Campus

Night Spirit City No. 1 High School was the best high school in all of Night Spirit City.

Built in year 23 of the wasteland era, the school now had more than seventy years of history.

In that absurd, lawless age, when bones lay scattered across the wilderness, Night Spirit City No. 1 High School had always upheld its principles of putting education first and people at the center, supplying a wealth of talent for Sky City's development and construction over the years.

There were no universities here. Once students graduated from high school, they could start working or pursue further studies at various firms and research institutes.

Monday.

The new semester began.

Senior year, Class One.

With his schoolbag on his back, Xu Ye strolled into the classroom. There was still a month before intensive training, so he had plenty of time. Since he had nothing better to do, he had come to look around the school and experience student life in another world.

Of course, he had originally had no intention of coming.

But not long ago, his heart had suddenly begun its first simulation of the day. Only then had Xu Ye learned that someone at school had been polluted, transformed into an Aberrant, and gone on a killing spree.

The classroom bustled with activity, filled with familiar faces.

"Xu Ye, you're late again!"

The class monitor was a pretty, youthful girl with a ponytail and glasses. Her name was Qin Yingying, and she glared furiously at Xu Ye, holding a little notebook and a ballpoint pen in one hand.

"Huh? Class hasn't started yet, has it?" Xu Ye gestured around him.

Qin Yingying gritted her teeth. "It's lunch break! You skipped the entire morning!"

Realization dawned on Xu Ye, and he slapped his forehead.

"Last time you were late, you said there was a gas leak at home. You'd read in a safety manual that you should stay calm in dangerous situations, so you took a deep breath and gave yourself gas poisoning."

"The time before that, you said you'd done badly on an exam and were in a bad mood, so you went to the supermarket to crush packets of instant noodles. Then you accidentally broke the bone of an old lady with osteoporosis, and had to take her to the hospital."

"And the time before that, you said you'd gotten up early to catch up on homework, but your phone got angry. You spent two hours soothing it and ended up late."

"Do you have any idea how many points our class has lost because of you?"

Qin Yingying gave him a sidelong look. "Go on, then. What's your excuse this time?"

Xu Ye replied modestly, "I was doing a good deed this time. I helped the Patrol Team catch over a thousand criminals."

"Huh?" Qin Yingying's expression changed, and she grew worried. "Something that serious-you need to be careful! Honestly, how could you..."

Xu Ye chuckled. "Don't worry, I wasn't hurt. I just reported a bunch of criminals in prison. They looked like vicious, hardened criminals to me. I couldn't understand why the Patrol Team hadn't thought to check the prison."

Smack!

Qin Yingying slapped herself hard.

She should never have listened to Xu Ye's nonsense.

Why didn't the Patrol Team just shoot you dead? You're so fucking clever, aren't you!

"Hmph!"

Qin Yingying pushed up her glasses, shot Xu Ye a vicious glare, then wrote his name in her little notebook for being late.

Having dealt with Class Monitor Qin, Xu Ye sauntered back to his seat.

This semester's textbooks were already piled high on his desk.

Xu Ye flipped through them at random.

"Five Years of Simulations, Three Years of Work," "A Hundred Years Up and Down," "Nuclear Pollution Research-From Getting Started to Getting Buried," "Aristocratic Economics and Politics"...

"The Dawn Blade really did a thorough job. These books don't mention pollution incidents or what happened a hundred years ago even once."

Just then, Alice emerged from his mind and strutted across the desk, looking around. "Xu Ye, I think I smell something. It's somewhere in this classroom building. Smells a little like pollution."

"Keep sniffing. Ideally, pinpoint the Aberrant."

Alice said, "I'm not a dog. If you want to sniff, do it yourself. Fuck! It's your stinky feet. You didn't shower yesterday!"

Smack!

Just then, a tall, burly boy slapped a scrawny boy to the floor.

The lively classroom instantly fell silent.

"Wang Yong, where's the summer homework I told you to do for me? You didn't fucking do it? Did you even listen to me? Fuck!" The burly boy planted a foot on the other boy's chest.

The scrawny boy clutched his trouser leg, trying to draw a breath. "Zhang Xuliang, I had to work over the summer to earn my tuition. I really didn't have time to do your homework..."

"Fuck off!"

Zhang Xuliang drove a hard kick into Wang Yong's unguarded stomach. Wang Yong staggered backward several steps and fell in front of Xu Ye.

"You all right?" Xu Ye narrowed his eyes and helped Wang Yong up with one hand.

The original owner of Xu Ye's body had been an excellent student and often skipped class to earn money tutoring, so he hadn't known his classmates very well.

"Thank you."

Wang Yong rubbed his stomach and gave Xu Ye a somewhat surprised look. He thanked him softly, his voice hoarse and his gaze evasive.

Then he lowered his head, walked to the back of the classroom near the trash can, and sat down in his seat.

Xu Ye glanced at him.

Exhausted, frightened, numb, timid... those were all the impressions Wang Yong gave him.

"Fuck. Quit putting on an act."

Zhang Xuliang rolled up his sleeves and kicked Wang Yong's desk, looking down at him contemptuously as he jeered, "A refugee like you getting to study here? Everyone knows your mom sells her body to pay your tuition."

"And you say you work? If you've got that much time, why not ask your real dad for money? Oh, right. I forgot you don't even know who your real dad is."

"Heh, maybe I'm your dad. That woman may be forty, but she still feels pretty good."

As he spoke, Zhang Xuliang licked his lips, his expression lewd.

"Zhang Xuliang, please stop..." Curled up in his seat, Wang Yong trembled all over. He bit his lip hard, as though it took an enormous effort to finally force out those words.

"So you can do it, but I can't talk about it? Are you and your mom a pair of chastity arches come to life?"

Zhang Xuliang grinned. "You little bastard, I'll say whatever I want. And I won't just talk-I'll do it, too. Just wait till I give you a little brother. Hahaha!"

Beside him, a group of lackeys joined in, laughing loudly.

"Stop talking... stop talking... stop talking..."

Wang Yong covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to forget it all.

"I'll say whatever I damn well please. A lowlife like you-if the school didn't hand out a few spots to refugees every year for charity, what right would you have to sit here?"

Zhang Xuliang's shrill voice echoed through the classroom.

"You and your mom are both worthless trash. Do you know how that bitch of a mother of yours serves her customers..."

"Aaaah!!!"

"Stop talking!"

Wang Yong clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles white and his nails digging into his palms.

But he only kept his head down, roaring hoarsely like a wounded animal, not daring to look Zhang Xuliang in the eye.

Zhang Xuliang ruffled his hair as though petting an animal, spat on him, then swaggered away surrounded by his followers.

The classroom was utterly silent. Everyone watched the scene without a word.

As for Xu Ye, he had gained a new understanding of this world.

Beyond the pollution incidents hidden in the darkness, this world had another face-real and ugly.

Morality? Law? Restraint?

Compared with the peaceful times of his previous life, they seemed unbearably feeble here.

He suddenly remembered what the captain had said-this uniform turned monsters into people.