"Li Wu! Do you know what you're doing?! By stopping us, you're protecting that demon! Raiden Mei is a Herrscher! If we don't kill her, she'll kill us all sooner or later!"
"We won't let you off the hook when we get back! It's not too late to apologize and beg for our forgiveness!"
The muscular boy whose arm had been twisted shouted.
The noble girl beside him chimed in, "That's right! I have evidence to prove that someone must kill Raiden Mei to save Nagazora City. You..."
"I don't care about your evidence, because I know she's a Herrscher."
Li Wu, finding it somewhat annoying, directly interrupted her speech.
"You... know?" The noble girl froze in place, her eyes full of confusion. "You know, and you still stand by her side? Don't you know that all Herrschers have the risk of losing control? Once she loses control, she'll destroy the entire city! You like her, don't you? Just because you like her, you're going to get everyone killed? Not only that, but you injured us today. Have you thought about the consequences?"
Facing the girl's aggressiveness, Li Wu narrowed his eyes slightly and walked straight up to her.
Sure enough, when he was only a fist's distance away from her, those sharp words ceased to appear, replaced by awe, submission, and compliance.
Li Wu had no doubt that if he made a demand now, the other party would try their best to satisfy it.
"If someone slaps you, and you slap them back, do you think that's fair?" Li Wu asked.
The noble girl glanced at the two boys on the ground, then met the gaze of the boy behind Li Wu whose arm was twisted. She gritted her teeth and said, "Of course, I suppose... So we're even now. Don't interfere with our plan, and we won't make trouble for you. If you're still not satisfied, I can give you a sum of money as compensation. You need money too, right?"
The noble girl felt she had made a huge concession. Having compromised to this extent, there was no reason for the other party not to agree.
But Li Wu just shook his head coldly. The expression on his face was like an eternal smiling mask branded onto his skin; no matter what he said, his expression wouldn't change.
"That doesn't count. Because I originally had no intention of hurting you, nor did I want to engage in a physical fight with you, yet I was subjected to your malice and persecution for no reason. It's only fair if those of you who actively harm others suffer a thousand times the torment the victims endure."
Li Wu turned around to face the muscular boy, whose face was pale from pain. "You're right. Once we're out of this school, you have ten thousand ways to torture me to death, and I can only passively endure it. Even if I want revenge, most people will advise me to let go of my hatred, to talk about benevolence and righteousness, to look at the big picture. My anger, my pain is meaningless; just endure it and it will pass."
"Just like the former Raiden Mei, the only thing she could do was silently endure, finally dying wretchedly on some un-sunny afternoon, her corpse splattered everywhere. Regardless of whether it was her intention or not."
"So get up. It's no fun if you keep pretending to be weak to launch a sneak attack. Anyway, no matter what, the moment I learned you wanted to kill someone, you were already prepared to kill me, weren't you? Just like your secret plan to kill Raiden Mei, someone will cover for you anyway, so killing is just killing. At most, you'll find a scapegoat. And I have no background. If I disappear one day, probably no one will know. Like a wild dog, dying in some dirty, forgotten corner, unable to even find someone to collect my corpse..."
The noble girl still wanted to struggle a bit: "I can swear not to lay a hand on you. You just need to turn a blind eye. That's very easy for you."
"Swear? Are you playing house with me? What credibility and morality does a person plotting to secretly eliminate a classmate have? If you really wanted to save Nagazora City, you should figure out a way to send Raiden Mei to Schicksal. Whether it's to her death or as a test subject, it would be a choice more beneficial to humanity and Nagazora City... Heh, you want to kill her simply to wait for her to die and take the Herrscher Core inside her in exchange for greater benefits. Otherwise, the secret that Raiden Mei is a Herrscher would have been known to everyone long ago, wouldn't it?"
Li Wu calmly articulated the thoughts in the four people's minds.
Sure enough, after this fact was exposed, the three nobles stopped pretending. The two boys and one girl took out military knives from their bags. Upon seeing the knives, a chill instantly rose in the commoner boy's heart.
"Wait, we can talk this out! Don't use knives, someone will get killed! Aren't we doing this to protect Nagazora City?"
The commoner boy shouted loudly, but his former companions, the three nobles, let out disdainful sneers. "Sacrifices are inevitable. Isn't it normal for one or two innocent people to die on the path to saving the world? As long as the result meets expectations, that's fine. Kill Li Wu, and the plan proceeds as usual. Someone will clean up after us."
"No, it's not like that! We agreed not to hurt innocent people! Even the bomb was only supposed to go off when Raiden Mei was alone, to avoid involving innocent people. Didn't we agree?"
The commoner boy spoke hurriedly, but all he got were extremely contemptuous looks from his companions.
Instantly, his convictions collapsed. He shrank helplessly in the corner, his mouth wide open, unable to utter another word for a long time.
Things begun in iniquity must be consolidated by sin. A lie needs countless lies to cover it up. He understood this principle deeply, which was why he constantly reminded his companions and himself to proceed in the most "righteous" way possible.
But he had been kept in the dark from the very beginning. Like a blindfolded executioner, he didn't know if the person he was about to execute was—
A heinous sinner, or an innocent child.
"It's too late for you to run now. I thought you were smart, but you're a complete idiot!" The muscular boy endured the severe pain and popped his arm back into joint. Holding a knife in his other hand, he pointed it at Li Wu and continuously closed the distance.
Not only the muscular boy, but the other two nobles also raised their knives and surrounded Li Wu.
For an ordinary person, this was an almost certain death situation.
Whether in numbers, physique, or weapons, he was at a massive disadvantage.
But unfortunately, he was Li Wu, who had just "Returned" four digits of times last night. Over a thousand loops, he had learned and honed his skills through personal experience, maxing out his combat awareness.
If the real world had titles, Li Wu would definitely have a flashy one above his head reading: [Legendary Map-Clearing King of the 2026th Loop, Combat Record Verifiable, KDA: 10379-2025-0].
Even with a knife pointed at him, Li Wu felt no emotion in his heart—neither nervousness nor excitement.
Just like clearing a game. After turning on invincibility mode or a hacked version, knowing the character could never die, would one still concentrate and carefully dodge every enemy attack?
The answer was no.
The wind blew up from downstairs, bringing with it the youthful breath and clamor that was completely out of place with Li Wu. In the depths of his eyes, there was only a dead silence.