Chapter 71 Just Partners 16
Although Ren Yi said this to Zhou Kai, he did not actually agree to the notarization of the alliance.
After all, once he agrees, the notarization will be made public, which means that the blame for the alt account will be firmly established in front of the entire league.
Even if it's a secondary account, it's still his own pseudonym. Unless absolutely necessary, Ren Yi really doesn't want to have this whole mess thrown on his head.
Moreover, what he wanted wasn't the "Star River" mecha itself, but simply the system trapped inside. As long as the Alliance agreed to let him enter the cockpit of the "Star River" one more time, Ren Yi's goal would be achieved.
Ren Yi believed that the alliance would still agree to the second request.
However, not revealing one's bottom line during negotiations is a basic courtesy.
After Ren Yi uttered the words "designated heir to the estate," Zhou Kai visibly stiffened for a while, but showed no surprise or shock, clearly having already known about it while Ren Yi was unconscious.
He quickly explained, "'Galaxy' is still under maintenance."
The battle on the sealed planet, whether it was Zhou Kai's initial self-destructive actions or Lando's subsequent attacks, caused considerable damage to the mech, requiring repairs. Moreover, even if "Star River" wasn't damaged, the fact that it had been in the hands of an unknown force for so long necessitates a thorough inspection to check for any unauthorized modifications.
Ren Yi was aware of this as well, and nodded in acceptance of Zhou Kai's explanation.
Zhou Kai, fearing this would be seen as a perfunctory excuse, added, "Don't worry, the authority over 'Star River' is in your hands. Based on that alone, even without... other reasons, the Alliance won't forcibly take it back."
Upon hearing Zhou Kai's clearly vague "other reason," Ren Yi knew that the blame had likely been placed on the alternate account. He sighed inwardly, but there was nothing he could do. He could only hope that the number of people in the know was as small as possible, so that the alternate account's image wouldn't suffer too much damage.
Ren Yi sighed.
After explaining the situation of "Star River," Zhou Kai fell into silence again, unsure of what to say. His current demeanor was completely different from the husky on the sealed-off star who had enthusiastically offered himself up to form a fixed partnership. He wanted to speak several times but swallowed his words each time, though the complex emotions he felt were clearly written on his face. Ren Yi knew without a doubt that this was because of the "designated successor."
However, in order to keep the blame for the smaller account in a Schrödinger's cat-like state, Ren Yi decided to remain silent on this matter and let Zhou Kai struggle with it on his own.
Zhou Kai hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "My captain wants to visit you, is that alright?"
Ren Yi glanced at him with slight surprise, and the latter quickly said, "If you don't want to see him, I'll refuse on your behalf."
But this isn't the only one who wants to "visit," and if they refuse this time, there will probably be another time.
Ren Yi certainly understood this better than Zhou Kai.
After all, the secondary account has a special identity, and the sudden appearance of a "successor" naturally arouses suspicion. Otherwise, Ren Yi would not have gone to the trouble of creating opportunities for the two accounts to meet.
In fact, Ren Yi's treatment at this moment was much milder than he had expected. Zhou Kai even used a tone of seeking his opinion, and the euphemism "visiting" was used.
However, Ren Yi couldn't be happy about this. The better his treatment was now, the more it meant that in the eyes of the relevant people, the blame was being placed firmly on Xiao Hao.
Meanwhile, the alliance's first military academy.
Outside the training ground, Duan Rui had been waiting for five minutes. A while later, Xia Yanshen, dressed in casual clothes, arrived right on time.
Duan Rui frowned when he saw the latter's attire, which was completely out of place for training, but Xia Yanshen, who came over, also exuded a visibly low-pressure aura.
"Senior Duan," Xia Yanshen addressed him stiffly, then added in an even harsher tone, "I hope you understand that we are just partners."
Duan Rui was taken aback by these words, but Xia Yanshen had no desire to understand his feelings and did not give Duan Rui a chance to interrupt. He continued, "During normal training time, I can cooperate with you. If Senior Duan wants to do extra training, we can discuss it and agree. However, I also need enough personal time."
Duan Rui, a well-known training fanatic on campus, frowned upon hearing this statement.
However, he knew he couldn't judge others by his own standards, so even though his expression wasn't pleasant, he still said, "Okay, next time..."
Xia Yanshen had no intention of having a "next time," so he rudely interrupted him, his tone already filled with barely concealed resentment, "Senior Duan, do you know how many final exams there are in the Department of Combat Analysis?!"
He even started using the formal "you" (您).
"Introduction to conventional weapons, computational simulation, and analysis of the impact of scenario environmental parameters on actual combat..."
He rattled off more than a dozen names in one breath, then forced a stiff, undisguised smile, saying, "These are the assessments we need to complete this week."
"Unlike you in the combat department, the final simulation battle result accounts for less than 50% of the final grade in the analysis department!"
"Do you know why the mock exam is scheduled ten days after the regular semester's final exams?!"
"Because those ten days were the extra training period for emergency coordination!"
"..."
"I thought it was common sense not to bother my partner during the assessment week."
"—If that combat student doesn't want his partner to face expulsion after this final exam!"
Xia Yanshen practically squeezed out the last half-sentence through gritted teeth.
In the midst of a frantic, hellish repetition, I suddenly received a training ground number and time that seemed completely out of the blue. But when I tried to reply, I discovered that the other party's computer signal was being blocked, meaning they had clearly already entered the training area...
