Chapter 63

The flight lasted longer than Tao Shushu had anticipated, roughly equivalent to two days in Nan Yuan's timeframe.
Fortunately, with the star system map and route alarm, Nan Yuan managed to avoid space debris and black holes safely, steering steadily toward their destination.
Due to the rebellion of artificial intelligence, the starship's functions had become relatively primitive, requiring manual control for many operations.
The journey offered little entertainment and demanded constant course corrections.
It was mentally exhausting for the pilot.
Tao Shushu, always worried about potential accidents, decided to follow Nan Yuan's suggestion. She imported books into the game, studying while playing.
Somehow, the system had managed to implement the functionality Tao Shushu desired.
At that moment, Nan Yuan was observing through the porthole, while Tao Shushu stood beside him, reciting an ancient poem.
"It's the character 'Tao', my surname."
"Tao, Shushu." Nan Yuan repeated Shushu's name several times. "It sounds really nice."
"Just an ordinary name." Tao Shushu said modestly.
Nan Yuan smiled slightly. He had just learned that Shushu was reciting ancient poems, and the spot Shushu pointed to was the author's name field.
Shushu, she shared the poet's surname.
Nan Yuan curved his eyes and asked casually, "Shushu, which character is your name?"
Tao Shushu flipped through the book and found a line: "The wind warms the scenery, rest and the heart share ease." She pointed to the last character.
"This last one, Tao." Tao Shushu recited the poem and pointed to the final character.
Nan Yuan curled his fingers, tracing the strokes of Tao Shushu's name one by one.
Rest and the heart share ease. Suddenly, Nan Yuan felt his heart pounding. He didn't understand the ancient poems of Shuilan Planet and could only interpret them literally. His heart had long been led by Shushu.
The journey would still last several more hours.
Tao Shushu kept her phone on, solving problems for a while before looking up at Nan Yuan.
The day passed quickly.
After working all day, the phone became extremely hot, so Tao Shushu had to go offline temporarily. She was a bit worried. "Nan Yuan, I have to leave for a while. Please be careful."
"Alright." Nan Yuan smiled. "Shushu, you've already spent a lot of time with me today."
After checking the entire spaceship to ensure there were no issues with fuel or food, Tao Shushu finally went offline.
Coincidentally, Tao Shushu was also tired from studying. She exercised for a bit and turned on the TV.
The TV happened to be broadcasting the news of Old Master Wang's arrest.
The wrongdoings he had committed before were gradually coming to light.
He had discovered that treasures were being smuggled overseas but, out of selfish motives, did nothing to stop it, sparking public outrage.
Tao Shushu suddenly remembered that this was Su Momo's doing. She wondered whether the misdeeds Su Momo committed while carrying the Academic Genius System would affect the current host of the system.
Even if there was only a slight possibility, Tao Shushu wanted to give it a try.
She opened her computer and sent the materials she had previously forwarded to the Gu family as well, confident that this time the Gu family would not disappoint her.
The scandal surrounding Old Master Wang spread like wildfire, impossible to suppress.
Almost every search engine and news app was frantically pushing updates to the public.
And the Gu family did not disappoint Tao Shushu. Soon, many people who had previously colluded with Old Master Wang were exposed. Among them was Luo Liming.
Luo Liming came from a good family background, had an excellent academic record, and had even established his own company, earning him a substantial number of loyal fans online.
His fans refused to believe he was an accomplice of Old Master Wang or that he had played the most significant role in the cultural relics smuggling incident, and they were fiercely arguing about it online.
However, the evidence provided by the Gu family was too solid. No matter how much his fans refused to believe it, the police had already launched an investigation.
Tao Shushu closed the webpage. It was a pity, Su Momo, the one who was least innocent in all this, was already in a mental hospital and couldn't face the consequences she deserved.
Just then, she heard the system notification.
[Congratulations, Host, for achieving first place overall in the monthly exam with a score of 730. Reward obtained: Gold Coins × 1000, Primary Clarity Card × 3.]
[Congratulations, Host, for achieving perfect scores in Physics, Mathematics, and Biology in the monthly exam. Reward obtained: Gold Coins × 1500, Primary Clarity Card × 6.]
In an instant, Tao Shushu's phone began vibrating incessantly.
