Chapter 89

Ji Fu’s words caused a violent shock across the entire interstellar community.

Comparing people to pigs, transforming their bodies with toxins, and turning them into vessels for others to exploit their talents.

Behind the rapid advancement of technology lies the increasingly ambitious aspirations of noble families. This behavior of trampling on lives to gain enormous profits and solidify their own class has sparked outrage among all the citizens of the interstellar community.

On various major platforms, countless people are cursing the Alliance and the noble families.

At this moment, whether they are ordinary interstellar citizens or small to medium-sized families, they all feel deeply chilled.

Such despicable actions, which twist and drain the essence of life, inherently violate the laws of nature. And now, it is clear that the noble families have gained immense benefits from these practices.

If this matter isn’t exposed, there will only be more victims.

And once human ambition and desires begin to swell, they will grow like wild grass.

It must be known that today, those who have fallen victim to their poison are just poor people from remote stars. After tasting the flavor of talent promotion, will this scope expand further?

This sword hanging over everyone’s heads might fall on every citizen at any moment.

In the excitement of the masses, enraged citizens nearly tore down the Alliance’s official website.

The Imperial Star Alliance convened an emergency meeting and temporarily shut down major online platforms.

However, there are too many mechanics within the interstellar community, and the jurisdiction is simply too vast to control.

After the platforms were cut off for the first time, some citizens directly used the servers of the Slaughterhouse to set up new online platforms.

And because of the Alliance’s actions, it sparked a new wave of public outrage.

The Alliance initiated emergency management, but public opinion had already completely spiraled out of control.

Especially in the live broadcast room where Ji Fu was, with many public platforms closed, countless citizens flooded into the ones that were still operational.

In the barrage of comments in the live chat at that moment, there were condemnations against the Alliance and the noble families.

“…I wondered why things have been so strange these years. It seems like both the Super-Stars and the Stars have their own consciousness now. It turns out it’s not that the commoners aren’t worthy, but that they’ve used means.”

“The most outrageous thing is this joint examination. Do you know why the Interstellar Academy has fallen into this state over the years? Because it’s the only one among the three major military academies that still accepts civilians! Those who enter the Interstellar are all the ones who slipped through the net. How can they compare to the sky’s pride, which was built on countless piles of flesh and blood?”

“It’s too disgusting, really too disgusting. I dare not imagine, if those who encounter these things are my children, what should I do? The entire Alliance is dominated by them. What can I do? I can only die outside the Imperial Star Alliance.”

“…Has anyone noticed the serial numbers? Over seventy thousand. Does this mean that tens of thousands of innocent children have died at their hands without our knowledge?”

“Ah, I can’t take it anymore. I just want the Alliance to die now!”

“These are all lives, all blood debts. How will you repay them? Even if these vampires die, they can’t bring back so many living lives!”

“I can’t believe it. Hidden beneath this prosperity and rapid development, there’s such a terrible truth. Do you still remember what was written in the first lesson of the Mech Warriors? ‘The appearance of talent is for humans to better resist black holes and alien tides.’ Now, looking at this sentence again, it just feels ironic. Something that was supposed to become the hope of all mankind has now become a tool for you to rise, becoming your ladder to success! Why are you so damn despicable!?”

Countless such remarks were made.

Accompanying the surging emotions in the live chat were students from the Interstellar Academy.

On the super starship where the Interstellar Academy was located, there was a deathly silence.

After listening to all the content of the live broadcast, Tan Xi almost couldn’t contain his emotions.

His hands were so tense that they turned white, clenched tightly together.

Veins bulged on his forehead, and he was consumed by intense anger.

No one understood better than him what extracting talents meant.

For ordinary citizens, the only way to escape poverty and suffering is by having talent.

The vast majority of resources in the entire interstellar community are monopolized by noble families and the Alliance.

For commoners to live a little better, they can only hope for their own talent.

Even if they have talent and manage to enter the military academy, they still need the support of the major noble families to have a place.

