Volume Three: The Academy's Full-Scale Rampage - Academy Prelude

At midnight, the three bright moons were obscured by clouds, and a desolate darkness descended upon the earth.

"Ha... ha... haah..."

The sound of rapid breathing and running broke the tranquility of the alley.

"Ha... woo... guah!"

The sound of running belonged to a girl of about ten years old, panting heavily as she leaned weakly against the cold wall. Her delicate little feet were numb and sore, and the pain from her stitches made it impossible for her to straighten up. If she could, she really wanted to sit on the ground and take a good nap.

But she couldn't.

"Quick! She's running this way!"

"Quickly grab her and report back to the doctor!"

A rude male voice came from behind, and more than one burly man rushed up from behind, his target the girl who was almost exhausted.

"No... no!"

The girl struggled to her feet and staggered towards the alleyway exit, but how could an exhausted girl possibly outrun the nimble, strong men?

"Gotcha!"

A roar came from behind, and then the girl felt herself being lifted up. Her blistered toes dangled back and forth a meter off the ground. The girl struggled desperately, but she couldn't break free from the iron claw.

"Stay still! Don't move!"

"The professor is really crazy, making such a fuss over such a little girl!"

"Please... let me go! I don't want to go back there... Waaah..."

The girl cried and begged the burly men for mercy, but this only made these cold-blooded men more irritated.

"Stop yelling like that, you little brat! You think I won't—"

Thump!!!

The burly man didn't finish his sentence.

A tremendous force sent him flying backward, crashing into the alley wall and knocking him unconscious. The girl, freed, fell to the ground.

"Who goes there!?"

The other men immediately got into fighting stances, ready to start at any moment.

"Tsk."

Surprisingly, it was a woman's voice.

"Getting into trouble just walking alone at night, it's unbelievable..."

The voice possessed both the delicate and melodious quality unique to young girls, and the resolute spirit of a warrior.

The person who appeared with the voice was a tall woman.

After seeing her face clearly, all the men were stunned.

Simply because of her overly aggressive beauty.

With such looks, even among the many beautiful women at the Central United Academy, she would be considered top-tier.

"Hey, you."

"Ah? Ah... Yes!" Upon being called, the young girl immediately straightened her back.

Why are these guys chasing you?

"They... are going to take me back, back to that place where I'm imprisoned..."

"So that's how it is, illegal imprisonment of young girls...?"

The tall woman helplessly smoothed her slightly disheveled long hair, at which point the men finally came to their senses.

"No matter where you are or where you're from, I advise you to get out of here right now! Forget all this!"

"..."

She remained motionless, staring at the men with an expression as if they were idiots.

"... Alright, looks like this woman's got a death wish. Oh well, might as well get rid of her too."

Fifteen seconds later--

The narrow alley was filled with unconscious men.

"Alright, it's all taken care of. You can go ask the Enforcement Team for help, or you can just leave."

The woman clapped her hands and turned to leave, at that moment—

"Wait... wait a minute!"

I was stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"No... I... I have no home, nowhere to go, and someone wants to capture me..."

"... So you mean you want me to help someone to the very end?"

"Ah! That's not what I meant, but... uh..."

"Forget it, don't bother explaining. I do have a place for you to stay. If you trust me, you can come along."

A moment of silence, and then--

"Okay, I'm willing to believe you, please help me!"

The girl gave an answer.

"... Alright then, come with me."

And so, two figures, one tall and one short, walked onto the street late at night.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Xiao Wu, I'm 19 years old. What about you?"

"My name is... Evelynths."

"What!? A bunch of grown men can't even catch a little girl? Yafitz! Are your men all useless?"

In a spacious room, an obese man was throwing a tantrum.

"Don't get agitated, Brother Sadler. Hiring civilians is a last resort to avoid suspicion."

Another person replied. He was thin, wearing a white lab coat, and a pair of complicated glasses with six lenses covered most of his face, revealing only a mouth with a strange smile.

"You make it sound so easy! Now that she's run away, who's going to take responsibility for such a huge mistake?"

"Don't worry, I was responsible to begin with, so I'll take the blame. It won't affect your career."

"Hmph... You've got a good eye. I advise you to get things done quickly!"

With a bang, the bloated man Sadler slammed the door and left, leaving only Yafitz behind.

"Um... Doctor? What should we do?"

"Don't worry, as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining."

Dr. Yafitz put on his white coat, a strange smile on his face, and turned to leave.

Somewhere in the city at night, there is a place darker than the night itself.

It was a rather small room, and everything in it—the floor, the walls, the ceiling—was uniformly black, making it feel very oppressive.

The only striking feature was a long white table in the center of the room, with a black raven symbol at its center. A dozen or so people dressed in black sat around the table. These people varied in gender and build, but without exception, they were all young, the oldest being only in their early twenties. One of the boys stood upright, holding a report, and was reading its contents aloud.

The most eye-catching figure was the woman at one end of the long table.

The woman was also dressed in black, but her black coat was decorated with jet-black raven feathers, giving it an eerie beauty. She wore a white mask that covered her entire face, with a black feather painted on it.

