The comms channel opened. Before Ziye could speak, she heard Li Chunyu’s delighted voice: “Ziye, are you preparing to return to school for your exams?”
A year had passed, and Li Chunyu was still as gentle as ever, with a maturity and stability radiating from his demeanor, giving the impression of significant growth.
Ziye felt a flush of embarrassment.
It had been a year since the Chuxun team went to Bicycle Planet, right when she was planning to apply for a leave of absence. But fate had other plans; she was abducted, ended up on the Garbage Planet, and upon her return, was immediately caught up in the war, completely forgetting to process the leave.
This past year, she hadn't been on leave; she had been skipping school!
Even though Hongfa had given Lings a heads-up, Lings insisted that "Leave of Absence procedures require the student's personal appearance," dragging the matter out until now.
Ziye had been deceiving herself, believing she was on leave, and deliberately avoided inquiring about Lings' movements. Now, the situation felt intensely awkward.
Exams were required?!
Li Chunyu’s single question shattered Ziye’s good mood for the day. Her face fell. “Is it too late to apply for a leave of absence now?”
Li Chunyu shook his head. “I’m afraid it will be difficult. Your department’s exams are the latest; other departments are already on vacation, and the school administration office is also operating on a skeleton schedule. If you apply for leave now, they likely won't process it until next semester.”
Ziye felt utterly adrift.
This was practically forcing her to go mad!
She wished she could sprout three heads and six arms. She truly couldn't fathom why problems always piled up all at once.
Life in the Silver Talisman was so comfortable; life on the Garbage Planet was so carefree. Once she entered the deep sea of space, time became an outsider. Such sorrow.
She paused to think for a moment. “Let’s discuss that later. I have something I wanted to ask you. Can your production equipment be purchased at a ten percent discount?”
Li Chunyu: “(⊙o⊙)? A vampire!”
Tang Wan looked at the stunned person on the light screen and wondered aloud, “That person looks so familiar. Is he your classmate?”
Ziye nodded. “Classmate Li Chunyu, the highly renowned young genius from Huaxia Legion, a fourth-year graduate of Lings University, famous across the entire galaxy.”
Without another word, Tang Wan stepped back three paces. She activated her comms to Tang Jing. “Big Brother, I want to transfer schools! I want to go to Lings University!”
Tang Jing was startled by her sudden demand. “Why?”
Tang Wan cupped her chin with both fists and whimpered sadly, “Lings University is amazing. Lings University has so many incredible people; Tangmen University doesn’t!”
Halley, overhearing Tang Wan, turned his head and murmured to her, “Li Chunyu graduates this year. You won’t even get to meet him if you go.”
That sharp observation instantly punctured Tang Wan’s pink bubble. She flushed with anger. “Mind your own business!”
Halley acted as if he hadn’t heard, standing silently behind Ziye with an impassive face.
The attendant was clearly someone who had seen major events and generally kept up with external affairs, especially regarding Ziye. Having appeared several times on interstellar television, almost becoming the unofficial spokesperson for the Wolf’s Den—even if that wasn't the best image—and given that she was friends with Li Chunyu, coupled with Tang Wan constantly mentioning Tangmen, the attendant had guessed most of the situation. Smiling politely, she smoothed things over. “Esteemed guests, please follow me. We have private rooms inside.”
Just as Ziye was about to follow the attendant, Li Chunyu spoke again, “Did you receive the invitation I sent you?”
Ziye froze. “You didn’t send it to my old comms, did you?”
Li Chunyu replied, “I sent it to both email and comms.”
Ziye wiped her brow and chuckled sheepishly. “I changed my comms; please use this one. I haven’t checked my email in days either. What’s up?”
Li Chunyu smiled gently. “My graduation ceremony is in three days. I wanted to invite you to attend. Would you like to come?”
Ziye nodded. “No problem.”
She needed to return for exams anyway. Attending his graduation ceremony at the same time would solve everything in one trip, saving hassle.
However, this meant her time would be even tighter again—miserable.
Li Chunyu continued, “I’ll be interning at Kunpeng Manufacturing Plant in half a month. If you aren’t too busy, perhaps we can meet then to discuss things?”
Ziye laughed. “That’s wonderful! Remember my ten percent discount, haha.”
Hanging up the comms, there was no need to visit the private room the attendant mentioned. The three of them took their leave immediately to visit the next location.
Tang Wan, who had managed to secure a promise from Tang Jing to try his best to transfer her to Lings University next year through tears and tantrums, was overjoyed. She was about to share her excitement with Ziye when she heard Ziye scheduling a meeting with Li Chunyu in half a month to discuss the discount. Her joy immediately halved. “Aren’t you buying from Tangmen? Why are you still talking to Kunpeng Manufacturing Plant?”
Ziye patted her shoulder. “Just getting a deeper understanding, that’s all. If the deal doesn't work out, we can learn more, and next time we can build it ourselves.”
—In reality, she was thinking that one shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket.
Regardless of who manufactured the battleship production or assembly equipment they purchased, she would need to modify it. Letting others know the strategic weapon production procedures and methods of her legion was definitely a perilous matter.
Besides the production equipment for the battleships she planned to buy and the Dreadnought production equipment currently being rented, she also intended to purchase a set of Frigate production equipment.
Though she couldn't afford the full amount right now, placing a partial deposit to have the manufacturing plant custom-build it would be fine, with delivery scheduled six months later.
Tang Wan accepted Ziye’s reasoning, clinging to Ziye and chattering about life at Lings University as they headed toward the American Alliance manufacturing workshop of the Star Federation.
Things from the Star Federation might not be exceptionally good, but their reputation preceded them; they couldn't be too bad either.
Ziye felt some resistance towards the Star Federation. Going there, nominally for a tour, was actually an opportunity for Little Sprout to secretly scan their production equipment. Once the scanning was complete, they would offer some superficial excuses and leave.
Tangmen’s War City was also located on Ke’lai.
However, Tang Wan had absolutely no desire for Ziye to visit the War City there. She grabbed Ziye’s arm. “Let’s go to the War City Headquarters! That place is much better!”
Ziye murmured thoughtfully.
Tang Wan added quickly, “I’ll call my Big Brother out. Aren’t you going to discuss the battleship management system? We can all talk together then.”
Ziye considered it and agreed.
Tang Wan might be slow at other things, but summoning her brother was lightning fast.
As soon as Ziye agreed, she immediately contacted Tang Rui via comms, asking him to dispatch a shuttle craft to pick them up.
Fifteen minutes later, the three of them were seated in the reception lounge of the War City.
Tang Wan, chirping like a proud little bird, explained every detail of the War City, from the grass to the trees, before being politely ushered out by Tang Rui.
The world finally became quiet.
Ziye didn’t engage in pleasantries with him and got straight to the point, first presenting her requirements for the production equipment.
She had conceptualized the production equipment long ago and was fully prepared, detailing every aspect meticulously. After finishing, she sent a written copy of the requirements to Tang Rui, and only then did she begin discussing Tang Rui’s requirements for the battleship management system.
Since the matter of purchasing the battleship management system had only just been broached, Tang Rui couldn't offer very detailed requirements immediately. The two spent some time reaching a preliminary understanding regarding customization, and then they toured the War City.
It could be said that among their group, Little Sprout gained the most.