"Has the score been released?" Tao Shushu muttered as she opened the class group chat and clicked on the latest score report sent by their homeroom teacher.
With three perfect scores, Tao Shushu had surpassed the second-place student by over thirty points.
Even though the monthly exam wasn't as difficult as the college entrance exam, achieving a score of 730 was no easy feat.
In the class group chat, many students were stunned by her high score and rushed to congratulate her.
Even the usually stern teachers joined the conversation in the group.
After replying to her classmates' messages, Tao Shushu sat alone at home, feeling a small sense of pride.
Her fingers unconsciously tapped open the game again.
Seeing Nan Yuan's figure, she realized she had become somewhat addicted to her phone, she couldn't help but want to check on Nan Yuan whenever she had a free moment.
On the screen, Nan Yuan had just finished his shift and was resting in the break room. Beside him lay a high school textbook from the planet Shuilan.
Tao Shushu gently tapped Nan Yuan's ear. "Nan Yuan, my exam results are out."
"730 points, first place."
Her voice carried an expectation she hadn't even noticed herself.
Nan Yuan smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. "Shushu, you're amazing!"
No amount of praise seemed to compare to his words, which made Tao Shushu feel a little embarrassed, as if her small vanity had been exposed.
"It's not that amazing. It's just one exam," Tao Shushu cleared her throat, covering her flushed cheeks.
"Shushu will always be the best," Nan Yuan affirmed.

The next day, as soon as Tao Shushu arrived at school, she saw the score sheet posted outside the classroom of Class One.
Her name was at the very top, first in the class, first in the grade, and first in the city.
Morning self-study was for Chinese, and the Chinese teacher walked in with a beaming smile.
"Class, where there's a will, there's a way. If Tao Shushu can improve her Chinese score by thirty points, why can't you? All of you, study hard!"
"Okay!"
That morning, the sound of students reciting texts in Class One was especially loud.
Even Li Anyu, who usually disliked studying, surprisingly refrained from frantically copying weekend homework and instead worked on it herself.
Tao Shushu chuckled softly and continued memorizing according to her own review schedule.
Her achievement wasn't just about being first, more importantly, she had broken Qin Rui's record.
At least for now, she could feel temporarily safe.
During the break, Tao Shushu was doing her homework.
Many classmates came over, wanting to touch her stationery.
"Shushu is an academic god, I want to improve this much too, how did Shushu do it?"
"Yeah, yeah! Shushu, can I trade pens with you? No, I’ll trade ten of mine for one of yours."
"Shushu, give me an autograph! I’ll worship the academic god before every exam from now on."
Tao Shushu chuckled. "It’s not that magical."
She explained her recent study methods, which boiled down to studying seriously, practicing problems to understand them, and summarizing key points.
"I get the theory, but I just can’t get into studying," Li Anyu wailed, picking up her phone. "It’s more fun to contribute to Shushu’s Academic God forum thread."
Tao Shushu paused. Truthfully, she hadn’t always been a diligent student either, waking up early for morning self-study sessions for several days in a row used to leave her grumpy.
But ever since the cub appeared, she gradually began to treasure every moment studying, with the cub by her side.
If it weren’t for the cub, even knowing about the major threat of the Academic Genius System would have made her study hard, but her mindset wouldn’t have been as calm as it was now.
"If you have something to care about, you can do it too," Tao Shushu said. "By the way, what’s this Academic God forum thread?"
Tao Shushu took Li Anyu’s phone. The thread had been posted just last night, and in that short time, it already had over a thousand comments, all from people coming to worship the academic god.
Li Anyu explained, "Shushu, did you know? Our Huiwen Highschool hasn’t had a city-level top scorer in a long time. Before, Qin Rui was considered the most promising, but he chose early admission and isn’t taking the gaokao. Plus, he never scored a 730 even once."
"This time, both math and physics were tough, but you aced them both."
"You’re so strong that even students from other schools are in awe, that’s why you’re the academic god."
"Also, someone said she pulled an all-nighter studying and thought she’d be drowsy, but since she sat behind you during the exam, she felt clear-headed the whole time and even moved up over ten spots in the class rankings."
"So now everyone’s coming to worship the academic god."
