Early in the morning, Chen Ming put Di Qiu'er into her Pokeball, then logged out of My World. He took out his Efficiency V Diamond Pickaxe, mined away the Obsidian, and got out of bed.
The morning class was history. It was a large lecture shared by two or three classes, which felt a lot like university.
Chen Ming looked toward the back row, only to find it taken! That left him no choice but to sit farther forward. His three roommates had skipped class, since history was just too boring.
The three of them had ditched class, leaving Chen Ming to come by himself—though he wasn't actually alone.
Di Qiu'er had said she was bored cooped up in her Pokeball, so she changed into one of Chen Ming's male school uniforms and came along to keep him company.
The two sat together. Chen Ming handed Di Qiu'er a history textbook and said:
"Textbook."
"No thanks. I know four thousand years of history, from the era of Spirit Hall in Douluo Continent all the way to the present. I'm not studying!"
Di Qiu'er folded her arms. Ever since she and Chen Ming had shared memories, she'd gained all that knowledge in an instant—in other words, she'd binge-watched it all in a second.
Still, those memories had only been stored away for now. Di Qiu'er would have to sort through them and look things up herself, which was a huge undertaking.
And lately, Di Qiu'er had been absorbed in the trashy, mindless novels in the "Rotten Flesh" folder, so she hadn't even started looking through most of her memories.
She still hadn't come across anything important. She'd only been reading weird, outlandish novels.
"Then what did you come here for?"
"To keep you company, obviously. I saw you coming here all by yourself, so I came along. You should be grateful!"
"Oh..."
Chen Ming didn't pay it any mind and started reading a book about controlling the elements. Di Qiu'er drew plenty of attention, mainly because she was so good-looking.
Although seeing her in men's clothes was a little strange, good looks were justice—and this was a large lecture attended by three classes.
The teacher giving the lecture couldn't possibly remember everyone, so she wouldn't be discovered among the crowd.
"Hey, can I sit next to you?"
Just then, a male student came over, hoping to sit beside Di Qiu'er. Her cheerful expression instantly turned cold.
"No."
The boy froze for a moment, but could only leave awkwardly. When Di Qiu'er turned back to Chen Ming, her face lit up again.
"Chen Ming, did you bring anything to help pass the time? Give me something!"
"Read this book on mecha design."
At that, Chen Ming placed a book on top of the history textbook in front of Di Qiu'er. The little Auspicious Beast's face fell, and she said helplessly:
"Why do I have to study again?!"
"Study hard. It'll do you good. Look at how lazy you are. Someone's going to trick you into doing whatever they want one of these days."
"Why do you sound just like my uncle? You're always nagging me about this and that..."
Di Qiu'er sulked and slumped onto the desk, using the two books as a pillow. Chen Ming reached out and tapped her on the head.
"That's rude. Call me big brother."
"I'm older than you! Why should I call you that?"
"If you don't, I'll send you back home."
At the threat of being sent back into her Pokeball, Di Qiu'er immediately backed down and obediently called him by the title.
"Sorry, big brother..."
"Heh... I liked you better when you were all defiant. Please go back to acting that way."
"You..."
Di Qiu'er seethed with indignation. If she ever found Uncle Di Tian, she'd make sure he gave Chen Ming a good beating!
As the two chatted, the bell was about to ring, and two more people arrived.
"Hey, can we sit here? There's no room anywhere else."
Di Qiu'er glanced at them. They were two girls. She looked around and saw that all the remaining seats were beside male students, so she gave a slight nod.
"Sure, sit down. Chen Ming, move in a little."
Di Qiu'er nudged him to make room, so Chen Ming had no choice but to shift farther inside.
They were sitting on the right side of the room, in the fourth row from the back. There were four seats against the wall. The two of them had originally been in the middle, but now Chen Ming had been pushed all the way to the innermost seat.
"Chen Ming..."
One of the newcomers murmured his name, then glanced at Chen Ming, who was reading with glasses on. But she quickly looked away and sat down.
When the bell rang, class began. The boring lecture made Di Qiu'er so sleepy she nearly keeled over in her seat.
"Chen Ming... The teacher's putting me to sleep. I'm never going to recover... Think of something, quick..."
Di Qiu'er leaned toward Chen Ming and whispered for help. He fell silent for a moment, wondering what they could do to pass the time, then snapped his fingers.
A cup appeared in his hand. A flash of purple crossed Chen Ming's black eyes, and ice element transformed into water element, filling the ceramic cup.
"Let's go fishing."
Chen Ming handed her a fishing rod shrunk down to twenty centimeters. Di Qiu'er took it and glanced at the teacher lecturing at the front.
Luckily, someone in front of her blocked the view. She gently swung the rod, lowering the hook into the cup, and waited.
About five seconds later, the bobber suddenly sank. Di Qiu'er quickly lifted the rod, and a Diamond came flying out.
[Better Fishing Mod loaded successfully!]
A notification about the mod appeared in the chat channel. Chen Ming glanced at the Diamond in her hand. What the heck?
"This is fun! Chen Ming, fish with me!"
Di Qiu'er whispered excitedly. Chen Ming had no choice but to pull out another cup and fill it with water. He held a little fishing rod in his left hand and turned the pages of his book with his right.
About ten seconds later, they both reeled in their lines. Di Qiu'er had caught an Emerald, while Chen Ming had caught Rotten Flesh.
"Your luck is terrible."
"Mm-hmm. My luck really is terrible."
As the two fished, the girls sitting to Di Qiu'er's left were stunned.
They looked at the Emerald on the fishing line, then at the little ceramic cup... What the heck? Was this some kind of ghost story?
"What are you guys playing? Can I join?"
Unable to hold back her curiosity, one of the girls asked. Di Qiu'er pushed the cup over and handed her the fishing rod.
"Sure. Just reel it in when you see the bobber sink."
After saying that, Di Qiu'er snatched Chen Ming's fishing rod and took over his cup, continuing to fish.
The two girls exchanged a look and carefully examined the pure white little cup. They peered inside, but there was nothing in it except water. How was this even possible?
Then they turned to look and saw Di Qiu'er's hook twitch. She immediately reeled it in, and a strange black metal came flying out.
"Look, it's Netherite!"
"Mm."
Di Qiu'er immediately showed Chen Ming what she'd caught. He gave a slight nod and went back to his book.
The two girls looked at the cup, which was about the size of a fist, then at the strange black metal, which was about the size of a palm. They'd heard her call it an alloy.
Had she just fished up an alloy made through Fusion Forging that they'd never seen before? How absurd! If they hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have believed it.
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