Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 132 - 52: Transcender

Chapter 132: Chapter 52: Transcender

The Universe Company, astonishingly, had not struck at the Yunhai Academy.

This was the question left in the minds of all those who had witnessed the events, just before the dawn arrived.

Despite deploying three of their highest-level combat personnel and a flagship, they ultimately departed in this manner. Even within the Cosmic Coordination Department, there was skepticism raised about Qing Hua’s judgment.

Individuals from Yunhai Academy had attacked a Long Branch reserve member and had killed him.

No matter the reasons given by the other party or the means they employed, they deserved to be punished with an orbital cannon, utterly wiping this group of troublemakers from the star system.

After all, Long Branch was one of Universe Company’s most valuable assets. Every reserve member had to go through a lengthy selection and training process and had to survive on the most dangerous front-line battlefields. Then, the company would invest huge amounts of capital and technological support in them.

The investment they made in each Long Branch member could match an entire small department’s business on a single planet.

Sitting inside the blue and white-toned isolation room, the Second Prince, through the glass, watched the employees of the department walking back and forth in the hallway, listening to their discussions.

This made him feel somewhat unreal, and he could not emerge from his bewilderment for a long time.

The day was about to end, but his nightmare was just beginning.

Someone opened the door to the isolation room, and with a Long Branch member accompanying him, Qing Hua entered.

"You should eat something and rehydrate."

There was no anger on his face, and he spoke with the tone of an elder addressing a younger one, "These have been brought from the department’s cafeteria. Hygiene and taste are guaranteed."

Seeing that the Second Prince did not speak but just looked up at him as if lost, Qing Hua moved a chair and sat face to face with him. "If you think I’m here to blame you, you need not worry. The failure this time is not on you. Even the company must occasionally face situations beyond expectation...."

"Sometimes failure is unavoidable, but what matters is how you deal with it."

While speaking, Qing Hua grasped the Second Prince’s forearm.

The Second Prince felt the strength in his forearm, and... inspiration?

If he was not mistaken, this high-ranking official from the Cosmic Coordination Department was not pursuing his failure but rather counseling him?

As it turned out, he had not misunderstood. Qing Hua continued, "Your father also experienced failure, but he rose from it. That’s how the Imperial Court came to be and set this planet on the right track."

"I..."

The Second Prince’s lips moved slightly, and a glint of light appeared in his eyes, "I will become like him!"

"I believe you will."

Qing Hua gave him a reassuring look, then changed the subject and asked, "Regarding that ’Evil Spirit Defense’ teacher, what do you know about him? It’s alright if your thoughts are still in disarray. Just tell me everything that has happened in the past few days."

...

It was bound to be a tedious story.

And he had to pretend to be very interested. However, much to Qing Hua’s disappointment, even after the Second Prince finished recounting everything, he couldn’t catch any useful information.

In fact, no one had witnessed Duan Mingyuan in action, because everyone who saw him make a move was already dead.

Members of Yin Die and Long Branch reserves were no exceptions.

Seeing the Second Prince begin to mumble about Chu Xingluo, Qing Hua grew impatient and interrupted him, "The next question is very important, so think carefully before you answer me."

"Okay."

"Has he used more than one ability?"

"I didn’t see it, but..."

"But what?"

"But during our assault on the Academy, a Barrier suddenly appeared that wasn’t in the intelligence. It must have been created by the new teacher."

"I need a more precise answer."

"It was him, definitely him."

"Good."

Qing Hua nodded, then instructed the Long Branch member, "After he eats, you’ll escort him back to the Imperial Court for me."

With that, he walked out of the isolation room without looking back.

His suspicions thus confirmed, he also knew he had made the right decision.

As soon as he exited, someone followed in his footsteps.

"Teacher, who exactly is that person?"

The speaker had short silver hair, sharply contrasting with how others were dressed. In this corridor, where the temperature was constantly maintained at 16 degrees Celsius, her attire was a bit too revealing—a tight crop top and shorts short enough to expose her entire thighs.

Along with her naturally good figure, she diverted the gaze of every passing employee to herself, unable to look away.

"How many times have I told you not to run around the department in your pajamas?"

"These are not pajamas. This is the current trend on Red Star. I just returned from there yesterday."

"Go change."

Qing Hua went straight ahead without a glance.

"Tell me first, then I’ll go change."

"After you change, call a meeting with the heads of all departments."

"What’s the topic?"

"Transcender."

Hearing these three words, the woman’s expression froze for a few seconds, her mind seemingly crashing before managing a slow "Eh?"

"Transcender? Are we talking about the same kind of Transcender that I’m thinking of?"

"Go, now."

"Understood."

...

After sending away his student, Qing Hua entered the conference room alone, sat in the chairman’s seat, activated the holographic control panel, confirmed the login authority of the person in charge, and pulled up data from the database.

For the Cosmic Coordination Department, this was a term they least wanted to hear.

The power of Universe Company spanned multiple planets. Apart from recruiting talent to combat the "mutation" of planets, they had another important task.

To prevent the birth of Transcenders.

The specific approach was to settle on the planet where a potential Transcender was before their birth, thoroughly suppressing the environment that could nurture a Transcender.

But as he had just mentioned, not everything in this world could proceed smoothly, and the company was no exception.

Even with their power across star systems, occasionally, unexpected events would occur.

The previous head of the department had resigned due to a Transcender.

Qing Hua stared into the pale blue projection, lost in deep thought, as the data repository recorded information about the last known Transcender they had.

"Emotionally stable," "Low threat level," "Spiritual Energy," "Time."

Just as with a human body, during the ’mutation’ process planets could also rarely mutate, thereby nurturing products outside of Cocoon.

Having the same level of threat as a post-Cocoon transformation but retaining self-awareness and a certain degree of communicability.

The question was,

Did a "cancer cell" with an autonomous mind still count as a disease?