Bian Heng is troublesome, neither big nor small, a hidden danger, who knows when he might stir up some trouble? Let’s wipe him out first.
The current head of the Bian Family was a brother who had been edged out by Bian Jiyun, Luo Chuan had made an agreement with him long ago, so there would be no issue from the Bian Family’s side—they would even be pleased to see him gone.
The atmosphere inside the gymnasium was intense; as soon as the door was opened, a wave of heat hit them, with melodious music playing, and someone performing on stage, breathing fire and spewing water, having a great time.
The people closest to the door shouted out, immediately sparking another surge of excitement; it was Qi Xing and a few others who brought him out of the crowd.
"You really did something big without making any noise," Qi Xing looked displeased, "A triple challenge, how could you be so fierce."
He envied him so much that it almost hurt his teeth and wished he had been the one standing on the arena—how cool that would have been.
They moved to a corner where there weren’t many people around; ordinary students consciously stayed away from this area.
Li Ming saw Zhang Peixian from earlier that day, the top scorer of the last assessment, and Zhu Yu, the top scorer from two assessments back, who was supposed to have fought Balkan.
Zhu Yu raised his glass, "Here comes our hero, come on, a toast to him."
Those who could be in this small circle were essentially all elites, now all smiling and toasting each other.
"You guys are too kind," Li Ming picked up a glass of wine from nearby and responded.
"This isn’t being kind," Zhu Yu, dressed in white casual wear, sat down and crossed his legs, teasing, "I haven’t even thanked you yet; that use of Balkan’s core ability was masterful."
"Although my development progress is not far behind him, my core ability has not yet fully awakened, and I’m completely no match for him."
"Getting defeated out there, I would definitely have been cursed out, haha...
As they drank, at some point, Chancellor Chen stepped in and said a few words.
Late into the night, someone hastily squeezed through the crowd and whispered something to Zhu Yu. Zhu Yu’s expression shifted, and he repeatedly confirmed before whispering, "Guys, there’s been an incident, Bian Heng was found dead in his dorm, his head blown off by a gunshot."
He came from a prominent city guard family; his father had been the highest administrator of the city guard.
"Huh?" A relaxed and lazy atmosphere was disrupted, prompting everyone to sit up straight.
Zhang Peixian frowned, "Someone dares to murder on campus?"
"Bian Heng, his father was assassinated not long ago..." Zhu Yu paused, glanced at Li Ming, and continued, "Then he was marginalized, why would anyone want to kill him?"
"Eradicate the roots," Qi Xing said nonchalantly, "It must have been done by Bian family people, it happens often."
They didn’t care much; Bian Heng may have even dined with them, and might have been treated by Li Ming with a smiling face, but now it didn’t stir even a slight ripple among them.
Zhu Yu continued, "What’s interesting is that the bullet reportedly went through the entire building and was found in another building, its power was astonishing."
"But after a detailed examination, it was just an ordinary sniper rifle bullet, which, theoretically, couldn’t even kill a Class E life form."
All this was relatively detailed information.
"A Superpower User?" Zhang Peixian couldn’t help but say, "Some Superpower Users can attach their power to objects, causing them to unleash killing power far beyond the ordinary."
Roth frowned, these assassinations were unpredictable, did the Bian family have such a formidable assassin?
Zhu Yu reminded, "The Chancellor wants to activate ’Heavenly Eye’ now, it’s best if none of us go out for a while."
"You better be careful, letting those Sela people lose face, they might play dirty," Qi Xing whispered to Li Ming.
"I understand." Li Ming nodded, not very interested in the subsequent conversation, browsing the Stellar Web.
The discussions about him online were still heated, with the Blue Star Times’ interview from the afternoon topping the discussion charts—"The Brilliant Peak of Heroism!"
The interview was in a question-and-answer format—
"Recently, when public opinion became more and more intense, believing we had no chance of winning, why didn’t you come out to respond directly?"
