Storm on the Horizon

The match between Qingjun and Longyuan had ended. Though nearly every spectator in the Empire lamented Longyuan's defeat with sorrow and reluctance, there was no changing it—the final would be a showdown between Moye and Qingjun.

After a good rest, Gu Tingzhi arrived at Yuheng Military Base. He had come for live mech training, but someone led him to meet a person he never expected to see.

The headmaster of Longyuan, Shen Shouli's grandfather—General Shen Ruoshui.

In his sixties, he had a fondness for the simple life. When idle, he liked to tend flowers and referred to himself as "this old man." But a single glance at his appearance would make you think he was a handsome man in his thirties or forties.

Shen Shouli's light brown eyes came from the General.

But look a second longer, and the killing aura on Shen Ruoshui seeped out, startling anyone who stood before him. When his gaze swept over you, it felt like a sharp dagger scraping across your skin.

Gu Tingzhi had only ever seen this renowned headmaster at Longyuan's opening ceremony. He didn't show his face at Longyuan often, but every Longyuan student took pride in being a disciple of General Shen.

"Headmaster..." Gu Tingzhi was uncharacteristically nervous. He instinctively wanted to apologize, to reflect on what he had done wrong in the infected zone map.

General Shen waved a hand, cutting off his self-examination.

"No need to explain. You did the right thing." On the way from Capital Star to Yuheng, he had happened to watch the clash between Qingjun and Longyuan.

By the standards of a mature commander, Gu Tingzhi's approach wasn't flawless—it could even be called a bit impulsive.

But in Shen Ruoshui's eyes, those imperfections and impulsive moments were what made it normal.

Gu Tingzhi was, after all, just a student. In a lifespan of roughly one hundred fifty years for interstellar humans, eighteen years' worth of experience was far too little, far too little. Physiologically he could be considered an adult, but psychologically he was still a long way off.

At the same age, Shen Ruoshui himself had been just like this—upright, passionate, unable to bear seeing any comrade suffer. In his eyes, these weren't flaws; they were necessary steps on the road to growth.

Gu Tingzhi felt a weight lift from his chest. After the match, once he had fully rested, he had also seen some of the debates about him on the forums.

Many netizens lamented his loss, and plenty believed that Gu Tingzhi's temperament simply wasn't suited for command—because in this match, Gu Tingzhi had lost not to Jia Xianglan, but to his own moral bottom line.

In the past, reading those comments would always set off an alarm in Gu Tingzhi's mind. He would earnestly reflect on his actions and think about how to correct his mistakes in the future. But this time, he found he could read through them without a ripple of feeling—and not regret his choices in the slightest.

Dimly, Gu Tingzhi sensed that he had, somehow, grown up.

Still, facing Headmaster Shen Ruoshui, having lost the match, he instinctively assumed the General had come to hold him to account. His first instinct had been to deny himself.

Yet the General said he had done the right thing.

"As long as there's nothing wrong with your head, that's what matters." Shen Ruoshui had heard that Lieutenant General Jia Deli had personally gone to comfort the girls of Cimei on site. As headmaster of Longyuan, he figured he ought to show the same care to his own students.

For no other reason than that, the moment he arrived at Yuheng Military Base and heard Gu Tingzhi was there, he had called the young man over.

Unfortunately, General Shen was hardly the type to offer comforting words. After two dry, perfunctory sentences of encouragement, Gu Tingzhi left in a daze.

He returned to the mech training grounds at Yuheng Military Base. He was hanging his head, wondering whether the General's words carried hidden meaning, when he turned and saw Shen Shouli.

Sensing his gaze, Shen Shouli gave him a questioning look in return.

To be honest, General Shen was warm and forthright—quite different from Shen Shouli.

Faced with Gu Tingzhi's lingering stare, Shen Shouli hesitated a moment, then patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll win the finals."

That said, he turned and left, wiping his hand with a silk handkerchief as he walked.

Gu Tingzhi had been overthinking it. That sudden, dry concern was just like General Shen's—a trait run in the family.

The second person the General called in was his own grandson.

The moment Shen Shouli entered, their eyes met. Instantly, the air crackled with gunpowder.

"Did you dig up my Pure White Oath by the roots?" General Shen cut straight to the chase. He still ached remembering how he had gone to the garden and found a hole where that beautiful white rose used to bloom. How had he, Shen Ruoshui, ended up with such a grandson?

"Yes." Shen Shouli admitted it quickly, but with an arrogant air. "I planted it in my room."

"You have the nerve to say that! Taking without asking—that's stealing, you know?" The General slammed the table. Anyone else facing that display would have dropped to their knees confessing on the spot.

Shen Shouli, however, was thoroughly used to it.

"But, well." The General shifted gears. "If you had given it to Xu Lingqu earlier, I might let it slide."

Shen Shouli paused. "How did you know?"

