Chapter 95: Muddy the Waters

After Adelaide sternly stopped the two and called out their names, neither of them willingly gave up, but they continued arguing.

Some of the names are also familiar.

Given their very familiar appearances...

Yan looked more closely at the girl's small eyes, which now showed a hint of anger, and suddenly realized what was going on.

No wonder he looked familiar!

I've seen it in comics!

The boy is a tiger cub in human form, and the girl is the one who modified part of the miniature camera array on the spot at the black market auction.

At the same time, it is certain that Adelaide is taking sides.

Bai Du was constantly being attacked, and just as Bai Du was about to use his spell, Adelaide spoke up, and at the same time, Lan Xiaoshuang stopped her attack.

Lin Cai was also puzzled, wondering what Adelaide had said to her as she passed by. Lin Cai was about to attack, but clearly held back at the last moment.

This is so interesting!

Yan Shi became interested.

Bai Du had just enrolled, while Lan Xiaoshuang was already doing her semester practice. They weren't even in the same year, so it was unlikely that they would have a falling out before classes even officially started.

Given that Lin Cai came to see him, and they must have arranged to have dinner together when they met at the cafeteria entrance, then this fight was definitely not something Bai Du started.

Whether Yan Shi knew in advance or did it intentionally is unclear, but Lan Xiaoshuang was definitely the one who took the initiative.

The fact that they started fighting right at the cafeteria entrance suggests that the two had a conflict before enrolling in school.

And the conflict is currently at its most intense.

Therefore, it was worth it for Lan Xiaoshuang and Bai Du to fight at the entrance of the cafeteria, which attracted a large group of students to watch.

Is it to seize a moral high ground?

No matter what Adelaide said to Lin Cai, he was helping Lin Cai.

This conflict, clearly caused by personal backgrounds, can be interpreted as sending countless signals when Lin Caimao rashly intervenes.

Why did Adelaide target Lin Cai like this?

Upon hearing that the student council had arrived, the surrounding students began to disperse in disappointment.

Yan Shi unintentionally attracted Lin Cai's attention and slowly followed the flow of people away.

While walking, he searched for Chu Mengfu in the academy's communication group and sent her a message.

[Yanlan: I just witnessed a rather interesting spectacle at the cafeteria entrance.]

[Yanlan: I didn't expect you and Adelaide to be such good friends.]

[Chu Mengfu: Teacher Yanlan, what do you want to say?]

[Yanlan: I just found it amusing. After all, I got into a fight with your teacher yesterday because of you guys.]

[Chu Mengfu: Professor Yanlan, I'm sorry. If you're looking for any materials within the academy, no one knows better than me.]

Yan Shi chuckled softly and turned off his phone screen.

The interior of Zhanzhou is very distinctive.

The floating island is very large, almost like a small town, which is why it can perfectly accommodate Zhan Zhou, who originally occupied a city.

Because the interior buildings are varied and mostly hidden by the shadows of trees, their full appearance is not visible; only the outlines of the buildings can be seen occasionally.

Yan Shi can now find the library very easily, if nothing else.

She strolled leisurely along the main road, and after turning a few more corners, the library suddenly appeared before her.

Yan Shi walked into the library lobby.

Chu Mengfu was indeed already standing by the hall door, looking at Yan Shi with a complicated expression.

"Teacher Yanlan."

Yan Shi raised an eyebrow: "Chu Mengfu."

Chu Mengfu skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point: "I have a list of all the ancient books currently in existence at the Death Throne. Apart from two books in the main human city that are privately held by large families and whose contents I am not familiar with, I have brought along the rest along with their summaries."

"Professor Yanlan, would you mind having afternoon tea with me?"

Excellent research skills, especially in such a short time.

Yan Shi didn't keep quiet, probably because she got the information from the Skull classmate who helped her translate.

Similarly, she has excellent social skills.

Skeleton is not a human.

Yan Shi made his own judgment while nodding outwardly and saying in a normal tone, "Okay."

