Chapter 24

If it had been anyone else, Li Qin would surely have thought, Wait... is that something a person could do?! But since it was Qi Yue, he had only one thought: It's Qi Yue. Never mind, then.

Qi Yue's very appearance was abnormal, so whatever he did, Li Qin felt it was understandable.

Unlike Liao Yuanliang, who felt uneasy, Li Qin felt reassured by Qi Yue's actions.

After all, everyone knew that in Class F, Qi Yue had eyes only for Beixing. Yet when the destination for the Weekly Assessment was announced, Qi Yue had acted out of character and given all the Class F students "open-book exam-style" tutoring based on their Esper Abilities.

That meant that whatever Qi Yue intended to do at the YR Research Institute during the Weekly Assessment, he had no intention of hurting the Class F students.

Li Qin even suspected that Qi Yue had deliberately used this sudden display of "concern" for the Class F students, and Liao Yuanliang's report of it, to reassure him as the academy's head.

This roundabout way of achieving his goal reminded Li Qin once again of the people from the First Hunter Academy.

An hour later, Qi Yue and Beixing arrived at the Item Depot.

Just as Qi Yue had expected, at the Esper Hunter Academy, where Esper Abilities reigned supreme, the accepted rule was that students with higher-ranked Esper Abilities had priority when exchanging points for items. By now, only a scattered handful of Class F students remained at the Item Depot's exchange counter, all curious about him and Beixing.

The Class F students had actually exchanged their points for items long ago, but they hadn't left. They had been waiting for Qi Yue, curious to see what sort of items someone as overwhelmingly powerful as him would exchange his points for.

After an hour's rest, Qi Yue was back to normal and ready to begin the long-planned strong act for the day. Of course, his first strong act today had been entirely due to his homeroom teacher's sudden whim. Fortunately, he had handled it perfectly.

Everyone was already an "old acquaintance," so they weren't surprised to see Beixing and Qi Yue appear together. They also automatically gave them some space.

Most of those in charge of exchanging items were academy teachers, along with a few teaching assistants.

The Item Depot had a thousand slots in total. Many of the items came from other Hunter Academies, and naturally, many others came from teachers at this academy. The teachers who supplied these items received a hundred percent commission after students exchanged points for them. In other words, the Item Depot's monthly revenue was pure income for the teachers once the cost of making the items was deducted. It was also a hidden perk the academy gave its teachers.

During their regular classes, Qi Yue had borrowed and read everything from the private collections of all the Class F teachers except his homeroom teacher, so the teachers couldn't help smiling when they saw him. As the saying went, no one disliked a student who was eager to learn, polite, and good at making people feel appreciated.

"Hello, teachers." Qi Yue flashed his trademark polite smile and greeted the four subject teachers first.

"Qi Yue, you're here."

"Here's the points exchange form. What would you like to get?"

"Would you like me to throw in a little something extra?"

All the other students had finished exchanging their points, leaving only Qi Yue and Beixing, so the four teachers gathered together.

Beixing automatically stood a meter away from the teachers, craning his neck out of his cloak to look at Qi Yue and them.

Jian Haosen patted Qi Yue on the shoulder. "Qi Yue, thank you. In the past, even the Class F students bought items made by teachers from the higher-ranked classes or from other Hunter Academies. But today, they bought a lot of ours. I'm going to be rich this month."

Qi Yue smiled at Jian Haosen. "Teacher Jian, you're too kind. It's only what I should do as a student."

The truth was—

Most of the time, when he analyzed the dangers of Area F and the essentials of staying alive for the Class F students, the reason he recommended only items made by their subject teachers was simply that he had thoroughly familiarized himself with what the teachers had learned during this period. Naturally, he had also quietly studied and taken apart their items until he understood them inside and out. He didn't understand the principles behind or uses of items made by teachers from other ranks, so naturally he couldn't offer advice on those.

"Hahaha, I knew I was right about you." Jian Haosen laughed heartily, patted Qi Yue on the shoulder, and walked over to Beixing. "Beixing, have you decided what to get?"

Although Beixing hadn't said anything, his expression was full of envy as he looked at Qi Yue's back. Jian Haosen knew very well that Beixing envied Qi Yue because, though their Esper Abilities were similar, Qi Yue could approach everyone freely.

Beixing looked away and spoke softly to Jian Haosen. "I have to ask Qi Yue..." He hadn't forgotten that Qi Yue had said he had other arrangements for him.

After answering Teacher Jian's question and seeing him leave, Qi Yue answered the other three teachers' questions one by one.

"Yes, Teacher Tang, I'm here." Qi Yue smiled at Tang Xuefeng and picked up the points exchange form Bai Yening had placed on the table. "Thank you, Teacher Bai. I'll fill it out in a moment."

