Chapter 41: Chapter 41

C41 – The Freshmen Ranking Competition

“Boss, can we switch this one out?”

Upon spotting the black gorilla a short distance ahead, Goldie voiced his dilemma with evident distress.

The excrement was twice the size of him—if it hit, he’d be utterly revolted.

“Hiss hiss hiss!”

Gator felt the same reluctance as Goldie.

Its slender tail coiled around Zhou Mu’s thigh, its large, round eyes pleading.

“We’re out of time. We need to take it down as quickly as possible.”

“Fine, let’s do this!”

Goldie exhaled deeply, steeled himself, and charged in.

Whoosh!

Just as anticipated, as Goldie neared, the gorilla swung its arm and hurled the feces with lethal precision.

Fast, accurate, and merciless!

Had Goldie not been on high alert, he would have been plastered with it.

“This is war!”

He narrowly evaded the gorilla’s assault, but the stench aggressively invaded his nostrils.

Furious, Goldie launched into attack mode, cursing colorfully as he fought.

The gorilla was formidable, but only slightly more so than Goldie and Gator.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

It wasn’t long before it fell tragically to Goldie’s blade.

Without pause, Zhou Mu stowed the locator and hastened to the next tyrant beast.

Slaying fiend beasts, pressing on…

The Lord fled, he pursued…

Tracking, hurrying…

After a relentless chase, he located the target twenty miles from his starting point, accompanied by over thirty newcomers.

​”What’s happening? How did he get here so fast?”

Zhou Mu’s arrival sent the group into disarray.

Their plan had been to release the tyrant beast from its restraints using a certain method, then employ a prearranged mode to mislead the beast into believing they were its offspring.

Next came the crucial step.

Several new students, mistaken by the fiend beast for its offspring, were to sacrifice themselves before Zhou Mu, sparking a conflict.

Yet, upon their arrival, they were shocked to find the beast’s restraints already undone by an unknown party.

In a chaotic scramble and at the cost of over a hundred lives, they managed to subdue the beast temporarily.

But the most unforeseen event was still to come: Zhou Mu had arrived right then.

“Kill!”

Zhou Mu didn’t waste any words as he gave the order for Goldie and Gator to strike.

The battle broke out, and in less than thirty seconds, over thirty newcomers were dead, casualties of the residual carnage from the three tyrants’ clash.

Outnumbered two to one, the dragon and phoenix species teamed up, leaving the fiend beast with no chance to stir up trouble. It met a swift and brutal end right there.

Finally, Zhou Mu could breathe a sigh of relief.

“This is complete bullshit!”

Zhou Mu swore, feeling like he was trapped in a high-speed chase game.

The new student ranking race—extreme edition!

Forget side quests, ignore NPCs and minor monsters, just rush to defeat the final boss as quickly as possible.

Plot? Scenery? Who cares!

And the fun of the game? To hell with that!

“Boss, should we keep going?”

Goldie, panting heavily, inquired.

It was exhausted, its feathers in complete disarray.

But with the current chaos, if Zhou Mu intended to tackle all the problems at once, Goldie had no choice but to comply.

“Keep going? Hell no, I’m exhausted. We’re taking a break.”

Zhou Mu was on the verge of unleashing a tirade. This speedrun had zero fun factor—he was not doing this again.

“To be honest, I think these people might not be right in the head.”

Goldie, preening his feathers with his beak, commented, “The Illusion Mirror is massive. If we’re set on escaping, there’s no way they can catch… Holy shit!”

He didn’t get to finish before an expletive slipped out.

Zhou Mu spun around to see a colossal centipede barreling their way.

Exchanging glances, both man and bird found their answer in the other’s eyes.

“Run!”

Without a moment’s delay, Zhou Mu bolted, running for his life.

In battles of equal rank, size often equates to strength.

The centipede was enormous, and with Goldie and Gator already drained, their chances of winning were slim.

Besides, Zhou Mu doubted those people could truly tame a tyrant beast.

He figured it wouldn’t be long before the centipede turned on them.

Gator curled up in the backpack, Goldie perched on Zhou Mu’s head, and Zhou Mu wished he had extra legs to carry him faster.

“Punk, got the guts to stop and settle this once and for all? What kind of man runs at the first sight of his opponent?”

The angry taunt echoed from behind, but Zhou Mu didn’t miss a beat and hurled an insult right back.

“Whether I’m a man is something your mother can confirm. If you’re so tough, chase me down on your own. What’s so impressive about riding a fiend beast?”

“Damn it, stop right there!”

“Come on then, stop chasing if you dare!”

Zhou Mu kept up his stream of curses as he fled, with his pursuer hurling insults right back at him.

The air was thick with their expletives, leaving the onlookers outside the Illusion Mirror utterly flabbergasted.

They had never anticipated Zhou Mu’s formidable strength.

He tore through the ranks, slaughtering over two thousand newcomers with staggering efficiency and taking down two tyrant beasts to boot.

Equally unexpected was Zhou Mu’s clean getaway.

He bolted without a backward glance, not wasting a single breath on words.

And of course, they hadn’t foreseen Zhou Mu’s exceptional talent for trash-talking.

He was bold, quick-witted, and refreshingly straightforward.

Picking up on subtle clues, he had sniffed out the traitor’s slip-up.

Once he understood the enemy’s intentions, he swiftly adapted his strategy and dispatched the two tyrant beasts.

When the enemy gained on him, he didn’t stand his ground to fight; he chose to make a strategic retreat.

“He’s got courage and brains, knows when to push forward and when to pull back, and doesn’t overreach. With two Lord-grade spirit animals under contract and physical prowess surpassing his peers, he’s quite the catch. If we nurture him well, he’s destined to be a cornerstone of the Noshar Empire.”

The white-haired elder with a long beard nodded, evidently pleased.

The principal, catching sight of this, allowed a smile to spread across his face.

“Teacher Lan, about the proposal I made earlier—what are your thoughts?”

“With space rifts proliferating and the Brightsmiths wreaking havoc, we can’t afford to deplete our strength with infighting.”

Lampo’s brow furrowed, his hesitation lasting only a few seconds before he made up his mind. “I accept your terms. Once the Freshmen Ranking Competition concludes, I’ll help you resolve your issue. The destiny of Bayshore School is in your hands, and you’ll have my full support. Just don’t let me down.”

“I’ve watched you grow up. Tell me, have you ever strayed from the right path in all these years? If we weren’t being pushed to the brink, I too would prefer a peaceful resolution.”

The principal let out a sigh, his expression one of utter helplessness. “But this is the reality we face; I don’t have the luxury of choice. Humanity simply doesn’t have enough powerhouses. Otherwise…”

“Let’s hope everything works out!”

Lampo whispered, his gaze lifting to the heavens.

In the scene, Zhou Mu was on the verge of being overtaken.