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The next day, when Zhang Tie woke up in bed, he immediately discovered two things that left him filled with regret. The first was that he hadn't heard his alarm, meaning he would likely be late this morning. The second was that he had forgotten to extinguish the oil lamp in his small room, letting it burn away for nothing all night. Think of how much oil that wasted—and oil was money.

While hurriedly turning off the lamp, Zhang Tie scrambled to get dressed. As he reached the stairs to leave the attic, he took two steps down before turning back to toss the "remains" of those two pieces of Fool's Gold into a nondescript, broken box in the storage room next to his cabin, then scurried down the stairs.

His father had already left for work, leaving only his mother at home. A bowl of warm porridge was kept in the pot. Hearing Zhang Tie rushing down to wash up, his mother emerged from the Rice Brew shop to fetch his breakfast. As she did, she nagged, "Did you stay up too late last night? You need to take better care of your health. Oh, and I washed those underpants you hid in your drawer yesterday. Next time you're in a rush, just toss them into the laundry basin!"

Zhang Tie, who was mid-gargle, choked on his water at that last sentence. He coughed for a long time before recovering. Whether from the choking or sheer embarrassment, his face turned bright red. He couldn't help but shout, "Mom, I've told you three hundred times! I can wash my own things. Stop going into my room and digging through my stuff! I'm not a kid anymore!"

Those underpants had traces from a wet dream the night before. He hadn't had time to wash them that morning, so he'd hidden them in the drawer under his wardrobe. Last night, his mind had been entirely occupied by that mysterious object, and he'd forgotten to fish them out. The thought of his mother discovering his "secret" while washing them made him feel utterly humiliated and ashamed.

"I know, I know. Our Guoguo is a grown man now. I raised you from a baby; what haven't I seen?" His mother's indifferent tone told Zhang Tie that his protest had been in vain. It seemed he would have to be more careful in the future. If people outside found out his mother was still washing his underpants, he would never be able to show his face again.

Zhang Tie stayed silent, slurping down his porridge. He didn't even have time to wipe his mouth before running out the door. Even after running quite a distance, he could still hear his mother's parting advice: "Don't run on a full stomach, walk slower..."

On the way, Zhang Tie spent two copper coins—a rare occurrence—to take the tram for a few stops, all to get to school as quickly as possible. But when he finally arrived, he was greeted by the bell signaling the end of the second period.

Teacher Daina's class was already over! This week was the second week of May; the first two periods on Friday were Teacher Daina's major lecture, while the odd weeks were for Natural History.

This discovery left Zhang Tie utterly dejected. He cursed himself for oversleeping.

When he reached the lecture hall, Teacher Daina was nowhere to be seen. Only the "animals" of the graduating class were swarming out of the hall, rushing toward the restrooms like a hive of bees. Usually, when attending Teacher Daina's class, these animals would rather hold their bladders for two hours than leave the room, all to keep her in their sight.

"Teacher Daina is getting more beautiful every day!"

"I dreamed about her again last night!"

"I watched for two hours during class—Teacher Daina's breasts have gotten bigger!"

"That round, perky butt is just so sexy. It has the flavor of a mature woman. I wonder what Teacher Daina's butt feels like?"

"I've been throbbing for two hours, it's so painful. Goddess Daina really knows how to torture a man!"

As a group of animals walked past Zhang Tie, these were the kinds of things he heard. As for what was actually taught in Teacher Daina's biology class, no one cared at all.

Finally, a few animals from the Airplane Brotherhood walked over. Zhang Tie saw them, and they saw him. He noticed the fat guy, Barry, wink at him, while Doug looked at him with a nervous expression, leaving Zhang Tie completely baffled.

"What's up, late today?" Barry walked over and patted Zhang Tie on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I kind of overslept!" Zhang Tie scratched his head, feeling sheepish.

"Heh... heh... don't overexert yourself at night. If you burn through too much energy, it's inevitable you'll oversleep!" Sista's lewdness was as glaring as the acne on his face, no matter the time. As he spoke, he put heavy emphasis on the word "energy," as if he were terrified someone might miss his point.

"You look a bit pale today. Don't tell me Sista hit the nail on the head? After experiencing the benefits of the Airplane Brotherhood, you must have had a hard time falling asleep last night!" Light chimed in with a wink.

