglan’s character, he should have gone to retrieve the goods rather than send someone to assassinate Ji Fu.]

Killing doesn’t bring profit, but instead stains one’s hands with blood.

Shen Qinglan’s apology today has made many people realize that the auction is indeed very important to the Shen family.

It even made Shen Qinglan lower his noble head.

Leaving aside other matters, at least before the auction, Shen Qinglan wouldn’t easily act against Ji Fu.

A large part of these remarks are also from the Shen family’s supporters.

Shen Qinglan has put in so much effort, and it’s impossible for him to let public opinion continue to slander his own family.

Ji Fu remained indifferent, not paying much attention to the beast core.

She could only calmly look at Shen Qinglan, with a hint of weariness in her expression, and in front of everyone, she lightly yawned.

The people who came with Shen Qinglan all changed their expressions.

They have already done so much, yet she still wants more.

What does she want to do?

Ji Fu looked extremely calm, staring straight at Shen Qinglan.

Shen Qinglan gave this gift today, with no intention of taking it back. He will definitely make Ji Fu accept it.

And once this gift is given, regardless of Ji Fu’s attitude afterwards, as long as there is an opportunity, the Shen family will definitely take action against her.

The gift of a snake, how could it be so generous?

This is just bowing to the situation.

But Ji Fu is not afraid at all, if the play is already in motion, then it should be played out to the end.

Apologies should look like apologies.

Even the noble heads of the aristocratic families must bow down under heavy interests.

Doesn’t this also fit their usual style of doing things?

She remained silent, confronting Shen Qinglan like this.

The barely concealed hostility in Shen Qinglan’s eyes couldn’t be hidden.

But after five minutes of stalemate and confrontation, he finally had to bow his head.

Shen Qinglan lowered his eyes, took a half step back, bowed deeply towards Ji Fu’s position, and said loudly, “I’m sorry.”

The whole scene fell silent.

For the first time in his life, a noble who was arrogant and disdainful, who didn’t even look at ordinary people or those with low talent, apologized to a commoner.

The barrage in the live broadcast room first fell silent, then became lively. Compared to Shen Qinglan’s retreat, they were more surprised at Ji Fu’s attitude.

[…Wow, there are really people who won’t give an inch, just watching the aristocrats apologize meekly.]

[Don’t say, Ji Fu is truly the most courageous person I’ve seen in recent years.]

Who doesn’t know that by accepting this gift today, she will be at odds with the entire Shen family in the future?

That’s only second to the top families like the Fang and Zhou families.

Stronger than families like the Si and Han!

In countless astonished gazes, Ji Fu casually raised her hand and accepted the gift, calmly saying, “Understood.”

Three casual words.

She ignored the gazes of everyone, faced with Shen Qinglan’s rising dark and chilly gaze, and stared back.

What she said wasn’t to let this matter go or to forgive, but to notify.

And at the same time, as she faced Shen Qinglan expressionlessly in confrontation.

In the early morning, while Ji Fu was confronting Shen Qinglan, Wei Lan, who had left the Interstellar Academy and met up with Qin Chu Yue, was already in the boundless outer space.

Here, it’s a remote star far away from the Interstellar Academy.

It’s also the most important resource area for the Shen family.

Looking back from here, there are about a dozen remote planets.

On all these planets, there are Qionghai Flower Stones growing.

The location is extremely remote, not far from the ‘home’ Ji Fu left many years ago.

In places where Qionghai Flower Stones flourish, there is a faint pink hue that is unbelievably beautiful when viewed from outer space.

And it’s precisely this unique beauty that consumes the flesh and blood of the lower class people, becoming the ladder for families like Shen Qinglan’s to climb upward.

They nurture this beauty, watering it repeatedly on these planets.

They ensure that the crystal veins of the Qionghai Flower Stones never fade, growing magnificent flowers on the flesh and blood.

The Shen family manages this area very strictly.

Entry and exit require very strict certification.

Ji Fu initially targeted the Wu family, targeted Shen Qinglan, and even seized so many resources, all as a matter of convenience. Her true goal was this magnificent and spectacular Qionghai Flower Stone base.

After the incident with the Wu family, the mining of Qionghai Flower Stone temporarily ceased.

All the innocent civilians who had been exiled to this remote star system were sent away.

They were temporarily detained elsewhere.

In these few days, due to one wave after another of events, the Shen family was busy coping and also scrambling to organize auctions to gather resources.

In addition to the assassination incident last night, the Alliance suspended most of the Shen family’s powers.

This galaxy, where Qionghai Flower Stone grows, was at a standstill for the first time.

