The girl gently shook her head.
The teacher felt it was a pity.
Jingliu was good in every way, and her looks were outstanding. It was just that… her personality wasn't lively enough.
He looked around and finally found the class monitor.
The teacher crouched down and repeatedly stressed the important points to the class monitor. Only when the motorcade arrived at the academy gate did he stand up and urge the child to leave.
A long time ago, they had already begun selecting freshmen with clean family backgrounds and outstanding looks.
Besides family background and appearance, they also needed to have lively, cheerful personalities and very high emotional intelligence.
Only the most outstanding, the very best children, were qualified to represent Cangcheng and appear in front of the top leadership of the Xianzhou.
The still immature children didn't know what kind of special meaning this trip had.
But the adults knew.
They were very clear that for most people, this would be the highlight of their lives.
This was the only time they could come into contact with the highest ranking leader.
The moment they learned that the general had sealed off the Starskiff Sea and the main roads, they quickly guessed the identity of the visitor.
For this trip, the heads of the Six Commissions of Cangcheng and the general would likely accompany the Marshal to Locufox Forest.
The teacher and his colleague sent the most outstanding students from their class onto the starskiff, then turned back to the other children.
He led the students onto the vehicle. After everyone was seated, he said in a serious tone, "I'll emphasize it again. We're going to Locufox Forest next. That is the resting place of Xianzhou's heroes."
"No one is allowed to bring a jade communicator."
The students all nodded together.
Still uneasy, the teacher engaged in a battle of wits with them. By halfway through the trip, he had already confiscated several jade communicators.
He returned once again to the seat closest to the driver.
The driver wore a tactical headset. He was quiet, his back straight. Anyone could tell at a glance that he wasn't an ordinary person.
The teacher guessed he was a Cloud Knight and casually asked, "How much longer do we have to wait?"
Suddenly, a starskiff stopped in front of them, blocking the way.
The driver's expression didn't change. He slowed down and took the initiative to give way.
Staring at the convoy passing through one after another, he calmly said, "We'll be there soon."
The teacher glanced at the starskiffs, each one costing who knew how many houses, then counted their number in his head and came up with a shocking figure.
He said dryly, "…Haha, if we didn't give way, would the Cloud Knights arrest us? If we accidentally crashed into them, how many credits would we have to pay?"
The driver replied, "No. You'd be invited by the general for tea."
If you don't give way, what are you trying to do? Crash into them? Rounding it up, what's the difference from attempted murder? Of course you'd be detained and thoroughly investigated.
After confirming the truth and making sure you weren't an assassin, they would let you go.
Teacher, "..."
Seeing the teacher's stiff expression, the driver added, "I'm joking. The general wouldn't do that. If you crashed into them, she'd directly give you credits and buy your starskiff."
Compared to the precious time of the Marshal and the general, what are credits worth? Of course it's better to solve the problem quickly and avoid further trouble.
Teacher, "..."
'You really don't look like you're joking at all!'
Just as this Cloud Knight who was working part time as a driver said, after following the convoy ahead, they never encountered another red light.
Occasionally, the driver showed a thoughtful expression. He seemed to be listening to instructions through his headset, then would help the convoy block starskiffs trying to cut in.
In the convoy ahead, the General of Cangcheng finally let out a deep sigh of relief.
She first stared at the equipment monitoring the surrounding starskiffs, then turned to observe the surroundings through the rearview mirror.
A subordinate traveling with her tried to comfort her. "General, please relax…"
The general spoke quickly, "Relax? How can I relax?"
"If the Marshal hadn't refused to make a big scene, Locufox Forest would've already been sealed off."
"There are no tall buildings around, only trees..."
Whenever she had free time, the general would repeat this speech. The subordinate had heard it so many times his ears were almost calloused.
He quickly picked up her words to calm her down, "Exactly. No tall buildings means no convenient sniper positions to protect the Marshal, but you're a general who leaves nothing to chance!"
"You arranged for someone to disguise themselves as a driver to watch those students in advance, and deployed thousands of Cloud Knights in Locufox Forest..."
"Besides, the Marshal has you protecting him personally. You're an Emanator. You have the Divine Foresight!"
After much persuasion, the general finally relaxed and stopped thinking about security. Instead, she took out her jade communicator and shared today's outfit of the Marshal with the other generals.
High ponytail, white ceremonial military uniform, knee high boots.
It was a pity that only she could see the Marshal wearing the ceremonial uniform.
The general was in a great mood, watching her colleagues wail dramatically in the group chat.
The subordinate accidentally glimpsed the bold and wild messages in the group chat. "..."
'What do you mean even if you get slapped you still want...forget it...' he couldn't even say it out loud.
Thinking about how the generals, who appeared decisive and fierce in public… were like this in private…
The subordinate sighed deeply in his heart.
The general had an angry look on her face, tapping hard on her jade communicator.
[How can you even want to take leftovers with you!]
The subordinate looked away, unable to bear it, and changed the topic. "General, do you want to check your outfit again?"
