Recalling that he had destroyed He Haoming’s dual shields, Yun Xingze turned to him and said, “I think Changsheng Corporation offers mech repair services. You might want to check them out.”
He Haoming pressed his lips together. “None of your business!”
“Assuming your mech was purchased through legitimate channels,” Yun Xingze added after a moment’s thought.
“What does that have to do with you?!” He Haoming, interpreting this as a jab at Su Zinan, bristled instantly. “Yun Xingze, stop with your insinuations! Su Su helped me get it.”
Yun Xingze ignored him. Outside the arena, a dense crowd of students had gathered, all eager to catch a glimpse of the record-breaking Omega.
Last year, Su Zinan had also caused a stir, but it paled in comparison to the attention Yun Xingze was drawing.
He Haoming seethed inwardly, cursing the crowd for their blindness.
“Yun Xingze, how did you manage to hit He Haoming’s mech?”
“Yeah, how did you bypass his shields?”
“Yun Xingze, you defeated an S+ opponent. Are you really only B-rank?”
Questions flew at Yun Xingze nonstop, a testament to the audience’s shock and curiosity about the match.
Seeing the crowd swarm Yun Xingze like mad, He Haoming grew increasingly irritated. In his eyes, Yun Xingze was nowhere near Su Zinan’s level, and he turned to leave.
Just as Yun Xingze was overwhelmed by the barrage of questions, one student asked, “Yun Xingze, did you win because He Haoming’s Tempest mech parts were made by your family’s company, so you knew its weaknesses?”
He spoke loudly enough for everyone within a few meters to hear.
His words caused the surrounding crowd to freeze momentarily.
However, they all quickly recalled that He Haoming’s Storm Mech components did indeed bear the Yun family’s insignia.
“That’s right, He Haoming’s mech parts were manufactured by the Yun family.”
“But even so, how could a B-rank defeat an S+?”
Someone shifted their attention to He Haoming, who was preparing to leave: “He Haoming, what do you think about this?”
When He Haoming heard the previous speaker’s words, it took him a full five or six seconds to process them. The next moment, his eyes widened in shock as he stared at Yun Xingze, disbelief coloring his voice: “Your family’s mech components? The Ever-Victorious Mech Company belongs to your family?”
Yun Xingze lifted his gaze to meet his. “That’s correct.”
He Haoming came from a backwater planet, and Ever-Victorious Mechs were considered a high-end brand in the Imperial Capital Star system. He’d only heard of them but had never used their products before. If it weren’t for Su Zinan selling them to him, he would never have purchased such expensive components.
As someone who usually focused solely on earning money and mech training, he naturally hadn’t known that this first-year student was the young master of Ever-Victorious Mechs.
Just then, Su Zinan arrived at the scene. Spotting He Haoming in the crowd, he waved at him: “Senior Haoming, let’s go.”
Even though Su Zinan was dissatisfied with He Haoming losing the match, there was no helping it. He Haoming was the only person left in the school who still supported him.
He Haoming took a deep breath. Though surprised by this revelation, he felt that since Su Zinan had purchased them, it didn’t matter whether they came from the Yun family or not.
He glared coldly at Yun Xingze: “Even so, these were bought for me by Su Su. They have nothing to do with your Yun family anymore.”
“Su Zinan bought them for you?” Lu Ranxu pushed through the crowd to stand beside Yun Xingze, giving He Haoming a cold look. “More like Su Zinan got them for free from Chi Yu.”
Su Zinan’s expression immediately changed. He looked at Lu Ranxu and He Haoming in panic, his fingers trembling slightly.
He Haoming naturally didn’t believe Lu Ranxu: “What nonsense are you spouting? Su Su sold these to me at a low price, six or seven hundred thousand. He was doing me a favor. How could they possibly have come from that brat Chi Yu.”
“Six or seven hundred thousand?!” A voice interrupted from another direction; it was Chi Yu.
He had just arrived when he heard words that made him doubt his own ears. Frowning at Su Zinan, he said, “Su Zinan, you told me you were helping me dispose of that batch of goods by selling them to He Haoming for three hundred thousand. So, you were lying to me?”
Su Zinan opened his mouth, trying to explain: “Ah, no, I—I must have remembered wrong.”
“Three hundred thousand?!” He Haoming turned to Su Zinan in shock, his voice filled with disbelief. “Su Zinan, you clearly took six hundred and ninety thousand-star coins from me that was all my savings.”
Su Zinan, who had always looked down on He Haoming, curled his lip in disdain: “Six hundred ninety thousand isn’t a bad deal for you, is it? Where else could you buy something so cheap.”
Mid-sentence, he suddenly realized he might have said too much and quickly covered his mouth.
Chi Yu ground his teeth in anger: “Su Zinan! You shameless liar!”
Su Zinan’s face flushed red then pale as the surrounding gazes made him feel like he’d fallen into an icy abyss.
Lu Ranxu found Chi Yu’s shamelessness astonishing. He coldly reprimanded him, “And what about you? You kept asking Yun Xingze for Storm mecha parts, keeping the good ones for yourself and reselling the inferior ones. How is your behavior any better than Su Zinan’s?”
The surrounding onlookers immediately understood what had happened upon hearing Lu Ranxu’s words, casting looks of disdain at Chi Yu, Su Zinan, and He Haoming.
