Chapter 140 - 142: Moral Blackmail
Jian Yu turned her head, her expression unreadable.
She thought it was the Xu Family, but it turned out to be Yan Qin.
Xi Yu wasn’t one for explanations. He glanced up, his eyes cold.
He lowered his head and started playing with Jian Yu’s fingers as if no one else was there.
Jian Yu glanced at the composed Shen Gu, then thoughtfully opened the rules for the Beast Taming Competition.
She looked down and skimmed through them. There were thousands of rules, and the more she read, the more her mind went numb.
Yan Qin thought their silence was a sign of guilt.
She immediately seized the moral high ground, clinging to it relentlessly.
"Chief Xi Yu, I have always respected you, but you’ve gone too far today. The academy put you in charge of the Seventh District. Is this how you manage it?"
The air froze. The district’s stands fell into a dead silence once again.
Yan Qin craned her neck, her expression clearly demanding an explanation.
In truth, she didn’t care about the deaths of Xu Sheng and the others. She was just recalling Xu Jianjuan’s success story.
She realized she lacked two things that Xu Jianjuan had: public opinion and supporters.
Xu Jianjuan’s supporters were commoners and Low-level Semi-awakened.
Yan Qin didn’t want to provoke conflict with the nobles for the sake of commoners like Xu Jianjuan did.
’The noble class has existed for millennia. How could it be so easily broken?’
Commoners couldn’t use technology to harm Mutated Beasts; they could only cower in the safe zones designated by the nobles.
They couldn’t fight off the Soul Ghost Body—they couldn’t even see them. What right did they have to talk about fair treatment?
In her past life, Xu Jianjuan had been bullied by many nobles. It was F7 who helped her, shielded her from harm, and gave her strength and resources.
Based on some Alliance reports from her past life, F7 clearly shared the same goal as Xu Jianjuan: they both wanted commoners to become Awakened.
Yan Qin just thought Xu Jianjuan had overestimated herself, insisting on treading a bloody path.
’And F7 was the same. Born into privilege, yet they didn’t appreciate it. They secretly opposed the nobles, all for a few useless commoners in their families.’
Yan Qin only wanted to become Awakened, join the nobility, become a noble, and stand at the very peak of the noble class.
She didn’t want the noble class to disappear. Her relationship with F7 was too poor, and she couldn’t guarantee they would protect her if she got into trouble.
Moreover, Yan Qin didn’t want to attract followers by deliberately showing off, making grand statements, or over-performing like Xu Jianjuan.
But today was different. There were many nobles present—nobles from hundreds of planets were all here.
Of course, she didn’t plan on completely offending Xi Yu either.
"Chief, I have no intention of offending you. I just believe that with so many people having traveled from so far away to compete, we should at least ensure they can return in one piece."
Yan Qin glanced around, raising her voice several notches.
"They put their trust in our academy. Shouldn’t we be worthy of that trust!?"
Discussions erupted all around, and rumors began to fly.
"Dead? Are all three of them dead? I thought they were just seriously injured."
"Didn’t they just get some flesh torn off?"
"The Pharmacists at Weis Lan Noble Academy are amazing. They can save you as long as your bones are intact. I usually just try to protect my face. I don’t want to be disfigured and have to get plastic surgery later."
"They’re dead, didn’t you hear? She said they were killed."
"Hiss... Everyone says the people at Weis Lan Noble Academy are cold and unfeeling, and the Chief is rarely seen. What if I go up there for the second half tomorrow and no one cares if I live or die?"
"Maybe we should just forfeit?"
"Wouldn’t it be humiliating to forfeit midway? Maybe we should just not show up at all?"
"..."
After waiting for a long time, there was still no response from Xi Yu.
Shen Gu whispered, "I already posted an announcement."
"Why didn’t you say so sooner?" Jian Yu whispered back to him. "Why don’t you explain and tell them to look at the announcement?"
