Still Have to Work After Death? Wei Xiaofeng: Is the Federation's Sky Really This Dark?

Long Hengxu picked up a file, his voice cold and devoid of any warmth.

"The results are in."

As his voice fell, the temperature in the office seemed to plummet by several degrees.

"Wei Xiaofeng, for gathering a crowd to provoke and bully a new student, and for causing a disturbance by throwing soup. According to Article 12, Chapter 7 of the East Sea Academy School Rules, you are issued a major demerit and placed on disciplinary probation."

Wei Xiaofeng gritted his teeth.

His fists were clenched tightly at his sides, his nails digging deep into his palms, but he did not say a single word.

Long Hengxu picked up the second file, his voice even colder than before.

"Furthermore, according to the Federal Important Personnel Protection Act, you threw an unidentified liquid at Lin An, a Level One Federally Protected Person, which constitutes a crime against public safety."

Wei Xiaofeng snapped his head up, his eyes filled with shock and resentment.

"What unidentified liquid? I just threw a bowl of soup! Is that even necessary? Besides, he was completely fine; he blocked it with his soul power!"

Long Hengxu ignored him and continued reading, his pace steady and merciless.

"You are fined 650,000 Federal Credits, to be paid in full within ten days. Failure to pay by the deadline will result in the case being handed over to federal law enforcement authorities."

Six hundred and fifty thousand.

Wei Xiaofeng's face turned deathly pale, all the color draining away completely.

After his family went bankrupt, he had even scraped together his tuition fees from borrowed money; he simply could not come up with this amount.

"Director!"

Zhang Yangzi could not help but speak up, his face flushed red.

"We were in the wrong, but a 650,000 fine for a bowl of soup—isn't that a bit..."

"A bit what?"

Long Hengxu looked up, staring at him coldly, his gaze like a blade.

"Did I not tell you? Do you even know who he is or what his background is? Damn it, you can't even afford the fine, so what the hell are you acting so arrogant for!"

He pulled out the third file.

"And as for you, Zhang Yangzi, Wang Jinxi, for gathering a crowd to cause a disturbance as accomplices, you are each fined 350,000 Federal Credits."

Zhang Yangzi's mouth opened and closed, opened and closed, but in the end, he could not utter a single word.

Wang Jinxi's face was ashen; he lowered his head in silence, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.

Just then, the office door was pushed open.

A woman walked in quickly.

She was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a slender figure and delicate features. Her expression usually carried a hint of sharpness, but now it was stained with deep exhaustion.

The homeroom teacher of Class One, Ye Yingluo.

"Why are you here?"

Long Hengxu's expression shifted slightly.

"Stay out of this; getting involved will only bring you trouble."

"Director Long, I am the homeroom teacher of Class One. My students are in trouble, so I should at least know the cause and effect."

Ye Yingluo's expression was equally grim, her voice tight.

Long Hengxu glanced at her and briefly recounted the sequence of events.

After listening, Ye Yingluo remained silent for a moment, her voice dropping to a low, pleading tone.

"It is true that Xiaofeng was in the wrong, but he is still just a child. 650,000—that is a death sentence for him."

"Teacher Ye."

Long Hengxu interrupted her, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.

"I have already said that you cannot interfere in this. This is federal law; it was not decided by me, nor by the East Sea Academy."

He opened another file, his tone becoming formulaic and icy.

"If the fine is not paid within ten days, according to federal law—"

His gaze landed on Wei Xiaofeng, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"The debtor will be handed over to the Universal Group Legal Department for processing. The Universal Group has the right to subject the debtor to labor repayment, including but not limited to forced labor and organ harvesting. Furthermore, after the debtor's death, the ownership of their soul will also be handled entirely by the Universal Group."

"At that point, your only outcome will likely be to be manufactured into an Artificial Soul Spirit—also known as an Artifact Spirit."

The air in the office seemed to have been sucked out.

"There is currently a very high market demand for Artifact Spirits."

Long Hengxu closed the file, his tone calm.

"Perhaps after you die, you will still be able to find a decent job."

Wei Xiaofeng's legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor.

Bang.

His knees slammed heavily into the floor tiles, emitting a dull thud.

His entire body trembled violently.

A hoarse, discordant sound squeezed out from his throat.

"Work... even after death? Having my body dismembered... my soul ripped out to be turned into an Artifact Spirit?"

He would rather be dead.

Ye Yingluo's expression finally changed completely.

She had originally thought that although the fine was heavy, it was ultimately just a matter of money.

But now—forced labor, organ dismemberment, soul extraction.

And this was actually legal.

The sky of the Federation had darkened to such an extent.

She stepped forward abruptly, wanting to speak up and plead for him.

"Don't say another word."

Long Hengxu raised a hand to stop her.

"This is the law of the Federation."

He turned toward Wei Xiaofeng, who was kneeling on the ground, and said, word by word.

"So, I suggest that Student Wei Xiaofeng try his best to find a way to pay back the money."

The office fell into a deathly silence.

Wei Xiaofeng did not know how he had walked out of the Academic Affairs Office.

He felt as if his soul had been drained, walking down the corridor in a daze.

Suicide.

These two words suddenly popped into his mind, cold and alluring.

Perhaps suicide was the best choice right now.

But he didn't dare.

He was afraid of death.

He was even more afraid that he wouldn't even have peace for his soul after death.

Universal Group.

Lin An.

He thought of that exquisite and beautiful youth.

The youth who hadn't even spared him a proper glance from beginning to end.

A surge of intense hatred welled up from the bottom of his heart.

Why.

Why was it that some people were born with everything?

Power, status, the protection of others.

Yet for him, even living had become a luxury?

Why did he have to be like an ant, crushed to death by someone on a whim?

Why did even his soul have to be squeezed of its last bit of value?

This wasn't fair.

Ye Yingluo walked out of the Academic Affairs Office, her footsteps as heavy as if they were filled with lead.

She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.

Wu Zhangkong's perpetually cold face surfaced in her mind.

She liked him.

No one at East Sea Academy knew about this.

Not even Wu Zhangkong himself knew.

She knew this feeling would never have a result.

But she just couldn't let go.

She worked desperately to lead Class One, desperately trying to prove her teaching ability.

It was as if, as long as she was outstanding enough, he would look at her one more time.

But today.

Her student, the student she had raised with her own two hands.

Just because he had offended the young master of a wealthy family, he was fined until he lost everything.

He was even to have his soul extracted and his spirit seized, denied peace even in death.

And that young master was right there in Wu Zhangkong's class.

Ye Yingluo opened her eyes.

The gentleness and patience that once resided within them had vanished.

In their place was something dark and resolute.

Ye Yingluo pulled out her communicator, her fingers sliding across the screen.

She scrolled to a number she had never contacted before.

That number had been given to her a month ago by someone who claimed to be an "admissions consultant."

That person had said a great deal at the time.

They said the old order had rotted to the bone.

They said the dawn of a new world was about to arrive.

She hadn't believed it then; she had even thought the person was a lunatic.

But thinking back on it now—

The sky of the Federation was truly this dark.