"Because I was developing gene seeds, didn’t pay much attention (scratches head)"
"...How did you think of challenging the second and first people consecutively?"
"Because they didn’t seem too strong (bashful face)"
"Victory was inevitable and destined (naive face)"
Li Ming felt that Xu Wei’s revised interview seemed a bit too arrogant. The ostensibly calm response hid deep sarcasm, hardly matching his true character.
But Xu Wei told him not to mind, claiming that what seemed arrogant to the Sela Civilization would not be perceived as such within the Blue Star Civilization; instead, it would lead to adulation and idolization.
It had to be said that Xu Wei was particularly sensitive to this aspect, having sensed that the previous public opinion had been stifling for many people of the Blue Star.
The more they could vent, the more excited they became.
Moreover, this was indeed a display of his personal heroism, igniting public opinion was inevitable.
On the Blue Star’s internet, discussions about Li Ming abounded, different from the last time he topped the assessments—it was now mixed with a sense of civilizational belonging and sentiment.
In a room of Sela’s embassy on Blue Star, Sain looked down at the data on the virtual screen, and asked gravely,
"Are you sure there’s nothing unusual in his blood?"
"Nothing," the elderly researcher cautiously responded.
Sain frowned, suddenly asking, "Why is his developmental potential so low?"
He quickly explained, "His blood samples were received almost an hour later; cell viability had decayed severely, making the estimates of developmental potential extremely inaccurate and not to be relied upon."
Sain took a deep breath. Had he guessed wrong?
"Has he undergone genetic mutation?" he pressed further.
The researcher struggled, "Canrus Research Institute only provided theoretical data, without clear criteria for determining a Genetic Mutant."
"Sir, the delegation head has arrived," someone reported as they entered, and Sain’s expression subtly changed.
He was fully responsible for the convention’s affairs, and now, a major snag had turned many days of preparation into an advantage for the opposition, with the public opinion backlash.
Sela’s celebrants, having been popping champagne for nearly half a month, were stunned; one could imagine the brutal criticism within their civilization.
The only consolation was that their governmental system differed, having a royal hierarchy that enjoyed certain privileges on the local star-net, making it easier to control public opinion.
Still, numerous Blue Star users bypassed restrictions to mock them, just as the Sela once did.
Moreover, their maneuvers linked the convention to the prestige of the civilization, overshadowing the Heluo Star System’s referendum and causing a chain reaction.
It seemed no one cared whether the Heluo Star System would become independent anymore.
Not to exaggerate, but Li Ming’s triple penetration had nearly collapsed their extensive plans.
Composing himself, Sain sighed deeply; this was not a complete failure, merely an unexpected setback.
Glancing at the time, he said flatly, "It’s time to deliver food to Prince Youke, I’ll go meet the delegation head."
He appeared calm, and the others in the room exchanged glances, inwardly admiring, truly worthy of Lord Sain.
A loud noise startled them as they looked toward the source, only to see Sain retracting his right arm, leaving a fist imprint on the wall beside the door.
Nearing midnight, the banquet concluded, and Luo Chuan personally came to pick him up to prevent any mishaps; the others were also escorted by Advanced life forms, making the atmosphere much more somber.
Many uniformed individuals were scattered throughout the school, investigating around.
"Good lad, a triple play, very impressive," Luo Chuan said with an odd look in his eyes, always surprised by Li Ming when he thought he had seen his limit.
"Brother, you don’t need to mention it, I’ve heard it all day and I’m tired of it," Li Ming said with a laugh.
"Haha... Well, you definitely haven’t gotten tired of what I’m about to say next," Luo Chuan laughed, "The regional president of Xunying Company came this afternoon and has been waiting for you."
"Oh, are they here to bring money?" Li Ming’s interest piqued.
Luo Chuan shook his head, "Not money, they brought a piece of Mother Ore, they seem to think you’d thing."
Li Ming’s eyes sparkled.