Little Sprout chuckled, flying into her embrace, nuzzling affectionately, then laid the data out before her. "When that redhead was calculating earlier, I peeked at her system, hehe, it was simple. Next time, I'll do it for you, old master..."

"That's more like it." Ziye’s momentary anger instantly vanished, replaced by joy. She happily scooped it up and gave it a kiss, then set about adjusting the blueprint. Once done, she sent it to Blackbeard. "Let's go research the other mecha she mentioned."

Little Sprout suddenly remembered something. It frantically dug out a set of data from the database and flapped its wings excitedly. "Master, what do you think of this data set?"

Ziye turned her head to glance, ready to turn away, but froze. She started reading again from the first line, growing more astonished, then more delighted with every passing moment. When she finished, she hugged Little Sprout and showered it with kisses. "Where did you find this data? It's perfect!"

Little Sprout sat up on her hand, smiling sweetly. "You haven't seen it?"

Ziye nodded. "Never seen it." With data this exquisite, if she had seen it, she surely would have remembered.

Little Sprout gave a cool smile. "This is An Junlie's physical data."

Ziye was stunned silent.

She looked back at the data, a vague melancholy settling in her heart. The data she'd once deemed more perfect than the interstellar Federation’s avian models—she had forgotten it.

Ziye closed her eyes and let out a soft breath.

Little Sprout drifted onto her face and gently tickled her with its downy fluff. She abruptly snapped her eyes open. "This mecha—we'll use An Junlie's data!"

After tinkering for half a month, the blueprint was finally complete. Ziye was then troubled by another question: what should she name this mecha? She certainly couldn't call it the "An Junlie Model."

Little Sprout giggled. "Monarch Model!"

Ziye patted its head. Fine, the Monarch Model it was.

By this time, Ziye felt much more confident. Two mecha blueprints were finalized in a month, and all seven robot models had successfully hit the market. Ziye looked at the robot orders forwarded by W123 for her review, feeling an indescribable joy!

Not only had she recouped the costs, but she had also made a clear profit of three hundred thousand.

Furthermore, her newly developed exploration robots, nurse robots, and replication robots were all about to launch. Blackbeard was absolutely ecstatic, treating her almost like a precious treasure.

In truth, Ziye wanted to gift a robot to Li Chunyu to thank him for his care during this period. However, since Li Chunyu was always helping her, she didn't truly understand him and wasn't sure which type of robot would suit him, so she ultimately dropped the idea.

As the start of the school term approached, Blackbeard thumped his chest. "I'll drive you to school."

Ziye flatly refused his request, and even Red Hair’s idea of making a flamboyant entrance at Lingsi was dismissed by her. She genuinely wanted to punch them both to make them understand the meaning of being low-key.

A former president of the Asteroid Commercial Association, a former pirate leader who once terrified the Four Major Star Fields—have them drive her to school? Not a chance!

Ziye picked up the repaired F431 and A120, carried Little Sprout, and quietly boarded an interstellar bus back to Kaga. She checked out of her lodging and checked into the Lingsi University freshman space station dorm.

The student apartments at Lingsi University were decent enough—one room and one living area per person, fully furnished, and all brand new. However, having lived alone in a villa in Kolai, Ziye’s only thought upon seeing the space was: It's too small!

For one person, even if they were massive, they wouldn't reach two meters tall either way; eating, drinking, and sleeping couldn't possibly take up that much space. Ziye didn't have high demands for her living quarters; the crucial thing was having an independent laboratory. Still, having owned the "Wolf’s Den Villa" in Kolai, Ziye felt fortunate enough and didn't place high expectations on the school.

Over the past few days, the temperature in Kaga had been dropping steadily. It was rare that it warmed up slightly by the start of the term, but it was still only 7°C. In fact, most space stations maintained constant temperatures, but Kaga, being a hub for students, kept its temperature set between 0° and 15° year-round to boost student immunity.

Ziye bundled up the coat around her, exhaling a visible plume of white air. The coat had been bought during the New Year holiday when Red Hair dragged her out shopping. She didn't know what taste that woman had; for herself, Red Hair casually bought all sorts of clothes—devilishly charming, coolly aloof, dominant, and wild. For the occasional need to act low-key, she even stocked up on military uniforms and beggar outfits. But for Ziye, it was all light and airy!

Red Hair had bought her an entire wardrobe of soft, fresh women's clothing!

Even the one she was wearing now was one of them.

However, after taking only a few steps out the door, she suddenly felt something was wrong. She instinctively leaped sideways just as an out-of-control maglev vehicle whizzed past her body, slamming into a pillar ahead with a loud bang. Even Little Sprout was nearly blown away by the rush of air the vehicle created.

Despite her fast reflexes, Ziye was greatly alarmed.

Hit by a car right outside?

And an unmanned car at that? Her gaze swept coldly over the tracks left by the wheels on the road, then she glanced at the automatic navigation display, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Sprout, scan it."

