Chapter 79: The General’s Outburst and a Student’s Resolve

Why must the demons be executed? It is because they obstruct our feeding and harm our kin.

The execution of these demons serves as a stark warning to humanity, revealing the grim consequences of defying the Emperor!

‘I had originally thought that with the arrival of the cadres, Fengling City would finally know peace.’

‘With the cadres here, a clear sky would surely follow!’

Inside the meeting room, adorned in the opulent style of a black palace, a miniature goat stood upon the round table, delivering a passionate speech with a languid air.

“Yet you, why can’t you even protect yourselves? Hm? Such a simple task, why can’t you manage it!”

Below the dais, the demons’ expressions grew increasingly inattentive, while the empty seats multiplied, rendering the meeting ever more desolate.

The seats on either side of Mo Qiu were once again vacant, and she had never before attended a meeting with such a frigid atmosphere. Even casual chats in a university dorm were livelier than this.

‘What exactly was going on?’

Mo Qiu propped her dainty chin in her hand, watching Aiqi’s performance on the table, certain that once his temper flared, he would inevitably begin to wail and lament.

“My Emperor, why must my career path always be fraught with so many unforeseen incidents? If even the cadres return and speak ill of me before you, forget about promotion—I’ll be on the dinner table by tomorrow!”

The demons exchanged glances, one of them clearing their throat before offering a placating remark:

“It’s nothing. A roasted whole lamb is considered a rather valuable delicacy among humans. The average person wouldn’t even be qualified to eat it…”

“Hm?!”

“Oh, nothing. Please continue…”

Compared to humans, the minds of demons were far more straightforward. Ever since joining the Imperial organization, Mo Qiu’s understanding of demons had been constantly evolving.

These creatures were no less intelligent than humans, yet their emotional intelligence was shockingly low. Mo Qiu had never encountered a single demon with a lover, suggesting that concepts like romance, marriage, and raising children simply didn’t exist in their worldview.

‘How, then, did they reproduce? Was it asexual reproduction, or did some unimaginably colossal tree exist, from which demons simply dropped like ripe fruit?’

The secrets accessible to basic members were still too few; if she could continue to be promoted, becoming a Demon Envoy or even a cadre, Mo Qiu would undoubtedly learn more.

‘She needed to pave the path for Bai Chen’s salvation before the apocalypse arrived.’

“But why do you keep throwing yourselves into the fray, one after another? Is dying so amusing?”

Aiqi once again began to point fingers and berate the other demons.

“Saluk, fine, you all usually say he has no brains. But Xinleit, who among you can explain this to me? Why did he go and get himself killed too?”

Xinleit’s death had become a major topic of discussion in the demon world over the past two days.

The usually straightforward General Aiqi stated bluntly, ‘With subordinates sacrificing themselves like this, his own promotion and raise were likely hopeless.’

“You all promised me, one assurance after another. Did you change? It’s the same old story, just a different flavor! You send this one, then that one, and then they’re all gone.”

“At least we still have some visible achievements…”

“Oh, thank heavens. You can’t even protect your own lives—”

“How can you promise me you’ll accomplish great things? Who are we facing? Is it our cadres, or His Imperial Majesty? I advise you to be more pragmatic and prioritize the bigger picture.”

Aiqi’s mouth was like a rapid-fire machine gun, spitting out one sentence after another, completely deflating the defiant demons.

Mo Qiu suddenly seemed to grasp the reason Aiqi had become a Demon Envoy.

‘Could it be solely due to his eloquent tongue? That would be far too easy.’

“Meeting adjourned!”

One by one, the demons scurried out of the conference room, looking utterly dejected, having been so thoroughly scolded they seemed to have lost their bearings.

Aiqi, with his short legs, was just about to leap off the round table when a fair, slender hand reached out from behind and seized him by the scruff of his neck.

The little goat struggled, his feet still dangling in the air, as he twisted around to meet the young woman’s eyes, which sparkled like brilliant stars.

“Libelle, what are you doing? Let me down at once.”

Aiqi resembled a rabbit held aloft by a hunter.

“I am your superior, after all; you can’t treat me like this.”

Hearing this, Mo Qiu merely pursed her lips, and far from releasing him, she gripped him even tighter, her palm gently yet firmly stroking the top of his head.

True goat fur would never be this soft and supple, so fluffy and comfortable, surpassing any plush toy.

“Aiqi, why haven’t I seen Lady Elia?”

“You ask me? I’d like to know too.”

Having been petted to his satisfaction, the little goat simply climbed up her black dress, settling onto Mo Qiu’s shoulder and clinging to her dark blue hair to keep from falling.

“Doesn’t she often seek you out?”

“I, I, I haven’t seen her in days,” Aiqi sighed.

“Could it be that I’ve disappointed her, and she no longer wants to play with me?”

“Is it possible that she failed her mission and has to leave?”

“Huh?!”

Startled, Aiqi tumbled from her shoulder, then flapped his wings, hovering in mid-air.

“That won’t do! Something bad will happen!”

“What sort of trouble?”

“Revenge from a demon cadre? Or is a new cadre arriving?”

‘Regardless of the situation, it wouldn’t bode well for Mo Qiu.’

“Will she speak ill of me before the Emperor, preventing me from ever getting promoted?!”

“…………”

The air hung silent for two full minutes, broken only by the sound of Aiqi’s fluttering wings.

The stars in Mo Qiu’s eyes dimmed for a fleeting moment as she raised a finger and flicked him on the forehead.

