Long Hengxu picked up a file, his voice so cold it held not a trace of warmth.
"The results are in."
As the words fell, the temperature in the office seemed to plunge several degrees.
"Wei Xiaofeng, for gathering a group to provoke and bully a new student, and causing a disturbance by throwing soup. Under Article 12, Chapter Seven of the East Sea Academy School Rules, you are given one major demerit and placed under disciplinary probation."
Wei Xiaofeng clenched his jaw.
His fists were balled so tightly at his sides that his fingernails dug deep into his palms, but he didn't say a word.
Long Hengxu picked up a second file, his voice even colder.
"Furthermore, under the Federal Important Personnel Protection Act, you threw an unknown liquid at Lin An, a Federation first-class protected person. This constitutes the crime of endangering public safety."
Wei Xiaofeng jerked his head up, shock and indignation filling his eyes.
"What unknown liquid? I just threw a bowl of soup! Is that really necessary? Besides, he's completely fine. He blocked it with his Soul Power!"
Long Hengxu ignored him and continued reading, his voice steady and merciless.
"You are fined six hundred and fifty thousand Federal Credits, payable within ten days. Failure to pay by the deadline will result in your case being handed over to the Federation law enforcement authorities."
Six hundred and fifty thousand.
Wei Xiaofeng's face turned deathly pale, every trace of color drained from it.
After his family went bankrupt, he'd had to borrow money from here and there just to pay his tuition. There was no way he could come up with that much.
"Director!"
Zhang Yangzi couldn't hold back. His face flushed red.
"What we did was wrong, but six hundred and fifty thousand for a bowl of soup—isn't that a little..."
"A little what?"
Long Hengxu looked up at him coldly, his gaze like a knife.
"Haven't I told you? Do you know who he is, what kind of background he has? You bastards can't even pay the fine, so what the hell are you acting so arrogant for?"
He pulled out a third file.
"And you two, Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi, are accomplices in causing a disturbance. You are each fined three hundred and fifty thousand Federal Credits."
Zhang Yangzi opened and closed his mouth, then opened and closed it again, but in the end, he couldn't get out a single word.
Wang Jinxi's face was ashen. He silently lowered his head, his whole body shaking uncontrollably.
Just then, the office door swung open.
A woman hurried inside.
She looked to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, slender, with delicate features and a sharpness to her brows. At that moment, though, her face was heavy with exhaustion.
Ye Yingluo, the homeroom teacher of Class One.
"Why are you here?"
Long Hengxu's expression shifted.
"Stay out of this. Getting dragged into it will be a lot of trouble."
"Director Long, I'm the homeroom teacher of Class One. Something happened to my student. Surely I have the right to know what led to it."
Ye Yingluo looked just as troubled, her voice strained.
Long Hengxu glanced at her and gave her a brief account of what had happened.
After listening, Ye Yingluo fell silent for a moment. Then she lowered her voice, a trace of pleading in it.
"Xiaofeng was in the wrong, that's true, but he's still just a child. Six hundred and fifty thousand is practically a death sentence for him."
"Teacher Ye."
Long Hengxu cut her off, his tone leaving no room for discussion.
"I told you already, you can't do anything about this. It's Federation law. I didn't make it, and neither did Eastsea Academy."
He opened another file, his tone turning formal and icy.
"If the fine cannot be paid within ten days, then under Federation law—"
His gaze fell on Wei Xiaofeng, his voice utterly devoid of emotion.
"The debtor will be handed over to the Universal Group Legal Department. Universal Group has the right to require the debtor to repay the debt through labor, including but not limited to forced work and organ dismemberment. After the debtor's death, all rights to his soul will also belong to Universal Group, which will have full authority to handle it."
"At that point, your only likely fate will be to be made into an Artificial Soul Spirit—in other words, an Artifact Spirit."
The air in the office seemed to have been sucked away.
"Demand for Artifact Spirits is still quite high on the market."
Long Hengxu closed the file, his tone calm.
"Maybe you'll find a decent job after you die."
Wei Xiaofeng's legs gave way, and he crumpled to his knees.
Thud.
His knees struck the tiled floor with a dull thump.
His whole body shook violently.
A hoarse, broken sound forced its way out of his throat.
"Work... even after I die? My body gets dismembered... and my soul gets ripped out and made into an Artifact Spirit?"
He might as well just die.
Ye Yingluo's expression finally changed completely.
She'd thought the fine, though steep, was just a matter of money.
But now—forced labor, organ dismemberment, soul extraction.
This was all damn legal.
The Federation's sky was this dark.
She abruptly stepped forward, about to plead for him.
"Don't say anything more."
Long Hengxu raised a hand to stop her.
"This is Federation law."
He turned to Wei Xiaofeng, still kneeling on the ground, and spoke slowly and emphatically.
"So my advice to you, Wei Xiaofeng, is to do everything you can to find a way to repay the debt."
The office sank into deathly silence.
Wei Xiaofeng had no idea how he'd made it out of the academic affairs office.
He felt as if his soul had been torn out. He stumbled down the hallway in a daze.
Suicide.
The word suddenly surfaced in his mind, cold and alluring.
Maybe killing himself now was the best choice.
But he didn't dare.
He was afraid of dying.
Even more afraid that after death, his soul wouldn't be left in peace.
Universal Group.
Lin An.
He thought of that exquisite, beautiful boy.
The boy who hadn't given him so much as a proper glance from beginning to end.
A powerful hatred welled up from the depths of his heart.
Why?
Why were some people born with everything?
Power, status, other people's protection.
While just staying alive had become an impossible dream for him?
Why did he have to be like an ant, casually crushed beneath someone's foot?
Why did they have to wring every last bit of value from his soul?
It wasn't fair.
Ye Yingluo walked out of the academic affairs office, her steps heavy as lead.
She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.
Wu Zhangkong's eternally impassive face surfaced in her mind.
She liked him.
No one at Eastsea Academy knew.
Not even Wu Zhangkong himself.
She knew there would never be anything between them.
But she just couldn't let go.
She'd worked herself to the bone to lead Class One, to prove herself as a teacher.
As if, if only she were good enough, he might look her way a little more.
But today.
Her student, the student she'd raised and guided herself.
Just because he'd offended the son of a wealthy family, he'd been fined until he was ruined.
He might even have his soul ripped out, denied peace even in death.
And that young master was in Wu Zhangkong's class.
Ye Yingluo opened her eyes.
The warmth and patience in them had vanished.
In their place was something dark, something resolute.
Ye Yingluo took out her communicator and swiped across the screen.
She found a number she'd never contacted before.
A month ago, someone claiming to be an "admissions consultant" had given her that number.
At the time, he'd said a lot.
He'd said the old order had rotted to the core.
He'd said the dawn of a new world was about to break.
Back then, she hadn't believed him. She'd even thought he was crazy.
But now, thinking it over—
The Federation's sky really was this dark.
Before you continue