Compared to the usual lifeless silence, Class One was unusually noisy today.
Qingyi was fuming, Lan Qi kept sighing, and Mi Xiaobao looked panicked.
But the moment Lian Qiguang stepped into the classroom, everything stopped.
Everyone stared at him with varying expressions as he entered.
An eerie silence settled over the room.
As if completely unaware of the strange atmosphere, Lian Qiguang expressionlessly brushed past Lan Qi, who was blocking the doorway, and calmly walked toward his seat.
After sitting down, he rested his chin on one hand and stared out the window at the noisy chaos in the academy.
For once, there was a rare trace of peace in his usually numb, lifeless eyes.
“D-Ku Mu…”
Mi Xiaobao hesitantly shuffled in front of him, looking uneasy.
Lian Qiguang withdrew his gaze and looked at him expressionlessly.
“Ku Mu… they all said… they all said your name is Lian Qiguang.”
Lian Qiguang looked at the uneasy boy before him and gave a slight nod.
“I am Ku Mu.”
Ku Mu.
That had once been his codename during missions.
It was also the name he used in front of others.
An Guang—Light in Darkness.
Those two words had been given to him by his mother.
They were the only thing that pitiful woman in the apocalypse had been able to give him.
After her death, he rarely used that name again.
“That’s enough, Little Fatty!”
Qingyi stepped forward and yanked Mi Xiaobao back, poking his head angrily.
“Can you stop embarrassing yourself? He doesn’t care about you at all! You keep throwing yourself at him for what? From beginning to end, even the name he gave you was fake.”
“Ku Mu…”
Mi Xiaobao stared blankly at Lian Qiguang, who made no attempt to deny it.
Sadness filled his face.
“The teacher’s here.”
Lan Qi gave a quiet reminder and hurried back to his seat.
“Move! Want detention?”
Qingyi half-dragged Mi Xiaobao back to their seats.
Lian Qiguang lifted his head and looked at Mi Xiaobao, who sat with his head hanging low in dejection.
His lips pressed together slightly.
Then he turned back to the window.
Jin Anqi entered the classroom and swept her gaze over everyone.
“You all look very energetic today.”
“Teacher.”
Lan Qi spoke first, his expression strained.
“We… we already know.”
Jin Anqi glanced across the class.
Every face showed the same suppressed frustration and gloom.
Her eyes darkened.
“In that case, I want to ask everyone what you think.”
“Can we not participate?”
Lan Qi smiled bitterly.
“No.”
“Then what’s there to discuss?”
Qingyi sneered.
“They say it’s a welcome event, but in the end they just want a chance to laugh at us.”
“We won’t beg for mercy!”
Mi Xiaobao clenched his fists.
“At worst, we just get beaten up!”
The classroom instantly filled with a shared sense of defiance.
Everyone straightened their backs and clenched their fists like martyrs preparing for battle.
Jin Anqi scanned the room.
Her gaze finally stopped on the back row.
On Lian Qiguang, who sat quietly with his chin propped up, staring out the window.
She frowned.
“Lian Qiguang. What do you think?”
The moment she spoke, the class fell silent.
Everyone turned to look at him.
Lian Qiguang slowly came back to himself and looked at all the faces turned toward him.
After a long silence, he spoke flatly.
“What?”
“You don’t know?”
Jin Anqi frowned.
“Hah! Who does he think he is?”
Qingyi muttered sarcastically.
“Why would someone like him care about our little Rescue Department?”
Jin Anqi ignored the remark.
“Every semester, Qingdi Academy holds a ceremony to welcome new students.”
“But this year it changed.”
“Before the ceremony, upperclassmen will guide the freshmen.”
“Three days.”
She looked directly at Lian Qiguang.
“This was requested by all upperclassmen. It cannot be refused.”
“Why refuse?”
Lian Qiguang asked expressionlessly.
“Are you stupid or pretending to be stupid?!”
Qingyi exploded.