Even though we just finished lunch, no one can resist a small cake!

Yan Shi finished off the delicately sliced ​​strawberry in front of him with a satisfied last bite, and happily shook his head.

"Teacher Yanlan," Chu Mengfu pushed a spatial bag towards her, "the information is all inside, you can take a look. It already includes all the records and summaries of the Zhanzhou Library and the Western Human Territories."

Wow.

She is also very good at reading people's expressions and knows that when communicating with Yanlan, she must first offer her own bargaining chips.

Because Yanlan has the advantage in strength, and is also the one who has the decision-making power among them.

The small, exquisite space bag stands quietly in the center of the dining table.

Yan Shi looked at her and chuckled. Without commenting, he took the spatial bag and opened it.

Inside was a thick stack of bound reference books.

The table of contents is attached at the top.

It lists the title and page range of each ancient book from which it was excerpted.

The ones that are currently available are marked with a checkmark, and at the bottom are two books that are not yet available. This section doesn't specify a page range; only one chapter is listed.

Besides their excellent research skills, they also organized the information very well.

Yan Shi put the documents back into his spatial bag and stored them away.

"What exactly is the conflict between Bai Du and Lan Xiaoshuang's families?" she asked.

Chu Mengfu seemed prepared for this question, and answered smoothly, "It's about the recent riots in Novano Port."

Yan Shi: ?

What is it?

Chu Mengfu, however, took it for granted that Yanlan knew, and did not explain the Novano Port riot.

Why would a college student know something like this? She, Yan Shi, Director Yan, is the head of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs.

You didn't know?

Is this reasonable?

Is she blocked from this other world?

Three soul-searching questions.

It was Yan Shi who suddenly remembered.

She seems genuinely uninterested in the news from the underworld.

Because she felt that if something really big happened in the other world, it would eventually appear on her desk or in her emails.

So, did the Security Administration not take any action in preparation for the Novano Port riots?

Chu Mengfu continued to organize his thoughts, giving a brief introduction: "Last week, the governor of Novano Port sent a message to Changyang Prefecture requesting assistance."

Yan Shi knew that Changyang Prefecture was also one of the twelve cities of the Eastern Human Race.

"Changyang Prefecture then assembled a rescue army to go to Novano Port to provide support. The problem is that the Giant Jade Plain is located in the middle of the East and West human races, perfectly separating the two places."

"The Ju'e Plains disagree, the Changyang Prefecture rescue army can't get through, and Novano Port can only be dragged on like this."

After recounting the background, Chu Mengfu began to add information about the two: "Lan Xiaoshuang's parents are both advisors to the governor of Changyang Prefecture, while Bai Du is the designated candidate for the young clan leader of the Tiger Clan, one of the four giants of the Ju'e Plain."

She explained it very clearly, and Yan Shi understood.

Changyang Prefecture needs to pass through the Ju'e Plain to reach Novano Port, but it's unclear what Ju'e Plain is currently planning.

Lan Xiaoshuang and Bai Du did indeed have conflicts in their families.

"So," Yan Shi asked with interest, "what do you think they were fighting for?"

Chu Mengfu glanced at Yan Lan's expression again; it was still a half-smile, completely unreadable.

There was no time for her to think, and Chu Mengfu said without hesitation, "To show my stance."

"We just received news that Bai Du had been informed in advance that Lan Xiaoshuang was coming to see him, but he still deliberately waited for her at the cafeteria entrance, and almost dragged Lin Cai into it."

She was furious about it.

Students from the Outer World have always been cautious in their actions, and Chu Mengfu specifically emphasized this matter before the start of the semester, telling them not to get involved.

If Adelaide hadn't stopped Lin Cai today, all her efforts would have been in vain.

Yan Lan, on the other side, suddenly burst into laughter, with a hint of mockery or perhaps a hint of guidance: "Wouldn't it be better for the top first-year student from the outer world to go in and stir up trouble together?"

Chu Mengfu was taken aback.

This matter is indeed quite far-reaching.

