Tang Kaiyuan never thought that applause and lights would embarrass him.

He waved his hands several times, but the lights in the lecture hall still did not respond. The applauders disappeared into the darkness, and the sound seemed to surge from all directions, swallowing him standing in the light.

Bai Li stood on the stage, and two passages from the original book flashed through his mind.

——"Tang Kaiyuan stood on the podium, back on the stage that belonged to him. He looked at the camera robot, as if he was silently staring at Bai Li outside the screen."

——"In the dim room with only the light of the virtual screen, Bai Li smashed anything he could touch. Tang Kaiyuan could live in the light, while he could only curl up in the dark corner, living like a maggot."

Tang Kaiyuan on the podium was caged in the spotlight, while Bai Li stood in the gloom under the stage.

They looked at each other, one standing in the center of the podium, and the other standing under the stage where only the outline could be seen.

Thunderous applause, between light and darkness.

Between the darkness in the light and the light in the darkness.

When the applause stopped, the students of the military academy who were sitting in the back row of the reserved seats suddenly realized that there were two or three alphas in suits and leather shoes standing in the aisle, wearing metal badges the size of a fingernail on their chests, which were the symbols of the First Heir Guard.

"Sorry, the speech is not over yet," one of them said in a low voice, "Please sit back in your seat for the time being."

This was said to Bai Li, but Lu Zhao was sitting near the aisle, so the guards could only talk to him across him.

Lu Zhao did not move, and the guards called out "Major General Lu Zhao", but he did not respond. The leader was a little embarrassed.

Only vague outlines could be seen in the dim light. The military academy students around them whispered to each other, and some of them stretched their necks to ask, "Can't we applaud?"

Bai Li clapped for a full minute before stopping, and sighed with satisfaction, "This is really a rare time in my life that every applause in a minute is genuine."

"You can do it for another minute." Lu Zhao looked at the time on his personal terminal, "It's still early."

Even though he couldn't see their expressions clearly, Bai Li still felt that the faces of several people in the guards turned quite ugly with this sentence.

Bai Li wanted to laugh, he found that Lu Zhao was very good at angering people.

"No, my hands hurt," Bai Li said, "and the 'hypocrisy under the wig' is gone."

Lu Zhao nodded and stood up.

His height stood out even among the alphas. It was not obvious when he was sitting, but when he stood up, several guards subconsciously took half a step back.

Many of those in their line of work were retired from the military, and they were all familiar with Lu Zhao's record of "cleansing" the C14 satellite overnight.

Bai Li asked, "Leaving now?"

"Then you come for another minute?" Lu Zhao was stunned, "What else is there?"

There was indeed nothing else. Bai Li thought for a while and realized that Lu Zhao had specially obtained the invitation just to give him a chance to applaud for one minute on the spot.

"It's okay," Bai Li smiled, "Have a midnight snack, go home and eat."

Lu Zhao's brows, which had been wrinkled since the beginning of his speech, relaxed.

"Major General Lu, are you leaving?" asked the military academy kid in the back row. "We classmates want to talk to you about mechas after the speech."

Lu Zhao wanted to leave, but after hearing this, he wanted to run.

There were also kids calling Bai Li: "Major General Bai, well, we also want to talk to you..."

"Don't talk," Bai Li said, "The house rules say we have to go home before midnight."

Several kids laughed.

"We can't talk about mechas here," Lu Zhao said, calmly, "You only know what a mecha is when we fight."

Several guards were a little stunned, and stiffly made way for Lu Zhao and Bai Li to walk out.

Bai Li was walking and laughing. Lu Zhao guessed that he didn't realize how arrogant he was just now. When two-thirds of the speech was about mechas, he said that he couldn't talk about mechas here. If this word got to the first heir, he would probably be furious.

Most of the time, Bai Li felt that he was domineering enough. After Lu Zhao appeared, Master Bai realized his shortcomings.

When he was about to reach the door, Bai Li heard Tang Kaiyuan shout: "Bai Li."

Unlike Mr. Gao's angry and frustrated voice, this voice was very cold and deep, and had the temperament of a male protagonist.

It was worth it that the original work had a specific description of Tang Kaiyuan's temperament of about a hundred words every few paragraphs.

Bai Li turned around and looked at Tang Kaiyuan on the podium.

"Mr. Bai," Tang Kaiyuan's expression was very calm, as calm as a layer of ice, covering the surging undercurrent below, "Thank you for your applause, it's an honor to invite you to this speech."

Bai Li stopped and half-closed his eyes and looked at him for a few seconds.

"Our institute respects veterans like Mr. Bai very much, and the same is true for mechas," Tang Kaiyuan's voice was gentle and polite, coming out through the micro microphone, temporarily easing the atmosphere of discussion in the lecture hall, "I think Mr. Bai will like the mecha that our institute is developing, and I sincerely hope to have a good competition with Mr. Bai in the competition."

