Fanli didn't get the chance to make a clean getaway. Just as she reunited with Xinghai, she overheard students nearby saying that Dangdang was being beaten again. The two exchanged a look, and Fanli was the first to swim toward the commotion.
"Wait," Xinghai said, grabbing her wrist with a worried expression. "Lina has studied offensive arcane arts. Are you sure you should go?"
"Whether I can or not, I have to. Dangdang finally had a peaceful month and was starting to feel better. If she gets beaten again, the psychological trauma will only deepen." Fanli pushed his hand away and sped toward the center of the school plaza.
The scene was a mirror image of what had happened moments before. Dangdang was being held by her hair by an Orca girl, her face a mess of overlapping handprints and bloody scratches.
"You're asking me why I'm hitting you?" Seeing Fanli arrive, Lina rose from the cushions held by several boys and swam slowly toward Dangdang. "You perennial little mistress, who told you to date Berne? And who told your best friend to secretly study Illusion Arts?"
"What does my relationship with Berne have to do with you?!" Dangdang was actually stunned. She hadn't expected Lina to even know her boyfriend's name.
"What does it have to do with me? Why are you acting like a 'white lotus' now?" Lina’s voice turned dark and shrill. She glanced at the Orca girl beside her. "Let her know that her Sister Lina isn't someone to be trifled with."
The Orca girl began hitting Dangdang again. Numbed by the bullying, Dangdang flailed her arms wildly to mitigate the blows, but her words remained fiercely provocative: "I can see you're so jealous of Fanli that your eyes are bleeding. For a predatory tribe, your arcane skills aren't even as good as an Oceanic girl's. Let me tell you, no matter how you bully me, don't think you can drive me away from Fanli, and don't think I'll break up with Berne—Lina, you crazy hag, even me dating an Orca man triggers you. Berne is just a poor older guy; you could easily find a better boyfriend. There’s absolutely no need to find me so eyesore."
Lina was driven nearly insane by these words. She swam forward herself, raising her hand to deliver a slap.
At that moment, a jet of water surged forward, violently shoving her hand aside! Then, the current spiraled, forcing Dangdang and the Orca girl apart and pushing Dangdang backward.
*A Cold Current spell?*
Lina was startled. Her first instinct was that the Dean or a professor had arrived, and she quickly withdrew her hand. But when she turned around, she saw Fanli supporting Dangdang.
Dangdang, who had been acting tough, immediately burst into loud, childish wailing the moment she saw Fanli.
More and more passing students stopped to watch, but they remained deathly silent, as if the only people left in the world were Fanli, Lina, and Dangdang.
Unmoved, Fanli simply looked up and stared directly at Lina. "To be honest, as Dangdang’s friend, I’ve always thought her views on relationships were brainless. Never mind you—sometimes even I want to hit her. Every one of us has the freedom to judge right from wrong by our own standards, and the right to dislike or oppose others. However, no one has the right to physically harm another person, no matter how 'right' you think you are. Furthermore, even if Dangdang and Berne’s relationship is socially unacceptable, they are both single. They haven't hurt anyone."
"Oh, look who’s talking! It’s the friendless Fanli!" Lina crossed her arms, her slit pupils making her look like an agitated leopard. "Give it a rest. You only say things like that because you’re weak! The people in this world who clamor for 'fairness' are always the weak. Only the weak want to stand on equal footing with the strong. Once the weak become strong, they’ll just stand on the opposite side of the vulnerable and shout for fairness from those even stronger. So, put away your delusional theories. You can barely even protect yourself!"
"Is that so?" Fanli patted Dangdang’s shoulder and let out a light chuckle. "Then can you tell me why a 'strong' person like you sent me a friend request at the start of the semester, only for me to reject it?"
Lina opened her mouth slightly to argue, but looking at the surrounding students, she found herself speechless.
"Oh, I see. According to your theory, is that because you are an intellectual weakling?"
"Shut your mouth!" Lina said, looking as if she were sitting on pins and needles. "Fanli! Stop spreading rumors!"
"Is it a rumor? You wanted me to give up the top rank in our year to help you and your little sisters get Double-S grades, just so you could get a pass into the world of the Sea God’s descendants?"
As soon as she said this, though the crowd remained quiet, the light from numerous Sound-Isolation spells began to accumulate. It made Lina feel incredibly uncomfortable, the glare piercing her eyes.
