Chapter 46

"Okay."

Jiang Cheng hung up and soon received the address Qin Su had sent him.

It was a three-kilometer drive from where he was.

Two days earlier, following Qin Su's instructions, he had already arranged for countless vehicles to be parked outside several overseas villas, either on mountaintops or halfway up mountains.

The areas around them were deserted.

That was what Qin Su had meant when he said he was "going over" on the phone.

Assistant Jiang contacted the bodyguards waiting at the address and gave them a temporary password so they could go inside and load the goods, while he drove there himself.

After leaving the matter to Assistant Jiang, Qin Su returned to his room, changed out of his pajamas and into ordinary clothes, and made sure to put on a mask, baseball cap, and sunglasses to conceal his face.

When Qin Su came out of the room again, he spotted Jiang Cheng some distance away, crouching with his back to him and staring intently at something on the ground.

Jiang Cheng had sped over without stopping. When he saw the unfamiliar objects piled up like a small mountain before him, objects he had never seen in the Real World, he began to question his life.

Did Qin Su... misunderstand what "trash" and "picking up trash" meant?

Jiang Cheng's brow furrowed as he stared at the animal on the ground. It had been bound every which way, yet the restraints still couldn't hold it. Its tentacles resembled an octopus's, but had no suckers, and its open mouth in the middle was lined with countless sharp teeth from the outside all the way in.

He couldn't ask anyone about it, of course. No matter how tight-lipped they were, he couldn't control them, and word would get out. Jiang Cheng could only lament that he wasn't enough of an academic genius to identify the animal before him.

A mutated octopus?

Unable to make sense of it, Jiang Cheng seemed to sense something. He quickly stood and turned around to see Qin Su walking toward him, his face covered so thoroughly that only his eyes showed, his aura on full display.

Jiang Cheng nodded silently in greeting. Qin Su's behavior made it clear that he didn't want the other people here to learn anything about him.

Qin Su responded with a soft "Mm."

The two watched the people in protective suits that covered every inch of their bodies, sorting and packing the items into boxes.

Standing beside Qin Su, Jiang Cheng smelled nothing but the chill of his recent bath, yet... he kept feeling that there was a bloody scent about him.

Jiang Cheng held back for a moment, but finally couldn't resist. "May I ask where these..."

Looking at an object a bodyguard had brought out, which resembled a weapon and appeared to weigh a good sixteen kilograms or so, Jiang Cheng adjusted his glasses to keep them from falling off his face in shock. He steadied his voice and continued, "...came from?"

"I fished them out of the water."

Qin Su told the truth.

Assistant Jiang smiled. "...Heh heh."

Funny. So very funny. It was so funny that he wanted to boil a kettle of water himself and pour it over a rival's money tree.

It was obviously nonsense.

Granted, anglers could catch all sorts of strange things except fish, but... surely they couldn't fish up clean, new-looking weapons and a huge pile of bizarre metal fragments?

If they could, why was he still working? He might as well become an angler.

Jiang Cheng grumbled to himself while maintaining a calm, worldly expression.

Three hours later, everything had been sorted and packed into boxes. Qin Su got into Jiang Cheng's car, and Jiang Cheng drove at the head of the convoy to the unloading site.

Two hours later, they reached their destination.

"Um..." While the others were unloading, the person in charge bypassed Jiang Cheng and followed Qin Su, a fervent gleam in his eyes as he spoke in a low voice. "Could you bring more of these things over?"

Two weeks ago, Qin Su had given them a list containing the names of a great many materials unavailable on the market in this world, accompanied by their properties and detailed descriptions, but there had never been any "samples."

Now, although they had yet to begin testing this pile of "trash," he was familiar enough with the list to recognize several of the materials on it by sight.

He didn't know whether "they" could withstand temperatures of thousands of degrees Celsius as described in Qin Su's data, but with them, they could try to manufacture the weapons on the blueprints Qin Su had supplied—weapons they had never even heard of before.

Qin Su said, "...It depends."

He couldn't be sure either.

Before coming here, he had sent his homeroom teacher the pictures he had taken of the abnormalities on the trees' bark, but he hadn't received a reply by the time he returned to the real world.

His homeroom teacher was probably already asleep.

He had twelve hours in the real world. Judging by the schedule his homeroom teacher had mentioned while chatting with the students, he most likely wouldn't sleep for twelve hours.

In a few hours, his homeroom teacher would wake up, see the pictures in the chat, where Qin Su had sent only images without any subjective speculation, and gather people to assess them and report the findings.

Whether or not the thing in the water was a large Kisslip Tree Armadillo, he hadn't left any grounds for anyone to say he had insisted it was one. But it was definitely a large living creature.

For the freshmen's safety, the Fourth Military Academy would gather upperclassmen and send them through the jump to the Viterra Tower 5285 Jump Point to take over and eliminate the threat.

