Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 613 - 483: Misfortune Comes in Waves

The Fourth Master knew why he couldn't learn it, but... he really couldn't explain it to Panda.

"Then there's no need to say more," Qu Jianlei waved his hand, expressing disinterest.

He was indeed quite curious about the answer, but if the other party didn't want to say it, he would absolutely not force it.

He had experienced the feeling of "a man without a crime but guilty of having treasure" many times before and would never live in a way he despised.

With knowledge from Blue Star and help from Xiaohu, he didn't believe he would be weaker than others.

Seeing his low spirits, the Fourth Master dared not say much and raised a hand in a salute, "Master Panda, farewell!"

Qu Jianlei watched as the figure disappeared into the night, shaking his head helplessly: It's easy for you to say goodbye, but I'm the one being targeted here.

The situation continued to escalate the next day.

Qu Jianlei's wristwatch number somehow got leaked, and countless numbers tried to call him.

This reminded him of when he was on Blue Star, and someone would harass him with nonstop calls.

Supposedly, Qu Jianlei disliked trouble the most, and he could just toss the watch into a Storage Talisman.

However, this time, he really planned to get serious, "Xiaohu, activate the whitelist, reverse trace all calls to me!"

He wanted to know why, as the victim, someone would still come to trouble him... why?

The whitelist was indeed useful, but there were so many calls that even whitelisted ones couldn't get through.

Xiaohu noticed this, "Do you want to open a dedicated channel for the whitelist? To avoid delaying legitimate matters."

"No need," Qu Jianlei smiled faintly, "Anyone contacting me through this watch isn't for anything legitimate!"

If there was anything urgent, they would come directly to the academy, so it really didn't matter if the watch could take calls or not.

By noon, someone did proactively seek out Qu Jianlei.

It was Cheng Qingshan, a bigwig from the School Guard Team, "Panda, your wristwatch might as well not exist."

Qu Jianlei had a good impression of him; despite his usual arrogance, he never fell short when it came to protecting the academy's interests.

So he spread his hands and replied candidly, "There were over ten thousand calls this morning, I couldn't do anything about it."

Cheng Qingshan blinked and a hint of a sneer appeared on his lips, "Starting to play this trick already?"

"Boss Cheng, please relax," Qu Jianlei quickly responded; he knew Cheng Qingshan had a bad temper.

"Actually it doesn't matter much. I rarely leave the academy, so even if they want to thwart me, they have to find me first."

"Trouble comes even if you don't leave the academy!" Cheng Qingshan slapped his thigh heavily, "Why do you think I'm here to find you?"

"Hmm?" Qu Jianlei was taken aback, "Is it inconvenient for you to intercept, or can't you stop it?"

This person in front of him was the stabilizing force of the Engineering College; as long as he wished it, no external trouble could enter the academy.

Cheng Qingshan shook his head helplessly, "I can stop the Customs Enforcement Division, but not public opinion and capital!"

Actually, public opinion was a bit easier to deal with.

As a rising star, the Engineering College was striving diligently, and public opinion was indeed important as it concerned its reputation among the people.

However, many of the visiting faculty from other planets in the academy also had to consider off-world responses when trying to leverage public opinion.

But when it comes to capital, it's quite regrettable, as many sponsors of the Engineering College are inquiring about the feud between Panda and the Customs Enforcement Division.

The reason the college could strive to catch up as a newcomer was fundamentally due to Star No. 4's supportive policies.

As an emerging planet, hoping to compete head-to-head in higher education was basically wishful thinking—the foundation was just too weak.

The first few universities of Star No. 4 were not particularly impressive, so they painfully built a specialized college.

This path of differentiated competition actually turned out to be the right one, with graduates in high demand and the quality of incoming students steadily improving year by year.

So now the support for the Engineering College by the Star No. 4 government has become a politically correct stance, and changing it is impossible regardless of who comes to power.

However, there are also quite a few casual sponsors from society.

The reasons for sponsorships vary widely, some simply like the idea, others seek fame and prestige, or wish to gain first access to outstanding graduates.

The most common is sponsoring for a few years to leave an impression with the government and, thereafter, sponsorship decisions are purely based on their mood.

The Empire isn't a purely capitalist society; in places where extraordinary powers exist, capital cannot dominate alone.

But the influence of capital cannot be underestimated.

Many sponsors heard rumors about teachers at the academy harming Customs Enforcement Team members and worried that the teachers might negatively influence students, demanding the truth be revealed.

Of course, some reacted a bit excessively, suggesting that if the academy couldn't manage its staff well, they might reconsider their sponsorship.

In just one day, the situation escalated to this level, and even Cheng Qingshan found it hard to sit still.

Qu Jianlei frowned, "Boss Cheng, don't you think the situation is escalating too quickly?"

"Someone is definitely fanning the flames," Cheng Qingshan answered without thinking, he's just bad-tempered, not stupid.

"Besides the Customs Enforcement Division, other colleges might not have played a beneficial role either."