These few words were neither humble nor arrogant, and they looked like some old nobles.

He stood on the podium, looking as upright as the light.

Bai Li took two steps toward the podium: "When you looked back at me just now, did you see what I was saying with my mouth?"

Without the aid of a microphone, Bai Li's voice could only be heard by Tang Kaiyuan and several military personnel and nobles who were close to him in the front row.

Tang Kaiyuan was stunned and said nothing.

"Then I'll 'say' it again." Bai Li suddenly raised his left hand, clenched it into a fist, and turned his wrist three times.

The light on the podium framed Bai Li's outline very clearly. He was like an extremely black silhouette, standing in front of the light.

After doing this, Bai Li turned around and left.

Without saying a word, the military personnel present immediately understood the meaning.

That was a common pre-war gesture used by veterans in the military—"I will keep my fist clenched until the last moment."

Lu Zhao stood at the door, watching Bai Li stride towards him, and stretched out his clenched fist from a distance.

"Let's go," Bai Li said, "and have a luxurious supper."

The last speech given by the first heir at the end of the year at the military academy turned out to be a farce.

The police station gave the results of the investigation that night, and obtained evidence that Gao was involved in the sale of military hospital information. Not long after Mr. Gao entered the police station, he confessed everything clearly, even faster than Gao Ye.

Immediately afterwards, the military issued a statement, expelling Gao Ye from the military, kicking him out of the military, and never recruiting him again.

When the citizens of the empire slept and woke up to see the news, the case of personal information trading had been dealt with quickly. The punishment for Gao has not yet been determined, but it seems that there is no possibility of leniency. The anger of the citizens in the past few days has finally been calmed down a little.

But at the same time as the result of the handling, another piece of news caused heated public discussion.

One minute before Mr. Gao was taken away by the police to cooperate with the investigation, he was still enjoying the applause. The applause came from the speech of the first heir of the Military Academy. The reason for the applause was that Mr. Gao provided technical support in the development of mechas, which was quite a contribution.

The citizens of the empire were quite shocked. How could someone who did such a dirty thing enjoy the applause in glory?

Then someone followed the line of Mr. Gao and soon found out Lin Sheng's data and information. People with this surname naturally have different identities in the empire. Immediately, there were rumors that "the royal family sheltered and condoned the nobles", which aroused public discussion.

Lin Sheng's identity was exposed, and the first heir was also affected.

Clues could not escape the sharp eyes of the Empire netizens. Lin Sheng's publicly available information about his joining the First Corps aroused suspicion. Some people asked: "It seems that he was discharged very hastily. I wonder if there is any hidden secret?"

From the time Mr. Gao was taken away by the police to Lin Sheng being implicated, it was just one night and one morning. Lin Sheng's research institute also became popular again, but it is hard to say whether citizens are optimistic or pessimistic.

The first heir mentioned Lin Sheng's research institute several times in his speech, and when combined with the Empire Research Institute Contest that was not long in the future, the meaning was quite subtle. The Internet was full of curses, and they were quite disgusted with this kind of behavior of directing public attention before the game, and questioned whether the first heir's behavior was abusing his royal status.

The royal family made a statement at the end of the year, denying that the speech contained private information, and then began to control public opinion, not allowing malicious speculation about the royal family. However, the year-end banquet and the speech to the citizens, which were hosted by the first heir in previous years, were unprecedentedly changed to the second heir, which seemed a bit guilty.

The students of the Military Academy became the center of gossip for a while, and the details of the speech were spread from the students' social platforms or word of mouth, from Mr. Gao being taken away on the spot, to Mr. Gao's wig being crooked, to Bai Li taking the lead in applauding, and the Star Network was eating melons.

Gradually, people discovered deeper details.

Bai Li said that he applauded on behalf of his own research institute. Does this mean that Bai Li will also participate in the upcoming competition?

Along with this question, there was also a photo being discussed.

The photo was taken by a student of the Military Academy. In the picture was a podium with a spotlight on it. Outside the aperture, a figure with his hand raised and clenched into a fist stood tall and clear, like a hole in the light, deeply burned into it.

This was the first time Bai Li had appeared on StarNet after the public opinion storm surrounding the incident of military humiliation some time ago.

There was only a figure from behind and a clenched fist.

People who don't know much about the military didn't understand the meaning of the photo, but soon veterans left comments: "I miss this gesture so much. Do new recruits nowadays not do this?"

"Cool, brother!"

"I've been out of the military for almost ten years, but when I make this gesture, I feel like my passion is still there."

The expression [clenched fist] dominated the comments on the Star Network about this photo. There were veterans who had left their posts for several years, and there were also newcomers who had just passed the year-end assessment and officially entered the military this year. The old and the new were all moved by this photo.

