Xu Chuyao wasn’t mistaken—Shen Ning had indeed gone quiet the moment she sat down, deep in thought. Her mind was filled with questions.
First question:
Why did the tactical-support reflection appear when she hadn’t even spent any Achievement Points?
[Spending Achievement Points is compensation. However, in certain situations, the reflection may provide tactical support voluntarily without payment.]
Shen Ning stared at the line for a long moment before finally understanding it. So… the reflection just couldn’t hold back today and voluntarily popped out to tell her to go dominate Xu Chuyao?
It kind of seemed that way.
Second question:
That reflection belonged to her from a year in the future. Based on what she said, not only would Xu Chuyao be her girlfriend by then, but they were apparently doing… that kind of stuff regularly. Otherwise, why would her future self just keep yelling “go do her” like that?
Shen Ning would rather believe that her future self had serious repression issues than accept she’d become that kind of loudmouthed perv.
Third question:
Uh… what exactly was going on in school right now?
She didn’t have to think too hard—because just then, the classroom door opened, and their homeroom teacher, Yu Jing, walked in.
“You all heard the broadcast. Today’s classes have all been changed to self-study. You’ll be dismissed at regular times at noon and in the afternoon. After school, no one is allowed to hang around outside. Dorm inspections will be conducted at noon and night. Anyone who breaks the rules today will be dealt with seriously.”
The moment she said that, the class understood—something big had definitely happened.
Yu Jing then lowered her voice and said:
“Xu Chuyao, Shen Ning, come with me.”
Once the two girls left with the teacher, the classroom exploded with chatter. Everyone tried to guess what had happened. Of course, none of them knew anything. How could they?
Mi Xiaolu sighed. If only Xu Chuyao were still here—I bet she’d know something. But unfortunately, the thunder girl had been called away.
Why take Shen Ning too, though?
Because of the announcement, all students were confined to their classrooms. The campus was eerily empty. Yu Jing led Shen Ning and Xu Chuyao across the grounds toward the administrative building, each of them lost in thought.
Yu Jing was focused on the matter at hand.
Shen Ning was still pondering her internal crisis.
Xu Chuyao? She kept sneaking glances at Shen Ning, wondering how she could get herself officially appointed as her girlfriend.
When they finally reached the top-floor conference room, the girls’ wandering minds snapped back to attention.
“Teacher Yu, why are we here?” Xu Chuyao asked.
“You’ll find out soon,” Yu Jing replied, giving her a subtle look. “Just listen for now, and don’t speak unless asked.”
She pushed open the door, revealing a large meeting room. Several school officials—including the principal and the grade director—were already present. On the far wall, a massive screen showed a video conference with over a dozen participants in smaller windows.
As the three of them entered, all eyes turned toward them.
“This morning, students from over a dozen major cities were attacked. All incidents are believed to be the work of the ‘Clown Gang.’”
Yu Jing summarized the situation in one sentence, clearing up the confusion for the girls. Then she gestured toward them for introductions.
“Everyone, these two girls may be able to help. First, Shen Ning—during the attack on Central City students a few days ago, she killed several gang members and forced the Clown Gang to retreat.”
Then she pulled Xu Chuyao forward.
“And this is Xu Chuyao—she was the first to analyze that the Clown Gang is backed by a larger organization and warned that their operations wouldn’t stop after Central City. I submitted a full report on her analysis several days ago.”
The moment she said that, the elderly principal looked uncomfortable. Others on the screen turned visibly annoyed.
“Why wasn’t such important intel shared with the rest of us?”
“Now look what’s happened.”
“You had the information, and because it wasn’t reported properly, disaster struck again and again.”
“Tch!”
Clearly, while Yu Jing hadn’t described the outcome of the attacks, their reactions implied it had gone badly—unlike Ling Academy, they didn’t have a Shen Ning to fight off the enemy.
“Enough. Settle down.”
In the center screen, a middle-aged man with a square face—likely someone in charge—cut through the noise.
“Let’s be honest. Even if Principal Lü had shared the intel, would any of you have taken a schoolgirl’s theory seriously?”
So this was all just blame-shifting.
He turned toward Xu Chuyao, softening his tone.
“Miss Xu Chuyao, can you explain why you believe the Clown Gang is backed by a powerful organization and would strike again?”
Yu Jing wanted to reassure her with a pat, but before she could—
“It’s simple,” Xu Chuyao said casually.
She pulled out her phone and displayed a photo on screen.
“This picture was posted online after the Central City mall attack. It shows graffiti the Clown Gang sprayed at the mall entrance before going in. The uniform style of the graffiti, the clear target, and the use of graffiti as a public declaration all show that their attack was organized and purposeful—not some spontaneous act. And if they weren’t backed by a stronger force, why would a bunch of Tier 1 thugs do something so brazen when there’s no real benefit?”
Some participants leaned in to study the image more closely. Others went quiet, deep in thought. Before they could say anything, Xu Chuyao continued:
“Secondly, they knew the students’ schedules perfectly. They even had scouts taking out guards and acting as lookouts. That proves premeditation. Also, about the graffiti—the clown mask symbol clearly represents the Clown Gang. But above it is another design: a spire. That suggests the Clown Gang has a master. The spire is the true force behind the scenes.”
After delivering her analysis, Xu Chuyao folded her arms, feeling extremely smug.
Smart, right? You’d be this clever too if you’d read the spoilers.
The photo was sent to the other attendees’ phones. After careful review, many nodded in agreement.
Of course it made sense—they thought Xu Chuyao was drawing logical conclusions from an image, but in reality, she was reverse-engineering it based on what she already knew. There was no way it wouldn’t sound right.
“You’re very sharp,” the square-faced man said. “If we’d taken your insight seriously from the start, maybe this disaster could’ve been prevented.”
After praising Xu Chuyao, he turned to the other girl.
“Miss Shen Ning, you’re the only student who has fought the Clown Gang and survived. Can you share your impressions of them?”
That one line revealed a lot: students in other cities had fought back—but they didn’t survive.
Yu Jing tried to comfort Shen Ning with a shoulder pat, just like she had with Xu Chuyao, but before she could—
“Not much of an impression,” Shen Ning said flatly.
“They seemed kinda weak, honestly.”
DAMN. She don’t give af about them 😭