Shen Gu’s face was stiff and his expression frozen. He stammered, "A lot of people are looking at us... I’m suddenly a little nervous."
’Useless Executive Director.’ Xi Yu’s gaze fell on Yan Qin, his voice cool. "Go look at the announcement yourself."
"Please don’t change the subject, Chief," Yan Qin said, full of righteous indignation. "The academy announcement was posted by the academy. Shouldn’t the Chief..."
Jian Yu looked up, her face expressionless.
She closed the Rule Book.
"I understand how you feel, but the competition has its own regulations. They illegally carried black market medicine. Regardless of whether they lived or died, they are fully responsible."
Shen Gu picked up where she left off, mimicking Jian Yu’s cool and aloof tone as he spoke.
"When the Alien Beasts went on a rampage, I opened the emergency exits. I thought the contestants just hadn’t reacted in time, but now it’s clear you people just don’t read the rules."
’Although there are a lot of rules...’
But Shen Gu didn’t care.
"When you enter the arena, if there are any accidents, you can escape through the competition exits. There are protective measures there that most Alien Beasts can’t get through."
"Besides, they were the ones who induced the Alien Beast rampage. They had an attractant on them, which is why the Alien Beasts attacked them. They... they almost hurt everyone else."
The people in the stands snapped back to their senses.
They rose to their feet in anger and let loose a torrent of abuse at Yan Qin.
"Their lives are lives, but ours aren’t?"
"Who said the Chief didn’t do anything? Didn’t he control two of the Alien Beasts? And didn’t the Chief’s girlfriend go down there to protect all the contestants?"
"Exactly! They were asking for death, and they even used an explosive bomb on the protective shield, trying to drag us all down with them."
"Who are you to them? Why are you blindly taking their side?"
"If you’re so virtuous, why didn’t you go down and help when things went wrong?"
"If you’ve got the guts, don’t cover your face! I’m going to take a picture and ask your academy who you are. I want to see where you get the nerve to come demand an explanation from the Chief."
"..."
Yan Qin’s face was pale. "I was clearly trying to stand up for you."
’Not only are they not grateful, they’re turning on me?’
Yan Qin stood frozen in place for two seconds.
Her composure shattered. "Die, die, die! They deserved to die! Let’s see if he saves you when you’re the ones in trouble!"
’These people are all blind.’
’Xi Yu is obviously a heartless person. Aside from being occasionally mesmerized by Jian Yu’s beauty, he’s cold and ruthless to everyone.’
’Without her fighting for them, how could he possibly care if they lived or died?’
Yan Qin covered her face, glancing at Jian Yu’s impassive expression.
’Let’s see just how long she can keep Xi Yu wrapped around her finger.’
Seeing the crowd pointing at her, frequently looking toward Xi Yu, and seeming ready to attack her right in front of him, Yan Qin panicked.
She quickly turned tail and ran.
When she reached the Chief’s exclusive elevator, she found she couldn’t get in.
[Ding~ Verification failed.]
Her Yellow Card hadn’t been canceled; she had used Duan Feiye’s privileges to enter the arena.
She had given the invitation she’d gotten to Xu Sheng, but he had been completely useless.
’Duan Feiye is revoking my privileges now? What does that mean?’
’Is there a problem with my Awakening report?’
’Or did my Awakening fail, leaving me with no research value?’
Yan Qin refused to accept it.
’She had clearly been reborn.’
’Trying to be clever didn’t work, and now acting foolish like Xu Jianjuan didn’t work either?’
’Her treatment was worse than Jian Yu’s, and now she couldn’t even compare to the Xu Jianjuan from her past life.’
Yan Qin stared at the closed levitation elevator in front of her, her fingers tracing her own face.
’Does she have to be like Jian Yu, exchanging her beauty and her body for what she wants?’
Duan Feiye was good-natured. He always treated her offers and questions seriously and responded politely.
’Actually... it’s not out of the question.’
Yan Qin opened her Star Brain and, as if possessed, ordered a rather seductive nightgown.