“Madam, please don’t cry. You must remember—you still have Shaohua. If you collapse, she’ll have no chance of survival in the An family,” the old steward said gently, his voice thick with sorrow as he watched Lü Xiang break down. But he couldn’t let her sink further into despair. “Right now, the world is waiting for Shaohua to divorce Young General An. If you let your guard down and she’s persuaded to divorce, how will she survive afterward?”
That’s right. Shaohua.
Lü Xiang took a tissue, carefully wiped her tears, and reapplied her makeup. “Don’t worry. I won’t fall so easily.”
When they first married, Ye En had treated her well, and Lü Xiang had been content with the match.
For years, they had lived in harmony—until the unthinkable happened.
No one could have predicted that Ye En, always so honest and dependable, would father a child with another woman during a military expedition. Worse, when the affair came to light, he felt such guilt toward the mother and daughter that he wanted to bring them into the family.
Had he forgotten he was a married man? That he already had a daughter? How could he betray them like this?
Aside from the scandal of Ye Junhui’s existence, Ye En’s infidelity shattered Lü Xiang. For the first time, she felt like a failure—and for the first time, she found him utterly repulsive.
Compared to that woman and her child, Lü Xiang’s true hatred was reserved for Ye En. She had never mistreated Ye Junhui or her mother—though she could never bring herself to like them, either.
…
Meanwhile, at the Academy…
Ye Shaohua had emerged as the dark horse of the Mecha Architecture department.
After scoring a perfect mark on Professor Qiao Xi’s notoriously difficult competition exam, her peers had begun treating her like a legend.
“I’m Zhuo Yu,” a young man approached her confidently. “See you in the MA. My goal is first place.”
The MA—the Mecha Architect World Championship.
Zhuo Yu had been the academy’s top prodigy before Ye Shaohua arrived. Some claimed his theories rivaled Qiao Xi’s, and he was considered the most promising candidate to bring the championship to Mo Planet.
For years, the title had been dominated by Gamma Planet and its neighbors. While Mo Planet boasted superior numbers and unmatched military prowess, its citizens lagged in cerebral development. Geniuses like Qiao Xi and Zhuo Yu were rare—but even they struggled against the true monsters of the MA.
“Sure,” Ye Shaohua agreed casually.
The other students could only stare in disbelief. While they worried about avoiding last place, these two were already debating who would take the crown.
This is what it means to be a prodigy.
“Can you two leave some room for the rest of us mortals?” the mecha architecture students groaned in unison.
A passing arts student overheard and nearly choked. If you’re mortals, what does that make the rest of us?
Ye Shaohua ignored them. She had just received a message from Jimmy—details about Ye En celebrating Ye Junhui’s return to the family, and how Lü Xiang had been mocked by her so-called friends.
Perfect timing.
“Remember that mech I gave you yesterday? Test its functions,” she said, snapping her fingers.
It was a nano-enhanced prototype, based on a concept Qiao Xi had once theorized but abandoned due to computational limitations. The calculations were too vast, beyond even a supercomputer’s capacity.
Mecha architects’ brains already surpassed AI, but Qiao Xi’s mind still couldn’t crack it—the equations were too dense, the framework of 16-dimensional space too abstract.
Sixteen-dimensional space had to exist, just as three-dimensional beings couldn’t fathom how two-dimensional life functioned—yet both dimensions coexisted without interference.
Ye Shaohua had not only calculated the coordinates for 16D space but also weaponized it. Her nano-mech could shift dimensions mid-battle, catching opponents off guard.
For now, she alone held the coordinates. Qiao Xi was still struggling through the calculations, unable to fully grasp the concept. Mass production was impossible without her.
And Qiao Xi knew better than to reveal this breakthrough. If word got out, the Insectoids would sacrifice half their elite just to eliminate Ye Shaohua.
Her existence was their greatest threat.
…
Meanwhile, at the Ye Estate…
This wasn’t Ye Junhui’s first time in the Ye family home—but it was her first time walking in openly.
Beside her stood Lady Lehmann, not just a friend but her sworn elder sister.
The noble circles of Mo Planet never missed a chance to kick someone when they were down—especially when the targets were Ye Shaohua and Lü Xiang, who had once lived in the lap of luxury.
“Junhui, should we tell your father about your ability to pilot a fourth-tier mech?” her mother asked timidly. She believed revealing Ye Junhui’s true value would secure their place in the family.
Ye Junhui sipped her water, then shook her head. “No. If he slips and tells those two, they’ll be on guard. We wait.”
Ye Junhui was an anomaly—unlike her meek mother or foolish father.
Her intellect rivaled even Allen’s. She had deliberately avoided testing at the academy until the Ye family reluctantly acknowledged her.
The moment she learned her father had abandoned them, she vowed to make him regret discarding a daughter like her.
She wouldn’t reveal her talents yet.
She would wait—until the day she stunned them all.
Especially Ye Shaohua.
