Chapter Nineteen: Xu Xingxing

"What did you just call me?" Li Daoran asked.

"Class monitor, of course. Didn't you just say I was your right arm? So soon you're ready to get rid of your arm?" Xu Xingxing teased in return.

"Of course not. It's just that my previous arm was like a prosthetic—good only for scaring people. Now that it’s become real, I couldn’t be happier. Why would I ever want to let it go?" Li Daoran replied, putting his arm around Xu Xingxing.

"But let me make it clear first—I genuinely don’t know anything about the Edward family. If you think I’m some kind of golden ticket, you might be disappointed."

"I'm interested in you as a person, not your background. My father always taught me: ‘Thirty years the river flows east, thirty years west—never look down on the poor youth.’ I think you’re an interesting man, destined for great things."

"I always feel like you’re mocking me."

"Heh. Not at all."

The two of them walked out of the mech hangar together and found a shaded spot at the edge of the training ground to sit down.

"Aren’t you curious about me?" Xu Xingxing was in no hurry now—he’d realized that climbing the ladder was not a matter of a day or two, and besides, his class monitor was turning out to be far more interesting than he’d first thought. From fainting during military training and being taken away by the Liu family’s eldest daughter, to being inexplicably made class monitor, and then always acting in unpredictable ways—then getting involved in his dispute with Elu—Li Daoran was a bundle of mysteries.

"I am, but I don’t know where to start. Why don’t you just talk, and I’ll listen. How’s that?" Li Daoran replied.

"Interesting. Now I’m certain you’re not from our circle."

"Which circle is that?"

"The circle of the White Deer Republic. Where are you from? To have caught the eldest Miss Liu’s eye and still not fear the Edward family—are you from Daxia?"

"Didn’t you just say you didn’t care about backgrounds? Now you’re changing your tune. I told you, I’m just a commoner—believe it or not."

"There’s a perennial family in the White Deer Republic’s political scene—prime ministers come and go, but the Edwards are unshakable. Do you really not know, or are you just fearless?"

"If I said I genuinely didn’t know, would you believe me?"

"It doesn’t matter. Either way, you’ve already offended them."

"That’s true."

"The Edward family has always been the backbone of the appeasement faction, while our Xu family is part of the emerging pro-war camp. So, do you understand now?"

"No, I don’t."

Xu Xingxing rolled his eyes. "The Edward family has always invested its power in politics, but this generation, they’ve sent their best, Elu Edward, to the military. Maybe it’s because Elu has a talent for piloting mechs, but I don’t think that’s the real reason. It’s an important signal—war may be coming soon."

"Oh?"

"You don’t seem surprised at all."

"Can you stop it?"

Xu Xingxing shook his head and gave a bitter smile. "I can’t."

After saying that, he hung his head in frustration, but soon he stood up, fired up with emotion. "But I can’t just watch my motherland be destroyed! The appeasers are all defeatists—they control the mouthpieces, and if no one stands up to resist, they’ll hand the nation over. People like Edward will still be the upper class even in West Accord, but what about us? We’ll be the lower class. And do you know what it means to be lower class in West Accord? I won’t let my country fall like that, not ever, not even if—"

Though Xu Xingxing’s words were rambling and incoherent, Li Daoran understood. There was nothing new under the sun—his own world, Azure Star, faced the same dilemmas, which made Xu’s words resonate all the more. He couldn’t stand idly by if the Rabbit Nation was to fall to the White Elephant. If there were traitors, he’d deal with the traitors first.

He stood up, patted Xu Xingxing’s shoulder, and said, "Don’t worry. As long as there are people like us, they won’t dare. If they do try to surrender, we’ll take care of them first. We can’t stop the war from coming, but we can choose our enemies and finish them. Isn’t that so?"

Hot blood surged to Xu Xingxing’s head; his eyes reddened and he couldn’t calm himself for a long time.

After a while, Li Daoran grinned. "After the class monitor’s speech, do you feel enlightened?"

Xu Xingxing, now composed, glanced at the suddenly insufferable Li Daoran. His own mood lifted, and he couldn’t help but tease, "Absolutely. A conversation with you is worth ten years of study. Class monitor, you’re practically the lamp lighting my way through the darkness."

Li Daoran shuddered, goosebumps rising. He hurriedly interrupted, "Alright, Shooting Star, enough with the flattery. I can’t take it—so pretentious. Let’s go, don’t you have to log onto the intranet? By the way, how do you get on?"

Xu Xingxing looked at him in surprise. "You’ve never played Mech War Storm?"

"No," Li Daoran replied, scratching the back of his head. He truly hadn’t, which was why he’d stopped Xu Xingxing from leaving earlier.

"I’m getting more and more curious about you. I can’t believe there’s someone who hasn’t played Mech War Storm. Just go back to your dorm and get into the login pod—it’s easy. By the way, which dorm are you in? How many people?"

"Isn’t it one person per dorm? I’m in 417," Li Daoran replied.

"You have a whole dorm to yourself? Is it big? Mind if I join you?" Xu Xingxing’s eyes lit up, his excitement palpable.

"Login pod? I don’t have one in my room," Li Daoran replied, missing the point.

"Impossible. How could you not? Come on, let’s check it out." Xu Xingxing grabbed him and started walking.

"The room’s tiny, it’s already cramped for me alone, you wouldn’t fit," Li Daoran protested.

"Let’s go, let’s see."

"Wait up, slow down. Let me ask another question—what are merit points?" Li Daoran asked.

"Are you human? How do you know so little? Were you raised in isolation? Whatever, you’ve got enough secrets, and even if I asked you wouldn’t answer—just play dumb." Xu Xingxing said helplessly, rubbing his forehead.

Li Daoran’s eyes drifted, pretending not to hear.

"One hundred thousand merit points can be exchanged for an energy quota worth a billion at any country. That’s about the price of a small, habitable planet. I don’t need to say more. And you can’t buy merit points with money."

Li Daoran nodded. So merit points were a universal, high-value currency recognized by all nations. This little training base was truly generous—one point just for passing an assessment.

"Since I’ve told you this much, I might as well tell you one more thing. I wasn’t going to, but now I feel like it. Will you listen?" Xu Xingxing paused, hesitating.

"No," Li Daoran replied without hesitation.

Xu Xingxing choked, speechless, and fumed, "Even if you won’t listen, I’m telling you anyway."

"Then why ask? Let’s walk and talk; it’s getting late."

"The mecha pilot the instructor mentioned today—the one who died drunk—was my father."

"Oh."

"Can’t you show a little more reaction?"

"Mm."

"Damn it, he never drank, and then one day someone comes and tells me he died falling down drunk."

"Mm."

"He was incredible—the youngest and only third-rank mecha pilot in the White Deer Republic, the man most likely to become a first-rank pilot in history, my childhood idol. And then they tell me he died drunk. Is there any joke more absurd? It’s not that he couldn’t die—but he couldn’t die in such disgrace. Do you understand?"