But no matter what, after possessing talent, they at least have the ability to protect themselves and can live like human beings.

And now, these people have blocked the last road that carries their hopes.

The ultimate meaning of the existence of commoners, from bringing them resources, has become their own resource.

Trampling on dignity, suffering exploitation.

For a galaxy with hundreds of billions of people, their lives are simply insignificant.

Tan Xi’s whole body went cold, feeling choked up and unable to speak.

Beside him, Li Yunyi stood up directly.

Boom!

He exerted all his strength, and his fist directly struck the super starship.

The materials of the super starship were extraordinary, and without the heavy impact of a mech, it couldn’t be penetrated. However, Li Yunyi’s hand exploded into a bloody mess.

Flesh and blood flew, but he seemed not to feel any pain, just sneering softly.

Beside him, Wan Feng’s eyes were filled with violent waves.

At this point, he finally understood why Ji Fu had rejected him before.

For him, it was a choice between standing with the Slaughterhouse and the current Alliance.

But for Ji Fu, she didn’t want to establish another dangerous noble family again.

In the violent shock, Wan Feng couldn’t help but look at Wan Die.

Wan Die was actually only a few years younger than Ji Fu.

And although the Wan family looks prosperous, fundamentally, they’re just scraping for scraps among the noble families.

Even the upper-class families can abandon the Alliance ship at any time, let alone those who follow them around and beg for mercy, living on begging for food.

One day, when the alliance is no longer satisfied with the status quo, they will be the ones to suffer.

Either they stand together and become accomplices, or their useful value is exploited and they are directly abandoned.

Wan Feng’s eyes were deep.

He is ambitious and wants to make a career.

But before all this, he was first a person, a person with a conscience.

The sorrow in the video reached his ears, making him feel unbearable pain as well.

He could hear the cries of life, and he couldn’t turn a blind eye to them.

Among all the people, Zhou Lu Hai had the biggest reaction.

Extracting talents, pigs, toxins.

Each word felt like it was going to crush his heart.

In the midst of intense suffocation, Zhou Lu Hai lowered his head and looked at his hands.

He wanted to know if his body had been injected with someone else’s talents through those dirty means.

Was he also one of the beneficiaries that Ji Fu spoke of?

Was his Super Star+ talent built upon the bones of others?

He didn’t know.

Zhou Lu Hai’s hands trembled wildly, conflicting with the familiar faces of the Zhou family in his mind.

His father, second uncle, cousin…

At certain moments, Zhou Lu Hai even felt an unprecedented absurdity.

The glory of the Zhou family, everything he enjoyed, the smooth sailing growth of nearly twenty years.

It all seemed like a huge joke played on him by heaven.

Before coming to the Interstellar Academy this year, he had vaguely noticed it too.

His talent wasn’t always Super Star+. It had been Super Star level since he could remember.

At eighteen, last year, his talent steadily reached Super Star+.

At that time, something happened involving his cousin.

His cousin’s name was Zhou Mingyou, and she had the highest attainment in swordsmanship among their generation.

Before he came of age, Zhou Mingyou’s swordsmanship was already the best in the family.

And Zhou Mingyou also had a Super Star level talent, but she was born into a side branch of the family, with her parents having no say in the Imperial Star Zhou family.

Zhou Mingyou was brought to the Imperial Star Zhou family to be raised since she was very young.

She was seven years older than Zhou Lu Hai, and in his memory, Zhou Mingyou was strong and resilient, an outstanding figure among her peers.

Such an excellent cousin was exiled to a polluted area because she refused to accept drug injections.

Zhou Lu Hai still remembered the last time he saw Zhou Mingyou was on his birthday.

It was also that day that Zhou Mingyou had a violent quarrel with the family, and the family detained her biological mother in the Imperial Star.

Zhou Lu Hai heard his second uncle tell Zhou Mingyou to think it over.

The next news he heard about Zhou Mingyou was that she self-destructed her mech and died when a black hole descended.