"The whole world knows by now." The General scoffed. "Have you watched your own league footage? Do you know how cheap you looked in the arena?"

The early matches were one thing, but during the Moye versus Dolanston match, anyone with eyes could tell—Shen Shouli liked Xu Lingqu.

"Xu Lingqu doesn't know, though." Shen Shouli looked lost.

General Shen: ...

"Her not knowing... that's normal."

Shen Ruoshui had taken note of every one of Xu Lingqu's performances. He was already prepared to fight the Military Department for her the moment she entered its ranks.

That urge to recruit her had nothing whatsoever to do with his rotten grandson Shen Shouli—it came entirely from the abilities this young woman had displayed.

General Shen had a feeling that the Empire's record for youngest general might just be shattered by her next. When that happened, Shen Shouli would be the one scrambling to measure up to her.

It was perfectly normal for someone as capable as Xu Lingqu to be dull to matters of emotion. Her not knowing was no problem at all.

The problem was his own unlucky grandson: he had gone and dug up his Pure White Oath and didn't even have the spine to make a move. Outrageous!

Shen Shouli knew it was his own fault, so he rarely humbled himself to accept his grandfather's rebuke—and put on a look of complete unrepentance, steering the topic away. "Why did you go out of your way to come to Yuheng Star?"

"To watch your match." Shen Ruoshui stretched. "And to catch up with an old acquaintance."

"Is there anyone here worth catching up with?" Shen Shouli knew full well that the General wouldn't make the trip personally just to watch him play. He had something more important to do.

Shen Ruoshui let out a cold laugh. "Of course there is. But I certainly won't tell you—unless you return my Pure White Oath, or give it away."

Shen Shouli turned to leave. "Good. I wasn't interested in prying into Empire secrets anyway."

The General watched his grandson dodge the subject and bolt, and thoroughly scorned him for it—though it was entirely within his expectations.

He had only come to demand justice for his Pure White Oath anyway. He knew Shen Shouli too well. That brat, ever since he was little, had worn a face like nothing in the world could touch his heart.

This was the first time the General had ever seen him so determined to safeguard a relationship with such care.

After his rotten grandson had gone, a man in black-and-red uniform entered the highest-ranking office at Yuheng Military Base.

His name was Gu Ying, first-class inspector of Ares, with You Sun trailing behind him. The two bowed together to General Shen.

"Thank you for coming all this way." Gu Ying bowed deeply once more, offering his gratitude.

General Shen waved a hand. "It's no trouble. This is something I should do."

He sighed, staring at the obsidian desktop before him.

According to Ares's intelligence, at this very spot two months ago, Xu Chengbi—his former subordinate—had used an addictive substance made from blue crow fruit.

The evidence of treason was as solid as iron. Shen Ruoshui made a trip to the imperial palace, where Emperor Andrew himself laid out the evidence of Xu Chengbi's crimes for him.

Shen Ruoshui's feelings were complicated.

When Xu Chengbi served under him, he had sensed it: the man had a bit of cleverness, but he was far too eager for quick success and immediate gain—restless through and through.

Shen Ruoshui had once seriously counseled him, hoping he'd put that cleverness to proper use. At the time, Xu Chengbi had thanked him with heartfelt sincerity, tears streaming, telling Shen Ruoshui that he would be his only teacher for life.

During the years he colluded with the Federation, he kept up appearances masterfully. Even after rising to general, he treated Shen Ruoshui with utmost reverence and respect.

That was why Shen Ruoshui had sent Shen Shouli to the Xu household back then—everyone thought the two families had close ties.

Emperor Andrew had originally planned for Lieutenant General Jia Deli, Vice Admiral Victoria, and General Wan, the three of them acting together, to take down Xu Chengbi on Yuheng Star. General Shen volunteered himself, using the excuse of watching Shen Shouli's match while actually coming to personally close out the case against his former subordinate.

With him on board, the plan was far more secure than before. Gu Ying, in charge of the net on Yuheng, was naturally delighted.

To uproot an Imperial general was no small matter—far too many people were entangled in it. Ares had worked around the clock for a month, going through the list of suspects they had culled. Stacked up, the paper files stood taller than a man.

And Xu Chengbi seemed to be on guard against their moves on Capital Star, becoming markedly more cautious in many matters—which only made Ares's evidence-gathering harder.

Fortunately, this General Xu was deeply convinced that his adopted daughter Xu Lingqu had become addicted to the substance, and with each dazzling, supernova-like performance she delivered, he couldn't hold himself back any longer.

Two days ago, Xu Chengbi had finalized his upcoming itinerary: he would come to the league's mech arena. The day after the arena matches was, in his eyes, the first day Xu Lingqu's addiction would flare up.

He would come personally to tame his meteoric, rebellious genius of an adopted daughter.

And Shen Ruoshui would personally take action against this beast in human form—his former subordinate—to cleanse the ranks.