Many people understood the military from this perspective for the first time. When the meaning of this gesture was made public, someone finally understood why passion cannot be insulted.

Outside the prosperous lights of the empire, in the vast universe, countless people clenched their fists to welcome death.

"This is the iron fist of the Empire!"

"It's a pity that I can't enter the military due to physical reasons, but I will always respect every soldier!"

"We live under the protection of so many backs like this."

This photo is a day, but it's not just a day. It seems to have awakened the truth that was sealed in the empty worldview, and it's like finally moving a little of the boulder blocking the ant nest.

The ants crawled out of the dark cave, they were hungry, and they finally knew what daylight was.

People who have seen daylight will no longer be willing to live only in the night.

A series of follow-ups caused by the sale of personal information on the Star Network set off a frenzy at the end of this year, and incidentally, the Imperial Research Institute's competition has received a rare amount of attention. However, this kind of competition is generally only broadcast publicly in military academies and major military groups. Citizens expressed understanding, but also felt it was a pity.

The Imperial Research Institute's competition organizers released a poster at the end of the year. The poster was a silhouette of the Empire's past mechas that have received attention. The poster had a few words written on it: inheritance and change.

This was equivalent to denying the rumors that "the competition favored more offensive mechas" some time ago. The mecha research and development circle was full of anger, and some research institutes that chose to give up the competition reported the matter. After the police and the military had just settled the personal information trading incident, they had to start investigating this matter again.

When the students from the Publicity Department of the Military Academy's Mecha Combat Academy sent an interview request to Bai Li, Master Bai was secretly delivering goods home.

Contrary to the ever-increasing public opinion on Starnet, Bai Li has been keeping a low profile during this period. The work of the research institute was finally completed by the end of the year. With Zhou's unreserved help, the mecha was completed enough to participate in the competition. Situ was so excited that he almost kowtowed to the simulator on the spot, but was stopped by the researchers. In the end, they changed it to a dinner party.

Bai Li's small mecha model has been completed. Tomorrow is the last day of the year. He hurriedly brought the small model back to the apartment the night before the last day.

It was almost twelve o'clock when he got home after the dinner with the people from the research institute. Bai Li changed his shoes and walked into the bedroom quietly.

Lu Zhao went to bed early. Usually, if Bai Li said he would be back late, he would go to bed first.

There was a small light left in the bedroom for Bai Li. Lu Zhao seemed to be asleep. Bai Li held the model in his pocket with one hand and walked over to touch his forehead.

Lu Zhao's eyelids moved, but he didn't open them. He only mumbled, "It smells like alcohol."

"Ah," Bai Li said, "Chocolate wine."

Lu Zhao smiled with his eyes closed, and groped for Bai Li's collar with one hand, pulling him against himself.

The small model in Bai Li's pocket stopped Lu Zhao for a moment.

"What is that?" Lu Zhao opened his eyes, "It's so hard."

Bai Li calmly replied, "It must be bones. I'm a hard-boned person."

Lu Zhao was too lazy to reply and stretched out his hand to press on his clothes, but Bai Li quickly grabbed it.

If the small model is exposed in advance, there will be no surprise tomorrow.

"What on earth is it?" Lu Zhao sobered up.

Bai Li was quick-witted and said, "What do you mean it's so hard?"

Lu Zhao was stunned for several seconds. Bai Li grabbed his hand and moved it from his jacket pocket and pressed it on his chest. He paused and began to slide down again.

"Guess carefully," Bai Li felt his ears were burning, "or you can try to feel it again before guessing."

Lu Zhao came back to his senses, and pushed Bai Li with a smile: "Get lost."

Bai Li: "Woo woo."

"Change clothes and take a shower," Lu Zhao pulled his hand back, and lay back down with his eyes closed, "The fat guy is banging on the door, and he will scream soon."

Bai Li sighed pretentiously: "Okay."

He walked to the bedroom door and turned back pitifully and said: "Actually, kissing with the smell of alcohol is not bad."

Lu Zhao's answer was no answer.

After Bai Li entered the bathroom amid the cursing voice of the housekeeper robot, Lu Zhao sat up and opened the personal terminal.

The webpage was still on the photo he had browsed before. It was Bai Li's arrogant back. Now it was everywhere on Starnet. He looked at it for a few times before closing it and sending a text message to Chen Nan: Will you be fine tomorrow?

Chen Nan was a night owl and replied quickly: Don't worry, I'll send it to you by express mail when you're fine tomorrow.

Lu Zhao thanked him and breathed a sigh of relief.

He made a small gift for Bai Li, referring to the big black stone he found on Starnet. He actually thought that the stone was not bad. Lu Zhao had placed the order, but was stuck at the engraving stage.

Lu Zhao didn't know what to engrave.

