What was this bastard doing here? Raas looked irked the moment he saw Lu Yin, with Munoor, Yan Gang, and some other students sharing in that sentiment. Jenny saw him as well, and her astoundment quickly turned into rage. This was the bastard that had the nerve to take her hostage!
“Oh, it’s you, Raas?” Lu Yin turned up, “It doesn’t feel like that long since we saw each other. Miss me already?”
Raas twitched, “Are your injuries all healed already?”
“Thanks for the concern, I’m basically back to normal. So what did you want to say?” Lu Yin asked while raising his glass for another sip. Raas’s eyes narrowed in a cold rage, but Lu Yin’s attention was drawn to Munoor whose entire body started trembling with anger. He brightened up, “You’re here too? Sorry for using you like a shield earlier. Your Skybeast Claw is pretty strong too; I really wouldn’t have been able to deal with Qingyu without you.”
“Lu. Yin!” Munoor grew furious, clenching his fists.
“Don’t be too arrogant, Lu Yin!” Jenny suddenly yelled from the side as well.
“Arrogant?” he glanced at her in confusion, “I don’t think I am, though. Right, I had a question. I heard you and Huo Xiaoling are rivals; why is she a Melder when you’re just a Sentinel?”
“You bastard!” Jenny clenched her teeth in fury.
By this point, the other students were scared out of their wits. They’d thought Lu Yin was an easy target, but to their horror they’d provoked a monster. This man was the nightmare of most of the trainees, and he’d nearly killed the criminal. People like Raas were lofty beings to them, but to him they were merely spoils of battle. There were even rumors that he was a descendant of the Zishan Family. How had they been so unlucky as to bump into him?
The commotion was disrupted by a soldier entering the pub. He headed straight to Lu Yin and whispered something, after which Lu Yin put his glass down and smiled at Jenny before leaving. Raas and the rest glared at his departing figure, wanting to teach him a lesson, but they didn’t have the courage to try. They’d be the ones in trouble the moment they attacked; Lu Yin’s status was quite concerning.
The soldier had come to inform Lu Yin that Xu San had been brought over. This underling was quite important to him; those with innate gifts were few and far between, with even the trainees only having Huo Xiaoling among their midst. Bai Xue was the only confirmed earthling with one as well, while Qingyu had been unable to use his. Regardless, innate gifts were a symbol of prodigies across the universe.
A group of soldiers walked past Lu Yin just as he left the bar, and his eyes lit up as he noticed one of them. He made it a point to brush past that soldier, who whispered as they crossed, “Home wants you to try and join the Great Yu Empire’s new Youth Council.”
The soldiers quickly turned a corner and went out of sight. In the meanwhile, Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. The Youth Council? It wouldn’t be easy, but it wouldn’t be impossible either. His current status as a member of the Zishan Family gave him a position with no power, but the Youth Council would definitely add authority.
One’s body could only use formcast models until it passed a certain age. This meant that talented youths could increase their strength at mind-blowing speeds, and some of them were complete monsters. Youth Councils were organizations with the authority to educate, adjudicate, and conduct trials for the younger generation. Be it within the Great Yu Empire or elsewhere in the universe, they were privileged groups. Unlike the Zishan name which only held a modicum of power in one monarchy, Youth Council membership was recognized throughout both the Outerverse and Innerverse.
The appointments of the members of the Youth Council was something that the Great Yu Empire could not influence. If Lu Yin wanted to join the Council, being a member of the Zishan Family might give him a slight edge, but he would definitely need to work out a real plan.
Soon after he returned to his quarters, Xu San was brought over.
“I finally get to see you, Boss!” Xu San started whining as soon as they met. He had been suffering from the moment they’d been separated, with no one willing to associate with him due to his sketchy appearance. Not even Feng Hong and Luo Yi would talk to him; if not for the fact that he had reached the Realm of Earth, he might even have been kicked out of the camp. He still wasn’t great in combat, but thankfully Zhou Shan had treated him well out of consideration for Lu Yin and not sent him anywhere too dangerous. Unfortunately, that ease of life had dissipated once the Executioner left for Beijing. Every captain had to protect an area and he had been no exception, forced to deal with many powerful mutant beasts to the point that he nearly died once.
