Chapter 30

Chapter 30

"Are you sure you've got the right person?"

Not long after Lin Youhan's shout, an elderly man with graying hair calmly emerged from the utterly demolished principal's office.

A young man in a Star Institute uniform followed behind him. Upon seeing Lin Youhan, the youth smiled: "Long time no see, Dr. Lin."

His eyes swept over Lin Youhan, then he asked with keen interest: "Isn't Colonel Si with you?"

The youth was none other than Chen Wen.

Lin Youhan shot him an expressionless glance. "Mind your own business."

He then turned to the unfamiliar, gray-haired elder and sneered: "What's wrong? You have the nerve to cause trouble but not to face me? Lu Wenfu, I'm back—where else do you plan to hide?!"

The old man leisurely stepped forward. "Old Dean Lu isn't here."

Then, squinting at Lin Youhan for a long moment, he added: "You're not from Star Institute. Who are you?"

"Who I am doesn't matter." As Migu landed, Lin Youhan stepped down. "And you don't seem to be alive either. Go back to where you belong."

"What do you mean by that?" The old man glared at him.

"Migu, cut the connection." Instead of answering, Lin Youhan turned to Migu beside him.

Migu instantly understood, severing the network link.

The moment the connection broke, the glaring old man vanished like a phantom, leaving the vast principal's office empty except for Lin Youhan, Migu, and Chen Wen, who had been observing the scene.

"Where is he?" Lin Youhan looked up at Chen Wen.

Since the old man disappeared, a smile had lingered on Chen Wen's lips, but his eyes were as cold and venomous as a snake's.

Chen Wen glanced at where the old man had vanished and began clapping with a laugh. "As expected of the genius from a decade ago. You can tell whether someone's alive or dead at a glance. But it's a pity—did you ever consider whether you'd be able to leave today?"

"You think you can stop me?" Lin Youhan scoffed. "Either tell me where Lu Wenfu is, or... as your senior, I wouldn't mind teaching you some manners."

Chen Wen replied, "Senior, your tone is rather overbearing. Even my parents failed to teach me manners—how could someone who's been half-dead for ten years manage it?"

He added with a smile, "Even if you accessed my file, did it ever occur to you that I intentionally left it for you? Zhang Yuanhang has regained his memories, but you haven't. In that regard, my priority will always be higher than yours."

Lin Youhan stared at him silently.

It was true—he hadn't recovered his memories and didn't know what had happened back then.

But now, with Lu Zhao's psychic energy surging wildly, he had no choice but to act.

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

Lin Youhan felt that Lu Zhao's psychic energy surge couldn't be so simple. After talking with Chen Wen for so long without any sign of Lu Wenfu, it felt like a trap set just for him, waiting for him to fall into it.

"Nothing much. I just want to show you something." Chen Wen snapped his fingers. "Come out, Qinglan."

Hearing those last two words, Lin Youhan's pupils contracted sharply, as if he couldn't believe his ears.

How could Qinglan, Gu Ci's mecha, appear at Star Institute?!

Yet, three seconds after Chen Wen spoke, a black mecha emblazoned with the Black Tortoise symbol stepped, one by one, from the shadows of the principal's office.

The mechanical parts creaked and groaned with each movement.

It walked to Chen Wen's side and said in an unfamiliar tone, "Long time no see, S02 Mech, Migu."

Seeing this, a cruel glint flashed in Chen Wen's eyes, and his smile widened. "Senior, oh senior, even the Four Symbols Series Mecha aren't so special. With just a snap of my fingers, it forgets its original master."

"As its designer, did you ever imagine it would one day stand against you?"

Lin Youhan felt his heart racing, as if it were about to burst from his chest and lay exposed before him, bloody and raw, stinging his eyes.

"You... despicable... coward!" he said through clenched teeth, his eyes turning bloodshot.

He had spent seven years in the lab, never imagining that Qinglan would one day be taken over—let alone stand opposed to him.

Now, seeing the familiar mecha before him while its true master was missing, Lin Youhan found it almost laughable. But after the laughter came a crushing pain, as if a sharp blade had plunged unexpectedly into his heart, leaving it full of wounds beyond description.

