"Your S-rank permissions have been officially approved. The corresponding scholarships have already been deposited into your accounts. The bonus for this operation will be issued after the mission report is submitted and archived. Cassell College will never mistreat those with merit," Principal Anjou said calmly. "This operation is hereby concluded. Dismissed."
The moment Anjou finished speaking, Morin felt a vast surge of power rise within his body.
There was no doubt about it.
This was the further awakening of the [Descendant of Yan and Huang] bloodline, triggered by his [Student] profession leveling up after the scholarship was converted into experience.
The power was enormous.
But Morin suppressed it without hesitation.
Otherwise, turning into a dragon on the spot would make the hero of the operation the public enemy of everyone present.
That wouldn't be good.
By "not good," he meant for the others.
As for the precise changes, Morin wasn't sure yet. He'd need time-and a suitable test-to confirm them.
...
"Junior, you have to understand your senior..." Finger wailed, tears and mucus everywhere, looking utterly miserable. "I got demoted to F-rank! Zero scholarship! My only income is paparazzi work! It's already hard enough just surviving!"
"Now you and the Boss show up and bring hype with you. But I can't write fake news about the Boss, can I? So I had no choice but to make up a little something about you! You're an S-rank! Everyone's watching you! Traffic equals money!"
"I understand the logic," Lu Mingfei said cautiously, eyeing Finger's bulging chest and arms while estimating whether his recent training would let him break through and delete those posts personally. "But can this really be called 'a little something'?"
Lu Mingfei usually never read paid posts. He always filtered for free ones on the campus forum. But today, buoyed by the good news, he felt rich.
That massive scholarship had gone straight to his head.
And only today did he discover that Finger had been posting about him the entire time.
The titles were all variations of:
Shock! S-rank Has This Hobby!
Shock! S-rank Said This On Camera!
Shock! S-rank's Heart Already Taken, The Two Are Inseparable!
If it were a normal paparazzo, Lu Mingfei could endure it. At worst, he'd curse a few times. But when he saw-
[Exclusive Report by Finger, Sole Roommate of the S-rank Freshman]
-his mental defenses collapsed.
The traitor was right beside him.
"They've already been posted, and people paid for them!" Finger cried, spreading his arms to block Lu Mingfei. "If I delete them, they'll come after me for refunds!"
"Have some mercy, Junior. I want to save up for traveling after graduation. Do you really want to see your senior begging his way across the country?"
"If that really happened, it'd be amazing!" Lu Mingfei growled.
But after comparing their physiques and calculating the odds, he abandoned the idea of forcing his way through.
"Anyway, refunds are impossible!" Finger stiffened his neck like a big dog guarding food.
"Fine," Lu Mingfei said after a moment. "Seventy-thirty. I get seventy."
"No way!" Finger shook his head violently. "I put in labor and materials! Fifty-fifty!"
"Sixty-forty. Final."
"Deal!" Finger agreed instantly, already pulling out money.
Lu Mingfei: "???"
The speed of that agreement made him feel like he'd underpriced himself.
The deal was done, though. Raising it now felt... wrong.
"Well, how about we-" Lu Mingfei hesitated.
"Late-night snack tonight!" Finger laughed loudly, throwing an arm around him and cutting him off. "To celebrate you passing the 3E exam! My treat!"
Knock. Knock.
"I'll get it," Lu Mingfei said, escaping that iron chest. He secretly decided that even if he skipped dinner, he'd make Finger bleed tonight-the pricier, the better.
He froze when he opened the door.
Zero stood outside, dressed in athletic wear. The outfit added a hint of vitality, like a warm breeze over a frozen plain. It softened her usual chill.
Even though it wasn't the first time he'd seen her, Lu Mingfei still stared.
"Going out. Exercising early," Zero said simply, looking at him. "Coming?"
"Oh-oh! Coming! Let me change!" Lu Mingfei answered instantly.
Staying in the dorm meant gaming with a buff guy.
Exercising with a beautiful girl was an easy choice.
Anyone who claimed games were better was usually lying to themselves.
Of course, this didn't include rich, handsome guys who genuinely preferred games-but Lu Mingfei clearly wasn't one of them.
...
"Big news! Big news, Leggy!" Su Enxi burst into Shuda Mai's room holding a laptop.
"What is it?" Shuda Mai asked helplessly while checking her equipment. She wore a tight bodysuit that perfectly outlined her figure and long legs. "Another plan change?"
"A tiny variable appeared," Su Enxi said obediently, placing the laptop down, her eyes drifting toward Mai's legs as if she wanted to bite them.
