Rebirth: The Universe's Hidden Heiress-Chapter 121: Mr. Bald

About fifteen minutes later, the spaceship stopped at the Capital Octoxis transfer station.

Yuka, along with Ayoi and Alex, greeted each other, agreeing to meet at the underground race in the evening.

Yuka was wearing a weary smile and covering her face with a coat, just like last time. She tiredly descended from the spaceship, rushing straight to the Lev where Hideki awaited outside.

Breaking through the crowd, she swiftly opened the car door, got in, and locked it, skillfully avoiding the reporters outside.

Although Yuka had already informed Hideki of her safety, he still inspected her carefully, asking with concern, "Apart from the bruises, did you suffer any internal injuries? I’ve arranged for a doctor to check you right now..."

"No, I’m fine," Yuka replied.

Hideki observed Yuka again, ensuring she wasn’t hiding any pain, before relaxing and asking, "Shall we go home now?"

"I still have some matters to attend to. I’ll head back to school first," said Yuka. "I should be able to return home the day after tomorrow at the latest."

"Alright," Hideki nodded, "Just remember to message me, and I’ll have someone escort you home."

Neither of them mentioned the incidents Yuka had been involved in, which were now exposed by netizens. The two fell silent for a while.

However, Yuka could clearly sense Hideki’s anxiety, as he kept rubbing the base of his right thumb, his brows never fully relaxing.

After a few seconds of thought, Yuka decided not to ask what was bothering Hideki, instead lifting the block on ’the butler’.

As soon as ’the butler’ got the chance to speak, it began nagging Yuka, "Master, you’ve completely lost your ladylike image! Everyone knows now you’re a fierce girl. I’ve consulted many etiquette teachers, and they all say you can’t change your image now, boo hoo..."

Yuka, feeling a headache from its nagging, asked in her mind, "Did you complain to my dad?"

The butler huffed, "Master, I’ve already informed him about your involvement with Admiral Kuba."

Feeling a bit nervous, Yuka asked, "What did my dad say?"

"He said he already knew," the butler responded.

Yuka pondered Hideki’s reply, sensing he wasn’t angry. She then thought about Kenji’s widely acknowledged handsome appearance, his abilities, and his high-ranking military position, feeling that Hideki probably wouldn’t disapprove of Kenji as her future romantic interest.

Hideki suddenly asked, "Yuka, have you changed your mind? Will you continue in the mecha specialization next semester? Or, do you plan to join the Alliance Army after graduation?"

"I haven’t changed my mind," Yuka replied with a straight back and a serious tone. "I have already submitted my application to change my major, and I don’t want to join the Alliance Army after graduation. I would prefer to stay at home. If needed, I can also start learning and take over some of your business."

Hideki nodded, his anxiety visibly lessening. He continued, "Does Kenji know about your plans?"

Yuka paused before answering, "He does. At first, he didn’t agree with my decision. I know he probably wanted to persuade me to join the Alliance Army out of a desire to utilize my abilities. But now, he has changed his mind and respects my wishes."

Their car reached the entrance of UUA.

Hearing Yuka’s words, Hideki relaxed further. Leaning back in his seat, he said to Yuka, who was about to open the door and leave, "I will always support you, no matter what you choose to do in the future. Even if you change your mind and want to become a member of the Alliance Army."

Yuka smiled sweetly, just like she did when she was a child receiving candies. She nodded firmly at Hideki, closed the car door, and covered her face with her coat. She then dashed towards the UUA gate, leaving behind anyone who recognized and tried to approach her, and swiftly returned to her dorm room.

Ayoi wasn’t back yet. While Yuka had the butler help her organize and pack her dorm room belongings, she opened her opticomputer to check the progress of her major change application.

As expected, the application was stalled.

However, she wasn’t worried; she had met the requirements for changing majors. Despite her average score being unexpectedly boosted by the final exams, her overall ranking in the Combat Department was still mid to low, so the school was likely to approve her request.

After putting down the opticomputer, Yuka messaged Ayoi that she would be staying at a hotel near Central Square for the next few days and would return when the school term began. Then, she packed her belongings with the butler’s help, changed into comfortable sportswear, wore a baseball cap and a mask that covered most of her face, and sneaked out with other students.

Later, she reached and checked into a hotel under her family’s name.. freёnovelkiss.com

After lunch, during the free time in the afternoon and evening, Yuka reopened her opticomputer to check on the Alliance Army’s handling of the aftermath of the Academy Tournament.

The small planet had been completely sealed off by the Alliance Army, who also issued an announcement claiming that the situation was fully under control.

They claimed that these space pirates had breached the Alliance by boarding illegally built spaceships. The Alliance Army, using the flight trajectories of these spaceships, had identified the pirates’ base and was proceeding to eliminate them.

One of the accompanying images showed Kenji commanding other Alliance soldiers to transport the bodies of the space pirates and their damaged mechas. Yuka stared at Kenji’s profile for a while, then scrolled down to read the comments on the announcement.

The comments were filled with criticism. Some questioned if there were traitors within the Alliance Army. Although there was no response in the official statement, everyone understood that space pirates had deeply infiltrated the Alliance Army and were challenging to eradicate completely.

