Wanrenzhan: “???”
They all stared at He Yu in disbelief, unable to believe what they had just heard.
He Yu was...
Going to discuss the instance with them?
Cooperate with them?
Suspicion filled Eugene’s eyes.
—If he were He Yu, he definitely wouldn’t cooperate with anyone else.
The identity of “training instructor” had practically placed He Yu in an invincible position. As long as he found the murderer before they did, he would win and might even eliminate all of them.
Eliminating nine “top-tier candidates” in one go?
Would He Yu really pass up an opportunity like that?
Eugene couldn’t understand it.
Wanrenzhan immediately sneered:
“If not for you, maybe we’d already have hacked our way to the murderer last night!”
Last night had been a peaceful night. None of them killed anyone.
But if not for He Yu, if they’d all randomly slaughtered one person each, maybe luck would’ve been on their side and they’d already have found the murderer.
He Yu looked at Wanrenzhan and suddenly smiled. His voice carried deeper meaning.
“Are you sure you could kill the murderer? Are you sure the murderer’s combat power is lower than yours?”
Wanrenzhan froze.
Cheng Zhao narrowed his eyes.
“You discovered something, didn’t you?”
He Yu adjusted his glasses.
“Teachers have access to archives. After leaving the classroom yesterday, I went to the archive room. I did find some things.”
Yuan Ze immediately asked:
“What things?”
He Yu replied calmly:
“So. Are we cooperating?”
Wanrenzhan mocked him.
“And who knows whether you’ll stab us in the back? After all... you silently turned yourself into Teacher He without anyone noticing.”
He Yu had already lived through one lifetime.
Back when he’d been the actor He Yu, he’d endured far more exclusion and ridicule than this. The things people said back then had cut much deeper than Wanrenzhan’s sarcasm.
Compared to that, Wanrenzhan’s mockery couldn’t stir his emotions at all.
He Yu looked at him and smiled faintly.
“Exactly. I’m Teacher He. Zhen Xing, Eugene, Cheng Zhao, and Yuan Ze already have enough votes. Qiong’s votes are nearly enough too. But you? You’re still missing quite a lot, aren’t you? The anxious one isn’t me.”
Wanrenzhan: “???”
His breathing instantly quickened as he glared fiercely at He Yu.
Eugene was shocked.
“How do you know that?!”
The bullet comments exploded too.
Inside an instance, contestants could only see their own vote counts. Eugene and Wanrenzhan knew each other’s numbers because they’d shared them within the alliance.
So how did He Yu know?
He Yu adjusted his glasses again and blinked innocently.
“You guess?”
Occasionally, he could see bullet comments.
But his understanding of their vote counts had nothing to do with that.
It came from their reactions.
Those who’d already reached one hundred thousand votes were always especially calm and composed, focusing more on equipment.
Those who hadn’t reached it were either anxious...
Or like Wanrenzhan.
He Yu continued smiling.
“You’ve practically written ‘my votes aren’t enough’ and ‘why won’t the audience vote for me’ all over your face.”
He shook his head.
“Tsk tsk.”
Wanrenzhan: “............”
He pulled out his axe and charged forward, only for Gedai and Tang Ke to stop him.
Wanrenzhan roared:
“I’m gonna chop him to pieces!!”
Satisfied, He Yu finally moved his gaze away from Wanrenzhan and looked toward Eugene and the others.
“So. Cooperate with me. This instance... we clear it together.”
The teasing expression from moments ago vanished instantly.
His expression became serious, and even the atmosphere around him seemed to change with it.
Yuan Ze frowned suspiciously.
“Clear together? There’s only one murderer.”
He Yu merely smiled without answering.
Behind the lenses, his eyes carried complete confidence.
Eugene stared at him deeply for a long while before finally saying seriously:
“Fine. Cooperation.”
The light in Zhen Xing’s eyes only grew brighter as he looked at He Yu. He nodded as well.
