Su Zhentian

Jiang Yu was touched to see Su Ming working so hard. If Su Yuan had possessed this much determination back then, the old master would not have disliked him so much or banished him here.

He said to Su Ming from the bottom of his heart,

"Young Master, there's no need to be so polite. As long as you study hard and achieve a result you're satisfied with in the City Exam, that will be enough."

"I'll definitely work hard. I won't let down your guidance."

Su Ming solemnly assured Jiang Yu.

"Good!"

Jiang Yu replied, greatly comforted.

Actually, although Su Yuan had achieved little as Jiang Yu's student, he was still quite decent in other respects. In particular, he respected Jiang Yu immensely, so Jiang Yu still liked him very much as a student. Naturally, he also liked Su Ming, perhaps because of the affection he had for Su Yuan.

"Teacher, have some tea!"

Su Ming hurriedly poured Jiang Yu another cup.

Jiang Yu smiled, blew on the tea to cool it, and drained it in one gulp. Then he glanced at the time on his watch before standing up and saying to Su Ming,

"Young Master, it's getting late. Madam hasn't returned yet, and I need to hurry back to Starlight City to analyze the data I downloaded. I'll tell you as soon as I have any results."

"Mm, thanks for your effort, Teacher. I'll see you out."

Su Ming personally escorted Jiang Yu toward the front gate.

--

Thirteenth District Central · Administrative Office Building.

Inside the neat and spacious office, Ye Wei held a statistical report and reported to Xiao Lie, who was seated behind the desk.

More than a dozen administrative officials stood nearby. Every one of them looked tense and somewhat terrified.

"The casualties from this Chilami larva attack have been tallied. The Lower City suffered a total of 213,420 deaths, while the Upper City suffered 12,113. Furthermore, because First, Second, Third, and other intermediate academies were affected, nearly one-quarter of the dead in the Upper City were students. As for the property damage, it's incalculable."

Xiao Lie's face was dark with fury. He coldly swept his eyes over the silent crowd and asked,

"Such a huge incident, and none of you have anything to say?"

At once, the administrative officials lowered their heads even further. They almost wished they could bury them in the ground, terrified that Xiao Lie might call on them.

"You bunch of good-for-nothings! You actually allowed a disaster like this to happen. What have you been doing all this time?"

Xiao Lie scolded them with restrained fury.

Not one of the many administrative officials dared to explain. They weren't fools. From the compiled statistical report, they knew they had caused a massive disaster this time.

Just as everyone was trembling with fear, Ye Wei hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Lord Xiao, this time we've truly stirred up a hornet's nest. The council already knows about the incident and will definitely hold people accountable. Our most urgent task now is figuring out how to respond."

Upon hearing Ye Wei's words, Xiao Lie immediately rose from his chair. With his hands clasped behind his back, he walked to the window and gazed out at the pitch-black night.

"Respond? How else can we respond? Whoever's responsible will take responsibility, of course!"

As soon as he said this, cold sweat broke out on the foreheads of the administrative officials present. Their bodies trembled slightly, and they hurriedly began to speak.

"Lord Xiao, the person bearing the greatest responsibility this time is the person in charge of the garbage plant. It was his negligence and failure to report the disappearance in time that caused the situation to become so serious."

"That's right, it was him."

Xiao Lie turned around. His sharp gaze swept over the officials who were pointing fingers, and their voices immediately grew softer and softer as they lowered their heads one after another.

How could Xiao Lie not understand what these people were thinking? They simply wanted Su Yuan to take the fall.

For an incident this serious, someone definitely had to bear responsibility.

At this moment, Ye Wei hurriedly spoke up.

"Lord Xiao, I think what everyone said isn't without reason. Su Yuan, the person in charge of the garbage plant, does indeed bear an undeniable responsibility. We should hand him over to the council's subordinate tribunal."

"Where is Su Yuan?"

Xiao Lie's expression shifted repeatedly as he asked in a low voice.

"He's already been detained."

Ye Wei quickly replied.

"Hmph. This incident caused extremely serious casualties and had an extremely terrible impact! We absolutely won't let the mastermind off. Everything will be handled according to official procedure!"

Xiao Lie spoke sternly to Ye Wei and the others.

"Yes. I'll go make the preparations now."

Ye Wei and the others all breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Lie waved his hand, and Ye Wei immediately hurried away. He needed to prepare a few things quickly so that once the council's people arrived, they could smoothly push Su Yuan forward to take the blame.

At that moment, the landline on Xiao Lie's desk rang.

Ding ding~

Xiao Lie glanced at the number displayed on it, and his eyes shifted slightly. He coldly ordered the administrative officials present,

"Everyone out!"

"Yes."

The officials present left one after another, as if granted a pardon, wiping the cold sweat from their foreheads.

Xiao Lie walked back to the desk and sat down. He picked up the phone, but before he could speak, a deep voice came from the other end.

"Hello, District Chief Xiao!"

"Old Master Su, what brings you here?"

"Damn it, stop fooling around with me. Did you arrest that stupid son of mine?"

"Old Master Su, let's be frank. It's not that I arrested him; your son committed an offense."

"I don't care what he did. In any case, do me a favor and release him!"

"Old Master Su, if this were under ordinary circumstances and you asked me personally, I would certainly give you face. But this time is different. Su Yuan has caused a disaster of enormous proportions. As the person in charge of the garbage plant, he neglected his duties and allowed Chilami larvae to run rampant, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands. The Federation already knows about it and is investigating."

"Cut the crap! My stupid son is indeed the person in charge of the garbage plant. But it's a garbage plant—he can't possibly live there and watch over it every day, can he? Even if something went wrong, it was his subordinates who were at fault."

"Even if the fault lay with his subordinates, they failed to report it in time. As the person in charge of the garbage plant, Su Yuan is still primarily responsible, so he is guilty."

"Damn it, I'm not going to argue over that nonsense with you. You just want a scapegoat, don't you? I don't care. That person can't be my son."

Su Zhentian's voice grew increasingly agitated from the other end of the phone.

Xiao Lie frowned deeply as he said,

"Old Master Su, you've misunderstood. We have no intention of targeting Su Yuan. It's simply that he truly cannot escape responsibility."

"Damn it, just tell me what it will take for you to release my son."

"I'm sorry, but this really isn't possible."

"Hmph, I won't beat around the bush with you anymore. Release that stupid son of mine, and I'll give you two Second Generation Machines!"

Su Zhentian made a direct offer.

"Old Master, that won't do! This matter is truly very serious."

"Three!"

"It really won't do. It isn't a matter of the machines."

"Five!"

"This is very difficult for me. The Federation..."

Xiao Lie put on an extremely troubled expression.

"Ten!"

Su Zhentian said decisively.