Chapter 29

"All your records and paperwork have been taken care of. Classes start in about a month. Just take this and report to Sea Blue Star in the Celestial God System."

Several people from the medical department cast him envious glances at once.

Grandis University's military academy was the hardest military academy in the entire empire to get into.

Not only did it have extremely high requirements for grades and physical fitness, but a Spiritual Pool of S-Class or higher was also the bare minimum. Most S-Class candidates were even eliminated before the entrance assessment. Graduates could join the elite forces of either camp and fight on the front lines, without having to learn the ropes as low-ranking guards and accumulate merit.

The special invitation Xu Qingran held was even rarer.

If his evaluations while enrolled genuinely met the empire's expectations, he would receive at least a minor title upon graduation.

E-Types were rare, and they made fine blades for the empire. It was no wonder the empire sought ways to keep them under control while offering them terms attractive enough to make them stay.

Xu Qingran opened the invitation, which felt exceptionally fine to the touch.

The president's name was signed at the bottom, and it bore the formal seals of Grandis University and the military academy's own griffin emblem. The seals were a dark blue-purple flecked with gold, a dreamy color much like the starry sky.

Two days earlier, he had signed an agreement with the imperial military.

Joining the military had been his goal in the first place. He would have been a fool not to sign with an opportunity like this in front of him.

As for the future?

That was outside Xu Qingran's consideration.

Whether or not he ultimately became an E-Type, if the academy dared use that as an excuse to kick him out, he would show them how someone could be a bomb even without being an E-Type.

Xu Qingran put the invitation away, only to find that the Tower 3 supervisor, who usually left as soon as he had delivered his message, was strangely still there today.

He looked up in confusion and saw the supervisor wearing a fierce, stern expression as he asked, "How are you feeling today? Can you get out of bed?"

The medical room fell silent for several seconds.

Perhaps realizing that his sudden concern did seem out of character, he raised a fist to his mouth and coughed lightly before adding more.

"Someone is waiting outside Evil Tower to pick you up."

"If you're up to it, pack your things today and you can leave with them."

Xu Qingran paused in surprise. "Who?"

The Tower 3 supervisor replied, "I don't know. I'm only responsible for passing on the message."

His injuries had not fully healed, but getting out of bed and walking around was no longer a problem. He thought he had spent long enough in Evil Tower and it was time to leave.

He was told to pack, but apart from the documents he had received over the past few days, his changes of clothes and everything else had been provided by Evil Tower, and he had no intention of taking them. So, after thanking the medical staff, he followed a guard to the entrance of Tower 3.

A middle-aged man he did not know was waiting outside.

He wore a black-and-white Western-style suit. After confirming Xu Qingran's identity, he gestured in a certain direction. "Hello, Mr. Xu. My employer has a matter he would like to discuss with you at his residence."

Xu Qingran glanced in the direction he indicated. A small passenger aircraft was parked in the distance, the kind capable of intergalactic travel.

He asked, "Who is your employer?"

The man answered politely, "Mr. Shen Tingyu, an admiral of Golden Wing Camp."

Xu Qingran raised an eyebrow, a faint chill in the smile on his lips.

"All right, I'll go with you."

As Xu Qingran left aboard the spaceplane, someone happened to arrive at Tower No. 5.

The tower chief went out to greet him personally. When he saw the visitor, he looked surprised. "Colonel Lu of Silver Dragon Camp, what brings you to my shabby tower?"

Lu Cheng looked visibly exhausted, as though he had just finished a mission and rushed here immediately without even having time to go back and rest.

He told the tower chief directly why he had come. "I heard that some time ago, your Evil Tower took in a young man named Xu Qingran. He's... the young master of Silver Dragon's Xu Family Construction."

"I grew up with him. He's even afraid of insects, so there's no way he could have beaten someone violently. The commotion some time ago was just an accident, so I came here specifically to find out what happened and see if there's been some misunderstanding."

The tower chief fell silent after hearing him out.

Even the guard standing nearby could not help coughing when he heard that.

After what had happened in the arena, there was not a single person working in Evil Tower who did not know Xu Qingran.

Timid? Frail? Wouldn't hit anyone?

Colonel, doesn't your conscience hurt, saying things so contrary to your beliefs just to get him out?!

"Leaving everything else aside, as for why he was brought into Evil Tower, we took him into custody as a potential antisocial personality only after receiving a report, assessing his recent behavior, and considering some circumstances known to us."

"But you needn't worry about that, Colonel Lu. Mr. Xu has already been allowed to leave Evil Tower," the tower chief reassured him with a smile. "He's recovering from his injuries in Tower 3's medical department. If you'd like to take him away today, Colonel, I can tell them to bring him here now."

Lu Cheng's expression darkened further when he heard that Xu Qingran was injured.

Xu Qingran had always been a fragile little crybaby, the kind who would get hurt and cry from the slightest bump. Lu Cheng could not imagine what he had been through in Evil Tower during this time.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Tower Chief," Lu Cheng said politely.

The tower chief nodded, stepped aside, and contacted the Tower 3 administrator on his communicator.

A little while later, he ended the call and returned with a frown.

He spoke to Lu Cheng apologetically. "I'm sorry, Colonel Lu, but you're a step too late. Someone just picked Mr. Xu up."

Lu Cheng was puzzled. "Someone from the Xu Family?"

The tower chief replied, "I heard it seemed to be someone from the Shen Family, but I don't know the details."

Lu Cheng was stunned again.

The Shen Family? Which Shen Family?

...Shen Tingyu's Shen Family?

They have nothing to do with each other. What do they want with Xu Qingran?!

Xu Qingran passed through every checkpoint without trouble. By the time he reached Gold City on Sirius-Jade Star, it was daytime there.