MTLNOVEL Chapter 124: Chapter 124: Our Soul Tool Department Finally Has Its Day!
"..."
After Mu En's persuasion, the tense atmosphere finally eased.
Though the Sun Moon Empire was rapidly advancing, with soul tool technology progressing day by day, at least Shrek Academy still had time. Just as Elder Mu had said—if the Sun Moon Empire truly had the ability to mass-produce those mechas, considering the deep grudge between them, wouldn't the second great war have already begun? How could they have peacefully gone through the tournament?
And given Shrek Academy's deep foundations, who's to say they couldn't rise once again, just like four thousand years ago, and put an end to the Sun Moon Empire once more? Things weren't as dire as they seemed...
"Alright, Duo Duo, you're the vice dean of the Soul Tool Department. Most of the exchange student slots with the Sun Moon Empire will be assigned to the Soul Tool Department. After all, those Martial Soul Department brats wouldn't be of much use even if they went..." Mu En waved his hand dismissively.
"Settle the list as soon as possible. Encourage active participation, but also set conditions—students should demonstrate outstanding achievements in soul tools, for example..."
"Understood, Elder Mu." Qian Duoduo nodded solemnly.
However, he couldn't help but scratch his head in distress.
He knew the situation all too well.
Compared to the level of the main members of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy's battle team, Shrek's Soul Tool Department could barely produce a handful of students at that level. The rest were just making up the numbers.
Even fourth-year student He Caitou ranked among the top, which clearly showed the enormous gap between Shrek's soul tool technology and that of the Sun Moon Empire. This gap didn't just indicate Shrek's stagnation; it also reflected his own failure as vice dean...
Especially after witnessing even a fraction of the Sun Moon Empire's advancements, he—one of the few who actually understood soul tools—was all the more aware of the insurmountable chasm between them. The overwhelming feelings of helplessness and despair weighed on him.
Thankfully, Mu En noticed his reaction and comforted him with a kind smile.
"Duo Duo, I support sending students to the Sun Moon Empire not because I expect them to quickly learn their technology and surpass them overnight—that's impossible. If the Sun Moon Empire has over five thousand years of soul tool development history and can be overtaken by a single exchange program, that would be unrealistic."
"What I really want is for our students to understand soul tools—to know what they should look like, how they should be developed in the future. That is what truly matters..."
"We understand, Elder Mu." Xian Lin'er gently patted her husband's back, reassuring him with a determined nod.
Seeing this, Mu En smiled warmly.
A united husband and wife could overcome anything. This was exactly why he had supported their union.
"Finally, we must heavily invest in the Soul Tool Department," Mu En concluded.
"The Martial Soul Department is our foundation, and that must not be abandoned. But all of you must understand—soul tools and martial souls are not in conflict. Instead, soul tools are weapons that can enhance a soul master's strength depending on how they are used."
"The Sun Moon Empire doesn't have many Rank 9 Soul Engineers—very few, in fact. But why is it that even a mere Titled Douluo, who would be considered ordinary in our eyes, can match a Super Douluo with far superior talent? It's because of soul tools."
"A soul master + a soul tool... that is the future."
After his speech, Elder Lin nodded. "My Treasure Pavilion will fully support this! This includes purchasing soul tools, collecting metal materials, acquiring carving knives, core formations, and more..."
Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department
Although the Soul Tool Department was relatively new, it was still divided into an inner and outer courtyard.
However, Fan Yu knew all too well that this division was just for show.
After all, the teachers for both the inner and outer courtyards were exactly the same, and even the facilities weren't much different. With this kind of environment, how could they possibly compete with the Sun Moon Empire?
Looking across at the Martial Soul Department, he saw that their funding was at least ten times that of the Soul Tool Department.
They were rolling in money. Every year, Martial Soul Department teachers could be seen spending lavishly at auctions, while the Soul Tool Department struggled to even distribute bonuses. In the end, many teachers who were originally transferred from the Martial Soul Department either found connections to transfer back or simply gave up, slacking off with bare-minimum effort.
Though Fan Yu held the title of deputy director, it didn't mean much. He could only do his best to cover for those teachers so they wouldn't mislead students too badly.
"Director Fan, Vice Dean Qian wants to see you..." A student knocked lightly on his office door.
"Vice Dean?" Fan Yu was taken aback.
Then he remembered the news of Shrek's defeat, where they had been eliminated in the round of sixteen. Perhaps the vice dean was summoning him in connection to that.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Come in."
Fan Yu pushed open the door.
Qian Duoduo was sitting leisurely on an old, tattered couch. Despite being the vice dean, his office was in terrible shape—the walls were peeling, and the entire place exuded an air of poverty. No one would believe this was the office of Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department vice dean.
"Vice Dean, you were looking for me?" Fan Yu asked first.
"Ah, Fan Yu, come, sit..." Qian Duoduo couldn't hide the grin on his face. "I've decided to renovate my office—what do you think?"
Fan Yu: "..."
Renovate? He never expected to hear such a word from the notoriously stingy Vice Dean Qian.
"...The Sea God Pavilion... has finally noticed the Soul Tool Department?!!" Fan Yu's eyes widened.
"Hmph, even if they didn't, what could they do? If I hadn't played the sympathy card during the meeting, those old fogeys would've probably started blaming me already..." Qian Duoduo grumbled.
As a seasoned fox, his instincts were sharp.
The moment an elder inquired about the Soul Tool Department's condition, he immediately knew what was coming next—they wanted to scold him for failing to develop the department, for why it lagged so far behind the Sun Moon Empire.
Did they seriously not understand? The funds allocated to the Soul Tool Department over the years weren't even a tenth—or even a hundredth—of what the Sun Moon Empire had!
And now they expected him to somehow "catch up overnight"? What nonsense!
Why was he so tight-fisted? Why did he squeeze every last bit of use out of a single coin?
He wanted to spit in those old men's faces and make them see how promising the Soul Tool Department's future was—despite their constant suppression!
"Anyway, Fan Yu, our department's good days have finally arrived." Qian Duoduo leisurely leaned back into the sofa, biting into a piece of fruit. With money in hand, everything tasted better.
"What about our annual funding...?" Fan Yu asked, his voice trembling.
"Fifty million gold soul coins. And that's just our base funding. Additional projects can be submitted for approval to the Sea God Pavilion, and they'll be reviewed within three days."
"...Also, Elder Mu hopes we can work on catching up with the Sun Moon Empire's missile interception technology—particularly in detecting hidden signals and information scanning. Either you or I will oversee that project."
"Hoo..." Fan Yu took a deep breath.
He never expected good fortune to arrive so suddenly.
But at the same time, beneath this flood of resources, the pressure from the Sun Moon Empire felt even more suffocating.
"Oh, one more thing—about the exchange student list..."
Qian Duoduo called out to Fan Yu, who was still lost in thought.
(End of Chapter)