Can't Afford to Offend!

"Principal, we can't reach Lin Mo. His phone is out of service."

"What? Out of service?"

Hearing this, Yang Ziqing froze, and a ridiculous thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

He looked at Li Mei in shock, only to find her eyes also brimming with alarm.

Clearly, the two of them might have been thinking the same thing.

"No way?"

They both exclaimed at once.

Ordinary phones naturally had unimpeded signal within the Base City.

Unless they went to areas where signals were blocked, or... the wilds.

Out in the wilds, only special communication equipment could relay messages.

There, Mutant Beasts roamed, and humans had no way to erect signal towers in the wild zones.

They could only rely on satellite devices, tuning into specific communication modes.

Now, with Lin Mo's phone unreachable, it was highly likely he had gone to the wilds.

"This kid, too reckless, isn't he?"

At that moment, Yang Ziqing grew worried.

Then, he made a call.

"Old leader!"

"Yo, you little brat, finished verifying the situation?"

"Yes, Lin Mo is indeed a student of our school, but... it seems he's gone to the wilds now."

"What? Messing around! With just the martial skills he's learned, going to the wilds alone? Even if his combat power is outstanding, facing Mutant Beasts is no joke."

"What do we do now?"

"What to do? Nothing to do! Damn it." Lu Li was a bit annoyed.

It was rare for such a prodigy to emerge from his own zone, and if he got himself killed in the wilds, that would be too damn tragic.

"I'll find someone to bring him back now."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Li hung up the phone.

"Someone come!"

"Commander Lord!"

The moment his voice fell, the guard outside the door rushed in.

"Go, find two Third-Rank, no, Fourth-Rank men to bring this Lin Mo to me."

"Yes!"

Taking the photo Lu Li handed over, the guard looked puzzled, but for a soldier, obedience was paramount.

Without asking further, he went straight out to carry out the order.

"You little brat, I hope you don't get into trouble." Lu Li stared out the window, his brows tightly knit.

The wilds were no joke.

If one could truly pass through safely in so-called demarcated zones, they wouldn't be called the wilds.

Zone demarcation was one thing, but Mutant Beasts were alive.

Just because humans had marked this as C-zone didn't mean Second or Third-Tier Mutant Beasts would never break in.

On the other end, Wang Shouquan was carried to the hospital.

"Dad, Mom, you have to avenge me."

Wang Shouquan, only slightly soothed by a painkiller shot, spoke with venom.

"Don't worry, son, we'll get your revenge. Old Wang, what are you standing there for? Arrange for people to act. We can't let that Lin Mo have an easy time."

Wang Shouquan's mother, Shen Qingling, roared angrily.

Her precious son had been beaten like this, and her heart ached; her fury was completely uncontrollable.

Having had a son late in life, she had always given him whatever he asked for.

All these years, she had never even brought herself to hit Wang Shouquan once.

Now, some nobody had beaten him like this—how could she not hate it?

"What's your rush?" Wang Shouquan's father, Wang Tao, frowned and said a sentence before looking at Wang Shouquan.

"Shouquan, what's the strength of that classmate of yours?"

"Him? Last test, his Blood Qi Value didn't even reach 66—a waste." Wang Shouquan answered viciously without a second thought.

"Didn't reach 66? And he managed to beat you all like this?"

"Uh, this..."

The sudden question caught Wang Shouquan off guard.

That's right—wasn't Lin Mo's Blood Qi Value less than 66 cards just a while ago?

How could he have beaten them like this? And from the looks of it, they had no ability to fight back at all.

On the contrary, Lin Mo seemed to still have plenty in reserve?

"This Lin Mo must have been hiding his strength."

Looking at the stunned Wang Shouquan, Wang Tao said in a low voice.

"So what if he hid his strength? Old Wang, what are you hesitating for? Just cripple the kid directly."

Shen Qingling didn't care about any of that and shouted again.

