Zhao Ming and Aaron entered the wide ground-floor venue. Contrary to their expectations of cleanliness and neatness, the entire floor was riddled with pits and craters, clearly marks left from battles.
"It wasn't like this before," Qin Qing said. "After Teacher Duanmu Feng arrived, he demanded life-or-death combat in class, no holding back. So the students started using all kinds of high-powered abilities and items, and those caused massive damage to the venue."
"Still not as good as the training rooms at the base," Aaron said, scratching his head. "That place seems indestructible no matter what you do."
Base...
Hearing this, Qin Qing muttered to herself—could these two special transfer students be from the Countermeasures Research Office?
After all, in Pinglu, if there was any base facility better than the academy's, it would most likely be the Countermeasures Research Office's base.
And Dean Lilian had specifically mentioned these two were special. Their identities were practically an open secret.
Zhao Ming read her expression and understood Qin Qing's thoughts. He felt somewhat helpless about Aaron's big mouth.
"The walls in the base's training rooms are made of special metal, so of course they're different," Zhao Ming said, then asked Qin Qing, "May I ask when today's Practical Combat Class begins?"
Qin Qing checked the time. "It should be at 10:10, about half an hour from now."
"Then we'll wait here for half an hour. No need to take up any more of Counselor Qin's time."
Qin Qing waved her hand. "No, no, it's fine. I'll get going then."
Zhao Ming said, "Please don't mention our situation to others, Counselor Qin. We have a mission to carry out."
He knew Qin Qing had already guessed their origins, so he didn't bother hiding it further.
Qin Qing nodded quickly in agreement. "I understand. I won't mention you to anyone!"
"Thank you."
After Qin Qing left, Zhao Ming and Aaron went to sit in the rest area chairs and wait.
"Brother Zhao Ming, should we interview some of the other students first? Or check online course reviews? Wouldn't that count as a method of investigation..."
As Aaron finished speaking, he turned and noticed Zhao Ming already had his eyes closed, looking like he was resting.
"I've already read all the online reviews and memorized them. I have a grasp of the details. Now I just need to verify them through the actual class."
"Memorized them all?" Aaron was stunned. "Didn't we only receive the order yesterday? Brother Zhao Ming, you already remember everything?"
"Mhm."
Zhao Ming didn't bother explaining his "Thought Palace" ability. With his eyes closed, he was browsing the course reviews he'd read online inside that "palace."
"Duanmu Feng is a complete psycho."
"Did the upgraded Practical Combat Class actually become more dangerous than the Doomsday Rules? What were the officials and academy higher-ups thinking?"
"At this rate, whether I'll even survive to graduate is a mystery. I might as well not have come this year."
"Let's all boycott this together! Even if we can't get this course canceled, we at least need to get Duanmu Feng replaced as the teacher. That guy's brain is completely broken!"
After receiving the mission from Zhang Minglu yesterday, Zhao Ming had stuffed all the scattered course reviews into his head for easy "browsing and referencing" at any time.
He had originally wanted to watch the course recordings as well, but found that none were available online.
Although most academy courses had video versions posted for free online, available for self-study by Ascendants who couldn't enroll, a few courses were still exclusive to offline attendance.
This Practical Combat Class was one of them. Its characteristics and effects could only be demonstrated through hands-on combat experience. Watching videos wasn't very useful.
It was like an ordinary person watching boxing champion videos—even if they watched a hundred times and memorized every single move of the champion, they still wouldn't become a champion themselves. Because many moves required corresponding strength, speed, and technique to execute, and those things took years of practice.
Soon, as class time approached, students began arriving one after another, most of them wearing looks of reluctance.
Some of them noticed Zhao Ming and Aaron, two unfamiliar faces, but didn't come over to ask. They just glanced curiously a few times and then stopped paying attention.
When class time arrived, Duanmu Feng appeared right on schedule.
He almost immediately spotted Zhao Ming and Aaron and asked, "What are you two doing here?"
Zhao Ming replied, "We're transfer students."
"Transfer students?"
Duanmu Feng's eyes flickered with wariness. The other students were also curious. The academy was different from a normal school; they had never heard of anyone suddenly transferring in.
"Since you're new, we'll start today's Practical Combat with you two," Duanmu Feng said, pointing at them. "Start fighting each other right now. I need to see your basics."
Zhao Ming refused. "I have a non-combat type ability. Engaging in this kind of training doesn't make much sense."
The other students' expressions turned strange, and they looked at him with sympathy.
Situations like this had happened before. Many students had non-combat type abilities and items, but almost all of them had been forced by Duanmu Feng into combat practice.
Those types made up the majority of past casualties.
Sure enough, upon hearing Zhao Ming's words, Duanmu Feng sneered.
"Heh heh heh, non-combat type ability? Are you joking with me? On the battlefield, do you think the enemy will let you off just because you have a 'non-combat type ability'?"
Zhao Ming replied calmly, "On the battlefield, I'll naturally be assigned to roles suitable for my ability that don't require direct combat. For example, formulating tactics in the command center."
