Bright Moon Forest (I)

Thorn City Teleport Station.

Stepping into the space teleportation station in this medium-sized city is like stepping into another world.

Sunlight penetrated the vast glass roof, pouring down completely onto the platform. Flowing data screens were embedded around the platform, updating various compartment information in real time.

A 3D city map was suspended in the center of the hall, with Thorn Flower City being made the most important coordinate, and the other transmission nodes emitting light of different colors.

"Passengers, please note: Carriage L-33 bound for Lancheng is about to arrive. Passengers heading to Lancheng, please queue up behind the yellow line. Friendly reminder: Smoking is prohibited throughout the Space Jump Carriage. Smokers who violate the regulations will face administrative penalties including, but not limited to, fines, detention, and criminal penalties including imprisonment."

A gentle synthesized electronic sound still echoed in the hall when a ground staff member at one of the entrances raised her megaphone and said, "That old man over there—yes, you—put out your cigarette, now." Seeing the old man obediently put out his cigarette, she softened her tone. "That's right. You won't die if you don't smoke for a while."

"Hey, why are those people pushing over there? The passenger car is about to arrive at the station. What if something happens from pushing and shoving?" She put down the horn and saw five or six young people struggling to make their way through the crowd. She could only raise the horn and shout.

Through the thick crowd, I could vaguely hear a few people saying things like, "It's too late," and "Bright Moon City." The ground staff lady was anxious, "Are you in compartment J-14? J14 is about to leave. Those in line now are for the next flight."

"Come over here quickly! You can still get in." The older woman pulled out her walkie-talkie and pressed a few buttons. Turning back, she saw another group of people stuck in the middle of the line. Furious, she pointed at the rock in the crowd and yelled, "You in the middle, the one in yellow—yes, that's you, the one with no hair—move aside and let them pass."

That’s right, these people moving like hamsters in the crowd are Rinyin and the others who are about to go to the trial in the Bright Moon Forest.

Thorn Flower City wasn't a very large station, and there was only one direct train to Bright Moon City per day. Thanks to the kindhearted ground staff, they finally made it through the crowds.

"Why did he come along? Where is our team leader?" Kaiya asked Shuijing in a voice that he thought was discreet enough.

"Ah, I don't know." Shuijing secretly glanced at the extremely handsome silver-haired boy with the corner of her eye, feeling a little guilty. She always felt that Song Baiyue had some connection with them and wanted to contract with the wild beasts.

The team leader? Song Baiyue heard this and put on a proper smile. "Teacher Jerry was temporarily assigned to the Lancheng Academic Conference. Time is tight, so he asked me, who happened to be there, to accompany the team in his place."

What he said was all true, but he omitted some details. For example, it was he and the principal who suggested that Jerry go to the academic conference. He said that every opportunity to attend an academic conference should be allocated fairly, justly and openly, and priority should be given to young teachers with excellent teaching performance but who have never appeared at a conference - such as Jerry.

"Ah, Teacher Jerry is going to an academic conference? So sudden?" Yuzhu had a good impression of the teacher in charge of their strength training. Apart from his loud voice, he had no other shortcomings. She was quite happy when she knew he was traveling with the team.

"Yeah, that's so sudden," Rinyin continued, turning to look at Song Baiyue. She didn't know what role Song Baiyue had played in this, but as the team leader, she subconsciously felt that the notice of the replacement of the team teacher was no accident. Her eyes made her question more like, "Did he offend you?"

Jerry, that reckless guy, is too lazy to write his performance report and always falls asleep during faculty meetings. How could he take the initiative to ask to attend any academic conference?

"Many martial arts masters will be attending this conference in Lancheng. It's a great opportunity for Teacher Jerryli." Song Baiyue answered reasonably. He touched the translucent brooch on his chest that was shaking slightly. "As one of the organizers, Leannabelle Lan's personal safety will also be improved by Jerryli's presence on the team."

"Rayannabelle? The organizer?"

Thinking of her last name Lan, Linyin suddenly realized, "So her Lan is the Lan from Lancheng!" No wonder she has such a personality.

The Lan family, one of the few remaining ancient clans after the Cataclysm, has been secretly selecting a husband for Annabelle from aristocratic families in recent years. Observers have noted that the Lan family favors children from aristocratic families who excel in the martial arts department of their affiliated academies. As the only child of this generation, Annabelle's marriage is destined for the next clan to be fully supported by the Lan family.

Under these circumstances, Thorn Flower Academy was in a rather awkward position. It was a school highly regarded by the older generation of the Lan family, and Thorn Flower's library was originally funded by the Lan family. However, over the years, the martial arts department at their academy has been declining with each passing year, and the number of students has remained low.

Therefore, sending Mr. Jerry, a top young teacher, to escort Annabelle Lei and show goodwill to the Lan family is a wise decision that benefits all parties.

See, he's not doing this out of selfish motives.

...Even if he had a little selfish motive, it was to closely monitor their phantom beast contracting process to prevent the genetic potion from being accidentally exposed. He didn't want to deal with unnecessary trouble.

After convincing himself, Song Baiyue silently followed the boys into the passenger compartment. This was Rinyin's first time on a long-distance trip for the trio. After settling into the smart seats, the seatbelts automatically fastened. Aside from a slight vibration and a sense of weightlessness at startup, there wasn't the expected noise or jolt.

The kitten even slept in Rin's pocket without waking up.

"Wow, this screen is huge." Kaiya excitedly poked at the terminal in front of his seat. "It's a pity the cabin is moving too fast. I have three minutes left before I have to say goodbye to it."

"It's just a broken terminal, it's not even connected to the internet, what's so exciting about it?"

Besides Rin and the other three, the five-member team on this trip also included a randomly assigned boy named Mahuyu. He was of average height, appearance, and abilities, so much so that Rin hadn't even remembered that the owner of this face was also a classmate of hers.

Ma was wearing some well-known brand of adventure clothing, though Linyin wasn't familiar with it, so she couldn't name the specifics. He was wearing a rather conspicuously luminous terminal, likely an expensive custom-made model. While he was making a dismal speech, he casually thrust his terminal towards everyone.

The trio rolled their eyes in unison. Rin looked at Song Baiyue and pointed at Mahuyu, meaning "I'll leave it to you."

Who made you the team leader?

Song Baiyue said nothing, but just lowered his head and started typing on the terminal.

After a while, Linyin opened the vibrating terminal and saw a dialog box pop up with Song Baiyue's avatar: "The team leader's job is only to ensure the personal safety of students and does not interfere in internal student affairs."

The implication is to let her solve it herself.

Seeing Rin also typing with her head down, Song Baiyue subconsciously raised her wrist and stared at the conversation page waiting.

"I have a feeling this person will affect your work."

After sending the message, Linyin scratched her head in worry. It was all her fault for checking the "randomly assign teammates" option in the last slot to save trouble. It was obvious with a finger: how many good people would be left after the free team formation?

This Dengxi, whose face says "I'm a big trouble and I'm a drag", can she, not, return the goods?