146: Chapter 146 An Invitation from the Education Bureau? A New Hextech!

Lu Cheng tidied up a little and took Chu Xiuxiu out for a stroll.

The little girl had changed into clean clothes, a white T-shirt paired with dark blue pants. Her hair was tied into two little braids, and she followed half a step behind Lu Cheng, eyes darting around, incredibly curious about everything around her.

The campus of Navigator Academy was far larger than she had imagined.

Chu Xiuxiu stared with wide eyes.

"Brother Lu Cheng, what is that floating in the sky?"

"A light screen, used for broadcasting news."

"What is that big house for?"

"The library."

Chu Xiuxiu made an 'oh' sound, then pointed at another building and asked: "What about that one?"

Lu Cheng looked in the direction her finger was pointing: "The canteen."

"Is the canteen this big?" Chu Xiuxiu's mouth formed an O shape.

"Yes, besides students at the school, soldiers executing missions in the surrounding area can also come here to eat. It's open to the public..."

The two walked forward along the main road, and the number of students on the road gradually increased.

Some recognized Lu Cheng and stopped to greet him, while others cast their gaze on Chu Xiuxiu.

Their eyes were filled with curiosity.

Not long after, they ran into Zhou Jinan head-on.

The kid was wearing a training suit with a towel draped over his shoulders, his hair wet—clearly, he had just come from the training ground.

"Holy crap, Lu Cheng, what's going on?" Zhou Jinan walked over quickly, sizing up Chu Xiuxiu several times, "Who is this little girl?"

Lu Cheng patted Chu Xiuxiu on the shoulder: "My sister, Chu Xiuxiu. She will be living at the academy for a while."

Chu Xiuxiu shrank half a step behind Lu Cheng, her fingers gripping his shirt hem tightening slightly. She lowered her head and didn't speak.

Zhou Jinan scratched the back of his head. He could tell the little girl was a bit shy, so he didn't crowd her, just grinned:

"Not bad, Lu Cheng. She's so cute. You didn't kidnap her from somewhere, did you?"

"Just kidding, this is my sister from different parents," Lu Cheng laughed.

Zhou Jinan nodded and said: "If you need any help, just give me a shout."

As they were talking, Tao Jiansheng walked over from another path.

He was holding a stack of documents in his hands, wearing thin-rimmed glasses, still looking as scholarly as ever. Seeing Lu Cheng, he stopped and adjusted his glasses.

"Lu Cheng, you're back?" Tao Jiansheng's gaze paused on Chu Xiuxiu for a moment, then he looked at Lu Cheng, waiting for an introduction.

"My sister, Chu Xiuxiu," Lu Cheng repeated, "She will be living at the academy for the time being."

Tao Jiansheng nodded and gave Chu Xiuxiu a gentle smile: "Hello, I am Tao Jiansheng."

Chu Xiuxiu looked up at him, said a very quiet "Hello," and then lowered her head again.

They met classmates from the Shengwu Society on the road, and Lu Cheng introduced Chu Xiuxiu to them one by one.

Just then, the terminal on Lu Cheng's wrist vibrated.

He looked down and saw a message pop up on the screen, from Mei Wushuang: "Come to my office."

The message was very brief, without even an emoji.

Lu Cheng put away his terminal and patted Chu Xiuxiu on the shoulder: "Xiuxiu, Brother has something to deal with. Will you go back with Sister Shuying first?"

Chu Xiuxiu looked up at him, her lips moving as if she wanted to ask something, but in the end, she just nodded.

"Good girl." Lu Cheng ruffled her hair, then opened his terminal and sent a message to Qian Shuying: "Shuying, please come pick up Xiuxiu."

Qian Shuying replied very quickly: "Be there in a minute."

In less than three minutes, Qian Shuying walked over from the villa area.

Seeing Chu Xiuxiu, she bent down and reached out to the little girl.

"Xiuxiu, come back with me."

Chu Xiuxiu hesitated for a moment, then placed her hand into Qian Shuying's palm.

Lu Cheng nodded at Qian Shuying and turned to walk towards the administration building.

Mei Wushuang's office...

"You're here."

Lu Cheng walked in and closed the door behind him.

Mei Wushuang leaned back in her chair, hands folded in front of her. She sized up Lu Cheng for a few seconds, then spoke.

"You kid..."

She paused, her tone carrying a hint of helplessness.

"How many more surprises do you need to bring me before you're done?"

Lu Cheng grinned and pulled out a chair to sit down: "Auntie Mei, this is just basic operation."

"Basic operation?" Mei Wushuang raised an eyebrow. She was having trouble keeping up with the way kids thought these days.

Mei Wushuang shook her head and didn't dwell on this topic.

She reached out and pressed something on the table. A small silver-white robotic arm nearby immediately sprang into action, took a ceramic teacup from the cabinet, placed it steadily in front of Lu Cheng, and poured a cup of tea from a thermos.

The tea was steaming, and the fragrance of tea wafted through the air.

Lu Cheng picked up the teacup and took a sip; the temperature was just right.

"I called you here this time..." Mei Wushuang paused and pushed the light screen at her side toward Lu Cheng, "mainly for one thing."

Lu Cheng put down the teacup and looked at the light screen.

It was a document with the joint seal of the Federal Education Bureau and Navigator Academy printed at the top.

"The National High School Competition is about to start. The Education Bureau hopes to select a suitable candidate from our Navigator Academy," Mei Wushuang tapped a line of text on the document with her finger, "to be a special guest commentator."

"The academy plans to expand its influence over the next two years, so we have agreed to this." Mei Wushuang's gaze landed on Lu Cheng's face.

"The academy hopes you can appear as this guest."

