Her expression was incomparably conflicted—under the shared senses, the fullness coming from Jiang Lianqiu and her own body's hunger were tormenting her nerves.
The male proctor did not think much of it, assuming only that the girl had eaten too much. After she skipped away, he glanced over her test paper, and his brow immediately furrowed.
"Something's not right..."
"Not a single typo!?"
"Is this really Big Pillow Li? Don't tell me she's been possessed by a Heliobi!!!"
After breakfast, Utaha Kasumigaoka and Eriri obediently went to school as usual.
Eriri declared that she had "magnanimously wiped the mark of flesh off the Gloomy Girl," and in exchange, Kasumigaoka had to grant her a day of good luck.
Jiang Lianqiu, meanwhile, continued taking leave, much to the helplessness of his homeroom teacher, Shizuka Hiratsuka.
Jiang Lianqiu was practically becoming a school legend. He had enrolled as the top student of the year and the freshmen's representative, only to vanish after the very first day.
Thinking that she ought to fulfill her responsibility as a teacher no matter what, Shizuka Hiratsuka called to ask about the situation. In the end, Jiang Lianqiu promised that he would show up for the exams and return to school immediately if he failed to rank first in the year, leaving her no choice but to let him keep disappearing.
"Busy, everyone's busy. It's good to stay busy..."
In the office, lonely old Shizuka let out a long sigh.
Students nowadays had more personality than the last. First there was a light novelist who debuted while still in high school, and then there was a wealthy young master who started playing hooky the moment school began.
Oh, right. There was another one in her class.
That girl from the Yukino family looked like the sort who would give anyone a headache. She went on about "changing and saving this world by helping others," then established some strange club.
If Haruno had not told her to look after her, Shizuka really would not have wanted to become the advisor for the Service Club, which sounded awful enough just from its name.
"Are there really this many problem children in the Reiwa era? Don't tell me they all came from another world?"
As a certain older unmarried woman lamented, a true problem child from another world had already left Earth.
Von Noymiau worked quickly. The teleportation array connecting Ginza Argentum Tower to Ophiuchus Zeta Starport, four hundred light-years away, had been successfully activated the previous night.
At that moment, Jiang Lianqiu stood in an observation room, looking through the floor-to-ceiling window at Kars's headless body being placed on a research table below.
Incredibly, according to Von Noymiau's assessment, Kars was still alive despite having lost his head—or rather, his body still possessed the potential to recover its vitality.
It was only because his body had continuously been exposed to artificial ultraviolet light that it remained petrified. If the light were removed and he were given enough time, he might even regrow his brain.
"I think that even without the Red Stone of Aja, calling that vitality the Ultimate Life Form wouldn't be wrong."
Jiang Lianqiu touched his own neck. He certainly did not think he could survive after losing his head.
Naturally, a single night was not enough to research anything. Von Noymiau already had plenty on her plate, so Jiang Lianqiu did not disturb her. After watching for a while, he went to a training ground prepared for him within the Starport.
"Ten times gravity."
In the empty training ground, Jiang Lianqiu gave the command to the control center's AI.
In an instant, tremendous pressure descended upon him.
After adjusting for a moment, Jiang Lianqiu took out his greatsword and began his routine training.
Personal ability might eventually have its limits, but he was still far from them.
Setting aside external factors, extraordinary abilities, and the support of various Mech Servant technologies, his combat strength was only around Su Shang's level. He still had to work harder.
On the other side, Su Shang at the Cloud Cavalry Army's training grounds also synchronized with Jiang Lianqiu's five senses. Though the tenfold gravity did not actually affect her body, it still caused her pressure to surge.
Gritting her teeth, the young girl swung her greatsword in perfect sync with Jiang Lianqiu. The sight left the other Cloud Cavalry recruits around her utterly dumbfounded.
One Cloud Cavalry recruit was eager to try and voluntarily stepped before Su Shang to challenge her. "Miss Su Shang, let's spar!"
Jiang Lianqiu, who was training under ten times gravity, had a glint in his eyes.
"Shang Shang, accept it."
"Mm!"
Su Shang raised her greatsword. "Come!"
Next, without lifting the gravity suppression, Jiang Lianqiu relied on their shared five senses to fiercely battle that Cloud Cavalry recruit "together" with Su Shang.
Su Shang physically faced the opponent, while Jiang Lianqiu felt as though he were playing a VR game. The only difference was that every bit of feedback in this game was real, while he himself endured pressure far greater than that of the "game."
From a distant pavilion, Fei Xiao, who had once again come to observe the recruits' training, watched that apricot-yellow figure from beginning to end and nodded to herself.
"That little girl from the Li family has improved with Divine Speed."
"Tch, I almost don't want to send her to Luofu anymore. Such a promising seedling ought to stay in my Yaoqing and follow this general into battle across the four corners."
"I heard she got full marks on her cultural studies makeup exam this time?"
A blue figure silently appeared behind her.
With half his face covered by a hood, Mo Ze lowered his head and said in a low voice, "That is indeed the case, but... neither her answering style nor handwriting, nor even those perfect marks, resemble that Miss Li. Judging by her past grades, one or two days of tutoring would not be enough to bring about such a drastic transformation."
"But the exam room surveillance showed nothing unusual."
The interest in Fei Xiao's eyes grew deeper.
"Interesting. If this girl did not suddenly attain enlightenment overnight, then someone is... testing something."
"No matter. Let him play his little game!"
Mo Ze hesitated. "Should we alter Miss Li's service assignment?"
"No, leave it as it is. Once her training is complete, she will still go to Luofu." Fei Xiao stretched and rolled her neck. "I'm a rough sort, better at battlefield slaughter. For meticulously analyzing every kind of secret intelligence, the Divine Strategy General is much more suitable than me."
Suddenly, seeing Su Shang unleash an exquisite strike, Fei Xiao's eyes lit up slightly as she praised, "Excellent footwork! Yes, yes, yes! That's how it should be! Walk with the force of a tiger, advance a thousand miles in a day!"
The next second, the Cloud Cavalry recruit sparring with Su Shang was sent flying off the arena by the girl's—Jiang Lianqiu's—sword.
"Ah! Wonderful!"
"Miss Su Shang! Amazing!"
"Wow! Miss Su Shang has the bearing of an emperor!"
"You know, Miss Su Shang and I are from the same neighborhood. She's ridiculously strong, and I've known her for a long time. As for that random passerby over there, all I can say is, good luck to him..."
The surrounding Cloud Cavalry soldiers erupted into cheers.
Before you continue