North Star Starship Military Academy · Ocean Style Restaurant
Zhao Chen looked at the holographic image of an aquatic creature from some unknown star system swimming freely before his eyes. The entire restaurant had a very tranquil atmosphere.
In total, there were only a few dozen people dining.
It was considered one of the more upscale restaurants at the North Star Starship Military Academy.
Only those of noble birth would come to a place like this to eat. It was said that half of the ingredients used were naturally cultivated food.
Walking beside Zhao Chen were three beauties of varying ages, which earned him an extremely high rate of turned heads.
"Junior Zhao Chen, have you thought about what conditions you'll set for Zhang Haoran later?" Senior Su Lan inquired.
"I have an idea," Zhao Chen replied with a smile.
Seeing this, Senior Su Lan didn't say much more. After all, her role was merely that of a mediator.
As for whether this matter succeeded or failed, she didn't particularly care. She was only stepping in to bridge the connection because she owed that person a favor.
"Lanlan, over here."
A voice called out. From a distance, Zhao Chen could see a fair-faced young man sitting at a round table by the window, waving to Su Lan and her group.
Three people were already seated around the round table. One of them was that Zhang Haoran, and the other was an unfamiliar face.
Zhang Haoran's expression was clearly not good. His gaze briefly met Zhao Chen's but quickly dodged away, looking pitiful.
Yet, Zhao Chen still keenly sensed the hatred in Zhang Haoran's eyes.
For someone like this, one lesson wouldn't be enough to make him behave.
"Later, just say whatever you're thinking. If the talks don't work out, we can just leave. Don't worry about our presence," Senior Su Lan whispered into Zhao Chen's ear.
Zhao Chen nodded.
Zhao Wan'er followed beside him, feeling somewhat restrained. She looked at her older brother with concern. Although her brother was a Baron of a territory, he had never been involved in such a formal setting before.
Xue Xiaoxiao, on the other hand, wore an expectant expression. She loved situations like this where things were about to go down.
Zhao Chen and the others walked over to the table. The senior named Han Tianwang ignored Zhao Chen, who should have been the main character of this negotiation, and instead pulled out the already empty seat beside him.
"Lanlan, come sit here."
The round table had exactly seven seats.
Perfectly corresponding to Han Tianwang's group of three and Zhao Chen's group of four.
And Han Tianwang had specifically left a seat beside him, apparently reserved especially for Su Lan.
But Su Lan glanced at it and merely greeted Han Tianwang with a smile: "It's fine, I can sit over here."
With that, she sat down together with Zhao Wan'er and Xue Xiaoxiao.
This left Han Tianwang somewhat embarrassed.
Now, the only seat left for Zhao Chen was the one beside Han Tianwang.
It was only then that Han Tianwang looked at the person before him and said indifferently, "This must be Junior Zhao Chen. Please, have a seat."
Although he said "please have a seat," Han Tianwang had already taken his own seat long ago.
At this moment, the only one still not seated was Zhao Chen.
But Zhao Chen did not walk toward the seat beside Han Tianwang. Instead, he placed his hand on the back of a chair in front of him: "No need, I'll sit here."
In that instant, the atmosphere at the scene began to turn awkward.
Because Zhao Chen's hand was resting precisely on the chair where Zhang Haoran was sitting.
Zhang Haoran's face turned ugly. He looked toward Senior Han Tianwang, but Senior Han Tianwang averted his gaze.
Seeing this situation, Zhang Haoran could only stand up with a dark expression, preparing to sit in the seat next to Han Tianwang.
Zhao Chen sat in Zhang Haoran's chair. Seeing Zhang Haoran about to sit, he directly picked up a glass of water and splashed it on that chair.
"Is there a place for you to sit here?"
The atmosphere once again approached freezing point.
Zhang Haoran clenched his fists.