This matter was forcibly suppressed by the Zhou family. Since Zhou Mingyou had been in the military for several years and was not holding an important position, the information was blocked, and few knew about it.

But it had a huge impact on Zhou Lu Hai.

He didn’t understand why the family insisted on Zhou Mingyou taking the drug, but Zhou Xing told him it was a necessary method to enhance talent.

At that time, he didn’t even know the source of this method.

But because of Zhou Mingyou’s incident, he had a falling out with his family.

He thought Zhou Mingyou’s death was due to internal family strife.

So he rejected the family’s arrangement for him to attend the Imperial Military Academy and went to the Interstellar Academy instead.

Until today, he finally understood.

Zhou Mingyou was not a victim of family conflict; she refused to ascend her talent by consuming others’ blood and flesh!

The Zhou family, from his father to his second uncle, including Zhou Xingyu, were all involved.

They tried to consolidate family interests in this way and had repeatedly attempted to inject drugs into him.

Even now, Zhou Lu Hai couldn’t be sure if he had unknowingly been injected with the drugs.

That Super Star+, was it a natural ascension, or did they use some means to make him ascend?

He looked up through the light screen and saw the person beside Ji Fu.

Until today, he finally understood why Ji Fu had always been so indifferent to him despite almost a year of interaction.

Even after multiple collaborations, she had never truly confided in him.

What stood between them were countless bones piled up from extracted talents, an insurmountable barrier, and the inherent opposition of identities between the beneficiaries and the victims.

Regardless of whether he had used others’ talents or not, he was part of the Zhou family, he had Zhou family blood, and he enjoyed all the benefits extracted by the Zhou family.

Zhou Lu Hai felt a chill throughout his body and closed his eyes amidst the overwhelming emotions.

The communicator beside him suddenly rang.

It was Zhou Xing using the family’s forced contact, sending a message.

His voice was very urgent, loudly saying, “Xingyu, the interception time is sufficient! Ji Fu used a special server to open the examination area network, and the nameplate can still be used normally.”

“Don’t linger in the fight, just teleport out directly.” He had received the message.

Qin Yebai would arrive at the examination site in at most fifteen minutes.

Ji Fu’s talent was exhausted, but that Wei Lan was like a monster, extremely difficult to deal with.

The mess created by Qin Yebai, let him handle it himself.

If he could quickly kill Ji Fu and Wei Lan, today’s incident might still have a chance to turn around.

What Zhou Xing needed to do now was ensure the safety of Zhou Xingyu and Zhou Lu Hai.

“Zhou Lu Hai.” Zhou Xing said coldly, “The starship you’re on is not safe. I have arranged for the family’s starship to pick you up. You must come home immediately!”

Currently, the entire interstellar citizens were on the brink of an outbreak.

No matter what Zhou Lu Hai thought now, everything had to prioritize the family.

As soon as he finished speaking, the Interstellar Academy’s starship made an emergency stop during its travel.

A family’s starship intercepted them, blocking their way.

In front of all the Interstellar Academy students, they demanded that Zhou Lu Hai leave.

Li Yunyi’s face darkened as he looked at the opposing starship. “They’ve really gone all out, even deploying Super Star level mecha soldiers.”

Shi Xueying reached out and held him back. “Don’t act impulsively.”

She shared the same feelings as everyone else, a deep hatred for these parasites.

But Shi Xueying understood that even if they risked their lives now, they couldn’t handle these people.

It would only lead to unnecessary casualties.

Her emotions were turbulent as she quietly said in a voice only the two of them could hear, “We can’t die here.”

“She needs someone by her side.”

Tan Xi and Li Yunyi exchanged glances, their eyes clouded, but they managed to hold back.

They only looked at Zhou Lu Hai as he stood up.

Zhou Xing’s message appeared on the communicator, “Not moving yet?”

“Do you want these Interstellar people to die in front of you?”

Zhou Lu Hai took a deep breath, knowing that Zhou Xing was forcing him to choose between the Zhou family and Ji Fu.

No, they weren’t giving him a choice.