Of course, security measures outside the galaxy remained strict.

But due to too many disturbances, the Shen family was only concerned with immediate interests, neglecting a very important matter.

That is, Ji Fu downloaded all of the Shen family’s shipping route blueprints from their giant warship.

And after assassinating an important figure from the Shen family last night, she infiltrated their crucial transportation system network in the Wei Lan.

According to the information obtained from Wu Yang and the Wu family, the individuals currently responsible for transporting important goods for the auction at the Shen family were the same ones who previously managed the transportation of Qionghai Flower Stone.

Last night, she refined the verification information obtained from the Shen family’s leader.

And sent it to Qin Chu Yue.

Qin Chu Yue then used the giant warship he had previously piloted to modify their own warship, embedding the verification information from within the Shen family.

Today, when the Shen family held a press conference, piloting the modified starship, they entered this secretive galaxy.

Accompanying them were warships loaded with ammunition.

This batch of ammunition was painstakingly accumulated by Ji Fu before the second round of the joint exam, almost exhausting all the materials in her hands to create top-notch ammunition.

Their target was not the Shen family or the Wu family.

It was the root of all evil—Qionghai Flower Stone.

Ji Fu was clear that aristocratic families always prioritized their interests.

With the situation having developed to this extent, they would definitely react.

Most likely, Shen Qinglan would personally apologize to her.

By saving face, they could also take advantage of the situation to regain some goodwill.

They would spare no effort to protect their interests, to the point where the Shen family’s most important combat force was Shen Qinglan herself.

At this moment, in front of everyone, in front of all interstellar beings, Shen Qinglan would apologize to Ji Fu.

He stood here, with Wei Lan still not fully recovered, able to break through any barrier and, with Qin Chu Yue, pilot the giant warship into the Qionghai Flower Stone galaxy.

The journey went smoothly.

Although the mining of Qionghai Flower Stone had stopped, the demand for this thing by aristocrats was too great.

This was the largest Qionghai Flower Stone minefield in the entire galaxy.

Even though mining had stopped, as long as someone needed Qionghai Flower Stone, they would still come to mine a portion first.

Ji Fu’s verification was flawless, and Qin Chu Yue used mimetic robots to disguise themselves as several key personnel from the Shen family.

All of this was information obtained from infiltrating the Shen family’s giant warship yesterday.

Wei Lan piloted the Moonlight and activated stealth mode.

On the way, they only killed three suspicious star + mechs.

However…

Wei Lan’s eyes slightly darkened, prompting Qin Chu Yue to stop the warship outside the galaxy.

He raised his eyes and looked towards the distant Qionghai Flower Stone galaxy, saying coldly, “There are super stellar mechs stationed nearby.”

This confirmed Ji Fu’s speculation. Besides the Shen family, other forces must be involved in such an important resource as Qionghai Flower Stone.

Unfortunately, Wei Lan’s body had not fully recovered, and they didn’t have super stellar mechs at their disposal, so they couldn’t directly engage in battle with the other party and obtain specific information and clues from them.

Ji Fu hesitated for a moment. She was using a super light brain. Under the gaze of live broadcasts and people like Shen Qinglan, she didn’t directly reply to the message.

She just rotated her wrist, displaying the light brain worn on her wrist onto Wei Lan’s screen.

Qin Chu Yue asked, “What does that mean?”

Wei Lan replied, “She said she can delay Shen Qinglan for at most fifteen minutes.”

Qin Chu Yue: ?

With just a light brain displaying the time, he could understand?

“We can’t delay any longer.” Through the screen of the warship, Wei Lan raised his gaze towards the Qionghai Flower Stone.

They stopped the warship in outer space. The super stellar mechs had scanned their warship multiple times already.

Further delay would inevitably arouse suspicion.

The Moonlight he used was a part of Ji Fu’s, but it was also a stellar-class mech.

With a stellar-class mech on hand, he wasn’t without a chance against the other party.

When necessary, they could also kill the other party.

But inevitably, his injuries would worsen.

She wouldn’t agree to him doing this.

Wei Lan paused for only a second, then lowered his gaze to the light brain on his wrist. He immediately took off the light brain and connected it to the warship.

The light brain quickly established a connection with the warship.

[Service provided by System k370]

Sure enough, she had a backup plan.

To control this giant warship filled with ammunition, it wasn’t him and Qin Chu Yue, but the top-tier intelligent system she left on the warship.

K370 was an intelligent system Ji Fu synchronized and improved while perfecting Flame.

