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Lu Yin pursed his lips; it was no wonder why the academy had allowed their students to wander about like this. After all, not even the Bo Duo would necessarily be able to withstand an attack from a Money Bomb. As long as the weapon was used appropriately, there was actually a chance for their seniors to get revenge. Also, Lu Yin doubted that Lulu would only buy a single Money Bomb with her wealth.
“How many do you have?” Lu Yin could not help himself from asking.
Lulu raised her head proudly. “Guess.”
Lu Yin flung fifty star essences over to her. “Here’s what I owe you.”
Lulu grabbed it in amazement. “That fast?”
The rest were amazed as well. Lu Yin had paid Lulu with star essence, not star crystals. Fifty star essences had the equivalent value of five million star crystals, which was an enormous sum for a student. However, Lu Yin actually possessed so much as to casually toss it out.
Lu Yin held his head up with pride. “It’s just a small sum, so it’s easy to earn.”
Lulu carefully observed Lu Yin. “Not bad. Next time you borrow money from me, I’ll consider charging you interest.”
Lu Yin felt his teeth ache; he should have just kept his mouth shut.
“Seventh Bro, your mouth’s too loose,” the monkey commented.
“Xia Luo, tell Meng Yue and the rest to get ready. We’ll make our escape attempt as soon as Deep Crimson Planet falls into chaos,” Lu Yin said.
The others were all puzzled. Michelle asked, “Deep Crimson Planet will fall into chaos? There’s someone behind you?”
Lu Yin smiled mysteriously. “Sort of. No more questions—we don’t have much time left.”
Coco immediately ran over and eagerly looked at Lu Yin. “Brother Lu, tell Coco! Coco won’t tell anyone else.”
Lu Yin laughed, but he went ahead and bent down towards Coco’s ears before whispering into it. Coco then cried out, “The Blackbeard Pirates?”
Lu Yin was speechless.
The rest all looked at him in astonishment.
A chill flashed through Michelle’s eyes as she stared intently at Lu Yin. “So the rumors about you being connected to pirates were true?”
Lu Yin rolled his eyes. “Stop making wild guesses. I’m not connected to pirates. I just obtained information that Deep Crimson Hall stole something from the Blackbeard Pirates. Thus, they’ll be here soon. It’s got nothing to do with me.”
Michelle clearly didn’t believe him as her brows remained knitted, and she continued to stare at him. “I hope that you don’t end up being implicated with pirates. Otherwise, I’ll get my sister to have the Ten Arbiters revoke your status.”
Lu Yin frowned and looked at Michelle as he calmly replied, “You have no business nosing about in how I manage my affairs.”
Michelle stared at him, and the room suddenly fell silent.
Although the group of Astral-10 students had lived together for the past year, they were not extremely harmonious. Darkvoid did not speak with the others, Hui Daynight remained solitary, and Michelle also kept to herself. Everyone was aware of her motives when she had first arrived at Astral-10; not only had they not been pure, she had even been hostile to the academy. Although she no longer held any thoughts of cracking down on Astral-10, her fundamental perspective was not something that could be shifted.
She was used to viewing things from the Ten Arbiters Council’s point of view, and her mannerisms could seem arrogant at times. Lu Yin would not cave to her, as he even dared to tease Wendy Yushan and Mira, let alone Michelle.
Coco hurriedly tried to smooth things over, and she pulled Lu Yin over to the side of the room while Michelle silently sat on the other side.
Xia Luo walked over to the window and looked up at the skies, waiting to watch Deep Crimson Planet fall into chaos.
“Brother Lu, there’s another troublesome issue. Based on how many great powers act, those who have been captured will likely have tracking devices planted within them. Even if we manage to rescue our two seniors, escaping is another matter entirely,” Xia Luo said.
Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. “We’ll talk about this again after we rescue them. There’ll only be one such opportunity, and we won’t get another chance after this.
“Right, Coco, why are Darkvoid and Hui Daynight also here?” Lu Yin was puzzled.
Coco answered, “This is an academy mission, and the reward is pretty generous.”