Tao Shushu stifled a laugh. She had used a Primary Clarity Card during the exam, so everyone in her exam room was unaffected by the Intelligence-Dampening Aura. She hadn’t expected it to also help sleep-deprived students stay alert.
As Tao Shushu scrolled through the forum comments, she suddenly paused. "Are these flattering posts from your alternate accounts?"
Out of a thousand replies, two hundred were lavish praises of Tao Shushu.
"Nope, they’re all from our classmates. Shushu, you’re leading our class to the top!"
Class One’s "Tao Shushu bragging syndrome" was on full display during the flag-raising ceremony. They made a point of praising Tao Shushu’s outstanding achievements right in front of the International Class and student council members.
Due to Su Momo and Qin Rui, the International Class and the Student Council had a strained relationship with Class One.
Now, seizing the opportunity, the students of Class One were filled with pride, proud that Tao Shushu had achieved the top overall score. They were all determined to work hard, not to drag down the class average, and aim for the highest average score by the end of the semester to show the other classes what they were made of.
Tao Shushu was unaware of her classmates' individual academic goals. She was currently facing Qin Rui, the two sizing each other up.
Qin Rui's eyes were bloodshot, with faint dark circles beneath them, clearly looking like he hadn't slept well.
Tao Shushu was frantically thinking that her success must have disrupted the plans of the Academic Genius System, so its host would likely face some punishment.
She had no idea what punishment Qin Rui was currently enduring.
Smiling brightly, she pretended not to notice Qin Rui's tightly clenched fists and twitching temples.
Qin Rui stared at the jubilant Class One students, who seemed as happy as if it were the New Year, and sneered, "Pride goes before a fall."
"An opponent like you isn't even worth that," Tao Shushu retorted sarcastically.
She had no doubt that Qin Rui, who would say such things, had lost even the one redeeming quality of respecting his opponents. From now on, she wouldn't hold back either.
After a full day of studying, Tao Shushu rushed home as soon as class ended. This was a critical moment for Nan Yuan, and she couldn't rest easy without checking in.
On Nan Yuan's end, they had already completed one jump and were gradually approaching their destination.
But this stretch of the journey was the most dangerous.
The closer they got to the Central Star, the tighter the AI surveillance became.
In space, shattered small planets and wrecked spaceship debris drifted aimlessly.
The route alarm kept flashing.
Nan Yuan used his psychic abilities, focusing intently on the deep darkness outside the viewport while keeping an eye on the route alarm to adjust their course promptly.
There was no room for even a moment's relaxation.
Tao Shushu glanced at Nan Yuan with concern. "Nan Yuan, let me keep watch for you. You should rest for a while."
"I'll keep an eye on the situation outside and make sure Cheng Feimao and the others stay vigilant. There won't be any problems," Tao Shushu urged. She had just checked the event log and realized Nan Yuan had been monitoring the route for eight hours straight.
Even if his psychic energy was sufficient, his mind would be exhausted.
Nan Yuan drank the Health Potion Tao Shushu handed him and, after ensuring everything was properly arranged, returned to the rest cabin to sleep.
Cheng Feimao and the others, now tasked with monitoring, nervously began their watch.
Worried that the spaceship might collide with floating debris, Tao Shushu kept her eyes on the screen, occasionally reaching out to push away garbage drifting toward the ship.
After about half an hour of this, as they neared the Trash Planet, Tao Shushu spotted a small piece of a wing.
Out of habit, she reached out to push it away, only to find a pair of probes suddenly emerge from the wing, accelerating toward the spaceship.
The shock jolted her out of her drowsiness.
She quickly grabbed the detector disguised as a wing and tapped twice on the viewport.
Fortunately, Cheng Feimao and the others were alert enough to notice something was wrong and immediately woke Nan Yuan.
Tao Shushu used brute force to make the detector collide with a piece of space junk.
The spaceship flew past the explosion's glare, continuing onward.
But everyone's expressions grew tense.
Only the AI faction could still deploy such highly intelligent detectors.
Amid the full-blown panic in the room, Nan Yuan unfolded both the route alarm and the survivor map of the C1 star system. He studied them carefully for a while, sketching and marking on a piece of paper.
