58-68

Chapter 58: Making A Bet

Hiring elects of this level to guard the door could only mean that whoever owned this underground fighting arena had to be very powerful.

In fact, Qin Feng knew that the owner of this semi-official Eagle Clubhouse was the deputy mayor himself, Lin Zheng.

The guards at the door stood very still, but when a few pretty hostesses saw Qin Feng, they approached him and greeted him warmly with a "Sir, welcome to Eagle Clubhouse!"

Qin Feng was dressed in high-end clothing, with each piece going for at least 4,000. That didn't even include his communicator, which was itself worth a princely 100,000.

Upstart! Fuerdai! – that was how the others viewed Qin Feng!

Qin Feng nodded, dished out about 1,000 yuan, and slipped it to one of the girls.

"Bring me to the underground fighting arena!"

The woman was so thrilled to see the thick wad of cash; she looked at Qin Feng in excitement, unable to control her grin.

"Here, Xiao Lian will show you in. This way, sir!" The employee called Xiao Lian led the way, swaying her hips with sultry motions as she walked in front. She looked really pleased, a little smug even.

Since the other hostesses were left out of it, they rolled their eyes at her in dissent and went on their way to look for other wealthy whales, secretly whispering amongst themselves on how lucky that bitch was to find such an affluent young man who looked a hell lot better than the others, mostly elderly and disgustingly withered.

Qin Feng followed Xiao Lian into an elevator and noticed that she pressed the button for B1.

"What is your name, honorable sir?

"There's no need for honorifics. It's Qin," he replied, but that was it. Qin Feng was a man of few words.

"What does your family do? You look really young!" Xiao Lian was eager to speak to Qin Feng, but he seemed uninterested.

"Explain the fight to me!" Qin Feng said in a cold, unfriendly tone.

At the sharp reply, Xiao Lian's heart fell. Her experience in the business gave her a hunch that this was not going to be an easy guy to serve.

"Yes, Mr. Qin. We will see the fighting ring in a while. The competitors today are Black Bear, and Rolex, True Slash… and the rest. They are mighty victors – all of them are G-tier ability users!" Xiao Lian explained. The elevator came to a stop, and as the doors opened, they were instantly bombarded with a cacophony of a noisy stadium.

"Here, Mr. Qin!" Xiao Lian guided Qin Feng through the corridor that soon led to a brightly lit space.

The place was about the size of a small stadium, went up at least 3 floors, and in the center was a brightly illuminated fighting ring spanning about 20 meters.

Qin Feng was bowled over!

Bomb shelters like this could be used to protect the city from being attacked by ultra-beasts, and yet obscene amounts of resources had to be wasted for these things.

Outside of the ring were flights of stairs ascending at an incline with endless rows of seats. At first glance, Qin Feng estimated that it should accommodate a minimum of 10,000 people.

Around them were giant 30-meter-wide pillars strategically placed in several parts of the structure, with each of them mounted with a massive screen displaying a live broadcast of the fight.

"Mr. Qin, you're pretty lucky today. This is the fifth round, with Ruthless Tiger as the defender. His opponent, though, is ever more powerful – the champion of eight consecutive competitions! This is a level-skipping challenge!" said Xiao Lian. "Mr. Qin, you can visit our public website on your communicator to see the betting odds and its payout for the competitors!"

"Mm!" Qin Feng had no inkling of the rules of Chengbei's underground fighting scene, but he'd been to other underground arenas in his previous life. Even so, he had only been a spectator. At that time, he wasn't strong enough to be in the ring.

Qin Feng opened his communicator and scanned the odds for the two fighters. The contender and the challenger's score was 1:5, which meant that betting a Ruthless Tiger win would have to place 100 to earn 500 whereas Arm Breaker's odds were 6:7, so the player would have to bet 600 to get 700.

From the looks of it, odds were the organizer was not very optimistic about Ruthless Tiger.

On top of that, both of them had separate reward models that were handed out directly to the candidates. The more exciting the fight, the more excited the crowd got, and the more the reward money would eventually be.

The two fighters took to the stage!

Qin Feng did not place any bets, and Xiao Lian did not know if she should give him the heads up.

[Ladies and gentlemen, an exciting fight is about to begin. Make some noise!!!]

The loudspeakers in the arena exploded as the emcee rallied up the crowd, announcing the start of the competition with gusto.

Qin Feng's eyes locked on the stag!

Ruthless Tiger did not look too good. Multiple injuries pockmarked his body, with large bluish bruises covering most of his skin. His opponent, on the other hand, was filled with energy and spirit. He was evidently the more dominant one in this fight.

This fight was a no-brainer. The match had only started when the contender called Arm Breaker launched a sudden attack on his opponent, taking the other guy by surprise. He did not stand a chance to retaliate.

The crowd went wild, with cheers and chants echoing in the stadium. The chaotic atmosphere was reminiscent of an angry mob 10,000 strong.

"Arm Breaker! Arm Breaker!"

"Arm Breaker! Arm Breaker!"

"Come on! Crush him!"

Qin Feng noticed that the rewards for both players were increasing rapidly on his communicator.

Then, the emcee's voice reverberated over the loudspeaker:

[Patron number 721 has given Arm Breaker 100,000 yuan to see Arm Breaker break Ruthless Tiger's neck. Hahaha! Let's see what Arm Breaker is going to do!]

The moment Arm Breaker caught an ear of the emcee's announcement, he could not help but grin victoriously, and in an effort to impress, he went back down into the fight!

Crack!!!

One of Ruthless Tiger's arm was snapped into two by Arm Breaker and was bent at an abnormal angle. The whites of shattered bone gleamed in the spotlights as it pierced out of his flesh.

"Ahhhhh!" Ruthless Tiger screamed, his agony unimaginable.

The audience erupted into an even louder roar, electrified that blood had finally been spilled.

"Arm Breaker!Arm Breaker!"

Arm Breaker smirked and continued to bludgeon his opponent brutally!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Subsequently, all four of Ruthless Tiger's limbs were broken.

[Patron number 721 has given Arm Breaker another 100,000! Ah, there's more, patron number 1032, and patron 1032. We have the banks flowing for him! Gosh, they seem to all really like Arm Breaker's exhilarating performance!]

Arm Breaker waved his arms in the air, looking cocky, pumping up the crowd's zealousness further.

"I concede! I concede!" Ruthless Tiger howled. He had this desperate look in his eyes as if pleading for his life.

"Concede? What?! No one has ever conceded in an underground fight!" muttered Arm Breaker while he strode up to his opponent and mercilessly snapped his neck by twisting the head around.

"Ow –"

A loud hush followed by cheers erupted like wildfire. Loud shrieks and whistles of excitement from the audience; their necks and faces flushed with exhilaration.

"So, the 'exciting performance' turned out to be the brutal killing of the opponent?" Qin Feng mockingly told the girl.

Even though he had been reborn, he found himself again unable to adapt to the vile insanity of the people! Maybe because they were all average lads, unable to escape the colony, and that their frustrations led them to vent their violence and fervor over here.

Qin Feng smelled the darkness approaching.

The crowd proved deafening, and Qin Feng had spoken so softly that Xiao Lian did not hear his comment. As for her, she quietly observed that Qin Feng did not seem excited, in fact, a little unhappy to be precise.

"Mr. Qin, if you don't like the noise, we can go to a private room. You can enjoy the fight in peace and quiet there!"

Qin Feng answered coolly, "No need. That won't be necessary. You know, I honestly think that this competition is exciting. I'll challenge this Arm Breaker guy!"

Chapter 59: Getting into the Ring

Xiao Lian's eyes widened, gawking at Qin Feng in disbelief.

"Er, Mr. Qin. This is no joke. Entering the ring is serious business. That's something only daredevils would do!"

There were all kinds of strange and unusual people who had visited this place, but one thing linked them together. They were all destitute and poverty-stricken. Qin Feng looked like he was born with a silver spoon, so why would he do such a thing?

"That's not for you to worry about. Just bring me in!" Qin Feng took out another wad of cash and flung it at Xiao Lian.

When the girl saw the money, she knew that this young master would never take no for an answer. With clenched jaws, Xiao Lian cursed under her breath. She pretended to be polite. "Well, if you insist, please come with me then, young master. I must inform you that Arm Breaker may not accept your challenge!"

Qin Feng followed Xiao Lian to the registration desk.

When the person at the desk saw the young man, he looked astonished. Qin Feng did not look like he needed the money at all.

"Excuse me, young master. Going into that ring is not something that should be taken lightly. Our rules here are that once you enter the competition, you will have to compete in 5 battles before you are allowed to decide whether or not you want to continue. One person can compete in a maximum of 35 battles. From the second day onward, all the opponents you'll be fighting against will be way stronger than you and much more experienced! Not that we've never had people your age come along, but it's just that most of them can't even last three rounds!"

The person hoped that his brief anecdote would discourage Qin Feng from joining.

Qin Feng, however, merely nodded, obviously unperturbed. "What about the prize?"

He had come to strengthen his martial arts' internal force, and it would be an added bonus if the prize were big too!

When the man at the registration saw that Qin Feng wasn't about to change his mind, he decided that he would not care less if Qin Feng was dead or alive. He then proceeded to look up Qin Feng's particulars. If Qin Feng hailed from an influential family, all they had to do was to tell his opponent to keep him alive. That was the way things ran over here.

"If you win the first battle, you'll get 10,000, then, 50,000 for the second battle, 100,000 for the third, 500,000 for the fourth, and 1 million yuan for your fifth!"

