Pei Shilang rose to become the head of the Imperial Academy of Sciences on the strength of his parents' research, and monopolized the development of mecha. Yet he brought the field to a six-year standstill, producing nothing during that time.
He was extremely cold by nature, stubborn in his academic views, and selfish to the extreme. He even refused to share development data with anyone, and pocketed all the project funds.
Public anger boiled over. The academy's deputy head joined researchers from every department in petitioning the imperial family to dismiss Pei Shilang. Forced to hold a press conference, Pei Shilang said nothing, only fueling suspicions that he had something to hide.
Countless media flashes made his face look deathly pale. He was publicly put on trial before the entire empire, live on every platform.
But just then, the Interstellar Alliance suddenly announced that testing of a new model of mecha had been successfully completed, prominently naming its lead developer: Pei Shilang.
The Imperial Household Finance Department immediately released the academy's project expense reports. Every expense was accounted for, and the person who handled them was Pei Shilang.
Then came a research report and experimental summary spanning a thousand pages, signed by Pei Shilang.
Pei Shilang sat before a sea of cameras and microphones, eyes lowered, his expression still cold and distant. The reporters boldly fired questions at him.