"All bad news?" Mai drew her ninja sword halfway, then forced herself to breathe.
"Technically, one good and one bad."
"Good first."
"Your sister and future brother-in-law survived. Happy?" Su Enxi said. "They brought back the Seven Deadly Sins and the Bronze Jar. Huge achievement."
"...And the bad?" Mai asked.
She barely knew her sister, but the relief was real. Blood bonds were strange things.
"An unknown faction appeared," Su Enxi said seriously. "They call themselves servants of the 'King of Oceans and Water.' They interfered in the Kui Gate Operation and ensured Cassell College's success. Otherwise... let's not go there."
She continued typing.
"In this mission, Little Bunny No. 1 and Super Macho No. 1 both showed terrifying power. Little Bunny used our gear, sure-but Super Macho No. 1? He completely read the movement of White Emperor City. Instantly."
Mai paused.
"Who is Super Macho No. 1?"
"The guy you're meeting tomorrow and standing up to," Su Enxi waved. "Be careful. If he gets annoyed, you're in trouble. I still can't determine his Spirit."
"If it weren't for the mission you arranged, would I have offended him?" Mai ground her teeth and grabbed Su Enxi's shoulders, kneading them hard.
"And how is his Spirit still uncertain? Didn't you say it was Time Zero or something similar?"
"Hiss-yes, I did," Su Enxi gasped, enduring the squeeze. "But during this mission, he decoded the entire Bronze City movement almost instantly."
"Even with my Spirit Calculation fully active, I'd need ten minutes unless I'd studied it beforehand. I'm certain no one leaked it."
"That means his decoding speed is over ten times mine."
Mai froze.
Su Enxi was one of the smartest people alive when Calculation was active.
"That shouldn't be possible," Mai said slowly. "Even with the same Spirit, the gap shouldn't be that big. Is there a tier difference? Like... supercomputer versus super-supercomputer?"
"Are you nesting dolls now?" Su Enxi broke free. "Even S-rank to F-rank wouldn't be that extreme!"
"Wait. F-rank exists?"
"Cassell invented it today. Only one person has it. He kept failing to graduate and got demoted repeatedly. Originally A-rank. Bloodline unaffected."
Su Enxi shook her head.
"He's connected to the Greenland Sea incident. He has his own agenda and a faction. I noticed him in the files. As long as he stays hidden, it's best we don't interfere."
"...You almost distracted me," Mai said, chopping her hand toward Su Enxi's neck. "Explain Super Macho No. 1 properly, or I'll be under insane pressure tomorrow."
"That's the bad news," Su Enxi said softly. "We still don't know his Spirit."
"Based on this mission and all available intel, the most likely explanation is that he used Calculation while Time Zero was active."
"That's the only way to explain how he interpreted White Emperor City."
"The other possibility is an unknown faction feeding him intel-but that's even less likely."
"If I had to choose, I'd pick the first."
"Why?"
"Because if it's the second," Su Enxi said quietly, "then the unknown faction-the servant of the King of Oceans and Water-is far more terrifying than we thought."
"Gender unknown. Spirit unknown. Background blank."
"That would mean the long-held assumption of sole control is broken."
"An entirely new faction, comparable to us."
"At least two S-ranks."
"Otherwise, who could suppress a Second Generation by controlling the pressure of the entire Yangtze River-even briefly?"
Mai stared at her.
"Are you here to crush my confidence?" she snapped. "I thought tomorrow was a casual dragon nest. Now you're telling me it's stacked with Dragon Kings."
"It is a dragon nest," Su Enxi said dryly. "Having a few Dragon Kings inside is reasonable."
"...So let me summarize," Mai said slowly. "I take an unawakened Dragon King and some extras into a nest with several Dragon Kings. Beat dragon whelps. Awaken another Dragon King. Then make them fight."
"Correct."
"And I have to lure one Dragon King out and stand him up."
"Exactly."
"Then why don't you just let me raid the Pentagon or some shrine in the Golden Country? The difficulty would be lower."
"There's no demand yet," Su Enxi replied seriously. "But if Al-Qaeda or the Rabbit Country places an order, I'll let you know."
"I want a solution, not jokes!" Mai glanced at the sword on the bed.
"Relax," Su Enxi said, patting her shoulder. "The only variable is Super Macho No. 1. If he blocks you, use the two swords the Boss gave you and retreat."
"If worst comes to worst, run."
"We have a backup plan."
"...What backup plan?"
"This." Su Enxi pulled out a rainbow-colored reagent. "Give it to Old Tang. If it's urgent, inject it. Just say it's a supplement."
"That doesn't look like a supplement no matter how you look at it."