120. Prelude to the Storm
Li Aozi nodded.
That name—he really hadn't heard of it before.
White Candle Star didn't have any famous main storylines or plot quests. When Li Aozi had browsed through the guides, he just skimmed past it. Why would he remember something so clearly?
Unless he raised his [Intelligence] to 500 points and got a [Mindscape] specialty, only then could he extract all his life's memories from his mind and review them all—maybe then it would be possible.
But 500 points of [Intelligence]? Did he think the [Mechanical Society] just sat around for nothing?
With that much intelligence, without psychic defenses, Li Aozi figured he wouldn't last long before he'd lose it.
Saying goodbye to Mordot and the others, Li Aozi quickly made himself scarce, leaving behind Sylia, who looked at Li Aozi's retreating figure, biting her lip lightly, and confusedly asked Mordot:
"Minister—"
Smack!
In front of everyone, Mordot gave Sylia a straightforward slap across the face, scolding her:
"Didn't I tell you before? Don't mention colonials, don't mention colonials! What the hell is wrong with your brain?!"
Sylia was knocked to the ground, her visor cracked, chaotic elements corroding her face, stinging and burning. Her eyes, already red, welled up with tears.
"But—"
"But what?"
Sylia, extremely aggrieved, said:
"But Minister, that guy looks so suspicious. If he was really here to see Mero, when faced with this mess, any reasonable person would have retreated. Instead, he walked right in, getting himself caught in our blockade. It just doesn't add up—"
"And then?"
Mordot said coldly:
"So you brought up that word?"
"Colon…"
"Enough!" Mordot said, exasperated. "Look at the other seniors! When you said that word, do you know how much pain you caused them?"
Sylia blinked, then looked around—sure enough, every senior's face was sour.
"Remaining Moon and colonial troopers were the traumas of our generation, an indelible shadow. Many students still don't even know if they were affected by Remaining Moon's genes—you calling a newcomer a colonial just opens old wounds."
Mordot sighed:
"I'm only telling you this for your own good... Don't bring it up again. It's lucky it was here, with me. If Chairwoman Corena knew…"
Sylia tensed:
"What would happen?"
"…Chairwoman Corena is a veteran, returned for further education." Mordot looked at Sylia with pity, "She killed sixteen Night Flies in combat—an extraordinary war hero. And her comrades who came back with her died under Remaining Moon's attack."
"Now, she won't allow anyone to mention that scar again."
"You can choose to ignore my advice, but the consequences… you bear alone."
Mordot patted her shoulder and sighed.
Gulp...
Sylia trembled, standing up shakily, head bowed. She surely wouldn't dare say anything more.
Mordot turned, watching Li Aozi's departing figure.
"Losing 121 points in a week—no matter how you think about it, that's absurd."
Mordot touched his neck.
Was there something wrong with the kid's brain?
Mordot pondered.
—Or was it that his head wasn't human at all?
"Interesting kid."
Mordot chuckled.
Based on his biological frequency, that guy really was just Gamma-tier. But… Gamma-tiers had their differences too.
A handful of Gamma-tier nobodies could make a Zeta-tier struggle—whether manipulating public opinion, poisoning covertly, or framing someone.
Whether or not it was Leoz didn't matter now. What mattered was—was Leoz really a "person"?
Introducing him to Wendy might be a very good choice.
Just then, the detection box made a sound, transmitting data to Mordot. He checked it, and his expression immediately changed.
"Primordial content exceeding 0.618%... This is… a [Society] citizen!"
Leoz and colonials suddenly seemed trivial.
Mordot's first thought was to notify the Student Council immediately, then report to the Education Department and the military—a society citizen had infiltrated the school.
But he quickly stopped himself.
—No, I can't do that.
The appearance of a [Society] citizen would cause mass panic, needing a discreet lockdown.
With the military struggling on the frontlines, they had no capacity to deal with a [Society] invasion in the rear. They might even just send in troops to take over, conduct cleansing operations, or simply bombard from orbit.
The military did that a lot.
Crystal Tower Civilization was well-versed in combating society. At the first sign of [Society] infiltration, they'd cut their losses, decisively nipping any threat in the bud—the populace accepted this as well. No one wanted their entire civilization to fall.
But this was a school. There were so many innocent students.
"Forget Leoz, I need to gather the Student Council's leaders immediately."
Stowing away the detection sheet, Mordot didn't even bother with disaster relief; he took off running.
The inspection team didn't know why Mordot was in such a hurry, but they vaguely sensed that this academic year might see some changes.
...…
"Even though my brain works great, in the end, it's all about [Charisma]!"
Li Aozi returned to his dorm smoothly. The school handed out radiation-blocking meds to everyone that night, and Li Aozi pretended to take his.
After preparing a tub of hot water, Li Aozi removed his colonial head and comfortably lay down in it:
"Ahhh—taking a bath after a fight is really satisfying. Today was a good day. Got the Saint Core, found traces of the [Mechanical Society], and even got closer to getting my potion—quite the haul."
But Li Aozi wasn't letting his guard down.
Sylia from the inspection team had keen senses; Li Aozi suspected she had a psionic gift or specialty, which was why she had noticed something odd about him.
As for that Mordot guy, he most likely saw through his colonial status.
He had interrupted Sylia at just the right moment... it was almost as if he was deliberately preventing the colonial check.
"Seems like White Candle Star has hated colonials for a long time... I overlooked that."
Though he said that, Li Aozi wasn't too worried about the risk of exposure.
A week ago, just after enrollment, he might have been nervous, but after a week of memory excavation, he was much more at ease.
Based on what he'd uncovered, his next step was to obtain a sequence of Omega Energy.
"Sequence Fifty-Six•[Remaining Moon]."