Classroom of the Elite, After the Intel Refreshed, They Always Want to Conquer Me! 40

(If Class C is this weak, could Class D be a bunch of trash? Heh... could it be that only Class B and Class A are worth competing against?)

(Fortunately, the superiority complex of those honor students still gave me an opening.)

The scene from the cafeteria a few days ago surfaced in his mind—the condescending gaze of that silver-haired girl on crutches, as if she were admiring a flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

That nauseating sense of superiority, ironically, became the best hint.

Later, he sent people to investigate her identity.

The girl with the crutches was Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A, and she was also one of the leaders of Class A.

So, when he passed by Class A last night, he deliberately planted two wiretaps at the entrance.

He didn't expect that just after school today, he would hear content that could be called a "major scoop."

A cold sneer curled the corners of his mouth.

(Information warfare... isn't just about solving problems head-on.)

(Even if I don't have the information... digging for it from other classes that do is also a strategic method.)

(Since I can't send out a spy this time, I'll just have to make do with wiretaps.)

He spun his phone in his palm and quickly pulled up the contact interface for a certain person.

Ryuen Kakeru: Save it, loser. Do you really think your little bit of information is worth 1 million points?

Ryuen Kakeru: I already knew about those so-called hidden rules of yours.

His thumb pressed heavily on the send button, the recipient clearly displayed as "Yueqing."

When he first received the friend request from this mysterious person "Yueqing" a few days ago, he hadn't taken the other party seriously at all.

However, to his surprise, the other party not only replied quickly but also threw out even more shocking words.

Yueqing: It seems you already know? That saves me the trouble of explaining.

Yueqing: We can get straight to the point and talk about the upcoming transaction.

Ryuen Kakeru stared at the screen, his brows locked in a frown.

Ryuen Kakeru: Wait, don't you only sell information?

Yueqing: What era do you think this is? Who only sells information anymore?

Yueqing: Let me see, hmm? Your whole class is present... this makes things even more convenient.

Ryuen Kakeru's heart jolted, and he suddenly looked up to scan his surroundings—the classroom door was clearly locked!

"Are you wiretapping me?" he asked instinctively.

Yueqing: It's not a wiretap. I'm looking at you fair and square through the two cameras inside your classroom.

Yueqing: So, Ryuen-kun, how many millions of points do you intend to pay to rent these two monitors in your classroom?

070 Smashing the monitor / Was it Sakayanagi Arisu?

"Tch... I've been played!"

Ryuen Kakeru's knuckles rapped heavily against the desktop, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

He stared fixedly at the red-blinking surveillance camera on the ceiling, as if he wanted to burn through it with his gaze.

(Who exactly is pulling the strings behind the scenes?)

This thought swirled frantically in his mind.

He realized the other party's scheme almost instantly—the surveillance access was a Damocles' sword hanging over his head.

Those incoming surveillance feeds were like silent mockery, blatantly declaring: either pay a high price in points to buy out the access, or live under surveillance forever.

"You can rent the monitors? This school really takes 'point-supremacy' to the extreme." Ryuen squeezed a cold laugh through his teeth. His account did indeed have the 3 million-plus points he had confiscated over the past few days; this class fund that should have made him feel triumphant had suddenly become someone else's prize.

Ryuen Kakeru pondered for a moment and decisively picked up his phone to send a message to his homeroom teacher, Sakagami Kazuma.

Ryuen Kakeru: How many points does it take to rent the school's surveillance room?

Sakagami Kazuma replied quickly: You can't. The school just issued a notice prohibiting students from purchasing, renting, using, or replacing any school equipment. In short, some rights of interpretation belong to the school.

"Just prohibited?" Ryuen Kakeru's pupils contracted sharply. "Doesn't that mean... the other party is the first person to eat the crab!"

He immediately realized the gravity of the situation and his fingers tapped rapidly on the screen, tentatively sending a message to Yueqing.

Ryuen Kakeru: How much do you want?

The other party's reply was concise and direct.

Yueqing: 3 million points.

"Damn it!" Ryuen Kakeru's hand holding the phone trembled slightly, and his back was instantly soaked in cold sweat.

This number was terrifyingly precise—it was the exact total balance of his class fund account today.

This mysterious person not only knew his financial situation like the back of his hand, but was also making an exorbitant demand, attempting to swallow his entire class fund reserve in one gulp.

What was even more terrifying was that this meant the other party's surveillance might have started long ago, and he didn't even know who the person was.

"Since when exactly..." Ryuen Kakeru gritted his teeth.

He had once thought his method of obtaining information on Class A via wiretapping was clever enough, but compared to this mysterious person who was openly charging fees by exploiting the surveillance system, it was nothing more than child's play.

This kind of all-encompassing surveillance, this level of precise intelligence control—it was a contest on an entirely different scale.

Ryuen Kakeru felt his temples throbbing; the sensation of being backed into a corner made his blood boil.

(It's not a second-year... Vice President Nagumo wouldn't be this bored. And that Student Council president in the third year wouldn't even bother with this...)

(So, it can only be a first-year student who is desperate for points, right?)

"Ryuen! What's wrong?" Ishizaki Daichi noticed his leader's abnormal expression and quickly leaned in with concern.

When he inadvertently caught a glimpse of the message on the other's phone screen, his eyes widened in shock.

"What?! Someone is actually using the classroom surveillance to monitor our class?!" Ishizaki blurted out, his rough voice exploding across the room.

