Chapter 41: Little Cloud?

As soon as Major Chen Qian arrived, he was about to ask Zhuang Yun what had happened when the 10th District Federal Troops forcefully barged in and took Zhuang Yun away.

In an instant, panic spread throughout the campus.

Here she was again, in the familiar interrogation room.

"Please answer, what just happened?"

"Just now? Just now you were talking to me."

......

Zhuang Yun recounted the earth-shattering, soul-stirring process of how she and the mecha forged their contract, while silently reciting a heart-cleansing mantra in her mind.

Behind the one-way mirror, officers repeatedly checked the lie detector data, followed by the sound of arguing: "The lie detector didn't fluctuate. Either she is telling the truth, or..."

An officer wearing gold-rimmed glasses tapped the screen. "She possesses anti-reconnaissance genes."

"However, have you ever seen anyone who can fool quantum ripple detection?" Another officer tapped his knuckles against the words "suspected ancient martial arts inheritor" on Zhuang Yun's file.

"Keep her detained. Apply for a brainwave scan."

After hours of interrogation, Zhuang Yun's words were chaotic and full of loopholes.

"Would you like me to help calculate your fortune?" Zhuang Yun asked with a smile, though infinite sorrow lingered in her heart.

By this time next year, the person before her would die in battle...

Meanwhile, the people here also received a message from the scouts sent to Tianfu Academy to inspect the Luan mecha.

[Ancient martial arts mecha, cockpit cannot be opened, energy destroyed, unable to start.]

What in the world! Could it be that she really did forge a contract with it, and only she could start it?

Besides, why was a century-old mecha still kept in a military academy for students to use? Shouldn't it be placed in a museum as an exhibition piece?

The school's response: To showcase Tianfu's century-old foundation.

Foundation? More like they were too poor and had to pass off ancient antiques to make up the numbers for the students...

Originally, the military officers wanted to detain Zhuang Yun for a few more days, but the school administration applied comprehensive pressure on their superiors, and by evening, Zhuang Yun was "acquitted and released."

As soon as Zhuang Yun stepped out of the military district prison gates, the principal, Major Chen Qian, and many other senior leaders came to greet her. After all, this was a student with 3S mental power!

In the past, they would have spent a fortune poaching such talent. With Tianfu Academy gradually declining and failing to compete with the other four military academies, they never expected to stumble upon such a treasure out of nowhere.

The principal smiled kindly and gently patted Zhuang Yun's shoulder. "It's good that you're okay. We will keep your matter confidential."

And you, you will be our trump card for the future.

Major Chen Qian called Zhuang Yun into his office.

Zhuang Yun stared at his handsome, rugged, and well-preserved facial features, her mind drifting away.

This, this, this... A lone man and a lone woman alone in a room, how inappropriate!

Chen Qian imperceptibly pressed a spot on the cuff of his military uniform, revealing the middle section of a wristwatch coiled with a silver snake.

Accompanied by the hiss of a snake forking its tongue, the ticking sound of the second hand magnified infinitely in Zhuang Yun's mind.

The red bloodshot veins in the major's eyes suddenly deepened.

Chen Qian's voice came hauntingly from the depths of her heart, "Zhuang Yun, there is no outsider here now. Please tell me honestly what happened this afternoon?"

He did not believe a single word Zhuang Yun said in the interrogation room, whether lies or nonsense. Now, he was going to use his proudest hypnosis to make her speak from the heart!

"Ah? Oh." Zhuang Yun's voice carried a daze.

"Aren't you an outsider?"

......

In the end, all Chen Qian got was another piece of nonsense: The Luan mecha is my lover from a past life, and today we finally recognized each other!

Chen Qian sighed and let Zhuang Yun go, rubbing his temples hard. Perhaps this little fortune-teller really did possess some unusual abilities; he would test her out slowly in the future.

He stroked the engraving on the inside of the silver snake wristwatch—it was an incomplete Taiji pattern.

He remembered when he eradicated a traitor organization ten years ago, he had seen the same symbol in the ruins of a laboratory, and the head of that laboratory had the surname Lin.

Zhuang Yun returned to the fourth underground floor once again. Luan stood quietly, its body previously dull and devoid of light, but upon seeing her, a faint blue light seemed to flash across its eyes.

"Go on, try it!" Ming Xie appeared, dressed in a white ancient robe, his handsome features appearing extraordinarily enchanting beneath his white hair.

Zhuang Yun had long sensed Ming Xie's spiritual power. "However, they said it can't be opened." She gently stroked the sword-shaped insignia on Luan, looking full of worry at the crack she had personally stabbed into it.

How on earth was this supposed to be repaired!

Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed. "Zhuang Yun!"

"That's wonderful! It's good that you're okay." As soon as Lin Yiwen heard that Zhuang Yun was in trouble, he hurriedly arranged a private flyer to rush over from the Ninth District.

However, who was this strangely dressed man standing next to her?!

"I'm fine!" Zhuang Yun replied with a smile, scratching her head sheepishly. "Sorry to have worried you!"

"And this is?"

Ming Xie looked at him, his gaze carrying a touch of detachment.

"This is... Ming Xie!" Ming Xie looked toward Zhuang Yun, terrified that she would introduce him to others by the name she had given him.