The total prize money for winning all five battles was 1.66 million. Unsurprisingly, most people got nothing as the prize money was only given out at the end of the fifth round. Take Ruthless Tiger, for example. He won the first four battles, but instead of taking home 660,000, he lost his life in the ring!

"Also, you can take home 10% of the audience's donation !"

Qin Feng nodded. "What about the prizes after the six consecutive wins?"

At the question, the man at the registration table nearly fell off his chair.

This young man had no idea if he would even be able to survive today, and here he was, thinking about winning six battles in a row?

"For every round of battle won after that, the prize would increase by 1 million! That means 2 million for winning six rounds, 3 million for seven, and 4 million for eight. If you win thirty-five successive battles, the total reward would be more than 30million! By then, I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for you to win 100 billion if you wanted to!" The man spoke the last sentence in sarcasm, spitefully jostling Qin Feng with something impractical.

Any typical youth would have become drunk on the idea of success, engrossed in wild fantasies they had fabricated up their heads.

With all things considered, 100 million yuan was an astronomical figure!

"Not bad!" Qin Feng nodded again. A prize like that was worth taking the risk!

Qin Feng took out his communicator and displayed his personal information. "Sign me up!"

Since he insisted on going down the path of self-destruction, the man decided that there was no point in trying to stop him. After he reviewed Qin Feng's details, the guy exhaled and had this look on his face, as if he finally understood.

"You're an orphan? You only received your awakening injection last month!"

"Yup!"

When Xiao Lian heard Qin Feng's answer, she was stunned for a moment. This boy was three years younger than her!

She inspected Qin Feng's clothes and communicator, and she suspected that he probably earned some money in the wilderness, then squandered all of it when he came back. Someone must have egged him on to join the underground fight.

This was usually the case. The Eagle Clubhouse had to expand their business anyway, so they would often exaggerate the overnight fortune that people stood to make by participating in their underground fights. Numerous youngsters had been deceived into signing up, eventually ending up losing their lives.

That was precisely what the guy at the registration thought.

"You seem to be pretty confident in yourself. Fine, I'll sign you up! What code name will you be using?"

Code names like Ruthless Tiger and Arm Breaker…

Qin Feng thought about the little fox sound asleep at home and answered, "Deranged, Crazed, or Mad Fox!"

Mad Fox.

…..

[The defender is a candidate called Mad Fox, and he's only sixteen years old. Hahaha! You heard that right – this is a young man who has only awakened a month ago. Of course, his opponent isn't very strong either. We would never do something so barbaric!]

The audience exploded into fits of laughter.

If the underground fight was not barbaric, then what was?

[His rival is… Black Psycho!]

When the audience saw Black Psycho's details and noticed that he was a pretty decent fighter. Even though it was no professional assessment, the screen showed that he was the kind of man that could dish out a 1,000 attack punch, which was to say that this Black Psycho had G2-tier strength.

Black Psycho was one of Eagle Clubhouse's own thugs. He worked as a hired henchman on regular days, but whenever the chance to enter the ring presented itself, he would jump at it. They even got paid 10,000 for winning, and more if he put on a great show. After all, Black Psycho was, in actual fact, simply average in terms of strength. Even so, Black Psycho had a pretty stellar record. As a challenger, he had taken the lives of 11 people and only lost three battles in his career.

"This is a no brainer! Black Psycho is going to win for sure!"

"Black Psycho! Go… let me see you torture your opponent!"

"I'm betting on Black Psycho winning!"

Qin Feng's odds were 1:1.3, whereas Black Psycho's odds were 3:4.

If the people wagered on Qin Feng, they would have to risk 100 to win a mere 103, and if they bet on Black Psycho, they would have to risk 300 to win 100. In short, the profit margin for the first round wasn't the most enticing. No matter who won the battle, only the gambling house would be making any substantial earnings.

For that very reason, old-time gamblers would not choose to place any bets on this round.

It was an unspoken fact that this first round was just for observation.

[Both candidates have words that mean 'crazy' in their names. So, let's see which of these two is crazier! The competition starts now!]

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The bell rang, and the energy force field rose, effectively locking them in. Qin Feng and Black Psycho stood facing each other. Both of them were topless, wearing only a pair of shorts and combat shoes.

Black Psycho was a massive guy, towering at a tall-ish 1.9 meters with coal-black skin and bulging muscles, brimming with vigor.

Next to him, Qin Feng's skin was a healthy tan, and the tone of his muscles was well-defined. With a lean physique, he looked like a growing young boy, and at 178 cm, he was a good head shorter than his rival.

"Hey, kid, I will tear you apart!" Black Psycho bared a mouthful of white teeth, looking more like sharp fangs. "After that, I will bring your body back so that I can cook and eat your meat. Soft skin and tender flesh like yours should taste pretty good!"

Qin Feng's face darkened, taking on the look of a murderous killer.

It increasingly looked like he did not need to be merciful this round.

Black Psycho attacked first, his fist unrestrained.

Qin Feng could kill him with one strike, but he did not want to reveal his actual strength. That, however, did not mean that he would go soft of him.

Bash!

Qin Feng took the chance to throw a punch at Black Psycho's face. Black Psycho's head shook a little as it bore its brunt. As blood splattered from his mouth, a few of his glimmering white teeth were flung 2 meters away!

Chapter 60: Challenge Arm Breaker

"Aren't you going to eat me up? That's all you've got? Hergh!" Qin Feng threw another sock.

Bish!

Bash! Punch!!!

Half of Black Psycho's face became swollen.

The audience roared and cheered, delighted to see the unexpected turn of events.

[Wow! Patron number 182 has tipped 100,000 to Mad Fox. Let's see what he has to say? Haha! This must be a female patron. She said: to keep Mad Fox out of the ring – she is willing to look after this handsome young man!]

More and more people were cheering on Qin Feng's behalf.

Maybe it was because of his swollen face, or because of the humiliation, that Black Psycho roared in anger, "Die, kid!"

He raised a leg attempting to kick Qin Feng, and at the same time, a knife tip appeared on his shoe. If Qin Feng did not dodge this kick, the blade would have surely pierced his chest, and he would meet his untimely end. The shoe Qin Feng was wearing were Eagle Clubhouse standard issue, but it did not have this mechanism. Black Psycho's shoes were exactly the same, so it meant that they were a modified pair.

There was obviously foul-play in the workings.

But in underground fights, there was no such thing as playing dirty. There was only victory, only one's survival at play. The loser was doomed to certain death!

Qin Feng sniggered, forming a claw with his hands and grappled onto Black Psycho's calf!

Crack!

Qin Feng crossed his hands and broke his opponent's calf!

Before Black Psycho could even make a sound, Qin Feng pushed upwards so forcefully that the already garishly bent calves now turned towards Black Psycho's forehead!

"Arrrghhh!"

His own pointed blade punctured his skull before Black Psycho's eyes flickered. Then, all the strength in his body left him, and he stopped struggling.

Plop!

Qin Feng gave his victim one last gentle shove, and Black Psycho collapsed like jelly onto the ground.

Fresh, warm, blood dripped out, dyeing the rims of Black Psycho's lifeless eyes.

For a brief minute, the whole arena went completely still, the audience coming to grips with the sudden events. Only when Black Psycho's face was plastered on the big screens did they react with an explosive thunder of applause and hurrahs!

Had this event taken place in some other arena, the entire crowd would have been scared to death. But in this very location, the spectators were only more fired up.

The adrenaline and appalling taste of death only had them shouting for more! Qin Feng's payoff was growing by the minute.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The bell rang, and the referee declared Qin Feng winner.

The voice of the emcee echoed over the loudspeaker.

[Let us congratulate Mad Fox. His valiant might has caused us to see him in a whole new light! But Black Psycho was too careless in that battle, for speed is clearly Mad Fox's area of expertise. This was how he was able to dodge Black Psycho's advances and claim the victory! Mad Fox has denied Black Psycho the chance to demonstrate his caliber!]

The emcee's words stirred and agitated the spectator's brain cells. Truth be told, while Qin Feng was fast, he was not weak either. How else did he manage to mutilate Black Psycho's legs?

However, the emcee's job was to highlight weaknesses and eschew strength attempting to sway the audience from making the right judgments – a crafty method for Eagle Clubhouse to rake in huge profits at the expense of the patrons.

A large number of people agreed with the emcee: Qin Feng's slimmer physique naturally made him much more agile; his victory in this battle was unsurprising!

"I should've placed my bet on Mad Fox!"

"Let's give it another go. We'll see if the opponent is stronger this time!"

"It's probably nothing too impressive… it's only the second round!"

Sure enough, the competitors for the second battle were almost similar to Black Psycho, neither weak nor strong. Qin Feng had only sparred with his opponent briefly before defeating him. He did not kill this rival, but he absorbed his internal force instead, basically the equivalent of crippling this person.

In the third and fourth battles, Qin Feng won them both, each fight lasting no more than ten minutes.

His score was moving upwards, and the wagers were increasing. Qin Feng, on the contrary, looked as relaxed as ever.

The spectators' confidence in him automatically grew, as if believing that Qin Feng would surely win all five battles today.

Backstage, in a lavishly decorated office, sat a young man in his late twenties enjoying fine wine with a scantily dressed woman in his arms. She diligently plucked grapes and fed him with her mouth.

This was the person in charge and the general manager of Eagle Clubhouse, Jiang Shaoyang.

He was F7-tier, one of the top elects of Beicheng.

"This kid's not bad. We can keep him for one day. Tell the people to arrange for a more skillful candidate. Make this a handicapped match!" Jiang Shaoyang ordered.