"Where is Gu Ci?" Lin Youhan could no longer suppress his rage.

Even faced with Lin Youhan's anger, Chen Wen's smile remained unwavering. He said mockingly, "Wherever you were, senior, that's where he is."

Hearing this, Lin Youhan closed his eyes and rested his hand on Migu.

Chen Wen continued relentlessly, "Now, with Lu Zhao's psychic energy spike, Jiang Yu and Gu Ci missing—Lin Youhan, which of these three will you save?"

"Shut up!" Lin Youhan had never found someone's voice so annoying that every word felt like polluting the atmosphere.

He opened his eyes and looked at Qinglan. "Although the Four Symbols Series Mecha is powerful, your psychic energy isn't sufficient to handle it."

"Do you still think this is the same era as ten years ago?" Chen Wen said coldly. "If I want to control a Four Symbols Mecha, there's none I can't control."

Lin Youhan let out a cold laugh. He stared coldly at Chen Wen, suddenly realizing—this was why he hadn't been stopped earlier. They were waiting for him here all along!

The Four Symbols Series Mecha and the S0 Mecha designed a decade ago were like his most precious creations. Tampering with either could be fatal to him.

Ten years ago, it was the Vermilion Bird; now, it was the Black Tortoise... history always repeats remarkably.

Lin Youhan had no intention of arguing further. He withdrew his hand from Migu and said calmly, "Then let's fight."

"If you lose, get out of here—and don't soil my mech."

He stepped back but suddenly noticed the wall, which had its circuit boards removed long ago, lit up.

"You all are truly persistent."

-

In the Star Institute faculty office, Bai Liao placed a freshly brewed coffee before Si Muyun and went back to stand by Liao Baixing.

Liao Baixing took a sip of coffee and asked, "What brings you here now?"

Si Muyun didn't touch the coffee. His mind replayed everything he'd seen earlier, as if making a decision.

"How did the investigation go last time?"

"Ah, that." Liao Baixing asked Bai Liao to retrieve the information they found. Scanning it, she said, "A month ago, Old Lu left Blue Star, but it seems he didn't notify anyone. Strangely, he didn't return to Central Star but came directly to Floating Star."

"Bai Liao tracked his terminal's location, but the day after he arrived on Floating Star, the signal vanished completely. It didn't reappear until three days later, at Star Institute."

She looked at Si Muyun, "Weren't you investigating the case on Anyang Street last month? When the signal reappeared, a fire broke out on Anyang Street. Not only that, but a month ago, Xu Yan also came to Tangde City, seemingly to design security apparatus for a certain area, but he left Tangde City right after completing the work."

After saying this, she grew puzzled. Why had so many people appeared in Tangde City within such a short month?

But it was also after this that Lin Youhan came into full public view. What connection did Lin Youhan have with Tangde City?

"By the way, was it you who smashed the principal's office last night?"

Si Muyun nodded, "Lin Youhan's younger male cousin has gone missing."

Liao Baixing was surprised, "Missing?"

"We entered the archives room together, but he lost all contact with us after going in. By the time we realized, he had already disappeared," Si Muyun explained calmly. "We went to look for Zhang Yuanhang's paper files this time but couldn't find them. Instead, we found someone else's case files."

"Some time ago, there was a fatal incident on Anyang Street, and a drowning incident occurred at Yuehu River Central Isle. The case files we found belonged to the missing student and the drowned student. The contents recorded in the files were eerie—both had enrolled ten years ago and died in the same year."

As she listened, Liao Baixing rubbed the goosebumps rising on her arms, "So the dead can come back to life?"

Si Muyun neither nodded nor shook his head but said, "There's a student in this term named Lu Zhao. This morning, rumors started flying, with someone insisting that Lu Zhao had died ten years ago."

"Ah?" Liao Baixing was speechless. "If he's dead, then what I'm seeing now is a dead person?"

"Lin Youhan saved him."

Hearing this, Liao Baixing fell silent. After a while, she said, "He wouldn't just save someone for no reason."

