A Talk

"Woo—woo—woo—"

A piercing, shrill sound suddenly echoed throughout the entire Monster Town. Simultaneously, a deep, resonant voice boomed across the town via loudspeakers: "Time is up. All prospective martial artists, proceed to the town exit immediately."

At the entrance of the Monster Town, prospective martial artists began to emerge one by one. Almost every single one of them was stained with blood—perhaps from the monsters, or perhaps their own. Some were even being supported by their friends as they stumbled out.

By this time, Luo Zhe had already been locked in a small, dark room for several hours. Although he had his Dimensional Space and thus no need to worry about being truly cornered, the situation remained tense.

Being confined in that tiny, pitch-black room was suffocating. There wasn't a sliver of light to be found, and the oppressive atmosphere was intense. Most of all, the absolute silence—where he could hear nothing but the beating of his own heart—made time feel agonizingly slow.

It wasn't until that shrill siren wailed that the door to the dark room was finally opened. External light flooded into the room, and Luo Zhe, having grown accustomed to the darkness, found his vision blurring. He couldn't help but squint, struggling to make sense of the world outside, and it took a long moment for his eyes to adjust.

"Luo Zhe, come out. Someone is here to pick you up," a soldier's voice called from the doorway.

What was meant to happen would happen; Luo Zhe had already prepared himself mentally. He stood up without a word and walked straight out the door.

However, once he stepped out, Luo Zhe realized there was only a young woman in a white suit and two guards on duty. It was completely different from the scene he had imagined, which had been filled with soldiers armed to the teeth.

"Luo Zhe, let's go. Director Zhuge is waiting for you," the woman in the white suit said with a smile.

"Director Zhuge?" Luo Zhe was puzzled. Did Director Zhuge have that much influence? Could he really cover up something like this?

The woman in the white suit didn't seem inclined to explain. She gestured for Luo Zhe to follow and started walking, leaving Luo Zhe to stare blankly at the two guards.

"Hey, wait for me!" Seeing that the guards had no intention of stopping him, Luo Zhe quickly picked up his pace to catch up.

They arrived at the familiar, quiet building. When he reached the living room on the second floor, Zhuge Tao was sitting alone at the head of the table, which was laid out with a hearty breakfast.

The woman in the white suit simply escorted Luo Zhe to the second floor, bowed to Zhuge Tao, and turned to head back downstairs, leaving only the two of them.

"You're here."

Zhuge Tao beckoned to Luo Zhe with his usual warm smile. "You've been locked up all night, you must be starving. Come, have something to eat first."

Luo Zhe sat down beside Zhuge Tao and looked at the lavish breakfast, unable to stop himself from swallowing hard. To be honest, he hadn't eaten a single thing for sixteen or seventeen hours since yesterday noon. Although a martial artist's physique was far stronger than an ordinary person's, it didn't make them any less prone to hunger; his stomach had been growling for a long time.

However, seeing the Director sitting there without touching his chopsticks, he felt a bit embarrassed to start eating first.

Zhuge Tao noticed Luo Zhe's hesitation and quickly understood. He chuckled, picked up his chopsticks, and placed a piece of sticky rice chicken into Luo Zhe's bowl, even peeling back the lotus leaf wrapping himself.

"Eat. This was prepared for you; I've already eaten."

Smelling the rich aroma of sticky rice mixed with chicken, barbecue pork, and ribs, the glutton in Luo Zhe's stomach began to riot. Still, he forced himself to look away from the bowl and toward Zhuge Tao. "I'm sorry, Director. I caused you trouble last night."

"Oh?" The smile on Zhuge Tao's face deepened. "Do you know what you did wrong?"

"This..." Zhuge Tao's question caught Luo Zhe off guard. In truth, he didn't really feel he had done anything wrong; his apology was merely out of guilt for the fact that Zhuge Tao and the others had been running around for his sake in the middle of the night.

"I have already looked into the sequence of events." Zhuge Tao took a sip of tea, and just as Luo Zhe began to feel uneasy, he smiled and spoke. "You weren't wrong. On the contrary, you did very well!"

"..."

Has the Director lost his mind? Luo Zhe thought to himself, his gaze darting back and forth across Zhuge Tao.

Seeing the look in Luo Zhe's eyes, Zhuge Tao was speechless. He explained, "In that kind of environment, when you cannot confirm the intentions of an approaching person, your own survival must be the top priority. If you hadn't struck first to take down that Wan Dong, you both would have been in a very dangerous position had he harbored malicious intent. That is why I say you did the right thing!"

Luo Zhe scratched his head in embarrassment. Even if it were true, being praised to his face like this was quite awkward.

"Furthermore, as a martial artist, it is our duty to protect the weak! I already know that you kept protecting Wang Meng—well done! But why on earth did you ask someone for a twenty-million protection fee? The Extreme Martial Arts Hall already gave you a starting fund of one hundred and twenty million!"

Hearing this, Luo Zhe wasn't happy and retorted, "How could you say I asked him for it? He insisted on giving it to me! I didn't even want it at first, but he refused to press the distress button and kept saying he wanted to pay me to protect him. I had no choice but to accept it."

Zhuge Tao glared at him. "Don't try to pull the wool over my eyes. If you were short on cash, you could have borrowed from me!"

"It's fortunate that Wang Meng spoke up for you, or you wouldn't have come out unscathed. Otherwise, if someone with ill intent had found the opportunity, they wouldn't even need to frame you—they would have caught you red-handed. You would have been finished, and you wouldn't even know how you died!"

Luo Zhe knew he was in the wrong and obediently apologized. "I'm sorry, Director. I really was short on money, and the starting funds from the Martial Arts Hall hadn't arrived yet. When I saw a chance to make some extra cash, I just couldn't resist."

Zhuge Tao couldn't help but tap Luo Zhe on the head. "I'll let it slide this time, but don't do it again! If you're truly short on money, call me. You are a genius martial artist of our Extreme Martial Arts Hall; if you get caught in a scandal over such a small amount of money, where would that leave our reputation?"

Luo Zhe remained silent, sitting quietly in his seat with a submissive expression.

Seeing that the atmosphere had shifted, Zhuge Tao didn't press the issue further and served Luo Zhe a bowl of porridge. "Eat something first. I've already handled the assessment matters."

"Once you return, you will be able to access the internal network of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, and the starting funds will be deposited into your account."

Luo Zhe nodded, picked up his bowl and chopsticks, and began to eat heartily.

"By the way, Luo Zhe, I heard you say yesterday that the battle blade I arranged for you was too light. Was that because your punch power has increased significantly again? What level has your punch power reached now?"

Luo Zhe, who was busy shoveling millet porridge into his mouth, suddenly stopped. He licked his lips and said, "After testing it a few days ago, I confirmed that my physical fitness has reached the Junior Warrior Level!"