Relationships between colleges aren't entirely harmonious; if one college receives more sponsorship, others will certainly get less.

Qu Jianlei understood what he was saying, so he asked, "Then why aren't you looking for those who are guiding the narrative and instead came to me?"

"Guiding the narrative?" It was the first time Cheng Qingshan had heard this term, and after thinking for a moment, he nodded, "It's quite fitting."

"Those maliciously spreading false information, the academy has ways to deal with them, but don't you think you should clarify something?"

"I just squatted at the entrance of the Customs Enforcement Division for a few days, did nothing—what's there to clarify?" Qu Jianlei rolled his eyes.

Then he asked, "How many of these quick-reacting sponsors are there?"

He was well aware that these university sponsors were not an issue that could be solved with simple measures.

However, some sponsors have ulterior motives, and they are making a loud fuss; towards such people, there's no need to be polite.

Cheng Qingshan glanced at Qu Jianlei warily upon hearing this, "What are you planning to do?"

"I'm telling you, there aren't many quick-reacting sponsors, only a few dozen, but the sponsors are in contact with one another!"

"Tsk," Qu Jianlei couldn't help but click his tongue after hearing this. If that's the case, it does pose some difficulty.

If he strikes hard, he might push the neutral sponsors to the opposite side, thus creating more enemies.

Seeing his difficulty, Cheng Qingshan also sighed, "Can you ask the person above you to think of a solution?"

"The person above me?" Qu Jianlei thought for a moment and realized, "Hoyel?"

"I don't hope you'll find him either," Cheng Qingshan sighed in frustration, "but only he has the power to apply pressure."

Who says the leader of the School Guard Team only knows how to fight? Clearly, the person sees things very clearly.

The academy may be helpless with the sponsors, but the planet's second-in-command holds power; applying some pressure on them isn't hard.

Qu Jianlei couldn't help but laugh when he heard this, not expecting that even the old master had strategic thinking.

He laughed and shook his head, "It's unnecessary. Just this minor trickery, and they want me to make a big move... Are they even worthy?"

He spoke rather grandly, but in fact, it wasn't about being worthy.

Qu Jianlei knew very well that, let alone Hoyel, even the Guard Captain had hinted multiple times that they were unwilling to get involved in such a vortex.

He bore no resentment because he could sense that the Customs Enforcement Division's matter was aimed at him and had nothing to do with Hoyel.

Moreover, since he was earning an extra five million, he naturally had to live up to this income.

However, this didn't stop him from flaunting his authority—this minor issue isn't worth involving the second-in-command.

Cheng Qingshan's brow furrowed slightly. He admitted that Panda's reasoning was indeed correct, the first vice Planet Governor shouldn't be easily accessible.

However, "The problem is you can't clarify either. We can't keep staying passive like this, right?"

After thinking for a moment, Qu Jianlei spoke, "It takes time for them to stop their sponsorships. I suggest we wait and see first."

"How can we wait on this?" Cheng Qingshan shook his head, "Reputation is hard to build but quick to ruin."

After contemplating, he spoke again, "Then why don't you write a simple explanation of the customs inspection situation, and I'll help clarify it?"

Qu Jianlei pondered for a bit, furrowed his brow, then nodded, "Alright... Who did I offend now?"

Despite his reluctance, the Fourth Master had already explained everything clearly, and he could only accept his misfortune.

Fortunately, writing this didn't take much effort, and someone even recorded a video of his conversation with the customs investigators the day before.

The Engineering College published the relevant information online, and that settled it.

Some sponsors were dissatisfied with this response, feeling it was too lightly brushed off, and hoped for a press conference.

After all, a B-level customs officer was killed; how could it be handled so carelessly?

However, this time, the academy was not going to accommodate them.

The college office openly stated, "This is the information we have, the volunteer teacher was the victim!"

It had a bit of a "the innocent remains innocent, the guilty remains guilty" tone.

In fact, there wasn't much more that could be explained, as the more they explained, the more evidence would be required.

The video of Panda being sniped by an assassin couldn't be posted yet, as it involved the security of the planet's second commander.

This day passed with surprises but without danger.

Early the next morning, Qu Jianlei went to the cafeteria to eat and was shocked to hear another piece of news.

At dawn today, the entire Daisis family was killed, with over a hundred people leaving no survivors.

Among the dead at the Daisis residence were two Customs Enforcement Team members, one C-level, the other a Modified Warrior.

These two Customs Enforcement Team members were ordered to protect the Daisis family.

The Customs Enforcement Division had anticipated that even though Desis was dead, his family might still be unsafe.

Previously, while Panda was staking out, besides camping at the entrance of the Customs Enforcement Division, he had also followed the Daisis family.

Regrettably, the two team members responsible for protection were ineffective and were also killed.

For a moment, Qu Jianlei felt the other teachers in the cafeteria were looking at him strangely.

He had a mind to explain, but whenever he looked at someone, they would avert their eyes, avoiding eye contact.