After all, even if he was "unusual" among the freshmen, the Fourth Military Academy couldn't expect a group of freshmen to deal with the huge problem underwater, could it?

When that happened, there would only be more people at the Viterra Tower 5285 Jump Point, which was bound to greatly restrict and affect his diligent, secret work as a volunteer battlefield cleaner.

Qin Su added, "Sort all of these things carefully according to the list." He needed to know which weapons could be manufactured with the materials he had.

"Clean and inspect the intact ones. No one else is to dismantle or use them without permission. As for that one..."

Qin Su spent two minutes stressing the details. The person in charge nodded repeatedly, while Jiang Cheng stood by without a word.

"Let's go." When he finished, Qin Su looked at Jiang Cheng.

"Okay." Jiang Cheng hurried to Qin Su's side and opened the car door for him.

After settling into the driver's seat and fastening his seat belt, Jiang Cheng heard Qin Su speak again. "Take me back to where I was before."

He had brought the standard-issue pajamas from the rest pod. After resting for a few hours, he would have to put them back on to return.

"Okay." Jiang Cheng started the car and drove off.

Comic World.

Zhang Minglang opened his eyes at eight in the morning and habitually checked his Optical Brain to see if anyone had contacted him.

When he saw the pictures Qin Su had sent, he immediately reported them to his superiors.

In less than half an hour, after obtaining definite confirmation, Zhang Minglang hurriedly contacted the jump point and gave its designation. "Requesting an emergency jump to Vitelta 5285."

"Records indicate that the Icrius 962–Viterra Tower 5285 jump point has malfunctioned. Jumps are temporarily unavailable," the jump point's management robot replied in a mechanical voice.

"What?" Zhang Minglang's voice rose.

Unable to understand the situation on the other end, the robot in charge assumed Zhang Minglang hadn't heard clearly and mechanically repeated itself. "Records indicate that Icrius..."

"Cause of the malfunction," Zhang Minglang interrupted.

"The connecting quantum channel was disrupted by a meteorite."

Zhang Minglang asked, "How many hours will repairs take?"

"The Icrius 962–Vitelta 5285 channel is estimated to require 78 hours to reopen."

Zhang Minglang was speechless.

More than three days.

Qin Su hadn't said a single word beyond sending the pictures. Over the next three days and more, the thing underwater maybe, probably, presumably... wouldn't move, right?

Zhang Minglang ended the call with the jump point robot and saw that others had sent the same information to his Optical Brain.

Vitelta was so heavily polluted that everyone who could migrate to another planet had left years ago. The remaining natives were trapped there by poverty for their entire lives, and both their economy and technological development were visibly backward.

The natives also suffered constant insect attacks, and their population had plummeted.

Only after it became one of the Federation's many planets did the Federation take the lead in building jump points there to conduct routine monthly campaigns against the Zerg, sparing the natives from their attacks.

Vitelta had three jump points in total, each extremely far from the others. Even if they reached the planet through one of the other two, traveling from either of them to Jump Point 5285 would take at least 66 hours.

That was also nearly three days.

The commander of the emergency task force formed over the Optical Brain had decided that they would first travel to another jump point, then take the fastest spacecraft to 5285.

Denied permission to accompany them, Zhang Minglang could only send orders to the class group and each student individually through his Optical Brain, telling them to suspend all operations and remain on standby aboard the spacecraft.

To avoid causing panic among the freshmen, he followed orders from above and did not tell them that there was a giant creature in the water not far from their jump point, or that the spacecraft sent to them would take 66 hours to arrive.

Qin Su wasn't an ordinary freshman. He had weathered great storms, possessed absolute strength, and could turn the tide if anything happened.

After consulting his superiors, Zhang Minglang contacted Qin Su privately.

[Zhang Minglang: We have received your message and formulated a response. Assistance will arrive at the Viterra Tower 5285 Jump Point in 66 hours.]

Viterra Tower 5285 Jump Point.

The students of Class 6 woke early that morning, originally planning to sneak out and kill more insects to improve their rankings and amaze everyone. When they saw the group message and private notifications, they were dumbfounded.

No one dared treat the school's orders as a joke, and no one dared sneak off the jump point platform.

Before long, as the Class 6 students exchanged gossip, nearly eighty percent of them had gathered on the enormous platform by nine in the morning, whispering among themselves.

"What happened?"

"No idea. At least from here, everything looks peaceful."

"Maybe... it's the calm before the storm?"

"...If you can't say anything useful, shut up. You're planting a flag."

"Sorry, sorry. Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey... Forget I said anything!"

Listening to everyone's chatter, Raymond nudged He Muzhi's uninjured arm and whispered, "What do you think it is?"

He Muzhi came back to himself and glanced at Raymond, who had deliberately moved from his right side to his left to nudge him. Instead of answering, he first said helplessly, "My right arm really has healed."