National High School Competition, he knew it.

This was the largest high school martial arts tournament in the entire federation, broadcast live by media in all major cities. Being selected as a guest commentator meant appearing in front of audiences across the entire federation. The influence went without saying, but at the same time, he would be pushed to the forefront of the storm.

"Why me?" Lu Cheng asked.

Mei Wushuang, as if she had expected him to ask this, held up two fingers.

"For one thing."

"You are the strongest among the selected students and have already locked in a spot in the top 24. In terms of strength alone, you have no rival among your peers..."

"On the other hand."

Mei Wushuang's voice deepened a little.

"We hope to push you to the forefront as the most influential person of the new generation."

"If you hadn't brought me this surprise, I might not have wanted you to be exposed to the public eye so early, but now, the timing is just right."

Mei Wushuang continued, her voice lowering further.

"The organization that captured your father is called Origin. They have been capturing highly talented individuals to become test subjects.

Through these highly talented individuals, they can cultivate 'biochemical humans' with equal talent..."

"They continuously supply these biochemical humans to certain aristocratic families while helping their descendants improve their talent."

"The price is the blood of countless civilians."

"In the early days, some people at the top held opposing views, while others supported it.

However, because of the tight situation on the front lines, they tacitly accepted this behavior."

"The principal couldn't stand this kind of thing, so he founded Navigator Academy to protect those talented students from harm.

This also angered Origin, but they couldn't openly do anything against the principal who is in the Saint Realm."

"Later on, as your father rose to prominence, more and more civilians and families who treated people as people began to oppose it.

Your father also became a thorn in their side."

"Origin kept sending people to intercept and kill Lu Changfeng."

"However, he handled everything."

Mei Wushuang paused, moving her gaze from the light screen to Lu Cheng's face.

"We originally intended to gather more people, wait for Lu Changfeng to break through to the War King Realm, and for the pressure on the border to lessen before settling scores with Origin.

It's just that before we could make preparations, we suddenly received news that Lu Changfeng had destroyed one of Origin's bases."

"What happened afterward was that Lu Changfeng and an Origin War King entered a spatial rift together, and there has been no news since."

"And on our side, because of Lu Changfeng's disappearance, we lost our anchor. Some personnel left, and we had to shelve the liquidation plan."

The office was quiet for a few seconds.

Lu Cheng put down the teacup. The bottom of the ceramic cup touched the tabletop, making a very light sound.

"So you need me to stand up and become the anchor of the new generation, and declare to those who have already left that I am Lu Changfeng's son?"

He looked up, meeting Mei Wushuang's eyes.

"At the same time... I am also bait, right?"

Mei Wushuang nodded without hiding it.

"This time we have made preparations.

However, they have already fallen into deeper darkness. With those families acting as cover, if we force a liquidation, the entire Dragon Kingdom will fall into danger."

"Originally, the candidate was that kid from the Ji Family." She paused, "But you are more suitable. Since this opportunity just happened to arise, I came to ask for your opinion. I don't know if you are willing."

"Of course, we won't let you work for free." Mei Wushuang pushed another document over,

"There is a unique copy of an S-rank soul-type source technique in the academy. I remember you have the soul type.

If you accept this task, that source technique will be the reward for this action."

"The soul type is extremely special. Practicing soul-type source techniques in advance will be of great help to future breakthroughs to the War King Realm and cultivation within the War King Realm."

Lu Cheng looked at the document, his gaze pausing on it for a moment.

He closed his eyes and activated Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck.

His perception was like a drop of ink falling into clear water, slowly spreading out in his consciousness.

Neither Mei Wushuang nor the academy had any "ill omen" energy.

There was no sign of any danger.

Lu Cheng opened his eyes.

"Fine."

He nodded.

"I agree."

A glimmer of light flashed in Mei Wushuang's eyes.

"Good." She took back the light screen and swiped her fingers across it quickly, "I will coordinate with the Education Bureau on my end, and subsequent matters will be contacted through your terminal."

When Lu Cheng pushed the door and went out, the sky outside had already darkened.

He walked in the corridor of the administration building. Outside the window was the evening sky of Navigator Academy, with the sunset dyeing the clouds a shade of orange-red.

— —

At night, in the villa.

Chu Xiuxiu was already asleep. Qian Shuying had tidied up a room for her. The little girl was wrapped in the quilt, breathing evenly, and for once, she hadn't had a nightmare.

Lu Cheng sat on the bed in his room, and the time on the terminal jumped to 0:00 at night.

It was time for the weekly Hextech refresh again.

A green light pattern lit up from the center of the interface.

[Risky Investment (Green): The more severe the injury, the higher the damage. Damage = Normal Damage / Status Percentage.]

Lu Cheng stared at this Hextech, completely stunned.

He blinked and read the description from beginning to end again.

The more severe the injury, the higher the damage.

Damage equals normal damage divided by status percentage.

If his status was only 1% left, then his damage would be 100 times the original?

But... if it were lower... close to near-death...

When the divisor is terrifyingly small, wouldn't his damage be terrifyingly high?

If this system has no limit...

Then... I could become the world's highest-damage... corpse...

It's useless to others, but I still have six lives!

If I can hammer someone to death every time I'm near death... as long as the opportunity is right and I can strike in that moment, Lu Cheng felt he could hammer six Destiny Realm experts to death.

Of course, this is a bit difficult, not to mention the power issue.

Six Destiny Realm experts aren't living targets... just standing there letting themselves be hit.

However, this thing can indeed increase his combat power quite a bit...

On the other side, the Minister of the Education Bureau looked at the name and avatar pushed by Navigator Academy and muttered...

"This day... is it about to begin?"

...