The malicious posts Su Zinan had made were also condemned by everyone on the forum. With Su Zinan’s hypocritical mask torn off and his loss to Yun Xingze in the competition, the consensus was that Su Zinan wasn’t even qualified to be compared to Yun Xingze.
“After Yun Xingze and Chi Yu canceled their engagement, he passed the school board’s evaluation and stayed. That alone proves his capabilities, doesn’t it?”
“Not to mention, Yun Xingze performed exceptionally well in the competition, both in terms of modification skills and combat ability.”
“Su Zinan kept belittling Yun Xingze, saying he was incompetent, yet he lost to him in the match. Doesn’t that make his face sting from the slap of reality?”
“Yun Xingze has already won five consecutive matches, improving incredibly fast. Isn’t he the real pride of Omegas?”
Meanwhile, the investigation results of last year’s match-fixing incident involving Su Zinan and Chi Yu sparked heated discussions.
“Su Zinan bragged all last year about how amazing he was, but turns out he only got into the school team because an Alpha went easy on him.”
“These two are a disgrace to the school. How could they even become team members? No wonder the team’s performance keeps declining!”
“Chi Yu is disgusting. He had a fiancé yet still shielded another Omega like this. Ugh.”
“Petition to ban Su Zinan and Chi Yu from competing!”
“Just disqualify them both now!”
“Agreed, make them withdraw!”
“Disqualify them!”
The biggest winners were three people.
Yun Xingze became the Omega praised by everyone on the forum.
Lu Ranxu won tens of thousands of forum coins betting on the outcome of Su Zinan and Yun Xingze’s match.
Karl found the post about the match-fixing incident highly satisfying.
At this moment, Su Zinan and Chi Yu were both facing the risk of disqualification and expulsion.
Among them, Chi Yu, whose father was an Imperial General, wasn’t particularly worried.
Not long after Chi Yu and Su Zinan were summoned by the investigation team, Chi Yu’s father, Chi Yin, rushed to the school.
Upon hearing the details, Chi Yin didn’t hesitate to slap Chi Yu hard enough to make his vision blur. “You disgrace!”
Yun Xingze watched from the side; his expression unreadable.
Chi Yin turned to Yun Xingze and apologized, “This is entirely my failure in raising him, allowing Chi Yu to harm you. I will personally visit the Yun family to apologize.”
Then, shifting his tone, Chi Yin looked at the principal and said, “However, expelling Chi Yu and disqualifying him from the competition seems excessively harsh.” His gaze carried a deeper implication.
Chi Yin believed Chi Yu’s actions didn’t warrant such severe punishment; expulsion was too extreme. Moreover, the mech competition was a ticket to the national championship, and Chi Yu had to continue competing no matter what.
Yun Xingze frowned slightly.
From the start, he had anticipated that once Chi Yu’s father got involved, the outcome would become unsatisfactory.
Sure enough, the principal took General Chi Yin to another room to discuss the matter privately.
To suppress the incident, Chi Yin exhausted every argument, speaking until his throat was nearly dry, yet the principal remained unyielding.
After employing both soft and hard tactics, Chi Yin invoked his military status and hinted to the principal that if the outcome wasn’t satisfactory, the military might reduce the resources allocated to Starsea Military Academy.
The final verdict was announced the next day.
Regarding the match-fixing incident during the mech tournament, both Chi Yu and Su Zinan had disrupted the competition’s order. Their previous year’s results were revoked, and all related prize money was confiscated. Additionally, Su Zinan was disqualified for allegedly insulting opponents Lu Ranxu and Yun Xingze during the match. Chi Yu’s current year’s score was docked by 10 points.
As for the slander against Yun Xingze, Chi Yu claimed his motive was merely to win Yun Xingze back, while Su Zinan had spread malicious rumors. Moreover, Su Zinan’s smear campaign against Yun Xingze on the forums was deemed particularly egregious.
Consequently, Chi Yu received a major demerit, while Su Zinan was placed on probation. Any further misconduct would result in immediate expulsion and deportation back to the wasteland planet.
It was clear that Chi Yin had used his general’s status to preserve Chi Yu’s eligibility, and the school couldn’t punish Su Zinan too harshly without appearing biased.
The outcome left many dissatisfied.
However, the school made it clear that this disciplinary record would remain in both students’ files, meaning Chi Yu and Su Zinan would likely be barred from military service after graduation.
