As soon as Chen Gu appeared, he didn't say a word before snatching command from the Combat Rooster. Faced with such a domineering owner, what could the little Combat Rooster do but cower in a corner of its own brain, trembling?

Chen Gu took control of the Combat Rooster's body—this was downright cheating. Other beasts and their companions were connected via consciousness, meaning their minds would link together while the beast still controlled its own body, only following their partners' suggestions. But the Brain Domain Hacker was just so overbearing.

Chen Gu, controlling the Combat Rooster, performed a set of "Ancient Martial Nine Forms" with the massive body of the Energy Gathering Mechanical Species!

With the brain-computing capabilities of a Brain Domain Hacker like Chen Gu, modifying high-level martial arts techniques to suit the Combat Rooster's body was a breeze.

It was like someone who had never learned martial arts, fighting on instinct alone, battling a true martial arts master. Moreover, this master's body, strength, and other attributes were several times stronger than an ordinary person's…

How could one possibly fight?

In less than five minutes, the Combat Rooster easily won, knocking its opponent out on the ring without giving them a chance to surrender.

The fans, shocked to see their idol Nightmare Lu Chang defeated so easily by Chen Gu, let out a chorus of boos. Only the commentator sighed with emotion, "Tomorrow's comments are going to explode, ladies and gentlemen! I think I can say it now: a new era has truly arrived!"

The cheers that erupted on the scene, aside from Chu Zheng and the others in Chen Gu's box, probably only came from Yang Yaoyao in the front row.

When Chen Gu came out to thank the audience, he specifically waved to her, and the live cameras captured Yang Yaoyao, a tall, youthful, and beautiful girl.

After the match, Chen Gu immediately called his grandson. "You idiot, why didn't you accompany Yang Yaoyao here? Have you fallen for someone else?"

His grandson sounded downhearted. "Of course, I wanted to go with her, but when she asked me for the tickets, she said she wanted to go with her bestie to watch."

Chen Gu facepalmed. "Stupid! Bribe her bestie! Make her bestie feel unwell for a bit, then you can take the opportunity to replace her and accompany the goddess to the match!"

"..." Chen Zili was speechless. Could one really do that? Grandpa, you're truly a sage.

When there was silence on the other end, Chen Gu knew this idiot hadn't thought of that at all and angrily hung up the phone.

After the match ended, Chen Gu was hurried back to the base by two Eighth Energy Level supervisors. The longer he stayed outside, the greater the risk of encountering "unexpected incidents."

Chen Gu couldn't help but find the situation both funny and exasperating, but he didn't object. Heading back to the base with the group, Chu Zheng was extremely excited the entire way, a stark contrast to her usual indifference at the base.

"Instructor, you're really amazing!"

"In the history of the Alliance, no Energy Gathering Mechanical Species has ever succeeded. You're going to make history!"

"Your tactics are very special. It feels like you've integrated martial arts into beast combat, right? That's a brilliant idea."

That's when Chen Gu realized Chu Zheng was also a hardcore fan of beast combat matches—and the type who truly understood the technicalities.

He casually chatted with Chu Zheng, thinking that if such conversations could make the girl more cheerful and optimistic, it would be immensely beneficial to her career path.

When the group finally returned to the base and everyone went to rest, Chen Gu plucked up the courage to call Aviloya.

He had wanted to make this call a long time ago, but gathering the courage had taken him more than ten days.

But there was no response on Aviloya's end, and Chen Gu became irritated. What did she mean by this? Was she trying to renege on our deal?

Chen Gu immediately sent a message: "Director-General, as a person of your stature, you will surely honor your promise, right? When can I be promoted to the Fourth Energy Level?"

The moment the message was sent, Chen Gu regretted it. While there was technically nothing wrong with what he said, it came off as a bit sarcastic.

Aviloya already had some "misunderstandings" about him, and this message was rather ill-advised.

But a sent message couldn't be taken back. Even if such a function existed, retracting it would seem even more suspicious and hard to explain.

So, Chen Gu simply resigned himself to his fate. But as Aviloya didn't respond, he shook his head and started to worry. If Aviloya was really holding a grudge and blocking him... would he need to go beg the Headmaster?

Chen Gu didn't sleep well that night.

「The next morning.」

During training, Chu Zheng noticed that he seemed out of sorts and asked with a concern akin to a fan's for their idol, "Instructor, is something troubling you?"

Chen Gu smiled lightly. "It's nothing. I was just thinking about some issues regarding promotion. It's inevitable to feel a bit anxious. Come on, let's start today's training."

"Okay," Chu Zheng agreed, giving him a vibrant, youthful smile.

Flat-chested she might be, but beautiful she also was. Those two things... weren't entirely mutually exclusive.

Dr. Meng Ji watched the two in the training ground with some envy. She's my niece! Why is she so chatty and happy with that guy?

He also wanted to have such lively chats with his own relatives, but Dr. Meng Ji truly didn't know how. He always felt that no matter what he did, or didn't do, his family members were never happy...

He shook his head, crestfallen, then turned and headed to another facility. He sighed to himself. Forget it. I should just focus on my experiments.

With that, the sense of dejection vanished, replaced by a surge of enthusiasm at the thought of his experiments. He was filled with vigor once again!

Dr. Meng Ji had just left when Chen Gu's phone suddenly rang, the sound urgent, like a death knell!

The moment the phone started ringing, Chen Gu's heart skipped a beat, and he was overtaken by a strong sense of foreboding!

He looked—of course, it was the Director-General.

Chen Gu managed a forced smile towards Chu Zheng, "Practice by yourself for a while; I need to take a call." He then dashed out of the training ground.

Chu Zheng shook her head. Hmph, so sneaky. It must be a call from a woman.

Chen Gu found an empty, quiet corridor and cautiously answered, "Director-General!"

His attitude was impeccable, his tone extremely respectful.

Aviloya spoke indifferently, "Yesterday, due to certain circumstances, I entered a completely sealed space and therefore couldn't receive the call from the esteemed and hardworking Mr. Chen Gu."

Chen Gu tensed up. Her tone doesn't sound pleased at all.

"As for where I went, that could probably be considered a top-level secret of the Confederation. I'm not sure if I should report that to you, Mr. Chen Gu?"

"Or perhaps, should I give you a heads-up every time I'm very busy?"

Chen Gu chuckled awkwardly. "You're joking, Director-General."