Raymond scoffed. "A wound that deep, one that almost went all the way through your body? Who knows if it's fully healed inside?"

Unable to convince Raymond, He Muzhi finally said, "My guess is that something in these waters poses a safety threat to us freshmen, and the school is afraid we'll get hurt, so it told us to stay put."

Raymond was speechless.

Anyone could have guessed that. He might as well have said nothing.

After pursing his lips in exasperation for two seconds, Raymond turned to look at the open entrance at the rear of the spacecraft. "It's normal for Qin Su not to come out in the morning, but why haven't Sophia and the other three come out either?"

"How should I know?" He Muzhi spread his hands. "Aren't you and Jeffrey childhood friends? Ask him."

At the mention of Jeffrey, Raymond snorted. "We're not friends anymore. Even if we die, we're not making up."

He Muzhi chuckled without comment.

This kind of falling-out between childhood friends was common between him and Lailisi. They usually made up within three days; Lin Yin typically watched the drama, while Samuel anxiously tried his best to persuade them both.

"Three days." With Lin Yin absent, He Muzhi took over her amusement. "If you make up, prepare an extra set of special inner-layer Combat Suit for the next practical exercise. If I lose, don't you want this..."

He Muzhi pulled a tooth carved with an animal totem from around his neck. "Then it's yours."

Yesterday, there had been an Omega named Cen Yuan in his fleet, with SS-grade pheromones. His mental power was strong and his command skills were quite good, but he wasn't good at protecting himself. His family was of modest means, so giving him the Combat Suit He Muzhi got out of Raymond would be a good idea.

"Deal!" Raymond's eyes shone with certainty that he would win. He wasn't going to have any contact with Jeffrey over the next three days.

In the four rest pods closest to Qin Su's, Sophia and the other three, seeing that Qin Su hadn't spoken in their five-person group chat and remembering his cold, uncompromising manner, refrained from chatting there. Instead, they quietly created another group behind his back and chatted freely in it, with no intention of going outside.

Qin Su had told them to meet sometime after noon. Even if they weren't fighting anymore, it was still early, and with Qin Su absent, none of them were interested in going out.

[Hehe, the prophet is here. That flag really did come true. The buff that makes disaster strike wherever the protagonist goes never fails.]

[Another prophet. Knife them.]

[But... what exactly went wrong? Not a single member of Team 1 has come out yet. Do they know something?]

[They've even sent people to take over, so the problem must be serious, if not worse.]

...

Comic World.

Opening his eyes in the rest pod, Qin Su first glanced at his Life Points, which, after deducting the space usage fee and the designated landing fee, had only minutes and 23 seconds left.

325 days. He had brought back a pile of things that would very likely be useful. That was acceptable.

With that thought, Qin Su opened his Optical Brain and saw the class group notification and the message from his homeroom teacher, Zhang Minglang.

After reading them, Qin Su was speechless.

As expected of the class the Protagonist Group belonged to, it was certainly "ill-fated." Even a quantum channel that rarely broke down in a century could be struck and damaged by a meteorite. With luck this bad, could He Muzhi usually get food stuck in his teeth even when drinking cold water?

66 hours.

He hoped nothing would go wrong for them in the next three days...

Before he could finish praying, a video call from Zhang Minglang popped up.

Qin Su thought for a moment, got up and sat down in a chair, straightened his posture, and accepted the call.

His homeroom teacher might have more inside information.

Seeing Qin Su appear before him expressionlessly, Zhang Minglang was startled that he had accepted so quickly. He paused, then said, "Qin Su, if you hadn't been experienced enough to identify the anomaly, the students of Class 6 would have been in mortal danger. On behalf of the Fourth Military School, I would like to express my sincere—"

"Teacher Zhang, there's no need." Qin Su interrupted his homeroom teacher.

He didn't care about thanks. He was here too, sharing the same fate as the freshmen.

"Ahem..." Zhang Minglang cleared his throat. He had known Qin Su didn't care about such empty formalities. "Then I'll get straight to the point."

"Mm," Qin Su said.

"Here's the situation. After discussing it, we hope you can temporarily assume the duties of Class 6's class monitor if anything unexpected happens during these 66 hours."

Only if Qin Su agreed would he pass the arrangement along and put it into effect.

"Can you do that?"

Afraid Qin Su wouldn't agree, Zhang Minglang quickly added, "Although the people we sent can't arrive before then, whatever you need, all the tactical experts I can enlist will promptly connect by projection, assess the situation in real time, and devise a response."

Qin Su was silent.

If someone in Class 6 died because of poor command, even if everyone said it wasn't his responsibility, they would still harbor a grudge against him.

He had seen interstellar three-dimensional projections before. When Teacher Zhang invited his students to teach them, those who couldn't come used this technology. The projected people could be seen and touched, and felt real, no different from having the actual person present.

