Chapter 208: Chapter 69: Wanting It All

The kind of heartache when seeing uncensored war videos circulating online is indescribable.

“Okay.” Su Xiaocai didn’t open any war videos but instead finished watching the surveillance footage recorded by Xiao Wanzi while eating.

The video played at five times speed, every eight hours, the soldiers would come back to see if she had woken up.

Lately, Wu Qingqing and Feng Wansha came to visit, knowing she was just asleep, not injured, they mischievously flipped her, picked up her hand, then let it go, as it softly fell back down.

After returning to school, there was no chance to tease Su Xiaocai anymore. The non-resistant Su Xiaocai looked quite cute.

Su Xiaocai raised an eyebrow, wondering, why would she dream of turning into a pig? Surely it’s these two roommates playing tricks, how unreasonable.

Then came Fan Li and Hu Ping, Liu Xun and Ji Heng to visit. The boys couldn’t touch Su Xiaocai like the girls did. They stared at the peacefully sleeping Su Xiaocai, and the awkward atmosphere lingered until they left shortly after.

So why did they come?

Su Xiaocai ate very slowly, leisurely enjoying her lunch.

After watching the surveillance, she skimmed the news quickly in the time it took to drink two bowls of porridge.

The headlines were all dominated by war topics, reporting daily on the number of casualties and how many Insect Men nests were destroyed.

Indeed, the military suffered heavy losses.

The worst-hit area was the 08 Mechanical Planet, surrounded by numerous scattered mining areas and life planets, many students were dispatched to garrison there.

They were more inexperienced than new recruits, so the result was unsurprising, with countless casualties.

According to the latest statistics, the death toll on the 08 Mechanical Planet has risen to half a million.

Just looking at the numbers is horrifying, one can only imagine how gruesome it must be on-site.

Su Xiaocai, resting her chin in her hand, stared blankly.

Admiral Bai contacting her was likely about the technology in her hands, but she couldn’t possibly hand it over to the military without even applying for a patent.

With the technology in her hands, she could let others use it for free.

If someone else applied for it first, it wouldn’t be up to her anymore.

After a good sleep and meal, she wiped her mouth, “Let’s go, Xiao Wanzi. Let’s find Admiral Bai together.”

Xiao Wanzi asked doubtfully, “Do I not need to enter the Space Button?”

“No need. Help me carry Wisdom 03, you two have a good exchange.”

Xiao Wanzi carried Wisdom 03’s sphere, following Su Xiaocai while chatting with Wisdom 03: “Hello, Sansan!”

“Hello, junior.”

Their communication wasn’t vocal but data-driven, Xiao Wanzi learned a lot about Wisdom 03’s functions, “You’re amazing! You can compete with the AI from the transport department.”

“We are friends, not competitors. I help it reduce workload, it’s a transaction, junior, you’re impressive, able to move freely in the real world.”

The two artificial intelligences praised each other humanistically, delighted to be acknowledged by their kind.

As soon as they opened the dormitory door, two soldiers saluted to Su Xiaocai, “Hello, Su Xiao, do you have any plans next? If not, would you mind coming with us, Mr. Bai wishes to see you.”

“No plans, let’s go.”

Flanked by soldiers, Su Xiaocai attracted numerous stares all the way.

As she left the public activity area, discussions erupted among the students.

“Is that Su Xiaocai? Pretty ordinary.”

“Huh? Ordinary? Your eyes must be broken, she’s very beautiful, her aura is amazing.”

“With two Lieutenant Colonels escorting her, you can tell how seriously the military takes her, seems like the nickname ’War God of the new generation’ isn’t just a joke.”

“You all can blow it up. Those who went to Huangyang Star are tight-lipped, secretive, who knows what they did there. Maybe the War God was hyped up on purpose.”

“That’s possible, or maybe she’s not being escorted but arrested, just not confirmed guilty yet, so they don’t treat her like a prisoner.” Such malicious speculations weren’t uncommon.

Su Xiaocai had been too low-key before, suddenly rising to fame overnight, and months later, caught the military top brass’s attention, naturally attracting more jealous gazes.