Bai Li seemed to be linked to every gentle word, and seemed to deserve all the words full of honor.

After hesitating for several days, Lu Zhao finally canceled the order and asked Chen Nan for help. Chen Nan was his only close friend, and when he heard that he was going to give Bai Li something, Chen Nan was so excited that she almost cried.

He had given gifts without really thinking about it, and Huo Cun said it was "valuable", but Lu Zhao had no idea how "valuable" it was.

He thought carefully about what Bai Li might need, and then he heard the sound of Bai Li's footsteps after taking a shower outside the door. After a while, he received a call, probably from Situ.

"... We're home... Did you forget things when you were drunk... Why go to work? You won't be working tomorrow. Didn't I tell you it's a day off..." Bai Li's voice came in succession, "... I found that you didn't forget things when you were drunk. You were just dreaming when you were drunk. A salary increase, I don't have the time to give you a salary increase..."

Lu Zhao couldn't help but laugh. It was the first time he heard Bai Li say that he had no money.

The call was disconnected, and Bai Li cursed a few more times.

After scolding the drunkard, Bai Li returned to the bedroom and climbed onto the bed. Seeing Lu Zhao with his eyes closed and breathing evenly, he probably fell asleep. He didn't have the heart to wake him up and continue discussing whether he was hard or not. Mainly because he was too embarrassed to continue being shameless, he touched Lu Zhao's face and waved to turn off the light.

Bai Li lay down, his mind still in a state of confusion. The alcohol made his thoughts drift around, and occasionally he would think of the lonely New Year's Eve that was supposed to happen in the original book.

He turned over and exhaled, and just when he was halfway through exhaling, he felt a hand pressing him somewhere.

"Li Li," Lu Zhao said lightly, "the touch doesn't seem to be that strong."

Bai Li's whole body stiffened for three seconds, and he suddenly stood up and pressed Lu Zhao under him.

"That's because you didn't press it enough," Bai Li said, "Try again."

Lu Zhao couldn't stop laughing while being pressed on the bed, and with his other hand he touched Bai Li's hot ears in the dark.

Just give it a try.

The research institute and the army both had a few days off for the New Year, and Bai Li and Lu Zhao slept until almost noon.

Lu Zhao woke up once at a certain time in the morning, but couldn't stand Bai Li's obsession with sleeping, so he just wasted the time.

Bai Li was awakened by several notification sounds from his personal terminal, and he sat up, rubbing his eyes, and opened it.

Several text message boxes popped up on the virtual screen, and Bai Li read them one by one. Some of them were sent by Situ Jianghao and Zhou Yue, and they all had the same content.

In order to distance himself from the relationship, Lin Sheng terminated his cooperation with Gao's.

Jiang Hao added a sentence: Without Gao's data support, the completion of his mecha was too low, and the legion rejected his application for internal recommendation.

Bai Li felt refreshed instantly and opened the webpage to browse today's news.

Since it was to sever the relationship, Lin Sheng must publicly announce the decision to terminate the cooperation. Sure enough, Bai Li saw this in the news without much trouble.

A piece of gossip news popped up in a pop-up window, and the title was a line of big words: A certain rich kid who is being discussed has another scandal! He frequently goes in and out of a high-end club and is suspected of having unclear relationships with multiple lovers!

Bai Li did not close the pop-up window properly and clicked on the news directly.

He took a quick look and his eyes fell on the picture accompanying the news.

It was a somewhat blurry surveillance screenshot, but Bai Li still recognized it from the slapped hair shape. Wasn't this Gao Ye?

Looking at the so-called "certain high-end club", it was the one that had been reported recently where 18th-tier celebrities from the entertainment industry were frequented.

Bai Li whistled.

This matter was probably found out by following the clues. Bai Li didn't think much about it, closed the webpage and continued to read his text messages.

At around 7 or 8 in the morning, there was a text message sent by the system that looked very unfamiliar, and Bai Li clicked on it to read it.

"Imperial Bank: Account Binding Terminal Reminder: The ID verification method has been approved, your personal terminal has been successfully bound to account 1652358320445, the balance..."

Bai Li sat up straight and reacted for several seconds, and uttered a slightly puzzled "Fuck".

Lu Zhao woke up when he sat up, but he was too lazy to move with his eyes closed. When he heard the voice, he asked with a nasal voice: "What?"

"Whose account is bound to my terminal," Bai Li scratched his head, "I'll contact the bank to ask-"

Lu Zhao closed his eyes: "Mine."

Bai Li turned around and didn't respond: "Ah?"

"Mine," Lu Zhao said, "My salary account." He paused, opened his eyes and asked tentatively, "Is this a 'valuable' gift?"

Bai Li sat on the bed for more than a minute, then suddenly got up and started to put on clothes.

"Wait," Bai Li said, "I'll sort out the Bai family's industries first and then send you."