Declaration of War

All eight academies had arrived at the Yuheng league base. The military academy league officially kicked off tomorrow, and tension was already crackling among the students—an undercurrent of smoke and gunpowder barely concealed.

Guan Chuanjun had bought a bouquet of flowers, intending to give them to Xu Lingqu. After Shen Shouli's bout of madness last time, he'd mulled it over carefully and seen straight through the man's little game.

Back on the Capital Star, he'd always thought Shen Shouli was putting on airs—playing aloof, pretending to be immune to feminine wiles, acting like some untouchable flower on a high peak. Guan Chuanjun had been waiting for Shen Shouli to slip up, and he never imagined he'd catch him red-handed at the military academy league.

He'd been interested in Xu Lingqu for a while anyway. Now that he'd uncovered Shen Shouli's secret, he was even more fired up. If he could "snatch" Xu Lingqu away from Shen Shouli, it would be the perfect revenge...

Guan Chuanjun was brimming with confidence. He figured there was no way Shen Shouli understood women better than he did—and with that pretty-boy face, Shen Shouli couldn't hold a candle to his own rugged, cool charm.

By the time he strutted over to Moye's side, Jinfang Taibai had already beaten him there.

Xu Lingqu was sitting in the training ground. Jinfang Taibai stood dozens of meters away, megaphone in hand, delivering his declaration of war.

"Xu Lingqu, listen well! Tomorrow, when Du'e and Moye meet in the league, I will lead Du'e to defeat you!"

Li Muyi stood beside him, practically crumbling. After spending the past two days studying every scrap of Xu Lingqu's data, Jinfang Taibai had decided she was the strongest opponent of this league—and nothing would stop him from making this humiliating spectacle of himself. He called it psychological warfare.

Li Muyi really couldn't see what was so terrifying about Xu Lingqu!

Xu Lingqu didn't react. She was drinking water, her throat parched and burning from training. She hadn't expected a monkey show to perform during her break.

Beside her, Jin handed his training rifle to Liu Zheng. "She's within your sniping range, right?"

Liu Zheng took the gun, raised it, and looked like she was actually about to fire. Xu Xiqin grabbed her arm.

"You can't shoot him!" Xu Xiqin said seriously. "What if he ends up clinging to my sister after this?"

The man had already started acting strangely obsessed with Xu Lingqu after barging in on his own. If they shot him now—even if the bullets were harmless and only delivered pain—Jinfang Taibai would definitely play it up to an absurd degree. Tomorrow was the league. They couldn't afford any chaos.

Having delivered his declaration, Jinfang Taibai felt as though he'd been possessed by the god of courage and accomplished a great feat. Puffed up with pride, he handed the megaphone to Gu Tingzhi beside him.

"You go too. You go too."

Gu Tingzhi had only come to watch the commotion. He hadn't expected Jinfang Taibai to pull something like this. He looked back at Yun Yao and Ye Yu, who were watching from behind. "Ladies first?"

Yun Yao spat out a single word: "Scram."

Gu Tingzhi turned back with a helpless look, glanced at the insistent Jinfang Taibai, and took the megaphone.

"Xu Lingqu, how about we meet in the finals this year?"

That cunning brute knew how to talk. Jinfang Taibai instantly regretted letting him speak second and snatched the megaphone back. "How could you do that!"

Gu Tingzhi shrugged. "Can't help it. We crushed you to reach the finals last year, and we're planning to do it again this year."

With Gu Tingzhi setting an example, Yun Yao got fired up too and reached out for the megaphone.

Jinfang Taibai refused to give it to her no matter what. Was he the only one who'd ended up on Xu Lingqu's bad side now?!

He looked around and spotted Guan Chuanjun standing off to the side, holding flowers, observing the situation.

Jinfang Taibai narrowed his eyes and walked toward him. "What are you here for?"

Guan Chuanjun was still stunned by the scene unfolding. Caught off guard by Jinfang Taibai's question, he awkwardly tried to hide the bouquet behind his back. "I..."

His purpose for being here seemed rather out of place in this scenario.

But Jinfang Taibai had sharp eyes. He snatched the bouquet from behind Guan Chuanjun's back.

"You brought flowers... Are you here to confess your love?" Jinfang Taibai's quick mind whirred. Recalling the little episode Gu Tingzhi had shared with him yesterday about receiving the delegation, he immediately pieced together Guan Chuanjun's goal—and its target.

He stared at Guan Chuanjun in disbelief, as if he'd discovered a new galaxy. He looked so long and hard that Guan Chuanjun wished he could dig a hole and disappear. Then Jinfang Taibai grabbed Guan Chuanjun's hand, dragged him to his own previous spot, and shoved the megaphone into his hands.

"A true warrior has arrived." Wanting to kill Xu Lingqu was only natural; daring to lust after her was outright audacity.

For the first time in his life, Guan Chuanjun felt the word "bashful" apply to him. He stood there awkwardly, looking at Xu Lingqu in the distance, about to say something.

A bullet suddenly flew over and struck the megaphone dead-on, killing Guan Chuanjun's words in the cradle.

Jinfang Taibai: ...

"Whatever the case, you owe me a new one." He looked up at Guan Chuanjun.

On the other side, Xu Xiqin was also in shock. She'd been about to tell Liu Zheng to take out this Guan Chuanjun.

They both lived on the Capital Star and ran in the same noble circles. Xu Xiqin knew about this man's notorious reputation with women. He actually dared to covet her own sister? Shameless!

But before she could have Liu Zheng act, Shen Shouli moved first. One shot—he'd originally aimed for the head, but considering how thick-skinned Guan Chuanjun was, he'd probably just pick up the megaphone and keep talking after the pain faded. So he chose to eliminate Guan Chuanjun's tool of crime in one fell swoop.

If only he had a legitimate reason to eliminate the man himself.

Xu Lingqu had watched enough of the show. She got up to head to the infirmary.

A figure in pink and white stormed in, gray hair flowing, pink pupils, wearing Dolanston's uniform. The Sky Network heiress, Jia Xiangying, strode straight toward Xu Lingqu with clear purpose and stopped in front of her.

"Why didn't you come to receive us today?" Jia Xiangying frowned, pointing at Xu Lingqu, then at Shen Shouli and Liu Zheng. "And you two!"

Because they hadn't shown up to receive her, the Sky Network heiress had chased them down to interrogate them.

She looked exactly like a child demanding to know why her candy was a different color from everyone else's.

"Why should we go receive anyone?" Xu Lingqu found it somewhat amusing.

Jia Xiangying hadn't expected this person to stay so calm after being confronted. For a moment, she was at a loss for words. Normally, with her status as the Sky Network heiress, anyone she questioned like this would have already obediently apologized.

How could Xu Lingqu be so ungrateful?

She stared at Xu Lingqu for a moment, then said, "On the battlefield, you will regret your rudeness today. Just you wait."

And with that, the young miss swept away, coming and going like the wind.

Xu Lingqu watched her retreating, fuming back. Then she turned to Shen Shouli. "She's just like you."

The same inexplicable demeanor, the same easy provocation, and the way she stormed off in a huff was strikingly similar.

Shen Shouli: ... He was nothing like that!

None of these farces affected Xu Lingqu in the slightest. She'd watched them like a bystander enjoying a few monkey shows, and when they ended, she simply continued on her planned route to the infirmary.

The other Moye contestants stood rooted to the spot, stunned.

What exactly had made the chief commanders of several powerhouse academies declare war on Moye one after another???

And Long Yuan's Gu Tingzhi had even seriously said "see you in the finals."

Huh? Meet Moye in the finals? Weren't they just here to be cannon fodder? How had this happened?