Chapter 85

After this message came out, the whole examination room was quiet.

Bai Yeming, who was driving a mecha and rushing to the third examination room, changed his face immediately.

It had only been a few minutes since Fang Yuan sent the message, and he had already been eliminated.

A mecha of this strength… The light brain prompt sounded, and it was a message from Zhou Xingyu.

He said in a cold voice: “The person who eliminated Fang Yuan should be Ji Fu.

” Before Zhou Lu Hai’s mecha upgrade, it could be said to be an accident, or it was just luck.

Being in the Zhou family, Zhou Xingyu knew that Zhou Lu Hai’s fission was already half a step to Super Star +, and he had all the materials in his hands, plus the Broken Dwarf Gilded in Ji Fu’s hand.

Perhaps without replacing the Super Star + parts, the mecha can also be upgraded.

But now it seems that this is completely different.

Ji Fu really promoted to Super Star + in such a short time, and also made a new mecha in the extreme environment of the Black Sea. …I just don’t know what level Ji Fu’s new mecha is at for the time being.

Just as this thought came to mind, the optical brain issued a rapid upgrade sound.

[Heavenly Ranking Important Update]

Zhou Xingyu looked at the word “important” with a particularly complicated expression.

[Real-time update of the mecha ranking: Chaoxing + Mecha Zhushi, promoted to third place!]

As soon as this news came out, it directly set off a huge wave in the entire galaxy.

Third place!?

The barrage in the live broadcast room exploded.

In recent years, the top three of the mecha ranking have only changed twice.

Once, more than a year ago, a mecha named Huansheng ascended to the second place.

However, there is very little information about Huansheng. The name of the mecha master isn’t even recorded on the Heavenly Ranking, making it very mysterious. Most people’s understanding of this mecha comes from various speculations.

The second time is now, with the dramatic rise of Zhushi to the third place.

Unlike the information-concealed Huansheng, Zhushi was born during a live broadcast.

Moreover, it was created in the Black Sea by a student!

The impact was tremendous.

But people didn’t expect that the Heavenly Ranking would soon update with an even more explosive news.

[Real-time update on the Mecha Master Ranking: Ji Fu, talent level: Super Star, promoted to third place!]

The entire venue fell silent.

Even the live broadcast bullet comments, which were crazily scrolling, froze for a moment.

The Mecha Master Ranking is a comprehensive assessment. The two people ranked ahead of Ji Fu have higher talents, are older, and are long-established mecha masters.

They have also created many mechas.

In a comprehensive ranking, they were bound to be ahead of Ji Fu.

But the most terrifying thing is not that she reached the third place at her age, but that… she is only a Super Star level.

This means that the mecha named Zhushi was created beyond her level.

Creating a mecha beyond her level, and ranking third.

After the bullet comments froze for a moment, a line of text appeared in front of everyone:

[What kind of monster is she?]

This stirred up a thousand waves.

Immediately, all platforms were flooded with news about this mecha and its creator.

[…The last time I saw such a monster was three years ago with Yun Chi.]

[No kidding, I think Yun Chi isn’t even this monstrous. She created a mecha at the bottom of the Black Sea, the Black Sea! Is that a place where humans can stay?]

[Can you even compare? Come on, Yun Chi is a low-level species.]

The update of these two major news made many people think of that person from more than three years ago.

Because of this, many discussions about Yun Chi were brought up.

Some even posted: [Actually, I’ve been wanting to say this for a long time. Don’t you all think these two people are very similar?]

This post caused a huge storm on the star network.

Yun Chi’s name is very famous, but not many people have seen her. However, the deeds related to her have long been widely spread throughout the galaxy.

A low-level species, earth-shattering explosions, black mecha.

And unparalleled mechanical talent.

If certain things weren’t mentioned, many people, even if they had a sense of déjà vu, wouldn’t think about it specifically.

Once linked, the thought process was like a runaway train.

As a result, shortly after the post was published, it had over a million replies.

Most people were just watching for fun, knowing that even if the universe were to be destroyed and black holes disappeared, a low-level species could never become a Super Star level.

But this theory indeed hit everyone’s most curious point.

Unfortunately, shortly after the heat exploded, the post was blocked by the alliance.

Discussions about Yun Chi were also deleted across the entire network.

After all, Yun Chi is a major criminal, and it’s normal not to allow public discussions.

The heat on the star network subsided a bit, but the impact and the seeds planted remained.

At the highest office of Emperor Star.

In Fang Yanli’s office, the light screen was rarely turned on.

He sat alone, silently in the dark.

The screen’s image was blindingly bright.

Especially the grayscale silver mecha slowly rising from the dense Black Sea.

It hurt Fang Yanli’s eyes.

But he didn’t move a step.

