In the back row of the spacious Lecture Hall for first-year students at the Sage Institute, after Lanchi's voice fell silent, the sudden confrontation seemed to freeze every sound in the air for a moment, leaving only a tense, oppressive silence that spread through the room and could not be broken.
Even the midday sunlight shining through the windows from outside the classroom seemed to have slowed.
The other students wore all kinds of expressions, as still as statues. Some kept staring at the scenery outside while listening with their ears, some lowered their heads to their books and pretended not to care, and others simply turned around in their seats to watch.
No matter what they were doing, they were all silently enjoying the spectacle in the back row.
The students watching the show finally realized what a despicable fellow Lanchi was!
So his very first sentence had actually been a trap!
Only after successfully baiting Mo Dan into making his habitual mocking remark had he followed up with his warning about the law.
At that moment, Mo Dan's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and he said nothing. He felt as though Lanchi had toyed with him.
After several seconds that were brief in reality but felt unbearably long,
"How old are you this year?"
Lanchi finally spoke again, breaking the silence.
Mo Dan did not understand why Lanchi was asking about his age, so he did not answer.
Or rather, Mo Dan no longer wanted to answer Lanchi's questions casually.
"He's nineteen."
Hughberlian told Lanchi from the side.
She more or less understood what Lanchi was trying to do. After interacting with him several times, she had discovered that his train of thought was not completely incomprehensible. It was just difficult for ordinary people to keep up with him.
Lanchi counted on his fingers, then looked at Mo Dan.
"Then you'll be able to get out when you're twenty-seven."
"?"
Mo Dan froze for a moment before realizing what Lanchi meant.
Lanchi did not sound as though he were using coded language to threaten him. He was seriously calculating the minimum eight-year prison sentence he could secure for the defendant as the plaintiff's lawyer.
"Yaaawn..."
Lanchi yawned, then lazily slumped back onto the desk. He smiled and winked at Mo Dan with his left eye.
It was as though he had merely played a little joke on Mo Dan.
However.
That friendly, completely non-aggressive display only made Mo Dan feel his blood pressure shoot up.
Mo Dan's pupils trembled slightly, his gaze like a powder keg that could explode at any moment. Although his facial muscles remained still, his throat was tightly closed, as if he were trying to prevent his surging anger from bursting out in disgraceful words.
"You should first see whether this Duchess can even wait until she inherits the Aransal Family. Otherwise, everything you're saying is just empty talk."
Mo Dan finally managed to suppress the rage and impulse that seemed to have been kindled by a devil.
"Lanchi Wilford, if you don't want your own Wilford Merchant Guild dragged into this, you'd better stop sticking your nose into her affairs."
He stared coldly at the relaxed Lanchi and threatened him in a low voice.
Lanchi frowned slightly at his words.
"So... if I keep helping Hughberlian, you'll find a way to bring down the Wilford Merchant Guild?"
"That's right. Our House of Marquis Gasigas has plenty of ways to swallow your entire company through legitimate commercial means, at the lowest possible cost."
Mo Dan became extremely cautious with his words.
He knew that Lanchi's question just now had been another attempt to bait him into revealing "evidence of a crime" in advance.
But repeating the same trick would obviously be too clumsy.
Mo Dan laughed coldly to himself. He was certain that, with his own influence, he had countless ways to handle this self-important borderland boy.
For instance, Lanchi could not possibly be indifferent to his own Wilford Merchant Guild!
But the next second,
Mo Dan never would have expected Lanchi to stare straight at him as though he had just seen his savior.
The genuine anticipation in that gaze sent a chill through Mo Dan.
"?"
What normal person would react to a threat against their family business with such indescribable delight?
Just how had your father abused you when you were young to make you hate the Wilford Family this much?!
"In a business war, the victor rules and the loser is crushed. If you can swallow us, then go ahead. There's no need to inform me."
Lanchi shrugged and said with his eyes closed, looking utterly unconcerned.
Mo Dan took a deep breath. He finally felt a sense of exasperation.
"Lanchi Wilford, smooth talk alone is meaningless. Your true ability will soon be exposed without a shred of concealment in the Shadow World. I hope you don't embarrass yourself in front of the entire royal capital. A lot of people are watching you."
Mo Dan had also realized that Lanchi's attitude of not caring about even his closest relatives made him seem practically like a demon!
No wonder he got along so well with Hughberlian.
"Hughberlian, let this muddy boat of yours carry your lofty spring-and-autumn dream down to the bottom of the sea."
After leaving those words behind, Mo Dan turned and walked away with a gloomy expression.
His words were filled with certainty.
Because he knew that if Hughberlian wanted to become stronger and gain more chances to find her father, she could only beg him and submit to him.
One day, she would come to her senses and seek him out.
After Mo Dan left, countless faint murmurs finally rose and fell throughout the classroom.
Some sharp-eared students realized that Lanchi's accusation against Mo Dan just now might be epoch-making.
Because among the many famous schools on the Southern Continent, there had never been a precedent, from their founding until now, of successfully sending a fellow student to prison.
Once Lanchi set this bad precedent and Hughberlian hired him as her lawyer to threaten Mo Dan,
the atmosphere of this Ikelite Magic Academy might well be led astray by Lanchi.
In the past, whenever students developed irreconcilable conflicts, they would usually go to the arena or enter the Artificial Shadow World, where their lives were protected, and have a fight.
At worst, they would play rough, wager something, and have a duel over their honor.
But with Lanchi's example before them, the students would gradually discover—
For any campus conflict or dispute, finding a way to send the opponent straight to prison was the most effective and efficient approach!
The back row of the classroom.
"Sigh..."
Hughberlian finally smiled helplessly.
Ever since she had met Lanchi, she had felt that this fellow was serious while also being absurd in every way.
If he were her opponent, he would definitely be an absolute menace.
But if he were her teammate, he would certainly be the most reassuring and wonderful new student imaginable.
"Lanchi, thank you."
"It was nothing. I've always hated fighting. I only like to mediate. There's no need for meaningless arguments between classmates."
After seeing Mo Dan leave, Lanchi lay facedown on the desk and muttered.
He felt that he was about to become the Emperor of Sleep again.
His bleary eyes stared at the clock, and every passing second felt like torture.
He did not want to attend class.
Now, he did not even have the energy to read the law-exam books he had been thinking about day and night.
It was just like when he had been in high school. Whenever he encountered a subject he hated, he would collapse onto his desk the moment the teacher opened their mouth.
Lanchi wondered whether he should go challenge the Shadow World today.
According to the school's regulations, missing class because of a Shadow World challenge would not count as truancy. After passing, students would even be granted a certain amount of leave to recuperate.
Moreover, when students participated in Shadow World challenges, the school would award them a small number of real credits based on the difficulty and their performance. These could not only be used as elective credits for any semester, but, if they accumulated enough, could even offset credits for required courses!
Therefore, many idiotic Martial Artists from the Knight Institute would go all out in Shadow World challenges, doing everything they could to indirectly replace their required courses!
Lanchi now felt that he was about to take the same path.
He could not help looking at Hughberlian.
She seemed to be finding her studies very easy today, nothing like his own suffering.
Moreover, Hughberlian seemed to be a cautious and steady person by nature.
He wondered whether she would agree to venture into the Shadow World with him.
Before you continue