108: Chapter 108 No...it's not my mother's best friend...

"Dean... Mei?" Lu Cheng paused, feeling a bit confused.

Mei Wushuang stood not far away. Her white uniform looked cold and detached under the morning light. Her features were beautiful, but it was a cold, distant beauty.

She simply watched Lu Cheng, her gaze drifting from his brows and eyes down to his subconscious action of scratching his head, her expression momentarily dazed.

"Like..." "Truly too much like him."

Lu Cheng froze for a moment. "Who?"

Mei Wushuang remained silent for a moment, then whispered, "Him."

After saying this, she turned around. "It seems you don't know anything at all." "Come with me."

Lu Cheng glanced back at Xia Xi and the others. Xia Xi immediately made a "go ahead, don't worry" gesture, though her face was full of gossip.

Lu Cheng's mouth twitched, but he followed her anyway.

The Mechanical Institute was located on the north side of the academy.

To get there from the playground, one had to cross a silver-white covered bridge.

There were no walls on either side of the bridge, only a layer of pale blue energy shielding. As the mountain wind blew, fine ripples spread across the surface of the shield.

Lu Cheng looked down and his eyelids twitched. Below was a massive mechanical testing ground.

Dozens of mechanical arms were automatically assembling tactical armor. Metal skeletons hung in mid-air, while components flew in like a school of fish, precisely embedding themselves into joints, chest plates, and energy slots.

Mei Wushuang said indifferently, "These are just student projects."

The office was on the top floor of the main building of the Mechanical Institute.

When the elevator doors opened, a vast space appeared before Lu Cheng's eyes.

Beyond the transparent dome was a panoramic view of the entire Navigator Academy. The distant mountains lay in the morning mist, and the silver-white buildings looked like skeletons embedded in the fog—cold, rigid, and beautiful.

The office itself was very minimalist: a long black table, floating bookshelves, a huge data light screen, and a few white plants with petals as thin as paper.

A beautiful girl stood by the door. She wore a light gray uniform and had delicate features. Seeing the two of them enter, she bowed slightly. "Dean, the tea is ready."

The girl brought the tea over, her movements so natural there wasn't the slightest hint of stiffness. Just as Lu Cheng was about to thank her, Mei Wushuang, who had already sat down behind the long table, spoke indifferently, "She is just a robot."

Lu Cheng's hand holding the tea stiffened.

He looked up sharply and scrutinized the girl again. Her breathing, expression, gaze, movements, and even the frequency of her eyelashes fluttering were just like a real person.

Damn. Robots can actually be this realistic?

Mei Wushuang looked up at him. "Don't get the wrong idea." "This generation of bionic machines is mainly used for battlefield rescue, psychological counseling, and substitute operations in high-risk environments."

The office quieted down.

Mei Wushuang didn't rush to speak, simply sitting behind the long table and watching Lu Cheng. Lu Cheng felt a bit unnerved by her gaze.

After a long while, Mei Wushuang finally spoke. "You are Lu Cheng?" "Yes." "Your mother is Chu Mu?" "Yes..." "How is she doing now?"

Lu Cheng's eyes lit up. This was a sure win! He had already thought of the title for his next power-fantasy novel: "My Mother's Best Friend is Actually the Dean of a Top University!"

Lu Cheng immediately put on a sensible smile. "She's quite well. Thanks to you, her spirit has been a bit better lately."

Upon hearing this, Mei Wushuang suddenly made a soft sound. "Tsk."

Lu Cheng: "?" He suspected he had misheard. It must be an illusion, right? Please, it must be an illusion!

Mei Wushuang leaned back in her chair, her previously dignified and cold demeanor seemingly tossed aside. She gestured with her hand, and the robot beside her immediately produced a thin cigarette and handed it to her. Mei Wushuang held it between her lips, and a small mechanical arm reached out, clicking to light it for her.

Smoke rose, carrying a hint of bitter wood fragrance. Lu Cheng felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest as he watched.

Mei Wushuang looked at him through the smoke. "Looking at you, kid, it's true that you don't know anything."

Lu Cheng laughed dryly. "Dean Mei, what are you referring to?"

Mei Wushuang said calmly, "Simply put..." "Your mother..." "Is my..." She paused. Lu Cheng sat up straight subconsciously. "Love rival."

Crack. Lu Cheng almost crushed the teacup in his hand. At that moment, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning from head to toe, charred on the outside and tender on the inside, his soul practically smoking.

A love rival? Whose love rival? His mother's love rival?

No wonder Chu Mu said to only go to Mei Wushuang if he had a problem he couldn't solve. So this wasn't a best friend. This was his father's old flame.

Mei Wushuang continued, "If your father had been willing to listen to me back then, he wouldn't have disappeared without a trace now..."

"Since you've come to this place, it means that Chu Mu... trusts you quite a lot..." "Hmm, your combat record and resume are even more impressive than I imagined. You truly are his son..."

"However, you must be careful. Since you have appeared in the public eye with such a profile, then... those people will definitely turn their focus toward you..."