So that’s why. Lu Yin now understood. It seemed that the academy had not completely refrained from meddling; the mentors had only changed their method. Given the status of the students such as Michelle, Hui Daynight, and Lulu, even if they were captured by the Bo Duo, those Hunters would not dare kill them. Thus, their lives were actually already guaranteed.
Lu Yin suddenly felt sorrow for the Bo Duo; they could not kill their enemies, but they still had to suffer from others’ attempts at exacting revenge. And that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that the Blackbeard Pirates would be arriving soon. Altogether, the two men were in a rather pitiful situation.
Lulu walked over after Lu Yin finished chatting with Coco. She pried the smaller girl away before giving Lu Yin a serious expression. “Tell me honestly: did Undying Yushan leave anything behind?”
Lu Yin put on a bewildered expression. “Undying Yushan? What does he have anything to do with you?”
Lulu stared at Lu Yin. “Don’t play dumb. Do you really not know?”
Lu Yin shook his head. “What should I know?”
“I’ve already checked. After the palace was sealed, only you entered that place, and Undying Yushan also left you with a ring of authority. There’s definitely more than meets the eye to that ring. For example, it might allow you to access some special items.” Lulu continued to stare into Lu Yin’s eyes.
Lu Yin sniggered inwardly, as it seemed that Lulu had not managed to gain any benefits from the Great Yu palace, so she had no choice but to reveal all of her cards. “You should ask Wendy Yushan about this. She was the last person to leave the palace, and that place was already cleared out by the time I got there.”
Lulu’s eyes flickered. After a moment, she rolled her eyes, and a crafty smile appeared on her face. “Lu Yin, aren’t you really short on money?”
Lu Yin nodded.
“If you tell me Undying Yushan’s secret, I can pay you a lot of money. If fifty star essences isn’t enough to get your attention, how about a hundred? Two hundred? Or maybe you’d be interested in a perpetual VIP status at the Mavis Bank that would allow you to take out an interest-free loan from Mavis Bank of up to 10,000 star essence?” Lulu tried to tempt him.
Lu Yin was moved, and he immediately nodded. “Alright, I’ll tell you a secret.”
Lulu was stumped, as he had agreed so readily that she could not believe it. “Tell me.”
Lu Yin contemptuously derided, “You’re trying to cheat me! What if I tell you and then you don’t deliver on your end?”
Lulu glared furiously at Lu Yin and then activated her gadget. “Go ahead. As long as your secret’s big enough, I will submit an application to my family right now.”
“That’s more like it! But let’s make a deal before that.” Lu Yin looked expectantly at Lulu. “How many Money Bombs do you have on you? I want to buy some.”
Lulu’s brows lifted as she proudly looked at Lu Yin. “You want to buy some? Are you using money to insult me? Do I look like someone who’s short on money?”
Mentioning money in front of a Mavis; Lu Yin felt like Lulu was practically shining as he looked at her.
Lu Yin coughed. “That- um, I know that you’re not lacking in money, but I don’t have any Money Bombs on me, so how about you give me some?”
Lulu’s lips twitched. Although she was rich, the Money Bombs weren’t cheap, either. She was not foolish and definitely would give such things away freely. “How many do you want to buy?”
“Money Bombs are so expensive, so I’m guessing that you could only afford a few of them. Forget it, I’ll buy just a couple,” Lu Yin muttered, though his voice was loud enough for Lulu to overhear. She bristled, and thirty Money Bombs appeared in her hands. The amount dazzled both Lu Yin and the monkey.
“What the... If each one costs fifty star essences, how much did she pay? 1,500 star essences? She’s super rich!” the monkey shrieked in disbelief.
Lu Yin was also stunned. He had already known that Lulu was rich, but to this extent? Old Cai’s initial offer had been a hundred star essences for three, which meant that this pile was worth a thousand star essence, which just happened to be the same amount that he had stolen from the pirates. This brat had taken such an exorbitant amount of wealth out without blinking, and it was definitely not everything that she possessed.