He was a member of the Zhou family, and he had to share their fate.

With a cold expression, Zhou Lu Hai stood up and walked towards the other starship under the watchful eyes of all the Interstellar Academy students.

“Zhou…” Li Yunyi frowned, wanting to stop him, but he shut his mouth when Zhou Lu Hai turned around.

He was not one of them.

Zhou Lu Hai didn’t say much, only taking one last look at the people on the screen before silently entering the starship.

At the examination site, Ji Fu saw new comments appearing on the screen.

They claimed that all the videos and evidence were fabricated by Ji Fu.

【…Just think about it, if such things were real, how could they have been hidden for so long, and why didn’t any victims escape before her?】

【This looks more like a staged performance. It’s been so long, have you all forgotten that she blew up thirty-three planets back then?】

【Rather than believing the noble families went mad and did such things, I’m more inclined to believe it’s the desperate criminals trying to clear their names. Everyone, be rational and don’t be manipulated.】

Some people refuted:

【Given the toxicity level of those drugs, it’s normal for no victim to survive more than two injections, isn’t it?】

【And if I remember correctly, the planets Yun Chi blew up were all independent offices of the Alliance. The people who died were all from the Alliance and noble families, not innocent citizens, right?】

But the number of rebuttals was clearly far less than the sudden influx of skeptical comments.

It seemed like they were being overwhelmed.

Ji Fu heard Qin Chu Yue angrily say, “This is shameless. Seeing the situation, they’ve directly flooded the live stream with trolls.”

“I checked, all these comments appeared in bulk, and they’re highly inflammatory. I traced a few, and couldn’t find their IP addresses.”

“Should we track them live?”

In the live broadcast, Ji Fu said, “No need.”

She looked up and saw Zhou Xingyu not far away.

The strength of Super Star+ mechas and mecha soldiers was much higher than Wei Lan’s Infinity.

But in just a few minutes, Zhou Xingyu was completely suppressed by Wei Lan.

Before she played those two videos, Zhou Xingyu had tried to retreat when he saw things weren’t going well but was fully intercepted by Wei Lan.

His mecha took to the air for only two seconds before being violently brought down by Infinity.

Wei Lan stomped on the Rose mecha, crushing Zhou Xingyu’s cockpit into fragments.

Zhou Xingyu had already fallen unconscious.

Ji Fu glanced at the chaotic comments and said calmly, “Flooding with trolls isn’t to mislead, it’s to buy him time.”

Zhou Xingyu didn’t know Wei Lan had arrived when he counterattacked.

After Ji Fu’s talent was exhausted, she activated the jamming device, and Wei Lan hid above.

This led to Zhou Xingyu being fully suppressed upon appearing.

He was strong, butWei Lan’s strength was even more unreasonable.

Earlier, Ji Fu wasn’t sure if Zhou Xingyu had been injected with talent-enhancing drugs, but after their clash, it was basically confirmed.

Zhou Xingyu was indeed a sham.

The explosive power of a Super Star+ was far inferior to Wei Lan’s Super Star level.

Wei  Lan’s burst power was insanely high. Not only was he Super Star level, but even among Super Star+, he had few rivals.

However,

This was only true for Super Star+.

Ji Fu looked up at the sky. “That Special Star level should be arriving soon.”

With the current talent levels of her and Wei Lan, plus their mechas, the strongest they could face was a Super Star+.

They were almost certainly no match for a Special Star level.

The strength of a Special Star level was beyond normal comprehension.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so utterly suppressed by Fang Yanli back then.

Once the Special Star level arrived, she and  Wei Lan would inevitably die at their hands.

Delaying time might give Zhou Xingyu a chance to survive.

The noble families had invested too much to let him perish at their hands.

“What should we do then? Has your talent recovered?” Qin Chu Yue stood up abruptly.

“80%.” Ji Fu had taken a powerful nutrient solution when her talent was exhausted, but the time was too short for full recovery.

