Chapter 54

Chapter 54

The first days of the semester are always a real drag and tough to get through. Yi Ye, used to the luxury of sleeping in, was suddenly thrown back into the grind of early mornings. It took him a while to get his brain to accept this harsh reality.

Meanwhile, thanks to the recommendation letter from General Lin Pei, he quickly climbed the ranks to become an official committee member.

As for Roger, the senior who resembles a shriveled cucumber, he’s still the king of cleaning.

Just a few days ago, when Yi Ye went to the villa for afternoon tea, he casually slung an arm around Roger's shoulder with a grin, asking about his well-being, which freaked Roger out so much that he turned pale, his body trembled, and his legs gave out, collapsing to his knees. He cried and promised to be a good person from now on, never to do any shady bad deeds again. His repentance was so intense it was almost painful to watch.

However, Yi Ye was just messing around with him and didn’t hold a grudge after having his fun. But Roger clearly didn’t expect to be forgiven so easily, and he stood there in shock, tears streaming down his face, clasping his hands together like he was praying, and sincerely exclaiming, "Is this what redemption feels like? Oh God, oh Lord, Amen, Hallelujah..."

Yi Ye thought to himself, "Great, another one’s lost it."

Apart from the above incidents, the workload in the second half of the first year has also ramped up. He checked out the updated schedule and noticed two new courses: "Ancient Earth Studies" and "Logistics and Medical Department," taught by instructors named "Mirror" and "Holly Tang." He seemed to have seen them at the dance, but his impression was not deep, and he could only recall a bit through forum posts.

"Ancient Earth Studies? Oh man, that's a nightmare. Instructor Mirror is infamous for failing students; I haven’t cracked a 50 since I got here!"

A senior who frequents the failing zone commented.

"Instructor Mirror... I think he looks like a water ghost, always damp and gloomy. What do you think? Oh, you're asking about the course? Sorry, I have a syndrome where I feel like sleeping as soon as class starts, so I've never listened. Failing? Hahahaha... Who hasn't failed a few times in life? Hahahaha..."

A senior who was halfway to losing it chimed in.

"Instructor Mirror is very gentle. Last time, I even saw him take a stray cat home to raise."

"You’re nuts, that was obviously a star beast, the kind with a big mouth that eats people."

"That was clearly a cat! A calico one at that. Are you blind?!"

"Forget your cat, what kind of cat spits fire?!"

"……………………"

Two seniors going at it over whether it was a cat or not.

"I heard he has some connections with a big shot on the main planet, even the principal is very polite to him. You better not mess with him. As for me, no need to thank me, I'm just a master of helping others. Oh, by the way, we're recently starting a mysterious organization exclusively for Betas. Want to join?"

Someone who sounded like a pyramid scheme leader left a comment.

Yi Ye: "Hmm..."

He nonchalantly reported the last comment, closed the forum, and showed a thoughtful expression.

He glanced at Bai Chuan: "Do you know what Ancient Earth Studies teaches? It’s not something super sketchy, right?"

Yi Ye felt a sudden chill run down his spine.

Just as Bai Chuan was about to answer, the class bell suddenly rang, and everyone quickly returned to their seats.

Yi Ye rested his chin on his hands, squinting and focusing intently on the door.

After a long silence.

Creak—

The door suddenly opened, and in the dimly lit classroom, a pale, thin, grayish hand reached in from the crack. The man—if you could call him that—wore a spiderweb-knitted shawl over his shoulders, with long, curly black hair reaching his ankles, and water dripping from his clothes, spreading across the floor, like some kind of waterlogged ghost who’d just emerged from the depths.

He held a book, slowly walked to the podium, and lifted his face—

One eye was a deep blue, the other a deathly pale gray. His face looked as if it had been scorched by fire, with the left half of his face, where the eye was deathly white, covered in horrifying scars. The newly grown flesh had an eerie pinkish hue.

He didn't speak, his cold eyes sweeping over the crowd, and then suddenly let out a sharp laugh, startling the Alphas in the front row.

Alphas: Help! It's a ghost!!!

Military academy instructors were used to using projections and mechanical devices for lectures, but this instructor, Mirror, picked up a piece of chalk in the most traditional manner and wrote his name on the blackboard.

But it didn't end there. As the chalk scraped across the blackboard, he suddenly began writing the names of every student in Class S. The distorted characters crowded the narrow blackboard, chalk dust flying everywhere, and broken pieces of chalk clattered to the ground.