The emcee and the referee, both wearing an earpiece, each heard their boss' instruction.

It was a brilliant move indeed. If there were five consecutive victories, they would lose the audience's interest.

The people loved this comeback feeling.

But then again, the purpose of setting up Qin Feng against a powerful competitor was to ensure Eagle Clubhouse did not make any losses.

Spectators would naturally wager on the more intimidating candidate, the challenger. Only the few people who liked upsets would choose to place their bets on the defender.

Ruthless Tiger was an obvious example.

As the setup was happening, Qin Feng raised his hand, indicating to the referee that he wanted to speak.

"What is it?" The referee asked.

"I'd like to challenge a certain someone – that guy Arm Breaker from the fight earlier tonight!" Qin Feng said.

The referee was taken aback for a second, then nodded after. "I know. But that green light from me would have to depend on the higher authorities!"

"Alright!" Qin Feng then returned to his seat to rest up. There was actually no need for that since all of the four candidates he defeated were only G4-tier. Qin Feng knew that Arm Breaker was around G6-tier. His inner force was pretty good, and if all went well, he should be able to absorb some of it!

…

Backstage, Jiang Shaoyang's smile grew cold.

He would get uncomfortable with situations that were out of his control, even more so when his subordinates made unauthorized decisions!

Qin Feng's request had troubled Jiang Shaoyang, somehow striking the superior's nerve!

"Since he's so foolhardy, we'll grant him what he desires. Remember to raise his stakes, and prompt the people to wager on him!"

The people listening silently on the other end nodded obediently.

…

Five minutes later, the emcee spoke again.

[Wow! I've just received some news – Mad Fox has requested to challenge Arm Breaker! This is entirely unexpected! I wonder who gave Mad Fox the confidence to challenge one of the greatest nemesis known to man?! Didn't he watch how the match ended between Ruthless Tiger and Arm Breaker just now?]

The audience hooted and laughed at the artsy commentator. A few even mocked and cursed at Qin Feng, encouraged by the pundit's jeers.

"You want to challenge Arm Breaker? Are you insane?"

"Hell, there's no doubt about it! Arm Breaker will win for sure!"

"Retard! What a waste of time!"

"Let's stay and watch Arm Breaker bunch him into a ball!"

The crowd was rowdy, with none of them supporting Qin Feng.

[All-right! Is Mad Fox going to avenge Ruthless Tiger? Could this be a claim of vengeance? Let's take a look at the odds for these two candidates!]

The figures flashed onto the screen.

Qin Feng's odds were sky-high, 1:8, while Arm Breaker's was 5:6.

It increasingly looked like an axiomatic fight was about to take place.

However, the emcee was beating the drum for Qin Feng, alluding to the innuendo that there may be another surprise victory for this round. Thanks to the practiced tongue of the company man, many eventually fell for it.

When those who bet on Arm Breaker saw that the winnings were meager, the number of bets too, declined sharply.

Chapter 61: A Loss of 600 Million!

"I'm betting on my victory, 5 million!" Qin Feng contacted Xiao Lian prior to transferring over 5 million.

Staring at the number on her communicator, Xiao Lian could not believe that she was holding such a huge sum of money in her hands.

This only stunned her for a moment, and she immediately shoved aside the greed that was creeping within her, not daring to look at it again. After all this was not her money.

However, at the time he was placing his bet, Xiao Lian was rather bewildered.

'Is he so confident that he can win? He's an orphan, shouldn't he be short on money? Yet, he put 5 million on himself.'

Xiao Lian looked at Qin Feng who was in the ring, and at that moment, she felt a surge of excitement.

'Believe in him! He can win!'

Xiao Lian gritted her teeth and decided to add 50 thousand from her own savings.

As the 5.05 million on her communicator was automatically swept away, Xiao Lian's heart began to thump rapidly in her chest.

Arm Breaker had just re-entered the ring.

With a crooked grin, he had already gotten the order to brutally beat the boy up, better yet, to tear him apart.

To a G8-tier Ancient Warrior, this would be a piece of cake.

He was only a little baby that had just recently awakened!

In the backstage, Jiang Shaoyang watched as more and more money was bet on Qin Feng and nodded in satisfaction.

Yes, he would be able to make tens of millions again today!

Tens of millions, even an F-Tier ability user would have to risk their lives for up to a week in order to make that kind of money. Jiang Shaoyang only had to open his mouth and a pile of money would land on his lap!

This gave him a sense of fulfillment.

Not only that, it also gave him a sense of control over people's lives.

He was very pleased with himself.

***

As the barriers rose around the ring, the emcee's voice rang out.

[The peak showdown begins now! Lets see if our Mad Fox can get a five match winning streak!]

With that said, the referee brought his hand down and the fight began.

Qin Feng did not bother waiting, he was the first one to launch a direct attack!

His strength was already at a G9-tier, 3 tiers higher than Arm Breaker's, and Arm Breaker was barely able to react to Qin Feng's sudden attack.

Grimm struck out and only after a few moves he managed to grab Arm Breaker's arm before locking it behind his opponent.

"This arm. How many people's arms did this arm break?"

"Roar! Let me go!" Arm Breaker roared and struggled only to find that the force that was holding him was too powerful to break free from.

"Let go? Sure!"

Qin Feng said, his hand jerked violently and in that moment he snapped one of Arm Breaker's arms.

"AAH!!!"

Before Arm Breaker could continue to cry out, Qin Feng went ahead and snapped the other arm.

Those who had seen the fight between Arm Breaker and Ruthless Tiger would have noticed that Qin Feng's actions were an exact copy of Arm Breaker's, minus the swagger and arrogance that the latter displayed.

Qin Feng kicked at Arm Breaker's leg, knocking him down, and after two cracks sounded, he had snapped both of Arm Breaker's legs.

"You surrender now and I may be in a good enough mood to let you go," Qin Feng's voice casually floated over.

Arm Breaker quickly cried out, "I surrender, I surren-…duh!"

Qin Feng punched him in the abdomen, activating his Asteroid Assimilation!

Arm Breaker's internal force felt as if it was bundled up for a moment, then all of it was absorbed. Arm Breaker knew that at that moment, all of his internal force had disappeared.

"You… What did you do to me?" Arm Breaker blubbered in panic.

Qin Feng let out a frosty laugh. "Surrender. In underground fights, there is no such thing as 'surrender'!"

Qin Feng took Arm Breaker's line from before and tossed it right back at him, word for word.

"You played me?" Arm Breaker glared at Qin Feng, now knowing that Qin Feng was merely pulling his leg earlier on.

"I said that if I was in a good mood I'd let you go. What a shame, because I'm not in a very good mood right now!"

Scumbags like these, Qin Feng would naturally not show any mercy. It was better if they died off one by one!

"You can't kill me, I'm a member of the Eagle Club. If you kill me, you're never leaving this platform!"

Qin Feng frostily laughed again, he would not be able to leave?

He did not believe that. It would just be him against some G6-tier opponents, and if the Eagle Club did send people after him, it would be after he had already left.

In fact, he could not wait for these people to come!

With a final blow, Qin Feng pressed down onto Arm Breaker's neck and after a crunch, left his opponent with a twisted neck, and eyes rolled into the back of his head. The body collapsed as life ebbed from it.

The murderer, finally put to death!

Qin Feng had used Arm Breaker's own tactic to kill him, leaving the onlookers absolutely speechless, and also blood boiling in their veins.

This was truly a match that carried a grudge!

"Hahaha, I've won a million!"

"Upset, this is an upset!"

"Awesome, what a great day!"

"How the f*ck is Arm Breaker such garbage! This fight's staged!"

"My money!"

The audience roared with excitement and some started cursing out loud. However, this scene could always be seen within the Eagle Clubhouse.

Everything had always been controlled by those behind the scene, but that was not the case today.

Both the referee and the emcee broke out in cold sweat, this was not the outcome that they thought would occur.

It was supposed to be Qin Feng dead on the ground and Arm Breaker emerging victorious. Yet, as if some kind of ironic twist of fate, Arm Breaker was the one lying lifeless.

Perhaps they were both stunned for too long, the audience began to get rowdy.

"Announce it! Announce it already!"

"Where are my winnings? Why haven't you sent it yet?!"

All of a sudden, a sea of queries arose from the crowd, coming from all directions.

"Boss!" The referee shouted into his communicator, to Jiang Shaoyang who was on the other side.

"Boom!" was the huge blast of a sound that returned, it was clear that Jiang Shaoyang had flipped over his table in a fit of rage!

In this bet of 1:8, the bet he had collected was 80 million in total. In other words, he had just lost 600 million!

Even for the F8-tier Jiang Shaoyang, something like this was a huge sum of money. His face was contorted with rage.

"Hoo!" Jiang Shaoyang deeply exhaled, "Announce! Convince him to come again tomorrow! He wants to play? Then we'll play it big!"

"Yes, Manager!" The referee nodded and announced the results.

At the same time, everyone there was clamouring at their communicators.

Xiao Lian looked at the amount of money on her communicator and could hardly believe her eyes.

40.4 million Huaxia tokens!

A series of numbers that made her unable to open her eyes. "I'm rich! I'm rich!" Xiao Lian said incredulously.

Xiao Lian was so happy that she could not help herself. A seed of greed began to sprout in her heart, and at that moment she considered just taking the money and leaving.

It was just that moment Xiao Lian's communicator vibrated.

"Got the money?"

It was Qin Feng.