The general nodded cooperatively. The two of them checked from top to bottom, repeatedly confirming the collar flower, epaulettes, ribbons, and other accessories. After confirming everything was correct, the convoy slowed down.
She adjusted the brim of her hat, took a deep breath, and before the starskiff had fully stopped, she quickly stepped out.
She originally wanted to jog all the way, but because of the ceremonial uniform, she had to pay attention to her posture and walked briskly forward.
Before she could reach the starskiff the Marshal was riding in, he had already opened the door himself and stepped down.
The general's heart sank halfway, but she kept a smile on her face and warmly went up to greet him, leading her superior to pay respects to the fallen.
She had instructed her subordinates early on to select the most outstanding children of Cangcheng.
Zero slightly bent down and looked at the brightly smiling child in front of him.
He returned the smile, thanked them softly, took the flowers from their hand, then stepped forward and placed the flowers for the deceased.
He stepped back to make space and quietly watched as Lan, Hua, Marty and the others placed their bouquets.
Hua and Marty were about the same generation, so they might as well let them ride in the same starskiff later.
That way, they could build some rapport.
Before boarding for the return trip, Zero said to Hua, "In principle, before the 'Longevity Plague's Remains' are dealt with, no one is allowed to enter or leave Cangcheng freely. But if they want to come back here…"
He paused. "Let them come back."
Zero said softly, "People always have to return to their roots."
At the same time, the teacher, who had gotten off early and walked a hundred meters, was walking side by side with the driver, with the students following behind.
When they reached the golden nanmu tree, they saw dozens of starskiffs.
The driver, who had earlier said starskiffs couldn't park in Locufox Forest, immediately started speaking nonsense with a straight face, "This place was originally part of the Starskiff Sea."
Teacher, "Haha, you're not going to say this golden nanmu tree is an illegal structure, right? That joke of yours…"
As he laughed, he stopped, uncertain.
"You're joking… right?"
The driver nodded. "Joking."
He turned back and quietly examined the students whispering and chatting among themselves.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the general and her group walking toward them. He reacted quickly, shifting his steps to the other side, subtly creating distance between the generals and the students.
The classmates beside Jingliu whispered to each other, quietly discussing the group approaching them.
She slightly raised her head. The first person she saw was Cangcheng's female general.
She was wearing a dark ceremonial military uniform, her chest covered in medals. Normally serious, she was now smiling with her eyes curved, saying something to the person beside her.
That person was surrounded and crowded by others, their figure completely blocked.
Not only their face, even their gender couldn't be seen.
It wasn't until the group reached the starskiff that Jingliu saw the person's back and could tell the gender.
He stood tall and slender, wearing a white ceremonial military uniform different from everyone else's.
A black leather belt was fastened around his waist, outlining his figure, and he wore knee high leather boots.
His epaulettes looked more complicated than the ones on the general's shoulders.
The general took two quick steps, opened the car door, then raised her hand and pressed the back of it against the door frame.
The person revealed half of his profile. His expression looked somewhat helpless. He bent down and got into the vehicle.
Soon, the convoy left.
Jingliu and her classmates withdrew their gazes and continued walking forward. Under the teacher's guidance, they offered flowers to those who had passed.
In front of them were neatly arranged, countless memorial tablets, all belonging to people who had contributed to the Xianzhou during their lives.
The young children finally gained a real sense of the numbers written in their textbooks. Even the noisiest student in the class fell silent.
Jingliu finally understood why her father was so determined to join the Cloud Knights.
She understood why he always paid attention to the Cloud Knights' battles.
It was just a pity that her father hadn't passed the layers of examinations and had to settle for joining the Divination Commission instead.
He felt very regretful about it and would bring it up from time to time in front of Jingliu and her mother.
Jingliu recalled the medals on the general's chest.
'Maybe… becoming a Cloud Knight wouldn't be bad either?'
In one of the inconspicuous starskiffs in the convoy, Hua and Marty looked at each other.
Marty opened his mouth and asked tentatively, "Your Highness?"
Hua endured it. "Just call my name."
Marty let out a relieved breath. "Alright, Hua. Has the Marshal ever given you any gifts?"
Hua didn't want to discuss her guardian with others, but she and Marty really had no common topics, so she could only go along with him.
"He gave me a crown."
Marty looked delighted. Soon, he seemed to realize something was inappropriate and tried hard to control the corners of his mouth from lifting too much as he replied, "The Marshal always secretly transfers credits to me, telling me to focus on research."
"It's either nine digits or ten digits."
Hua, "..."
Every New Year, her guardian would take away the New Year money the generals stuffed into her hands, saying he would keep it for her.
Every month, she only had half of the average Xianzhou salary as pocket money.
Up to now, her savings weren't even a fraction of what Marty had received.
If she hadn't won a cruise ship and a vacation planet with dividends at the annual meeting… she probably wouldn't even be able to afford the property fees and servant salaries for that building.
Hua looked at Marty, who was several times older than her yet less mature, and had only one thought...
There was no way to continue this conversation.