Tacit Understanding

"This Jin is actually this skilled? I thought he was from the Third Star System. With a Psychic Power Level of A+, he's outstanding among ordinary people, but here... he's pretty average, right? How does he handle a starship so effortlessly?"

Looking at Jin on the big screen, Yun Yao was puzzled.

Guan Chuanjun's expression was odd. "You really don't know?"

His tone and expression suggested he was about to spill some huge gossip, and the others immediately turned to him with curiosity, even the usually aloof heiress Jia Xiangying looked intrigued.

Seeing so many eyes on him, Guan Chuanjun coughed awkwardly. "I'll tell you, but you must not spread it around."

"I suspect this Jin is actually the Third Prince, Jin Theodore Ulysses." He lowered his voice, ensuring only those nearby could hear.

"What? He's... mmph!" Jinfang Taibai started to speak but was quickly muffled by the ever-experienced Li Muyi.

Yun Yao was confused. "How can you be sure? The Third Prince is known to be gentle and quiet."

She pointed at Jin on the screen, who was grinning with wild arrogance. "Are you telling me that's him?"

Guan Chuanjun began laying out his evidence. "Did you not see his striking red hair?"

The symbol of the Ulysses royal family—hair like blazing flames.

"I thought he just happened to like the color," Yun Yao said, a bit exasperated. "By that logic, if I dyed my hair red, I'd be a princess too."

"The crucial point is that he's very close to Shen Shouli," Guan Chuanjun continued. "That's the key evidence linking him to the Third Prince. Shen Shouli, that cold fish, has almost no friends in the Capital Star. I've only ever seen the Third Prince playing with him."

"Really? I don't know the Third Prince well—he rarely shows his face, and when he does, he wears a mask," Yun Yao said, rubbing her chin. "But now that you mention it, it does seem plausible."

"Wait, seriously? Shen Shouli has no friends in the Capital Star? I thought he was well-liked," Hei Yingzhi interjected, surprised to hear so much gossip while watching a match.

"Being liked came only after his Psychic Power Level was tested..." Guan Chuanjun's gaze dropped, recalling past events.

The noble children of the Capital Star had their own social circles, and even as a child, Guan Chuanjun could keenly sense the undercurrents.

Among the group of kids, Shen Shouli had actually been quite popular at first—the grandson of General Shen, with looks like an exquisite doll, he was fussed over by adults and children alike.

But later...

"He had severe contamination anxiety and a bad temper. Those people would praise his cleanliness in public, but behind his back, they'd badmouth him. They even purposely dirtied his clothes to provoke him, then went to General Shen to complain. General Shen disciplined Shen Shouli strictly, but he wasn't blind—he wouldn't take anyone's word at face value. But Shen Shouli, that mute, never spoke up for himself. If he had cried and told the truth like I would have, those people would have long been punished."

Guan Chuanjun ranted as he explained.

"Anyway, Shen Shouli was quietly ostracized for a time as a kid. Later, Emperor Andrew often invited him to the palace. I went a few times too and saw the Third Prince deliberately provoke him; they'd chase each other around the palace grounds. The Third Prince was sickly as a child and mostly confined to the palace. They probably became playmates back then. Only I know about all this."

Those people were happy to fawn over the Third Prince and the grandson of General Shen, but not over a sickly boy with a foul temper and a cleanliness obsession.

Guan Chuanjun concluded with a touch of sarcasm: "Of course, as Shen Shouli grew up and became more exceptional, with his S+ Psychic Power Level, those who had once quietly excluded him suddenly became loyal lackeys, practically kneeling to lick his boots. Their past faces were nowhere to be seen... Truly laughable."

Unlike him—he hated Shen Shouli with unwavering consistency!

"Your noble circles are messed up," Jinfang Taibai said, genuinely exasperated. Even someone with Shen Shouli's background could face such exclusion as a child; it was horrifying.

Yun Yao nodded. "So Jin really could be the Third Prince. I never expected them both to end up in Moye."

She looked up at the screen, where the battle situation had shifted once more.

Tansen Meilin needed to break the current deadlock—the situation was far from what he had anticipated. He immediately ordered the other side's ship, the Lipu, equipped with the quantum oscillation blade, to power up its weapons and head toward Moye's command ship.

Under Xu Lingqu's command, Moye's warships had achieved a perfect rhythm of combat and logistics, not only because of her flawless coordination, but also because the Moye command ship was exceptionally well protected by those two Qiwu-class vessels, completely untouched by enemy fire.

The moment Lipu's weapons activated, Shen Shouli burst in from the other side with his fighter, and Jin, who had been harassing the Manta, finally broke free of Lianda's three warships, taking a long detour to rendezvous with Shen Shouli.

Jin had been having the time of his life in this arena, and the moment he saw Shen Shouli's trajectory, he knew exactly what they were going to do.

The two fighters unleashed a storm of fire at the Lipu's propulsion system, and alarms blared wildly in Lipu's command room as the thrusters were damaged.

Xu Lingqu, aboard the Moye command ship, guessed their intentions and gave the order.

"All fighters, head to the side of Lianda's Lipu and tie down their solo fighters. Buy time for Shen Shouli and Jin."

Liu Zheng fired a precise shot that blew up one of Lianda's annoying scout ships. "As you command, Commander."

Shen Shouli and Jin's fighters slammed hard into the Lipu, which had lost its mobility, shoving the throttle to maximum and attacking at full speed.

They weren't aiming for a suicide crash to destroy the Lipu, but rather to wedge themselves precisely against its side, becoming its 'new thrusters.' They made the immobilized Lipu completely lose balance and turn toward Lianda's command ship.

At this point, due to the propulsion failure and destroyed drive system, the Lipu's quantum oscillation blade was stuck—it couldn't retract!

Tansen Meilin hurriedly ordered Lianda's command ship to evade, but the command ship was far too massive to move out of the way in such a short time.

All he could do was watch helplessly as the Lipu's quantum oscillation blade came slashing down fiercely toward his own command ship.

The sheer force of it looked like it would cleave Lianda's command ship in two!