The beast wave that had happened most recently had been particularly dangerous. If not for the few Realm of Sky experts who had appeared out of nowhere and helped save the stronghold, he definitely would have died. He had thought that he would live out the rest of his life at Jinlin, but to his surprise, he was suddenly carted off onto a spaceship! He had been on edge this entire time, terrified that he would be dissected and analyzed by aliens, so when he saw Lu Yin, he was so relieved that he nearly wept. Xu San had previously been quite wary of Lu Yin, but in this strange new environment, he was determined to cling onto the only person he knew.
Lu Yin burst out laughing, “Enough of that. You can stay with me. I’ll have someone arrange another room, so just wait here.”
Xu San exclaimed in surprise, “How ‘bout I room with you, Boss? I won’t go anywhere.”
“Nope, I don’t like staying with guys. Alright, just relax. You’re safe here, and there will be people protecting you. I’m pretty important in this place,” Lu Yin said airily.
Xu San was astonished, “Boss, this is an alien spacecraft, and you’re saying you’re pretty important?”
Lu Yin didn’t have time to explain everything, so he had the soldiers lead Xu San away and arrange a room for him next to Zhang Dingtian. Now, there were four earthlings aboard this spacecraft, five if he included himself. This was actually quite a high number of natives to be joining the core of the Empire from a trial planet; in most other trials, there would be at most three and they would be sent out to battlefields. Compared to the cream of the crop in the empire’s academies, the “geniuses” from the trial planets were nothing but trash. Earth was quite exceptional, especially considering that Liu Shaoge was able to enter the Innerverse.
A day later, Lu Yin was still studying star charts when the Perseverance shook a little, and there was a huge roar from the turtle. He went to the window to watch as the scenery outside disappeared in the blink of an eye, fading into the pitch-black darkness of space. He could see the beautiful blue Earth from his window, a dazzling sight.
Seeing the blue ball zooming away, he felt a bit troubled. He had lived on that planet for nearly two years and owed a majority of his memories to it; now that he was leaving, he had no idea when he would return.
Elsewhere in the spacecraft, Zhang Dingtian, Bai Xue, Xu San, and Seruzen were also staring at the beautiful planet. They had left this planet—their home—with no idea if they would be able to return. Perhaps, this was goodbye… The universe was vast and filled with all kinds of dangers, whether they be living creatures or the environment itself. As they were now, they didn’t have the strength to protect themselves.
Zhang Dingtian clenched his sword tightly and walked away with a steely determination in his eyes. Bai Xue looked concerned, but no one could tell exactly what she was thinking. Xu San kept muttering to himself about something and looked unwilling to leave. He had not wanted to leave Earth, but he was smart enough to know that he had no choice, which was also why he had kept his thoughts to himself. Seruzen was the most tranquil of them all and simply watched quietly as the blue planet disappeared from sight.
Much later, once the Perseverance was steadily traveling through space, Lu Yin headed towards Sigmund’s command center; as a general, the man was also the lead pilot of the spaceship. The command center was situated at the very top of the craft, but the interior seemed normal without the plethora of confusing buttons one would expect. There were only all sorts of star charts on various screens.
Sigmund looked out in the direction they were traveling with his hands clasped behind his back, “How does it feel to leave Earth?”
“Sad. I’m reluctant to leave,” Lu Yin stated.
The General turned towards him, “I’ve had you investigated, but other than the data we could gather about you from Earth, we couldn’t find anything. Can you tell me where you’re from?”
“I lost my memories,” Lu Yin answered, laughing as the man arched an eyebrow, “I don’t care if you don’t believe me. The only memories I have are those from Earth.”
Sigmund nodded, “It’s none of my business. I asked you to come here to tell you something.”
“Is it about the Zishan Family?” Lu Yin inquired.