When Lu Yin looked at Lulu again, it was in a different light. This time, it was as if he was looking at a deity.
Lulu proudly raised her head, as she would never be timid in a discussion involving money. If there was a competition for the richest student, then she would comfortably place first without any contest. Even if all the others pooled all their wealth together, she would still beat the group all on her own. She was unequaled in this field.
“Seventh Bro, beg for her support! You lack money, and she’s rich! You guys are a match made in heaven!” the Ghost Monkey cried out.
Lu Yin pursed his lips. “I want to buy six.”
Lulu was shocked. “Can you afford that?”
Lu Yin’s face turned ugly. “Yes.”
Lulu casually tossed Lu Yin six of the Money Bombs and stuck out a pure-white hand. “Deal! Three hundred star essences.”
Lu Yin looked up at her. “Three hundred? Shouldn’t it be two hundred?”
Lulu contemptuously replied, “Fifty for one. Can’t you do simple math?”
“Old Cai told me one hundred for three,” Lu Yin stated.
Lulu’s brows shot up, and her face distorted as an unhappy aura clearly appeared around her.
“Did you get scammed?” Lu Yin asked as his eyes widened.
Lulu’s eyes trembled. “Of course not! I know that it’s a hundred for three, but I need to make some profit off of you.”
“I know Undying Yushan’s secret,” Lu Yin confidently replied.
Lulu’s face became extremely ugly, and she snorted. “Hand over two hundred.”
With a beaming expression, Lu Yin handed the money over. He could guarantee that Lulu had been swindled, as Old Cai had not given her any discount. This brat simply refused to admit it so that she could save face, which fortunately had saved Lu Yin from overpaying.
However, Old Cai’s ability to determine someone’s net worth was nauseating. Lu Yin definitely would not flaunt his money in front of the old man, or else he would just be asking to get ripped off.
“Alright, tell me Undying Yushan’s secret.” Lulu unhappily put away her remaining Money Bombs and stared at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin grew solemn, and seriously said, “I’ll tell you, but you must promise to never to reveal this to others.”
Lulu nodded, trembling. “I promise!”
“Alright.” Lu Yin took a deep breath and then continued with a serious voice, saying, “Undying Yushan was fond of women with long hair, thin legs, and small bosoms.”
Lulu was stumped, and she stared at Lu Yin, unable to react. “What did you just say?”
Lu Yin scanned the surroundings like a thief, and then lowered his voice even further. “Undying Yushan was fond of women with long hair, thin legs, and small bosoms.”
Lulu grew furious and punched Lu Yin, who caught her fist, though his palm trembled from her fierce strength. It turned out that her power had increased once again. “Hey! Why are you suddenly attacking me?”
Lulu gritted her teeth. “This is the secret that you wanted to tell me?”
Lu Yin got angry. “This isn’t enough? Aside from you and me, there’s no one else in the universe who knows this secret!”
Lulu was enraged. “You bastard!” She moved to take back her fist so that she could punch him again, but she couldn’t remove her hand from Lu Yin’s grasp.
At that moment, Coco returned and yelped at the scene. “Brother Lu, Sister Lulu, when did you two get together?”
Coco could not be blamed for her misunderstanding, as their posture was just too dubious. Lu Yin’s back was facing Coco, and although he was tightly gripping Lulu’s fist, from Coco’s point of view, it looked as if Lulu was about to fall into his embrace.
Lulu’s face flushed red. “Girl! Don’t spout nonsense.”
Coco’s cry had attracted Zora and Xia Luo’s attention, and even Michelle and Hui Daynight looked over at them.
Lu Yin grew embarrassed, and he quickly released her hand and retreated several steps back. “It’s just a misunderstanding. It’s all just a misunderstanding.”
Lulu stared at Lu Yin with steady eyes. “This matter isn't over. Just wait and see.”
Lu Yin wanted to answer, but Xia Luo smiled from nearby. “Congratulations, Brother Lu.”
Lu Yin was left speechless. “It’s really just a misunderstanding!”