"Woman, what do you know? If this Lin Mo is a Martial Artist, and we go looking for him rashly, we'll be the ones suffering. Our son isn't a Martial Artist yet—for a non-Martial Artist to bully a Martial Artist is a serious crime. Even if he gets beaten to death outside, no one would care."

Having said that, Wang Tao ignored Shen Qingling's murderous glare and made a phone call.

"Hello, Principal Yang, this is Wang Tao. There's something I'd like to ask you."

"Oh? President Wang, long time no see. Speak your mind—I still haven't thanked you for your last donation to our school."

"That was nothing. I wanted to ask, is there a student named Lin Mo in my son's class?"

"Lin Mo? Yes, he seems to be in the same class as your son. What's the matter?"

Yang Ziqing was startled. Normally, he'd never even heard of Lin Mo, and no one ever mentioned him.

Why was everyone piling on today? Could it be that Wang Tao also knew about Lin Mo's Martial Artist certification?

"Um, has Lin Mo already become a Martial Artist?"

Although Wang Tao felt it was unlikely for someone Lin Mo's age to be a Martial Artist, his eyelids had been twitching all day, and he had a nagging premonition.

"Heh, President Wang is well-informed. You already know?"

"???"

Wang Tao was stunned. What did he mean by "already know"?

Had he guessed right?

"That's right, Lin Mo is already a Martial Artist. He just completed his certification at the Martial Artist Building today."

Yang Ziqing didn't think much of it and said it outright.

"What! Certified as a Martial Artist?"

Hearing this news, Wang Tao was shocked again.

Becoming a Martial Artist was one thing; completing the certification was another.

Once certified, that meant First-grade Martial Artist.

Eighteen years old, before even taking the college entrance exam, and already a First-grade Martial Artist?

This was practically a genius.

His own son had actually offended a certified Martial Artist?

"That's right. Why are you asking about this?"

"Oh, nothing much, just confirming. Well, Principal Yang, you're busy. Let's have a meal sometime."

"Alright, President Wang."

After hanging up, Yang Ziqing was a bit confused. Why had Wang Tao suddenly asked about Lin Mo out of nowhere?

"Principal, Wang Tao's son, Wang Shouquan, seems to have some friction with Lin Mo."

At that moment, Li Mei chimed in.

"Oh? Friction?" Hearing this, Yang Ziqing raised an eyebrow, his eyes shifting as if he'd caught a scent.

"Hmph! If he stays in line, fine. But if he tries anything with Lin Mo, I'll show him why the flowers are so red."

Yang Ziqing's gaze darkened, and his goodwill toward Wang Tao and his son vanished completely.

That bastard father and son—daring to mess with the school's treasure? Tired of living!

"What's the verdict?" Shen Qingling stared at Wang Tao and asked.

"Lin Mo... has already been certified as a Martial Artist." Wang Tao sighed as he spoke.

"What! Impossible?" Wang Shouquan, lying on the hospital bed, looked utterly incredulous.

Just a while ago, when his Blood Qi Value was tested, Lin Mo clearly had less than 66 cards. How could he suddenly become a certified Martial Artist?

"That's impossible. Before at school, I mocked him and picked fights with him, and he always took it. If he had this kind of strength, why would he hold back?"

Wang Shouquan refused to believe that the loser he looked down on had become a certified Martial Artist.

"Idiot, this Lin Mo must have been hiding his strength. He put up with you before because he wasn't a certified Martial Artist yet—without that status, if he beat you up and got punished, it wouldn't benefit him at all.

Now that he has the identity of a certified Martial Artist, even if he beats you to death, you'd deserve it!"

Seeing that his son still couldn't grasp the situation, Wang Tao immediately barked at him.

"Then... what about my grudge?"

Wang Shouquan looked at his father, unwilling to let it go.

"Grudge? Swallow it and behave. An eighteen-year-old certified martial artist—what does that mean? Do you have no damn clue in your head?"

"This... fuck!"

Wang Shouquan sighed to the heavens, his heart seething with resentment, but... at this moment, he felt utterly powerless.

An eighteen-year-old certified martial artist—their Wang family really might not be able to afford offending someone like that...