"Presumably, you have already felt the extraordinary nature within your body..."

Lu Cheng frowned slightly. Could it be that she was referring to Hextech?? Could his transmigration and the system all be related to Lu Changfeng?

Lu Cheng immediately said, "Aunt Mei... I really don't know about the past. Can you tell me about it?"

Looking at Lu Cheng's eyes, Mei Wushuang couldn't help but be flooded with memories.

"Your father, Lu Changfeng, and I were childhood sweethearts. We met at three, started school together at six, entered the Imperial Youth Camp at sixteen, and went to the front lines for practical training together at eighteen."

"If it weren't for Chu Mu, many things wouldn't have ended up the way they did."

Her tone was very calm. But the calmer she was, the colder Lu Cheng's back felt.

Lu Cheng could only bite the bullet and laugh. "Hahaha... Dean Mei, the world is unpredictable. Who can say for sure about things like feelings..."

Mei Wushuang looked up at him. "Too alike." She clicked her tongue again. "Even the way you dodge the question is the same as his."

Lu Cheng immediately shut his mouth. At this point, saying anything more would just be digging his own grave.

Mei Wushuang flicked the ash, and a mechanical arm immediately reached out from mid-air to collect it.

"When your father was a child, he was a little bastard." "Sleeping in class, late for training, climbing over walls to buy candied haws only to get caught and leave me there alone..."

"Back then, there were many children from noble families in the capital, and everyone claimed to be a genius." "But... all those geniuses thought Lu Changfeng was a genius."

"There was one time during the Youth Camp assessment, the instructor told us to cross a simulated wasteland within three days. Everyone obediently looked for routes, collected supplies, and avoided exotic beasts."

"Only Lu Changfeng dismantled the master control array of the simulated wasteland on the first night."

Lu Cheng was stunned. "Dismantled it?"

"Yes." Mei Wushuang's tone was flat. "He said that since the goal was to reach the finish line, the fastest way wasn't to find the path, but to make the finish line come to him."

Lu Cheng was silent. "And then?"

"Later, the entire simulated wasteland went out of control, and over a dozen instructors went in overnight to catch him. He led our squad alone, fighting his way through half the examination area in reverse."

Mei Wushuang paused. "Before he had even awakened, just by relying on thermal weapons... he gave those instructors who were in the Pulse Opening or even the Hua Hai Realm a headache."

Lu Cheng felt a slight tremor in his heart.

Mei Wushuang's voice slowed down. "We only met Chu Mu when we entered the selection for the Navigator Academy..."

"She wasn't from the capital, nor was she from a noble family. When we first met, she was wearing a pair of old, washed-out shoes and carrying the lowest-level military-issued bag."

"Those noble children looked down on her." "But Chu Mu was also a genius, a hardworking genius..."

"Others practiced a martial technique once; she practiced it ten times. When others were sleeping, she was still practicing." "When others felt they had reached their limit, she could still take another step forward. She quickly became one of the top individuals among the Navigator Academy candidates..."

Lu Cheng listened quietly. He rarely heard his mother talk about her youth. His mother was just an ordinary woman now; even Lu Cheng hadn't known she was a martial artist...

"Later, during a wasteland practical training, Chu Mu was trapped in a ruined city by a swarm of exotic beasts to save a few students who were holding everyone back."

"By the time we arrived, Chu Mu had been holding out in a ruined building for a day and a night. She was covered in blood, the blade in her hand was chipped, yet she still shielded those students behind her."

"It was also after that time that the way Lu Changfeng looked at her changed."

The office quieted down. Mei Wushuang withdrew her gaze.

"Later, your father became stronger and stronger." "Suppressing ruins, repelling alien races, rebuilding the northern defense line, and entering the War Emperor Realm at thirty." "In that era, almost no one could overshadow his radiance." "Some people said that as long as Lu Changfeng didn't die, the Dragon Kingdom could be stable for at least fifty years."

Then why did such a person disappear? Lu Cheng was confused... and... he had never heard of any so-called Lu family in the capital...

"Curious why, right?" "He was too smart and yet too stupid... He could have just pretended not to know anything, but he insisted on becoming the leader... If he had listened to me back then and stayed calm for just one more year, perhaps things wouldn't have ended up like this now..."

Mei Wushuang looked at him, her eyes deepening slightly. "Is your talent really only F-rank?"

Lu Cheng nodded.

Mei Wushuang stared at him for a long time. A moment later, she frowned slightly, then slowly relaxed. "That's fine too." "Talent does not determine the future."

Mei Wushuang didn't give him a chance to ask further questions, simply saying calmly, "In short, there isn't much I can tell you, just some love stories between the older generation. Today, I just saw the likeness of an old friend, and you really are the child of an old friend, so I thought I'd catch up."

"Since you have come to the Navigator Academy selection... I won't let anything happen to you here..." "And you just need to take down all those guys who fancy themselves geniuses... On this point, you are doing very well so far..."