He wrote with a kind of crazed enthusiasm, his lips curling into a wide, maniacal grin.

Yi Ye gulped: "Why does this feel like a death note?"

Bai Chuan: "..." He felt the same way.

A few seconds after he said that, the figure on the podium suddenly froze, then drew a large red circle around "Yiye Langley."

Yi Ye: Oh, crap.

The 'male water ghost' let out a cackling laugh, tapping the blackboard: "Please stand up, student."

Yi Ye stood up reluctantly.

"Answer the following questions. If you answer correctly, you'll get credit. If you answer wrong... hehe," he deliberately dragged out the last syllable, his disfigured face sent chills down everyone's spine. Many in the class were already feeling sorry for Yi Ye, and even Kaiser gave him a look that said, "I can't help you this time."

Yi Ye: Aaaaaah!!!

Mirror: "Question—"

Yi Ye swallowed dryly.

"In Ancient Earth history, what does 'big and small rest' refer to?"

Silence.

Continued silence.

"...What?"

Yi Ye hardly ever doubted his hearing, but did he hear that right... big and small rest? The big and small rest he was familiar with?!

The man's expression darkened: "Please answer quickly, Yi Ye."

"...Alright, one week with one day off, the next week with two days off, alternating like that, right?"

Although he had never been a proper office worker, he had met many laborers when the apocalypse first hit, and talking with them had taught him a lot.

Mirror hadn't expected the student to answer correctly. His eyes flickered, and he went on: "What does 996 mean?"

"Work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week?"

Mirror's pupils trembled. He threw the chalk aside and rushed over, his terrifying eyes glaring close, but to his surprise, Yi Ye answered all four or five questions flawlessly.

Yi Ye: Duh! If he couldn't even answer these basic questions, he might as well not be human.

"You, you, you..." Mirror was so excited his eyes turned red, his grin turning maniacal. "You're the first person to answer these questions correctly in my class! It seems you really enjoy Ancient Earth studies!"

Yi Ye: "...?"

Probably because it was too embarrassing to cry in public, the instructor quickly calmed down, using his spiderweb-patterned shawl to wipe the corners of his eyes: "Sorry, come to my office after class! We'll discuss other topics in more detail. Let's continue the class now!"

After saying that, he strode back to the podium.

Yiye sat down, bewildered, meeting Bai Chuan's complex gaze. He raised his hands: "I swear, I didn't bribe him."

"I've never seen you read anything about Ancient Earth before," Bai Chuan said.

"Haha... really? Maybe I've been studying in secret..." He laughed awkwardly while guiltily averting his gaze.

Bai Chuan kept a straight face, not exposing his poor acting.

After class, Yiye asked Bai Chuan to wait in the classroom and followed the instructor to his research room.

The research room looked like a small library, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on all four walls, and thousands of books in plain sight. An antique kerosene lamp hung from the ceiling, and various knitted crafts were scattered around, their stitches so precise they looked machine-made. However, Yiye noticed various types of crochet hooks on the table and a few balls of yarn at his feet.

"I've already logged your credits."

The instructor tapped twice on his terminal, and Yiye received a notification: "Daily credits for Ancient Earth History Research this semester have been met." He was stunned, not expecting that he would actually receive credits, and so efficiently at that? Didn't he care if I slept through class later?

"Clark filled me in on your situation. I know you often sleep in class."

The instructor's eyesight wasn't very clear, and he squinted while searching through a thick stack of papers, saying to him, "But I don't care about that. There are students who sleep through everything and still get full marks, and there are those who study hard and barely pass. I only care about exam scores."

"But I haven't taken the exam yet."

"Answering those questions proves you've got a solid grasp of Ancient Earth history."

...996... thorough about what?

"Based on my research, 'Da Xiao Xiu' and 996 are special knowledge buried in a certain ancient country of Ancient Earth. Most cadets only know the big events in Ancient Earth, but they don't delve deeply into such details, so this is quite rare, especially since you're just starting to take Ancient Earth classes."

As he spoke, the instructor finally pulled out a dozen or so sheets of paper, organized them, and handed them to him: "You've got a knack for this subject. These are my recommended reading lists. You've got a week to read them all, and then we'll continue discussing other topics."

Yiye flipped through them, the tiny print suggesting at least a hundred books.

"A week? So many!"

