Chapter 131: Episode 8 Ends

“How did you do it?”

Lin Zhen chose to believe.

After all, they were now in the same boat.

“Is it that difficult?” The Cyborg said in a low voice.

For some reason, Lin Zhen caught a hint of a smile on that unmoving face, large alloy plates exposed.

Well, that made sense.

A Level 4 Cyborg could already rival the strongest Star Energy Users among Level 3s in terms of combat ability.

Not to mention, this was the opponent’s area of expertise—technology.

Even in the battle camp, it was impossible for them to install some top-grade Monitoring Terminal on the students’ collars.

It was only natural for a Level 4 Cyborg to take control of it so easily.

“After this… you don’t need to worry. I’ve rewritten the commands and implanted a virus that will disguise your monitoring footage…”

The Cyborg seemed to be in better shape, his speech no longer so broken.

“Thank you,” Lin Zhen said sincerely.

“Also, you mentioned there are nine space stations nearby belonging to the battle camp? If you can help me insert the receiver into the Central Computer…”

With a flick of his right hand, the Cyborg popped out a thumb-sized flat block from his palm with a click.

“I’ll be able to use the Central Computer’s processing power and data to help you locate this starfield’s coordinates, find warp nodes, and if you return here in the future, I can establish communications with you instantly.”

“This is what it means to be a protagonist, Grandpa helper has arrived.”

“A strong ally is here. Now it won’t be surprising if the protagonist escapes.”

“Yeah, I was thinking before, even if Prison Lin’s ability is special, it’d be too outrageous to escape from a battle camp that’s run for five thousand years.”

“Do I have to insert one into all nine Central Computers? Won’t the battle camp notice?”

“Mm, they won’t notice… If what you said about the Empire’s technology deteriorating is true…”

“I understand. By the way, senior, what’s your name…?”

“Just call me Chicha.”

Da, da, da…

Lin Zhen walked up to the Central Room’s door, his memories abruptly halting.

He rubbed the receiver in his palm and walked inside.

Pretending to review the star map, he used his body to shield his actions, silently inserting the receiver into a port under the Central Computer.

The moment the receiver was plugged in.

Lin Zhen saw the projection flicker visibly, then quickly return to normal.

His right hand clenched unconsciously.

A thin sheen of sweat appeared in his palm, fearing something had gone wrong.

To be honest.

He was half skeptical about what Chicha had told him.

So there was really no need to risk plugging the receiver into the Central Computer of all nine space stations as he’d been told.

But the key was, if what the other party said was true, he’d gain a powerful ally.

The feasibility of his escape plan would increase dramatically.

That’s why he chose to team up with Shunyin and the others to eliminate Yun Ruoxi, risking it all and following Chicha’s instructions.

Ka-cha!

Just as Lin Zhen was lost in thought, the receiver quietly popped out of the port.

Was it a success, or a failure?

He stared at the star map, every second dragging on like a year.

Shua!

At that moment.

A smiley face suddenly lit up at the location of the ancient battlefield on the star map.

This was the signal for success.

Lin Zhen let out a long breath, put the receiver away, pretended to flip through the star map a bit longer, then left the Central Room.

He walked down the corridor, reaching the outer area of the base, and was just about to head to the dock.

Right then, he ran into Yun Ruoxi, who was being hugged and nagged endlessly by Aili.

He chuckled at the two of them.

But the young girl snorted and actually used her telekinesis on him.

Though the force wasn’t strong, it playfully poked at his face, causing Lin Zhen to instinctively protect the receiver in his pocket with his powers, afraid Yun Ruoxi would sense it with her telekinesis.

But using his powers only made it more obvious, standing out like a sore thumb in Yun Ruoxi’s perception.

He felt the telekinetic force start to move toward his pocket.

Lin Zhen immediately felt a pang of anxiety and silently cursed himself an idiot. He quickly raised his head, pretending to be angry as he glared at Yun Ruoxi.

She froze, then dejectedly withdrew her power.

Looking at the blue-haired girl in front of him, so wronged, Lin Zhen wanted to go over and explain he wasn’t really mad—but no matter what, he couldn’t mention Chicha or the escape.

Before, it was because he didn’t want to drag them in. Now, it was because of the monitoring system in the collar…

Lin Zhen paused, then gritted his teeth, turned away, and went straight to the dock.

He boarded the ship and disappeared into the sea of stars.

“Don’t be sad, Sis. He’s just a jerk. We’ll just ignore him from now on!”

Aili consoled the dejected Yun Ruoxi in a soft voice.

“If he dares to bully you, we’ll fight back next time. Does he really think everyone has to give way to him?”

“It’s not that…” Yun Ruoxi whispered.

“Sis! My dear sister, why are you taking his side?” Aili shook Yun Ruoxi’s shoulders helplessly. “He already teamed up with others against you, and now he’s scolding you, yet you still don’t get it!”

“It’s not like that…”

Yun Ruoxi wanted to explain, but hesitated.

“If it’s not like that, then what is it?” Aili pressed, but Yun Ruoxi just stared in silence at the direction the ship had vanished, hanging her head in disappointment.

“Let’s go, Little Ai. It’s all over now.”

“Sigh, all right.”

The big and little duo supported each other as they went to the dock, waiting for the ship from the battle camp.

“This is bad, he’s made his wife cry.”

“Little Ai’s meddling made things worse. Otherwise, I bet Prison Ruoxi would’ve forgiven Prison Lin in the end.”

“Why should she forgive him? Isn’t Prison Lin risking himself for Zijiu and Ruoxi? They can just come clean later.”

“Ew, then where am I supposed to find the dogged-pursuit-of-wife drama I want to see?”

“Go check out CEO novels in the female section, haha.”

The battle camp’s ship arrived quickly—it had probably been waiting nearby for a while.

The unhappy Yun Ruoxi and Aili, along with the dispirited members of Class 9, boarded the ship together, ending their group battle journey.

But for Lin Zhen, this was just the beginning.

Not only did he have to defeat the remaining Class 6 and Class 8 on the field, he also had to find chances to insert the receiver into the bases he’d been to before.

No small feat.

Fortunately, Yun Ruoxi’s last resistance had taken Shunyin out of the picture—solving a huge problem for him.

And so, the end of Episode 8 was almost a one-man show for Lin Zhen.

The viewers watched as he gave brilliant commands and delicate micro-operations, gradually gaining more and more of an advantage on the battlefield, finally eliminating Classes 6 and 8 in succession.

Shua!

Lin Zhen plugged the receiver into the Central Computer at Base 8.

He entered the secret key, fully linking the star map of the group battle’s starfield into a single, unified whole.

***

Moments later.

Seeing the smiley face appear in the corner of the star map, Lin Zhen finally relaxed.

“It’s over!”

The last shot of Episode 8 froze on the smiley face on the projection.

At the same time, Chicha’s voice rang in the audience’s ears.

“Lin Zhen… Hello… Can you hear me?”