“Ouch!”

Aiqi clutched his head, nearly plummeting.

‘Could it be that, in the minds of demons, the most pressing concern beyond eating was indeed promotion?’

Mo Qiu walked towards the teleportation gate leading out of the black palace and halted her steps.

She turned her head to look at Aiqi, who had caught up, and pointed at the teleportation gate, “Can you send me directly home?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t want to be teleported to strange places anymore.”

****

Whether it was Mo Qiu’s imagination or not, she couldn’t shake the feeling that news about demons had significantly decreased in Fengling City and on the radio broadcasts recently. She hadn’t encountered any malevolent demons either. It seemed Aiqi’s words had indeed been effective, as those creatures had become considerably more docile after their previous lessons.

“Class, have you all finished the exercises I assigned last week?”

The math teacher on the podium was lecturing voluminously.

“Not finished? Then you’re done for. I’m the one setting tomorrow’s monthly exam, and those exercises contain similar types of questions that will appear on the test. Don’t groan and sigh; it’s your own fault for slacking off. ‘Too much homework,’ you say? What a joke! You’re high school students now; is completing a hundred practice problems really so difficult?”

Mo Qiu gazed at the textbook on her desk, realizing she had spent almost the entire day contemplating her studies. It seemed Fengling City had indeed become much more peaceful.

After experiencing the demon invasion in her previous life, such a normal existence felt almost like a dream.

‘But how long would this docility truly last?’

The pen in the young woman’s hand incessantly drew circles on the scratch paper, until the surface turned black and even tore through.

‘The dangers lurking beneath the facade of peace were precisely what she could least afford to overlook.’

After class, everyone gathered in a corner of the classroom to check their seating assignments for the upcoming exam.

The crowd was immense, so Mo Qiu had no choice but to stand outside and wait for them to disperse before she could check.

“Excuse me, excuse me!”

Hearing Bai Chen’s voice, Mo Qiu’s peripheral vision caught sight of him squeezing out from the throng, looking as if he had just escaped a battlefield.

“There are too many people… Mo Qiu?”

Bai Chen immediately walked towards her.

“Are you here to check your exam seat too?”

“Mm.”

“I’ve already checked it for you; I’ll write it down for you in a bit.”

“…Thank you.”

Mo Qiu had intended to ask him for this very favor, but unexpectedly, this presumptuous fellow had already taken care of it. ‘However, from another perspective, did this mean he cared about her even more?’

Watching Bai Chen as he bent his head to write, the young woman’s lifeless eyes narrowed slightly.

“Here you go.”

Handing her the slip of paper with the seating assignment, Bai Chen once again flashed a brilliant smile.

“The monthly exam is tomorrow; you really must do your best.”

“You too.”

“Hmph hmph, I’ll definitely improve this time.”

“Have you finished the hundred math problems?”

Bai Chen’s smile froze, and he clenched his fist, declaring, “The points lost in math shall be compensated by other subjects!”

‘Oh my, you are far too relaxed.’

‘Even Bai Chen had succumbed to this illusory peace.’

‘Mo Qiu had seen many such people; whenever they confidently believed something would unfold as they wished, events often took an unexpected turn.’

‘With a mind so dull, how could you save the world?’

Though she inwardly chided him, the young woman still looked him directly in the eyes, her own devoid of sparkle, and softly spoke:

“Good luck.”

The young man, spurred on as if injected with a stimulant by the girl with the lusterless eyes, rushed back to his seat and began to review.

‘If no accidents occurred, then an accident was surely about to happen.’

The monthly exam concluded, and thanks to the diligent efforts of the teachers, the results were released the very next day, with full subject scores and rankings following on the day after.

Mo Qiu, as usual, performed steadily, maintaining her customary mid-tier position.

‘As for Bai Chen, why had he regressed again?’

As she passed Bai Chen’s seat, she overheard him complaining to Old Zhu about mathematics.

‘Indeed, he was still being dragged down by math.’

‘Next time she invited him, she would focus on reviewing mathematics.’

Just as Mo Qiu finalized her plan, a classmate approached her.

“Mo Qiu, Teacher Zheng is looking for you.”

‘The homeroom teacher?’

Mo Qiu knew without even needing to think what Zheng Yuxin wanted with her.

“Mo Qiu, your grades are still not quite up to par. However, I’ve noticed you’ve been quite diligent recently, and I believe you might be hitting a bottleneck.”

“If you work even harder during this period, you’re sure to make significant progress.”

Zheng Yuxin spoke ceaselessly, while Mo Qiu merely nodded occasionally.

“However, since you’re on your own, finding a study partner to progress together is also an excellent method. Do you have any friends in class?”

Bai Chen was the first person Mo Qiu thought of, but upon closer reflection, he was merely an indispensable tool for her grand scheme.

‘Friends, she mused, were not something one needed to survive.’

“None? You should make more friends.” Zheng Yuxin rubbed her temples, clearly exasperated.

“This is the most passionate age of your life; you can’t live like a corporate drone who’s already entered society.”

Mo Qiu remained silent, simply watching her fret, planning to find an excuse to leave once she finished.

“Wait, Teacher! I will take responsibility for improving Mo Qiu’s grades!”

A person suddenly interjected between the two, pushing up their glasses on the bridge of their nose with a confident smile.

“Classmate Mo Qiu, you should still remember me.”

Mo Qiu scrutinized him from head to toe, a single thought echoing in her mind: ‘Who are you?’