A few minutes later, he spoke, "The territory of the artificial intelligence must have expanded. The area we just passed through was the airspace of Planet 112, which used to be under human survivor control. The AI had no port authority in this vicinity before."
His words were stark and brutal, but in that moment, they served as a pillar of strength, gradually helping the panicked survivors regain their ability to think.
Cheng Feimao hesitated, "Then what about the Trash Planet we're heading to... could it also..."
Nan Yuan remained silent.
Tao Shushu stared at the small dots on the map, the fall of a planet to the AI, so cruel it barely made a ripple.
As her fingers brushed against the map, a system prompt appeared: [Use 1000 gold coins to update the map?]
Without hesitation, Tao Shushu selected "Yes."
"Nan Yuan, I've updated the map. Take another look," she reminded him cautiously.
Nan Yuan approached and saw that Planet 112's marker had turned red, indicating the AI had completely taken over the planet.
He quickly scanned the entire map. Fortunately, the Trash Planet and its surroundings were still predominantly under human control.
In a star system relentlessly expanding under AI domination, only that small area remained like a sanctuary.
Nan Yuan shifted his gaze away from the far corner of the map. "Let's prepare for the worst and replan our route."
He swiftly charted a new course that minimized passage through AI-controlled zones and marked several key points to monitor along the way.
Though still anxious, the survivors, under Nan Yuan's direction, began inspecting the ship, preparing thermal weapons and medical supplies, and standing guard at every porthole and surveillance system.
After organizing everything and reinforcing the ship's defenses, Nan Yuan reviewed the footage of Tao Shushu destroying the detector.
The distance had been too great for the detector to get close, and even the ship's high-definition equipment could only capture a blurry silhouette.
Unaware of Tao Shushu's covert assistance, Cheng Feimao and the others assumed Nan Yuan had used his abilities remotely to crash the detector into floating debris.
Their confidence surged. "If Boss Nan Yuan can destroy a detector from so far away, I feel much safer about our chances."
"It wasn't me," Nan Yuan said abruptly, his tone serious. "It was my... friend. She's always by my side and has helped with many things before. Haven't any of you noticed?"
"Huh?" Cheng Feimao and the others glanced around, even directing their gaze toward the golden-maned lion.
Nan Yuan curled his lips into a faint smile. "Only I can communicate with her. She's invisible, but she's real."
Letting everyone continue to digest and reflect on the question, Nan Yuan turned back to observe the probe's footage.
Tao Shushu poked Nan Yuan and asked, "Why did you suddenly say it out loud?"
"Nothing much, I just wanted everyone to know how much you've done for them."
"Your efforts deserve to be seen."
Because her tone was filled with excitement and pride when she mentioned scoring first place, he wanted to give her all the honors she deserved and ensure her contributions were appreciated.
He had intended to say it earlier but was afraid that if Shushu truly existed in the C1 star system, he wouldn't be able to protect her.
Now that he knew Shushu lived safely and freely in another universe, where no one could harm her, he had no more reservations.
Today happened to be the right moment.
Cheng Feimao and the others were half-convinced, but after Tao Shushu patted each of them on the back, they all believed it.
While watching the footage, Nan Yuan listened to Tao Shushu interacting with the surviving humans, especially Cheng Feimao's exaggerated exclamations.
After a while, Nan Yuan said, "This probe is specialized, its clarity and detection range are ten times better than our ship's."
Having grown up in the Second Legion, he quickly recognized the probe's model.
Seeing the Second Legion's probe taken over by the AI stirred emotions in him.
Tao Shushu noticed and gently patted his shoulder in silent comfort.
Everyone's attention was drawn back.
"This type of probe can't perform thermal imaging detection; it only captures visuals and can't detect life forms," Nan Yuan continued. "We'll maintain the ship's dark state, increase vigilance, and speed up."
Since earlier, Nan Yuan had turned off the ship's lights.
Only the control panel and screens emitted any light.
Tao Shushu looked worried. "If only I hadn't attacked that probe earlier."
If she hadn't attacked, the probe wouldn't have known there were living beings here.
Nan Yuan chuckled softly. "If you hadn't attacked, it would have attached itself to our ship to spy on our personnel and equipment. Sooner or later, we would have been monitored. Shushu, you did very well. Without your quick reaction, we would have been exposed long ago."
