Chapter 432: Is This Old Man Supposed To Be Impressive?

"She’s been temporarily detained," Xuan Huang informed them. "Her injuries have been treated, and her severed hand can be reattached. The interrogation team will step in, and we should be able to extract some useful information."

Li Xiaofei glanced at Lin Wan beside him. She managed a grateful smile, though a trace of sorrow remained on her face. Her best friend had turned out to be a traitor to the academy. White Deer Academy was known for its staunch loyalty to traditional martial arts, even at the cost of isolating itself from the world. It stood in sharp opposition to the New Martial Arts factions. Ding Rong’s actions amounted to treason against the academy.

“How’s the situation?” Li Xiaofei asked.

Xuan Huang replied, “The academy’s grand barrier is active, preventing the Mechanical Special Forces from infiltrating us. Meanwhile, the Mechanical Guards can’t maintain a blockade indefinitely. According to their protocols, they must withdraw within five days.”

Li Xiaofei frowned. “So, we need to hold out for at least another four and a half days?”

Xuan Huang shook her head. “No need. Our deputy team leader will return by early morning day after tomorrow. When that happens, everything will be resolved.”

Deputy team leader?

Li Xiaofei recalled seeing mention of him in the Dragon Group’s records. The man, named Xiao Bieli, was said to be an absolute powerhouse within the Dragon Group, known for his fierce, hawkish approach. He was a pillar of strength, widely recognized as the Dragon Group’s top expert and a force to be reckoned with.

"Is Team Leader Xiao not in Xiajing City?" Li Xiaofei asked casually.

Xuan Huang replied, "About a month ago, there was a sea beast uprising along the southeastern coast. There are signs that Jiepeng agents and Yiggs operatives are involved, so Team Leader Xiao went to the front lines to handle it."

"Those troublemakers again!" Li Xiaofei's brow furrowed.

No matter the era, that island nation’s people always seemed to stir up trouble.

"Did they manage to resolve the issue?" he asked.

"Hopefully," Xuan Huang sighed.

These days, Great Xia was plagued by internal and external threats. It felt like an ancient aircraft carrier navigating rough seas. They were leaking in places and their crew wasn’t united. The Dragon Group was constantly stretched thin, racing from one crisis to another, trying to plug leaks and keep the ship afloat. Who knew when it would finally end?

After a brief discussion, they agreed on a plan: for now, Li Xiaofei would continue shadowing Su Wanqing under the guise of pursuing her. Lin Wan, meanwhile, would stay close to Xuan Huang as her student council liaison.

Since the academy’s barrier was activated, the Mechanical Special Forces wouldn’t be able to breach it. If they tried to force their way in, it would trigger a disturbance in the barrier, allowing the Dragon Group to intercept them. All they needed to do was hold out until Deputy Leader Xiao Bieli arrived.

As Li Xiaofei walked off, still tailing Su Wanqing, Xuan Huang noticed Lin Wan’s gaze lingering on him. Xuan Huang sighed softly. Meeting someone as extraordinary as the Jade Emperor Li Xiaofei at this youthful age might be both Lin Wan’s fortune and her misfortune.

Once one’s standards were raised to such heights, finding someone who truly measured up would be much harder.

"Come, let’s have a chat," She smiled as she motioned to Lin Wan. "Are you interested in joining the Dragon Group?"

Lin Wan’s eyes lit up.

***

In the blink of an eye, a full day had passed. During those 24 hours, White Deer Academy's barrier had indeed been repeatedly attacked and tampered with. However, each attempt was detected immediately.

Qi Shisan and other skilled academy instructors responded promptly, clashing with the mysterious intruders and successfully driving them off. No one managed to breach the academy grounds.

White Deer Academy, it seemed, still held considerable strength. The ancient and enigmatic barrier formation proved too complex for the Mechanical Special Forces of Mechanical Eternity to break through so easily.

Then, in the afternoon of the second day, an earthquake shook the entire academy. A battle mech’s power cannon had struck the barrier’s energy shield, sending tremors throughout the academy’s buildings. The old principal was alarmed and appeared to investigate the incident.

Soon after, Song Xinren, chief strategist of Mechanical Eternity’s Mechanical Guards, appeared to apologize to White Deer Academy, claiming that the incident was due to a signal malfunction during a military exercise. He explained that a Whale-Class battle mech had fired accidentally on White Deer Academy’s barrier.

But the old principal was furious. This led to a prolonged standoff between the two sides, with disputes and skirmishes constantly arising. Despite these incidents, there were no further assassination attempts on Su Wanqing.

Xuan Huang deduced that this was likely because the Mechanical Special Forces’ hidden agents within White Deer Academy had already been neutralized. Since the barrier prevented reinforcements, the Special Forces’ efforts had lost momentum.

Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction, and the group felt a considerable sense of relief.

Night had fallen. The room was silent. In the corner, where Ruo Shuang had stood like a statue, her dim eyes suddenly flickered with a faint red glow. A mysterious chip within her brain activated as a network connection initialized.

Data download in progress...

Information analysis commenced...

Decryption completed.

A command was issued and a dormant nanocapsule in her brain activated. Micro-nano robots stored inside flooded into her bloodstream, swiftly dispersing to every part of her body.