Si Muyun replied, "Because of the Vermilion Bird."

"The Vermilion Bird…" Liao Baixing murmured, suddenly understanding something.

Back then, with the Tech Conference approaching, Lin Youhan had put enormous effort into designing the Four Symbols Series Mecha and the S0 Mecha. However, the final mech of the Four Symbols Series, the Vermilion Bird, was never completed.

She had once asked Lin Youhan why he hadn't finished designing it.

At the time, Lin Youhan had given her a vague answer, saying he hadn't found the right person, so naturally, the mecha couldn't be designed.

She had thought it was strange then—it was the first time she had heard that finding the right person was necessary to design a corresponding mecha.

But in hindsight, Lin Youhan's idea wasn't wrong. The Four Symbols Series Mecha were entirely designed based on their users, with a compatibility others couldn't match.

-

Liao Baixing snapped out of her thoughts. "He must have designed the Vermilion Bird back then. There would have been no need to go all the way to Central Star later."

Si Muyun said flatly, "Not only did he go, but he spent ten years looking for those designs, only to finally find them in the archives room."

"How could—"

Liao Baixing was at a loss for words.

Using the Vermilion Bird's design to lure Lin Youhan to Central Star, causing him to lose his life, searching for so many years, only to find it in the nearest place… Wasn't this making a fool out of Lin Youhan?

Liao Baixing silently drank her coffee, imagining Lin Youhan's expression when he discovered the Vermilion Bird design in the archives room. A sense of powerlessness washed over her, and she felt a weariness she hadn't felt in ages.

Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out across the sky.

Si Muyun and she turned to look simultaneously, only to see a white mecha lifting a black mecha and slamming it into the ground. But quickly, the black mecha wrenched control, slamming it down.

Liao Baixing squinted her eyes for a moment and recognized the white mecha as Migu, but the black mecha…

"...Qinglan?"

As soon as Si Muyun said it, Liao Baixing saw the Black Tortoise emblem on the black mecha's body—it was undoubtedly Gu Ci's mecha, Qinglan.

Clearly, Gu Ci wasn't nearby. If Gu Ci were present, Qinglan and Migu wouldn't be fighting, and Qinglan's condition looked very strange.

Just then, Bai Liao nearby said, "I've detected someone's psychic energy spiking violently nearby."

Before he could finish, Si Muyun had already bolted out with a stern expression.

Liao Baixing also stood up and ran toward the principal's office.

-

In the dormitory, Zhao Minglang took Lu Zhao's temperature again—it hadn't dropped at all since earlier. A trace of surging psychic energy floated in the air.

Just as he was frustrated, a pair of cold hands grabbed him, and Lu Zhao frowned tightly, muttering, "Lin…"

Zhao Minglang leaned down closer to him. "Lin what?"

"Lin…" Lu Zhao opened his mouth but soon his strength gave out, unable to say anything more.

Although Lin Youhan had said not to make a sound no matter what he saw, given Lu Zhao's current state, Zhao Minglang felt that if the psychic energy surge wasn't resolved soon, it might be too late.

Thinking this, he gripped Lu Zhao's hand and released his own energy, comforting him, "It'll be over soon."

As his psychic energy entered Lu Zhao's psychic sea, he expected chaos but instead saw a fiery red bird circling within.

Sensing the intrusion of unfamiliar psychic energy, the bird glared warily at him but soon bowed slowly.

Zhao Minglang's hand holding Lu Zhao's trembled slightly, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

That fiery red bird was the Vermilion Bird.

He retreated from Lu Zhao's psychic sea but felt a vast psychic energy emanating from afar, expanding rapidly to blanket the entire Star Institute.

Where this psychic energy passed, it felt like a heavy snowfall—gentle, cool, and immersive.

Zhao Minglang was stunned.

He looked toward the source of the psychic energy and, in an instant, sensed an even more exaggerated surge than Lu Zhao's psychic energy.

He had also felt this psychic energy within Lu Zhao's psychic sea.

—This was Lin Youhan's psychic energy!