“Holy crap, there’s more drama to this?”
“Damn, Su Zinan claimed 690,000-star coins was only 300,000? How much did he pocket in the middle?”
“And in this deal, Su Zinan didn’t contribute anything just made tens of thousands out of thin air. Impressive.”
“Typical green tea behavior, playing both sides.”
“Chi Yu is disgusting too. Yun Xingze was his fiancée at the time, and he resold the parts she gave him?”
“And He Haoming actually dared to say those harsh words to Yun Xingze with such confidence.”
“Are they a bunch of vampires or what?”
The spectators buzzed with discussion over this spectacle, most looking at Yun Xingze, the central figure in the whole affair, with sympathy.
Cheated out of money by his ex-fiancé, sucked dry by a green tea, then framed by that same green tea who sent a clueless He Haoming to deal with him.
If not for Yun Xingze’s strength, He Haoming’s earlier aggression clearly hadn’t intended to leave him with a good outcome.
Luo Wenchuan, Ke Lei, and Aixili had also arrived. Witnessing the scene, Aixili covered her mouth and exclaimed, “Oh my god, this is just too tragic.”
Yun Xingze didn’t seem the least bit surprised by these events or perhaps he had long given up any hope for Chi Yu.
Luo Wenchuan frowned as he watched the young man at the center of the storm, a flicker of heartache flashing in his eyes.
Chi Yu turned to Yun Xingze and apologized, “Xingze, I admit I was wrong in this matter, but I never intended for He Haoming to use those parts against you. As for the money from selling those goods, I’ll return every last star coin to you. Please forgive me.”
Yun Xingze really didn’t want to speak to Chi Yu. He gave him a cold look and said, “No forgiveness. The money of course you’ll return it.”
“I won’t owe you anything.” Chi Yu then turned to Su Zinan, his voice turning icy, “Su Zinan, out of the 690,000-star coins, you took 490,000. Return every single coin to Yun Xingze.”
Su Zinan’s lips trembled as he looked pleadingly at Chi Yu. “Chi Yu, how can you do this? It was your idea back then.”
Afraid Yun Xingze would blame him, Chi Yu coldly cut him off. “Shut up!”
At this moment, He Haoming walked up to Su Zinan, frowning as he stared intently at him. “Is what they’re saying… true? Did you really do this?”
“I—I didn’t…” Su Zinan stammered, trying to flee, but the surrounding crowd wordlessly blocked his escape.
“You really resold the mecha goods from Yun Xingze’s family and lied about only getting 300,000?” He Haoming grabbed Su Zinan’s wrist with terrifying force as he tried to run. “Su Zinan, why would you do this?!”
“He Haoming, how could you do this to me too?!” Su Zinan stared at him in disbelief, her voice trembling. “We both came from a barren planet. Don’t you know how much it costs to live on the Imperial Capital Star for a year? I just wanted to make some money—it’s not illegal, and it was all consensual.”
As she spoke, Su Zinan turned to Yun Xingze and Chi Yu, raising her voice: “Yun Xingze willingly gave the goods to Chi Yu, and Chi Yu willingly chose to resell them. So, what if I sold them?”
He Haoming looked coldly at Su Zinan, a trace of hurt and sorrow flashing in his eyes at having been deceived. He said in a low voice, “Su Zinan, you’ve disappointed me so much.”
Su Zinan screamed hysterically at He Haoming, “Stop pretending! You were so happy when you bought it, and now you’re disappointed in me? If it weren’t for the goods Yun Xingze provided, you wouldn’t even be worth shit. You wouldn’t even have made it into the school team!”
He Haoming paled instantly at Su Zinan’s outburst. His peripheral glance fell on Yun Xingze, the boy he had mocked just minutes ago, and an inexplicable sense of panic filled his heart.
Su Zinan sneered, taunting He Haoming, “Too bad even with an S+ mech, you’re still trash who can’t even beat a B-rank.”
Chi Yu said coldly, “Su Zinan, lying is your fault.”
“And you!” Su Zinan snarled at Chi Yu through gritted teeth. “Haven’t you taken enough goods from Yun Xingze? Was it just this one batch? How many mechs has your Chi family taken from Changsheng Corporation, openly and secretly, while claiming the Yun family took advantage of you? Acting like Yun Xingze was the one clinging to you, Chi Yu? In truth, your whole family are bloodsuckers! What right do you have to judge me?!”
Chi Yu’s hands and feet turned ice-cold. He swallowed hard, instinctively looking toward Yun Xingze.
Yun Xingze’s voice was calm, devoid of emotion. “Calculate how much you owe and pay it back.”
It wasn’t that he particularly wanted this dirty money. He just felt another wave of sympathy and indignation for the original owner’s suffering. If Chi Yu could return the money, it would at least help the original owner get some justice.
He Haoming stared at Yun Xingze, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He never imagined his mech parts had all been provided by Yun Xingze. His heart churned with a mix of emotions, leaving him unbearably conflicted.
He took a step forward, wanting to apologize to Yun Xingze, but the words stuck in his throat.
The harsh words he had thrown at Yun Xingze earlier now filled him with shame.
Seeing Yun Xingze remain unmoved, Chi Yu tried to step forward and grab his hand.
The next second, smack—a large hand slapped Chi Yu’s groping fingers away.