"Junior Zhao Chen, no need to be so aggressive. It was all just a misunderstanding between Junior Haoran and you before. Now that we're gathered here for a meal, let's just clear up this misunderstanding and all be friends from now on." Han Tianwang stepped in at this moment to play the peacemaker. "Lanlan, don't you think so?"
Su Lan smiled. "We're just accompanying guests this time, so we won't speak. Everything depends on Junior Zhao Chen's own wishes."
"If there's a place for him to sit here today, then there's no place for me, Zhao Chen, to sit. Senior, what do you think?" Zhao Chen met Han Tianwang's gaze without backing down.
A shadow flickered in Han Tianwang's eyes, but he still said cheerfully, "That's true. An apology should look like an apology.
Haoran, you can just stand then."
"Waiter, please remove this extra chair." Zhao Chen called for a waiter.
The waiters here were not intelligent robots but beautifully dressed young women, reflecting the high-end nature of this restaurant.
The chair was removed, and Zhang Haoran stood between Zhao Chen and Han Tianwang like a pillar.
"We're all sitting, and you're the only one standing. Doesn't that make it seem like you're above me and the seniors?
This makes us very uncomfortable." Zhao Chen looked at Zhang Haoran with a smile.
Zhang Haoran gritted his teeth. "You... what else do you want?"
"Kneel." Zhao Chen casually uttered two words.
The expressions of everyone present changed.
Zhang Haoran, furious and humiliated, said, "Zhao Chen, don't go too far!"
"Too far? I heard that you and your lackeys were shouting in my class before, saying that if you defeated me in a Starship Duel,
you'd make me kneel on the ground and apologize to you? Back then, didn't you think that was going too far?" Zhao Chen looked at Zhang Haoran with a smile. "Or does Young Master Zhang disdain continuing his studies at North Star?"
Zhao Chen's final jab struck right at Zhang Haoran's heart.
He absolutely could not drop out of North Star.
His Viscount father, a future Count, had more than just him as a son.
North Star Starship Military Academy was one of the top three starship military academies in the Stellar Glory Empire, and his father had gone to great lengths to pull strings to get him in.
If he couldn't even graduate from North Star Starship Military Academy, his Nobility Title would likely be snatched away by his other brothers.
After learning about this incident, his mother had directly sent him a message, telling him to figure it out himself—no matter what, he could not drop out of North Star Starship Military Academy!
"Junior Zhao Chen, there's no need for that. Junior Haoran already knows he was wrong. We're all classmates; there's no need to make things so tense.
Give me some face. Let's eat first and discuss how to handle this misunderstanding between you and Junior Haoran over the meal.
I'll definitely give you a satisfactory answer!" Han Tianwang spoke up.
"Face?" Zhao Chen chuckled, squinting at Han Tianwang. "Senior, are you saying that if I give you face, you'll kneel for him instead?"
Beside him, Zhao Wan'er gasped in shock. What was going on with her brother today? Had he eaten gunpowder or something?
Picking a fight with Zhang Haoran was one thing, but he even dared to provoke Han Tianwang!
Senior Su Lan and Xue Xiaoxiao, with her twin ponytails, stared at Zhao Chen in astonishment. They realized this junior seemed truly different today.
Han Tianwang's expression darkened at that moment.
"Fine, I'll kneel!" Zhang Haoran roared three words and knelt in the spot where the chair had originally been.
The height of the table perfectly blocked his head.
"This works out just fine—it won't interfere with our meal.
Why is everyone staring at me? Aren't we here to eat?
Hurry up and order, I'm starving.
Senior Han, what do you like to eat? Order whatever you want, no need to be polite." Zhao Chen raised his hand directly and opened the holographic ordering interface.
Then, with lightning-fast fingers, he tapped away randomly on it. Even Zhao Wan'er, sitting beside him, couldn't make out what he had ordered.
"I'm done ordering. Take a look and see if you need anything else. No need to hold back—we finally have this chance to dine with Senior Han, so let's enjoy ourselves." Zhao Chen smiled as he looked at everyone.
Xue Xiaoxiao nearly burst out laughing.