This is already considered a conflict between humans and beastmen from the other world.

The Fantasy race is internally divided, and apart from the Beastmen, the other races are watching from the sidelines.

"Then what do we represent?" Chu Mengfu stared at Yan Lan. "We have no foundation in the Inner World."

Of the students from the outer world, a few who successfully graduated from Zhanzhou all merged into the inner world like water flowing into the ocean.

There is no further information about the person's origins in the outside world.

"If you don't have a foundation, can't you build one?" Yan Lan stopped laughing and leaned back lazily in her chair. "I see you're quite adept at gathering information and getting news."

Chu Mengfu sat up straight and looked at her, "Teacher Yanlan, how do you think I should lay a solid foundation?"

"How to establish a foundation?" Yan Lan repeated, then said after a moment, "...the Bureau of Heterogeneous Management."

Chu Mengfu: ?

She tried to understand it again.

Understanding failure.

"Are you kidding me?" Chu Mengfu said incredulously, "Isn't the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs still under the control of various powerful families?"

Teacher Yanlan stood up from the back of her chair, revealing a chill that had been hidden beneath her casual demeanor.

“Lingkong City and Emerald City,” she said, pausing between each sentence. “Their branches probably no longer belong to the major families, right?”

Chu Mengfu was taken aback.

This was also big news in the Underworld, and Chu Mengfu was naturally aware of it.

Currently, these two cities belong to the General Administration of Foreign Affairs.

Teacher Yanlan seems to have a rather peculiar attitude towards the General Administration.

As Chu Mengfu's mind raced, trying to connect the various events, Teacher Yanlan suddenly stood up.

She leaned forward toward Chu Mengfu, supporting herself on the table.

Chu Mengfu froze.

The frantic thoughts also came to a standstill.

“Chu Mengfu,” Yanlan looked into her eyes, “Lin Cai has been interning at the General Administration for a summer.”

Chu Mengfu: ?!

Lin Cai interned at the General Administration for a summer vacation?

Chu Mengfu's eyes widened as he thought of Lin Cai's completely unreasonable strength.

“And you,” Yanlan pointed to her chest, where Chu Mengfu’s name tag was hanging, “you’re only in fourth grade. You’re already in fourth grade.”

After saying that, Yan Lan straightened up and did not sit down again. Instead, she picked up her spatial bag, let out a cryptic laugh, and left the coffee shop.

Chu Mengfu did not call out to her.

She remained sitting stiffly in the same spot.

Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened from afternoon to near dusk. Suddenly, Chu Mengfu felt a tightness in his head and began to cry silently in his arms.

After crying, she expressionlessly wiped away her tears with her Dark Spirit.

Then I found someone in my contacts and dialed their number.

"Come to Gu'an Prefecture now."

---

After leaving the table with Chu Mengfu, Yan Shi: ...

What is meant by the Bureau of Dissidents, or does it belong to various powerful families?

Although this may be the reality of the other world.

However, as the director of the Bureau of Dissent, being called out to his face was still offensive.

She walked out of the coffee shop, still feeling a burning resentment.

That despicable family!

I walked back to the faculty apartment and ate a small cake at the table for a while.

It was a sweet, sticky feeling that filled his throat before Yan Shi slowly came to his senses.

The remaining outer packaging of the first three small cakes lay on the table.

In her anger, she just ordered five different flavored cakes and packed them all up to take away.

It turns out that no matter how delicious a small cake is, you shouldn't eat five of them at once.

But since I bought it myself, I can't let it go to waste.

"I should have only bought three pieces," Yan Shi concluded, forcing herself to eat half of the fourth piece.

She let out a long sigh, realizing she didn't want to eat desserts for a while.

"It's so hard to choose! How come this cafe has so many flavors of cakes?"

Yan Shi first closed the lid on the cherry-flavored cake in her hand.

Then he put the remaining matcha-flavored mini cake back into the bag.

"It won't taste good if it's left overnight..."

