98: Chapter 98 Changes in the Visiting Season and Saiwei's Fiancée

When the schedule for the Visiting Season was sent to every student's terminal, Luo Lan was squatting in the dormitory hallway, trying to tease a passing mechanical cleaning ball with an energy bar—the thing was round, flashing with blue light, and looked quite like the hamster he had raised when he was a child.

"Hey, don't run away, buddy, I'm treating you to a snack..." Luo Lan chased the cleaning ball around the corner and collided head-on with a Guide who was carrying a stack of paper documents.

Documents scattered all over the floor.

"Sorry, sorry!" Luo Lan helped pick them up in a flurry, his eyes glancing at the title of the topmost document: "The 214th Ten Thousand Races Alliance Academy Visiting Season Schedule (Revised Edition)."

"Oh? The schedule changed?" He became interested.

The Guide was a young scholar wearing glasses; he adjusted his crooked gold-rimmed glasses and sighed, "Yes, there won't be any student sparring this year."

"What?" Luo Lan's movements paused, "No fighting? Then what are we here for? A group tour?"

"It's been changed to 'Battlefield Trials'." The Guide organized the documents and pulled one out to hand to Luo Lan, "Here, see for yourself."

"After the seven-day exchange visit, all delegations will transfer to a 'Trial Planet' for simulated real-combat exercises on joint defense against the Infector."

Luo Lan scanned it quickly, his eyebrows raised high: "Won 47 consecutive times... Is our Blazing Dragon Federation that fierce?"

"To be precise, it's 'used to' have won 47 consecutive times." The Guide pushed up his glasses, his tone carrying a hint of complexity, "But because the Blazing Dragon Federation won too much, starting fifty years ago, the sparring events slowly started to lose their original meaning."

"Some delegations, in order to win, started to deliberately cultivate 'solo-type' talents—the kind that are invincible in small-scale confrontations but are of little use on an interstellar battlefield."

"However, in the last session, your Chu Xinghe still crushed the entire field."

He paused and lowered his voice: "Now the Blazing Dragon Federation wins too much, and other delegations have strong opinions."

"Last year, the Holy Alliance and Olympia jointly proposed to cancel the sparring, and it was finally passed this year."

Luo Lan clicked his tongue: "So now it's... if you can't beat them, change the rules?"

"You can't put it that way." The Guide said sternly, "'Battlefield Trials' are closer to actual combat needs and can test teamwork, tactical command, and adaptability to large-scale battlefields."

"This is the direction the assessment should take in a time of war."

"Fine." Luo Lan returned the document and clapped his hands, "Anyway, I'm just a worker, I'll do whatever the higher-ups say."

"Then what are we doing for these seven days of exchange visits? We can't just have tea parties every day, right?"

"Tours, lectures, technical exchanges, and also..." The Guide flipped through the schedule, "The first stop is the Holy Brilliance Purity Biologics R&D Group."

Luo Lan was stunned for a moment.

"Biologics... Group?" His expression was a bit strange, "Aren't we a military academy delegation? Why are we visiting a pharmaceutical company?"

"Holy Brilliance Purity is not an ordinary pharmaceutical company." A trace of awe flashed in the Guide's eyes, "It is the largest and most technologically advanced biological and genetic research institution in the current universe, bar none."

"The Pope himself holds shares, and one-third of the Holy Alliance military's biotechnology comes from here; your Yanlong Alliance uses quite a bit of it too, such as the blocking vaccine for the Infector."

Luo Lan stroked his chin, thoughtful: "Sounds... pretty impressive."

"Can I get a free check-up? I've been feeling like my lower back isn't doing well lately."

Guide: "..."

He decided to ignore this question, hugged the documents, and walked away quickly.

Luo Lan stood where he was, watching the Guide's back, and looked down at the schedule that had just synced to his terminal.

"Holy Brilliance Purity..." He repeated the name softly.

"Doesn't sound like a good place. I'll bring the news back and see if Xiao Yizi has any findings."