Because it had been experimented with many times, its name was also based on the number of experiments.

After the system was activated, Wei Lan and Qin Chu Yue left through the emergency passage of the warship.

He activated stealth mode and, within an extremely close range, manipulated the warship to jump forward.

On the other side, the super-stellar mechs that had activated the entire galaxy’s defense system were puzzled by the sudden appearance of the warship here.

They were in the midst of dialing the communication of the Shen family’s head, the communication had just been established.

The Shen family’s starship suddenly leaped towards this direction at maximum speed.

His expression changed, and he directly activated the defense system of the super-stellar mechs.

Who knew that the moment the system was activated, it was subjected to countless hacker Trojan invasions.

Under the same local area network, a flood of garbled code poured in.

These rampant Trojan viruses intercepted the mechs for 3 seconds.

Three seconds may sound fast, but for super-stellar mechs, it was equivalent to missing the most effective combat time.

And it was during these 3 seconds.

While watching Shen Qinglan and her group perform in the interstellar academy and preparing to leave the academy, Jifu, who was present, was presented with a prompt window.

【Enter Total Destruction Mode?】

【Yes/No】

Total Destruction Mode was the main terminal system for building the black mechs back then.

She applied it to the giant warship.

As Shen Qinglan turned to leave, Ji Fu simultaneously pressed the display button on the screen.

【Yes】

The next moment, the entire Qionghai Flower Stone galaxy exploded with unprecedented force.

On the eve of the explosion, Wei Lan activated Moonlight’s berserk mode and, carrying the small stealth starship driven by Qin Chu Yue, began intense maneuvers.

Under the extreme speed of intense maneuvering, everything in front of them moved extremely fast, becoming particularly blurry.

Just before escaping the explosion range, Qin Chu Yue released a strong interference signal.

It disrupted and confused the same-frequency signals, causing all the fleets that entered this rescue to lose signal.

Just one second before the shuttle left, Wei Lan stepped out of the small starship’s hatch, aimed at the super-stellar mech that had appeared outside the Qionghai Flower Stone galaxy with the space distortion cannon in the mech’s berserk mode.

Boom!!!

A deafening explosion, along with chaotic magnetic fields, signals, and the bombardment of the Total Destruction Mode’s shock shells, penetrated the right shoulder of the super-stellar mech.

The super-stellar mechs reacted, releasing a large number of attack projectiles that swept towards them.

But because they had shuttled to a very distant range beforehand, the power of the bombardment was weakened, and Wei Lan, who had already flashed back, was not hit by a single attack.

Only narrowly missing hitting the small starship.

The starship shook for a moment, and Qin Chu Yue instantly pulled it back, connected to Wei Lan’s mech, and fled.

Meanwhile, the Qionghai Flower Stone galaxy behind them continued to explode under the triple attacks and interference.

Ji Fu no longer had Yunfang in her hands now, and the top-notch explosives she made were slightly weaker than the black mechs from back then.

But their goal wasn’t to destroy the planet but to destroy all the Qionghai Flower Stone crystal veins on the planet.

The shockwaves echoing through space turned all the beautiful colors into fragments.

The super-stellar mechs were injured and couldn’t disarm the explosion of the Total Destruction Mode, only able to watch as countless Qionghai Flower Stone exploded into fragments before their eyes.

At the same time, Shen Qinglan, who had not yet left the interstellar academy, received several messages.

Before he could read all the content, he was interrupted by a window that popped up directly.

Looking around, the light brains of everyone were forcibly displaying live broadcast windows.

The window played the scene of the explosion of Qionghai Flower Stone.

Countless Qionghai Flower Stone were blasted into pieces, and almost all of the Qionghai Flower Stone crystal veins owned by the Shen family were destroyed.

Five or six planets that nurtured Qionghai Flower Stone were blasted through and destroyed.

Amidst the black ground and scorched earth, the mechanical sound of the slaughterhouse rang out again:

【The largest surviving Qionghai Flower Stone galaxy has been destroyed】

The details of Qionghai Flower Stone’s attributes were attached, including but not limited to being affectionate, severely radioactive, absorbing nutrients from human bodies, and a section detailing the conditions of the second-class citizens who had been exiled to mine Qionghai Flower Stone, disabled, severely ill, or even deformed bodies.

Shen Qinglan’s expression changed rapidly. He suddenly raised his head, and in that instant, his gaze met Ji Fu, who was sitting quietly by the window on the third floor.

The wind tousled her white hair, and she sat in the glorious sunshine, lifting her eyes.

Are you still satisfied with this massive bombing that came three years late?