Anyone would be furious in this situation.
In that instant, Xia Yanshen had countless thoughts flashing through his mind: "Forget it, let him wait there."
However, to prevent students from wasting resources, the school strictly supervises the training grounds. If a reserved space is found to be empty for more than half an hour, the student will be prohibited from making reservations for the next two weeks. In keeping with Duan Rui's usual practice, he would definitely enter the training grounds first when the time comes. If Xia Yanshen doesn't want to rely solely on simulations for the next two weeks, he has to come today.
Duan Rui still had that aloof, expressionless face, but if you looked closely, you could see that his eyes were actually a little dazed.
After a moment of silence, he said, "...I'm sorry."
Xia Yanshen "..."
He took a deep breath, finally calming down a bit, and waved his hand as if he were exhausted, "No, I have a problem too."
He shouldn't have placed too much trust in this senior's "common sense".
He has absolutely no common sense!
The half-semester he'd spent working with this person was enough for Xia Yanshen to realize just how amazing Senior Ren Yi really was! Judging from Duan Rui's nonchalant attitude, Senior Ren actually managed to find time to do practical training with him amidst the final exam hell of the Analysis Department!
Although Xia Yanshen scoffed at many of the rumors circulating on campus, this time, faced with such a great sacrifice from Senior Ren, Xia Yanshen was willing to call it "true love"!
If this isn't love!
All those years of breakup seasons during finals for the Analytical Science department have been for nothing!!!
After canceling the appointment with Duan Rui, Xia Yanshen returned to his dormitory, but he was not in the mood to continue studying. He was not the kind of student who needed to cram before the exam, but under the encouragement of the atmosphere around him, he couldn't help but feel nervous. After all, he was far from being able to have the calm mindset of "treating the final week as normal" like Senior Ren.
Xia Yanshen knew Ren Yi.
It should be said that everyone in the entire operational analysis department (and this scope is not even limited to the Alliance's First Military Academy) knows him.
Although Senior Ren is not flamboyant and rarely seeks the limelight, he is a very low-key person. However, his academic achievements—which have consistently ranked first in every single subject since he entered the school—are enough to make everyone look up to him.
However, Xia Yanshen was unsure whether the other party knew about him.
Xia Yanshen did not underestimate himself. He was far superior to his peers and had heard the title of "genius" since he was a child. However, his time working with Duan Rui had made him realize that there are differences between geniuses.
Students who can enter the nine major military academies are already the elite selected from thousands, and among these elites, each year will produce several outstanding individuals whose names are memorable to everyone. Xia Yanshen believed that he was definitely one of them, but compared with those names hanging high on the alumni honor roll, he was still far behind.
Every name on that list is dazzling enough, like Marshal Hall, who graduated from the Alliance's No. 1 Military Academy, allowing his alma mater to proudly call itself "number one" for over a decade. More recently, there's Zhou Kai, who won the championship in the three-stage joint military academy competition with his solo mecha.
So far, the alliance's standard is either mechs or two-person teams. This is because the latter is more suitable for most people. However, the two graduates from the First Military Academy are rare solo mech pilots. This is often used by other military academies to make sarcastic remarks during the annual freshman recruitment season.
It wasn't until Ren Yi and Duan Rui emerged as a formidable duo that the First Military Academy finally had something to boast about.
I never expected that before I even graduated, Senior Ren would get into that kind of trouble.
Xia Yanshen initially found it strange that he had become Duan Rui's partner.
Although Ren Xuechang's accident happened in the middle of the semester, when most people had already formed partners, such partnerships were voluntary and not fixed until the final registration for the practical competition at the end of the previous semester was submitted. Given Duan Rui's reputation, there should have been plenty of people willing to latch onto this golden thigh and be carried by the big shot, but Duan Rui ended up having to find partners from lower grades.
It wasn't until several practice sessions with Duan Rui that Xia Yanshen gradually understood the reason.
Rather than a well-matched partnership, it was more like Senior Ren was unilaterally cooperating with Duan Rui.
This is actually quite unusual. Among the two pilots of a mecha, the main pilot who makes the final decision is usually the one in charge; otherwise, there wouldn't be a distinction between "main" and "secondary." But for this pair, it's the other way around; Senior Ren is the one in charge.
Under these circumstances, no one in the same cohort dared to take on this task.
That's why it ended up on his head.
...
Before Ren Yi left the school, Xia Yanshen had actually met him once.
It was a chance encounter, but Xia Yanshen had already heard about the other person's ordeal, and for a moment, he felt he should avoid it.
The thought of a once-proud person falling to such a state overnight is enough to make one's heart ache. If he were in that situation, Xia Yanshen felt he probably wouldn't want to see anyone—no matter how pitying, compassionate, or otherwise, any kind of gaze would be enough to drive anyone mad.
Surprisingly, this senior's attitude was quite calm.
Before Xia Yanshen could avoid him, the other person had already seen him and calmly nodded at him.
—It's as if I know him.
Does Senior Ren know him?
This thought left Xia Yanshen stunned for several seconds. By the time he came to his senses, the person in front of him had already left.
Even now, Xia Yanshen still feels regretful every time he thinks about what happened that day.
He felt he should say something at that moment.
But what can be said?
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