The physical seals placed by Xuan Huang’s acupoint-blocking technique began to fall apart as the micro-nano robots attacked. Ruo Shuang’s eyes glowed red, then quickly dimmed. Her body back under control, she took a moment to assess her surroundings.

The room was quiet. Xuan Huang had gone on a night patrol and hadn’t yet returned. Ruo Shuang slipped out of the room, her figure blending into the darkness. She avoided all patrols and formations with uncanny precision, making her way to a secluded area near the academy’s barrier.

Reaching out, she gently traced her fingers along the formation lines of the barrier shield. Surprisingly, her touch didn’t trigger the barrier’s defenses. A cool, intricate pattern of formation lines shimmered like ethereal light sprites dancing in the void.

Ruo Shuang’s fingertips moved gracefully, tapping deftly across the formation lines. It was as if she were decoding the formation. Gradually, the formation lines before her grew dimmer and dimmer until the barrier’s layer of light vanished completely. Five figures swiftly approached.

They were led by a man seated on a hovering wheelchair. His silver, mid-length hair was slicked back meticulously, and he wore a perfectly tailored white suit, with a finely crafted black mechanical rose pinned to his right chest.

It was Michael! One of the key leaders of Mechanical Eternity and a true figure of power. He was followed by the famed Four Mechanical Guardians. These four figures, silent as death itself, emanated the chilling, lifeless aura of pure machinery, far removed from any semblance of organic life.

"My lord." Ruo Shuang stepped forward, greeting him with an emotionless, synthesized voice.

Michael’s gaze lingered on her, not as one would look at a living being, but as if admiring a prized creation. As the pinnacle of Mechanical Eternity’s technological modifications, Ruo Shuang embodied Michael’s painstaking efforts. Her enhancements were far beyond mere brain implants or light core mechanics.

She contained the latest advancements of Eternal Precision’s cutting-edge research. Only such modifications could allow her to withstand the scrutiny and testing of the Dragon Group. The chip embedded within Ruo Shuang had originally been designed to activate half a year later, with the Dragon Group as its intended target.

This time, circumstances had forced his hand. The operation Michael had meticulously planned should have gone flawlessly. Yet, it had failed disastrously, leading to Mei Fusu’s death in the ruined town, while the entire strike team was wiped out.

The critical Corpse Emperor Sacred Crystal had fallen into the hands of the Dragon Group. Fortunately, Ruo Shuang had been embedded within White Deer Academy. He had no choice but to activate this piece sooner than expected.

The Mechanical Guards and Mechanical Special Forces’ repeated attempts to breach the academy's barrier had served two purposes. He had wanted to lull the Dragon Group into thinking they couldn’t get inside and to gather crucial data on the barrier’s defenses.

Once they had enough data, it was analyzed by ten Solar Whale-class light cores at Mechanical Eternity’s headquarters. The decryption method was then sent through secure channels to Ruo Shuang’s brain.

She had then silently opened a path from within. The group had indeed entered without a hitch.

“Though activated ahead of schedule, your evolution is flawless,” Michael remarked with a smile. “Lead the way. You know where she is.”

Ruo Shuang turned and began to lead.

The group walked openly through the academy grounds, neither hiding nor avoiding detection. Patrolling guards passed them by as if they were invisible. With Ruo Shuang guiding them, they soon arrived outside Su Wanqing’s dormitory cave.

Outside the dormitory entrance... Li Xiaofei was chatting and laughing with Su Wanqing, while Lin Wan, the academy’s belle, sat nearby.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Lin Wan had come here, feeling a need to see how Li Xiaofei and Su Wanqing interacted. She couldn’t quite explain why, but she felt a mix of worry and intrigued. President Li had the two girls laughing heartily, their faces glowing with joy. The atmosphere was warm and lively.

Lin Wan gazed at Li Xiaofei with a dreamy look, her eyes practically filled with pink bubbles of admiration. Su Wanqing, on the other hand, remained relatively composed, though there was a subtle softness in her gaze whenever she looked at him.

“Junior Brother, keep going! How many wives did Yun Che end up marrying?” Lin Wan asked, eagerly drawn into the story.

“Well, he... hmm?” Li Xiaofei’s expression suddenly hardened as he abruptly stood up.

He looked intently toward the courtyard gate. Over the low stone wall, he saw an elderly man in a white suit seated on a hovering wheelchair, his silver hair gleaming in the moonlight.

The white suit appeared almost silver under the moon’s glow, yet the black mechanical rose on his chest seemed like a dark vortex, absorbing all the moonlight around it.

When Li Xiaofei saw Ruo Shuang standing beside the old man, his pupils contracted slightly. So, trouble had finally arrived.

"Michael?!" Even someone as rational as Su Wanqing couldn’t stop herself from gasping at the sight of the elderly man.

She had considered that the Mechanical Special Forces might find a way to infiltrate White Deer Academy. But she hadn’t expected a figure of this magnitude to come.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The man who held the reins of Mechanical Eternity’s influence in Xiajing City was standing before him. He was powerful enough to speak on equal terms with the highest authorities in the nation. Yet, here he was.

Su Wanqing’s body trembled involuntarily, while Lin Wan, understanding the gravity of the situation, silently positioned herself behind Su Wanqing, trying her best not to become a burden to Li Xiaofei.

“What’s wrong?” Li Xiaofei glanced at Su Wanqing, his tone calm. “Is this white-haired, crippled old man supposed to be impressive?”