The Mysterious Her

Natata expressed her thanks and left first.

Closing the door, Xu Lingqu turned around to see Liu Ming puffed up with anger.

"What's wrong?"

"How could you let someone build you another S-class mech? Didn't you promise to help me find my original body and be your master only?" Liu Ming burst out, unable to hold it in any longer after hearing Xu Lingqu and Natata's conversation.

"I did promise to help you find your original mech, but when did I ever say I'd be your master only?" Liu Ming could be so childish sometimes. Xu Lingqu tried to reason with it. "We don't even have a lead on your original body right now. How are we supposed to find it?"

Liu Ming calmed down a little. It was still furious, but Xu Lingqu had a point.

"And aren't you an SSS-class mech? Why would you feel threatened by an S-class mech that doesn't even exist yet?"

That completely mollified Liu Ming, who said proudly, "I am the most handsome mech out there. Fine, I don't have any leads on my original body either, but you have SS-level psychic power, and I can sense you've improved recently. You can now sense the existence of SSS-class mechs—that only requires S+ to do. As long as we go to enough places..."

It trailed off as the atmosphere suddenly turned cold. It looked up to see Xu Lingqu staring at it coldly.

"So could Shen Shouli sense the presence of your life form?"

Liu Ming suddenly felt as if Xu Lingqu had reverted to the way she was when they first met—cold enough, with killing intent radiating off her. It shuddered and began to stammer an explanation, "N-no, he can't. As long as you activate me and let me summon my life form, I can control the energy on my body. After all, my original body isn't here..."

That day Shen Shouli came to this dorm, Liu Ming had even deliberately swaggered up to him and made contact, precisely because it was confident that under its controlled state, even an S+ like Shen Shouli couldn't detect anything unusual.

"And what about when you're in the ring and can't control yourself?" At their first meeting, before the activation of her psychic power, she had been wearing the ring when she crossed paths with Shen Shouli.

"That's only a tiny bit, a tiny bit. At most he could sense that you have an unusual energy fluctuation, the kind that comes and goes in a flash. Unless he was extremely attentive, he couldn't possibly catch it." Liu Ming was genuinely frightened now. Why hadn't it told Xu Lingqu right away back then? It had just gained its freedom and only wanted to play—that had been truly wrong...

Shen Shouli must have sensed something. Thinking back over the entire trial period and his inexplicable attempts to get close, Xu Lingqu had never sensed any malice from him, but she had wondered more than once about the motive behind this bad-tempered young master insisting on drawing near even after being snubbed.

Now she had her answer.

"I can guarantee you that even if he sensed something was off, he definitely wouldn't realize I'm a mech or anything. My original body isn't even here." Liu Ming was on the verge of tears now; the air pressure in this room had dropped to a terrifying level.

Xu Lingqu thought it over. Based on Shen Shouli's behavior throughout the trial period and his conduct when he came to this dorm afterward, he probably hadn't detected anything special—at most he just thought she was a bit odd.

That encounter was unavoidable. Unless she'd known in advance and could have taken the ring off before going to the banquet. And that day after the interstellar jump, she'd been half a beat slow and passed out in front of him. His catching something unusual about her was simply inevitable.

Rather than agonize over it, it was better to shift her thinking. It was good to know the reason he'd approached. Forced and probing approaches like Tang Muwen's were what made Xu Lingqu increasingly uncomfortable.

She couldn't blame Liu Ming.

The oppressive atmosphere in the room dissolved in an instant.

Liu Ming let out a sigh of relief, padded over to Xu Lingqu, and wagged its tail. "You're not angry anymore, master? From now on, I'll tell you everything."

"Then is there anything you haven't confessed that you need to confess now?" Xu Lingqu asked.

"No more, but..." Liu Ming said cautiously, "Can you really only be my master?"

"...Fine."

Xu Lingqu reached out and unwrapped a pet nutrient stick for it to soothe its wounded feelings.

Meanwhile, Shen Shouli was still staring blankly at the message Jin had sent him.

Back at the Shen residence that day, General Shen had been watering the flowers in the courtyard, insisting on snatching the job from the robot.

The old man saw him return but didn't stop watering. He just asked, "How did it go?"

Shen Shouli had refused to enter his grandfather's Long Yuan Academy and stubbornly gone to Moye instead, precisely to try using his S+ psychic power to investigate whether Liu Ming's mech existed at the school.

This was a mission personally assigned to him by Emperor Andrew.

"No results." Shen Shouli lowered his gaze to look at the flowers and plants his grandfather was tending.

In truth, General Shen had expected this. Liu Ming had been missing for so long. Though everyone suspected the Galaxy Admiral had kept it at Moye, the academy had been turned upside down over the years without finding a thing.

At his core, Emperor Andrew was trying to balance the strength gap among the six major military academies. After all, in the last military academy league, Moye had lost to academies from the outer star systems. If this continued, it wouldn't be able to hold its status as one of the Six Great Academies—something His Majesty did not wish to see.

"How are you getting along with your classmates?" General Shen fussed over his grandson like any ordinary parent. He knew this kid's temperament all too well. Even with the Third Prince keeping him company, he was still very likely to be disliked.

Over the years, his grandson had been fawned over for his distinguished family background, striking looks, and remarkable talent. General Shen knew perfectly well that aside from the Third Prince, none of those people genuinely wanted to be friends with his grandson. After all, that foul temper was right there, and Shen Shouli had never once thought about changing it.

Shen Shouli was silent for a moment, then looked at his grandfather. "Grandfather, if I really want to get close to someone, but she doesn't seem to like me much... what should I do?"

General Shen's hand trembled. "What did you say?"

He had keenly caught the loss and self-doubt in Shen Shouli's tone—two emotions he had never once felt from his grandson before.

What? His grandson actually wanted to change that foul temper of his, to "win over" someone?

Seeing his grandfather's look of utter shock, Shen Shouli chose to turn and stride off to his room, locking the door behind him. Otherwise, the old man would have interrogated him endlessly.

Shen Shouli wasn't ready to let anyone besides Jin know the secret that he had a crush on Xu Lingqu.

It had all come so inexplicably, he thought. That day in the garden at the Xu residence, it was only a faint trace of mysterious energy that had drawn him in—that was why he'd become the "eyewitness" to Xu Lingqu sending those two people into the water.

Clearly, every subsequent encounter had been devoid of that energy, and yet Xu Lingqu still drew him in.

Shen Shouli consoled himself: that subtle energy was gone, but her strength and mystery were objective facts that never left her. It was only natural he'd be drawn to her.

It wasn't until the cross-country exercise during the trial period, when concern and worry flooded his senses, that he left the base to search for her—only to pass by her in the end. As he was drowning in despair, it suddenly hit him: he actually liked her.

Thinking back on that day now, those two people hadn't been the only ones "kicked into the water." He had been too, Shen Shouli mused.

Those who fall into love can never perceive it at first, until they realize the water is over their heads—then they finally notice their situation.

Xu Lingqu was full of mysteries. Watching her was like observing from a great distance a brilliant, dazzling, mysterious star that could never be reached.

Hopelessly drawn in, he could only accept that he might forever stand in the position of an observer, bathed in starlight, dreaming of the moment he might draw closer.