When the system reward appeared, Lucius felt no happiness.
Because he hadn't yet arranged the plot for the Raiden Mei school bullying check-in.
By this foolish system's judgment criteria, completing this mission didn't require Mei to actually be bullied—he had friendlier methods in mind.
But when the system reward was distributed, Lucius knew that Mei had genuinely been bullied at school.
This made him extremely furious.
As the Herrscher of Thunder he had chosen, to ensure she would later be full of humanity and willing to fight for humanity's future, he had to guarantee that Mei's mental state was healthy and positive enough, bright and uplifting enough. That was something he had always been working toward.
And yet these people had dared to use violence against Mei. Simply unforgivable.
"I've never even been willing to scold her, and yet you dared?!"
However, after arriving at the school, Lucius found that things were somewhat different from what he had imagined.
"Please, we were wrong, stop hitting us!"
The moment he stepped onto school grounds, Lucius saw Mei chasing a group of students with a baseball bat, beating them.
"How dare you insult Father! I will never forgive you!"
The group of students ran ahead, Mei chased from behind with her bat, and any who fell behind would be greeted with six strikes per second.
Only then did Lucius remember that he had long ago loaded Raiden Mei's stigmata onto her. In terms of combat ability, she could trounce every single person in the school.
At this moment, Mei spotted Lucius's arrival, and saw him looking at her with a grim expression.
"Mei, are you disciplining them?"
Mei looked at the bat in her hand, then at her father's grim face, then thought about what she had just been doing...
And so, starting from her earlobes, crimson spread all the way across Mei's face. She hastily threw down the bat, her expression full of shame.
"Father, I... I... yes..."
Thinking that her frenzied state just now had been completely witnessed by her father, a wave of intense shame shot from her fingertips straight to the top of her head.
She suddenly had the urge to build a rocket and escape from Earth forever.
However, after a moment of silence, tears suddenly welled up in Lucius's eyes.
"Mei, you did well... you did so well!"
"Huh?"
Lucius produced a handkerchief from somewhere, wiping his tears while saying with heartfelt satisfaction:
"Your father originally thought you were being bullied at school, but seeing you so independent and strong, your father can finally set his heart at ease."
"Mei, your father is proud of you!"
"...Father, are you feeling alright?"
Regardless, after Lucius arrived, Mei finally stopped swinging her bat. Those students who had survived their ordeal hugged each other in relief and wept bitterly.
Originally, things should have ended there.
But at this moment, the parents who had come to attend the parent-teacher conference finally arrived.
Upon seeing the enormous lumps on their pampered children's heads, and their battered and bruised faces, they instantly flew into a rage.
As the small group of people standing at the very top of Nagazora's and the Far East's social hierarchy, their children had always been the ones to bully others. The only ones who could beat their children were themselves!
And now, their pampered children had been beaten to this wretched state!
How could they possibly tolerate this?!
Upon seeing that the one who had done the beating was that bastard Ryoma's daughter, old grudges and new resentments piled on top of each other, completely igniting the fury in their hearts.
"Ryoma! Get your daughter to bow and apologize right now!"
Mei recognized the identity of the fat middle-aged man standing before Ryoma and herself—he was the mayor, who frequently appeared on Nagazora City's local television.
His usually affable and jovial demeanor had completely vanished, replaced by rage that was ready to burst from his face.
And behind him, a girl swollen like a pig's head stared at Mei with hatred in her eyes.
Only at this moment did Mei realize she might have gone a bit too far. She had probably caused Father tremendous trouble.
Thinking of this, Mei looked at Lucius with some remorse, but found he wasn't looking at the mayor at all—he was looking intently at her.
"Mei, I'm asking you: do you think you were wrong? I want to hear the truth."
Mei froze, then immediately recalled the insults those classmates had directed at her father. In an instant, the anger surged back up again.
"No. They had no right to humiliate you, Father!"
"Good. Since you believe you weren't wrong, then your father will weather this together with you."
Then Lucius's lips curled into a vicious grin as he looked at the mayor, who still hadn't quite understood what was happening.
"Ryoma, you... bang!"
He had only just started speaking when Lucius's fist connected with his face, leaving behind only his pitiful wailing.
Mei pressed her lips together, warmth rising in her heart.
Then she looked at those classmates who, now believing they had their parents to back them up, had once again closed in. Her face broke into a sunny smile.
She picked up her bat. Six strikes per second, once again!
At this moment, Mei suddenly felt that physics didn't just enrich the mind—it could also bring great peace to the spirit.
...
Back at MEI Company's reception room, Cocolia was pacing anxiously in circles.
Watching one politician and business figure after another being carried out of Qianyu Academy on the news, Cocolia felt as if the sky was falling.
She suddenly felt deep regret about forming a partnership with Raiden Ryoma.
She had heard that geniuses often had personalities that differed wildly from ordinary people, but this president of MEI Company seemed to be a manic lunatic!
And soon, Ryoma returned to MEI Company with Mei, the two of them chatting and laughing.
The moment she saw Ryoma return, Cocolia immediately rushed up to him.
"Mr. Ryoma, why did you get into a conflict with them?!" Cocolia was nearly beside herself. "Now, whether locally, in the Far East, or on the United Government's side, we won't be the ones in the right!"
To this, Lucius said with great seriousness: "There are some things I can turn a blind eye to, but there are some things I cannot compromise on."
"Even if this might cause enormous obstacles to your MEI Company's development?"
In response to Cocolia's question, Lucius turned it back on her: "Ms. Cocolia, do you know why MEI Company is called MEI Company?"
"Why?"
"Because MEI Company is a gift I'm giving to Mei. The reason I'm developing MEI Company is for Mei's sake, not the other way around."
Lucius's gaze fixed intently on Cocolia, as if with deeper meaning: "Means serve ends—never put the cart before the horse. And furthermore..."
He looked at Mei and found her eyes sparkling at this moment.
"If you can't protect your own child, what kind of parent are you?"
"Using love as an excuse while causing harm—that's what truly deserves damnation."
Although Lucius appeared to be explaining his impulsive actions, Cocolia always felt as if he was... admonishing her.
Cocolia fell into thoughtful contemplation.
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