Evolution - Chapter 47
Chapter 47
Yu Zhiyao was doing just fine. She would be doing even better if Major General Xie'er wasn't constantly bothering her.
The major general was currently sitting in her office, her presence so strong that it was impossible to continue working.
"How are you so free?" Yu Zhiyao asked, genuinely puzzled. How was it that other high-ranking military officials were swamped with work, yet this one had so much time on her hands?
Major General Xie'er rolled her eyes rather ungracefully. Perfect, she thought, I was just about to ask her the same thing!
"I was about to ask how you're so free! Daringly testing the limits of danger—is it fun?!"
"It's quite interesting," Yu Zhiyao said sincerely.
After securing a direct admission spot to the Academy of Sciences, her permissions were modified, and she brazenly exploited a loophole.
She downloaded the relevant coursework from the Academy, conducted a brief analysis to outline her areas of interest, and then attempted to take these courses into instance worlds with potentially similar technological levels.
She began frantically studying while completing missions.
The instance where she met Ji Changqing was the fourth one she had run. After her permissions were changed, she ran another six before regretfully receiving a system notification that she had reached her limit and was no longer allowed to enter instance worlds.
However, she had also discovered that aside from a slight increase in points, running so many instances offered no real benefits other than exploiting the loophole for more study time.
Xie'er couldn't help but facepalm. See? She knew people from the Academy of Sciences were all lunatics!
"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? Running instances so frequently in a short period makes it difficult to separate reality from the game. Your mental power can easily become chaotic and run rampant..." She trailed off with a long sigh and shut her mouth.
Forget it, she thought. This woman isn't normal. She hasn't gone crazy yet.
"Just what did you encounter in those instances to become so incredible?"
Yu Zhiyao set down her coffee and smiled at her.
It seemed the Alliance took information security quite seriously. Even someone of Xie'er's rank, who was in charge of Blue Star's evolution, didn't have the clearance to access instance data.
Otherwise, she wouldn't be beating around the bush with her questions, driven by such intense curiosity.
She had no intention of telling anyone that during her second instance, she had entered a world of myths and monsters, which turned out to be the peak era of the Shaman Clan.
It was a truly perilous world where she had nearly failed spectacularly on several occasions. If not for her overwhelming competitive drive, she wouldn't have made it through.
When she realized the lovesick leader of the Shaman Clan was likely the biggest obstacle to completing her main quest, she quickly adjusted her strategy: seize power, place him under house arrest, and let the lovesick fool and his lover play out their tragic romance without dragging down the entire clan.
For this, she paid a heavy price. The lovesick leader cursed her, and she had to drag her broken body along, painfully clinging to life until the instance was completed and she was freed by the blessing of the Ancestral God.
She even had reason to suspect that her own differentiation failure was related to the curse from the lovesick leader she had overthrown.
But the rewards had been immense. The Shaman Clan, with its emphasis on spirit channeling, communicating with deities, and mastery of mental power cultivation, had perfectly solved the mismatch between her mental power cultivation and her physique level.
Now, even running instances frequently wouldn't cause her mental power to collapse or run rampant.
But these were things best kept to herself, not to be shared with others.
Seeing her silent, non-violent, non-cooperative stance, Major General Xie'er was at a loss. Her curiosity was one thing, but she wasn't so curious that she would break the law to find out.
"Fine, fine, keep your secrets," Xie'er said irritably. "The Academy of Sciences wants you to report as soon as possible for systematic training. They're afraid you'll mess things up." She added, "I'm here on official business this time, and I came to ask when you'll be able to leave."
In any case, Yu Zhiyao needed to set a date so the Academy of Sciences could send the official documents. Only then could they formally process her paperwork and arrange for a starship.
Of course, they wouldn't arrange a private ship for her; she would travel on a ship that was already returning to the Alliance on business. The Academy would naturally arrange for someone to pick her up from the spaceport.
Yu Zhiyao looked at the options Xie'er presented, all within the next three months, and understood.