With only 80% of her Super Star level talent restored, it meant she could hardly escape the pursuit of the Special Star level.

Wei Lan’s condition was similar. He still hadn’t fully recovered, and Infinity’s level was lower than Destruction.

Even if they turned and left immediately, they might not be able to evade the opponent’s pursuit.

The live broadcast continued, and unexpectedly, after Ji Fu spoke, her communicator received several messages.

Lu Bingyun: [Map Share]

[Leave from this position to quickly exit the polluted zone and avoid the main road between Zone 3 and Zone 4, where there are military guards.]

Tan Xi: [The rear side detection system of the academy has been shut down, you can glide into the school to hide.]

Zhang Huan: […Zhou Xingyu’s badge is a locator, and it can still be used after the regional network coverage.]

Messages poured in from all directions.

They didn’t mention what she had said, but at this moment, they all provided her with assistance in a coordinated manner.

Ji Fu lowered her eyes slightly.

She had said she would have companions.

But Ji Fu did not choose to leave immediately. After reading all the information, she looked up at Zhou Xingyu with cold eyes. “There’s one more thing I need to confirm.”

Time was tight. She and Wei Lan, with the severely injured and unconscious Zhou Xingyu, quickly moved to Exam Site No. 3.

Thanks to the dense surveil Wei Lan equipment at the site, everyone could see their actions clearly.

Ji Fu stopped her mecha by the Black Sea.

Wei Lan, dragging Zhou Xingyu, stood beside her, looking up at her.

She had found the videos of these people injecting talents from the research institute’s warehouse operating system and finally understood how they used their talents.

Just like extracting, the injection site was also at the right wrist.

Ji Fu lowered her eyes and saw that Zhou Xingyu’s wrist had a faint red spot.

The unnatural reaction of the skin indicated that this was the spot where he injected his talent.

She took out a mechanical dissection knife and cut open Zhou Xingyu’s right wrist.

The pain from the cut was actually far less severe than his previous injuries, but as blood flowed out, Zhou Xingyu woke up.

Still heavily injured and pale, his face changed when he saw the surging Black Sea and he asked coldly, “What are you doing?”

The next moment, excruciating pain came from his wrist.

Ji Fu completely submerged his injured right wrist into the Black Sea.

Under the cold sea breeze, she showed little emotion, only raising her eyes to watch Zhou Xingyu’s twisted, grimacing face under the intense pain.

“Nothing.” She paused slightly, signaling Wei Lan to activate Zhou Xingyu’s communicator.

Wei Lan placed the communicator on Zhou Xingyu’s left wrist.

“An experiment.” Ji Fu watched as the communicator recognized him and then submerged Zhou Xingyu’s right hand into the Black Sea again.

【Beep beep beep! Alarm! Alarm! Severe talent fluctuation detected】

【Talent declining!】

【Talent decreased to: Super Star level】

In the live broadcast, Ji Fu slightly raised her eyebrows.

She had guessed right.

The fundamental reason why Zhou Xingyu, Bai Yemeng, Qin Yebai, and even the Si family, who once trapped Wei Lan in the Interstellar Prison, dared not approach the Black Sea was not due to the sea’s strength or its ability to decompose mechas.

It was…

Upon entering the Black Sea, if they got injured, their talents would drastically decline!

The seemingly limitless, side-effect-free talent extraction had an absolute nemesis.

And that nemesis was the endless Black Sea.

Ji Fu paused slightly. It seemed the retribution for the Alliance and the noble families had just begun.

After the Piggy Wei Lan was made public, most people couldn’t turn a blind eye to such a brutal affair. But the noble families and the Alliance were too enormous for them.

Top-level talents like Super Star and Star levels created a huge chasm in front of ordinary citizens.

Even if they wanted to resist and fight back, they would still hesitate and fear.

But now it was different.

Under the gaze of countless people, Ji Fu, in the final broadcast, directly proved that the talents gained through extraction were not invincible.

From today, it would mark the beginning of the downfall of the noble families and the entire Alliance.