Although this rumor had long been circulating among the students, most had remained skeptical. Lina’s family prestige was immense; a large portion of the student body believed she was a proud princess who wouldn't stoop to such low tactics. Now that Fanli had exposed her completely, leaving her no dignity, they couldn't help but feel disappointed in Lina while breaking into a cold sweat for Fanli.
This was an open declaration of war.
"Stop talking such shameless nonsense!" In her fury, Lina’s voice became high-pitched, and her hands clenched into tight fists. "Since entering this school, have you had any extraordinary achievements? Your only paper that gained attention was controversial because you sucked up to the Lord Dictator, and in the end, it only got an S! I got an S on that paper too. Why would I care about you 'giving' me the top rank? Saying I wanted to rely on you... you’re just a lying mouth. Have you no shame?!"
"Ha, I didn't record your words back then, so you can deny it however you want now." Fanli held up a small arcane sound-storage box. "So, let everyone listen to this instead."
She opened the box, and the voices of Lina and herself drifted out:
—*“...Change your major. Leave the Arcane Academy.”*
—*“You think I won't give up the first-place rank to you?”*
—*“That’s not important.”*
—*“I will definitely give it to you.”*
—*“It really isn't important. I just want you to leave the Arcane Academy. Or wait until we go to Saint Yejana, then you can continue your first-level arcane studies.”*
—*“Can you tell me why you don't trust me?”*
—*“It’s not that I don't trust you; it’s just that I only trust things I hold 100% in my hands. In short, the moment you leave the Arcane Academy is the moment I let your friends go, including your King Xinghai...”*
Hearing this, Lina finally snapped.
"Fanli, you insidious wretch! I’ll kill you!!"
Lina screamed and lunged forward, slapping the sound-storage box away! Then, her face flushed red as she bit down on Fanli’s neck. Like a shark hunting prey, she shook her head violently from side to side, looking as if she wanted to tear Fanli’s head off! Dangdang was knocked aside by the force of their struggle, completely terrified. However, ice arrows soon shot in from all directions, striking Lina’s back! Lina shrieked in pain and thrust her palms upward, condensing the surrounding water into arcane ice spheres above her head.
Fanli clutched her bleeding neck, retreating a distance while gasping for breath. She manifested the same ice spheres, but her speed was four or five times faster than Lina’s. Seeing those spheres, Lina’s pupils dilated, her resentment now tinged with an unmaskable fear. Then, they both waved their hands simultaneously. The ice spheres collided in mid-air, and the resulting shards fell like meteorites or hail. Some students scattered like startled birds.
"I didn't want to learn offensive arcane arts this early, but you forced my hand." Fanli was also enraged, completely ignoring the wound on her neck. She raised both hands, the veins on her forehead bulging. "Lina, don't blame me for being too ruthless. If I accidentally kill you, I’ll turn myself in and go to the guillotine! I’ll die with you! My insignificant, lowly bait life in exchange for the precious remainder of Lady Lina’s life—I’d say that’s a bargain!"
Then, above her head, the water began to gather like dark clouds before a storm, forming a massive vortex.
Lina and her Orca lackeys looked up, the two small vortexes reflected in their slit pupils. They were frozen in terror.
"If you are currently suffering from injustice," Fanli said, looking back at the crowd. She let the vortex spin faster and grow larger, but her voice became exceptionally calm, carrying the resolve of someone ready to die. "If the oppression of class makes it hard to breathe, if you haven't given up on your dignity and your future, and if you want to fight against fate—then you are welcome to stand by my side. We might not win in the end, but an unyielding spirit lives forever! There will always be people in this world who would rather die on their feet than live on their knees!"
"Well said!!" Dangdang clapped so hard her hands hurt. "Fanli, I’m with you! I’ll go down with her too!!"
Many students didn't follow military news and couldn't tell what she was doing; they were simply awed by her speech and had a premonition that she was doing something terrifying. But the students who understood military magic recognized it instantly. She really was doing something horrific.
"Run! Run quickly!!" a boy shouted. "Fanli is using 'Ice Storm'!!"