Xiao Lian unwittingly looked at the ring, seeing Qin Feng standing there, indifferent and raising his sight from his communicator and looking directly at her.

She felt a shiver run down her spine as the recollection of Qin Feng killing Arm Breaker snapped her out of her daze.

"Sent! It's sent! I'm transferring over to you right now!"

Xiao Lian hurriedly transferred 40 million over to Qin Feng as her heart fell.

"Beep! Beep!" She received a message on her communicator. Xiao Lian opened it and saw that it was a transfer of 1 million tokens.

Sent by Qin Feng.

She could hardly contain her excitement and at that moment it felt like she had the entire world.

When she looked up again, she realized that there was no sight of Qin Feng on the ring!

Chapter 62: Threats

"Mad Fox, here's your prize money for today. Looking at your ability, it seems that you still have a few tricks up your sleeve. Why not come back tomorrow? By then you'd be worth more than this!"

They did not know that Qin Feng had bet 5 million on himself and in one night he had raked in 40 million.

Now, they were giving him 2 million, including the audience's betting money, which made it a night where he struck gold.

"If you can win five matches in a row tomorrow, you'll be able to earn more than 10 million. I admire you, so young and yet so powerful!"

While the man was still trying to think of what to say, Qin Feng confirmed the amount of money inside his account and nodded. "I will come again tomorrow."

"Haha, please do!" The person at the reception smiled. "It would be better to stay at the clubhouse for the night, get a massage, and have a nice rest. There are plenty of pretty ladies here!"

Qin Feng immediately rejected his offer.

"No! I still have things to do, I'm off!"

Stay at the club? That would mean being monitored and maybe even poisoned at any time. Naturally, Qin Feng could not agree to such a thing, and not to mention, he had to go to class tomorrow!

The man's expression changed, believing that Qin Feng was deliberately shying away and deciding to not come tomorrow!

Still he could not stop Qin Feng.

When it came to something like this, it was not easy to tempt someone.

Qin Feng had already made up his mind.

In the manager's office, Jiang Shaoyang received a call again. His face was ignited with fury.

"Get someone to follow him, and when necessary, give him a warning. Isn't he from that orphanage? It's said that that old coot Lin Derong is highly respected by the little scamps there!"

For Jiang Shaoyang however, Lin Derong was nothing but an old goat ready to be slaughtered for food at any time.

"Yes, Manager!"

After the man hung up, he quickly broadcasted a wave of communication, leading the Eagle Club escort team to dispatch a small squad.

In this squad, there were only five people, but their strength was the same as what Qin Feng had seen at the front door. They probably had the same power level as someone in the G8 or G9 tier.

Such combat abilities were already terrifying enough!

Not even two hundred meters away from the Eagle Clubhouse, Qin Feng could already feel that someone was watching him!

He was in the slums with the towering buildings covering the sky. At night, there was almost no light and there was darkness everywhere.

The five were obviously very familiar with their surroundings and managed to surround Qin Feng in a small alleyway, cutting him off from the front and back.

"Mad Fox, your ability is quite decent. How about you join our Eagle Club?" said a young man.

Qin Feng frostily replied, "I don't have that kind of intention!"

After his rebirth, both the garrison and the patrol team tried to recruit Qin Feng but he had decidedly ignored them.

The Eagle Club? What a joke!

Not to mention, he would not possibly join the Eagle Club anyway because it was part of the deputy mayor's business.

"Boy, you dumb?!"

"Yeah, don't think that just because you have some power that you can start waving your tail feathers up in the air. The Eagle Club's strength isn't something you can ignore!" The others threatened Qin Feng with a lofty, condescending attitude.

The first person who spoke before, probably their captain, said, "Now now, don't freak out the kid. Mad Fox is only sixteen years old, young and frivolous. That's normal."

He changed the subject again before continuing, "It's true. You really would not be able to mess with the Eagle Club anyway. Remember to come back tomorrow. Otherwise, you can run all you want but we'll find you eventually, not to mention, you can't be all alone with no friends right? I've heard that you came out from that orphanage, even your dean would have to bow his head when he meets our Manager Jiang!"

Qin Feng suddenly looked solemn.

His expression was terrible to say the least, and under such dim lighting, it could only be vaguely made out, making it feel as if Qin Feng was absolutely furious right now!

This was the effect they wanted!

The captain chuckled and stepped forward to pat Qin Feng on the shoulder.

"Remember to come tomorrow! Otherwise we dare not guarantee that something unpleasant will not happen!"

After the captain finished speaking, he gestured for the rest of the squad to move out.

How could Qin Feng just let them walk away like this?

"That sucks, right now I want something unpleasant to happen to you!" Qin Feng said, raising a hand and instantly grabbing the captain by his neck.

"You're dead!"

The captain did not expect Qin Feng to fight back. He might have killed Arm Breaker but he would not be able to stand a chance against him.

After all, he was a G9-tier ability user. Yet, this was not a threat to Qin Feng, who could go head to head with an F-tier ability user, what was a G9 tier supposed to do?

"Snap!"

Qin Feng and the captain's wrists collided with one another, and the captain felt a great force coming from Qin Feng's arm.

"Sh*t, boy, you don't know the meaning of life and death!"

The rest of the squad roared and started to attack.

"Dark Shroud!"

Qin Feng's consciousness pulled from the core of his power and his ability burst out. Dark runes enveloped the entire alley.

At that moment, the four of them were lost in that infinite darkness, even losing all of their five senses as they panicked and started frantically attacking whatever was around them.

Their attacks did not land on Qin Feng, but instead hit each other.

"What's going on?" The captain was trying to process the scene in his mind but in the next moment, a palm came close toward his abdomen.

"Asteroid Assimilation!"

The assimilation activated, bursting forth!

In an instant, the G9-tier Ancient Warrior's internal power felt like it was being pulled away by a vortex, many years of hard work was lost just like that!

"Ahh!" The captain roared but found that he had no strength left to resist.

"Crack!"

Qin Feng reached down and bent the captain's neck like a twig.

In the same manner, the other four had their internal powers absorbed by Qin Feng before he dispatched them in an utterly ruthless fashion.

These people died without knowing what happened to them. Dark ability users were incredibly rare and Qin Feng's ability was extremely powerful.

At this time, Qin Feng felt that the threads of his internal power had expanded the Dantian. It felt as if it was ready to burst at any given moment.

Not only that, the five cadavers seemed to be giving off a burst of unknown energy. The energy that they have had while they were alive, of their flesh, was all absorbed into Qin Feng's body, thus strengthening it even further.

Qin Feng suppressed the immediate feeling of ranking up. As his consciousness was pushing further, his power surged once more.

"Hellfire!"

Five gouts of flame fell onto the five bodies, and in mere moments the flames consumed the bodies completely!

It left no trace behind except for the dispersing ashes. Hellfire was such a useful skill!

Qin Feng once again activated his power, Shadow Travel, and even with the countless possible forms of surveillance. Nobody would have been able to detect him while he took on the guise of darkness.

After escaping the slums, Qin Feng was finally able to relax. After finding an unoccupied spot, he sat down in a cross-legged manner.

Upon gaining insight of his Dantian, he learned that it was in a mess.

The internal power he absorbed today, in addition to his own, had become well over hundreds of threads.

Chapter 63: Little Forebear

From the beginning, Qin Feng had absorbed 15 threads of internal force from the gangsters in the slums.

However these internal force threads were very mottled, as thin as a cow's hair, though for Qin Feng, it was really better than nothing.

And then, in the ring, Qin Feng managed to defeat a G2-tier, G3-tier, G4-tier, G5-tier and then the latest G6-tier Arm Breaker. The first few were just appetizers, but Arm Breaker's internal power was extremely dense, netting him up to 20 threads of internal force.

As for the security squad from the Eagle Clubhouse just now, their team captain was fully G9 tier while the other four were also G8 tiers, which added up to a total of 41 internal force threads.

The difference in thickness and internal force properties resulted in the mess he had to deal with now.

"Swallow!"

Qin Feng activated his swallowing ability, causing his ability core to spin quickly as he gulped down the internal force within his dantian that did not belong to him.

The internal forces were quickly absorbed and finally integrated into his own body. The meridians expanded once again, almost to a level that would cause astonishment.

Even if he were to stop absorbing people's internal forces, his training speed would probably still be ten times faster compared to others.

At this time, most of the threads had been consumed, having been refined to be extremely pure as they were spat out by the power core and absorbed into Qin Feng's dantian.

The original 27 internal force threads suddenly rose exponentially to a total number of 62. Qin Feng's strength had more than doubled.

"It was a good decision to come after all!" Qin Feng felt quite excited.

However, when Qin Feng looked at his dantian with his internal vision, he noticed a problem.

"Even though my dantian is strengthened by internal force, I'm afraid it can only withstand an internal force that has ten times the number of internal force threads. In no more than a few days, it seems like my Ancient Warrior level would be promoted to F tier!"

This was fortunate since he had gotten himself a terribly strong enemy like the deputy mayor. How could he not attempt to quickly improve his strength?

Having withdrawn his internal vision, Qin Feng dropped his cultivation state and left the alley.

***

It was already 2 o'clock in the middle of the night.

"Beep!"

Qin Feng opened his door to find the house in pitch black darkness, with only a round ball that was dimly emanating silver light appearing by the doorway.

Qin Feng was stunned for a moment, but upon closer inspection, it was Xiao Bai!

"Xiao Bai? You're awake?" Qin Feng said in surprise, and in the next moment, he felt the ball move and dash toward his feet at a very fast speed.

"Ouch!"