"What's going on? Since when?"

"Explain yourself!"

"Aren't these cameras installed by the school?"

The previously quiet Class C instantly erupted into a commotion, with students asking questions all at once, panic spreading like ripples in a pond.

"Shut your mouth!" Ryuen Kakeru froze for a moment before kicking Ishizaki in a fit of rage.

He had never intended to reveal the truth to this bunch of idiots—it would only shake the foundation of the rule he had worked so hard to establish—yet he hadn't expected his own teammate to be such a loudmouth.

"Ryuen!" Ishizaki rubbed his aching backside, staring with aggrieved eyes.

But Ryuen couldn't be bothered to even glance at him; right now, his mind was entirely occupied with weighing the pros and cons.

Forced to accept surveillance? The humiliation made his stomach churn.

As a hunter accustomed to controlling the big picture, he had now been reduced to a trapped beast within someone else's surveillance net.

Yet, the cold lens of the camera felt like an unblinking eye, making him feel as if he were being pricked by needles.

Destroy the equipment? Too naive. The opponent controlled the surveillance permissions; smashing the hardware would be futile.

It might even result in a massive deduction of...

"Bang!"

A deafening shattering sound interrupted his thoughts.

Ryuen Kakeru spun around to see Ishizaki holding a chair high above his head, the surveillance device on the ceiling now smashed to pieces, wires dangling like the severed tail of a snake.

"Since the problem is the camera, smashing it solves everything!" Ishizaki grinned with a triumphant smile, his face full of smugness.

"Good idea!"

"That way we won't get class points deducted!"

A few scattered voices of agreement echoed in the classroom, and several boys even began to roll up their sleeves.

(Are these idiots incapable of using their brains at school?)

Ryuen Kakeru felt his temples throb, and the string known as his sanity snapped.

He lunged up and kicked Ishizaki hard in the back of the knee, causing the latter to collapse to the floor in surprise. "Are you out of your damn mind? The surveillance data is transmitted over the network! What good does smashing this terminal do? The school can replace it in a minute! If you destroy school property like this, how are you going to make up for the class points we lose?"

Beads of sweat trickled down Ishizaki's forehead.

He opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only lower his head in defeat.

"Ryuen... I was wrong this time. I'll listen to you from now on! I'll do whatever you say! If you tell me to go east, I won't dare go west."

"Get lost! Go back to your seat and stay there! Don't do anything! I don't want to deal with you right now!"

Ryuen suddenly realized that the surveillance camera was recording his loss of composure.

This would undoubtedly bring even more severe penalties upon the class.

"Damn it... looks like I have no choice but to rent it!" He gritted his teeth, forced to make this decision.

On second thought, purchasing the surveillance equipment wasn't entirely without benefits.

It could effectively counter the prying eyes in the shadows while avoiding the risk of losing class points due to disciplinary infractions.

He had been full of confidence, believing that his iron-fisted methods were enough to make the idiots of Class C bow and obey.

But reality had dealt him a heavy blow—some people were simply beyond help, and no amount of coercion or temptation could change their foolish nature.

Since that was the case, it was better to rent the surveillance; at least it provided a safety net.

This transaction was like poisoned honey; he knew it was dangerous, but he had to swallow it.

Ryuen swept his gloomy gaze across the students in the classroom.

(...Is there not a single person here with a brain?)

His gaze finally landed on Shiina Hiyori in the corner—in all of Class C, only this silver-haired girl was watching him with a thoughtful expression.

Ryuen suddenly felt it was utterly absurd that this school, which claimed to prioritize ability, had placed a group of brainless thugs in the same class as him.

(Who is the real Class D here, anyway...)

(If I hadn't used force to take control of the class as soon as school started, wouldn't these people have already lost all our class points?)

He couldn't help but clench his fists.

But the anger of being played for a fool burned ever brighter in his chest, especially when he considered a certain possibility—

(A silvery... spiderweb...)

Ryuuen suddenly broke into a dangerous grin.

(Could it be your doing!... Sakayanagi Arisu... After all, your father is the Chairman! Purchasing surveillance access from him seems plausible enough!)

If she really was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, then this game had truly become interesting—using the points he extorted to extort him in return; it was a genius eye-for-an-eye.

(Is this your revenge, Sakayanagi? Could it be that you've already discovered I eavesdropped on your class's hidden intelligence?)

"Hahaha! This is getting more and more interesting!"

Ryuuen suddenly burst into loud laughter, scaring the surrounding students into silence.

He roughly wiped away the tears from his laughter, his gaze growing increasingly sharp.

This cat-and-mouse game had only just begun, and what he loved most was dragging a high-and-mighty queen down from her pedestal.

ps: Two extra chapters today, a bonus for recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Thank you all for your votes.

071 Could Class A be starting an internal conflict?

After school.

Shimizu Akira arrived at the Student Council once again, sitting opposite Horikita Manabu and looking at the rental contract handed over by the other party.

Even though it was just a school, it often felt like a miniature society, permeated with the scent of rules and transactions at every turn.

He scanned the contract briefly, and after confirming there were no issues, he picked up a pen and signed his name.

Afterward, he transferred the full 1.2 million points from his account to the other party.

From today on, he officially possessed surveillance access to those four classrooms and eight cameras.

"By the way, President." Shimizu Akira suddenly thought of a key question, "If... some genius from one of the classes acts on impulse and destroys the surveillance equipment, how should that situation be handled?"