Chapter 75 - Letter to My Friends (1/2)

As mankind’s first artificially created planet, the Supreme Institution situated at the Institution Star has been famous since its establishment, but in the eyes of most of the public, the institution had little to do with themselves even if it represented a group of the most intelligent and capable students at the tip of the pyramid. Just take what happened for example. If Adrian and Zhong Yan had not been reunited after seven years, then people would hardly pay attention to the school’s hundred year anniversary. It wasn’t until the Supreme Institution took the lead to protest the new law that was making waves across the world that people started to pay attention to them again. In just a short few hours, the follower count on the Supreme Institution’s page skyrocketed. Even the other universities participating in the joint protest saw the views on their pages multiplying several times over.

Everyone was waiting to see if the Capital was willing to compromise with these schools and to see whether the “Honor Decree” will still be implemented early next month as scheduled. Unexpectedly, just a day after the joint protests, the Supreme Institution suddenly issued another statement.

The previous statement was just a series of words posted on their page, but this new statement was a scan of a notice written in proper format, announcing that the Supreme Institution will immediately break away from the AI’s rule in order to respond to emergencies and protect the safety of all the personnel and students in the school. They have also requested a garrison from Navi for their protection. Right at the bottom of the notice was the red seal used by the school board and the student council. Even though most official notices and letters in this era were attached with electronic signatures, only a few groups of people still used the seal. But the Supreme Institution has always gone with tradition. Even under such circumstances, their official notice was still written in their own distinguished style.

But hasn’t the “Honor Decree” not been released yet? The Supreme Institution is leaving the Capital just like that? And what kind of emergencies are they facing that can threaten the safety of the school personnel?

Before everyone could take a breather after seeing such a thunderous statement, an even more explosive piece of news swept through the news headlines: the Navi Military Command has sent out their troops.

The mighty roar of the engines sounded as the warship left Leboor’s borders. Through their entire trip, they had no intentions whatsoever to conceal their movements, and they were going on a straight route to ensure they arrived as soon as possible.

After just a few minutes, the warships not far from the Capital’s affiliated military command came out of its nest and headed straight for the Institution Star as well.

Are they going to fight?!

The virtual community has nearly turned itself upside down. As long as people were awake, they would all be refreshing the news like crazy. Even the bosses can’t be bothered to make sure their employees are working—They themselves are staring at the news, too.

The Navi Military Command has responded to the Supreme Institution’s call for “help”. So, what did the Capital send out its troops for? They do not recognize that the Supreme Institution is out of the AI’s jurisdiction, so they’ve decided to send troops to stop the Navi Military Command, or…were they the reason that the Supreme Institution called the “emergency”?

Zhong Yan was currently on his way. He asked the cockpit to choose the route with as much signal uptime as possible, even if that meant going on a little detour. This was currently a crucial moment when he had to be receiving information on all parties and plan his next move.

Originally, the distance between the Capital and the Supreme Institution should have been much closer than Navi, the Capital had sent out their troops just after Navi’s troops have passed Lebor’s borders. Moreover, even though the distance was slightly further, the Navi warship’s route has fewer planets in their path, which means they can go full speed on a straight path without many detours. What’s more, there were many bustling star systems between the Capital and the Institution Star, and the planets were so densely packed. They couldn’t just go in a straight line, nor can they reach speeds as close to Navi’s warship. It was still unknown which side would actually reach the Institution Star first.

A moment later, the news Zhong Yan had been waiting this whole time finally came. He saw a message on his terminal from an unknown account that said, “They have been retrieved, both are safe.”

Zhong Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

The two people they picked up were two officers who “Specimen” has spent four entire years, and consumed countless resources to allow them to make their way up to the Capital’s affiliated/auxiliary military command. They were precisely the ones who gave “Specimen” a timely warning that the Capital’s affiliated military command was gathering its troops so that Adrian was able to seize the opportunity to rush to the Institution Star before them.

At this moment, the public opinion in the virtual community was practically all on Navi’s side. Not for any other reason, but because the Navi Military Command was, first of all, sending out their troops to the Supreme Institution at their cry for help while not only did the Capital leave no explanations for sending their troops, they were even suspected to be the reason the Supreme Institution was calling for help in the first place. This had all happened because of the official notice issued by the Supreme Institution, but what the masses could not see was how enormous the cost they had paid out to issue this statement was.

In the two hours they spent passing through Lebor Zhong Yan had personally contacted the Supreme Institution to inform them of the imminent danger and convinced them to draft this document. But for the Capital, the Supreme Institution putting out this announcement also tells them that someone within the affiliated military command has leaked military information and that the Supreme Institution had found out.

If they go back to find the source of the leak now that this situation is exposed, there’s a high probability they’ll be able to find the spy. So, Zhong Yan later contacted the two officers urgently through “Specimen’s” internal channel and informed them of the danger that they will be exposed soon. He asked them to evacuate immediately and also arranged for their escape and pick-up.