In the evening, Wen Fang came once.

He still insisted that a naturally low-level species could not have talent.

…Unless.

Fang Yanli paused, recalling Wen Fang’s complicated expression.

Unless this person was inherently talented.

After saying this, Wen Fang left the office without saying anything more.

But Fang Yanli couldn’t help but think of the file Wen Fang submitted to him several months ago, also in this office.

The misfortune of Yun Chi’s life, and her subsequent behavior.

Most of it was because—she was a low-level species.

If her life’s tragedy was entirely caused by others.

If all her paths were blocked by people.

If…

The justice he prided himself on, in some ways, was precisely her life’s purgatory.

Fang Yanli found it hard to describe this feeling.

It was contrary to everything he had always known and upheld.

Fang Yanli’s early years were actually very happy.

He grew up in the Fang family, with parents who were excellent warriors.

When he was eight, a massive beast tide occurred.

Black holes kept refreshing and appearing.

His parents died in battle to resist the beast tide.

The situation was so dire that their bodies were never recovered.

His grandfather took him to the battlefield to retrieve the bodies. The mecha dug for several days and nights, only to find a bit of his father’s mecha wreckage.

At that time, his grandfather told him.

To defend the interstellar safety, fighting to the last moment is a duty every interstellar person should fulfill.

His parents guarded the entire galaxy.

After leaving the battlefield that day, his talent, which had previously shown nothing, suddenly leaped to D-level.

He inherited his parents’ legacy.

He single-handedly established the Supreme Office, maintaining the safety and peace of the entire galaxy.

For so many years, he had never doubted his convictions.

Not once.

But after the Shen family auction, Fang Yanli hesitated for the first time.

In fact, before that, he had already identified Ji Fu’s true identity. Normally, he would have arrested her without hesitation.

But he didn’t.

Fang Yanli lowered his eyes slightly.

In front of him were two thick files.

These were the kill lists from the slaughterhouse.

Two files, in particular, from the Shen family and the Si family, were placed separately.

In some ways, if he hadn’t hesitated, these two incidents might not have happened.

Because of his avoidance and hesitation, Ji Fu had taken the opportunity of the joint exam to create an unprecedented weapon of mass destruction.

Fang Yanli lowered his eyes, feeling tormented for the first time in his life just by sitting.

The thick files in front of him seemed like a collection of ghastly faces.

And when he looked up, he saw the sky half-illuminated by Ji Fu.

Fang Yanli’s face was somber, his figure deeply entrenched in the interplay of light and shadow.

“Knock, knock, knock.” Someone knocked on the office door.

Cheng Hao walked in, his face solemn, and said, “Executive Director, there’s been a disturbance in the nearby star systems.”

Fang Yanli looked up and said coldly, “Deploy the Supreme Office’s large starship fleet to blockade the hidden planet.”

With Ji Fu stepping into the Super Star level, he no longer had time to evade.

Some things he had to see for himself.

“Yes.”

At the same time, Qin Yebai lounged on a sofa.

In front of him, a light screen displayed all the data on Ji Fu’s Zhushi.

Twenty days, Super Star+.

The simulated system’s data almost broke the scale.

Because of this, Zhushi leaped to become the number one Super Star+ mecha.

Indeed.

The second-ranked mecha in the Heavenly Mecha Ranking, Huansheng, was created by Qin Yebai, the same mecha currently used by Bai Yeming in the joint exam, named “Taihe.”

This mecha was his most successful creation after numerous failures, closest to the Special Star level.

Although it was an experimental piece, Huansheng was indeed very close to the Special Star level.

Using a Special Star level core and engine, it technically surpassed the Super Star+ category.

So Zhushi was undoubtedly the top of the Super Star+ class.

Qin Yebai’s gaze was heavy as he looked at Ji Fu.

Her progress was faster than he had imagined, reaching the Super Star level and creating such a top-tier mecha.

This person had now become a huge problem.

Actually, before the start of the third joint exam, he couldn’t be entirely sure that she was Yun Chi.

Lie Russell was a drug that the Qin family spent countless efforts and decades to develop.

When combined with Blue Russell, it became a potent toxin.

Before the Qin family’s downfall, Qin Yebai had always been in the research institute and knew the toxin’s potency better than anyone.

So initially, when the Supreme Monitoring exploded, he didn’t believe Yun Chi could still be alive.

The three vials of talent extracted from Yun Chi couldn’t be faked.

For so many years, the Qin family had produced several top-tier guinea pigs, none of whom could withstand this violent toxin.

Decades had passed with no exceptions. How could there suddenly be one?

But on this most unlikely scenario, a deviation occurred.

After the Qin family fell, Qin Yebai mainly relied on support from the main family.