Little Sprout complied instantly, floating over for a swift scan before settling back onto Ziye's clothes. Its round eyes fixed on her, communicating via brainwaves: The left side of the engine is missing a bolt. I suspect foul play.

Ziye's expression hardened, and she immediately took off running.

It was obvious someone intended to harm her.

A missing bolt on the left engine would cause slight looseness, not visibly problematic under normal circumstances, but once a specific speed was reached, the engine would derail.

It seemed Lingsi University was not the pure paradise she had imagined!

Ziye sneered inwardly. She was no longer the helpless little girl she used to be. Now, anyone who dared provoke her would face retribution, piece by piece!

She reached the main square for the opening ceremony, which was packed shoulder-to-shoulder.

Besides the high-ranking officials of Lingsi University and the Kaga Higher Education Center, even official personnel from the Interstellar Federation were present, not to mention representatives from various noble families and legions. Just introducing the dignitaries took half a day.

Ziye’s mind wasn't on the ceremony; she was still agitated by the attempted car crash.

She didn't know that the reason for such a massive turnout was that Kaga did not belong to any single faction. In Kaga, everyone—regardless of which legion they belonged to—received equal protection and treatment. There was no racial discrimination, no regional discrimination, and certainly no factional discrimination.

Precisely because of this, more and more people wanted to win over Kaga.

It could be said that whoever possessed Kaga would possess the future of the world!

Lingsi University, as the backbone of Kaga, had been the target of various factions seeking alliance for years, causing this grand spectacle to worsen year after year. In addition to the dignitaries, there were numerous social figures and reporters, making Lingsi today even more bustling than the Kolai Space Station.

"Look, look! That's this year's guaranteed admission student, Bo*. Eimannit from the Command Department. He's so handsome!" Finally, it was time for the new student address, and a gossipy girl pointed at the young man speaking eloquently on stage. "Look at his posture, so straight! I guarantee he has an eight-pack!"

Ziye looked ahead but only saw a dense sea of heads. She couldn't tell who was who, and as for the young man named Bo*, she couldn't even see his shadow.

She had no concept of guaranteed admission students either, so she nudged Little Sprout and silently relayed the details of the earlier incident. Thinking it over in her mind, she couldn't recall offending anyone?

Unless it was Illya!

Three years had passed, and Illya’s image, instead of fading, had become clearer in her mind. Upon reaching space, she hadn't immediately sought revenge because she knew Illya's background was too powerful for her to confront alone.

That was why she had desperately strived to become strong.

However, if Illya had discovered her and intended to strike, she absolutely wouldn't use such a clumsy method. Illya would go for a swift, fatal blow!

Ziye explained her conflicted thoughts to Little Sprout. Little Sprout immediately searched its database. "Besides Illya's enmity level of 1000, you had fifteen enemies at school three years ago. The one with the highest enmity level was 24. Do you want to see?"

Ziye glanced sideways at it, saying nothing.

Because of Illya, she could barely remember the names of the others who had stumbled over her, and when Little Sprout mentioned names, she couldn't even recall the person's face.

She pulled at the corner of her mouth and decided to ignore them. "What about recently?"

Little Sprout flopped onto her palm as if dead, so realistically that others would assume it was just an ordinary doll. However, its eyes were constantly darting around, revealing a cunning unseen in ordinary beings. "The most recent enemy is Rellatis, with an enmity level of 3.2."

Ziye had no idea what data it used to calculate enmity levels, nor who Rellatis was. "Who is Rellatis?"

Little Sprout shot up from her palm with a whoosh, saying mysteriously, "The most beautiful girl at Dongdian Military University. To keep my database pristine, I looked up her name and recorded it."

Just as Ziye was about to reply, the girl beside her said with a show of pride, "I heard this year's guaranteed admission students are all outstanding! The other one, Du Shuangyu, is also very handsome. He's in the Mecha Warfare department, has a tear mole near his eye, and I just melt when he smiles slightly. Have you seen him?"

Her voice was rather loud, and Ziye dissatisfiedly turned her head away. She saw another girl proudly open her comm-screen. "I have, I have! I even managed to snap a photo of him!!"

A group of girls huddled together, chattering excitedly.

Ziye grew even more irritable. She closed her eyes and said to Little Sprout, "I only met her once. It shouldn't be that serious."

Little Sprout gave a cool laugh. "Don't underestimate female jealousy!"

The opening ceremony finally concluded, and the crowds bustled past her like a revolving lantern. This kind of university start was nothing like she had imagined, and she couldn't feel any of the beautiful future the school leaders spoke of. Something felt tangled within her chest, leaving her utterly lost as to where she stood.

Time seemed to revert to her days in primary school. She was small, standing amidst the teeming crowds, unable to see the stage ahead, unable to see the light, only an oppressive mass of black silhouettes. In the darkness, it seemed someone was staring at her with eyes as venomous as a snake’s...RS