Chapter 100 – Obvious Targeting

"Ugh, the military academy really cannot take a loss," Xiong Ruoyou muttered under her breath, clearly dissatisfied. Her voice wasn't exactly soft, and Mu Qingyun, who stood beside her, heard every word.

"Don't say that," Mu Qingyun gently tugged at her arm, quickly stopping her.

After all, they were still on the academy's turf, and with live streaming devices around, it was best to hold back their words for now. Once they left, they could complain all they wanted.

…

On the other side, Mu Jingfeng watched Mu Qingyun's stream on his phone, his eyes turning cold.

The incident of her using a swarm of snakes to hunt virtual creatures was no small matter. And yet, there wasn't a single related topic trending in the hot searches.

Could it be…

"Old Zhou, come here!" he suddenly shouted. Old Zhou, who had been checking documents nearby, immediately walked over.

"Your Majesty."

"Find out why there's nothing about Mu Qingyun and the snake swarm in the hot searches. Also, notify the military academy," he said with a deep frown. Despite his disdain for Mu Qingyun, he could not deny he was shocked by her ability to control a snake swarm.

Why does she get to be so capable?

Old Zhou was well aware of the secrets behind this matter. He hesitated, wanting to speak up, but swallowed his words under Mu Jingfeng's icy gaze.

…

As the scorching sun began to ease, the group had just returned to the house when Mu Qingyun's wrist communicator suddenly emitted a mechanical female voice.

"Contestant Mu Qingyun, are you there?"

"I am," she replied.

As soon as the voice confirmed her presence, it began frequency tuning. The mechanical voice faded out, replaced by a familiar one.

"Mu Qingyun, do you acknowledge your wrongdoing?"

It was the voice of the Judging Committee Leader.

Mu Qingyun narrowed her eyes. "What wrongdoing?"

The leader seemed unsurprised by her answer and replied flatly, "You tell me. Last night and tonight, you violated the rules by using a snake swarm to obtain virtual creature points. Are you still denying it?"

"I absolutely deny it," she scoffed coldly. "As far as I remember, your military academy never had a rule forbidding the use of a snake swarm. Just because others can't do it doesn't mean I'm at fault for being able to. Why is it that once I do it, the rules suddenly change?"

Her confident words once again had the livestream viewers spamming: Mu-ge is awesome!

The leader's tone remained flat. "Hunting virtual creatures has always been implicitly understood to rely on one's own personal ability."

"Then tell me, is controlling a snake swarm not a skill?" Mu Qingyun laughed mockingly. "I can accept not using it from now on, but my previous actions were fully within the rules. If that's your oversight, don't try to pin it on me."

Because of Mu Jingfeng, she had no affection left for the academy. They claimed fairness and justice, yet everything depended on status and background.

Someone like her, who offended Mu Xueyao, was slapped with a ridiculous condition: to gather a thousand points within ten days. Mu Jingfeng could barge in anytime, shut down her live stream on a whim—what fairness was there in that?

"…"

The leader had nothing more to say. He also thought Mu Qingyun wasn't in the wrong. This was a flaw in the academy's review process, and now they were scapegoating her.

"This is the new rule: going forward, for the next few months, no one may use snake swarms—or rabbit swarms, bird swarms, or any swarm they can control."

He glanced at the small note the academy leadership had handed him and sighed, "Anyone caught violating this will not only be disqualified but will be sent to a military prison."

[What? Military prison? Isn't that a bit extreme?]

[Come on, military prison is for the worst criminals and interstellar threats. Normal offenders go to the planetary defense force, right?]

[All this… just because Mu-ge controlled some snakes? I really don't get it.]

…

Su frowned slightly at those words and looked over at Mu Qingyun. She remained expressionless, as if she didn't care. Or maybe… she just didn't understand what military prison meant.

Who had she provoked? This level of retaliation was harsh.

"Fine." Mu Qingyun calmly nodded. She knew very well this had Mu Jingfeng written all over it. In the original host's memories, military prison had been something the caretaker aunt used to threaten her with when she misbehaved as a child.

With her agreement, the leader had no desire to speak further. He cut the transmission, returning the device to regular frequency.

He didn't understand why he had to be the one delivering this kind of irritating news. He was already worried he'd get caught in the crossfire for this nonsense.

Mu Qingyun lowered her hand and pointed to the room. "I'm going to sleep. Didn't get much rest last night. I'm exhausted."

"Alright." The four of them watched her go, each with a different expression.

Xiong Ruoyou was clearly angry. She didn't get it—was it really that serious to take an unconventional approach?

Kazelle exchanged a knowing glance with Mu Qingyun. With this level of targeting, no one but him could have orchestrated it.

It was supposed to be a time for rest and relaxation, but Su and Kazelle clearly had no plans to rest.

"What? You two still want to hunt virtual creatures?" Xiong Ruoyou looked at them like they were crazy.

Why not enjoy the chance to relax? Why make things harder for themselves?

"Yeah," Su replied simply. He didn't wait for further questions and walked straight out.

Better to act early than late. If they succeeded now, the rest of the days might be easier. If they took a break now, the following days would be hell.

As the two left, Xiong Ruoyou turned to Fan Xuanye. "Shall we go too?"

Fan Xuanye gave her a side glance and answered coolly, "There's a limit to how many virtual creatures are released each day. With everything we hunted already, we're unlikely to run into more."

"Oh, then I should catch up to them and tell them that." She pushed off the ground to get up, but Fan Xuanye grabbed her wrist.

"What is it?"

"No need. Let them go. Maybe they'll get lucky and find something," he said, gently pressing her back down. "Just rest and take care of yourself."

With that, he stood up and returned to his partition to rest.

Xiong Ruoyou stared after him, frowning in confusion. She muttered something under her breath and returned to her own room.

As the sun set and dusk approached, Mu Qingyun remained trapped in a dream she could not escape.

"Brother Yun, didn't you say Tan'er was more important than the throne? Then why? Why did you frame me?" A young boy stood there in tears, eyes full of grief and betrayal.

"Your Majesty, did you marry me only to stabilize your rule?" A beautiful woman in ornate palace robes stood before the throne, her voice choked with sobs as she accused her.