“Good morning, Chuyao. Have you had breakfast?”
Long Tang greeted her, his voice sounding a little hoarse, and what he said next left Xu Chuyao momentarily stunned.
“Morning? Isn’t it already one thirty in the afternoon?”
Was there really someone with a worse sleep schedule than Chuyao?
“It’s afternoon? I didn’t know, I’m not in District 8 right now.” Long Tang explained simply, “Long story short, I submitted your achievements, your rank has been promoted, and the official documents will be issued to you soon.”
“Achievements? What achievements?”
“Exposing the Conquest Department’s traitor, foiling a Four Defense escape, thwarting an internal plot ahead of time. Over at Monros, you also deciphered the research facility’s array and even tried to strike it. If it weren’t for you, things could have gotten much worse… That’s what they’re all saying.”
Xu Chuyao was speechless for a while.
There was a grain of truth, but most of it was exaggerated, and in the end she didn’t really play a decisive role. Others succeeded where she did not, but Long Tang’s intentions were clear—wherever she could be credited, he’d brag for her.
“Emmmm, thank you.”
It seemed that was all she could say.
“No problem, but I’ll mention this: at your current level, if you want to ask something from now on, you don’t have to rely on me to relay it for you. You can directly say it yourself.”
Xu Chuyao vaguely understood. Last time, when she asked him about the research facility’s location, the follow-up trouble was a bit much. She’d have to summarize that to Minister Long next time for safety’s sake.
“In addition, the Conquest Department is having internal issues, and there’s something happening at the Defense Line, so we’re going to set up a joint task force to respond to the crisis. Your position might change, I’ll let you know when it does.”
She understood immediately. With the establishment of a new department, Long Tang was eager to promote her to make it easier for her to secure a spot.
With the big question on the guy’s side answered, on the girl’s side Shen Ning’s question only grew more intense.
Because of this question, she hadn’t slept well last night, and now, upon waking, it was still on her mind.
“What is moonlight?”
She wasn’t talking to herself. Stress Shadow was the one who asked.
Usually, Milk Rod Reflection would retort, but right now, it was calmly analyzing the question.
“From a physics perspective, moonlight is the phenomenon where the natural satellite known as the moon reflects sunlight when a part of the Earth rotates into the night side.”
“I get the theory, but you’re making it sound so dry.”
“What I’m saying is, maybe we shouldn’t think about it purely in physical terms.” Gravel Reflection ignored Stress Shadow’s words and continued its analysis. “Because as we all know, ascending from the third to the fourth rank is a spiritual advancement of one’s elemental affinity, an elevation from a physical to a philosophical attribute. So, perhaps this ‘second moonlight’ also transcends physical limits and approaches a philosophical domain.”
So the question was, what does ‘moonlight’ mean philosophically?
She didn’t need it to say—Shen Ning was already asking herself.
“What about you, any thoughts?” Stress Shadow looked at the other teammates. “Did your Yaoqin ever say anything?”
Milk Rod Reflection said nothing, just sipped her tea, meaning she had no way to ‘bug’ this one.
“Divine moonlight?”
“That’s not philosophical, that’s literary.”
“Moonlight Slash.”
“That’s not it either, that’s a gaming term.”
A problem that couldn’t be solved in a short time.
On the boys’ side, Xu Chuyao received a notice to collect her new badge at the Principal’s office.
One, two, three, four stars—gold! A two-level promotion!
Yu Jing was also there, and when she saw such a huge medal being awarded, she immediately grew alert: “What are they up to? Do they want you to go on another mission?”
If that really was the case, she wouldn’t easily agree. Things were too dangerous out there, especially for Xu Chuyao.
Chuyao reassured her, “Don’t worry, Head Teacher. I’ll try to delay as long as I can. If I really can’t avoid it, then we’ll talk.”
“If you really can’t avoid it, I’ll go with you,” Yu Jing said without hesitation.
“Thank you, Head Teacher, that’s very reassuring.”
After being stuck at the third rank for so many years, now that she’d broken through to the fourth, Yu Jing seemed to have found her lost genius self, her power clearly in an upward phase.
With her by Xu Chuyao’s side, safety was greatly improved.
Having reached the fourth rank at this critical time basically made her a top figure in the Supreme Society, and Chuyao didn’t believe that, during this tense period, they could send anyone even stronger to deal with her.
If worst came to worst, she could have Shen Ning carry the Daystone. If things got dangerous, they could just run away to the other world and lay low for a while.
“I’ll get going then.”
Xu Chuyao walked out with the medal, and just as she reached the door, she was called back.
“Wait a moment.”
Yu Jing caught up, glanced back—Principal Lü was a bit curious, but didn’t come over to eavesdrop—then led her outside before speaking. “About the Ghost Unit, once you’ve passed the fourth rank, we’ll discuss it properly.”
“Alright, no problem.”
Xu Chuyao agreed readily. After all, that group would inevitably face off with the heroine sooner or later.
“Thanks. I’ll walk you back.”
“…Head Teacher, we’re inside the academy, it’s perfectly safe, and it’s just a few steps.”
“Then I’ll walk you downstairs.”
Far from Central City, in another time zone, in the political hub of Sol City—a city with a quaint, antique look.
Long Tang and the others had come here for a conference. Afterward, they couldn’t leave right away; they needed to stay for a few days to wait for news and arrange the next steps.
At the local time of nine in the morning, most people were already up. But because there’d been a small meeting early yesterday, many hadn’t slept well. Long Tang was one of them; his fatigue could be heard even through the phone.
“Minister Long,” someone came up to greet him from behind, “now that the joint task force has been established, we’ll still need your Security Department’s cooperation. I hear your department has been gathering quite a few talents recently.”
Recently, the head of the Judicial Department had defected, and the Conquest Department was having serious internal problems.
The remaining departments hadn’t had any major mishaps, but they also weren’t particularly notable. Only the Security Department kept bringing in intelligence, climbing up from nothing to reach the Supreme Society.
It was even said that they’d been the first to spot issues at the Defense Line.
“We don’t have that many talents, just one or two particularly outstanding ones.” Long Tang corrected modestly, “But of course, a joint task force requires everyone’s cooperation.”
The man smiled, “That’s true, but if it weren’t for your Security Department this time, I’m afraid we wouldn’t have been able to handle things.”
Yesterday’s sudden meeting had been prompted by two pieces of news.
The good news was that the South Asian unit had uncovered some developments: the black lands on the other continent were in turmoil, as those ancient species seemed to be clashing with outsiders.
Even the most fearsome newcomers from Italy, once they reached the black lands beyond the carpet of ruins, found themselves getting wiped out. So that disturbance quickly died down.
But aside from that, there was also bad news: along the coastline from the South China Sea to the Yellow Sea, new movements had been detected.
While there hadn’t been any major incidents for now, everyone knew it was only a matter of time.