“They call it guidance, but really they just want to use that excuse to beat us up and satisfy their disgusting vanity!”
Lian Qiguang stared at her, not understanding her anger.
Of course he understood the hidden motives.
He had trained many soldiers and ability users before.
This kind of thing was common.
But for rookies, it wasn’t necessarily bad.
Fighting veterans meant getting beaten badly.
But the experience gained would be invaluable.
It was also an excellent opportunity to improve.
For ability users, being pushed to the limit often led to rapid growth.
He had gone through it himself.
He had been beaten badly too.
Later, when he became stronger, he couldn’t even find chances like that anymore.
“I’ll guide them properly.”
Unable to understand Qingyi’s anger, Lian Qiguang—as a self-proclaimed veteran—was actually looking forward to training these rookies.
It had been years since he last trained new recruits.
He felt oddly excited.
“You’ll guide them?!”
Qingyi nearly choked from anger.
“Who do you think you are? If you had that ability, would you be stuck in Rescue?”
“Qingyi.”
Jin Anqi stopped her.
She stared coldly at Lian Qiguang.
“Fine.”
“I’ll watch how exactly you plan to ‘guide’ them.”
She emphasized the word guide.
“You won’t be disappointed.”
Lian Qiguang replied calmly.
“……”
Jin Anqi was speechless.
Scene Change
(Cafeteria)
Lian Qiguang was currently staring at a nutrient solution in deep conflict when a shadow suddenly fell over him.
He looked up expressionlessly.
Several girls had surrounded him.
“You’re Lian Qiguang?”
One of them stepped forward.
“You’re Lian Qiguang?”
After seeing his face clearly, a flash of surprise lit up her eyes.
But once she remembered that such a beautiful face belonged to a useless double-failure in both abilities and combat, her expression quickly turned to contempt.
“Yes.”
Lian Qiguang nodded.
“My name is Qiying.”
“I challenge you.”
The moment those words fell, everyone nearby gasped.
Everyone knew who Lian Qiguang was.
The useless trash of the Rescue Department.
Qiying, meanwhile, was a second-year Combat Department student at Rank Six Soldier-tier.
A fairly talented student.
For someone like her to challenge Lian Qiguang was obvious bullying.
But understanding that only made the crowd more excited.
They couldn’t wait for the fight to start.
Lian Qiguang looked at Qiying.
His mind quickly filtered through the information stored in the original owner’s records.
Qiying felt uneasy under that gaze but forced herself to stay firm.
“Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear me challenge you?”
“I refuse.”
Lian Qiguang tossed the nutrient solution into his spatial storage and stood up to leave.
No memory.
Not an enemy.
A waste of time.
“Hey!”
Qiying snapped out of her shock.
Anger surged as she chased after him and blocked his path.
“What? You’re scared?”
“Hmph. So the Rescue Department isn’t just full of trash—it’s full of cowards too!”
“What did you say?!”
Qingyi, who had been watching from the side, instantly exploded with rage.
She shoved through the crowd and stood between them.
“What, am I wrong?”
Qiying sneered.
“The Rescue Department isn’t just full of trash—it’s full of cowards!”
“Shut up!”
Furious, Qingyi swung her left fist.
A faint flame wrapped around it as she punched toward Qiying.
Qiying stepped back two meters and dodged with ease.
She sneered.
“A mere Rank Two Soldier-tier dares to act this arrogantly?”
“Looks like if I don’t teach you a lesson today, you won’t know your place.”
Flames ignited around both her fists.
They were far larger—and far hotter—than Qingyi’s.
Qingyi’s face turned pale.
But there wasn’t a trace of fear in her eyes.
Lian Qiguang shifted his gaze from Qingyi to Qiying.
“What are you doing?!”
A furious shout rang out.
The accompanying pressure instantly suppressed the flames in Qiying’s hands.
Lian Qiguang quietly withdrew the seed in his hand.
Expressionless, he looked toward the suddenly appearing Jin Anqi.