This was the prelude to the high-level military arcane art, "Ice Storm." Once the arcane power finished condensing, at least eight hundred ice blades filled with corrosive energy would fly out from the vortex, forming a dense "storm" that would cause devastating damage to any creatures or buildings below. Releasing this at 100% power during peacetime, even if it didn't harm anyone, would result in a prison sentence of over eighty years.
The students fled in a chaotic mess. Overcome with terror, Lina tried to swim away, but her tail went limp, and she collapsed to the ground.
At that moment, a figure rushed forward and blocked Fanli.
"Li-li, don't be impulsive!" Xinghai shook her shoulders. "You’re going to be a famous Great Arcanist. Your life is worth more than hers! Your existence means more than everyone here combined! Stop this now!"
Fanli shifted her gaze to Xinghai, looking at him blankly. The massive vortex above suddenly slowed its rotation.
"Stop it, wake up!!" Xinghai hugged her tightly.
The vortex grew smaller and smaller. Fanli murmured, "I... shouldn't I take her down with me?"
"No!"
"What if she bullies you again?"
"After today, she won't dare. If she ever tries it again, I’ll be the one to take her down with me!"
"Okay..."
Fanli withdrew her power. A few seconds later, the vortex vanished as if it had never existed. The schools of fish that had been driven away by the arcane energy tentatively swam back, but the students only dared to watch from a distance, not venturing any closer. The lackeys helped Lina up, and the group fled in disgrace.
Fanli watched Lina’s departure with a piercing gaze, only relaxing her body once the girl had completely vanished from sight. Simultaneously, her vision went black, and she collapsed into Xinghai’s arms.
"Fanli, you really scared me to death!" Dangdang sobbed, her cheap tears flying everywhere. "I really thought we were going to die here just now, waah..."
"How could that be..." Fanli said weakly. "I wish I actually had that kind of ability."
"Eh? What do you mean?"
Xinghai used a Sound-Isolation spell, picked Fanli up in a horizontal carry, and said to Dangdang, "Li-li’s mental energy reserves aren't high enough. She couldn't actually release that much arcane energy."
"Huh??"
"She was just scaring Lina. I expect that after today, Lina won't dare lay a hand on anyone else."
"Haha, yeah." Fanli’s laugh was feeble, but her mood was genuinely good. "She was so scared she fell to the ground and ran away like a wet dog... it felt great..."
"Lord of the Deep Blue!!" Dangdang clutched her forehead, feeling even dizzier than Fanli. "You two are too good at acting! I actually believed it!"
"It’s not the first time we’ve been acting partners." Fanli gave Xinghai a playful wink.
"Shh, don't talk. You’re hurt." Xinghai looked at the scratches on her face left by the fierce princess and frowned. "I’ll take you to rest for a while."
"It’s fine. These are wounds of valor!"
Even speaking was a struggle. *Sigh, such a frail body...*
Although there were no longer restrictions on her learning arcane arts, her mental strength was still pathetic. Never mind releasing a full "Ice Storm," even manifesting a few extra ice spheres nearly drained her physical strength. In a war of attrition, she definitely couldn't beat Lina. Fortunately, Lina had snapped, giving her the perfect opportunity to play the part.
Fanli felt that even thinking was exhausting. Her vision blurred into a kaleidoscope of colors before turning pitch black, and she fell into a deep sleep in Xinghai’s arms.
Because of the incident with Lina, the school issued disciplinary demerits and a campus-wide public criticism to both Fanli and Lina the following day. It was largely thanks to Lina’s family background and the fact that Lina was the initial aggressor that neither of them was expelled.
Afterward, Fanli and Xinghai began to openly associate with Dangdang, the Shisisi couple, and the Youcan couple again. On campus, people whispered about them, but they no longer kept their distance. Moreover, the Oceanic students who were usually bullied by Lina felt a great sense of relief. Many came forward specifically to make friends with Fanli, calling her their idol.
Ryuka, seeing Fanli talking to Youcan’s girlfriend in the cafeteria, felt indignant and ran to report to Lina. "Sister Lina, people are saying today that Fanli has become the spiritual leader of the Oceanic students."
Lina, of course, knew what the students were discussing. Fanli’s rise had been bought at the cost of her humiliation. Every time she remembered the scene of Fanli confronting her, she felt a mix of shame and fury, yet she was powerless. When she happened to encounter Fanli in a classroom, she instinctively wanted to avoid her—feeling both hatred and a lingering trace of fear.