---

Before the visit officially began, there were three days of free time.

In Sai Wei's words, this was called "free scouting time"—familiarizing oneself with the environment in advance, figuring out potential opponents, and incidentally seeing which cafeteria had good food.

He fully utilized his "local snake" advantage, dragging Li Yuan, Laya, Elia, and Luo Lan to tour the entire St. Alburn Glory Academy.

The first "visit" was naturally the Olympia delegation.

Leading the team was a young female student with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a noble and elegant temperament—Ansevier Krol.

Sai Wei's cousin.

And fiancée.

When Sai Wei led everyone to the Olympia delegation's quarters and Ansevier walked out of the room, Li Yuan witnessed firsthand what "reflexive hair-raising" was.

"Sai Wei~" Ansevier's eyes lit up, and she opened her arms to hug him.

Sai Wei looked like he had been electrocuted, jumping back a large step with a "whoosh," hiding behind Luo Lan, only poking out half his head, his voice slightly distorted: "You, don't come over! Keep a safe distance! Three meters! No, five meters!"

Ansevier stopped in her tracks, blinked those beautiful blue eyes, her expression a bit aggrieved: "Sai Wei, we haven't seen each other for so long, don't you miss me?"

"I miss you so much that I have nightmares every day!" Sai Wei gritted his teeth, "I still remember the time you struck my hair with lightning when you were seven!"

"That was an accident..." Ansevier defended softly, "And didn't I help you grow your hair back later..."

"It grew back! But it took half a month! I wore a hat every day for half a month! I was laughed at by the whole academy!" Sai Wei became more agitated as he spoke, "And when you were ten! You said you wanted to try out your newly learned healing spell! As a result, you attached my leg backwards! I was limping for three days!"

"Didn't I fix it in the end..."

"Twelve years old! You used me to test your newly developed 'Thunder Energy Bar'! I had diarrhea for a week!"

"That... the nutritionist said detoxification is a normal reaction..."

"Fifteen years old! You said you wanted to practice 'Holy Shelter' and locked me inside an energy barrier for six hours! I almost suffocated!"

Ansevier's face turned redder and redder, and finally she muttered: "That, those were all things from when we were kids... I'm very steady now..."

Li Yuan's mouth twitched as he listened from the side.

Laya tugged on his sleeve and asked in a low voice: "Master, are they flirting?"

"No," Li Yuan said expressionlessly, "This is stating a criminal record from childhood."

Finally, Luo Lan couldn't watch anymore and cleared his throat to interrupt this "bitterness recollection meeting": "Sai Wei, introduce us."

Only then did Sai Wei reluctantly walk out from behind Luo Lan, and then he was grabbed by the arm by Ansevier.

"This person," he pointed to Ansevier, his tone like introducing some dangerous item, "Ansevier Krol, my cousin, and... fiancée."

"S-rank talent [Thunder Oracle], third year at Olympia Royal Academy, team leader of this delegation."

He pointed to his own side: "North Star Central Military Academy delegation from the Blazing Dragon Federation, you know these few, these two are new friends, Li Yuan and Laya."

Ansevier immediately resumed her elegant posture and nodded slightly to Li Yuan and Laya: "Nice to meet you. Sai Wei mentioned you in his letters, saying your experiences on Edge Star No. 7 were... very exciting."

Her gaze lingered on Laya for a second longer, a flash of curiosity in her eyes, but she quickly moved it away.

Li Yuan keenly captured that trace of curiosity.

It seems Sai Wei didn't hold back on "spilling the tea" in his letters.

In the following days, Ansevier was indeed as "steady" as she said, not engaging in "physical intimacy" with Sai Wei again, but occasionally looked at him with that "kind but nostalgic" gaze, which made Sai Wei's hair stand on end.

As Chu Xinghe later heard the evaluation: "The way your cousin looks at you is like looking at a cub she raised herself, even if this cub is a bit rebellious."

Sai Wei: "..."

"Get lost."