Cheng Zhao spread his hands helplessly.
“No objections here. I want to see how exactly you plan on making everyone clear the instance.”
Anyway, he already had enough votes. If anything went wrong, he could leave whenever he wanted.
Gedai thought briefly before nodding too.
Annie, Tang Ke, and Qiong naturally had no objections either.
Meanwhile, Wanrenzhan was still standing there with his axe raised.
“???”
—Hey, were they seriously ignoring him just like that?
—I don’t agree!!
The first step of cooperation:
Exchanging information.
He Yu sat on the stone steps, still holding his notebook. Pen in hand, he lightly bit the tip while speaking.
“Information integration. Start by sharing the clues you gathered while acting alone.”
The stone bleachers of the field weren’t very high. He Yu sat on the topmost step.
Wanrenzhan and the others remained standing at first. Technically, they were physically taller than sitting He Yu.
But somehow...
When they stood while He Yu sat there, it weirdly felt like they were reporting to a teacher.
It automatically turned He Yu into the center of the group.
So Wanrenzhan sat down first.
He sat on the step below He Yu.
Still felt wrong.
Then he shifted sideways until he sat beside He Yu instead.
—That somehow felt even more wrong.
Wanrenzhan glared darkly at He Yu and suddenly realized He Yu had chosen an incredibly perfect position.
No matter how they sat or stood...
He Yu remained the center position.
—This scheming bitch!
He Yu’s response was simple:
Oh. Habit.
As a “camera performer” and “behavior artist,” he’d long since instinctively placed himself at the center of any shot.
He was used to ensuring that anyone outside the frame noticed him first.
It was instinctive.
Seeing Wanrenzhan fail to find a comfortable position no matter what he did, the others gave up trying too and casually sat down.
Qiong leaned her head closer, full of curiosity.
“Why do you write everything down in that notebook?”
He Yu replied calmly:
“There’s a saying from my hometown: the palest ink is better than the best memory.”
Qiong looked puzzled.
“But you can’t take it out with you anyway.”
Expressionless, He Yu answered:
“This is one of my pieces of equipment.”
Everyone: “???”
—Holy shit, equipment like that exists?!
Wanrenzhan burst into loud laughter.
“Hahahaha!! What kind of idiot equipment is that?! He Yu, the equipment you got during auditions was actually this thing? I’m dying!”
He Yu smiled faintly.
“Yes. Too much equipment, too many varieties. Nothing I can do about it. Unlike you, who only has one axe.”
Wanrenzhan’s smile froze instantly.
Suppressing a laugh, Eugene coughed lightly.
“Alright. Let’s integrate information. I’ll go first.”
Everyone’s expressions became serious as they looked toward Eugene.
“I got information from the janitor. The murders at this school started three months ago. Three months ago, the school underwent a major personnel replacement. Almost all staff members only arrived three months ago.”
Cheng Zhao stroked his chin.
“So the murderer pool is huge. Any of these staff members could be the killer?”
Yuan Ze reminded him:
“Three months ago was also the start of the semester. The students are highly suspicious too.”
He spread his hands helplessly.
“I didn’t get much information. I just chatted with classmates. Everything felt normal.”
Gedai’s mechanical voice remained flat and emotionless.
“I checked student records with the homeroom teacher. Only Class 1, Grade 12. Compared to last semester’s Grade 11 Class 1, two students are missing. Anna and Youmo. Two girls.”
He Yu wrote the two names down.
“That’s important information. Nicely done.”
Gedai: “...”
Why was he speaking like he was genuinely praising a student?
He Yu continued:
“What else?”
Tang Ke said:
“Annie and I moved together this morning, but we got caught by the dean and punished to stand outside.”
Annie added:
“The dean feels wrong. He keeps watching students and drifts around the school all day acting creepy.”
Cheng Zhao nodded.
“Definitely suspicious.”
He Yu wrote down “dean.”
