103: Chapter 103 The Commander-in-Chief's Father?

The classroom exploded.

Not a normal explosion.

It was the kind of explosion where the Homeroom Teacher was still standing on the podium, but the students were already preparing to hold a funeral for their foreign language class.

A second ago, the notification on the screen was still hanging there quietly.

The next second, Senior Year Class 2 was in a complete uproar.

"Foreign language is gone?"

"For real?"

"I don't have to memorize vocabulary anymore?!"

"Reading comprehension is dead, cloze tests are dead, and listening is dead too?!"

"Holy crap, what kind of day is this? This is a monumental day in Daxia's educational history!"

Li Hao was the first to rush to the side of the podium, bracing his hands on the desk, his entire person nearly deforming from excitement.

"Teacher!"

The Homeroom Teacher looked at him, her expression as complex as if she had just experienced a major career accident.

No.

Not 'as if'.

It was.

Li Hao's face was solemn, as if he were not making a request, but petitioning for some great cause.

"Can I take the last English test paper home to enshrine it?"

The Homeroom Teacher was silent for two seconds.

"When you scored twenty-seven points in the past, I didn't see you respecting it this much."

Li Hao slapped his chest, full of righteous confidence.

"Before, it was the enemy."

"Now, it's a corpse."

He paused and added, "One must have basic respect for the deceased."

The Homeroom Teacher: "..."

Chu Youwei covered her forehead, feeling her temples throbbing.

She seriously suspected that Li Hao would sooner or later be targeted by some kind of Rule-based Strange Tales because his mouth was too consistently annoying.

Su Yun sat in his seat, head bowed, slowly folding that English test paper.

His movements were very light, very careful.

As if he were putting away a verdict that had already expired.

Inside his body, something wriggled slightly.

A trace of extremely subtle satisfaction.

Not because of the humans' cheering.

But because... something he loathed had disappeared.

This feeling was strange.

Su Yun blinked.

Forget it.

Don't think about it.

Anyway, it wasn't him who did it.

Gu Lang sat nearby, his face as dark as if he had just been shoved into a sewer on the spot.

He stared at Su Yun, his eyes full of accusation.

"Did you know about this beforehand?"

Su Yun looked up and glanced at him.

"Know what?"

Gu Lang lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard.

"That foreign language would be cancelled."

Su Yun thought for a moment, his tone very calm.

"I definitely don't know as much as you."

Gu Lang: "..."

What did that mean?

Did he really not know?

Or was he mocking him, a lure sent by High Command, for being less informed than a high school student?

Gu Lang couldn't tell.

But both possibilities made him very uncomfortable.

Li Hao heard this and jerked his head around.

His expression changed bit by bit.

First, surprise.

Then, shock.

Then, sudden realization.

Su Yun had seen that kind of realization before.

It usually appeared right before Li Hao was about to spout some earth-shattering theory.

Sure enough.

Li Hao looked at the big screen.

Then looked at Su Yun.

Then looked at the sentence Su Yun had just written on his desk: My dream is no English.

Li Hao suddenly gasped.

"Brother Yun."

Su Yun: "?"

Li Hao's voice was trembling slightly.

"Foreign language wasn't actually cancelled because of you, was it?"

The classroom went silent instantly.

Those who were cheering just a moment ago all turned back.

All eyes fell on Su Yun.

Even the Homeroom Teacher froze for a moment.

Before Su Yun could open his mouth, Li Hao had already completed the logical chain himself.

"You just finished writing your dream."

"The Ministry of Education issued a notification."

"This is not a coincidence."

"This is called reaching the ears of the heavens."

Chu Youwei's eyelid twitched.

"Li Hao, you used an idiom correctly, and I'm a bit unaccustomed to it."

Li Hao ignored her completely, having entered his own Universe of deduction.

"Brother Yun, does your family have connections with High Command?"

"No."

"The connections aren't that strong."

"Your father must be the Commander-in-Chief!"

Suddenly, someone in the classroom exclaimed.

"Commander Li Zhenshan?"

Li Hao slapped the desk.

"Exactly!"

"No wonder Brother Yun is usually so calm."

"Because he isn't a second-generation Saint Realm kid at all."

"He's a second-generation High Command kid!"

Su Yun looked at him, silent for half a second.

"Do you want to listen to what you're saying?"

Li Hao became more and more excited as he spoke, even starting to gesture with his hands.

"I get it."

"The Saintess Token, the Investigation Bureau's apology, the Dark Blade kidnapping incident being fine, foreign language being cancelled directly—"

"Everything is explained!"

"Brother Yun, you're not from an ordinary family."

"You have an ordinary national background!"

The whole class: "!!!"

Someone had already started clapping.

Not in mockery.

But sincerely feeling that what Li Hao said made sense.

Gu Lang sat nearby, his entire expression going blank.

For the first time, he felt that although Li Hao was unreliable with his mouth, in a certain sense, he was actually very close to the truth.

