Vol-3: 104. The Civil Engineering Lion

104. The Civil Engineering Lion

The Xilusi woman named Beizhong Guiming had already been carried away by her friends. It was clear she had quite a network, while Lucite remained where he had fallen, and people simply stepped over him without the slightest hint of respect.

The appearance of Diaran, the dragon-titan hybrid, had immediately stolen all the attention. And that squabble between the two Xilusi?

It was nothing.

The Xilusi people were brave, sure, but compared to a stunning genius like Diaran, they were insignificant.

Hobbs remained concerned: "Diaran specifically looked at you—did you provoke her?"

Li Aozi replied calmly, "She's just a college freshman, what's there to be afraid of?"

"A dragon, a titan—each on its own is a terrifying catastrophe capable of destroying a planet. Most of their offspring are monstrous aberrations—but somehow, Diaran embodies a perfect balance, and on top of that, she's quite the beauty."

Hobbs paused:

"But in terms of pure charisma, I think you might actually surpass her—and, first of all, I'm perfectly straight. Secondly, I'm speaking purely from an aesthetic perspective. That girl's beauty is too sharp, too overwhelming; it makes weaklings like me uncomfortable. But you, you're more like the sun—bright and warm, without making anyone uncomfortable... I swear my preferences are perfectly normal!"

"I didn't suspect otherwise."

Li Aozi hadn't paid much attention to this matter.

Dragon-titans were rare, but it wasn't as though he hadn't slain one in a previous life. The constant hype was starting to annoy him.

Who knows, that girl might've been one of those he skinned and turned into a 'Rogue Star' in his past life.

Low-tier dragons were perfect for making Rogue Stars. Back when version 14.0 launched, Li Aozi would consume around 4,000 Rogue Stars a day, and in automated star systems, dragon casualties numbered in the five digits.

The "Starfall Master" class, from level 180 onward, was never a soft touch.

No matter the racial bloodline, in the face of pure starlight power, it was all just protein, destroyed easily with a bit of heat and radiation.

His attention was now on Lucite, who lay by the railing, his body heavily damaged.

"Hmm? Are you thinking—oh, I get it now. Yeah, he really is quite pitiful."

Hobbs noticed Li Aozi's gaze and immediately understood.

Li Aozi walked over to where Lucite was struggling amidst the broken railing. The latter turned his head laboriously; only thanks to his sturdy physique and armor had that punch not killed him.

"...Ha, I didn't expect this."

Lucite closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

"Can you get up by yourself?" Li Aozi asked.

"I can't... Seems like my spine's broken. It'll take some time to heal." Lucite slowly looked up at Li Aozi. "Thank you for caring. Of all the people gathered here, you're the first one to show any concern for me."

"That dragon-titan was too harsh." Hobbs clicked his tongue, crouching down, "Do you need a hand? Even for an armored species, this is pretty serious."

"No need, but thank you. My recovery ability is strong—I'll be up in a bit."

There was a hint of emotion in Lucite's voice, but Li Aozi could tell he was trying hard to maintain his composure.

"In a way, this has helped you out. It's a crude way of settling things—both sides getting punished—but at least this farce has ended."

Li Aozi said.

"Still, it was pretty rough," Hobbs frowned, taking out a healing potion from his pocket. "This might help."

"I'm used to getting beaten."

Lucite took the potion with effort, and indeed, his complexion began to improve. After a while, he managed to sit up, gently touching his forehead with one hand as he seriously addressed the two of them:

"Lucite Kaostro, salutes you. I'm not well-off... but I owe you a debt of gratitude. If there's ever anything you need help with, I will do my utmost."

"C'mon, we're classmates in the same college. No need to talk about debts."

Hobbs spread his hands and introduced Li Aozi with a thumbs-up gesture: "I'm Hobbs, and this is Leoz."

"I'm truly grateful. I won't forget your kindness." When Lucite said this, there was a subtle sense of melancholy in his voice. "It's unimaginable—my own people curse me, try to kick me out of school. The only ones who show me kindness are two strangers from different races."

"Every group has good people and jerks. Plenty of Tanasian folks were among the bystanders too." Li Aozi said, "So, tell us what happened, Lucite. I'm interested in your story."

"My story?"

"Did you have some kind of falling-out with that woman? For her to target you like this, there must be some reason or misunderstanding, right?"

"No, nothing at all."

Lucite gave a bitter smile:

"If I told you that today was the first time I met Beizhong Guiming, and that we'd never seen each other before, what would you think?"

"...Huh?" Hobbs was dumbfounded. "She... doesn't know you? But she knows your name."

"She knows it from this."

Lucite touched his long whiskers, which emitted a faint electrical buzz:

"We Xilusi evolved from catfish, so we can exchange electric signals and access each other's public information directly. I knew her, but she only found out about me today."

"What does that mean? Is Beizhong Guiming famous among your people?" Li Aozi was curious.

"Yes."

Lucite said helplessly:

"Beizhong Guiming is the chieftain's second daughter of the Beizhong clan. She wasn't originally supposed to attend this school. She used a suicide threat to force her brother to give up his spot so she could come here."

Li Aozi hadn't expected that answer.

"Isn't that impersonation?" Li Aozi asked.

"There's nothing we can do about it. The school only recognizes admission letters. Any other information can be changed if you have money, especially between family members. They can make up an excuse and it gets glossed over." Hobbs explained.

"Yes, Hobbs is right."

Lucite continued:

"Beizhong Guiming obtained the right to leave her home planet through such disgraceful means, and it caused quite a stir on our world. If you could access our network, you'd find plenty of related articles, but on White Candle Star..."

"Got it."

Li Aozi had analyzed the situation clearly:

"So Beizhong Guiming came here under a false name, but never expected you to pass the exam and end up at the same school. That's why she's targeting you? Trying to get rid of you so her shady past doesn't come to light."

"That's exactly it..."

Lucite said, dejected:

"I'm really not some kind of stalker. I didn't even want to apply to this school... I wanted to go to Crystal Architecture University to study civil engineering."

Hobbs winced, "Uh, that's a tough one..."

Lucite continued, "My dream is to be an excellent civil engineer, to build underwater high-speed rails, volcanic greenhouses, geothermal power plants, and coral reef elementary schools, so that every undersea dweller can benefit from infrastructure."

Li Aozi was curious, "Then why are you here?"

"Here's the kicker!" Lucite gestured, "The education committee said, 'Your math scores aren't good enough,' so they transferred me here to study applied magic."