"Shut up! You coward!" Duanmu Feng barked. "Unless you don't want a grade for this course, stop arguing with me!"
Zhao Ming frowned. At that moment, Aaron stepped forward, grinning. "Teacher Duanmu, don't make things hard for my friend here. How about this—my ability is combat type. I'll go first."
Duanmu Feng coldly swept his gaze over Aaron but said nothing.
Just then, another student stepped out of the crowd—tall and burly, with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a black leather jacket. He spoke in a booming voice, "Instructor Duanmu, let me teach these two rookies the rules of your class!"
Zhao Ming noticed that the other students were looking at the leather-jacket-wearing guy with disgust. They probably couldn't stand how fawning and sycophantic he sounded when addressing Duanmu Feng.
Especially the way he called Duanmu Feng "Instructor"—it reminded Zhao Ming of the students in military training who fawned over instructors out of fear of their authority, and how hated they were by everyone else.
Duanmu Feng glanced at the black-leather-jacket student and nodded slightly. "Then for today's first practical match, it'll be Eoric and... what's your name?"
"Just call me Aaron."
"Aaron?" Eoric cracked his knuckles, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "What a weird name. Today I'll teach you a good lesson and show you what it means to respect the instructor."
Aaron twisted his wrists, eager to go. "Fine by me. I've been itching for a fight anyway!"
"Aaron," Zhao Ming said in a low voice. "Don't take it too far."
Aaron turned back and winked. "Don't worry, Brother Zhao Ming. I know my limits."
The surrounding students made space, most of them looking at Aaron with concern. They all knew Eoric was a tough fighter. A lot of the past student casualties had been caused by that bastard.
And this new transfer student, though he looked like he had some muscle, was still a bit lacking compared to Eoric.
Before the fight started, Eoric trash-talked, "Rookie, sorry, but your transfer career is about to end before it even begins."
Aaron just smiled. "I'm so scared."
Seeing the guy mocking him like that, Eoric's face darkened, and he cracked his knuckles loudly.
Duanmu Feng said, "Both of you, less talk. Start immediately!"
...
Banzhen City.
Ever since the 2,004th Rule ended and Suroma issued a Level Five Warrant for Guan Tong, the two cities of Banzhen and Antu had gone into lockdown.
The Serpent Hair Society's people were patrolling everywhere. As soon as they spotted an unfamiliar face, they would immediately stop and question them, report it, and then let the higher-ups handle it.
This was Uenoshi's arrangement, aimed at preventing Suroma from sending spies to infiltrate.
Although Guan Tong thought the likelihood was low, he didn't interfere with Uenoshi's decision. He just spread his Shadows across the entire city for surveillance.
There was a hidden worry in his mind, related to the "tactical nuclear bombs" that Yelanka had mentioned to him before.
Xisiya had them, Beixing had them, and of course, Suroma had them too—in staggering numbers.
If Bruce went mad and used teleportation-type items to send multiple tactical nuclear bombs to Sakura Prayer and detonate them, the consequences would be catastrophic.
Maybe Guan Tong and Uenoshi could survive if they reacted in time, but the others... that was hard to say.
Guan Tong wasn't going to bet on Bruce's character, nor would he assume the latter wouldn't dare.
Because for someone like that, if it was necessary, they would do anything.
And given the current international situation, if Suroma nuked the Twin Cities of Sakura Prayer, it was hard to say whether other countries would start a full-scale nuclear war with Suroma. Guan Tong didn't think any other country would do that for Sakura Prayer.
So the only thing he could do was maintain all-around surveillance. If Bruce really did that, he would stop him if possible. If not, he would at least ensure his and Uenoshi's survival.
But he knew this was a last resort that could lead to mutually assured destruction. If used, there would be no turning back.
Unless Bruce was truly prepared to "do everything himself," he would never easily resort to such a final measure.
"...Instead of worrying about Bruce going mad with nukes, I should worry about Han Qiu. At least Bruce still has someone he cares about—his son Gaelid is his lifeline. Han Qiu is the real madman."
Inside the shelter, Guan Tong sat in front of his computer, deep in thought. He hadn't had any news about Han Qiu for a long time.
After Wensilisa Castle, Han Qiu had vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind.
Even with multi-channel intelligence gathering from Beixing, Xisiya's officials, and Black Star, they still couldn't track down Han Qiu's movements. The guy had really mastered the art of hiding.
Guan Tong was convinced that bastard was still alive, hiding somewhere and plotting something.
In his eyes, this asshole who saw the world as a "game" and himself as a "player" was even more dangerous than Bruce.
He would need to accelerate his improvement soon. Only strength was the best guarantee.
Just as Guan Tong was thinking about this, his whole body suddenly trembled slightly, and a strange sensation spread through him.
It was as if some kind of change was taking place inside his body.
What was going on?
He instinctively opened his Terminal Panel to check and found that his Mind Power upper limit had officially reached 2,000 points. The change happening in his body was related to this.