The onlookers were clearly divided into two groups. One group consisted of the students I encountered daily at school, their faces now twisted with anger as they stared intently at the center of the crowd. The other group was made up of noble students from Canglan Private High School, students I rarely saw around here. Their expressions were far more varied—some wore amused grins, others looked disdainful, while a few appeared genuinely indignant. Yet, none of them seemed inclined to intervene.
Between these two groups, a considerable gap had been left, which allowed me to see clearly what was happening in the center.
The first thing that caught my eye was a young man wearing a smug expression. From his attire, it was clear that he came from an affluent background. His suit, which I couldn't even name the brand of, was far beyond the reach of students like us. Behind him stood two other students who appeared to be around the same age. Though they were dressed similarly, their sycophantic expressions betrayed their role as the young man's lackeys. In front of the trio stood a male student, his gaze darting nervously, seemingly shrinking away from them. I vaguely recognized him as a sophomore at our school, and I decided to dub him "Soy Sauce Guy."
Clearly, this was a case of bullying by the privileged.
Such incidents were rare, at least since I had come to this school. Despite being across the street from the renowned and strict Canglan Private High School, which was famous for its rigorous rules, the students there didn't act like the stereotypical arrogant elites. Good manners were ingrained in them, yet, like everywhere, the world also harbors a few rotten apples. The young man before me, flaunting his superiority with his underlings, was a prime example.
Regardless of whether the school would punish this privileged student later, it was clear that the student in front of him—the unlucky "Soy Sauce Guy"—was going to have a rough time today.
The crowd around us murmured in low voices, but no one dared to step forward. The boy caught in the middle seemed to have already anticipated this. He merely shrank his neck, silently awaiting the inevitable outburst to pass.
Most of the students from our school dared not challenge them. It wasn't out of cowardice—it was simply because these were people who were either rich or influential. To them, making us ordinary students disappear from the school would be as easy as snapping their fingers. Even though some in the other group disapproved of the young man's behavior, they were not willing to stir up trouble for the sake of an ordinary student. After all, that arrogant young man was still one of their own.
What a horrible way to start the day.
"CJ," a soft voice tugged at my sleeve. It was Xianxian. "Let's go, we don't want to get involved."
I gritted my teeth but nodded in agreement, preparing to leave.
What was about to unfold was predictable—a fabricated excuse to initiate a one-sided beating or humiliation, and the smug young man would find twisted pleasure in it. As for the unfortunate boy, "Soy Sauce Guy" – who would come to his aid?
It wasn't that I lacked sympathy or a sense of justice. It was just that, as an ordinary student, I felt utterly powerless in the face of such a situation. Moreover, if I intervened, not only would it be useless, but it could also drag my sister into the mess. The influential figures behind these students could easily ruin my sister and me with a mere flick of their fingers, crushing the fragile life we had built.
But... it was so frustrating.
Before I left the crowd, I turned around and glared at the arrogant young man. He was currently berating the cowering boy in front of him, occasionally looking over his shoulder as if to flaunt his power.
"Scum," I muttered under my breath, "I really want to punch him."
None of the onlookers knew that, at that very moment, our star in the sky underwent a small solar wind burst, causing subtle disturbances in the information of this planet. My thought was amplified countless times and then received by a communication system from a distant world.
It felt as though something had clicked, though I didn't hear any actual sound. It was more of an impression, as if something had been activated.
A sudden dizziness struck, and the familiar, lifeless gray world of metal from my recurring dreams flashed across my mind. Then, a slightly mechanical female voice echoed in my mind.
"Accepting external command set... Permission confirmed... Analyzing vague commands... Executing... Target confirmed, activating Zenith Remote Space Strike System, preparing for test attack... Commencing!"
As the voice in my mind faded, a translucent energy pillar, as thick as a human arm and flowing like water, descended from the sky, ultimately disappearing silently beneath the feet of the arrogant young man in the center of the crowd.
It seemed that no one noticed the light beam. All attention remained focused on the central confrontation, and the nearly transparent "pillar" went entirely unnoticed. I, too, should have missed it, but for some reason, I distinctly saw its trajectory.
Then, I noticed something: where the "water flow" had disappeared, the decorative pebbles on the ground were replaced by a small, dark red hole. Around the hole, the melted ground slowly flowed into it, vaporized by the heat.
Incredible destructive power!
My mind went blank for a moment, and I stood there in shock, trying to understand what was happening. Was it supernatural? A strange phenomenon? Or had I somehow gained superpowers?
Every explanation seemed impossible, yet the sight before me made it hard to deny that something dramatic was unfolding.
Maybe it was just a hallucination, I thought, but the events that followed made it clear that what I saw was undeniably real.
The arrogant young man suddenly took a step forward, as if preparing to act himself. But as he lifted his foot, it landed on the small area of ground covered in molten rock.
Seconds later, a scream, akin to that of a slaughtered pig, rang out.
Fabric, being highly flammable, burned rapidly, and the ground that had been melted by the mysterious energy exceeded the ignition point of the young man's fine trousers. The fire quickly spread, and the young man desperately slapped at the flames, but the fire refused to be extinguished. In fact, with each slap, the flames only grew stronger. The surrounding crowd finally reacted, scrambling to grab nearby drinks (from their side), clothes (also theirs), and half-broken bricks (from ours) to try to put out the fire.
But at that moment, I was no longer focused on the chaos unfolding before me.
A voice, panic-stricken, blared through my mind.
"Test attack complete… Recalculating parameters… Calculation complete, switching to official strike mode… Main weapon array charging… Secondary weapon array charging… Ready, all combat units free to fire in 10 seconds... Ten, nine, eight, seven…"
No matter what was happening, one thing was clear: something incredibly dangerous had been awakened by me. Whether it was a wild Ultraman from M7 or Megatron casually passing by Earth, the truth was that everyone here would soon be obliterated by the incoming energy strike.
Based on the earlier "test attack" that melted a small section of the ground into magma, the full-scale assault would undoubtedly kill every single person here in ten seconds.
"D*mn, why doesn't this thing have a pause button?!" I yelled in my mind, but no matter how hard I tried, that strange state didn't return. The countdown continued unimpeded.
"Six, five..."
Cold sweat trickled down my face.
"Four, three..."
"Xianxian!" I yelled, grabbing her and sprinting toward the outer edge of the crowd, knowing full well that our chances of escaping the impending strike were slim.
But no matter what, I couldn't let Xianxian be harmed because of me!
"CJ, what...?" The sudden action startled her, and she screamed in shock.
"Two, one..."
D*mn it! I don't care what you are, stop this now!
In my desperate sprint, a small piece of paper suddenly appeared in front of me. I didn't have time to see the numbers printed on it before a sharp pain struck my forehead, and then... everything went black.
Xianxian's panicked cry echoed distantly.
"Severe system error, external command set anomaly, lost highest permission... Zenith Remote Space Strike System shutting down…"
D*mn it, even the old Chinese medicine ads are stuck to the school gates now.
This was my last coherent thought before I slammed into a light pole and lost consciousness.