But... they weren't actually there. Just as weapons fired from the other end couldn't cause any damage to the insects on their side.

Their command strategies would most likely be based on the "formidable strength" he had previously pretended to possess.

In reality, his actual strength couldn't live up to their image of him. Their command would be like making him dance in shackles, restricting him more than it helped.

But...

To establish himself, he had to be not only the unrivaled number one in Class 6, but also the "top 1" in the eyes of all this world's natives.

He couldn't refuse.

Because he needed to avoid disappointing any of his "audience" as much as possible.

Even if he refused now, whether he wanted to or not, if something really did happen during these 66 hours, he would still have to step forward under everyone's expectant gazes to keep the slightest flaw from appearing in his persona.

Qin Su's thirteen-second silence made Zhang Minglang's heart pound.

The main thing was that Qin Su wasn't speaking. After Zhang Minglang finished, his eyes narrowed slightly for an instant, and he stared coldly at him without blinking.

It was rather unnerving.

Just when Zhang Minglang thought Qin Su wouldn't agree, he suddenly saw Qin Su's lips, pressed almost into a straight line, move. Then Qin Su's cold voice came through.

"Okay," Qin Su said.

"!"

Before Zhang Minglang could celebrate, Qin Su spoke again.

Qin Su said, "There's no need."

He would never allow any commanding officer to know that his strength might not be enough to carry out their 'commands'. His persona also meant he simply couldn't let anyone 'meddle' in any of his actions.

"Huh?" Realizing that Qin Su was refusing to connect to command, Zhang Minglang nodded. "All right."

"Is there anything else, Teacher Zhang?"

It was nearly time for him to meet Sophia and the other three as agreed. Although there would be no more hunting, he couldn't go back on his word.

Zhang Minglang said, "...Haha, no. See you, then."

Was Qin Su upset because he thought the school was using his strength to guilt-trip him into protecting everyone?

"Goodbye." After saying farewell, Qin Su switched off his Optical Brain, changed clothes, and opened the cabin door.

The school had provided students with two sets of clothes aboard the spaceship: a Combat Suit, including inner and outer layers, and a set of pajamas.

Since there was no fighting, Qin Su put on the Combat Suit he had left in the machine. It had finished self-cleaning and was neat again. Cradling his helmet in the crook of one arm, he stepped out of the cabin.

No one knew when whatever was underwater would emerge. If he went out in his pajamas and got smacked dead in an instant, he wouldn't even have a chance to delay his death.

He didn't like wandering around outside in his pajamas, either. He always felt that if he wore them outside and walked around, they would be dirty by the time he wore them back into the resting area, even if he hadn't touched anything.

The school hadn't provided a third set of clothes so that they could only wear their Combat Suits and stay on high alert at all times.

When Qin Su came out of the lounge, he saw Sophia and the other three sitting in the spaceship's seats, chatting.

High-level Alphas and Omegas had stronger perception than ordinary Betas and people with lower pheromone levels. As if sensing something, Sheng Shuang and the other three, who had been talking, quickly turned their heads in unison at almost the same moment.

The instant they saw Qin Su's tall figure, all four scooped up the helmets beside them and stood together, their eyes fixed solely on him.

"Captain."

The same word came from all four of them.

For some reason, the sight of Qin Su made their hearts leap and every muscle tense. Without realizing it, they grew nervous.

"Mm."

Qin Su strode over and stopped a few steps in front of them. "Follow all of Teacher Zhang's instructions. Team 1 is hereby disbanded."

Having spoken in a cold voice, Qin Su walked outside without waiting for the four to react.

It was true that he prayed nothing would go wrong during his three days as class monitor, but he also had to keep an eye on the water so he could spot anything unusual at once and make the best judgment for Class 6 based on the abnormal circumstances.

"...Understood."

The four had already expected this when they saw the notification in the group chat, but now that the moment had truly come, they couldn't help feeling regret. Watching Qin Su's upright figure from behind, they found their feelings hard to describe.

They didn't know whether they would get another good opportunity like this.

The rest of Class 6 had a feeling Qin Su knew something and had already been waiting for him to come out.

They approached the spaceship's entrance and happened to hear Qin Su say "Team 1 is disbanded" and the like. Then they saw him walking toward them with a cold expression and hurriedly moved aside.

Where is Qin Su going?

Everyone couldn't help guessing. Soon, they got their answer.

Qin Su stopped at the edge of the platform, his long, straight legs planted apart, his dark eyes gazing intently at the water.

What is he looking at?

Before anyone could figure it out, a new notice popped up on their Optical Brains:

[Effective immediately, Qin Su will temporarily serve as class monitor of Class 6. All members of Class 6 must obey Qin Su's commands without exception until the team taking over arrives.]