After Xiao Mu finished the biology lesson, Guang Long had completed his glorious mission. Xiao Mu thanked him for his outstanding contributions to science.
From beginning to end, Guang Long had remained fully conscious, listening to Xiao Mu's biology lecture the whole time.
At this point, Guang Long never wanted to hear another word about reason.
This wasn't human language.
He pleaded with Xiao Mu again and again. "Please, just let me go to prison. I swear I'll never come out again."
He felt that only prison could make him feel safe.
"You still want me to study psychology?" Xiao Mu asked in shock.
Guang Long instantly sensed something was wrong. Was even prison unsafe? That couldn't be right.
Then where in the world was safe?
Xiao Mu stood up and made a call. "Hello, Federation Police Station? I've caught a robber. Not only did he refuse to surrender, he even dared to resist. I've confiscated several of his melee Soul Tools. That's another charge against him."
Tang Wulin and Xie Xie exchanged a glance at the sound of this, a trace of something subtle in their eyes.
Wasn't there something wrong with that story?
Where had Guang Long resisted?
Xiao Mu didn't care about those details at all. He turned to Xie Xie and said casually, "I'll leave this to you. Guang Long is definitely going in. As for any trouble afterward, I can handle it."
With that, he didn't linger. He turned and walked side by side with Na'er out of the wrecked Gourmet Street, leaving the mess behind for others to clean up.
Xie Xie asked, "Are you sure you can handle it?"
At that, Xiao Mu instantly produced a De Artifact. "I can. It won't be hard."
"A Level 7 Fixed Shell Cannon? That thing isn't..." Xie Xie naturally recognized the item that had flashed into view, and understood how Xiao Mu would deal with the trouble afterward.
Whether that meant physically sending someone to the afterlife, or having someone powerful backing him, was anyone's guess.
"Kid, why didn't you just burn him to a crisp?" Jun Wu had seen the whole thing just now from Xiao Mu's Sea of Consciousness.
"Killing him would dirty my hands. He's got no research value left anyway," Xiao Mu said, completely indifferent to Guang Long's life. "Besides, your flames won't go out even when I cut off the air. They're perfect for putting on a show."
"Tch, that's your problem." Jun Wu scoffed. If his flames could be put out that easily, what would he be needed for?
"By the way, why'd you call me this time? Have you leveled up enough to help me cultivate on autopilot now?"
"Kid, can't you think of something practical for once?"
"So you're urging me to rebel."
"That's just your nature. What the hell does it have to do with me?"
"Maybe it's your influence. Before I made a pact with you, I was a model citizen."
"You, a model citizen? Then that bald guy just now didn't deserve any of this!"
As the man and beast talked, they had already left Gourmet Street. At the other end of the road, Guang Long's two remaining underlings had finally fought their way out.
They staggered along at a frantic run, terror weighing on their chests until they could hardly breathe. They headed straight for the East Sea City Mecha Brigade's base to seek Guang Biao's help.
Guang Biao was at the base. His uniform was neat and crisp, and the oppressive aura of a Six-Ring Soul Emperor radiated from him.
Seeing two figures rushing toward him in a panic, their steps unsteady and their faces stricken, he looked up at them with a stern expression.
The two reached him and could no longer hold their frayed nerves together. They barely managed to stop before hurriedly launching into their complaint, their voices full of panic.
"Brother Biao! Brother Biao! We're Brother Long's men! Something's happened to him!"
Guang Biao's brow furrowed slightly, his voice hard. "Why are you two panicking? Take your time and tell me."
One of them swallowed against his dry throat and spoke hurriedly. "We were doing our usual business with Brother Long on Gourmet Street when a strange young man suddenly showed up!"
The other quickly picked up the story, every word tinged with fear. "That man was terrifyingly strong. Brother Long couldn't even withstand him after activating his Soul Skill. He toyed with him like he was nothing."
"We gave him your name, but he didn't care about you at all."
As the words fell, the air around the base suddenly turned colder. The composure in Guang Biao's eyes vanished, replaced by a simmering, heavy anger.