Idle gossip was unavoidable.

In a hidden corner, a pair of hateful eyes followed Su Xiaocai’s movements, wondering why she didn’t die.

After escaping the warship that day, she specifically fled far away before contacting the military, who casually replied, “We already know, no need to worry, schoolmate,” which told her the plan failed.

At that moment, Xue Huiyi began doubting her past life’s memories, suspecting that the situation with the warship carrying students was already known to the military, and questioning whether the lack of rescue action was intentional baiting.

She quickly dismissed this thought, believing the military wouldn’t be foolish enough to gamble with so many students’ lives.

The Mother Insect was found and dealt with early, and the Insect Men Warriors didn’t evolve further.

The pre-established events deviated completely from the track, leaving her utterly baffled at where it all went wrong.

Xue Huiyi racked her brain, unable to figure out how Su Xiaocai managed it.

Even the “Su Xiaocai” who ascended to the peak couldn’t possibly do it, Xue Huiyi was certain.

Could the issue lie with that old man from the Su Family?

Too many things had changed, and Xue Huiyi could no longer grasp the future.

Men, achievements, reputation… she wondered what else Su Xiaocai would take from her.

The most important thing was, Ji Heng didn’t die.

If Ji Heng had died, she could use the title of Ji Heng’s fiancée to get close to Ji Heng’s mother and gain benefits, maybe even establish an image of being deeply in love.

Ji Heng didn’t die, so she’d have to initiate a breakup upon returning.

Once broken off, many things acquired from the Ji Family would need to be returned.

…

This time, the meeting place between Su Xiaocai and Admiral Bai wasn’t the temporary meeting room; she reached deeper into the 022 Mechanical Planet.

A venue for maintaining high-end mecha.

Admiral Bai stood on the walkway high in the venue, holding the railing and watching the Maintenance Master busily repair the mecha. Next to these mecha was a familiar mecha wreckage.

The “Black Wing,” blown to pieces, had been salvaged by them.

Su Xiaocai knew well her handiwork; Black Wing was completely scrapped, not repairable even by her own hands.

Many maintenance workers stood by Black Wing, apparently arguing about something passionately.

Unfazed, Su Xiaocai briskly approached, “Hello, Admiral Bai.”

Admiral Bai turned, a somewhat forced smile on his face, deepening the lines on his cheeks, akin to King Yanluo.

Su Xiaocai took two steps back, “Could you not smile at me like that? It’s a bit scary.” She preferred to converse with a serious Vice Admiral.

Attempting a friendly smile, Admiral Bai restrained it, “Let’s talk business.”

Su Xiaocai nodded, naturally, “Sure, what do you want to discuss?”

“I want the technology for the Triangular Protective Device, name your price.” That thing, completely collected by that fool Fan Li and returned to her hands, prevented him from having anyone research it.

“I can file a patent application today; once it’s approved, I can grant you a free license to use the technology, as long as it’s not used for profit-making businesses, it’s otherwise unrestricted.” Su Xiaocai didn’t care about that stuff; what she cared about was businessmen using the technology for huge profits.

She wouldn’t make money from this, so naturally, others couldn’t make a fortune from it either.

“For free?” Admiral Bai was quite surprised, as when discussing game prices, Su Xiaocai was like a shrewd businessperson, reluctant to back down a penny.

Free seemed too generous.

Knowing well that free things are the most expensive, Admiral Bai asked Su Xiaocai why she was willing to give it to the military for free.

“Otherwise, it’s not a company product.” Su Xiaocai lifted her chin slightly, looking at the scrapped Black Wing, “If I wanted to make money, it doesn’t just come from these few things.”

Her attitude was extremely arrogant.

“Vice Admiral, why don’t you talk to people at the patent office, see if they can expedite things. For new mecha models, I can offer you a discount.”

Admiral Bai clasped his hands behind his back, “About this mecha, I’ve kept it confidential for you. For now, it’s stored here, and no one has the guts to talk about it. Also, I’ve settled the matter about you and your AI.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep