A day passed in the blink of an eye. When Gu Qingshan returned to the real world, only an hour had passed.
The communicator he had left on the bed kept ringing. He picked it up and saw seven missed calls, all from Su Xue'er.
Gu Qingshan called her back, and she answered immediately.
Su Xue'er appeared on the communicator.
"Qingshan, I have some good news to share with you."
A faint trace of joy showed on Su Xue'er's face.
"Oh? What good news?" Gu Qingshan asked.
"I've been accepted early to Capital University. I don't have to take the college entrance exam, and I'm leaving for the capital right away!"
Gu Qingshan said happily, "Capital University is the best school in the Federation. Congratulations."
Su Xue'er said regretfully, "My family has already packed everything and is urging me to leave right away, so I can't come to your food stall tonight."
"What does that matter?" Gu Qingshan said. "When you come back, I'll make you something to eat."
He thought it over seriously, then said, "Once you turn eighteen, you can drink. I'll mix you some drinks myself then. You're lucky—ordinary people don't get to taste my cocktails."
To Gu Qingshan, this was an entirely ordinary thing to say. In his previous life, he had been influenced by an old friend and had taken to cooking and mixing drinks for himself whenever he had time.
He had put a lot of thought into mixing drinks, and his skill was truly world-class. Later on, he even learned to brew alcohol using materials from other worlds, which did wonders for the body.
Many experts had wanted to befriend him—not because he was a commander in the war, but because of the intoxicating drinks he made.
But when Su Xue'er heard the word "drink," her cheeks turned red. She said softly, "Qingshan, do your best on the college entrance exam. I'll be waiting for you in the capital."
Gu Qingshan was a Qi Refining cultivator at the fifth level. Not even the slightest tremor in the air could escape his ears, let alone a voice as soft as this.
Having lived two lifetimes, how could Gu Qingshan fail to hear the affection in her words?
He froze, a little baffled. We were clearly talking about food and drinks. How did the conversation take such a sudden turn?
But faced with Su Xue'er's affection, his heart still began pounding uncontrollably.
Gu Qingshan was about to speak when he saw Su Xue'er avert her eyes. She didn't dare look at him again, and her little hand abruptly pressed the button to end the call.
This was so embarrassing. She had actually said something like that. Su Xue'er felt as if she were going crazy.
Earlier, when Gu Qingshan had planned to confess in front of the entire school, it had been painful for her, because she couldn't possibly accept him.
If she had accepted Gu Qingshan in front of everyone, not only would her family's elders have refused to let him off, but the spoiled young masters of the powerful families would have secretly made a move against him, too.
That was the last thing Su Xue'er wanted.
Who would have thought it had all been a misunderstanding, with someone else pulling the strings?
At the school event, Gu Qingshan had stayed calm and composed, handling things on the spot and resolving the matter beautifully.
Su Xue'er had felt relieved, and her fondness for Gu Qingshan had grown.
That was why she had reached out to him today.
On the other end, Gu Qingshan stared blankly into the air for a long while. Only when his communicator alerted him to a message did he come back to himself.
It was a message from Su Xue'er.
"Just so you know, my birthday is next week."
Gu Qingshan closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then replied with one word: "Okay."
He admitted that he was a little caught off guard.
But it was still a beautiful moment.
Gu Qingshan quickly made up his mind.
He stood, left the lounge, went straight to the elevator, swiped his card, and pressed the button for the 99th floor.
The elevator climbed all the way to the top of the Changning Steel Armor Building.
Gu Qingshan stepped out and stopped in front of the large central processor on the top floor. He placed his palm on the scanner.
An electronic voice sounded: "Identity verified. Number 41157, how may I assist you?"
This was the main Light Brain of Changning Steel Armor Technology Company. It handled all the affairs of the corporation.
Gu Qingshan said, "I'm applying to connect to the Goddess of Justice."
The electronic voice immediately replied, "Connecting to the Goddess of Justice requires the most rigorous identity verification. Your Personal Merit Points will also be checked to ensure that the reputation of Changning Steel Armor Technology Company will not be damaged by your personal actions. Are you certain you wish to connect to Her Excellency the Goddess?"
"I'm certain," Gu Qingshan said.
"Then, as you wish. Verification will begin in one minute."
The electronic voice slowly faded away, but numerous cold gleaming mechanical arms rose from the floor and began conducting a series of checks around Gu Qingshan.
At the same time, the 99th floor went into complete lockdown. No one could enter.
"Retinal scan passed."
"Blood test passed."
"Biological feature match: 99.1759%."
"Checking for cloning traits. Confirmed non-clone. DNA verification passed."
"Unique life signature matches records. Passed."
"Retrieving personal life-cycle file. Subject determined to be non-threatening."
"Credit record is good."
"Reading Personal Merit Points..."
Gu Qingshan stood where he was, silently waiting for the complex and tedious verification to end.
The Goddess of Justice was the core intelligent processing system of the entire Federation. She governed the Federation's operations and handled every matter concerning its citizens, carrying out all operations in accordance with the Federation's constitution.
The Goddess of Justice was the crystallization of the Federation's most advanced technology, the most magnificent and brilliant achievement Human Civilization had ever produced.
The Goddess of Justice's processing speed was terrifying, and her intelligence and strategic capabilities far surpassed those of the other countries' systems. As a result, not a single country had dared to move against the Federation in recent decades.
Ten minutes later.
The electronic voice sounded again: "Your Personal Merit Points meet the requirements. Verification passed. The Light Brain of Changning Steel Armor Technology Company is formally submitting a connection request to the Goddess of Justice. Number 41157, please remain where you are and do not leave."
Personal Merit Points represented the contributions a citizen of the Federation had made to Human Civilization and society.
The greater one's contribution to human society, the higher one's Personal Merit Points, and the better the benefits one could receive.
Even admissions to some top universities took Personal Merit Points into account. Those who failed to meet the requirements would not be accepted, no matter how good their grades were.
—Unless you were a noble of the Nine Prefectures, in which case you could ignore Personal Merit Points.
The Free Federation was a nation founded by the Nine Prefectures, whose people naturally enjoyed privileges ordinary citizens did not.
"The Goddess of Justice has accepted the request."
Suddenly, the electronic voice changed, becoming the solemn voice of a woman.
The woman's voice delivered each word with a distinctive rise and fall, giving it a special rhythm.
"Federation citizen Gu Qingshan, I am the Goddess of Justice. State your request."
"Please note that any waste of time will lower your standing in my estimation."
Before you continue