"What did Teacher Daina cover in class today?" Ignoring the two of them, Zhang Tie turned to Shavin. If anyone in the Airplane Brotherhood actually listened during Teacher Daina's lectures, it was Shavin. He was the only one who took diligent notes, for which he was often mocked by the others.

"Simple treatments for Rot Vine and the living habits of the Man-eating Spider. If you want to see them, I can lend you my notes!"

"Great, lend them to me later!"

"I can't hold it anymore, hurry up!" Baghdad urged from the side. The group followed the crowd toward the restrooms, but Doug deliberately slowed his pace, falling behind the others. Once they were out of earshot, he quietly pulled Zhang Tie aside.

"Let's make up!" The first thing out of Doug's mouth made Zhang Tie's hair stand on end.

Seeing Zhang Tie's expression, Doug finally realized he'd phrased it wrong. "Oh, no, I mean let's reconcile!"

"Reconcile?" Zhang Tie looked at Doug, confused. What was this about?

"Don't tell Baghdad and the others what happened to me yesterday, and I'll forgive you for throwing up on me that first time. Do you know how many people saw me that day? Some guys have already started calling me 'Slime Monster'!" Doug's expression started off bashful but quickly turned indignant.

Zhang Tie finally understood why Doug had been cold and dismissive all week. What a petty guy. But if anyone dared to give him a nickname as disgusting as "Slime Monster" at school and called him that in front of Teacher Daina, he would beat that person until even their own mother wouldn't recognize them.

"Fine, we're reconciled. I won't say anything about yesterday!" It didn't cost him a copper, so Zhang Tie decided to be generous. "But what should I say if Sista and the others ask?"

"Just say I went in and it took me three hours to finish. I've already cleared it with Barry!"

"Fine. You took three hours, and when you came out, the woman personally walked you to the door and gave you a lingering kiss, telling you to come back soon!"

"Good brother!" Doug excitedly patted Zhang Tie on the shoulder, looking as if he'd found a kindred spirit.

Zhang Tie could only retreat in defeat.

The next class was Carpentry. For the following two hours, all the animals in Zhang Tie's class used two-man saws in the school's workshop. By the time the bell rang, their hands were swollen from the labor.

The afternoon was for physical training and testing. As usual, this meant it was time for Gelis to show off. This week, Gelis had broken his own records for squats and maximum consecutive armor-piercing spear thrusts, reaching 320 kilograms and 139 thrusts, respectively. Even the instructor praised Gelis as a natural-born Warrior.

Compared to the dazzling Gelis, the performance of most in the Airplane Brotherhood was as unremarkable as an airport before the Great Cataclysm. Only Baghdad managed to break into the top twenty fastest students in the grade with a time of 10.8 seconds in the 100-meter dash, becoming the only highlight of the Airplane Brotherhood. As for the others, like Zhang Tie, they didn't even have recorded times. The instructor only recorded the top three finishers out of every group of twenty. Zhang Tie's 100-meter time was usually outside the top ten; his personal best had been ninth place. It would be a miracle if he had a recorded time. The third-place finisher in their group clocked in at 11.2 seconds, and Zhang Tie had trailed by about four body lengths. He estimated his own time was around 11.6 seconds—a time that held no honor among the animals of the graduating class. As for the fat guy Barry, his 13.7-second time was absolutely at the bottom of the class, though the fat guy didn't seem ashamed in the slightest.

After the afternoon physical training, Zhang Tie received his latest personal stats:

Zhang Tie--

100-meter dash--11.6 seconds.

Bench press--90 kg.

Squat--170 kg.

Explosive punch force--Right 240 kg, Left 190 kg.

Maximum leg kicking explosive power—270 kg

Maximum consecutive armor-piercing spear thrusts—48 thrusts

Stamina: 4

In this era where strength is supreme and martial prowess reigns, Zhang Tie's results were as dismal and green as his fifteen-year-old youth. Before the first wisp of Thought Fire in the Divine Palace Bright Point is ignited, the gap in physical fitness between a professional Warrior and an ordinary person is decisive, and among peers, it is almost insurmountable.

I must ignite my Divine Palace Thought Fire as soon as possible! This thought in the fifteen-year-old boy's heart became urgent once again...