Now, looking at Ryuka, her gaze was cold enough to freeze. "Fanli didn't know who Dangdang’s boyfriend was."
"She... how could she not know..."
"She didn't know." Lina interrupted her, without a shred of doubt. "And you knew that she didn't know."
"But she’s so close to Dangdang, how could she possibly not know..."
"Xiangxiang, look at what you’ve done." The 'Genius God of Love' frowned. "Lina wouldn't have had to have such a public fallout with Fanli if it weren't for you spreading rumors. Now it’s turned into this..."
"Get out of my sight right now." Lina didn't even turn her head, but her voice was squeezed through her teeth, as if she were channeling all the humiliation she’d received from Fanli into this one sentence. "I don't want to see you ever again, you low-class sea-dweller."
Ryuka’s eyes widened in shock. She felt a chill all over her body and a suffocating sense of pain. She wanted to say something more, but nothing would come out. She could only swim backward a few paces before suddenly turning and fleeing at top speed, as if running for her life.
The dispute between Fanli and Lina at school soon caught the attention of the police. Both girls and their respective friends were called in for questioning by Officer Qiwen.
However, because the Dean had strongly opposed it last time, Qiwen didn't dare suggest a collective DNA blood test. He simply looked at Fanli a few more times. "Your appearance is very similar to the suspect's. Why did the skin cell test results show you are a purebred Rusty Angelfish?"
"Maybe because I have a tiny bit of predatory tribe genes?" Fanli said softly.
"Predatory tribe? Why didn't that show up in the last results?"
"I’m not quite sure. Would you like to test again?"
This time, Fanli was well-prepared. She had brought a small amount of "Dreamweaver" potion she had concocted herself. Dropping this potion into a blood sample would make it appear as though she suffered from Genetic Dysregulation. This was a common ailment among mixed-breeds, making it impossible to determine their specific race until they recovered.
Thinking of this, she was still a bit nervous. Seeing the potion master behind Qiwen made her even more anxious—if the potion master was skilled enough, they might detect that she had tampered with the sample.
"Fine, go get tested." Qiwen didn't actually suspect this Double-S genius; instead, he focused his attention on Fanli’s companions.
Fortunately, Fanli found an opportunity to pour a small vial of "Dreamweaver" into the sample, and the potion master wasn't meticulous enough to notice. After the results showed a pathological change, Qiwen told her to get plenty of rest and come back for another test once she had recovered. She had successfully dodged another bullet.
The onset period for Genetic Dysregulation was two to fifteen weeks; she couldn't let her guard down. Now that Mrs. Red had become Mr. Red, she couldn't ask him for a blood sample to use as a decoy.
The fastest way to solve the problem seemed to be finding the real killer of Miss Bubble.
Fanli recalled the clue mentioned by the two girls about Miss Bubble being short on money. At home, she flipped through back issues of newspapers subscribed to by Mr. Red.
Before Miss Bubble and Buke Ni were married, there were many news reports about them. However, every record regarding Miss Bubble described her as a wealthy socialite in her own right, contradicting the public perception that she was "unworthy" of Buke Ni.
Furthermore, many press releases stated that Miss Bubble’s admiration and love for Buke Ni were genuine. Every time a reporter captured her gazing at Buke Ni, her simple, beautiful eyes seemed to hold stars. Below every news item were real-time online comments; many young male readers envied Buke Ni for marrying such a charming wife, hoping to become the "second Buke Ni."
In all those newspapers, there wasn't a single mention of the financial status of Miss Bubble’s father’s company.
Then again, such situations were usually only known within the company. If insiders didn't talk, it was hard for outsiders to find out. Fanli didn't even know the name of Miss Bubble’s father’s company. Yet, she felt this was a key clue to uncovering the truth. She pondered this all the way to school. Xinghai waved a hand in front of her face, finally snapping her out of her trance, and she shared her thoughts with him.
"That’s not hard to handle."
Xinghai pulled her along to find Senior Seaweed.
"Desperate for funds?" Senior Seaweed scratched his head. "How did you know?"
"So, it wasn't just a rumor?" Fanli said, exchanging a look with Xinghai.