It's just that the direction was skewed all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Chu Youwei raised a hand to interrupt.

"Li Hao."

Li Hao: "What?"

Chu Youwei asked very seriously.

"If your father were the Commander-in-Chief, and you asked him to cancel foreign language, what would he do?"

Li Hao froze.

He thought seriously for three seconds.

Then his face turned heavy.

"He would break my legs first."

Chu Youwei nodded.

"And then?"

Li Hao continued to twist the knife.

"Then make me write a one-thousand-word self-reflection in English."

Chu Youwei: "So?"

Li Hao was stunned.

"Then how do you explain this?"

The whole class looked at Su Yun again.

Su Yun picked up his water cup and took a slow sip.

"Is there a possibility."

Everyone immediately pricked up their ears.

Su Yun's tone was as calm as if he were talking about what to have for lunch today.

"Daxia finally discovered that foreign language affects the physical and mental health of teenagers."

The Homeroom Teacher stood on the podium and sneered.

"Then why did they discover it exactly today?"

Su Yun: "It means Daxia grew up today."

The Homeroom Teacher: "..."

She wanted to refute.

But she had just become unemployed.

For a moment, she didn't know how to speak.

Gu Lang finally couldn't help it.

He looked at Li Hao, his tone ghostly.

"Is there another possibility."

Li Hao immediately looked at him.

"What?"

Gu Lang was expressionless, as if announcing some major conclusion.

"He is not the son of High Command."

"He might be the father of High Command."

The classroom was silent for half a second.

Immediately after—

"Holy crap!"

"Makes sense!"

"More reasonable than a second-generation High Command kid!"

"No wonder the notification came so fast!"

"With one word from Brother Yun, the Ministry of Education worked overtime all night!"

"It's not that his connections are strong; he himself is the ceiling!"

In an instant, the whole class exploded into a second wave of climax.

Su Yun turned his head to look at Gu Lang.

"Are you very free?"

Gu Lang immediately shut his mouth.

He had just been mentally broken and said it on impulse.

Being mentally broken doesn't count as disobeying orders, right?

Su Yun narrowed his eyes, his tone quite serious.

"Do your superiors know you're badmouthing them like this?"

Gu Lang: "..."

Whether they know or not, isn't it up to me to decide...

Li Hao had completely believed it.

He rushed to Su Yun's side, hands clasped together, his face full of piety.

"Brother Yun."

Su Yun: "What now?"

There was almost light in Li Hao's eyes.

"Can you loathe mathematics a bit more?"

"Just a tiny bit more."

The mathematics class representative stood up abruptly.

"Li Hao, shut up!"

The physics class representative also stood up.

"Loathe physics first! Physics is the thing that is anti-human!"

The chemistry class representative slapped the desk.

"Chemistry is the most damn thing! Organic chemistry is practically a Strange Tale!"

The Homeroom Teacher "slapped" the podium, her voice several degrees colder than usual.

"All of you, sit down!"

The whole class sat back down in unison.

The Homeroom Teacher looked at this group of people, her expression as cold as if she were sentencing them.

"Foreign language is gone, but that doesn't mean the college entrance exam is gone."

"You're just dying one subject less."

"It doesn't mean you don't have to die."

The atmosphere, which had been so excited it was about to fly, cooled down instantly.

Li Hao shrank back into his seat, muttering softly.

"After the teacher became unemployed, she speaks even more like a Strange Tale."

The Homeroom Teacher looked at him.

"Li Hao."

Li Hao stood up straight immediately.

"Here!"

The Homeroom Teacher was expressionless.

"Before school ends today, write an eight-hundred-word essay."

Li Hao breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thankfully, it's not English."

The Homeroom Teacher: "The title is 'The Story I Have to Tell with Foreign Language'."

Li Hao: "..."

He slowly turned his head to look at Su Yun, his voice sounding weak.

"Brother Yun, save me."

Su Yun spread his hands.

"I am only responsible for sending foreign language away."

"Inheritance disputes are not my concern."

Chu Youwei couldn't help it and laughed a little.

Gu Lang lowered his head and sent a message quietly.

[Captain Jiang, campus perception has begun to shift.]

[The whole class suspects that Su Yun is the father of High Command.]

After the message was sent, less than three seconds later, Captain Jiang replied.

[Do not agree.]

Gu Lang looked at his own sentence from just now, "the father of High Command", and fell into a brief silence.

Strictly speaking.

He was the one who said that first.

Is it too late to recall it now?

He glanced at the message history.

...

Linhai Investigation Bureau, underground conference room.

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo looked at the message Gu Lang sent, the corner of his mouth twitching for a long time without recovering.

"Captain Jiang."

"Should we issue a clarification?"

Captain Jiang sat at the table, his face as calm as a piece of iron without temperature.

"Clarify what?"

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo pointed at the screen.

