Chapter Forty-Three: The Assignment and the Terms

“Are you ready for Friday’s assessment match on Phantom Isle?”

Angel glided over with light, graceful steps. When she saw Nangong Yuchen grinning from ear to ear, her delicate face tightened at once.

“More or less.”

“Not more or less. It has to be ready.” Angel’s voice was unexpectedly solemn. Then she asked, “Once you go in, all one hundred and eight of us will be at the first level. Are you planning to become one of the elite students all by yourself, or are you going to take Kexin with you too?”

She knew that with Nangong Yuchen’s balanced development in all three areas, becoming an elite student on Phantom Isle would be almost no problem. But with Nangong Kexin’s strength, becoming an elite student was simply hopeless.

“You mean Kexin could also...?”

Nangong Yuchen was slightly startled. He had never even considered this question. After all, once they entered Phantom Isle, everyone would be randomly assigned to different locations. Even if he wanted to help Kexin, it would be difficult to make it happen.

“Yes. What I want to tell you is that the three elite spots for this year will go to you, me, and Kexin. The three of us will eliminate everyone else!”

Angel’s jewel-like eyes took on a strange, almost mesmerizing light as she stared fixedly at Nangong Yuchen and dropped a bombshell.

“What! Eliminate... eliminate everyone?” Nangong Yuchen froze completely.

Eliminating all the first-level mecha warriors? He had never dared even imagine such a thing. True, with his balanced development and the fact that all three areas would break through to the first level, he would be extremely formidable. But the dozens of seniors from the eleventh and twelfth grades were not pushovers.

After all, everyone would be at the first level. How could one person possibly defeat so many?

At that moment, Angel went on, “Do you know why there are only three elite students every year?”

“Why?” Nangong Yuchen asked instinctively.

“Because of power, speed, and neural reflexes. In the past, Star Academy didn’t select elite students this way, but every year the final elite students always happened to form a complete team. So this year will be no exception. After entering Phantom Isle, when all one hundred and eight students battle to the end, the last three standing will absolutely form a team!”

Angel said calmly, “So if you truly care about Kexin, then let her become an elite student too. That way, you have power, she has speed, and I have neural reflexes. It would be a perfect team!”

From her words, Nangong Yuchen could hear her confidence. The match had not even begun, yet one of the elite spots already seemed to belong to Angel.

“Phew...” After a long while, Nangong Yuchen lifted his head and said gravely, “All right!”

How could he possibly not care about his sister? If there were even the slightest chance, he would never hesitate to make Nangong Kexin an elite student as well.

But one problem still worried him: once they entered Phantom Isle and everyone was scattered, how could he make sure Kexin would not be eliminated before the three of them found each other?

“Don’t worry. Before we enter Phantom Isle, the school will give each of us a map device. All one hundred and eight people will be displayed on it. So the only thing we need to worry about now is meeting up as fast as possible after we get in. Then we’ll drive out every other contestant together and leave only the three of us!” Angel seemed to know the unannounced rules in advance.

“Drive them out!” Just imagining one hundred and five students being completely forced out of Phantom Isle sent a surge of heat through Nangong Yuchen’s blood.

“All right, it’s about time we head back to class!” Seeing more and more students around them, Angel urged him in her crisp, bright voice.

As her voice fell, she returned to the familiar image of the class monitor that Nangong Yuchen knew so well: sweet, gentle, with her pair of fair little hands clasped behind her back, accentuating the delicate curve of her body. Her black single ponytail swayed faintly as she leaned forward, and for an instant, the scene made Nangong Yuchen feel an inexplicable flutter in his chest.

“Oh... okay, okay!” Nangong Yuchen rubbed his nose a little awkwardly, not knowing where that strange feeling had come from.

Soon he recovered and walked side by side with Angel toward the classroom.

On the way, the two chatted casually. As they were nearing Class One-Twelve, Angel suddenly stopped and stood there in puzzlement.

“Nangong Yuchen, are you and Kexin no longer living in Xiyuan Community?”

“Yes. We’re living together outside District D now. Why?”

“Outside District D?” Angel frowned lightly, then reminded him, “Districts D and E have not been very peaceful lately. Is it really all right for you to have Kexin living there?”

Nangong Yuchen was slightly taken aback and thought to himself, “Does she also know about the beasts roaming Districts D and E?”

While he was still dazed, Angel went into the classroom first. A little later, Nangong Yuchen followed in with a troubled look on his face.

More than ten minutes later, the class bell rang and Liu Wen walked in from outside. The first lesson of the morning was history.

Nangong Yuchen had no mind at all to listen. With his head lowered, he was asking Le Han about housing prices in Districts A and B.

“Prices in Districts A and B are about the same. If you want to live with your sister, it’ll probably cost at least four to five thousand a month,” Le Han said after fiddling with his phone under the desk.

Hearing that price, Nangong Yuchen was stunned.

Too expensive. It was easily ten times what their current place cost. If they rented somewhere like that, how was Kexin supposed to explain where the money came from?

He thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with a good idea. In the end, his gaze fell on Angel in front of him.

He remembered that in their home in Xiyuan Community, they had two speed instruments sent over by Angel. Things worth a hundred thousand or eighty thousand had simply been given away without a second thought. No matter how you looked at it, her family had to be richer than Le Han’s.

Maybe he should let Kexin...

Nangong Yuchen’s mind flashed, and it seemed he had found the best solution.

“Ding-ding...”

At noon, after school let out, and most of the students had already left, Nangong Yuchen hurried over in a light jog. Looking at the slender figure by the doorway, he called out, “Angel, there’s something I’d like to ask you for help with.”

“Hm?” Angel turned around in confusion. “What is it?”

Nangong Yuchen walked up and led her to an empty corridor, then said in a tentative tone, “I was wondering... could Kexin stay at your house for a while?”

He had always thought Angel was mysterious. Her physical ability was second only to his, and she had developed in both speed and neural reflexes. So he guessed that not only was her family very wealthy, but her parents were probably also physical training practitioners. That was why this idea had come to him.

“At my house?” Angel widened her beautiful eyes, clearly not expecting that.

“Is... is that not okay? I can pay rent!” Nangong Yuchen asked hurriedly.

When his words fell, the corridor sank into silence. Just as he thought he would be refused, Angel suddenly lifted her little head.

“I can agree. But after you become a first-level mecha warrior, you must promise me one thing. Will you?”

Nangong Yuchen felt that Angel was acting a little strange and could not help asking, “It won’t be something dangerous, will it?”

He did not want to promise anything that might put his life at risk. If that were the case, he might as well rent another place in Districts A or B. Even if it would be harder to explain to Kexin, the cost would still be much lower.

“Of course I’m not asking you to die. Will you agree or not?” Angel’s jewel-like eyes showed that same faint, uncanny glimmer again, though Nangong Yuchen did not notice it.

“All right, deal.”

After Angel left, Nangong Yuchen let out a sigh of relief.

At last, Kexin’s safety problem had been solved. As for him alone, things would be much easier then. If necessary, he could even spend some money to rent another place.