Then his gaze shifted toward Qiong.
“Your turn. You probably found something important, didn’t you?”
Qiong looked genuinely surprised.
“How did you know?”
The corners of He Yu’s lips curved upward. His pale, refined face carried a faint smile.
“Your eyes told me.”
Qiong froze.
Then she lowered her cap slightly, subconsciously hiding her eyes.
“Alright then. Since we’re cooperating, I’ll be honest. I stole the homeroom teacher’s smartbrain and decoded some information.”
He Yu looked at her in surprise.
Even Eugene and Gedai stared at Qiong in shock.
Smartbrains were personal carry items. Miniature computers and advanced identity systems combined into one.
Even if someone picked one up, nobody besides the owner should be able to use it.
Much less uncover all the hidden data behind “a single card.”
Beneath the brim of her cap, cunning flashed through Qiong’s eyes.
“Even though I’m not from Mechanical Planet, when it comes to operating smartbrains and the Star Network, none of you can compare to me.”
He Yu looked at Qiong.
—A top-tier Federation hacker.
Gedai’s expression shifted repeatedly before he finally sneered:
“As expected of someone from Chaos Planet. Impressive petty theft skills indeed. No wonder you managed to steal from Earlie.”
Qiong’s face instantly turned cold.
She looked at Gedai like she was looking at a corpse.
“You want to die?”
Gedai coldly returned the stare.
Eugene shot Gedai a warning glance before turning toward Qiong.
“You’re impressive. Continue. What information did you decode?”
Qiong withdrew her gaze from Gedai.
“Four months ago. End of last semester. Anna and Youmo died.”
Everyone froze.
Qiong continued:
“The homeroom teacher took pictures, but deleted them. I found them in the deletion logs. But in the official reports submitted by the teacher, it says Anna and Youmo transferred schools.”
Eugene frowned.
“That’s suspicious. These two are key figures.”
He Yu circled the two names heavily.
Qiong shrugged.
“That’s all I know for now. The homeroom teacher already replaced the smartbrain. The one I stole is废了.”
That was one of the reasons being a Federation hacker was difficult.
Smartbrains had a built-in setting:
The moment one was lost, it could immediately be replaced.
Once the new smartbrain was activated, the old one became obsolete.
Nothing should’ve been retrievable anymore.
Only then did Gedai look slightly more satisfied. He snorted coldly.
“So what? Smartbrains are products of Mechanical Planet. Looks like we need to add a one-button destruction function in the future. Then you wouldn’t be able to retrieve anything.”
Qiong suddenly lifted her cap slightly, revealing her delicate face. She curled her lips into a smile.
“Oh right. I forgot to mention something. Give me enough time, and I can still decode data from obsolete smartbrains.”
Eugene’s expression changed slightly.
Gedai stood abruptly.
“Impossible!”
Qiong smiled.
“Want to test it?”
Yuan Ze sighed.
“Do we really need to argue about something like this? We’re integrating information. The competition matters more. Don’t waste time on meaningless arguments.”
Eugene once again shot Gedai a warning look.
“Smartbrains produced by Mechanical Planet aren’t flawless. If you’re really unhappy about it, survive <Top Talent Show> first, then go redesign them yourself.”
Then he turned toward Qiong.
“Continue decoding the homeroom teacher’s smartbrain. See if you can get more clues.”
Qiong gave Gedai a mocking look before nodding.
He Yu repeatedly circled Anna and Youmo’s names. Looking at Qiong, his eyes carried clear approval.
“This information is extremely important. It practically identified the key breakthrough point immediately.”
Gedai’s face darkened further.
His information overlapped with Qiong’s.
Yet all he discovered was that two names were missing.
Qiong, meanwhile, uncovered extremely specific details.
—This season’s contestants from Chaos Planet and garbage planets really weren’t simple at all.
At that moment, He Yu suddenly looked at Zhen Xing.
“And you? What did you do this morning?”