"Then how can I do better?" Tao Shushu asked. At this point, Nan Yuan was the battlefield commander.
Nan Yuan thought for a moment. "Some ships can generate magnetic fields. When you attack, pretend it's magnetic field suppression. That way, the AI, fearing being controlled, won't dare to attack at close range."
Fortunately, Nan Yuan had known that the closer they got to the Trash Planet, the more dangers they would face, and he had already arranged for the crew to take shifts and rest.
Now, everyone was alert and energized. They had prepared in advance and weren't afraid of a fight.
Nan Yuan circled a few times around the planet occupied by the surviving humans.
This slightly confused the AI's tracking and analysis.
Half an hour later, they had to return to the course toward the Trash Planet.
Almost as soon as they approached the AI-controlled planet, they noticed probes appearing in overwhelming numbers.
Nan Yuan didn't give the probes a chance to transmit signals and immediately began firing.
Tao Shushu switched to the area where the drones were gathering.
She stretched out her hand, blocking the advancing drones, firmly acting as an impenetrable barrier that the drones couldn't break through.
Just as Nan Yuan had said, she disguised her attacks as magnetic fields, making the AI believe there was magnetic interference around the spacecraft, preventing it from approaching.
Sure enough, the drones paused for a few seconds before simultaneously retreating, and Tao Shushu took the opportunity to push them further away.
At a distance beyond the range of most drones, Tao Shushu stopped her actions.
She decided not to let the AI know she could pursue them, this was Nan Yuan’s trump card.
The AI assumed that a spacecraft with magnetic interference would be difficult to attack, so it didn’t waste firepower by closing in, merely following from a distance.
And so, the surviving humans’ spacecraft continued its journey peacefully for a while longer.
They were getting closer and closer to the Trash Planet.
Tao Shushu felt a bit uneasy; Nan Yuan’s tactics were quite risky.
Although they had momentarily intimidated the AI, once the AI determined that this batch of attack drones was ineffective, it would undoubtedly deploy more powerful weapons.
When that time came, it would be a real battle.
Nan Yuan, however, was more optimistic than Tao Shushu. According to the intelligent map of surviving humans, the AI was currently in an expansion phase.
But the humans who had survived until now were not to be trifled with.
Any outbreak of armed conflict would be intense.
And he happened to know the number of large battleships, during this apocalyptic period, the AI likely didn’t have the capability or time to produce new ones.
To deal with a lone spacecraft, the AI would only dispatch a small team, aiming for victory with minimal expenditure.
Nan Yuan’s prediction was spot on.
It wasn’t until they approached the jump point near the Trash Planet that the large weaponized battleship dispatched by the AI arrived.
The small drones had already withdrawn.
When Tao Shushu saw the imposing battleship, envious tears almost dripped from the corner of her mouth.
Nan Yuan was so capable in combat, yet he only had a small spacecraft.
She vowed to get him a large battleship sooner or later.
“Nan Yuan, I’ll handle the large battleship. You all focus on the jump,” Tao Shushu quickly switched back to Nan Yuan’s side.
“Alright,” Nan Yuan replied.
Upon hearing Nan Yuan order the jump, Cheng Feimao was surprised. “Boss, aren’t we waiting for your friend?”
“She can take care of herself,” Nan Yuan smiled.
He had once regretted not being able to touch the Shushu from another time and space, but he was also immensely grateful that nothing around him could harm her.
The large battleship locked onto the spacecraft, extended its cannons, and took aim.
Tao Shushu, who had been covetously studying the battleship, reluctantly withdrew her gaze.
What a pity, this large battleship looked like it had just come off the battlefield, its hull already damaged. It wasn’t worthy of Nan Yuan, so it had to be destroyed.
She reached out her hand, firmly pressing against the cannon barrel.
The massive battleship controlled by artificial intelligence had jammed.
After a tremor, the missile still failed to launch.
Tao Shushu held on tightly, nearly scratching marks onto the screen.
Finally, the predetermined detonation time arrived.
This time, it was the massive battleship that exploded.
In the next second, Nan Yuan's spacecraft passed through the jump point, increasing the distance, and Tao Shushu was forcibly switched to Nan Yuan's side.
Her voice was cheerful, "Nan Yuan, I protected you."