“The mission briefing is over. As always, we’re just here to inform you—the actual execution and all decisions during the operation will follow the commander’s lead. That is, Xu Chuyao’s.”
After saying this, Yu Jing and the senior teacher left together, leaving the activity room to the Special Task Group.
The members were in high spirits after hearing the plan.
“This mission sounds pretty easy. I mean, it’s our first real deployment—it’s perfect to ease in and get used to working together.”
“Even so, we still follow Commander Xu’s orders.”
“Of course.”
The fifth-year students were particularly enthusiastic. In their eyes, this wasn’t just their first mission—it was a kind of “icebreaker” with their commander, Xu Chuyao. Apologies and gifts were fine, but true team bonding came from working a mission together.
But the smiles didn’t last long, because Commander Xu suddenly sighed, her pretty face turning serious.
“You’re wrong. Let me correct that—this mission is not easy. In fact, I believe it’s quite dangerous and must be approached with the utmost caution.”
Her words confused the others, and they gave her puzzled looks.
She walked over to the teacher’s spot, brought up the terrain map again, and pointed to a section. “The product launch event will be held here. As you can see, this area is a wide, open stage—lots of roads lead in and out. On one hand, it’s convenient. But on the other, if the Clown Gang ambushes us from nearby and charges all at once, we’ll be completely surrounded.”
Then she pointed to another area.
“So we’ll stay stationed here—near the parking lot entrance. If things go south, we retreat inside and hold the entrance. That’s the only place we need to defend.”
The map was clear, and her plan was easy to understand—but people didn’t get why she was being so cautious.
“If we stay near the stage, won’t the trade group’s guards be there too? Won’t they help out?” asked Zhong Ming, the most assertive of the group.
Xu Chuyao thought for a moment before giving a vague reply: “They might have reasons not to help—after all, their job is to protect the trade group members.”
The real reason was much deeper: Professor Swina, the leader of the trade delegation, was a direct superior of the Clown Gang. He had orchestrated many attacks in the city—including the one possibly planned for this event.
While the trade group itself was clean, as their lead representative, Swina had a thousand ways to keep his guards occupied. For example, by inviting a bigwig or important official to the event and assigning all security to them—leaving no one available to help the students.
Xu Chuyao hadn’t expected him to show up here. He wasn’t in the original novel’s script. Was this because she’d led the team too effectively and crushed the Clown Gang too hard, forcing him to intervene personally?
Possibly.
The good news: Swina wouldn’t take action himself. First, this was a populated city. If he revealed his identity by attacking students, there’d be no escape. With his status, he’d have to be insane to trade his life for a few students.
Second, Xu Chuyao knew his goal. She knew he’d soon become a major story boss, and his objectives hadn’t yet been fulfilled. He wouldn’t risk dying for a minor distraction.
Which meant: their actual enemies were still just Clown Gang members—though there’d be more of them this time, and even some Tier-2s might show up. But in the end, it was still the Clown Gang.
Thinking this through, Xu Chuyao relaxed a little.
“Zhong, why are you asking so much? If Commander Xu says it’s dangerous, then it’s dangerous. Let’s just follow her plan,” said Cheng Li.
Zhong Ming nodded quickly. “Right, right—my bad. All decisions rest with the commander.”
The others voiced no objections either.
“Alright then. That’s all for now. Dismissed. Let’s meet again here tomorrow at the same time.”
After announcing dismissal, Xu Chuyao pulled Shen Ning aside as they left the admin building. While they had a moment alone, she whispered:
“That Professor Swina is a consultant and retainer of the Lockmorgan family. The products being launched at the event belong to them.”
The others didn’t need to know, but she had to explain it to the heroine.
Sure enough, the previously silent Shen Ning seemed to piece things together. “The Lockmorgan family… they’re connected to the Clown Gang?”
“No. I just think—risking your life to serve a family that runs sweatshops and blood-stained businesses… It means Swina’s someone we definitely need to watch out for.”
“I get it.”
Shen Ning nodded in agreement. In her eyes, all three major mining families were bad news, and anyone working for them deserved extra caution.
With that settled, Xu Chuyao’s nerves eased a little. Having foreknowledge really made it hard for people to scheme against her.
Time for a lighter topic.
“By the way, Shen Ning… Why were you acting so shy earlier? Didn’t even dare to look at me.”
“…I wasn’t shy.”
“Really? Then why didn’t you look at me?”
“I… I just happened to not be looking when you were looking at me.”
“Oh, so that means when I wasn’t looking, you were staring at me?”
“…I wasn’t staring…”
“So you were peeking, then?”
Shen Ning finally broke: “I wasn’t avoiding you! I wasn’t staring! And I wasn’t peeking! I’m going back now!”
With that, she picked up the pace and stormed back toward the dorms.
Watching the girl’s retreating back, Xu Chuyao tilted her head in confusion.
“How weird. I was being so unreasonable—why didn’t she get mad?”
She was just 50 villain points short. Couldn’t she spare a little?
Meanwhile, inside the dorm building, Shen Ning stopped in her tracks, touched her flushed face, and tried to cool her cheeks with the warmth of her palm.
Xu Chuyao thought she was being unreasonable, but everything she said had hit the mark—so Shen Ning couldn’t get angry, only embarrassed.
No afternoon class today. She went back to the dorm early to nap.
The next morning, Yu Jing was in her office when her favorite student came knocking.
“Teacher, hear me out—I really think this mission isn’t simple. It’s mostly because… my eyelid kept twitching all night. Just felt really uneasy. So, would you mind hanging around nearby during the mission? If anything goes wrong, maybe you could help us out?”
Looking at the sweet-faced Xu Chuyao standing before her desk, Yu Jing didn’t know what to think.
Last time, she claimed the enemies would be weak, lowered the mission setup, and rushed in with just two teammates. Now she was saying the enemy was super strong, that even the full team might not be enough, and wanted the teacher to be on standby—all based on a twitching eyelid.
After a moment of hesitation, Yu Jing replied, “I’ll help you, but I can’t always stand guard for your team. That would defeat the whole purpose of the Special Task Group.”
“Understood! Totally understood!” Xu Chuyao nodded quickly. “Just this once—special circumstances, you know! My intuition is always spot-on. The eyelid twitch was intense!”
“…Alright. I’ll stay on the street just outside the Commercial Plaza. If anything happens, I’ll come to assist.”
“Thank you, teacher~!”
Xu Chuyao finally felt at ease. Now she was curious—what kind of drama was this early-arriving plot boss planning to stir up?
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