Alex walked down the school hallway.
Students everywhere.
But nobody was slacking off.
Some sat against the wall, legs crossed, eyes closed, cultivating.
Some stood in corners, holding their contract beast's summoning stone, sensing it over and over.
A few in the open areas, making their contract beasts practice skills repeatedly.
The whole hallway was eerily quiet.
Just the faint hum of spiritual energy flowing.
Alex looked around.
Not a single person as relaxed as him.
Not one.
He stopped, thought about it.
In this world, beast master school tuition was expensive as hell.
Tens of thousands.
Normal families had to sell everything just to afford it.
And student strength was directly tied to the resources they could get.
Strong? School gives you resources.
More resources? Get even stronger.
Vicious cycle.
So everyone was grinding like crazy.
For their families, for themselves.
Couldn't stop for even a second.
Poor people wanted to use beast mastery to climb the class ladder.
Rich people needed strength to keep their status solid.
Alex frowned.
After transmigrating, some things changed.
But some things... didn't change at all.
Looking at those students grinding so hard, he felt something.
Then—
Whatever.
He sat down too.
Leaned against the wall, crossed his legs.
Might as well try.
He closed his eyes, followed those basic cultivation methods in his head, started sensing spiritual energy.
Breathe.
Guide.
Circulate.
One minute.
Ten minutes.
Half an hour.
One hour.
Alex opened his eyes.
Felt his spiritual energy... increase a tiny bit.
Really just a tiny bit.
Basically nothing.
He stood up right there.
Forget it.
Knew I gotta rely on the system.
At this cultivation speed, when the hell would I get strong?
He patted his butt, turned and left.
Alex went to the cafeteria.
Even though Lilian packed him food, and it was super delicious too!
But right now he was thinking about something else.
Rex and his crew said before at the mall—
The school cafeteria would specially prepare some "little snacks" for him.
Sounded pretty mysterious.
Alex's lips curved into a mischievous grin.
Can I reverse-scam Rex somehow?
He pushed open the cafeteria door, walked in.
Some people were already lining up.
Alex spotted a familiar figure.
"Alex!"
Bob waved, grinning like an idiot.
"What's up with that news you mentioned yesterday? I didn't see anything?"
Alex raised an eyebrow.
No way, right?
So many streamers and people filmed Rex going crazy.
How could there be no news?
He pulled out his phone, searched Rex's family.
Then—
He was shocked.
Really not a single related news article!
The only suspicious news was:
"Fugitive goes berserk at Golden Mall, injures dozens of civilians, 8 dead, including several famous streamers."
Alex's pupils shook.
Fugitive?
8 dead?!
He knew big families had strong influence.
But didn't think it was THIS strong!
Could just treat lives like grass, cover up the truth!
He frantically scrolled through his phone, looking for related reports.
Suddenly—
A video posted just 1 minute ago.
Alex clicked in.
The person in the video was missing an arm.
Pale face, empty eyes.
Voice trembling as he accused what Rex's family did that day.
"My brother and I were just watching the excitement from the outside... he got his head blown off... I lost an arm..."
He even attached the audio from that time—
The part where Rex went crazy.
Alex watched, his frown getting tighter and tighter.
Heart beating faster and faster.
Suddenly—
The video disappeared.
Screen showed:
"This content has been deleted."
Then the video poster's account became—
"This user has been permanently banned."
Alex took a deep breath.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
He looked up at Bob.
Bob was still grinning like an idiot, waiting for an explanation.
Alex patted Bob's shoulder, voice really low.
"Not convenient here."
He glanced around.
"I'll message you when we get back."
Bob froze for a second, saw Alex's expression.
"...Okay."
Alex stroked his chin, thinking.
Through this incident, you could actually learn a lot.
First—
The official Enforcement Team definitely had Rex family people in it.
Enforcement Team—higher level than cops, handles beast master problems.
Otherwise couldn't cover it up this thoroughly.
Wiping messages from the entire net.
Second—
That residential area above Golden Mall definitely had tons of Rex family partners.
After all, Golden Mall was their shared territory. Since they allowed Rex family's actions, they probably had something going on with Rex family.
This way, it matched what Madam Rose said—nobody in that building was any good.
Alex thought more and more, felt more scared.
He was Rex's mortal enemy, yet dared to go deliver stuff to their home base.
Straight up suicidal.
Thank god the system gave him a teleportation potion back then.
Otherwise...
Alex let out a heavy sigh.
A world where might makes right, guess that's just how it is.
The two kept lining up.
Bob smiled and said to the cafeteria lady:
"Auntie! Extra meat, extra vegetables!"
The lady looked up at the two of them.
Her expression froze for a moment.
Then turned and walked to the back kitchen.
After a bit, she brought out two super fancy big lunch boxes.
Handed them over.
Smiling:
"This is what the school specially prepared for you guys."
Bob froze, took it with a smile.
"Wow! School's so nice!"
He turned to Alex, eyes sparkling.
Alex took the lunch box.
His eyes darkened.
Options suddenly appeared in front of him—
[Option 1]: Dig in with Bob right there, eat this lunch box clean!
Reward: Slime all attributes +1%
Gain Title: "Pica"
Effect: When eating abnormal food in the future, speed increases 100%
[Option 2]: Throw the lunch box in the trash, have Bob eat the lunch you brought or go buy food outside.
Reward: "Small amount of spiritual energy"
[Option 3]: Find a chance to scam Rex, make him taste his own little snacks.
Reward: "Explosive Potion x1"
Gain Title: Never Retreat
Effect: When head-on fighting any enemy, your combat power +5%!
Alex stared at these three options.
First one?
Pica?
What the hell kind of title is that!
Plus this lunch box obviously had problems, who knows what'd happen if he ate it.
Second one?
Too cowardly.
And only gives small amount of spiritual energy, total rip-off.
Third one...
Alex's eyes lit up.
Scam Rex?
Explosive potion?
Plus a title that boosts combat power?
His lips curved into a wicked grin.
Yeah, I can work with this.