That bastard hadn't given him an ounce of respect.
He had held sway in Eastsea City for years and had quite a reputation. There were only a handful of people who would dare ignore him.
His hand hanging at his side tightened slightly, his voice turning icy. "I understand. I'll get even."
"Take me there. I want to see who's got the nerve to bully my little brother Guang Biao."
Several days later, Guang Biao finally found Xiao Mu and Na'er.
All their grievances converged at the entrance to Eastsea Academy.
The entire school gate was blocked tight, even the roads leading to it completely cut off. More than two hundred burly men had gathered outside, each with a fierce face and an array of weapons in hand, their cold glints scattered across the crowd.
Even more glaring was that many of them carried Soul Tools that the Federation explicitly forbade civilians to possess. They were clearly regular troops.
Over the past ten thousand years, Soul Guidance Technology had advanced by leaps and bounds, and many rules had quietly loosened.
Soul Tools were no longer the exclusive trump card of Soul Masters. With a little training, ordinary people could operate them skillfully and even pilot basic Soul Guidance mechas.
But the exalted status of Soul Masters had never wavered. Technology had truly bridged the vast gulf between ordinary people and low-tier Soul Masters.
In low-end battles, ordinary people clad in armor and armed with Soul Tools might well beat run-of-the-mill Soul Masters.
That was the biggest reason this group dared to brazenly surround a proper Soul Master Academy.
Unfortunately, the person with the most say in technological progress was standing right across from them.
Upgrading 2G to 4G showed just how much Xiao Mu had contributed.
Inside the academy, students from the Intermediate Division and the advanced division had gathered at the gate, a dense sea of people. The young Soul Masters were still weak, most of them only low-ranked. Faced with the vast armed crowd outside, every student looked tense, and the atmosphere was oppressively heavy.
"Why are there so many people surrounding the school gate? Are they all here for the academy?" an Intermediate Division student asked in a low voice, unable to hide his nervousness.
A senior student stared hard at the figures outside and answered gravely, "Who knows? But everyone at Eastsea Academy is either rich or influential. How dare these people do this?"
An Intermediate Division student beside him nodded. The son of Eastsea City's finance director was in Eastsea Academy's advanced division, while the daughter of an eight-star Saint Craftsman from the East Sea Blacksmith Association was in the Intermediate Division.
With connections like those, who would dare touch them?
At the very front of the crowd stood an exceptionally imposing, burly figure.
He stood over two meters tall, broad and powerfully built, with a bald head and a thick beard. His aura was savage and domineering, as if he were Guang Long, enhanced and upgraded in every way.
This man was Guang Biao.
Behind him stood Guang Long, who had just gotten out of the police station. Bandages covered him layer upon layer. His body was stiff, and he looked so wretched and miserable that he was practically a dead man still drawing breath.
Guang Biao's gaze was dark as it swept over the students inside, searching for Xiao Mu.
At the school gate, Director Long Hengxu stepped forward on his own initiative. His tone was steady as he tried to calm the situation, carefully talking things over with the violent Guang Biao and dragging out the confrontation.
On the rooftop of the academy's tallest teaching building, however, all was quiet.
Xiao Mu stood alone in the wind, holding a heavy sniper Soul Tool Gun steady in his hands.
The gun was cold and heavy, its muzzle trained on Guang Biao in the middle of the crowd below, the crosshairs fixed on the vital point of his head. It was ready to fire.
The high-altitude wind swept across the rooftop, stirring his clothes, but it couldn't shake his steady aim in the slightest.
Na'er stood quietly beside him, looking at the dense crowd below and Guang Biao's menacing figure. She asked softly, "Brother, is this thing really as powerful as you say? He's a Six-Ring Soul Emperor."
"As long as he doesn't use Martial Soul Possession or put up his defenses, it'll blow his head apart," Xiao Mu said with a slight nod, his voice so calm it gave nothing away.
The voices below churned, tension rising like swords drawn and bows bent. On the rooftop, the silent killing intent of the muzzle quietly enveloped Guang Biao, who had no idea what awaited him.
"Bang—"