Suddenly, she heard someone call out "Ziye," snapping her back to awareness. Her back was already drenched in sweat. Raising her head, she saw she was still standing by the roadside, the bright light casting a long, solitary shadow behind her.

What had passed was past. Ziye smoothed her chest, allowing her breathing to steady.

Little Sprout tugged at her sleeve. Even its usually expressionless glass eyes seemed clouded with worry. "Ziye, what's wrong? You didn't answer when I called you just now."

Ziye reached out and gently held it to her chest. "It's nothing, nothing at all."

Little Sprout squirmed out of her embrace. "But your heart rate was irregular just then..."

Just as Ziye was about to speak, she heard the hiss of magnetic levitation car brakes nearby. She turned her head; it was Li Chunyu. Seeing her pale face, Li Chunyu asked with concern, "Yaya, what's wrong with you?"

Ziye wiped her face, forcing a smile. "I'm fine."

Li Chunyu got out of the vehicle, concern etched on his face. "You look so pale, and you're sweating on such a cold day. Come on, I'll take you to the campus clinic." Not feeling well, Ziye instinctively recoiled from his closeness. "I'm fine, I really am." It was just that the shadows of the past were too deep, so deep that she felt she was still trapped in those days of intense suffering.

Seeing her resolute attitude, Li Chunyu sighed helplessly. "Alright, then I'll drive you back to the apartment and get you some medicine later."

The meeting had just ended, and the street was filled with vibrant new students. Coincidentally, they all witnessed this scene: the image representative of Lingsi—the prodigious young genius Li Chunyu—driving Ziye back to her apartment.

Ziye hadn't noticed the stares of the bystanders. Once she recovered her composure, she only felt how incredibly thoughtful Li Chunyu was. "Chun Niu, do you have a robot?"

Li Chunyu turned his head and smiled. "I do."

"What's it like—" Before Ziye could finish, she suddenly felt eyes watching her. She whipped her head around, only to see a maglev car speeding past them. When she looked back, she couldn't tell which one it was.

What exactly was going on?

She detested this feeling!

Li Chunyu looked at her, puzzled. "What did you just say it was like?"

Ziye collected her thoughts and shook her head casually. "Oh, nothing. I just wanted to ask what your robot looks like."

As the two continued their conversation, neither noticed that the maglev car that had been speeding moments before had stopped. A blond young man inside opened his Omni-Com, sent the photos he had just secretly taken, and immediately dialed a number, speaking in a tone of self-satisfaction. "Rella, I got the photos of Ziye and Li Chunyu. The effect is excellent! I've sent them to you; take a look?"

The voice on the other end of the Omni-Com laughed softly. "No need to look, I trust your capabilities. Now, all you need to do is leak these photos and, as I previously instructed, start spreading the rumors."

The blond young man was delighted. "Then when can we go on a date?"

The laughter from the other end remained unchanged. "When I have time." With that, without waiting for a response from the blond young man, she cut the connection and opened the incoming image files.

The transmitted pictures were quite well taken. One frame captured Ziye mid-speech, with Li Chunyu leaning in and smiling. From the angle of the shot, the two were extremely close, their lips almost touching.

A cold smirk touched Rellatiss's lips. She wondered what expression Ex-Bent would have upon seeing this set of photos. She couldn't wait to see it.

As for Ziye—hehe—she had blocked Rellatiss's path. She wouldn't need to act herself; Ziye would be drowned in a flood of gossip!

It had to be said, Rellatiss's strategy was remarkably effective at the start of the semester. Many people had seen Li Chunyu with Ziye during the campus entrance interviews. Li Chunyu was the face of Lingsi University's recruitment, an idol in the eyes of all new students, especially the incoming girls. Ziye being associated with him was already an object of envy and jealousy; now, with such blatant exposure, it was enough to make people want to rush out and pull Ziye down!

Rellatiss exploited the psychology of the freshmen, fanning the flames from behind the scenes. Using anonymous accounts, she flooded Lingsi University's Omni-Com groups, public forums, and other channels with various rumors and gossip. In less than half a day, the entire school knew that Li Chunyu had fallen for a freshman!

As for why Li Chunyu supposedly liked Ziye, Rellatiss fabricated a "beautiful" story, the gist of which was as follows:

Ziye was an illegitimate child, inherently greedy and malicious. To gain admission to Lingsi University, she employed various schemes and finally succeeded in seducing Li Chunyu. Poor Li Chunyu, ignorant of her true nature, believed she was innocent and kind, and subsequently fell for her. In reality, her motive for latching onto Li Chunyu was to gain access to Professor Alpha.Hilai through him.

Ziye's ultimate goal was to become Professor Alpha.Hilai's star pupil!

And now, she had succeeded!

When the news broke, Lingsi erupted. Not only were the female students agitated, but the male students felt indignant as well. The thought of Li Chunyu being used, and of Professor Alpha.Hilai accepting someone like her as a student, tightened a knot of anger in their chests, making them desperately want to confront Ziye and demand an explanation.