Now that the main family had given their approval, the fourth talent had to be taken out, whether he wanted to or not.

The secretary stood behind Qin Yebai, looking at him with concern.

They didn’t have Yun Chi-4, but Qin Yebai had no shortage of top-tier resources.

However, a talent level equivalent to Yun Chi’s… not now, nor in the entire Pig Project, could a second one be found.

That so-called Yun Chi-4, once handed over, would undoubtedly be discovered.

Qin Yebai had initially used Yun Chi’s information and the resources at hand to gain the main family’s protection.

Because of this, the main family had allowed him to use Yun Chi’s talent first.

Of the three talents, Qin Yebai took two.

The remaining one was given to the main family, and as far as he knew, it had already been used.

Now, there was no way to find a fourth.

How would Qin Yebai face the upcoming high-level meeting?

As he was thinking, his personal communicator sounded an alarm.

The secretary hurriedly answered the call, and after listening briefly, his face turned pale.

He quickly stepped forward and said, “Sir, there’s trouble.”

“The team sent to retrieve the fourth talent was ambushed on the way, and all personnel were killed!” The secretary’s face was unusually grim. “The transport starship was violently bombed into pieces, and the fourth talent… couldn’t be secured.”

A deadly silence fell over the super starship.

Qin Yebai’s face darkened. Hearing this, he coldly asked, “Was this the work of the slaughterhouse?”

The secretary paused, his eyes flickering. “Such large-scale bombing does resemble the slaughterhouse’s methods.”

Qin Yebai sneered.

At this critical moment, those eagerly awaiting the fourth talent would surely not believe it.

But what of it?

There was now no one left to testify.

The warehouse at the research institute was under his management, but the ownership belonged to the main family.

The item had been successfully taken from the warehouse, but something happened midway.

No matter what they think, this will only appear to be the work of the slaughterhouse.

Qin Yebai knew they were displeased with him.

But without the fourth talent, he was, so far, the second Special Star level in the Alliance, right after Fang Yanli.

He had already given them a way out.

If they were sensible, they should take it.

Qin Yebai was confident, but he still had the starship accelerate to its maximum speed.

No matter what, they still had to maintain a facade of cordiality.

The starship arrived at the hidden asteroid.

Qin Yebai hurriedly entered the meeting room.

Usually, everyone arrived just on time, but this time they were already gathered. As he entered, the room fell silent, and Zhou Xing, sitting at the lower end, looked at him with a sullen expression.

Unable to hold back, Zhou Xing sneered, “Well, here comes our hero.”

The atmosphere in the meeting room was extremely tense.

Yun Chi had been dead for a long time, and the fourth talent had been stored in the research institute due to issues with the user.

The most crucial item was kept by the main family, which was their rightful authority and something everyone accepted.

But that talent had been stored for so long, with nothing happening until they pressured Qin Yebai to hand it over, and then something happened.

Qin Yebai was treating them like fools.

Zhou Xing couldn’t tolerate this.

Qin Yebai, however, remained composed and coldly replied, “Each family had representatives in the team sent to retrieve the talent. If I’m the hero, then all of you contributed significantly as well.”

With these words, the atmosphere in the room became icy.

Everyone present looked extremely displeased.

Zhou Xing, enraged, was about to explode when he was stopped by the person next to him.

“Enough, sit down.” The one who stopped him was the current Alliance Commander-in-Chief.

The Commander-in-Chief hadn’t attended the previous meetings.

This time, he was here mainly to observe the main family’s stance.

The main family surely knew that the fourth talent was intercepted by the slaughterhouse.

However.

No one expected the person they were waiting for to be Fang Yanli.

The night was as dark as ink.

The asteroid was very quiet, with only the main meeting room brightly lit.

Qin Yebai sat at the conference table.

Suddenly, the room’s alarm went off. Looking up, he saw a pitch-black super starship appear overhead.

This starship bypassed all the planet’s defenses and crashed straight down.

Zhou Xing turned around and saw the silver-white code on the pitch-black starship.

The words “Supreme Office” were directly etched into everyone’s eyes.

The starship landed, and Fang Yanli led the Supreme Office personnel, marching in unison into the meeting room.

Two men flanked him, wielding guns. They kicked the door open and aimed their weapons at the people inside.

Fang Yanli’s sudden appearance, accompanied by armed men, left no one in the room composed.

“Fang Yanli? What are you doing?” someone asked in a panic.

Qin Yebai sat quietly, his gaze fixed on Fang Yanli.

He also wanted to know why Fang Yanli had suddenly appeared here.

Looking up, Fang Yanli, expressionless, said, “The Empire Alliance received an alert that the research institute was attacked by the slaughterhouse.”

He raised his eyes, his deep, dark gaze sweeping over everyone present.