Xiao Bai's sharp teeth came down and bit into Qin Feng's leg. He sucked in his breath as he felt a sharp pain erupt from his lower leg.

"Arf arf!"

Xiao Bai dragged Qin Feng by the trouser leg, biting down hard. The high quality pants could not help being torn off just like that, and with another rip it was finally reduced to rags.

In the blink of an eye, Qin Feng's pants were shredded and Xiao Bai retreated for a moment before he hopped up and down on its remains.

"Arf arf arf arf!"

Xiao Bai was very angry, no, absolutely fuming.

Qin Feng and Xiao Bai had signed a contract so he could naturally feel its emotions, he was dumbfounded at the sight before him.

"Did it go crazy?"

Qin Feng thought about the moniker he had in the Eagle Clubhouse, was that name perhaps prophetic?

"Xiao Bai! I'm sorry! You need to calm down!" Qin Feng quickly uttered to comfort the animal. Xiao Bai let out a frustrated yowl, turned its head and dashed up the second floor.

"Xiao Bai!"

Qin Feng chased after it, seeing Xiao Bai darting into his bedroom just as the door was closing behind it. The door closed with a click, it had actually locked itself inside!

Qin Feng. "…"

This fox was getting too smart for its own good! It actually managed to lock him out of his own room! For a moment, Qin Feng did not know whether to despair or be amused!

"Xiao Bai, why are you angry?" Qin Feng could not help but think about invoking the contract between person and fox. At that moment, Qin Feng sensed a crisp and tender voice.

"Bad Master, leaving me alone in the house. I'm so mad!"

"And not letting me use my abilities."

"Probably went to go play by himself."

"Not even a gift when he comes back."

"Don't come back, stay out. This bedroom is mine."

Qin Feng was a little stunned.

He had not expected Xiao Bai to think as such. He was not surprised by the fox's thoughts but rather surprised by the fact that these thoughts were so clear.

After the contract, communication between the two had always been based on a vague understanding of either one's consciousness. The invocation of the contract was also a form of communication with an application of consciousnesses, used by beastmasters to facilitate clear commands to their ultra beasts.

Ultra beasts did not normally understand human thinking.

Xiao Bai was different, perhaps it was because of its high intelligence or because Qin Feng had been taking very good care of him, it had caused it to understand more and more, and to have more sensitive emotions.

It was because Qin Feng told Xiao Bai to not use his spatial manipulation in the colony that Xiao Bai did not use it in order to find Qin Feng after it woke up. After waiting for a few hours, Qin Feng returned empty handed, with no present for the fox. It was for that particular reason that Xiao Bai was angry.

"This ain't good. I need to have the little ancestor calm down!'

Qin Feng let out an indulgent laugh before opening his communicator. Tonight's winnings had been a total of 42 million, which was a huge sum of money for a G-tier person. If he wanted to, he could even buy himself a set of silver light rune equipment.

That was not necessary though.

Qin Feng opened up his browser and searched for energy crystal cores!

The energy crystal nucleus had different values due to varying strengths, the Neapolitan Mastiff was worth 20 thousand.

Beast king level crystals were worth ten times more than that.

Qin Feng directly searched through Chengyang's Thousand Batches Auction House,

[G8-tier Twisted Lynx King crystal core, priced at 8.3 million! ]

[G7-tier Blue Ripple Mantis King Crystal Core, priced at 7.21 million! ]

[G5-tier Minotaur King crystal core, priced at 5.8 million! ]

[G9-tier…]

After refreshing the page, Qin Feng took a closer look and chose some crystals with reasonable prices and relatively high energy before paying for his purchases.

"Using the sky pigeon express delivery, delivery within 10 minutes!"

Qin Feng paid an extra 50 thousand.

The sky pigeon was an extremely fast contract ultra beast, its gentle personality made it easy to tame. While it had no fighting power, it was used for quick communication and goods delivery.

In less than five minutes, Qin Feng's communicator rang. "Dear VIP, your goods have arrived. Please open a window or accept it in an open area."

Qin Feng went to the roof and from afar he saw a huge pigeon.

The pigeon had wings over a meter long with a round but strong looking body. It was carrying a package in its claws

"I see it! This way!" Qin Feng waved his hand.

"Roger, I'll land the pigeon immediately!"

The sky pigeon had a communicator around its neck, the beastmaster was using it to direct the pigeon to land and Qin Feng successfully obtained the package.

Only the Wanzong Auction House was able to deliver items so quickly, and it was early in the morning too!

Qin Feng had gotten the items, and the more-than-40-million that was on his communicator was gone.

Translator's note: i think i felt something in the last part, i just can't figure out if it's despair or adoration.

Chapter 64: Beast King Xiao Bai

"Now the little forebear shouldn't be angry anymore!" Qin Feng took the package down from the roof, walked to the second floor bedroom and knocked on the door.

"Xiao Bai, I brought you a present, do you want it or not?" Qin Feng asked.

No movement from within.

"It's an energy core. Your favorite food!" Qin Feng insisted.

This time, there was finally movement from behind the door, and with a click, the door was opened.

Qin Feng entered the bedroom and saw that Xiao Bai was back to curling up on its pillow after opening the door, coldly disregarding his presence.

"I promise they'll taste very good. They are very powerful energy cores. I'm trying to apologize, alright?"

Qin Feng coaxed the fox as if he was trying to coax his daughter.

Xiao Bai had not been growing this entire time. The only thing was its fur that was getting fluffier, and it was hardly the size of two palms. How could someone not pity this small creature?

Qin Feng had already killed a number of people but he would not ever touch a fur on Xiao Bai.

This far exceeded the gratitude toward Xiao Bai's saving grace. Maybe it was because of the contract. Maybe it was the days of getting along and fighting side by side.

Qin Feng knew that Xiao Bai would never really disregard its own existence.

"Hmph!" Xiao Bai harrumphed and finally snatched the gift away from Qin Feng's hands, at the same time giving Qin Feng a glare.

Yet, Qin Feng knew that Xiao Bai had forgiven him by now.

Xiao Bai hugged the gift and with a swift swipe of its paws it opened up the box to see the five energy cores lying inside, all of which varied in sizes.

Xiao Bai chose the smallest one and crunched down onto it. However, instead of falling into a deep sleep, all of the fur on its body stood up on their ends and Xiao Bai let out a whimpering sound.

Qin Feng, who was trying to fall asleep, immediately sat up and looked at Xiao Bai. "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the crystal core?"

Qin Feng's first thought was that someone had poisoned the crystal cores but he felt that he was not thinking rationally.

The aura exuding from Xiao Bai's body violently rose, this kind of aura seemed like a promotion. Not only that, the fur on its long tail was growing at a rate visible to the naked eye, almost forming a fan of some kind.

Xiao Bai's strength was quickly rising as well.

The different crystals Qin Feng had obtained from hunting ultra beasts were all given to Xiao Bai. Although it had only been born for a short period of time, within a month, Xiao Bai had not only evolved into a beast general, but its strength should be around G8 tier.

Now, after eating the beast king energy core, it did not go to sleep, which meant that the power change had to be something huge.

Xiao Bai's energy aura changed from that of a beast general to that of a beast king. Upon seeing this, Qin Feng was naturally very happy.

A beast king contractual ultra beast. That was something most beastmasters would find impossible to have.

Xiao Bai's potential really was immense.

In an instant, a crystal core was gone, there was a slight drop in Xiao Bai's aura so Qin Feng hurriedly handed a crystal over to Xiao Bai, which it immediately slurped up.

Perhaps it also realized that it had reached an important key moment.

After a short while, Xiao Bai's power continued to rise, and its previously small-as-two-palms size grew to that of half a meter. In reality, Xiao Bai was not really that small, but because it was easier for Qin Feng to carry it around it maintained that appearance. To highly intelligent ultra beasts such as Xiao Bai, shapeshifting was almost a necessary ability.

Xiao Bai continued to devour the crystal cores. The third one, fourth one, fifth one!

Xiao Bai's aura violently burst forth, unleashing a startling, monarch-like majesty from its body.

The whole Qinghu area, even the villa area next to it could feel this sudden surge in power. It would never be known just how many people were jolted from their dreams, so startled that they were ready for a fight-or-flight situation.

"Xiao Bai! Quickly reabsorb your aura!" Qin Feng immediately shouted.

Xiao Bai quickly got its aura under control, but its appearance had changed greatly. Its tail had grown from the length of two palms to half a meter, but the fluffy tail had split right down the center and become two.

A twin-tailed fox demon.

Xiao Bai had risen to F tier, not only that, it was at the beast king tier.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Bai managed to reach F tier before Qin Feng did!

This new look for Xiao Bai made it look quite powerful and had this kingly majesty to it but…

"Xiao Bai, you've become like this in just an instant. How am I supposed to take you to school today?"

Xiao Bai had already made its appearance in school before.

Upon hearing Qin Feng say that, its crystal bright eyes widened and already it seemed like it was judging Qin Feng.

"Arf!"

Xiao Bai was fuming once again. It was going to be locked in the house again even after the promise that something would change, what a liar.

Those other two-legged beasts could be seen walking around with their masters.

With that thought, Xiao Bai suddenly thought of an idea.

The next moment, Qin Feng noticed that the fur on Xiao Bai's body and tail had begun to quickly fade away, and the silver fur on its head was growing longer and thicker.

Its body began to elongate, and the bald pink skin it had developed to resemble human skin.

Its ears became round, the tip of its mouth and nose contracted, and its chin became more prominent, becoming more solid.