Shortly after Ziye returned to her apartment, a large crowd gathered below the building, waiting in ambush for her to appear.

However, Ziye was completely unaware of this news, happily playing with Little Sprout in the Virtual Mech Training Base. The crowd waited all day but never saw a single person. In their frustration, they resumed spreading rumors, claiming Ziye was being pretentious, cursing her for being shameless, and accusing her of lacking the courage to come downstairs.

Li Chunyu was busy with his research project, spending less than two hours on campus daily. Occasionally hearing snippets of rumors, he paid them no mind. When others asked about his relationship with Ziye, he simply stated, "She's my junior."

This "confirmation" only solidified the speculation that Ziye had seduced him to curry favor with Professor Alpha.Hilai. Many praised Li Chunyu for not being fooled by her, but they heaped even more scorn upon her.

It is often said that the ignorant are the happiest.

Among the Lingsi students who had just started their studies, Ziye was the most composed. Thus, while many were sleepless with frustration over Ziye's "moment in the spotlight," Ziye did whatever she pleased, completely unaffected.

The second day of enrollment was filled with various meet-and-greets: first for the class, then for the department, followed by the college, and finally, introductory sessions organized by senior students from the same department.

Ziye looked forward to the meetings. She knew that stepping into her classroom meant meeting many like-minded individuals. In this new place, at this new school, she was certain she wouldn't be as isolated as she had been on Planet Feilu!

The Mecha Repair Department of Lingsi University occupied an independent space station, with the department's facilities located at the very end of the station's buildings. This clearly indicated the department's rather low status. The buildings flanking this department were the Mecha Manufacturing Department and the Mecha Combat Department. All damaged mechs from those two departments would be transported to the massive warehouse behind the Mecha Repair Department.

Teaching Y-1921 meant Teaching Building Block Y, first-year building complex 19, second floor, first classroom. The first floor was merely a thoroughfare hall, not used for classrooms.

This was the time for the student introductory meeting.

Ziye had heard Chun Niu mention the classroom before, but she had never actually entered it. She parked her vehicle and entered, realizing she was early; the classroom was completely empty.

She decided to explore the complex. She found that the classrooms on the second floor were the truly large ones, while the third floor held smaller classrooms. Starting from the fourth floor, the classroom doors were adorned with various signs: research rooms and repair rooms for different components, such as Engine Research Room, Engine Repair Room; various component control rooms, like Ballistic System Control Room; and various scanning rooms, such as Blueprint Scanning Room...

She would be able to use all this equipment freely from now on!

Ziye peered out the window, observing the top-tier equipment that cost hundreds of millions and couldn't be bought.

Ziye's heart fluttered with joy, and she happily ran back to the first classroom.

About ten people had already arrived, chatting in small groups.

Most of them were male; there were only two girls. A tall, powerfully built, dark-skinned boy stood by the door. Seeing Ziye about to enter, he loudly declared, "Hey, you've got the wrong place; this is our classroom."

Ziye looked up at him. She rarely thought of herself as young, but seeing this dark, burly boy who looked like an uncle made her break out in a silent sweat. The others, hearing the boy's voice, turned around. Seeing Ziye's slightly resigned expression, they chuckled. "Must be some professor's daughter. Hey, are you here to play?"

Just as Ziye was about to speak, a girl from the back suddenly exclaimed, "You're the girl who accompanied Senior Brother Li Chunyu to the interview! Ziye, you are Ziye!"

Everyone else turned at the sound. One boy cried out dramatically, "Wow, what's your relationship with him? He's so good to you!"

The first girl scoffed, "Idiot, you still don't know?" She turned to Ziye, a malicious sneer on her face. "Hey, how did you cling onto Senior Brother Li Chunyu's leg? Not bad! Teach me a couple of tricks?"

Ziye suppressed the urge to frown. However, it was their first meeting, and she didn't want to alienate herself too much. She maintained a placid smile. "I didn't cling to his leg."

Another girl couldn't hold back and blurted out, "Why hide it? The whole school knows. The star pupil of Professor Alpha.Hilai—we common folk can't measure up!" At Lingsi, a mentor was one of the greatest assets a student could boast about, and also the easiest target for provocation.

Ziye was momentarily stunned.

The star pupil of Alpha.Hilai?

Did she enter the classroom the wrong way!

The two girls glared at her, and she glared back. Sha Bi stepped in to smooth things over. "Stop it, everyone. We're all in the same class; there's no need to start a fight." After all, the Mecha Repair Department was such an obscure field that girls were extremely rare, and good-looking girls even rarer. The two girls causing trouble—one with a flat nose and squinted eyes, the other so dark her teeth shone—compared to them, Ziye looked relatively normal.

During their earlier conversation, both girls had mentioned they viewed the Mecha Repair Department merely as a stepping stone to get into Lingsi before transferring out. In the end, Ziye might be the only female student in the entire department, which was why Sha Bi called for a halt.

The moment he spoke, both girls glared at him: "Who are you calling a troublemaker! Am I causing trouble just by stating the truth?!"