Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 34: Lyra’s Date

Chapter 34: Lyra’s Date

After Thierry slipped away from the group, Lyra had already vanished.

During the afternoon shooting practice, Lyra nailed it again, perfect as ever. Webber felt a mix of pride and frustration, itching to catch her in a slip-up.

The next day, the tech team was still clueless about who was intercepting their signals. Webber was so furious his eyes were practically glowing red.

On day three, they finally got a lead. "The person messing with the signals has to be within 500 meters," they told Webber. "You should start searching."

"I’m on it!" Webber shouted, eager to track down the culprit.

He searched high and low but found no one. Instead, he stumbled upon a mobile robot, proving the other side was craftier than they had expected.

Lyra finished her task on time, but received a message: "Your instructor busted the interference bot halfway through. I had to step in personally and almost got caught. This will cost extra."

She replied calmly, "Okay."

Surviving three days was no small feat.

There were only three days left of the weighted long-distance run.

Just after sending the message, a shadow loomed over her.

Webber stood there, face dark, sneering, "Let’s see what tricks you’ve got left. You’d better watch out."

"Please, sir, look forward to it," Lyra shot back.

Jorath, standing a step behind, overheard and chimed in, "Sir, how about we check everyone with a detector before each run to catch any cheating tools?"

"Good idea," Webber agreed.

Jorath threw a challenging look at Lyra, who returned a cold stare, feeling a rare surge of anger.

At lunch, Thierry finally spotted Lyra across the table from a strange man. He hurried over and joined them.

"Thanks," Thierry said, sitting down and eyeing the young man with a single-lens electronic eyepiece. "Who’s this?"

Lyra propped her head on her hand, her cold stare making the guy across from her squirm. " People guess about my relationships," she began. "The gossip about me and Cohen were almost your bedtime story before. Now you see I’m actually dating a guy from school, and you don’t feel anything? Seriously, dude, what’s your problem?"

Thierry, caught off guard, repeated in surprise, "Dating?"

"Lots of people are showing interests in me. Didn’t you notice?" she said, her face expressionless, head shiny and bald.

Thierry stared at her, deep in thought. If he’d paid more attention, he might have noticed the young man’s awkwardly twitching mouth.

Lyra put down her forks and sighed, "Head Student Thierry, is that all why you’re sitting here next to us? If yes, could you please excuse us?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude," Thierry mumbled, scurrying off like his pants were on fire, wondering how many hearts would break this time.

He glanced back and saw the ’boyfriend’ handing Lyra a white candy. ’So sweet,’ he thought, feeling a pang of sympathy for his single self.

Lyra examined the new interference tool and asked, "Are you sure this will trick the detectors?"

"It’s made from high-polymer biomaterials and can be digested by the body, no problem," Sean assured her, proud of his invention. "It lasts eight hours, plenty to outsmart the school’s machines."

"Impressive," Lyra said, satisfied. "What’s the price?"

Sean, pleased with her straightforwardness, leaned in and asked softly, "Miss Shedd, any interest in investing in this technology of mine?"

Lyra’s calm eyes flickered slightly. She tapped the table, thinking deeply, then placed her hand firmly on it. "I can provide funding and a market," she said, knowing this jamming technology was ideal for those on the Voidstar side and the military, and she had just the right connections.

"I have the technology and the personnel," Sean responded.

"I’ll find someone to help you," she promised.

They had reached a tentative agreement, but there were still plenty of details to iron out.

Meanwhile, in Snowfall, Sorren spent his days in a drunken haze. He had money and lived freely, but without a powerful backer, he felt uncertain. When he received a video call, he quickly tossed aside his bottle and jumped up.

"Boss, you finally thought of your dear Sorren? I’ve missed you so much~"

"Cut the nonsense and get to Planet Nagano. I’ve got a job for you."

At that moment, in the hemisphere where NMA was located, it was nighttime. Lyra opened her window, gazing up at the starry sky, lost in thought.

Sorren, though greedy and full of schemes, was driven by self-interest. After being left alone for a while, he could probably be useful again.

Being new to Planet Nagano, Lyra didn’t have enough people. It was better to bring in a known quantity than an unknown subordinate.

The next day, the students watched as the instructors held detectors, looking serious.

"Line up and get checked one by one."

Everyone was scanned, and when it was Lyra’s turn, Webber looked like he wanted to shove the detector right into her mouth, still eager to catch her slipping up. But nothing unusual was found.

"Hey, Thierry, did Lyra really go on a date with someone yesterday?" a boy whispered.

"That’s what she said," Thierry replied.

Several boys clutched their chests in despair, feeling their budding crushes crumble.

Then a scoff echoed. "That’s definitely a lie. Who would want her with that deadpan face and bald head? It’s embarrassing to be seen with her," someone sneered.

This drew immediate angry glares. A young man near Thierry rolled his eyes and shot back, "Hah, picking on a girl like that, Jorath, you’re really something."

"That’s my business. Who are you to stand up for her?" Jorath retorted.

"I just don’t like it, so what? Want to fight?" The red-haired young man’s temper flared.

"Do you think I’m scared of you?"

"Bring it on!"

Just as things were about to get out of hand, Webber put the detector away and shouted, "Am I nothing to you here?"

He strode over and kicked both of them down. The two boys quieted down immediately. Webber snorted and then turned to Lyra. "Lyra, fall in!"

"Yes, sir," she responded, falling in line.

Jorath glared at her, eyes sharp as knives.

During the run, Jorath stayed close to Lyra, determined to catch her cheating. But whether he used psychokinesis to sense superpower particles or his pocket-sized detector, he found nothing unusual.

Still, he was convinced she was cheating.

As they neared the finish line, Jorath suddenly grabbed the small monitoring device in his pocket and pressed it a few times. A loud, shrill alarm went off.

Jorath shouted, "Sir, Lyra’s cheating!"

Everyone turned to look but kept running until they reached the finish line. Then they stopped and watched, curiosity piqued.

Webber rushed over, eyes wide with urgency. "The detector I gave you reacted?"

"Yes," Jorath responded confidently, pointing directly at Lyra’s pant leg. "She takes off her pants and the truth will come out."

The crowd fell into a shocked silence. Many were thinking that was just shameless.

The accusation was bold and unexpected, leaving everyone unsure how to react.