Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Cheng Jiu's aide watched Lin Fu's retreating figure, his lips twitching slightly: "Major General, just letting him go like that, aren't we…?"

Cheng Jiu waved his hand dismissively, pulling out his gloves from his coat pocket and leisurely putting them on. "Retrieve the badge from him tomorrow and have someone keep an eye out to ensure he's not troubled by anyone. That's all. There's no need to intervene further. He's quite resourceful on his own."

The aide replied, "Yes, sir."

*

After ensuring Tang Qian's parents were settled in, the two returned to the academy.

They intended to seek out Albert, but with the holovisual communication unanswered, they were forced to put their plans on hold.

The Harvey household wasn't likely to admit two unfamiliar military cadets at the moment.

Back at the academy, Lin Fu visited Gong Yuan, who spoke before Lin Fu could even open his mouth, "The old master of the Harvey family and his eldest son have both perished on the front lines. Of the remaining three children in the family, two are Guides, leaving only Albert as a Sentinel. He won't be returning to the academy anytime soon."

Lin Fu frowned, "Teacher, if I remember correctly, his brother and father weren't stationed on the same battlefield. Isn't it quite a coincidence that they both died in the same period?"

Gong Yuan, pinching a reagent in his hand, narrowed his eyes at Lin Fu. "Don't ask questions that don't concern you. This is not for you to handle."

He set the object down, unwilling to divulge too much to Lin Fu, "I know you're close to Albert, but don't forget your own situation. One Lin family is enough to cause you headaches. Instead of inquiring about these matters, you'd be better off thinking about how to enhance your own abilities."

Lin Fu clenched his fingers, then slowly unfurled them, responding softly, "Mhm."

Back in his dorm, Lin Fu's tone was indifferent, yet seemingly veiled with turbulent emotions, "Let's start now."

The system sensed his mood wasn't great, a feeling that had started on the military ship and was now more evident, [I suggest you stabilize your emotions before proceeding with the optimization. Otherwise, it might cause more severe pain.]

Lin Fu: "Start."

System: [...Alright.]

As the voice faded from his mind, Lin Fu's head felt as though a chisel was being hammered onto the crown, the buzzing sound resonating in his ears as the intense pain of the chisel drilling into his brain momentarily silenced everything else.

The veins in his temples and neck bulged instantly, gruesomely twisting under the flushed skin, desperately trying to break through the thin layer of constraint.

Staggering, he supported himself against the sofa, his muscles tensed, as he painstakingly moved to the bathroom, locked the door, slid down against the wall to sit, and clenched his teeth, determined not to make a sound.

This was the second optimization, and the only time Lin Fu remained fully conscious to endure the entire ordeal of pain.

As the wave of intense agony receded, his fingers trembling, he turned on the shower, allowing the cold stream of water to restore his senses, which had been muddled by pain.

System: [Optimization complete.]

Lin Fu, gasping for breath, asked, "To what extent have I recovered?"

System: [You've made a bit of progress beyond the initial recovery, but you're still far from a moderate recovery.]

With his eyes closed, Lin Fu let the water hit his face, feeling it trickle down from the corners of his eyes over his thin eyelids: "Can I use mental grooming?"

The System, considering a possibility, asked with a mixture of excitement and apprehension, "[You can. Have you figured it out, Host?]"

Lin Fu didn't answer, instead he inquired, "I previously mentioned wanting updates on the Lin family’s movements."

The System immediately responded: "[No problem, although it's a bit troublesome, I can be careful and have it for you by tomorrow. So, Host, have you really figured it out!? I think we can take action tonight. There have been a few people with unstable psychic energies in your military academy lately, and you could help them with their grooming.]

Lin Fu lay quietly without speaking.

He pondered over many things in his heart, the matters of the Harvey family, and Gong Yuan's words today had suddenly reminded him.

He had been living too comfortably for the past six months.

Focused on training, he had hardly encountered any inconveniences since the issue with the three sentinels was resolved, except for occasional headaches when controlling the mech.

Would the Lin family just let go after one failure?

Impossible, it must have been Carl who interfered.

His thoughts took a detour.

While martial prowess was certainly valuable, the abilities of a Guide were not to be underestimated either. Why not make use of them?

Ignoring the System's advice to directly seek out those with unstable psychic energies, Lin Fu waited until his body recovered the next day, and the System provided the information it had promised to acquire.

In an interstellar world controlled by a mainframe, the System couldn't be too reckless; the information it gathered had its limits.

But it was enough, perfectly satisfying Lin Fu’s current need to know everything.

Just as he suspected, failing once only made the Lin family more eager to find out how he was doing in the military academy and why he hadn't died.

They attempted several times to infiltrate the academy with spies to check on him. Some even got close to Lin Fu, but none succeeded, as various reasons always led them to be turned away.

Gong Yuan even once helped him avert a disaster; afterward, the student the Lin family had arranged to enter became mentally unstable, got demoted, and dropped out of the military academy.

The fact that Gong Yuan could take such drastic measures indicated to Lin Fu that the Lin family had shown no mercy towards him.