High Steps Across the Clouds (2)
“Of course, I’m not saying this because of Miss Shu.” Lin Lu pouted. “I actually quite dislike her.”
"Then why did you say, Su Ni..." Eric asked her nervously.
"You know he's Shu Ningmiao's half-brother, right?" Linlu pushed the plate in front of her away, put her hands behind her head, and leaned close to her mysteriously: "Aren't you curious why he doesn't share the same surname as Shu Ningmiao?"
“I don’t know.” Eric whispered to her, his expression becoming more serious. “But I don’t think we should discriminate against him because of this. He didn’t choose his own background.”
“Well, you’re not wrong.” Lin Lu scratched her head. “He and Shu Ningmiao are only a few months apart, which means that when he was born, the head of the Shu family and his ex-wife were still married. If the DNA test confirms his parentage with the head of the Shu family, Su Ni can directly inherit the family, but that would be illegal in Pine.”
"This incident caused quite a stir back then, haha, you didn't see Shu Ningmiao's dark face at the time... Of course I saw it, I was also in the preparatory course at Kornunos." Linlu covered her mouth and chuckled.
"In short, the Shu family wants a male heir, but they can't use legal means to make their son acknowledge his ancestors. So they can only advise Miss Shu to give up her inheritance rights and transfer them to Su Ni. His status is very awkward, and we don't want to associate with him."
Most of the students who can attend school in Cornunos are raised at home as heirs, so they are bound to feel uncomfortable about such a division of benefits.
Since arriving at this school, this was the first time Erice had sat down with her classmates and gossiped like a normal girl. She was somewhat nostalgic for this feeling, but she wished the people she was talking about weren't her new friends.
She wanted to refute Linlu's conclusion, arguing that a person's identity is not determined by themselves, and what did the previous generation's affairs have to do with him? But she didn't want to ruin the precious atmosphere, so she could only say tactfully, "But he didn't do anything wrong."
Linlu shrugged: "As a beneficiary, he doesn't seem to deserve any sympathy. If he really doesn't want the Shu family, he doesn't need to cling to this relationship."
"Perhaps he couldn't make a decision either..."
"I'm just giving you a heads-up." Lin Lu rested her chin on her hand and winked at her. "Everyone here is very realistic. He's not the only one in an awkward position at school, but he's the only one who's so special. It's all because Miss Shu doesn't like him."
Eric's gaze shifted: "Is she that amazing?"
Linlu gestured to the waiter to bring her a cup of milk tea, sipping it while looking her over: "So you didn't know? Miss Shu is very famous, but not because of the Shu family, but because of her brother."
Although the Shu family held the mining rights to a Pandora spring, they were not particularly outstanding in Kornunos, a place teeming with nobles.
Erice grew up in an orphanage in New Land and had no idea about these complicated relationships.
"Brother?" Eric was suddenly confused. "Didn't you say before that their family wanted a male heir?"
If that's the case, then the Shu family must only have one girl, Shu Ningmiao. If Shu Ningmiao had an older brother, why would they go to such lengths to have Su Ni inherit the family business without proper legitimacy?
"He's just an adopted son. You may not know this, but it's been a popular trend among the wealthy in Lingtian District to adopt promising orphans and send them to the military to pursue merits. The honors they achieve belong to the family, but they have no right to inherit them."
Linlu extended her index finger and shook it from side to side: "Her brother is an Envoy, an Envoy, you know, no one would want to offend an Envoy."
Even someone like Eric, a "commoner" who grew up in an orphanage, knows what it means to be an agent.
As Pandora's resources were further exploited, the number of people with supernatural abilities also increased. As the nation with the richest resources on Pandora, Pines became the target of other nations' covetousness and a frequent source of conflict, leading to several intermittent wars.
At this time, Pinheis began his plan to form an army of superhumans.
Over the next few centuries, through vigorous recruitment of people with supernatural abilities into the army, the military strength of Pinnea far surpassed that of most countries in the world, which was something the Pinneans were particularly proud of.
Within the army composed of superhumans, there is a special organization directly under the Central United Council called the "Executors".
This organization is only open to the strongest among the elite superhumans, and its members can be counted on one hand. It enjoys immense prestige in Pinne.
The existence of the "Actors" is to demonstrate the power of those with supernatural abilities.
A single user can suppress the armies of impoverished small countries. The vast power gap between superhumans and ordinary people causes some countries to completely lose the will to resist. This can be said to be Pinheis's most striking "signature".
In other words, Shu Ningmiao's brother is one of the most powerful superhumans in Pinne. Erige was shocked.
“That’s how it is. I advise you to reconsider.” Linlu tossed her hair in a rather unladylike manner. “Although I don’t like her either—but it’s human nature to seek advantage and avoid harm.”
——
The physical training class at String Light Academy was held in the training ground behind the Zhunti Pagoda. Shu Ningmiao walked around the Zhunti Pagoda before she saw this spacious area behind it.