"I'll go with Claire, then," Yu Zhiyao said after some consideration. A little over two months should be enough time for her to arrange her affairs and make a clean break.
Xie'er nodded noncommittally. She had been leaning toward that option herself, as Claire was more trustworthy.
With their official business concluded, Major General Xie'er was in no hurry to leave. She held out her cup, signaling for President Yu to pour her another coffee.
She had met many people on Blue Star, but few were as interesting or as easy to talk to.
Yu Zhiyao was one of the good ones.
Yu Zhiyao, however, might not have felt the same, because Major General Xie'er started gossiping again. "Ji Changqing is applying to the military academy."
Yu Zhiyao raised an eyebrow and slowly poured the coffee, her posture conveying a sense of "So what?"
Xie'er rested her chin on one hand, adopting the look of a lovestruck maiden, her eyes misty as she gazed at Yu Zhiyao.
The look was incredibly alluring.
Yu Zhiyao couldn't help but laugh.
This woman really had no inhibitions. No other major general on Blue Star would ever strike such a pose.
"Is this... flirting?" she asked, a hint of uncertainty in her laughter-filled voice.
Xie'er said nothing and silently stood up.
She straightened her collar, fastened the top button, and tied her hair back neatly. She put on the military cap she had tossed aside, her expression turning serious. After dusting off her trousers, she snapped her heels together with a click, strode over to Yu Zhiyao's side, and leaned one hand on the left armrest of her chair. "Yu Zhiyao," she said in a low voice.
Yu Zhiyao was momentarily dazed. As she watched Xie'er methodically adjust her uniform, her attention drifted. A thought flashed through her mind: Hmm, the Alliance military uniform is quite stylish. It would look good on Ji Changqing.
She only snapped back to reality when Xie'er called her name in that low, deliberate tone.
She shifted to the side, creating a little distance, and watched the drama queen with amusement. "What is it?" she asked, surprised.
Xie'er straightened up. It didn't matter if she pretended to be calm; she had already seen the reaction she wanted.
She sank back into her seat lazily. "Can't you tell? I'm doing my best to get on good terms with you, a future member of the Academy of Sciences."
Yu Zhiyao gently swirled the coffee in her cup. "Can't you tell? I'm waiting for you to explain why."
She's really not one to be taken advantage of, Xie'er thought.
"The Academy of Sciences and the military are close partners. I'm placing an early bet and building a good relationship with a future big shot. That way, you might prioritize us for new equipment in the future, giving us an edge," Xie'er said matter-of-factly.
"Oh? You seem to have a lot of confidence in me."
Xie'er waved her hand magnanimously. "It's a random bet! What if I hit the jackpot?"
Yu Zhiyao rubbed her cup, pondering for a moment. "One cannot predetermine their stance. Besides, since I'm from Blue Star, we're already connected."
Xie'er was very satisfied. If Yu Zhiyao had actually made some kind of promise, she would have been scared off by such a fool.
Having achieved a tacit understanding, Xie'er left cheerfully. After all, she wasn't actually free.
Yu Zhiyao stared into space for a while before getting up and returning to her desk to continue her work.
As night fell in the Yu family villa, dinner was being prepared when the sound of a car pulling up and its engine cutting off was heard. A moment later, the unhurried clip-clop of footsteps followed.
"Zhiyao is back. Housekeeper Huang, please get her a bowl of soup." Yu Zhiyao's mother recognized her daughter's footsteps. Although she was surprised that her daughter had returned so suddenly without notice, she was still delighted and quickly ordered for soup and an extra set of chopsticks to be brought out.
Just as she finished giving the order, Yu Zhiyao walked in. The heating in the villa was on full blast, so she casually took off her coat and handed it to a servant, revealing her fine figure clad in only a form-fitting, V-neck sweater.
Her 21-year-old nephew and 18-year-old niece, who were home from school to spend a few days with their grandparents, both greeted her.
She acknowledged them coolly, sat down at the dining table, and accepted a hot towel to wipe her hands.