"But wasting resources isn't good either..."

Yan Shi looked at the small cakes in the bag with a worried expression, when suddenly his eyes lit up.

[Yanlan: Lin Cai, do you want some cake?]

Lin Cai is indeed online 24/7.

[Lin Cai: Food!!! Teacher Yanlan, where are you?]

[Yanlan: Come find me downstairs at the teachers' apartment building.]

Done!

She estimated that it would take some time for Lin Cai to arrive, so she first turned on her unused cell phone from the otherworld that she had kept in the teachers' apartment.

The spiritual messages were another explosion of a huge amount of information.

Before Yan Shi could even start scrolling, Sheng Chunqiu's message popped up.

[Sheng Chunqiu: Director Yan, the lesson plan is finished.]

[Lesson Plan for Basic Course in Eastern Magic Studies.zip]

He truly is a reliable adult.

Yan Shi received the documents and then made a phone call to Sheng Chunqiu.

"Director Yan." He answered instantly, just as expected.

Yan Shi: "Mm."

She fiddled with the cake bag, pondering what she wanted to say.

Sheng Chunqiu hesitated slightly on the other end of the phone, as if considering how to begin: "Director Yan, your...health..."

I don't know if it was because of a bad signal or because her tone was so soft, like a gentle breeze.

Yan Shi didn't quite hear him: "What's wrong?"

Sheng Chunqiu's voice returned to normal: "It's alright. Director Yan, please go ahead."

In the distance, Yan Shi's excellent eyesight allowed him to see Lin Cai navigate the intricate network of roads with remarkable precision, quickly making her way towards the teachers' apartments.

"Are you aware of the Novano Port riots?" Yan Shi finally remembered what he wanted to say before eating the cake and asked directly.

Sheng Chunqiu: "I have some understanding of it."

"What about the negotiations between the Ju'e Plain and Changyang Prefecture?" Yan Shi continued to press.

Sheng Chunqiu: "I know that too."

Her voice remained calm, even when Yan Shi suddenly brought up the topic, her tone carried a hint of coldness and interrogation.

Yan Shi narrowed his eyes: "Sheng Chu, you know all this?"

Sheng Chunqiu: "Yes, because it has no direct interest in the General Administration, the report was not submitted to you."

She could feel that Director Yan's voice on the other end of the phone was getting colder and colder.

Like a law without an emotional mechanism.

Sheng Chunqiu gripped his phone tightly.

Why did Director Yan suddenly ask about this?

She was also a little confused.

Since taking office, Director Yan has rarely taken the initiative to inquire about the situation in various fields of the Underworld.

Sheng Chunqiu was also used to not bringing up any disputes about the inner world.

The General Administration is in the world.

With the world barrier in place, even the biggest events cannot affect the surface world.

Sheng Chunqiu longs for change, but at the same time, he doesn't take the initiative to make any changes.

She's been like this since her student days.

She has a steady and cautious personality and doesn't take risks easily. She will strive to do her best and even accomplish many impossible things.

However, all of those calculations in Sheng Chunqiu were theoretically feasible.

She won't do things that are theoretically impossible.

Even if there is a probability of success.

That's not 100%.

After hearing Sheng Chunqiu's reply, Director Yan paused for a moment, said nothing more, and his tone became cold again: "What's the current status of the negotiations between the Ju'e Plain and Changyang Prefecture?"

Although Sheng Chunqiu did not report this matter to Director Yan, she was aware of it all along.

She continued in her reply quite naturally: "The Ju'e Plain demands three direct shipping routes from east to west plus a 5% trade tax. These two are the main expenses; the rest are just add-ons."

She briefly summarized the information from the intelligence report: "The one providing the funds is definitely Novano Port. However, Novano Port itself is facing economic difficulties due to the riots. At the same time, there are reports that the governor of Novano Port promised Changyang Prefecture a ten-year exemption from westward trade taxes and the addition of a spirit mine. It is estimated that it will be difficult to produce as much as the Giant E Plain."

