Chapter 34: Investigation (Part 1)

After Lin Fan walked over, he felt the various gazes cast upon him—some appraising, some admiring, and some jealous.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"It hasn't been long. We were just chatting about tonight's gathering. Let's go; let's not keep the others waiting too long."

She said, taking the lead. Lin Fan followed behind her, his gaze sweeping over the few people accompanying them.

He noticed that several of the students were dressed very elegantly, their conversation subtly tinged with a sense of superiority, clearly indicating an extraordinary background.

While others appeared slightly reserved, as if struggling to fit into this circle.

"Jiang Xingyu usually acts like the center of this circle; she seems to be well-liked," Lin Fan pondered inwardly. "But her true face shouldn't be so simple."

Before long, they arrived at a private club near the academy.

The lighting here was soft, the decor exquisite, faintly revealing an aura of luxury. Jiang Xingyu smiled and said to everyone:

"Everyone, make yourselves at home. This is part of my Family's business, so treat it like your own tonight. Don't be polite."

Several people let out soft gasps of surprise, all remarking on how impressive Jiang Xingyu was.

Although Lin Fan's expression remained calm, his heart grew more vigilant.

He knew that a Family capable of operating such an Advanced venue was certainly no ordinary entity; the power behind Jiang Xingyu might be even greater than he had anticipated.

They were guided into a spacious private room, which was already prepared with exquisite drinks and snacks.

Jiang Xingyu sat in the center seat and invited everyone to take their seats, and the atmosphere gradually warmed up.

During this time, Jiang Xingyu seemed to intentionally or unintentionally strike up a conversation with Lin Fan multiple times: "Lin Fan, I saw that you performed very well in class earlier. In the future, we will have to rely on you for the tough problems in our class."

Lin Fan smiled slightly and said modestly: "I was just more familiar with the questions; it's nothing special."

Jiang Xingyu raised an eyebrow: "Don't be so humble. But really, where are you from, and what does your Family do? All the students in our class are quite curious about you."

As soon as she finished speaking, the others chimed in, their gazes all fixed on Lin Fan.

Lin Fan pondered for a moment, then smiled feignedly: "My Family are just ordinary merchants, nothing special. As for my background, it was just Destiny that I came to this academy."

Jiang Xingyu did not pursue the matter further after hearing this, appearing satisfied with the answer.

But Lin Fan could feel that her gaze still held a hint of inquiry.

The gathering lasted for over an hour, and Lin Fan remained low-key throughout, observing everyone quietly.

He discovered that although the scene appeared lively, it was filled with invisible competition and one-upmanship beneath the surface.

Several students appeared exceptionally attentive in front of Jiang Xingyu, while others tried hard to maintain their own composure.

As the gathering neared its end, Jiang Xingyu stood up and said with a smile: "I'm glad everyone had a good time tonight. Lin Fan is now a member of our class; you are welcome to come find me anytime."

Everyone stood up to acknowledge her, then dispersed.

Before leaving, Jiang Xingyu specifically leaned close to Lin Fan and whispered: "Lin Fan, keep in touch when you have time."

Lin Fan nodded and watched her leave, but in his heart, he was even more certain that this girl was not as simple as she appeared on the surface.

Late at night, Lin Fan returned to his dormitory alone.

It was too far to return to Star-Moon Manor, even though he had a top-tier sports car.

But Lin Fan didn't want to waste the time, so he told Karl not to come pick him up.

He organized the day's findings and recorded important intelligence into his quantum data storage device.

Jiang Xingyu's behavior, the professor's warning, and the subtle atmosphere of the class—all of this pointed toward a larger mystery.

"It seems the waters of this academy are much deeper than I imagined," he murmured.

Lin Fan's gaze was cold as he slowly closed his eyes, his mind already planning his next move.

The next day, the morning sun bathed the campus. Lin Fan rose early, changed into his school uniform, and walked casually around the academy. On the surface, it looked like he was familiarizing himself with the environment, but in reality, he was secretly observing the building layout of the academy.

The entire academy seemed ordinary, but the more closely he observed, the more he could discover the unusual things hidden in the details.

For example, the foundation of the teaching building was exceptionally sturdy, clearly different from ordinary buildings.

And in the center of the playground, a layer of sturdy metal structure seemed to have been deliberately laid, faintly revealing a hint of technological sophistication.

"The design of this academy doesn't look like it's for simple educational purposes," Lin Fan speculated inwardly. "There is very likely some kind of facility or secret existing underground."

He walked to the Library and pretended to browse the historical archives of the academy, but quickly discovered that the publicly available information was pitifully scarce.

Most of the records were just about the academy's development history and the achievements of some famous alumni; the descriptions of the buildings themselves avoided the important points and barely mentioned the underground portion at all.

Lin Fan turned and left the Library, passing by the back of the main teaching building on his way.

He noticed several workers wearing maintenance uniforms entering and exiting an inconspicuous iron door.

The door had a sign that read "Equipment Maintenance Room," but the moment it opened, Lin Fan faintly saw a passage extending downward inside, and the faint sound of mechanical operation came from deep within the passage.

"So there really is an underground section." Lin Fan kept his expression normal, pretended not to notice, and continued walking forward.

At lunchtime, Lin Fan sat in a corner of the cafeteria, eating while thinking about his next plan.

Jiang Xingyu walked over with a tray and sat down opposite him with a smile:

"Lin Fan, why are you eating alone? Not joining the other classmates in class?"

Lin Fan looked up and smiled slightly: "I'm used to the peace and quiet alone. What about you? Not with your 'little fan club'?"

Jiang Xingyu giggled and waved her hand: "They are too noisy; sometimes I just want some quiet."

She lowered her head to take a bite of bread, then looked up at Lin Fan again, "By the way, I heard there are some special facilities under the academy. Aren't they very mysterious?"

Lin Fan raised an eyebrow, his heart tightening, but his expression remained calm: "Underground facilities? I'm still new here, so I haven't heard of any of this."

Jiang Xingyu blinked, a knowing smile on her face as she said: "Then you should pay more attention; who knows, you might have a surprise one day."

After saying this, she stood up and left with her tray.

Lin Fan watched her back disappear outside the cafeteria, a hint of vigilance rising in his heart:

"Was she intentionally revealing this? Or is she testing me?"

In the afternoon, Lin Fan chose a secluded corner and used his quantum phone to connect to the academy's internal network, attempting to crack the hidden information regarding the underground facilities.

The quantum data processed rapidly, but a firewall soon popped up on the screen, displaying characters that were a type of Advanced encryption code.

"As expected, the academy's internal network has special protection. It seems that if I want to obtain more information, I will have to find another way."