Her father put down his chopsticks and looked at his daughter. "Why the sudden visit?"
Her mother nudged him. "Our daughter rarely comes home. What kind of question is that?"
Yu Zhiyao slowly sipped her soup before looking up. "There's something I need to discuss. Let's talk after dinner."
After everyone had finished eating and the servants had brought out dessert, Yu Zhiyao spoke in a remarkably calm tone. "I'm leaving Blue Star. Dad, please arrange for someone to take over the company."
Her words dropped like a bomb.
Everyone whipped their heads around to stare at her, their faces masks of unconcealed shock. They knew Blue Star had leaped into the interstellar age and could connect to the star network, but there were no interstellar flights operating from the planet yet, were there?
Therefore, for her to be leaving Blue Star meant she had obtained an incredible opportunity.
But how? The person who had become the laughingstock of their social circle due to her differentiation failure had suddenly turned the tables. It was bewildering.
Her father's face twitched slightly, his pupils contracting for a moment before he regained his composure. He sized up Yu Zhiyao and asked in a deep, displeased voice, "What's going on?"
"Dad, you're still young, and Youjiang and Minghu are growing up. Our family doesn't lack for people," Yu Zhiyao said calmly, completely unaffected and not directly answering his question. "When I took over, I was only a few years older than Youjiang is now."
The nephew and niece, who had been silently gossiping about their always-formidable aunt, couldn't help but shrink back when their names were suddenly mentioned.
"I'm asking you what you mean by 'leaving Blue Star'?" her father said, clearly annoyed. "You're not young anymore. Things like this should be handed over to the younger generation like A-Jiang..."
"I'm informing you, not consulting you. I'm only forty-six. I have at least another hundred years to live," Yu Zhiyao interrupted, her gaze indifferent and unreadable. "This is my own business."
"What do you mean, 'your own business'?!" her father roared. "When you were young and fooling around with women, I didn't say anything. That Yao boy didn't mind and was devoted to you, yet you agreed to marry him and then divorced him less than two years later! You've completely shamed me in my old age! Even after all that, I gave you the company. And now that your wings have hardened, is this how you treat your parents?!"
This piece of gossip was a bit too explosive. The nephew and niece were shocked into silence, stealing glances at Yu Zhiyao. So their aunt had such a wild past?!
Her mother looked troubled. She glanced at her husband, calling out, "Lao Yu," then looked at her daughter and sighed. "Zhiyao, don't upset your father."
Yu Zhiyao closed her eyes, then opened them again. "I don't want to rehash the past. We all know what really happened." Her tone shifted from indifferent to sharp. "I accepted the choice I made back then. And now, no one can stop me from making my own choices."
Her father's expression grew even uglier.
She gave a slight nod, not wanting to trouble the terrified servants, and retrieved her coat to put it on herself.
She looked back at her father. "I know you've been in contact with your old friends recently, Dad. Isn't this perfect? The company is the business you love, not mine. The only reason I've done so well with it isn't because I like it, but because I don't like to lose."
With that, she pushed open the door and strode away.
Her father, stung by her insinuation, smashed his dessert bowl on the floor.
Hearing the commotion inside, Yu Zhiyao didn't slow her pace.
When one reaches a certain age and level of experience, many things become easy to see through at a glance. But as she had just said, no matter the circumstances under which a choice was made, once it was made, she accepted it.
It was just that now, with a sudden chance to choose again, she would never let it go.
A little over two months later, Yu Zhiyao boarded the starship with Claire.
"Congratulations on being the first person to leave Blue Star," Claire said, leading her to the room that had been arranged for her. "After the ship takes off, you can go to the observation deck to see your beautiful planet."
Yu Zhiyao nodded her thanks.
As the starship passed through the atmosphere, left Blue Star behind, and entered the sea of stars, Yu Zhiyao stood on the observation deck, quietly watching her home planet shrink into the distance.
She opened her right hand and gently pressed it against the viewport.
A new life begins. May we meet again among the stars.
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