Zhuang Yun certainly didn't notice Ming Xie's warning gaze. Seeing Lin Yiwen's puzzled expression, she said, "Uh! He's Wangcai!"

Ming Xie: ！！！

Lin Yiwen: ？？？

"Wangcai! He can transform into a human form!" Knowing Lin Yiwen's character, Zhuang Yun simply told the truth.

Of course he knew who Wangcai was in Zhuang Yun's mouth!

Wangcai—that bird that frequently flew into Zhuang Yun's arms to sleep!

He had heard of beast tamers, people who could understand star beasts, but why could this one transform into a human form? Was his information outdated?

Lin Yiwen's heartbeat was chaotic, an emotion he had never experienced before.

"Brother Lin, could you help me take a look at this mecha? I want to try it!"

Only then did Lin Yiwen snap back to reality and look at the mecha standing behind her.

Suddenly, his pupils shrank violently.

Lin Yiwen's fingertips brushed across the gilded patterns on Luan's chest, which were identical to the Xuanwu mecha in his parents' laboratory.

The hasty records from the experimental log of that year suddenly surfaced in his mind: "The Twins Project is terminated, Luan and Xuanwu must be permanently sealed..."

"Can it still be repaired?"

"Give me an hour, this crack can be fixed, but whether it can be started is hard to say." He had been studying that mecha in the laboratory for a month, yet he hadn't even been able to open the cockpit.

"That's great, Brother Lin! Then I'll trouble you!"

Zhuang Yun cheerfully helped Lin Yiwen hand over tools from the adjacent repair bay.

"Let me do it. You go sit down and rest."

"Okay!"

Lin Yiwen took a deep breath, trying to calm his inner shock and curiosity, walked over to the Luan mecha, and began a careful inspection.

His gaze lingered for a moment on the mecha's sword-shaped insignia and the crack, and then he got to work.

Zhuang Yun sat aside, watching Lin Yiwen as her eyes slowly grew heavy. Ming Xie quietly transformed into a bird and flew into Zhuang Yun's arms.

Lin Yiwen had already kept a watchful eye on Zhuang Yun and was infuriated to see Ming Xie act so brazenly and shamelessly!

A nameless fire raged in his heart!

Then he said gently, "Zhuang Yun, come help me pass the pliers!"

"Ah! Okay!" Muddled with sleep, Zhuang Yun jumped up upon hearing Lin Yiwen call her, almost dropping the dozing Ming Xie onto the floor.

Ming Xie: Kid! You did that on purpose, didn't you!

When Lin Yiwen "accidentally" knocked a tool loose, Ming Xie's wide sleeves rippled without wind, and the falling wrench suddenly hovered three inches from Zhuang Yun's hair.

"Be careful," the white-haired man said, cyan light swirling around his fingertips. "You can't afford to pay if you hurt little Yunyun."

"It's fine! Here! The wrench!"

Zhuang Yun had helped Lin Yiwen pass tools before; whatever he needed, she could always anticipate in advance. With her help, the crack was repaired in no time.

"Give it a try!"

Zhuang Yun used all her strength, but she couldn't pry open the cockpit.

"Idiot!" Ming Xie grabbed a cushion from somewhere, leaning sideways on the ground while propping himself up with one hand. "Little Yunyun, have you forgotten where you came from?"

Little Yunyun?! Lin Yiwen's fists clenched tighter and tighter.

Understanding dawned on Zhuang Yun, and she slowly channeled her internal energy into the mecha. The mecha's eyes lit up with a blue light, and the cockpit door slowly rose amidst a grinding sound.

The moment the Twenty-Eight Mansions bronze lamps embedded in the cabin roof lit up, the surveillance footage on the fourth underground floor suddenly flickered with static.

Thousands of miles away, a display screen in the dark automatically lit up, and a mechanical voice whispered: "Hetu Luoshu system activation detected, executing cleanup program countdown..."

Nine copper coins suspended in the Kan position condensed into an instrument panel, the "Kaiyuan Tongbao" inscriptions gleaming on them.

The peach wood sword that slipped from Zhuang Yun's sleeve "clicked" into the groove of the control panel, and dense seal script immediately lit up on the cabin walls.

"Huang Shang Yuanji, Dragon Fights in the Wild, open!" Zhuang Yun bit her fingertip and drew an imperial decree on the Taiji bead, her blood seeping into the gilded Hetu Luoshu patterns.

The moment her blood seeped into the Taiji bead, Zhuang Yun saw an illusion: herself clad in dark armor, stabbing the peach wood sword into Luan's control panel, while a familiar sigh came from behind: "Ah Yun, you chose this path of no return after all..."

The entire mecha suddenly emitted a tremor like a dragon's roar, and dust fell in flurries from the dome of the underground space.

Staring at the dwindling cinnabar in the Kun position hourglass, Lin Yiwen suddenly remembered the experimental log: "When Luan awakens, you must disconnect it before the hourglass runs out..."

"Get out here!" He lunged toward the control panel. "If the hourglass runs out, it will trigger..."

Before he could finish speaking, a piercing alarm sounded throughout the base.

Ming Xie's white hair fluttered without wind, and his pupils suddenly contracted. "The Ziwei Soul-Locking Array? Four thousand years, and this vicious forbidden art still exists!"

This time, I will not let you die again.