Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 121 - 41: Department of Cosmic Relations Coordination

Chapter 121: Chapter 41: Department of Cosmic Relations Coordination

Even though the elder known as "old poison" wasn’t exactly admirable, the fact that he risked his life to reveal the Second Prince’s plans to attack the academy tonight was a spirit worthy of encouragement.

As the saying goes, "A man’s words are kind when he is about to die," at least at the end of his life, "old poison" managed to do some good.

Good deeds done under duress are still good deeds.

Jiuyue also held her lunchbox, curled up her tail, and sat next to Duan Mingyuan, eating her lunch with relish. To her, "old poison" was like a strangely colored stone she happened to pick up by the roadside; since Mr. Mingyuan said it was dirty, she decided not to pick it up anymore.

"The Second Prince’s original plan was to have ’old poison’ drug the food to knock everyone out and easily take over Yunhai Academy. If ’old poison’ failed, he would resort to a forced attack."

From "old poison"’s memories, Duan Mingyuan incidentally learned about the fate of the Chess Institute’s principal, Chu Xingluo.

He carried the Death Qi Bomb given to him by Chen Chou, and attempted to approach the Second Prince, only to fall just short, not expecting that the Second Prince he met would be a decoy.

And over the past week, Chu Xingluo had already informed the Second Prince of the route to Qing Chi Peak.

As long as they found a way to break through the Barrier, the assassins from Yin Die could swiftly strike at the academy.

"I alone can stop them at the foot of the mountain."

Jiuyue didn’t take the Second Prince seriously. Using Mr. Mingyuan’s words, the offensive capability of the Barrier she set up was much stronger than the great formation left by the founder of Yunhai Academy.

The ability of the calamity fox, to put it in more common terms, is what gamers often enthusiastically refer to as the "noob killer."

According to Duan Mingyuan’s estimation, unless the Life Energy reaches the level of a middle-level professional title, stepping into the Barrier would lead to a tragic death due to various bizarre accidents.

In an evenly matched battle, Jiuyue’s ability is more like a support role.

While a calamity can’t cause fatal injuries to an opponent of the same level, it can impose a "streak of bad luck" negative status on the enemy, making their abilities miss the target, and when they are attacked, they’ll be hit with 100% accuracy.

Therefore, in Duan Mingyuan’s view, Jiuyue’s most ideal way of combat at present is to be part of a team and enhance the status of others.

"Tonight, you must cancel the Barrier and conserve your strength."

"Cancel the Barrier? Why?"

Jiuyue turned her face in confusion, "Is it to give the academy’s young people a chance to grow, so I don’t stop all the small fry at the base of the mountain?"

"That’s one aspect of it, but more importantly, your opponent is someone else."

"The Second Prince? Is he that formidable?"

In terms of age, the Second Prince is the Prime Monarch’s second son, quite a few years younger than Ning Ruyue. Currently, Ning Ruyue’s Life Energy is at 31, just touching the edge of a middle-level professional title. Even if the Second Prince is more talented, he couldn’t be that much stronger than the Elder Princess.

Moreover, she was personally designated by Mr. Mingyuan as the "youngest senior titleholder ever," which could be described as having infinite potential.

Duan Mingyuan said, "It’s the Second Prince’s teacher; his armor bears some resemblance to ’Long Branch’."

That teacher moves with extreme secrecy, and even "old poison," who serves as the right hand of the Second Prince, has only seen him once. It was purely by accident that he encountered him.

For that, "old poison" was nearly silenced by the teacher and owed his life to the Second Prince, who pleaded on his behalf.

"Old poison" had never seen the Second Prince’s teacher in action, but he presumed that all the skills of the Second Prince were taught by this teacher, and in dealing with extremely dangerous organizations like Wangxu, it was mostly the teacher who took action.

As long as the Second Prince’s teacher made a move, there was no problem he couldn’t solve.

That is precisely why, for the Second Prince, this journey to Yunhai Academy was nothing more than gilding his path to becoming the Prime Monarch.

Luckily, "old poison" was a spiteful and vengeful person, thorough in playing both sides.

The experience of nearly dying at the hands of the Second Prince’s teacher made him hold a grudge; while in the Imperial Court, he collected a lot of information related to the teacher in secret, and thereby discovered a fact that shocked him.

Within the Universe Company, there exists an institution called the "Cosmic Relations Coordination Department," whose job is to covertly direct the power relations of the various planets where the company has stationed itself.

And on this land, the so-called struggle for the heir, for the Council of the department, is just a game.

The Elder Princess, the Second Prince, and even all the other heirs, are nothing more than pawns on the chessboard.

The reason the Second Prince rose to power was that the department’s director had placed the most bets on him, and so from the moment the Second Prince was born, his future was already planned out.

At the age of 5, he began to show promise.

By age 10, he had made some achievements in the Sword Control Technique.

At 15, he unified Yin Die and held great power.

At 17, with the subjugation of the Yunhai Academy as a catalyst, he smoothly succeeded to the throne of the Prime Monarch without any suspense.

Every point in the Second Prince’s life was like a scheduled agenda, proceeding methodically, and even the Second Prince himself was unaware of these details.

"Even the ruler of this nation is selected by the Extraterrestrials?"

Jiuyue, greatly shocked, momentarily forgot that she had been chewing on a bone and made a "crunch, crunch" noise. She knew nothing about politics or power, but influenced by the stories of her kin, she had always believed that the Prime Monarch was the person at the very pinnacle of this planet.

The temples and villages built by the villagers and even the land beneath their feet all belonged to the Prime Monarch.

But now, Mr. Mingyuan was saying that the supreme ruler of this planet was also chosen by the Extraterrestrials.

"That’s what the old poisoner thinks."

Duan Mingyuan nodded.

The reason the old poisoner knew all this and was still alive was not that he was fortunate enough, but because within the "Cosmic Relations Coordination Department," there were also competing relationships. This was why there were other contenders for the throne beside the Second Prince.

This wasn’t just to create an atmosphere of throne competition for the people on this planet, where the capable could ascend.

For the opportunists, it was also a chance to turn a small stake into a great fortune.

If the department had invested so much in the Second Prince and he still failed to succeed the throne smoothly, it would reflect to some degree that the current director’s judgment was flawed.

In the eyes of the Council’s members, an old poisoner who was deeply trusted by the Second Prince, skilled in the Disguise Technique, and adept at poisoning could become the greatest variable in this competition for the throne.

Regrettably, this pawn that the Council had been setting up for a long time would no longer be able to play a role.

"What about the Elder Princess?"

Jiuyue asked, no matter what, Ning Ruyue was someone who called her "Master" frequently, "Doesn’t the Prime Monarch dote on her immensely?"

"She has been identified by the department as a defective product unsuitable to succeed the throne, and the department will no longer invest resources in her."

A smart person would seal these secrets in their heart forever after the game was over.

When a member of the Council informed the old poisoner of these secrets, they offhandedly warned him that everything he did on this planet was being watched by the company.

Any act of leaking secrets would lead to only one outcome: death.

Duan Mingyuan didn’t know whether his current exchange with Jiuyue was being watched by the Council, and if the company’s eyes could penetrate the Barrier, then he wanted to clear something up for the old poisoner.

The old poisoner was innocent.

He never broke his agreement with the Council, and till death, he had never spoken any secrets about the Council.