With that, Qi Yue looked at the last teacher. "Thank you, Teacher Yan, but there's no need."

As expected of Qi Yue, he was always so considerate and meticulous, utterly flawless. The smiles never left the three teachers' faces.

In front of the three teachers, Qi Yue took a black pen and swiftly wrote out the list of items he had already memorized, without pausing for a second.

In less than three minutes, Qi Yue finished the final stroke, capped his pen, picked up the list, and pushed it toward the teachers. "This is the list of items I need."

In every class where points could be earned, Qi Yue had carefully controlled his scores to keep the other students and teachers from noticing anything unusual. If he won once, he would lose to Beixing at the end the next time, maintaining his persona while also letting Beixing earn points, and creating the false impression that he didn't care about points that could be exchanged for items. As a result, he and Beixing actually had about the same number of points. Not only that, but Qi Yue had gone over even the details of how he had just held his pen, the angle of his lowered gaze, how long he spent writing the list, and so on, at least three times in his head.

Bai Yening picked up the exchange form and spoke in confusion. "The total points for these items..."

When Qi Yue decided to do this, he had already rehearsed every step and detail of the day in his head. He knew what Teacher Bai was about to say and explained with a smile, "These are the items Beixing and I can get with our points combined."

Bai Yening said nothing more and nodded slightly. "All right, wait a moment."

They weren't surprised that Beixing listened to Qi Yue. Not long ago, Liao Yuanliang had said in their private group chat that Qi Yue had other arrangements for Beixing. This was one of those arrangements, so it was perfectly understandable.

Jian Haosen also went to help retrieve the items Qi Yue had listed from the depot slots.

Working together, the four teachers soon laid all the items on Qi Yue's list on the counter.

Besides a sniper rifle and pistol ammunition, there were many offensive potions, numerous defensive devices, and other items, as well as an expensive distress flare that cost twenty points to exchange.

It wouldn't be strange for someone else to use these things, but for Qi Yue... it seemed a little odd.

After all... Qi Yue was so strong that, by normal logic, he didn't need these things at all.

Just as the teachers began to wonder about this, Qi Yue's polite voice rang out. "Sorry for the trouble, teachers, but could you step back a little?"

The four teachers stepped back in confusion, while the other students still present all turned curious gazes on Qi Yue.

Pretending not to care about the gazes around him, Qi Yue waited until the teachers had retreated to a safe distance of one meter, then looked at Beixing. "Beixing, come here."

Beixing walked toward Qi Yue, bewildered and a little dazed.

"Wh-what is it?"

What else? Qi Yue thought. He was about to begin his second strong act of the day.

In front of everyone, Qi Yue made it clear that he was giving Beixing every item he had exchanged his own points for. "These are all yours."

Beixing: "Wh-what?!"

"Then what about you?!" Before Beixing could ask, Jian Haosen cried out in shock.

"As for me..." Under everyone's gaze, Qi Yue answered Jian Haosen in a flat tone, as if stating a fact.

"No need."

Chapter 24

Qi Yue's voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet surroundings, even the faintest sound could be heard.

Besides, Qi Yue's voice had a distinctively low, cold timbre that was impossible to ignore. The indifferent calm in his voice was even more astonishing.

Everyone's stunned gazes fell on Qi Yue.

Items for staying alive and the like... sure enough, only genuine weaklings like them needed those.

Even more surprising was that Beixing, who seemed like a walking cheat to them, was a poor little thing who needed protecting in Qi Yue's eyes...

His favoritism went that far.

How strong did someone have to be to say something so confident so casually? That must be the assurance that came only from absolute confidence.

Not only the Class F students, but even the four Class F teachers present had that thought.

"I see!" Jian Haosen clenched his right hand into a fist and smacked it into his left palm as realization dawned on him.

The teachers had taught together in Class F long enough to understand one another without explanation. Hearing him, Bai Yening rubbed her chin and nodded to herself, murmuring in agreement with Jian Haosen, "That's right. In that case, it makes sense..."

No wonder those items for physical attacks were needed. They were all for Beixing. After all, everyone knew that Beixing's supernatural passive attack was maxed out, making him a walking killing machine to any New Human with an Esper Ability or any Aberrant. What he lacked was a device for actively attacking Old Humans.

Was Qi Yue hinting that, on the island where the YR Research Institute was located, there would be Old Humans who meant Beixing harm?

"So meticulous," Tang Xuefeng exclaimed as well.

Beside her, Yan Feichen nodded in agreement.

Although Qi Yue was looking at Beixing, he kept his ears open and watched the people around him out of the corners of his eyes, paying attention to their every move.

Seeing everyone's reactions and hearing Teacher Bai's thoughtful words as she rubbed her chin, Qi Yue knew that his strong act had succeeded again.