White-colored eyebrows, a pair of crystal fox-like eyes, a small nose and lips tender and delicate.

Qin Feng was beyond shocked!

"You…"

"Master!"

Xiao Bai spoke with a crisp voice, the exact voice that Qin Feng heard when communicating by invoking the contract.

However, at this moment, Xiao Bai was no longer a fox, but an actual person.

White long hair that was emanating a silvery glow reached its waist, an alluring face that did not seem mortal came up to Qin Feng and asked in an extremely arrogant tone, "How's this? Can I go with you now? You humans are so troublesome!"

Qin Feng. "…"

He only felt his nose getting hot, something warm was dribbling out and he quickly covered his nose!

"Xiao Bai! Put some clothes on first!"

For the first time after his rebirth, Qin Feng felt the meaning of being in a state of frenzy.

Xiao Bai had transformed but it bore no human instincts whatsoever, it was completely bare with no intention of covering itself up.

Despite having transformed, Xiao Bai was as flat as an airport and looked the equivalent of thirteen to fourteen years of age. Yet, Qin Feng was unable to stop his mind from briefly rocketing off into fantasy, especially with Xiao Bai's crisp call of 'Master'.

He felt like he was going to have a heart attack.

"I can't wear my clothes now can I!"

Xiao Bai picked up some of the scraps on the ground in distress, looking at the small wedding dress that had been torn after elevating into beast king tier.

She only had this one set of clothing right now, the others were still being tailor made.

Qin Feng hurriedly got up and said, "Wear mine first!"

He took out a shirt and put it on Xiao Bai, it looked like a big long dress.

An especially translucent dress.

She became even more alluring and seductive than when she was not wearing anything!

Qin Feng remembered that before the extinction of humanity there had been books written about fox spirits that could transform into women, charming the world around them. That was apparently not an exaggeration.

"Come! Let's go buy clothes!"

Qin Feng put several shirts over Xiao Bai in quick succession before buckling a belt around her waist, it was barely considered a dress but it would have to do for the time being.

After feeling more secure about her appearance, Qin Feng grabbed Xiao Bai and quickly left the house!

As for school?

To hell with it, he was skipping class!

Translator's note: call me in 48 hours i'm dying wey

Chapter 65: Gigantification

Qin Feng had Xiao Bai properly disguised with her hair curled up, hat over her head and even a pair of sunglasses covering her face.

The only thing was that the sunglasses were a bit too big, then again, it was technically what he bought for himself the last time in case he needed to cover his own appearance.

After Xiao Bai had ranked up to beast king tier, the time was already 7am and there were already people going about their business downstairs. As Qin Feng took Xiao Bai from the elevator to the underground parking lot, he heard many people discussing what just transpired as he passed by.

"Did you feel it just now? That terrifying bearing."

"Yeah. Probably a beast king."

"My alarm didn't go off so it probably wasn't a threat."

"It's probably too fast, that's why it didn't get picked up, some terrifying beast king probably just zipped past or something."

"Thank goodness it's just passing by!"

Everyone seemed relieved. Only Qin Feng, who had Xiao Bai the initiator, did not attempt to participate in the discussion as he got into his hover car and drove out of the basement.

Due to the store they shopped from before having a good impression on Qin Feng and Xiao Bai, this time they directly went to the branded store.

"Welcome… Ah, Mr. Qin!"

A surprised voice sounded and Qin Feng looked up. It was Xiao Lian who he had met at the Eagle Clubhouse yesterday.

Qin Feng was also a little bit surprised.

"Why are you here?"

Xiao Lian put on a customary smile before glancing to the side for a moment, and said, "I work here, that stuff at the Eagle Clubhouse was only just my part-time job. I don't do it anymore!"

Qin Feng knew at first glance that she was lying.

Xiao Lian indeed was not telling the truth as she had been working at the Eagle Clubhouse since she was sixteen and could be considered one of the veterans there. Having worked there for so many years, she naturally had several powerhouses backing her up, though the job required one to be young. Also, if someone were unhappy with them they might even turn up cold the next day.

Even though Xiao Lian had worked there for three years, she had experienced matters of life and death, and she had to use her own money to buy therapeutic drugs to survive. As she was without a skill, she did not want to give up that job.

What happened the day before managed to change her life.

Including the money Qin Feng gave her, Xiao Lian had accumulated a total savings of 1.4 million yuan, enough to buy a house in the civilian district.

When you think about it, was not wanting a shelter over one's head the reason why one would work hard?

Xiao Lian made the decisive action to leave the Eagle Clubhouse. Fortunately, she had been sensible and obedient. The Eagle Clubhouse also had a lot of public relations with the local tyrants so she was happily released.

With the money in hand, she briefly thought about how to squander it before remembering the brand of Qin Feng's clothing that was bought from this store.

As soon as she came over, she discovered that it was hiring employees. Xiao Lian immediately decided to work here, hoping to meet Qin Feng someday.

Who would have known that she was this lucky to have arrived ten minutes before Qin Feng did.

"Huh. Not bad." Qin Feng nodded, not bothered to pry into her lie.

It was certainly best to not have to work in that wretched hive of scum and villains like the Eagle Clubhouse.

"It's good that you're here, now help her find a set of clothes. Include sets of undergarment!" Qin Feng sounded a little embarrassed before pointing to Xiao Bai who he had been dragging around.

Xiao Bai was not paying attention, glancing all around.

The last time she came here, she was still a tiny fox. Naturally she only found the wedding dress that little foxes could wear. Today, she decided that clothes for two-legged beasts were much more pleasing.

Though, the sunglasses made everything around her too dark. She reached up and pulled down her sunglasses to reveal her devastatingly beautiful face.

"I want this one, and that one and this one!

Without holding back, Xiao Bai started to choose what she wanted.

"Yeah, tell her what you want. You can go take a look!" Qin Feng put Xiao Bai in Xiao Lian's hands before shuffling off to the sofa to rest.

Perhaps he was truly exhausted as he was unable to stop his eyes from closing as he recuperated.

Xiao Bai did not cling onto Qin Feng, instead she started picking up clothes that she wanted and dashed into the fitting room.

When Xiao Lian saw Xiao Bai, she developed a strong sense of jealousy.

This girl had very beautiful looks even though she looked like a child. Yet, she was very alluring and even her voice sounded nice.

Not only that, Qin Feng's indulgent attitude hurt Xiao Lian's feelings, he treated her like an attendant, yet when dealing with this other girl, he was unconsciously spoiling her.

"Miss, over here please, what are your measurements? We have all sizes here!"

"What size? I don't know? Didn't the Master say that you were supposed to help me?" Xiao Bai said as a matter of factly.

Xiao Lian felt like her heart was getting squeezed.

Xiao Lian smiled and said stiffly, "Then let's try it out, here please!"

The two women entered the fitting room. While Xiao Lian had money and power, in comparison to this other girl she felt like an old fox.

Xiao Lian was jealous deep down, and she could not stop herself from being sharp and unkind with her words, perhaps even thinking about some minor bad intentions.

"Xiao Bai, you call Mr. Qin your master. Are you his servant?"

Xiao Bai gave the other a strange look before thinking about how she got along with Qin Feng and said indifferently, "No, more like he serves me! He prepares food for me, and will buy me presents when I get angry!"

It really was Qin Feng serving her!

Xiao Lian's face contorted a little.

This girl was deliberately showing off!

Xiao Bai was an ultra beast and had very keen senses. At this time, she would no longer stand Xiao Lian's hostility and lost it for a moment.

Her tone became chilly, not bearing any fury but full of prestige, sort of similar to the aura that Qin Feng gave off.

"What do you mean?"

Xiao Lian was dumbstruck. After gasping, she screamed, "…Aaah! A monster!"

Qin Feng who had been resting his eyes to recuperate immediately opened his eyes and rushed toward the fitting room in the fastest pace he could physically perform, then his eyes widened as he found a terrified Xiao Lian and an innocent looking Xiao Bai.

He wanted to slam his head into the wall at that moment.

Chapter 66: The Dark Plague

"Stop fussing. She is a user with transfiguration ability. This happens all the time," Qin Feng explained.

Xiao Lian was hardly convinced. She looked at Qin Feng suspiciously.

"Stop sticking your nose in matters that you are not supposed to know. Get out of here," Qin Feng ordered.

"My apologies, Mr. Qin."

To Xiao Lian, this man was full of mystery.

She knew that Qin Feng was an orphan that had only awakened about a month ago. However, his unparalleled growth in strength and the peculiar girl by his side were highly unusual. Could he be some sort of secret human weapon developed by the authorities?

Xiao Lian created all sorts of headcanons regarding Qin Feng's identity without knowing that her idol, too, was having a headache inside the fitting room.

"What on earth happened?" Qin Feng could not help but ask.

Xiao Bai answered, "That female human was being funny. She said I must first grow before I am allowed to serve you. She even criticized me for looking awful in this dress!"

Xiao Bai had just learned how to put on human attire. The V-neck gown on her generously exposed her deep cleavage. Qin Feng touched his nostril to make sure he was not having a nosebleed.

What kind of nonsense did Xiao Lian just utter?

"Your current look does not match such a body shape. Ignore what she had just said."

Qin Feng did not care about the child-like look on such a sexy body.

"Is that so? But I think I look better this way."

Xiao Bai did not seem to be easily persuaded.

"If that is so, then at least reduce the size."

"Alright then…" Xiao Bai agreed reluctantly.

"Smaller!" Qin Feng ordered with a hoarse voice.

"How about this?"

Qin Feng reached out and felt it with his hand. He then nodded. "Okay, this should do."

