100: Chapter 100 That's Not a Star!

As he spoke, Li Zhenhai placed his hands on his knees and slowly stood up.

"Alright, I have said what I needed to say, and I have given the warnings that needed to be given."

Li Zhenhai resumed his imposing, mountain-like posture:

"After all, this is someone else's territory, so I won't take up too much of your time."

He walked to the door, gripped the handle, and paused for a moment.

Without turning his body around, he simply waved at the three of them with his back turned:

"I wish you all... can become the people you want to be."

"Click!"

With a soft sound, the door closed.

In the vast office, only Chen Xi and the other two were left, looking at each other.

The oppressive feeling in the air dissipated with Li Zhenhai's departure, replaced by an indescribable, complex emotion.

There was both longing for the future and apprehension about the unknown.

"So... what do we do now?"

Li Murou blinked, breaking the silence.

Su Xiaoxiao covered her mouth and yawned. Once her tightly strung nerves relaxed, exhaustion instantly flooded her mind.

Having gone through high-intensity battles and then facing a talk with the Minister of the Military Department, she was truly exhausted.

She rubbed her slightly gritty eyes, her voice lazy:

"I'm a bit sleepy. If there's nothing else, can we go back and rest first? This whole day of tossing and turning is more tiring than clearing a hell-level dungeon ten times."

Chen Xi nodded and glanced at the sky outside the window, which had turned completely dark:

"Indeed. It seems the school has no other arrangements for now."

He stood up and stretched, his bones making a crackling sound:

"Let's go, back to the dorms."

The three of them tidied up simply, left the principal's office, and slowly walked down the stairs.

It wasn't until they walked out of the Administration Building's main door and were hit by the cool night breeze.

That the three of them truly felt the weight pressing on their hearts loosen slightly.

Yet they all understood that this might be the final tranquility before the storm.

The night at Jiangcheng University was quiet and beautiful.

The three strolled along the tree-lined path leading to the dormitory area. The streetlights emitted a warm yellow glow, casting mottled tree shadows.

Occasionally, a few couples would pass by holding hands, or students who had just returned from the trial grounds would be discussing the recent match, their faces beaming with relaxed smiles.

This peaceful atmosphere formed an extremely sharp contrast with the crisis-ridden, blood-soaked Outside the Border world that the Li Zhenhai had just described.

"Hoo..."

Li Murou took a deep breath of the air scented with grass and trees, looking up at the lingering, glorious sunset glow on the horizon as it was gradually swallowed by the deep Night Curtain.

"Captain, Xiao Xiao, what exactly are our plans next?"

Li Murou walked with her hands behind her back, stepping lightly on the shadows on the ground.

Chen Xi walked in the middle with his hands in his pockets, recalling the notification file he had just received on his wristband:

"The Freshman Challenge Tournament has just ended, and the school has given us a three-day holiday. These three days are free time, mainly for us to handle personal matters and replenish our supplies."

"After three days, which is Thursday at eight in the morning, we will leave the school and head to the training base established by the Southern District Military Department. From then on, it will be closed-off management."

Speaking of this, Chen Xi's tone paused.

In fact, everyone knew clearly that once they left, they would no longer just be students.

"Three days, huh..."

Li Murou stopped, turned around to look at the towering teaching building behind her, and the brightly lit library in the distance, a hint of reluctance showing in her eyes.

"Honestly, it's only been over a month since I came to Jiang University. It feels like I just enrolled yesterday, and I was still depressed because no team wanted me."

She gave a wry smile, her voice becoming somewhat dejected:

"And now I have to leave, I'm quite reluctant. I heard the food over there is terrible, and there's no bubble tea to drink."

Neither Chen Xi nor Su Xiaoxiao laughed.

They both knew very well that, according to the Li Zhenhai, this time they were being directly conscripted as "reservists."

This meant they would skip most of the remaining courses for their freshman year, and even skip the gradual progression of their sophomore year, directly entering the brutal sequence of actual combat.

In this world, university Professionals are required to leave school starting from their sophomore year to execute missions issued by the Military Department in various places, or serve as intern instructors at certain bases.

And now, because the situation was severe, they were forced to grow up ahead of time.

"Basically, once we leave, it will be very difficult to come back in the short term."

Su Xiaoxiao crossed her arms, her cold gaze scanning the surrounding campus scenery.

She saw freshmen still jogging on the track at night, and club members playing guitars and singing on the lawn.

Those people were still enjoying the carefree life of university, not knowing what kind of responsibility the three of them were about to shoulder.

"When we chose this path, and chose to win this championship, we were destined to walk faster and further than others."

Chen Xi replied softly.

The three continued walking, their footsteps sounding exceptionally clear on the quiet path.

Before they knew it, they had reached the open lawn near the dormitory building.

The view here was excellent, with no obstructions, making it the perfect spot in the school for stargazing.

Su Xiaoxiao stopped, tilted her slender neck, and cast her gaze toward the vast, boundless night sky.

The night view tonight was truly beautiful.

"Yeah..."

Su Xiaoxiao's eyes, which usually only reflected sword light, were now reflecting the starry river, softening a little:

"It's my first time feeling that the night sky of Jiang University is so beautiful. Before, I was always busy leveling up and running dungeons, and I never really looked up."

Li Murou also came over and stood beside Su Xiaoxiao.

The two stunning girls stood side by side, looking up at the starry sky, forming a heart-stirring picture.

"Wow... it really is!"

Li Murou pointed her finger at the clusters of flickering light points in the sky, exclaiming:

"Look, there seem to be so many stars tonight! And they're so bright! Even more than I've ever seen at home!"

At the edge of the horizon, on what should have been a pitch-black Night Curtain, it was now densely covered with stars.

Those stars were not hanging quietly as usual; instead, they were flickering with an eerie, purplish-red light, illuminating half the sky with a faint red hue.

"So many stars... Is that the Milky Way? But why does it feel like it's moving?"

Li Murou asked naively.

Chen Xi stood behind the two, originally also enjoying this rare tranquility.

Hearing Li Murou's words, he instinctively looked up, following the direction of her finger.

At first, he didn't pay much attention.

But the next second, when his gaze focused on that expanse of the starry sky, his pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints!

As a Miracle Card Maker whose overall attributes far exceeded those of his peers, his mental attribute was extremely high, and his perception was honed to the extreme.

In his field of vision, those so-called stars were not celestial bodies at all!

They were moving!

And they were falling downwards frantically from the very high firmament at an extremely fast speed!

That purplish-red light was not starlight at all, but flames produced by intense energy friction with the atmosphere!

Even more terrifying was that, behind that dense meteor shower.

The originally stable space seemed to have been forcibly torn open by someone, creating a huge gash. Pitch-black cracks, like centipedes, spread across the sky, emitting a terrifying aura that made one's heart palpitate.

A shivering sensation originating from the depths of his soul instantly swept over Chen Xi's entire body.

That was the instinctive fear of a living being facing its natural predator.

"Something's wrong..."

Chen Xi's voice became dry and hoarse, breaking the originally romantic atmosphere.

Li Murou and Su Xiaoxiao were still immersed in the beautiful scenery and hadn't noticed anything unusual.

"What's wrong?"

Li Murou turned back with a smile.

However, when she saw Chen Xi's face, her smile instantly froze on her face.

At this moment, Chen Xi's expression was grave to the extreme, his eyes staring fixedly at the sky, and fine cold sweat even oozed from his forehead.

His voice was low and urgent, almost shouted out:

"That is not a star!!"