"Nova Port made it clear that Changyang Prefecture would also contribute a portion. Changyang Prefecture was unwilling to give up its profits for rewards it had not yet received, yet it was also unwilling to give up the profits it was about to receive. So, a stalemate ensued."

Yanju paused for a moment again.

Sheng Chunqiu could hear the rhythmic tapping of knuckles on the table coming from the other end of the phone.

One at a time.

She also felt nervous.

His breathing rose and fell with Yanju's movements.

After a long silence, Director Yan asked, "Where are the branch offices? Don't tell me that the branch offices in Changyang Prefecture and Novano Port have all lost contact."

Branch office?

"They haven't lost contact, it's just..." Sheng Chunqiu hesitated for a moment before answering, "It's just that the General Administration doesn't have very close contact with them."

Director Yan seemed to let out a cold laugh.

Sheng Chunqiu remained silent.

A moment later, the tapping of knuckles on the table stopped. Director Yan instructed, "Draw people directly from headquarters to the branch office."

Sheng Chunqiu pulled out a piece of paper from the side and quickly wrote down: "Received."

Director Yan: "Just send the patrol teams from the General Administration's Execution Division. Write 'Reasonable transfer' for the Execution Division."

"Don't the big families like our branch of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs? So they usually use the execution team of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs branch to pass on messages, right?"

Sheng Chunqiu's pen slammed heavily on the paper.

"Yes."

Director Yan knows everything.

Sheng Chunqiu heard a sigh coming from the other end of the phone.

"After they arrive at the branch office, they will take over the task of relaying messages between the two cities."

"The executive team from Changyang Prefecture told Novano Port that they had already given the Ju'e Plain some of the benefits they were demanding, but the Ju'e Plain still refused to release them. They demanded that Novano Port compensate Changyang Prefecture for this loss."

"The executive team representative of Novano Port told the Ju'e Plain that all conditions were agreed to, and Novano Port had already given all the benefits to Changyang Prefecture in advance, and told them to ask Changyang Prefecture for them."

Sheng Chunqiu: "Yes."

A brilliant plan.

Changyang Prefecture appears to have a close connection with Novano Port, but in reality, they are easily separated.

This alliance is united by tangible benefits, and is naturally also easily broken up by tangible benefits.

The Jue Plain, sandwiched in the middle and not closely connected to either side, is naturally the best opening.

In real-world relationships, a triangle is always the most fragile one.

"Director Sheng," Director Yan said finally, "I hope you can continue to follow up on this matter and report back to me in a timely manner."

Sheng Chunqiu: "Okay."

She had quickly jotted down all the key points and was starting to figure out which teams to transfer from the execution department.

But Yanju, unusually, did not hang up the phone.

“Spring and Autumn Annals,” Yanju said, “Here is my personal advice to you.”

Sheng Chunqiu paused his thoughts for a moment.

Yan Ju's voice, though quiet, revealed a hint of gentleness: "You are from the surface world, that's true, but now, you are first and foremost a member of the Bureau of Alien Affairs."

"My stance is that of the Bureau of Dissent. I hope your stance is also that of the Bureau of Dissent."

"It's neither the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television nor the World of Television."

Sheng Chunqiu was stunned.

Director Yan is different from the previous three directors.

Sheng Chunqiu still refuses to report the events in the inner world. Is it really because there is no conflict of interest with the General Administration?

No, to be precise, it has nothing to do with the World Watch or the General Administration.

Director Yan figured it out.

Sheng Chunqiu closed his eyes.

After the call ended, a busy tone followed by a beeping sound.

Author's Note: Chu Mengfu: As expected of Yanlan!

Sheng Chunqiu: As expected of Director Yan!

Yan Shi (standing at the coffee shop counter) (bewildered): You just said how many flavors of mini cakes there are.

Coffee shop employee: 432 types.

Yan Shi: ...

Yan Shi: Give me five, please.

Thank you to all the fans who gave me free tickets and nutrient solutions! I will try my best to update!