The young campus border-watch courier skidded to a halt at the top of the Faculty Lounge stairs, saluting smartly before holding out the red border-alert slip with both hands.
“Chancellor Gu! Vice-Principal Qian!” the young courier reported briskly, catching his breath.
“The outer-sector radar station at Agricultural Rim #9 just flagged an unauthorized fleet incursion! Sixty heavy skull-prowed battle-cruisers belonging to the Crimson-Rift Star Pirates just jumped across the border from the lawless zone!”
Across the rattan table, Vice-Principal Qian nearly dropped his second pork dumpling into the vinegar saucer. His plump face paled with old bureaucratic anxiety.
“The Crimson-Rift Star Pirates?!” Vice-Principal Qian gasped, half-rising from his chair. “Chancellor Gu, their fleet commander is ‘Blood-Hook’ Mo, a ruthless Rank 7 Peak marauder!
They must have heard our public broadcast about abolishing the murder curriculum and offering free civilian classes—they think our star field has gone soft and undefended! In the old days, Headmaster Hong would send the S-Rank Student Council to slaughter their fleet and burn three border moons as a warning!”
Gu Changsheng chewed his pan-fried dumpling unhurriedly, swallowed, and poured himself half a cup of warm barley tea.
“Burning border moons ruins the topsoil and scares the livestock,” Gu Changsheng said calmly, wiping his fingers on a clean napkin. “Besides, what is the point of running a Civic University if our graduates don’t get any practical field internships?”