“I am responsible for the slaughterhouse cases. Matters related to the slaughterhouse should be handled by the Supreme Office.”

The room fell into silence.

It was indeed proper protocol.

But not just today’s matter, even the subjects they had been discussing were not meant to be mentioned in Fang Yanli’s presence.

Handing this matter over to him…

That was simply asking for trouble!

Ji Fu had also received the news.

She had been immersed in mecha production, with Qin Chu Yue monitoring external information.

Using a false identity, Qin Chu Yue infiltrated the public proctoring planet for the joint exam.

She didn’t dare get too close.

She mingled with the eliminated students, slipping out unnoticed occasionally.

After twenty days, she had made considerable progress.

Through Qin Chu Yue’s location, Ji Fu hacked into the regional network of the proctoring area.

However, she didn’t control the network, only monitored it.

When Zhou Xing left the proctoring area, Ji Fu received the alert.

According to Qin Chu Yue’s feedback, something bad seemed to have happened.

Ji Fu tracked the lightbrain of Zhou Xing’s subordinates.

Without a connection, it was impossible to perform a remote hack.

But she conducted a simple trace, akin to marking a target.

She only traced Zhou Xing’s men, not Zhou Xing himself.

After leaving the proctoring area, these men went to different places.

Ji Fu determined they went to the Empire Alliance, the Zhou family on Empire Star, and a very remote star system.

She cut off the first two tracking lines before they entered Empire Star.

She only traced the last one.

After obtaining the specific location, Qin Chu Yue piloted the super starship and pursued them.

Following this trace, they discovered the problem.

Qin Chu Yue was about to explode with anger: “…These shameless things in the Alliance, now they’re blaming us for every disgusting thing that happens.”

“They actually said we intercepted their shipping routes and blew up their shipments of important research materials. Can you believe it?”

Inside, Ji Fu paused for a moment upon hearing the phrase “research materials.”

Immediately, she said, “Wei Lan?”

“I’m here.” Wei Lan lay in the medical compartment, opening his eyes.

“Get ready.” Ji Fu smiled faintly. “It seems we’ve stumbled upon something quite remarkable.”

After entering the fourth round of the joint exam, she had almost stopped concealing her strength.

Those people from the Alliance should have suspected something long ago. Delaying until now was probably Qin Yebai’s doing.

Suddenly, something so inexplicable happened today…

Ji Fu followed these pieces of information and immediately understood Qin Yebai’s meaning.

He clearly no longer had the fourth talent, yet he still used this method to make the slaughterhouse take the blame.

Ji Fu didn’t care about these matters at all.

But since he had said so, if she didn’t do anything, it would truly be disrespectful of his efforts.

Ji Fu smirked and whispered, “Follow the information you’ve gathered and find the starting point of the shipping route.”

If she wasn’t mistaken, it should be an important storage warehouse over there.

After a brief pause, Ji Fu added, “Remember to bring a gift.”

Courtesy demands reciprocity.

Moreover, if you’re going to put on a show, you have to do it thoroughly. Since Qin Yebai couldn’t do it, she would personally help him.

Qin Yebai should be explaining things to those people right now, right?

She would help him by setting their warehouse on fire. That way, Qin Yebai wouldn’t need to explain anything to anyone.

How convenient.

Qin Chu Yue piloted the starship while Wei Lan rested in the medical compartment. He acted very quickly.

Within half an hour, he had directly locked onto the target location.

The original defense of this place was very strict, but due to the recent incident, some manpower had been dispatched to assist.

Wei Lan followed these people and found the warehouse of the research institute.

He activated stealth mode and, after locking onto the key target, carried over a dozen heavy bombardment shells made by Ji Fu to pay them a visit.

Ji Fu parked Zhushi on an island. As soon as it landed, the deafening sound of explosions echoed in her ears.

The sound was continuous, continuous, and unceasing.

It reverberated throughout the heavens.

Fifteen minutes later, Wei Lan, panting lightly, announced, “It’s done.”

He had bombed all the guards on the inconspicuous asteroid, as well as everything in the private vault, into pieces.

Boom!

The thunderous sound reverberated throughout the entire outer space, lasting for a long time.

At the same time, in the stalemate inside the hidden asteroid, all the lightbrains of the people simultaneously beeped.

Beep, beep, beep—the frantic notification sounds hovered in the entire conference room.

Zhou Xing opened his lightbrain. The message was from the slaughterhouse, and they didn’t know how they managed it, but they had sent it to everyone in the Alliance.

What they sent was a simple and straightforward sentence, ringing out mechanically in the entire conference room amid the anticipation:

“The mission is complete. Welcome to entrust us again. The slaughterhouse will always be by your side.”