"Yeah. Before she met Buke Ni, Luweiya’s father’s company was losing money. The capital chain had indeed snapped, and they nearly declared bankruptcy several times. She was very anxious during that period; she confided not only in me but also in some of her close girlfriends. But after she met Buke Ni, she asked me to keep it a secret for her."
"Buke Ni didn't know about her family’s situation?"
"Of course he knew. He even helped Luweiya solve the financial problems."
Fanli was utterly perplexed. Why did all the press releases praise Miss Bubble’s family background, going to great lengths to prove she didn't need to marry Buke Ni for a "class jump"? In fact, if they had admitted that Buke Ni saved her family and she married him out of gratitude, the public might have found the mismatched couple more acceptable.
Fanli pondered for a long time before saying, "So, she married Buke Ni for her father’s company, not for herself?"
"Is there a difference? It’s the same thing, isn't it?" Senior Seaweed said with a bitter smile. "She and her family were so close they were an inseparable unit. When a hero descended from the heavens to save her, giving her a sense of love and someone to look up to, it wasn't strange."
If the gap between Buke Ni and Senior Seaweed hadn't been so vast, Fanli might have been fooled as well. But a girl who could fall in love with Senior Seaweed clearly wouldn't fall in love with Buke Ni. In such a case, could love and marriage still be the same thing? Could personal interests and family interests still be the same?
Men often crudely assumed that success automatically brought love. They couldn't understand the subtle nuances.
But as a woman, Fanli understood.
Fanli had already felt the trajectory of this marriage was bizarre. Most girls raised in wealth preferred devoted, handsome men over philandering, resource-rich old men. Because their material needs were met, their desire for a class jump was far smaller than their desire for a sweet, romantic dream with a prince. Thus, Miss Bubble marrying Buke Ni was very strange.
Now that this missing piece of information was filled in, the logic was sound, and the doubts were finally resolved.
The argument on Miss Bubble and Buke Ni’s wedding night was enough to prove everything—judging from the quarrel Fanli had overheard, she was definitely not the "starry-eyed" fangirl described in the papers.
She didn't love Buke Ni, and Buke Ni knew it.
Therefore, this wedding was a transaction of wealth for a young womb. Those "starry-eyed" performances were merely for the media and to please her benefactor.
But new doubts arose. If Miss Bubble was so calculating and had successfully directed her own performance as a fangirl for so long, why would she break character on her wedding night and have such a nasty fight with her husband?
Also, could her death be related to Teacher Yinbeier? Because, up until now, Teacher Yinbeier had not revealed to anyone that she had encountered Fanli near the crime scene.
Fanli was still deep in thought when Senior Seaweed’s words struck her like a bolt of lightning, snapping her back to reality:
"Junior Fanli, you’re a good girl. I believe your love for Xinghai is genuine."
"Huh?" Fanli looked up abruptly.
"Aren't you and Xinghai dating?"
"We... we..." The question caught Fanli off guard, but more than that, it made her feel happy.
*Sigh, if I hadn't taken the 'Heart of the Styx,' I could be with Xinghai openly. But without the drug, I wouldn't have been able to escape my recent troubles. What a paradox.*
"There are also rumors that you dumped your fiancé just to be with Xinghai. Well, there’s another version too... but I don't really believe them."
"Another version?" Fanli only dared to ask the follow-up question, not even daring to glance at Xinghai.
"That you were dumped by your fiancé and I’m the rebound guy," Xinghai said with certainty. "Lina said that, didn't she?"
Senior Seaweed neither confirmed nor denied it.
"None of it is true. For now, we are just friends." Xinghai replied calmly, then turned to look at Fanli.
"For now" just friends? Seeing the junior who had been thinking so seriously a moment ago suddenly turn as red as an apple, Senior Seaweed smiled knowingly and didn't press further.
***The 4.3 Mini-Theater***
Fanli: "By popular demand, the theme of today’s theater is: In 4.3, who is the man with the best driving skills?"
The Dictator’s Secretary General: "Wait, does this even need to be discussed?"
Su Shiye: "Things with a foregone conclusion do not require discussion."
Ye Jia: "Who says it doesn't?"
Xi Tian: "Who says it doesn't?"
Xinghai: "Who says it doesn't?"
Yu Jin: "Who says it doesn't?"
Fanli: "Hello? Is that last little kid okay? = ="
***