For some reason, the instructor gave a confident smile: "I know you can finish them."

Yiye was speechless, looking again at the stack of papers, flipping through them, feeling overwhelmed. He suddenly stopped at the last page: "This 'Military Academy Joint Operation'... is this also a book I need to read?"

The instructor squinted and leaned closer: "Oh, no, this is a recent activity notice."

"What activity?" he asked curiously.

The instructor had an unsettling stare, but Yiye stood obediently, his eyes bright and shining, radiating the vibe of a top student.

The instructor quite liked this student. For his research on Ancient Earth history, almost no one in the entire military academy could understand his fervor. He believed that Ancient Earth was a great and mysterious existence. Although it had disappeared into the vast universe, the instructor believed that this was the true entity worthy of faith and reverence, not some illusory deity, and certainly not the Pope. But obviously, most people in the Empire couldn't agree with him!

But this student, Yiye Langley, even knew such obscure knowledge! This was undoubtedly a fellow traveler sent by heaven, his destined successor! In just a few seconds, the instructor had already classified Yiye Langley as someone from the same camp, so he thought to himself: As the heir to my legacy, what's the problem with telling him some military academy secrets in advance?

Of course, there was no problem.

"The Military Academy Joint Operation is a major event two months from now. Do you know about the Empire's military academy rankings?"

Yiye shook his head.

Not even knowing this, it seems geniuses are a bit one-sided, the instructor thought.

"The Empire has tens of thousands of military academies across the galaxy, with the top ten academies conducting a joint exercise every three years, known as the Joint Military Academy Exercise. This year's exercise will be held at the Imperial Honor Military Academy."

Yi Ye understood.

It was essentially a large-scale competition involving multiple schools.

"What's so confidential about it?"

"The confidentiality isn't about the event itself, but the spots available. Not all students are eligible to participate. The academies encourage students to sign up freely, but most spots are reserved by the committee every year." Instructor Jing pointed to the B-level honor badge on his chest, "This is a great opportunity for advancement, from B-level to A-level, and from A-level to S-level. Moreover, the top three schools with the highest total points will be awarded by His Majesty on the main planet. It's similar to the freshman evaluation, but on a larger scale, with more substantial rewards, and, naturally, tougher opponents."

If he and Bai Chuan could participate...

"I know you're also on the committee, but I hope you won't participate."

Yi Ye was puzzled, "Instructor Jing, do you think I'm not strong enough?"

"No."

Instructor Jing scoffed, "We scholars, it's beneath us to engage in brute force with the uncultured."

Learning about the Joint Military Academy Exercise from Instructor Jing was an unexpected delight. Yi Ye took the book list, thanked him, and departed.

Instructor Jing remembered he still had a book to find and returned to the bookshelf, almost pressing his face against it to see clearly. Suddenly, a message alert sounded in the room. He pulled up the projection and leaned forward to look at the screen.

"S-Class Internal Faculty Group"

- "Group Owner, Clark" has invited "Lin Pei" to join the group -

"Group Owner, Clark" This is General Lin Pei, specially invited by Principal Howard, who will temporarily serve as the S-Class instructor. Let's all get to know him.

"Alva" Lin Pei! Hahaha! I never thought my former student would be teaching with me! Hahaha!! Finally, someone can rein in that brat!

"Holly - Healer's Heart" Hello, General Lin Pei (smiling)

"Holly - Healer's Heart" Alva, you're blinding me.

"Jing - Devoted Guardian of Ancient Earth" asdfgh

"Group Owner, Clark" Jing's eyesight isn't great; he probably pressed the wrong key. Don't mind it.

"Jing - Devoted Guardian of Ancient Earth" Oops

"Jing - Devoted Guardian of Ancient Earth" Wrong key. Sorry.

"Lin Pei" Hmm.

"Lin Pei" I will arrive at 2 PM tomorrow.

"Group Owner, Clark" We await your arrival and look forward to it.

"Holly - Healer's Heart" We await your arrival and look forward to it (smiling)

"Alva" Come quickly and help me handle that brat!

"Jing - Devoted Guardian of Ancient Earth" qwerty

"Jing - Devoted Guardian of Ancient Earth" zxcvb……

- "Jing - Devoted Guardian of Ancient Earth" has been kicked out of the group by "Group Owner, Clark" -

"Group Owner, Clark" Please do not rejoin this group until your glasses are repaired.

"Holly - Healer's Heart" (smiling)