A more pressing concern highlighted in the comments was the proximity of the troubled planet to Capital Octoxis. If space pirates could easily infiltrate the Alliance’s star systems, Capital Octoxis, or even the entire Alliance wouldn’t be safe.

Public trust in the Alliance Army dropped significantly, and the royal family and former nobles took this opportunity to sway public opinion, aiming to garner support for the royal family to regain control of the Alliance.

However, most people were not easily swayed. They were reluctant to support a royal family without military power, and were equally disappointed by the Alliance Army’s repeated failures.

Amidst the chaos and arguments, many people remembered the figure who bravely charged into the valley to rescue her fellow students, who single-handedly fought against three space pirates, and who achieved astonishing results in the underground races.

Yuka had strength, courage, kindness, and more importantly, she was the daughter of the galaxy’s wealthiest individual. She didn’t belong to any faction within the Alliance Army or the royal family.

She was also extremely wealthy, with no need to engage in corruption or collusion with space pirates. She was almost the perfect candidate.

This led many to wonder: if Yuka became the new leader of the Alliance Army, could she bring about positive changes?

On the voting website, Yuka’s numbers surged, catching up with and surpassing the last candidate on the list. The website’s administrator watched nervously as her numbers climbed, reaching the top five.

Lying on the hotel bed, Yuka was startled to see her own vote count. She immediately contacted the website administrator, asking if they could remove her name from the list.

General Fleet Admiral, standing behind the website administrator, spoke with a smile, "Tell her that the candidates are chosen by public vote, and even if she’s unwilling, she can’t withdraw herself."

The administrator relayed General Fleet Admiral’s words to Yuka verbatim. Though Yuka expected this response, she was still a bit disappointed.

Deciding to put the matter out of mind, she turned off her opticomputer, planning to rest and rejuvenate before collecting her reward at the underground race in the evening.

That night, three figures dressed in black, wearing hats and masks like thieves, quietly met in front of Mr. Bald’s betting booth. To avoid drawing attention, Yuka and her friends quickly subdued Mr. Bald, crouching behind the booth to stay hidden from view.

Mr. Bald, initially failing to recognize them and panicking, tried to stand up and call for help. Yuka pushed him back down and, removing her mask with a smile, said, "Mr. Bald, we’ve come to give you a surprise."

"Oh," Mr. Bald, suddenly realizing, said cheerfully, "You mean the surprise of you being ’Lady’ and you three being ’Yeah, Whatever’? I knew that when I watched the live stream."

Yuka shook her head, "Not that surprise."

The man, looking into their shining eyes, felt a bad premonition. He touched his cold scalp and leaned in to ask quietly, "Then what is it?"

Yuka extended her hand, "Pay up."

Ayoi also extended her hand, "Fifty-fifty split."

Alex extended his hand too, "Don’t try to dodge the debt."

Mr. Bald was stunned. After a moment, he frowned, "Why should I split the money with you?"

Yuka raised an eyebrow, "Have you forgotten what you said?"

Ayoi helpfully reminded, "You said if we made it into the top hundred, you’d acknowledge us as your bosses on the spot."

Alex added, "And you said we’d get a share of the profits from the bets, a fifty-fifty split."

Mr. Bald’s frown deepened, almost comically, "When did I say...?"

’Wait a minute.’

’I did say that!’

Seeing Mr. Bald’s shocked expression, Yuka and her friends knew he remembered. They closed in with smiles, extending their hands simultaneously, and said in unison, "Time to share the money."

Mr. Bald, trying to find a way out, said, "Words are wind, you guys..."

Click.

Yuka, still smiling, opened her hand, letting the betting chips she had just crushed into dust sprinkle in front of Mr. Bald, "What were you saying?"

Mr. Bald was left speechless.

A bead of cold sweat rolled down Mr. Bald’s forehead as he suddenly remembered the girl in front of him could single-handedly take on three space pirates. He knew he stood no chance against her.

Nervously extending his hands in a placating gesture, he chuckled dryly, "Let’s calm down. I’ll give you the money right away."

As he spoke, Mr. Bald quietly edged backward, planning to make a run for it, but Ayoi and Alex, seeing through his intent, caught his arms from either side.

He could only watch helplessly as Yuka pulled out his opticomputer from his pocket, somehow unlocked it, and transferred half of his money to herself.

While doing so, Yuka said, "Mr. Bald, this is how you do the real business. You used us three to set up your betting booth, making a fortune without any investment, and such a large amount at that. We don’t need you to acknowledge us as your bosses, but how could we not take a share of the money, right?"

Mr. Bald could only watch in agony as half of his account balance vanished in an instant and had no choice but to nod in agreement to the ’bully’ before him.

Yuka divided the money into three equal parts, giving two of them to Ayoi and Alex. After they received their share, they released Mr. Bald’s arms. Yuka then stood up and sweetly smiled at the still-shaken Mr. Bald, "We’ll come back to take care of your business next year. Are you happy about that?"

Mr. Bald was left speechless. His "happiness" was beyond words.