Xiao Bai looked into the mirror and examined herself.

"I see. So the size is a little exaggerated just now. I get it now!"

Qin Feng was speechless.

The embarrassing shopping spree finally came to an end after Qin Feng personally picked a bra and brought a few more clothes for Xiao Bai.

'Is it because my body is still very young right now?'

Qin Feng suppressed his inner desire gushing through his blood vessels. He had been fighting a lot after he was reborn and he now realized that he might have other needs to fulfill…

However, he soon discarded the thought once Xiao Bai's charming yet naïve face came before his sight.

"Let's go. We need to go get you an identity." This idea came into Qin Feng's mind when Xiao Bai had taken the human form.

There should not be much of a hassle for her to get one now with a human appearance.

Qin Feng led Xiao Bai back to the orphanage. Those threats by the gangsters the day before were still lingering in his mind. He was worried and figured that it was best to pay the orphanage a visit to check on the kids.

The orphanage was as crowded as always. Nevertheless, the kids were not as lively. They appeared lethargic and seemed to be shrouded by a gloomy aura.

Qin Feng furrowed his brows.

"This is odd. What's the matter?" He was perplexed.

The kids were still excited to see Qin Feng. A lot of them recognized him from before. "It's the big bro that brought us a lot of meat!"

"Brother Qin!'

"Hi, Brother Qin!"

"Hi, kiddos! How are you guys today?"

Qin Feng dragged a kid closer to him and patted his head.

"Have you all eaten the meat that I brought over?"

"Yea!"

"How many?"

The kid in his arm was only three to four years old. He did not really know how to count yet. Besides, who would have counted how much meat one had eaten?

Despite that, some older kids responded, "We had ten slices. We are much stronger now after eating the tasty meat!"

Qin Feng pinched the kid's shoulder and nodded. Indeed, the kid's build had grown larger from the last time he met him. The dark aura on his face was less prominent as well.

"Master, they are infected by the black plague," Xiao Bai informed him.

Qin Feng was stunned. He frowned and said, "How's that possible?"

He did experience the same incident before his rebirth. The kids in the orphanage were infected by the contagion and none of them survived the epidemic. He had already absorbed the Hell Stone beforehand and had hunted down numerous Corrupted Ultra Beasts to stop the spread. What was the source of the contagion this time?

"Nothing is impossible, my dear master. However, all you need to do is simply absorb the dark rune of this plaque with your ability and the kids will be safe," Xiao Bai suggested. This was a natural phenomenon for Xiao Bai, who had an ultra-beast inheritance.

Xiao Bai may be ignorant toward the human social code but when it came to knowledge about runes, human beings' hundreds of years of research would still be dwarfed by Xiao Bai's heritage.

Qin Feng hence followed Xiao Bai's instruction and activated his ability.

The kids did not understand the conversation between them and looked curiously at Xiao Bai. All of them were stunned by her beauty.

"Big Sis, you are just like an angel!"

Xiao Bai returned the compliment with a mesmerizing smile and the kids immediately ditched Qin Feng for her.

Qin Feng did not stop them and focused on sipping in the dark force.

He did not close his eyes. Even without the Inner Vision, he could tell that the dark rune representing death was detaching from the younglings bit by bit as it rushed toward his mind.

The smiles on the kids' faces were growing larger and larger. It was as if their discomfort and lethargy had evaporated, being bathed by Xiao Bai's gracious presence.

"Phew!"

Finally, the dark cloud around the kids had completely vanished. Qin Feng was relieved and troubled at the same time.

There must be some explanation for this. Otherwise, these kids would not have fallen prey to the contagion.

Qin Feng decided that he would go back and check out on the place where he had previously found the Hell Stone.

"We should go in now, Xiao Bai."

They waved goodbye to the children and marched toward the director's office.

"Qin Feng, it's you!"

"How are you, my old director?"

Qin Feng greeted the director and was pleased to see that the old man was in good shape.

"I am fine. Who is this pretty lady? Don't tell me she is your girlfriend?" Lin Derong was surprised by Qin Feng's company and took a jab at him.

"Er… Where should I begin…" Qin Feng wanted to deny it at first but realized that it might actually be just the plausible decoy he needed.

It was not like he could tell the director that Xiao Bai was his pet!

Similarly, would it not be weird if Xiao Bai were to tell others that Qin Feng was her master?

Apparently, that was exactly what Xiao Bai had just blatantly told the director.

"The thing is, I found her in the field. She might be an experimental subject of the Dark Coalition. See!" Qin Feng removed Xiao Bai's hat and revealed her silver eyebrows and hair.

"In short, she knows nothing about human society and greatly depends on me now. I have decided to shelter her and give her an identity. I hope you can help me out."

Qin Feng had made up the lies on his way here. This helped explain her unnatural hair color and why she was unfamiliar with human beings.

Xiao Bai acted innocently and looked at the old man. She had already met Lin Derong before without him knowing. She was peeking from inside the bag back then.

Chapter 67: Bai Li the White Fox

"Those scums from the Coalition. Pfft!" Lin Derong took a good look at Xiao Bai and figured that she was too unique to be considered a normal human being. He could not hold back his anger recalling the rumor that the Dark Coalition was experimenting on human-beast hybrids.

"Worry not. I will get you an identity."

Even if Qin Feng were not one of the orphans that had lived here before, Lin Derong would still happily lend him a hand.

After all, he was the generous philanthropist that had donated the beast general's meat to the orphanage.

Thus, Lin Derong had no reason to reject when Qin Feng came to ask for his aid.

"So, what's your name? Do you have one?" Lin Derong asked.

Xiao Bai blurted naturally, "I'm Xiao Bai!"

Lin Derong was irritated. Was that not more like a dog's name?

Despite that, he forced a smile and said gently, "Let's use a more elegant name, shall we?"

Xiao Bai turned to Qin Feng, who was equally embarrassed. The name "Xiao Bai" was made up by him. At first, Xiao Bai did look like a Hiromi dog and she is theoretically still a canine after she transformed into a fox. But this name was indeed inappropriate for the pleasant young lady she appeared to be now.

Looking into the glossy pair of eyes on Xiao Bai's face, an idea popped up in Qin Feng's mind.

"Let's call you Bai Li*."

"Bai Li?" Lin Derong gave it a thought and nodded. "This will do. Let me key this in."

While Lin Derong was busy editing the info, Qin Feng stroked Xiao Bai's long hair. Though it was not as fluffy as her fur, it was still silky smooth.

"From now onward, you should introduce yourself as Bai Li, Qin Feng's girlfriend. Just tell them I am your boyfriend if someone asks about me, okay?"

"Yes, master." Xiao Bai, also known as Bai Li now, nodded obediently. She comprehended that Qin Feng did not want her to address him as master anymore.

'Is it a taboo in the human world? No wonder the two-legged female creature was overreacting just now.'

In her mind, Bai Li had automatically registered "boyfriend" into the same category as "master".

Shortly afterward, Lin Derong had completed the registration and uploaded the data into the new communicator bought by Qin Feng. He then passed it over to Bai Li.

Beep beep beep!

The communicator that belonged to Qin Feng rang abruptly.

"Qin Feng, why are you not in school today? Skipping class on your very first day?" Zhou Hao asked in a concerned manner. He wondered what had happened to stall his best buddy from coming to school.

He went to the university by himself today. Though Qin Feng owned a hover car, Zhou Hao knew just how bad the traffic could get inside the colony in the mornings. It would be very troublesome for Qin Feng to pick him up so he politely refused his kind offer to fetch him when they parted the day before.

After all, he was just a buddy and not his girlfriend.

To his surprise, Qin Feng was nowhere to be seen when he went to look for him after class. He asked around and found out that he was absent today. That was when he decided to contact Qin Feng.

"I have some urgent errands to run," Qin Feng answered ambiguously and did not provide the details.

"I see. Please do remember to come in the afternoon. I heard that there will be an important assembly." Zhou Hao reminded him.

"Okay. I will be there."

He hung up and then took his leave from Lin Derong's office. However, before he stepped out of the room, he could not help but turn back. "Old man, I took part in the illegal arena to strengthen myself not long ago. Those men there tried to blackmail me with this orphanage. I might have accidentally caused you unwanted trouble. But be rest assured, I will sort it out quickly."

After he had witnessed Lin Derong's influence before, Qin Feng no longer saw the dean as a helpless old man. The dean had his connections and considerable authority around here so he thought that it was best to be honest with him.

"The illegal arena, eh?" Lin Derong tensed up but did not rebuke Qin Feng for his actions.

After the previous battle, Qin Feng was not the only one who had changed his perception of Lin Derong. Lin Derong was equally impressed by Qin Feng's capabilities.

"Qin Feng, if you have the confidence, then just go ahead and do whatever you deem necessary. As for the potential trouble, leave it to me. Those gangsters' threats are nothing but trash talk. Even with that fella Jiang Shaoyang backing them, they still would not be able to touch me," Lin Derong said.

"Jiang Shaoyang?" The name did not ring a bell. However, since it was coming from Lin Derong, Qin Feng believed that he must not be a small character.

"Yes. He is an F7-tier Ancient Warrior in charge of the Eagle Clubhouse though his power is slightly weaker than those in the same rank. He is a narrow-minded man and behaves unpredictably. Please be careful if you ever come across him." Lin Derong warned.

"I will take note. Thanks, old man."

Qin Feng and Bai Li headed to the university after they left the orphanage.