The area was surrounded by metal barriers, about as thick as a wall, with many pits and dents.
Upon entering, the ground transforms into a special sandy area with greater cushioning. Fine white sand accumulates underfoot, feeling soft, but the dust is rather excessive.
Their teacher for this class sat casually on the sand, arms propped on his legs, his face covered in an unbearable amount of dust: "Is everyone here?"
With a push of his legs, the man stood up without any external force, his large muscles bulging out and gleaming with a honey-colored light in the sunlight.
Shu Ningmiao carefully examined the new teacher in front of her, praying that he wasn't an oddball like Weston. The man wore a tight-fitting training uniform, with a cone-shaped pendant necklace on his chest. His muscles were so muscular that they were clearly defined, and at nearly two meters tall, he stood there like a wall.
A boy behind him muttered, "We're not going to have to train to look like this to graduate, are we?"
The man's gaze suddenly sharpened as he crossed his arms and said, "You think you can learn it just by wanting to?"
"With such keen hearing, he must be a superhuman," Shu Ningmiao thought to herself. Taking advantage of the chaos, she hid behind Shi Yu and glanced at the terminal. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the two remaining blank boxes on the character guide page hadn't been unlocked.
The man stood before them, his brows furrowed as he surveyed the group, exuding an intense aura of pressure that instantly silenced everyone: "I am your physical training instructor, Yelü Qi."
"Hello, Teacher Ye!"
“...My surname is Yelü.”
The crowd stood around him on the field. Although it was quiet, they couldn't help but feel excited. After all, they were still teenagers. After listening to a boring science lecture all morning, they were finally starting real training related to superpowers, and they couldn't help but feel excited.
Faced with excited eyes, Yelü Qi touched the tip of his nose, thought for a moment, and said, "Do you all know about your special abilities?"
A few scattered replies rang out from the crowd: "Understood."
"Alright." Yelü Qi pondered for a moment, then snapped his fingers: "Go run, twenty laps."
"ah?!"
As soon as Yelü Qi finished speaking, a chorus of unwilling noise arose. They had never imagined that "physical training" was real physical training, without any supernatural elements.
This training track is about 1km per lap, so 20 laps would be 20km. Making these pampered students who have never done any hard work run 20km right from the start is simply killing them!
"Teacher, do we really have to run twenty laps? What does this have to do with superpowers?" someone dared to ask. "Many of us don't have superpowers that enhance strength, and we can't fight head-on. Shouldn't we teach according to our individual abilities?"
Yelü Qi looked them over, then suddenly burst into laughter. Instead of answering the question, he asked, "Which of you has awakened an offensive ability, not a strength-enhancing one?"
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally, the boy who had been muttering to himself about being scolded by Yelüqi stepped forward: "I... my superpower is the Flame of Fire."
“Come on,” Yelüqi beckoned, “use your powers to attack me at will, aim carefully.”
The boy stood two or three meters away from Yeluqi, his face flushed. After holding his breath for several minutes, he finally condensed a huge fireball in his hand. He then thrust his arms forward and launched the fireball toward Yeluqi's location.
The man stood still, without moving an inch, only slightly shifting his body to dodge the fireball. His movements were so fast that it appeared as if he hadn't moved at all.
Before anyone present could react, the man's figure suddenly vanished from the spot.
The next second, the boy suddenly screamed and fell to the ground.
Yelü Qi stood in front of him and simply tripped him with his leg.
He was too powerful, his strength was so overwhelming that the difference was imperceptible. Even with the amplification of his superpowers, his speed had already exceeded the limits of what the naked eye could perceive.
Yelü Qi didn't look at him, and asked again, "Are there any superhumans with enhanced strength?"
Shu Ningmiao pondered for a moment and roughly knew what he wanted to do.
As a teacher, he should hold back... The opportunity to safely fight such a powerful superhuman is rare, and she doesn't want to miss it.
His question went unanswered, and in the silence, Shu Ningmiao walked out gracefully.
Yelü Qi looked down at her with some surprise, not expecting that the first power-enhancing ability user to come out would be such a delicate little girl.
"That's fine." He nodded hesitantly, waved his arm, took a step back, and gestured for her to make the first move.
Shu Ningmiao nodded to him. She had almost figured out the conditions for strengthening her power, which should be that she was in a state of "anger".
It may take some time to process the emotions before you can cry, but it's very easy to feel angry.
She recalled Weston's face.
In her mind, the little Weston figure, now a simple sketch, sat on the table like a lord, wearing glasses, and coldly ordered her: "Come to my office after class. I have two hundred assignments to grade. After you're done, make me a pot of tea and take out the trash while you're at it."
When Shu Ningmiao raised her head again, she could feel that the strength of her clenched fist had increased.
A sense of relief and warmth washed over her dry palms. With a serious expression, she flashed in front of Yelüqi in the blink of an eye and delivered a powerful punch to his chest.
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