Chi Yu still had his father’s influence to rely on, but Su Zinan wasn’t so fortunate.
At first, Su Zinan felt relieved he hadn’t been expelled. But soon, he realized that everywhere he went on campus, he was met with scornful and hostile stares.
Whispers followed him.
“Isn’t that the shameless green tea bastard?”
“Disgusting. How can someone like him still be here?”
“I heard he’s on probation. One more mistake, and he’s shipped back to the wasteland. I’ll be keeping an eye on him.”
“If anyone catches Su Zinan messing up, report him! Let’s get him kicked out!”
“Played his own game and lost. Pathetic.”
Once admired and adored, Su Zinan now found himself drowning in the same storm of rumors and malice that had once tormented Yun Xingze. Overnight, he had become a pariah; a feeling worse than expulsion, gnawing at him like a living death. He even wondered if Yun Xingze had deliberately ensured he stayed in school just to endure this public condemnation.
Chi Yu’s reputation had plummeted, leaving him too preoccupied with his own survival to associate with Su Zinan. He avoided him entirely; no more meals together, no more training sessions. Only He Haoming offered comfort, but Su Zinan, disdainful of his wasteland origins, rejected even that.
One day in the cafeteria, an Omega hurled a glass of water in Su Zinan’s face, shouting at him to get out of the school.
All eyes locked onto him.
The icy water dripped from his hair, choking him with humiliation. He wanted to flee, to drop out but he couldn’t. The military academy was his only bridge to high society, his escape from the wasteland’s squalor. He couldn’t go back to a life scavenging through trash.
In that moment, he felt the crushing weight of regret for everything he had done.
Although Yun Xingze wasn’t satisfied with this disciplinary outcome either, he knew it was probably the harshest punishment the school could administer.
Lu Ranxu said indignantly, “Those two pieces of trash got off way too easy!”
After the decision was announced, Luo Wenchuan personally went to see the principal. Frowning, he asked, “Why handle it this way? I believe Chi Yu and Su Zinan should have been expelled outright.”
“Your Highness, it’s not that I don’t want to,” the principal sighed, lowering his voice as he spoke to Luo Wenchuan. “You know as well as I do that Chi Yu’s father is an Imperial General, and he’ll soon be promoted to Admiral…”
“Does being a general give him the right to abuse his power?” Luo Wenchuan said coldly.
“Your Highness, perhaps because you didn’t grow up on the Imperial Capital Star, you’re not familiar with military academies,” the headmaster said somewhat helplessly. “All major military academies are competing for resources provided by the military, including both tangible assets and networking opportunities. Unless you reveal your identity, I truly dare not offend General Chi.”
“But I can’t expose my identity right now,” Luo Wenchuan said with slightly muted voice, pressing his lips together.
The headmaster looked at Luo Wenchuan apologetically: “Your Highness, this is truly the harshest punishment I can impose.”
Luo Wenchuan stared at the headmaster in silence for a moment before coldly stating: “Add one more condition. Have Su Zinan and Chi Yu publicly apologize to Yun Xingze, detailing every single thing they did in a forum post that stays pinned at the top, with daily broadcasts across campus for a week.”
Seeing Luo Wenchuan compromise, the headmaster wiped his sweat and quickly agreed: “Yes, yes! That’s easily arranged!”
No sooner had Luo Wenchuan left the headmaster’s office than he ran into Zhuo Feiyue who was rushing over.
Seeing Luo Wenchuan, Zhuo Feiyue said with displeasure: “I’ve heard everything. That bastard Chi Yin, I was his teacher back in the day. He’s changed completely since becoming general.”
Luo Wenchuan remained silent; his expression unreadable.
“Still, getting the general’s son a major demerit is something the headmaster only did under tremendous pressure,” Zhuo Feiyue lowered his voice. “Nothing like this has ever happened in history.”
“I’ll remember this debt,” Luo Wenchuan said slowly, pressing his lips together again.
Zhuo Feiyue continued: “Your Highness, I know this is unfair to you. With the Alliance and Empire still negotiating and tensions running high, any royal family member could become an Alliance target. You absolutely mustn’t reveal your identity.”
Luo Wenchuan nodded, closing his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, his composure had returned.
“Oh, one more thing,” Zhuo Feiyue said to Luo Wenchuan. “The gene bank has been searching extensively for someone with 95% compatibility for you, and the results are finally in.”
Luo Wenchuan suddenly looked up at Zhuo Feiyue.