"Clarify that Su Yun is not the father of High Command."

Captain Jiang raised his eyes to look at him.

"Do you have evidence?"

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo: "..."

That question was too ruthless.

Ye Zhiwei sat quietly to the side, white cloth covering her eyes, her voice very light.

"From an administrative relationship, of course he is not."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo just let out a sigh of relief.

Ye Zhiwei added another sentence.

"But in terms of risk management priority, he is currently indeed higher than most of High Command's topics."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo: "..."

Fine.

Let's rephrase.

Not a father.

Better than a father.

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo picked up his thermos and took a sip.

As a result, as soon as it entered his mouth, he put it down again.

He still hadn't figured it out.

"Did High Command really approve the cancellation of foreign language?"

Captain Jiang nodded.

"A temporary adjustment."

"Not a permanent abolition."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo frowned.

"The notification didn't say that."

Captain Jiang said, "The notification needs to stabilize emotions."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo looked at him, his tone starting to sound weak.

"Stabilize whose emotions?"

Captain Jiang didn't speak.

But Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo understood.

Stabilize Su Yun's emotions.

He rubbed his temples.

"In my twenty-seven years of service, this is the first time I've heard of the Ministry of Education changing the college entrance exam overnight just to avoid stimulating a suspected taboo existence."

Ye Zhiwei said, "It's not changing the college entrance exam."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo: "Then what is it?"

Ye Zhiwei's tone was calm.

"Cutting off the abnormal inducement."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo's mouth twitched.

"Who did foreign language provoke?"

Captain Jiang raised his eyes, his voice flat yet heavy.

"It caused Su Yun to have a fluctuation in his status."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo immediately shut his mouth.

This reason was too solid.

So solid that if the Ministry of Education didn't approve it, it would be like treason.

On the conference screen, the on-site report that Gu Lang just sent back was still displayed.

[After the target contacted English reading comprehension, the surrounding temperature dropped.]

[Low-sequence core showed near-death reaction.]

[Suspected high-status disgust triggered.]

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo stared at those lines for a long while before slowly speaking.

"Captain Jiang, to be honest."

"Do you believe Su Yun is The Rancher?"

The conference room went quiet.

Captain Jiang had a dark gold spear by his side.

The spear body didn't move.

But the indoor lights did indeed dim a little.

"There is no conclusive evidence."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo frowned.

"Don't those things mentioned by Gu Lang count?"

Captain Jiang said calmly, "They can only prove he is abnormal."

"They cannot prove he is The Rancher."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo choked.

Ye Zhiwei took over, her tone still soft, but terrifyingly calm.

"Logically, the core loop is still missing."

"We haven't seen Su Yun turn into The Rancher."

"We haven't detected a Strange Tales core inside him."

"We haven't captured his spatial trajectory returning from the East Sea to the classroom."

"And there is no way to prove that his personal will directly influences High Command's decisions."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo looked at her.

"Isn't the last one what we did ourselves?"

Ye Zhiwei nodded.

"So it can't be considered evidence of him."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo: "..."

That makes sense.

But it's even more outrageous.

Captain Jiang said, "Even if he really is."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo looked at him.

Captain Jiang continued.

"We can't move now."

"We can't interrogate him."

"We can't go public."

"We can't use Su Yao to stimulate him."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo asked in a deep voice, "Then what do we do?"

Captain Jiang gripped the dark gold spear by his side, his voice as cold and hard as iron.

"Prevent possible dangers."

Ye Zhiwei's face, covered by the white cloth, turned slightly towards Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo, her voice still very light.

"Chen Jianguo Chen, suddenly cancelling the foreign language subject is a double-edged sword."

"Although it cut off the inducement that might stimulate the target's fluctuation, at the same time, it will also drastically affect the emotions of hundreds of millions of people in Daxia."

Captain Jiang's eyes darkened slightly, his tone becoming more detailed, calm to the point of being cruel.

"Including countless foreign language teachers who lost their jobs instantly, the massive education and training industry practitioners facing collapse, examinees who lost their years of learning advantages due to subject adjustments, and those parents who fell into extreme anxiety and resentment."

"The panic, anger, and confusion of hundreds of millions of people intertwined, the total amount of negative emotions generated is immeasurable."

He paused, his voice dropping a few degrees, but becoming more oppressive.

"In the current Abyss Active Period, this scale of collective emotional tsunami is highly likely to directly spawn a brand new S-class, or even higher-level, Rule-based Strange Tale in a short period."

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo's hand holding the thermos shook violently.

The hot water inside almost splashed out.

He widened his eyes, looking at the two people in front of him in disbelief, and exclaimed:

"Then why did you do it?!"

"Isn't this actively creating a Strange Tale!"

The lights in the underground conference room seemed to dim for a moment.

Captain Jiang stood in the shadows, his expression suffocatingly calm.

After two seconds, he slowly spat out a sentence:

"This is also a kind of test."