mynovelonline Chapter 428 - 413: Picking Peaches
Chapter 428 - 413: Picking Peaches
Li Ming knew exactly what Gu Xi was thinking.
And he found it very comforting.
However, he didn’t think he was so old that he needed to avoid these worldly affairs and retire to live out his days in peace.
Although he did look very old. Deep down, he really did want to cast aside all this chaos and live a carefree life under the sun with the young woman he’d watched grow up.
’Just thinking about a life like that makes me happy.’
But before that, there were still troubles that needed to be resolved.
Li Ming smiled and looked down. He flicked a fingertip that rested on his leg—withered and ancient, as lifeless as a dry twig. He only *looked* this old.
After a moment, Li Ming opened his personal terminal, entered a special number, and sent a message.
—Time to act.
...
Following the arrival of the investigation team, a piece of news was quickly announced on the official forums of A City Base.
—A City Base was about to establish the first Superpower Academy of the post-apocalyptic era.
Once the news spread, it caused a huge uproar within the superpower user community.
"Tsk, looks like that bunch isn’t entirely useless after all."
Qi Xiang glanced at the latest news on the forum interface. She leaned back, sinking languidly into the sofa with a hint of sarcasm.
"So, they realized there’s only one Superpower Seed. Forget about whether they can even get it—even if they did, it would be impossible to divide. Is that why they’ve decided to set their sights on the superpower users instead?"
With Farm 0101 successively releasing a great deal of information on superpower cultivation, the number of superpower users gathering in City A had also grown.
So someone from the higher-ups proposed that since the valuable information had already been made public, they might as well ride this wave and make good use of this group of unaffiliated superpower users.
Thus, the first Superpower Academy of the post-apocalyptic era was born.
However, just as the composition of the joint investigation team was complex, the various factions in the Central Base were far from monolithic.
In short, each faction had its own little agenda.
And so, during the initial planning stages, the Superpower Academy bizarrely ended up with one honorary dean, one administrative dean, and... eighteen vice deans!
The sheer number of people with the title of "dean" was truly eye-opening.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was an educational experience.
"What are you on about? Of course those people aren’t all useless," Shen Yue glanced at Qi Xiang, then turned to take the fruit bowl Wei Heng had just brought from the kitchen. He commented casually, "There are a few smart people in the Central Base."
For example, the younger brother of Commander Qee Ran, His Excellency Qee Zhou, the current Chief Executive of the Administrative Council.
He was reportedly the one who first proposed establishing the Superpower Academy in A City Base to bring this force of unaffiliated superpower users into the fold.
"But the information that attracted those superpower users was originally shared by Gu Xi." If it weren’t for obtaining the firsthand superpower cultivation data released by the farm, those unaffiliated superpower users wouldn’t have stayed in City A for long.
Not even with the juicy carrot of the legendary Superpower Seed from the Land of Death dangling in front of them!
After all, people weren’t stupid. It was one thing to come treasure hunting to try their luck for a while, but they still had to live their lives in a practical, down-to-earth way.
...Everyone knew full well that without the information Gu Xi had taken the lead in publicizing, once the current hype died down, the superpower users who had come hunting for the Superpower Seed in the Land of Death would have left one by one within a few months.
But things were different now.
The chance to systematically study superpower cultivation data was undoubtedly a huge draw for those unaffiliated superpower users who had been fumbling along on their own.
And by the same token, whichever faction controlled this group of superpower users would see its own power rise to a new level.
This was why the fight for the deanships was so fierce, to the point that the first thing to be confirmed about this still-nonexistent Superpower Academy was its double-digit number of deans.
"I think, no matter what, Gu Xi should get to be one of the deans," Yang Chi said, snatching two big, red apples from his cousin’s hand and casually stuffing one into Qin Yi’s.
’Wei Heng really is a great homemaker. This freshly washed apple is incredibly crisp and delicious.’
’Not like some people who only know how to freeload.’
Yang Chi glanced at his cousin. Thinking of their pitiful brotherly bond, he ultimately refrained from making the put-down too obvious.
Munching on her apple, Qin Yi nodded in agreement. That made sense; after all, Gu Xi had contributed most of that information.
’Without Gu Xi, those people think they can bring this group of unaffiliated superpower users into the fold?’
’In their dreams.’
’Just think about it. It’s been so many years since the apocalypse began. This small community of unaffiliated superpower users has always existed, operating outside the official government and military. They’re not to be underestimated. Was it because the major factions didn’t *want* to recruit them?’
’No, it’s because they *couldn’t*!’
Wei Heng wiped the water from his hands, took off the apron from his waist, and hung it to the side. "I’m afraid those people won’t cough up a spot for a dean."
’Some people’s greed is just shameless.’
"According to the news from Mr. Ye, nearly all the major factions up top have their eyes on this group of superpower users. Forget about the deanships—even the spots in the academy’s management have already been carved up by them."
"It’s not like there’s no chance," Qi Xiang said languidly, nestled on the sofa hugging a strange pillow with cat ears. "Knowing them, I doubt this fight over the dean and vice-dean positions will be resolved anytime soon."
’They say when the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits. This gives us a chance to fish in troubled waters.’
"You want to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight?" Shen Yue immediately threw cold water on her idea. "Those people aren’t that stupid. I’m afraid some things were already settled by a tacit agreement even before the investigation team set out."
"Otherwise, my old man wouldn’t have bothered to make this trip."
Thinking of this, he looked at Gu Xi, who had been silent the whole time. "Gu Xi, what’s your take?"
Gu Xi looked down, fiddling with a listless little sprout without saying a word. ’It doesn’t really matter whether I’m a dean or not, but if they think they can just swoop in and steal my prize, they’d better see if they’re tough enough!’
’Her Xidao hadn’t been used in many years, but she figured it would still have no problem cutting down a person or two.’
Just then, "Huh, there’s a new update," Yang Chi, with half an apple in his mouth, suddenly mumbled while staring at the light screen in front of him.
The others gathered around to look. The official forum had just published the list of the first batch of instructors for the Superpower Academy.
The first batch of selected instructors consisted of 39 people. At the very top of the list were none other than Ye Junhan, Shen Yue, and several others from their group.
Qi Xiang’s name was also on it.
But...
"Why isn’t Gu Xi here?" Qin Yi asked with a frown. "It’s so strange. Even my sister and I made the list, so how could they have possibly left Gu Xi out?"
Qi Xiang sneered from the side, "Could it be that those people had a sudden attack of conscience and decided to give Gu Xi a vice-dean title instead?"
’As if that were possible.’
So that raised the question—
Everyone from their Farming Team was on the instructor list, except for their captain, Gu Xi!
What was that supposed to mean?
Were they trying to sow discord? Or divide and conquer them from within?