"--This concludes this month's drug market revenue report, Lord Black Crystal."

After finishing his report, the boy bowed deeply. The woman, referred to as 'Lord Black Crystal,' nodded, and the boy immediately sat back down, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Well..." Black Crystal looked around, and everyone whose gaze swept over her shrank back.

"Let's make a simple summary, Gold Silver Grass."

"Yes, Lord Black Crystal."

Gold Silver Grass —a rather strange name; it's certainly not its real name, just a code.

A young woman with long, light blue hair stood up, flipping through the compiled data in her hand, and said, "Over the past few months, the profits from the underground brothels, casinos, and contraband trade controlled by our 'Black Crow' have been steadily increasing, reaching xx billion Tong Coin this month, nearing saturation. Our accumulated manpower and resources are now quite considerable—"

"Very good, that's enough."

Black Crystal interrupted her.

"After a long period of preparation, we have finally gathered enough strength, and now, the time has finally come to implement this plan—"

With a wave of her hand, the curtain hanging behind her automatically opened, revealing eight portraits.

The youngest person in the painting is over fifty years old, and they are all dressed in magnificent clothes. Their eyes reveal their authority, clearly indicating that they are people who have long held high positions.

"Our next plan as Black Raven is to assassinate the eight leaders of the General Council one by one!"

For a moment, the small room was completely silent.

Then--

"What—you, are you crazy?" A boy stood up, his face full of disbelief.

"You seem to have a problem with that, Purple Carp."

"Excuse my bluntness—I do not doubt your or Black Raven's power, but this plan is indeed far too dangerous! Please reconsider!"

"Is that so... It is indeed very dangerous, so I expected there would be opposition. It's alright, anyone who thinks it's too dangerous and doesn't want to participate can leave now, I won't blame them."

"... Huh? Is it really okay?"

"Of course, forcing unmotivated people to do things will only backfire, and I'm aware of the risks of this plan, so I understand your perspective."

"Then... I shall respectfully comply."

The boy left with a grateful expression, and two other girls followed suit.

"So, are there any others who have decided to withdraw from the plan?"

No one answered.

"Very good, then--"

Click!

Black feathers shot out like javelins, piercing the chests of the three men who had just left their seats, without any hesitation.

"Lord Black Crystal... why—"

Pfft!

Another blow followed, this time aimed at the head. The boy didn't even have time to scream before collapsing into the splattered brain matter.

"Alright, the destabilizing factors have been resolved. Now, does anyone else want to withdraw?"

Black Crystal's tone was light and cheerful, as if she had killed not three people, but three flies.

In the dark hall, three points of light floated in mid-air, one golden and two blue.

The Gleaming Gold South-Pointing Compass and two Crystal Realm Fruits.

With three Divine Item of heaven and earth gathered together, an ordinary person would be overwhelmed by their overwhelming power just by looking at them.

A slender man was directly exposed to the oppressive aura, looking at them with obvious impatience.

"That's really slow..."

The man's voice was higher in pitch than the average male's, with a subtle androgynous beauty that was quite pleasant to listen to, but the displeased tone was hardly flattering.

"The materials needed to construct the World Crossing Gate — Crystal Realm Fruit, Gleaming Gold South-Pointing Compass, Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire, Boundary Breaking Armor, Truth Incantation, and Rakshasa True Word —we've only managed to acquire two of them after all this time. We only possess three of the nine Divine Artifact currently existing on Spirit Star. Just how... useless are you?!"

This was less of a reprimand and more of an unreasonable outburst.

"I am so sorry, Leader!"

The loyal subject, Gustav, knelt on one knee and accepted the unreasonable anger without question.

"Seriously— the Boundary Breaking Armor is in the Central United Academy, right? And the Truth Incantation from the West Saint Continent hasn't even arrived yet! We don't even know the whereabouts of the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire and the Rakshasa True Word! Are you guys just freeloaders?"

"We will definitely improve efficiency, and we hope that our Leader will..."

"Everyone has worked very hard, so let's not make things too difficult for them."

A third voice appeared.

This space contains the two strongest individuals in the entire organization, as well as three super Divine Item; it can be said to be an alternate dimension where no living person should approach—yet this person's steps were remarkably effortless.

It was as if he wasn't under any pressure at all.

"It's you, Yusuo Zai..."

"It's been a while. Mr. Gustav has been working so hard, so let's not be too harsh on him, Jili."

Jili.

The moment he heard those two words, a terrifying killing intent erupted from Gustav.

"You—merely one of the high-ranking members, how dare you address the Leader by his first name!?"

"Uh, I forgot you're the one who respects the Leader the most. I'm so sorry."

"Hateful--"

"Enough, stop making a scene!"

At the Leader's loud shout, Gustav immediately stopped what he was doing.

"What a bunch of useless trash... Instead of fighting amongst yourselves, you should hurry up and bring the rest of the stuff to me!"

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And so, Volume Three begins, a new volume.

A fresh start is needed, so Monthly Votes! (smirking)

Come participate in the popularity poll for the newly released second volume! And since it's already two volumes, book reviews are welcome!