Chapter 216

Chapter 216

Bai Xingshu blinked in surprise, instantly understanding. Now he recalled how Shen Geng had occasionally flashed a hint of guilt whenever he brought up Shen Geng’s status as an imperial relative before.

And recently, Shen Geng had often seemed on the verge of speaking but stopped himself, looking at Bai with that conflicted expression.

So *that’s* why.

Bai Xingshu rubbed his chin, recalling his earlier struggles against the system. A flicker of annoyance stirred in him—he hadn’t exactly enjoyed those fights—but ultimately, knowing Shen Geng’s true identity only meant one fewer argument with the system. It didn’t really change anything else.

What mattered more to Bai was that Shen now had a little secret in his hands.

Hmm…

How should he toy with this?

His usual mischief and love of messing with people flaring to life, Bai turned back to the system and asked, *[Do you have the records from when Shen Geng claimed his lineage back then?]*

He didn’t hold out much hope. From what he knew, the system, with its mission-first attitude, wouldn’t bother keeping unrelated information like that—it wasn’t part of any task.

But to his surprise, the system replied quickly: *[Yes.]*

*[All information about Shen Geng was passed to me by the original body.]* The system explained, *[He said you might be interested.]*

The system wouldn’t have thought to do this on its own, of course, but the original host, being human, didn’t mind tossing it in.

So Bai skimmed through the scraps of information the original host had picked up about Shen Geng.

But since the two had barely crossed paths, the details were sparse.

Shen Geng was no unknown—being a top figure in the Combat Command Department helped. The original host had a roommate who lived for gossip, and Bai had caught bits of conversation here and there.

From that, the original host learned that Shen Geng had been the one to take down the thug on the bus that day, arriving at the academy gates right under the wire.

But since Shen was alone—breaking the academy’s two-to-a-dorm rule—the professor had let him stay in his department’s dormitory on a waiver.

At first, the Combat Command Department hadn’t rolled out the welcome mat for their so-called champion. On top of that, Shen’s demeanor stuck out like a sore thumb, drawing complaints that he was putting on airs.

—Which also explained why details about Shen’s enrollment had made the rounds so thoroughly.

But that didn’t last long. Within less than a month, the grumbling fizzled out completely.

By the time the original host heard about Shen again, he’d firmly secured the top spot in Combat Command.

Unshakable.

Still, they were in different departments, so that was all the original host knew. Things stayed that way until the second semester of junior year.

That’s when Shen Geng presented Alpha.

Rumors said that after his shift, Shen looked like he’d come undone—completely shattered—and took leave for three or four days before returning to school.

In a world without Bai Xingshu, this would’ve been the talk of the campus, burning through the rumor mill fast and hot.

When Shen came back, he was closed off, quieter than before—but his performance in inter-school combat commands became even fiercer.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, after the inter-academy competition ended, Shen claimed his lineage loud and clear before the crowd, boldly declaring he would be joining the Fourth Legion.

Bai Xingshu wasn’t particularly moved by the earlier details, since in this timeline, Shen Geng had gone through pretty much the same experiences. The only difference was that because they were living together, he’d managed to dodge some drama with the dorm situation.

Overall, it matched what Bai Xingshu had figured.

Then Bai Xingshu saw how in the message, Shen Geng didn’t present until the second semester of junior year, followed by an emotional breakdown afterward. He recalled how this time around, Shen Geng must have been provoked by their deal and presented as an Alpha during the first semester instead…

Bai Xingshu couldn’t help but let out a shameless chuckle.

And that emotional breakdown…

He also remembered how Shen Geng’s face had completely fallen apart when he realized he’d become an Alpha. But back then, everything was chaotic—incident after incident kept happening, leaving Shen Geng no time for a proper meltdown.

Hmm…

That just made it funnier.

Knowing it was kinda mean, and aware that he was still in training with surveillance active, Bai Xingshu tried to keep a straight face until the end.

The final part wasn’t a retelling from the system, but real video evidence.

Watching Shen Geng coldly announce his decision to join the Fourth Legion, Bai Xingshu went quiet, thinking.

Hold up?

Wait—

The Fourth Legion?

Wasn’t the royal family’s army the First Legion? Why did it switch to the Fourth?

Pondering Shen Geng’s true identity, Bai Xingshu put it together fast.

If Shen Geng were a royal relative, joining the First Legion to shore up his position would’ve worked, but as the Crown Prince, while the emperor was still alive, the First Legion belonged to his old man. For the Crown Prince to get involved there would be a bad look—and not the smartest play when considering maximum benefit for the royal family.

Joining another legion, on the other hand, allowed him to stack his own chips and build leverage.

Thinking back to those moments when Lin Li kissed up to Shen Geng more than usual, which had seemed a bit odd at the time, Bai Xingshu suddenly got it.

So these two had been in cahoots this whole time!!!

