Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The incident of Quasar was only a little episode. Maier’s intel had it that back then, Quasar was struck at the back of his head by a knife. The wound was so bad that even his brain oozed out from his skull. So it might seem that that fella had not recovered ever since. He had been suffering from a mental disorder and going insane.
Lin Sheng could not have cared less. A Four-winger may have been formidable to him in the past. But now, it was just a little monster. Ever since using the body of the Night Lord as a cheat code, Lin Sheng felt his soul was growing in strength at a tremendous rate.
He did not go anywhere for the following two days. Whether he was in the real world or the dream, he was meditating all days to strengthen his foundation. But strangely, he received a call from the college, informing him he had to retake the classes. It took a moment before Lin Sheng realized that he had skipped quite many examinations. He had lost count of how many subjects he had failed.
By right, however, his student Adolf, or Maier should have settled the matter on his behalf. But out of curiosity, Lin Sheng made a trip back to the university.
…
Lin Sheng’s class teacher was a marathon runner and a history postgraduate with a long ponytail. She sat in her office, knitting her brows together as she stared at the three students who might be failing their grades.
“Byron Cray, Schwyr, Lin Sheng. You all should know why you are here.”
Since he had come, Lin Sheng might as well treat this as a multitasking practice session. He glanced at the others. One was a fat boy, face pale wearing a pair of glasses. And the other was a girl, cute and much like an ACG character who tied her brown hair into a pair of ponytails. The two looked nervous and regretful with their head low.
“You all look the part!” Lin Sheng laughed in his mind.
“Don’t let me start with you, Lin Sheng!” The class teacher had a grave expression on her face. “You are all adults. It is your business to decide your future. But then, since you all have come to this stage, don’t you think you should finish the study and get the certificate? Or are you all ready to give up now after all the effort spent in the past?”
“Teacher, I only failed to attend the exams because something else was going on. I will take a resit. As you know, I always keep a tab on my progress,” explained Lin Sheng.
Thinking of his study and college and looking at the callow students who occasionally passed by outside, and the other innocent university lecturers in the office, he found it inexplicably surreal. Not long ago, he was still working hard to build the sanctum to prepare for the unknown dangers. But now, he was in the academic utopia together with a bunch of mortals, talking over his failing grades with his class teacher. Bearing with the faint printing ink smell in the office, Lin Sheng listened to his class teacher lecturing him about a hundred and one things, that he must not absent from the exams again, and that he could apply for a study grant from the college should he face any problem back home.
“What a warmhearted person,” Lin Sheng made a mental comment. When he emerged from the office, it was already over an hour later. Walking behind the two and noticing their relieved expressions, Lin Sheng could not help chuckling.
“What’s so funny? Remember the resit date? What say we come together?” Byron, the fat boy wearing a pair of glass, was worried. “I don’t think I can pass the resit and may have to retake the lesson!”
“Let’s pass notes, Legend!” The ACG-character girl with pigtails came up to Lin Sheng with an ingratiating smile.
“Yeah, let’s pass notes, Legend!” The fat boy wearing glasses moved up, his expression nothing short of servile. The two had heard Lin Sheng’s conversation with the class teacher. Lin Sheng had been doing well in his study and only failed because he missed the exams.
Let us make a deal. Two hundred dollars per subject!” The fat boy lowered his voice and offered.
“We might not sit close together.” Lin Sheng found it funny. From a master of the sanctum to an average student who had to resit exams, the contrast was stark.
“What if we get to sit together?” The fat boy cocked his brows with a smile.
“We will count on you then, Legend!” Schwyr, the girl with pigtails grinned.
Lin Sheng waved his hand, turned around and darted toward the elevator. Adolf had been waiting in the vehicle outside the college. When he saw Lin Sheng emerging, he alighted and came up to Lin Sheng.
“Teacher, it was my fault. I mishandled the matter. I have liaised with the college, but in your case, money can only do so much. It is not possible to skip the resit.” Adolf felt ashamed of himself.
“Is it something more to this university than meets the eyes?” Lin Sheng wondered.
“Not at all. I just didn’t expect they were so hell-bent on not doing us a favor. I think something has gone wrong. But I already have Plan B in place. You don’t have to go to the exam. My man will handle that for you.”
“Mmm, that will be good.”
As the two climbed into the car, the dark-purple, bulletproof vehicle sped up in the direction of Sanctum Hill.
“About your parents…”
“It will do as long as you have given them the convenience, but don’t let them find out about it. Just stick to the market price.” Earlier, Lin Sheng had asked Adolf to help prop up his family business, and Adolf had been handling it with care. He was even making sure that Chen Minjia got favorable deals in her business. Adolf had done much more than what was required to be a student of Lin Sheng, and he had never phoned it in.
“Understood, Teacher.”
The conversation ended.
Lin Sheng closed his eyes, refocusing his mind to direct his three bodies. Meanwhile, Adolf was worried about the Paragons of Destiny in his body. He expected the various scenarios that might crop up.
The vehicle drove past a street that sold jewelry and jades. The traffic was heavy. Adolf slowed down the vehicle and stopped on the left side of the street, waiting for the traffic to clear up ahead.
Adolf and Lin Sheng heard the loud sound of tires screeching all of a sudden. And then two vans screeched to a stop beside Adolf’s vehicle, blocking it from escaping. Then the door of the vans slid open with a dozen armed men, wearing a black suit and black stocking mask, jumped out. The armed men aimed at Adolf’s bulletproof windows and opened fire.
The rattling of the machine guns was causing panic screams around. The busy street instantly turned into chaos with people scrambling for cover. Those in the cars were holding their breaths, and some abandoned their vehicles to run into the nearby alleys.
“Get your butt out here!” A short gunman trained his rifle and shouted at Adolf, who was behind the wheel. Adolf let out a sigh as what separated him from the gunmen was a layer of bulletproof glass, which was now covered in fine cracks.
Amid a flash of blood, two silver-armor vault guards appeared and pierced through the chest of the gunmen before they dissipated into plumes of black smoke. The other gunmen became panic in seeing this strange phenomenon. They realized that they had found their match. They shouted frantically and fired indiscriminately. But the vault guards stabbed each of them to death in no time. Their weapons were useless against the elusive black smoke.
Three surviving gunmen, who were more agile than the rest but now covered in sweat, dropped their guns and ran. But they could not outrun the vault guards. At last, all of them dropped dead to the ground.
“Was this happening frequently?” Lin Sheng was shocked.
“Not really. Ever since news of me having the Paragons of Destiny broke out, this kind of attack came only every couple of days.” Adolf forced a smile.
“Can you handle it?”
“Hell no. I had wanted to ask for your help even if this did not happen just now, Teacher.” Adolf sounded helpless. “I have come across an attacker who’s at least a Two-winger or higher.”
“And?”
“Then I called out the name, Khadula of the Thousand Arms, and the attacker hesitated before fleeing.” Adolf’s face creased with a half-smile.
“Where did it happen?”
“In the public park near Sanctum Hill.”
“That sucks!” Lin Sheng frowned.