"Xiao Bai, can you turn back into the fox form?" Qin Feng asked. Xiao Bai had been exposed once inside the university. Besides, he could not smuggle her into the university in broad daylight.

Bai Li rolled her eyes. "The humankind sure is problematic."

Xiao Bai instantly shrank and returned into the fox form that was only as large as the size of two palms.

Nonetheless, this was actually Xiao Bai's most frightening battle form.

Xiao Bai crawled out of her clothes. The bra was still clinging on her head.

Qin Feng smiled and picked up Xiao Bai, and he placed her on his shoulder. Only then, he came down from the car and walked toward the university.

He bumped into Cheng Chao, the lecturer who tested him during the entrance exam halfway to the university block.

"Qin Feng, why didn't you attend class this morning?" Cheng Chao asked without hesitation.

Qin Feng was surprised that the teacher was aware of his absence. He had long graduated in his past life. The adult mind in him was still not used to being supervised and lectured by an educator in this way.

Qin Feng answered awkwardly, "I had something to attend to. How did you know?"

Cheng Chao laughed. "I thought that you were not going to show up. I am your class teacher, that's why I was told about your absence. Let's go. We still have a lecture about elements followed by the grand assembly later on. Please don't run away from school again. Though the syllabus in this university is considered easy, it's still pretty hard for you to graduate if you keep skipping the important classes."

Cheng Chao's expertise was none other than the introduction on abilities. Thus, it was not surprising that he had been assigned as their headteacher.

When they reached the lecture room, the sixteen-year-old teenagers who had just graduated from middle school were sitting quietly on their seats waiting for Cheng Chao.

Cheng Chao grinned when he saw all the young blood in his classroom.

'Teenagers are indeed the most adorable ones!'

"Qin Feng, please introduce yourself. The others have already done that this morning so you would have to get to know them on your own."

Qin Feng nodded and scanned his classmates. The number of students in this batch was even fewer than that of the previous years. There were only twenty one of them. Qin Feng memorized all their faces with only a single glance despite not knowing their names. He knew that these people would be the best combatants in Chengbei Colony one day in the future.

"My name is Qin Feng. I graduated from Tenth Middle School. There's nothing special about me except for my pet." Qin Feng tapped the fox that had recoiled into a ball of fur on his shoulder.

"This is my contractual beast. She is extremely powerful. I hope that none of you will touch or approach her out of curiosity in the future. I will not be held responsible if something terribly unfortunate were to happen to you."

*Translator note: 璃 (Li) stands for 琉璃 (glaze, glossy) in this context. In addition to that, the second chinese word of fox (狐狸) also has the same pronunciation as Li, thus the association in naming of Xiao Bai as Bai (白, white) Li (璃, also a wordplay for fox, 狸).

Chapter 68: Light Ability User, Deng Nian

Qin Feng's self-introduction sounded more like a warning.

Xiao Bai disliked human contact when she was still a fox. Now that she had transfigured into the human form, Qin Feng had also become more possessive. He did not wish to see his Xiao Bai being touched and teased by others like a random domestic pet.

To the others, Qin Feng was simply being arrogant.

His classmates began to chastise him.

"Who's this guy? How dare he act all high and mighty with such a shitty talent?"

"So what if he has a pet?"

"The Tenth Middle School? Isn't that the school near the slums? I heard that students there are either orphans or beggars."

All of a sudden, the students in the class began to look at Qin Feng with contempt and scorn.

That was exactly the outcome Qin Feng wanted. Otherwise, he would not have revealed his middle school name. Actually, there was no distinct segregation between the ten middle schools inside Chengbei Colony. However, since these schools were located in different parts of the colony, the students in each school naturally originated from distinct social classes. The Tenth School was situated near the peripheral right on the border between the city and the slums, where Qin Feng's orphanage was located. As such, it was normal for the school to bear a negative reputation.

Qin Feng, who was a little out of tune with the surroundings, was instantly alienated by his peers.

Cheng Chao was annoyed. He could see that Qin Feng was going to be a thorny presence in the classroom.

"That's enough. Qin Feng, find yourself a seat. We are starting the class now."

The seating arrangement was such that everyone had their own individual seats. There were several empty seats left at the back so Qin Feng picked one near the window.

Cheng Chao switched on the projector and began the class.

"The very reason you are all here is that you are the only students that have awakened your core energy. What we are going to learn in this class include the basics, and structure of ability, followed by rune rearrangement, etc."

"After Doomsday, ability users began to sprout amongst the humankind. The abilities could be generally categorized into ten factions, which are metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, ice, light, and dark. Each of these factions represent a unique force…"

"Ability is structured by runes and the runes for each faction occupy the very atmosphere we are living in right now…"

"To master the ability, one would need to absorb runes for his or her own use. There are two ways to accomplish this. First, you can absorb the rune present in the environment. The level of difficulty varies according to different environments. For instance, …"

"Second, you can do it through hunting down monsters or beasts born naturally with ability. The nature of their runes could be extracted mechanically from the ability core found in their brains."

"The rune structure and arrangement of each faction or element are dissimilar from one another. In the university library, there are a lot of records detailing the types of runes and their corresponding effects. You may read up about it if you are interested in any particular faction. Since the ability of each student in this class is unique, you may consult me individually after this. Next, I am going to show you some simple methods to train and manipulate runes, as well as how to enhance your consciousness…"

Qin Feng paid great attention to the lecture. He had learned most of the knowledge in his past life but it was not as comprehensive. He understood the nature of ability better now after listening to Cheng Chao's teachings.

'There are guidebooks in the library? I wonder whether any of them are focused on the dark faction.'

Cheng Chao then switched the topic into consciousness, something Qin Feng did not have the chance to venture into in his past life. For the entire period, Qin Feng's concentration did not wane from the man in front of the classroom. He was deeply astonished by the new knowledge Cheng Chao was delivering to them.

Standing in front of the class, Cheng Chao was mindful of the students' focus level.

'That's S-grade consciousness for you. His concentration did not slacken even once when he has set his mind on it.'

The lecture lasted for an hour. The other students lost interest halfway since they knew that most of the knowledge was available on the internet. They were not as focused as Qin Feng toward the end of the class.

"Okay, we will end here today. Now, let's move to the grand hall. The grand assembly is beginning soon." Cheng Chao instructed his students.

The grand assembly was unlike the normal assembly being held weekly. This only happened once per year and it was the only time the students were allowed to meet the strongest fighter of Chengbei Colony, E-tier ability user Deng Nian, in person.

This was the old guy Wang Chen had mentioned when he invited Qin Feng to join the Tiger Flame troop. This would be the first time Qin Feng met Deng Nian after he was reborn. He did not cross paths with the old man in his previous life. Years later, Qin Feng became an A-tier Ancient Warrior—an existence that even Deng Nian looked up to.

For others, they were eager to see Deng Nian up close. Unlike Qin Feng who had experienced far greater force, to them, Deng Nian was no different from a savior in Chengbei.

Qin Feng frowned as he suddenly felt a great sense of irk.

'I almost forgot Deng Nian is a light ability user.'

The light and dark were two opposing factions that unsettled one another. Currently, Deng Nian was addressing the assembly while releasing bands of unique rays around him that took the shape of the sun. It swirled quietly and advertently drew the attention of the crowd toward it.

"The one on the stage is our powerful headmaster. See it for yourself, all the rays are concentrating on him."

"Mr. Deng is truly a formidable ability user!"

"What an amazing power. I heard that he can save anyone from the brink of death as long as the person is still breathing! That's as close as resurrecting the dead!"

Most of the students gazed at the headmaster with great admiration. The assembly began as Deng Nian's voice was being amplified and reached the crowd below him.

The students from the earlier batch did not need to be present and joined the assembly through broadcasted feed. Even so, they were equally excited to hear the headmaster's speech.

Deng Nian was the embodiment of the Chengbei spirit and its people's faith.

"Welcome aboard, new recruits." He spoke in a respectable and gripping tone. Qin Feng was perhaps the only one unfazed by the headmaster's firm voice.

Luckily, Deng Nian did not waste much time on useless babble and Qin Feng was able to get the content he was here for.

"You all have just joined the university but this is not a playground! I want you to fully utilize the coming month to better your skills. One month from now, we are going to hold a comprehensive evaluation of the students. Those qualified will be dispatched to the stable spatial rift, Spring Hunting Ground. This is a joint-operation that spans across the five main universities in this colony. The top ten students will be awarded a G-tier insignia, while the top hundred will receive fabulous rewards. Therefore, please give it your best!"

The news stirred an uproar among the crowd.

A lot of students had actually chosen to enroll in the university because they were unprepared to face real danger in the outside world just yet. Unexpected to many, they were going to be thrown right in the face of danger so soon.

Qin Feng, on the other hand, was enthused to hear the announcement.

'Spring Hunting Ground!'

This stable spatial rift was under the direct governance of the five main universities in Chengbei. It was the perfect training ground for students to enhance their power thanks to its rich resources and subpar beasts.

However, Qin Feng was aware that in the middle of the hunting ground stood an immensely valuable fruit tree. It was called the Consciousness Tree.

Qin Feng's main objective for coming to this university was none other than the fruit on this tree. As its name implied, it was a useful ingredient for improving one's consciousness.

Deng Nian spoke again as if he was answering the panicky crowd, "The colony needs heroes, my young apprentices. I suggest that each and every one of you start to think and behave like one. There are still a lot of unknown dangers lurking outside the barrier waiting to be resolved by people like us. We need reinforcement now more than ever, especially when our colony is facing a threat of an unprecedented scale."

A video promptly appeared on the giant screen.