The writing was on the wall all along!

Recalling the various plans he’d already set into motion in the Fourth Legion—and those he hadn’t even gotten around to sharing yet—Bai Xingshu’s face broke into a grin.

Suddenly, his main headache outside of missions was solved in one fell swoop.

Buzzing with excitement, Bai Xingshu—who had finished asking about every topic he cared about—absentmindedly hit mute on the system again.

The system, riding high after coming back: “?”

???

Seriously?!

Why?! It hadn’t done anything wrong this time, right?!

It hadn’t even pushed Bai Xingshu’s buttons! So why was it muted again?!

Bai Xingshu didn’t even realize what he had casually done. He simply listened to the battlefield commands with great delight afterward and then enthusiastically thrashed all the simulated opponents.

Well, among his opponents’ class combinations was Class B.

Though he didn’t know exactly which corner that no-good Alpha was hiding in, beating them all up was definitely the right move!

Buy one, get one free! Bonus round! A little extra didn’t matter!

In any case, just beat them all up!

The opposing Blue Team was totally stunned, barely able to react before the day’s combat exercise ended.

The teachers in the monitoring room and the Combat Command students in the command center: "..."

This was the first time they had witnessed Bai Xingshu unleashing his full power.

This was just—

"Is this even within human limits?" a teacher in the monitoring room blurted out.

Realizing his words might have been inappropriate, the teacher glanced at Lin Li and quickly added, "Well, among us, only Colonel Lin stands a chance, right?"

Lin Li remained expressionless and said matter-of-factly to the others, "During last semester’s finals, I fought Bai Xingshu in a duel. I lost."

The teachers: "..."

A stunned silence followed as they digested this new piece of information before someone worriedly asked, "What do we do about this situation? With Bai Xingshu here, the teams are completely unbalanced. There’s no realistic training value."

Faced with the teachers’ concerns, Lin Li didn’t change his expression. Instead, he countered, "Are you suggesting our students should only fight evenly matched battles?"

In real combat, there’s no such thing as fair fights.

It’s just that the teachers, accustomed to teaching, tended to create a relatively fair environment for the students.

"Throw them into the deep end," Lin Li calmly suggested to the other teachers.

This wasn’t Lin Li showing favoritism toward Bai Xingshu.

As the acting chief instructor of Class S, Lin Li naturally had his own teaching philosophy. "For the upcoming battles, switch up the teams every few days. Let them experience what it’s like to dominate and how to cope when the odds are against them."

Whatever adjustments the instructors in the monitoring room made had little to do with Bai Xingshu, the notorious rule-breaker.

He gleefully finished the day’s combat exercises and returned to his dorm. As usual, he spent some time reading to brush up on his weak subjects, then logged onto the combat network for a few rounds. Before long, it was time for Shen Geng to return.

Right on cue, Bai Xingshu lifted his gaze from his tablet and grinned at Shen Geng as he stepped into the dorm. "Sh—Shen Geng, you’re back."

The difference between "Sheng" and "Shen" lay in the nasal *-eng* sound in "Shen," and Shen Geng caught it immediately—goosebumps rising.

Though he could explain it away as Bai Xingshu misspeaking...

Judging by the obvious smirk on Bai Xingshu’s face...

Shen Geng instantly realized—Bai Xingshu probably already knew everything.

Shen Geng: "..."

Sweating bullets.

It wasn’t that he had been keeping secrets. It was just that he hadn’t found the right moment to bring it up with Bai Xingshu.

When Shen Geng presented his secondary gender, the only thoughts racing through his mind were, "What the hell did I do yesterday?!" and "How did I end up as an Alpha?!"

And in that moment, suddenly confessing to Bai Xingshu that he was actually the Crown Prince felt kinda like pulling rank to pressure him into something.

Even after they confirmed their relationship, Shen Geng still felt a strange sense of embarrassment about abruptly dropping his act and seriously telling Bai Xingshu that he was the Crown Prince... It was just so damn embarrassing!!

Knowing Bai Xingshu’s personality, he'd never let him live it down!!

So originally, Shen Geng had planned to bring Bai Xingshu home during Long Vacation and have his parents casually let it slip. With Bai Xingshu's quick wit, he would’ve figured it out in an instant.

But now, clearly, his secret had leaked out somehow.

Though honestly, it wasn’t all that unexpected.

Lin Li knew, and so did Luo Yu—either of them could’ve let something slip to Bai Xingshu.

And then there was Bai Xingshu’s uncanny way of finding things out, another way his secret could get out at any moment.

Shen Geng had braced himself for this.

So Shen Geng closed the door and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Well, I am—"

Before he could finish, Bai Xingshu swiftly covered Shen Geng’s mouth with his hand.

"What are you? Nothing at all," Bai Xingshu grinned at him.

"Not done playing yet—no spoilers!"