Chapter Twenty-Two: And Qian Qi Was Particularly Perverted

The principal’s voice cracked. "Qian Qi is a girl?"

"Isn't she?" Su Ang asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

The principal: ...

He didn't know either! He hadn't bothered to look at the student files, and upon seeing Qian Qi for the first time, he had subconsciously assumed she was a boy.

"Why did you think she was a girl?" the principal asked, puzzled. There wasn't a single thing about Qian Qi's demeanor that resembled a girl, to say nothing of her slovenly, ragged attire.

Besides, what girl would spend her days fighting, carrying a hoe around, and hacking away at dangerous magic plants?

"She doesn't have an Adam's apple," Su Ang said calmly. "The bump on her throat is just the cricoid cartilage, not an Adam's apple."

The principal couldn't help but marvel at Su Ang's powers of observation. "Well, I suppose that settles it. Who would have thought the hedgehog-haired student from the Magic Botany department was a girl?"

Wait, hold on.

The principal cast a suspicious glance at Su Ang. "Why were you staring at her throat?"

Su Ang: ... "I saw it by accident."

"Oh~" The principal believed Su Ang wasn't some kind of pervert; after all, if Su Ang were a pervert, then everyone on earth must be one too.

Qian Qi, on the other hand, was especially perverse.

The principal looked at the dried blood on his arm and huffed.

Upon reaching the principal's office, he locked the door and led Su Ang into an inner meeting room.

In the center of the room stood a conference table about three meters long, neatly lined with eight holographic projection devices, each with a reserved seat.

The principal sat in the head seat and, after operating the projection device, sent out seven video call invitations simultaneously.

A few seconds later, the calls were connected.

Three distinct holographic figures were projected onto the corresponding chairs.

"Principal."

The first to speak was a middle-aged man with silver hair, dressed in a black commander's uniform. He looked dignified and cold, with sharp, hawk-like eyes beneath thick brows that exuded a murderous aura. One look was enough to tell that he was a man tempered by the battlefield.

He glanced at Su Ang standing behind the principal and gave a nod of acknowledgment. Given their similar appearance and unique hair color, it wasn't hard to guess their relationship.

"Su Ang, report on the situation at the Nesting dungeon," Su Xingchen said, tapping the table with a cold, heavy tone.

Su Ang tapped his wrist-mounted advanced light-computer, enlarging the data report. His voice, clear and tinged with indifference, sounded steadily in the room:

"The crack fluctuations at the [Dragon Spring Mist] dungeon are currently stable. There have been no abnormal readings in the last three days. Seven D-rank awakened warriors have been sent into the dungeon. We have not yet determined if the monsters have a specific reason for nesting; we can only speculate that this is a normal spawning cycle."

"Have any awakened individuals entered [Dragon Spring Mist] in the last three days?" Su Xingchen asked, frowning.

Su Ang paused, then shook his head. "No."

Su Xingchen fell silent, eyes lowered in thought. Across from him, the projection of a burly man with powerful muscles and specialized defensive armor couldn't help but sneer, "A bunch of losers. They don't even dare enter a D-rank dungeon, yet they have the nerve to call themselves 'awakened'?"

If they weren't too busy clearing high-level dungeons and dealing with monsters in the A-rank war zones, these weaklings wouldn't even get a chance at the low-level ones.

"That's enough, Gong Qiang. You complain every time, and it's not like you don't know how hard the dungeons are to clear these days."

In another seat, a woman in a vibrant red cheongsam with a seductive appearance tapped her pipe and chuckled, "It’s been so many years. Many monsters in E-rank dungeons have grown into D-ranks, and D-ranks have become C-ranks. No one knows what those original D-rank dungeons look like now."

Once a dungeon boss is killed, new monsters of the same rank spawn over time to replace the fallen, and the dungeon bosses are no exception.

However, if left unchecked, the monsters inside either multiply into massive populations or engage in a survival-of-the-fittest cycle, creating even more powerful threats. This is why, as time passes, the awakened are increasingly afraid to challenge high-level dungeons.

"Time no longer allows for hesitation." Su Xingchen folded his hands, a deep, cold glint in his eyes. "The dungeons are becoming increasingly unstable, and the cracks are widening. Soon, the Central State will be completely overrun by the surging tides of monsters."

That would undoubtedly be a catastrophe for humanity.

"If we want to change the status quo, I support Commander Su’s proposal." Tang Yan, the woman in the cheongsam, dropped her smile. "Principal, forcing awakened ones to clear new dungeons will only cause internal strife. But if the awakened insist on stagnation, we have no choice but to inject fresh blood."

Like introducing a lively catfish into a school of lazy sardines, with the passion of young students as an example, those awakened ones might finally feel too ashamed to stand still.

"But..." the principal sighed, "they are still just children."

"They're nearly twenty, and you call them children?" Tang Yan scoffed. "I was on the battlefield at sixteen, and I didn't utter a single complaint."

"Exactly. What can they learn huddled up in school?" Gong Qiang agreed, gesturing with his hands. "Young people should go out and explore. They need to know what crisis this world is facing, and they can serve as an example to those old, stagnant awakened ones who just keep milking the same cleared dungeons for easy gains."

Killing a dungeon boss counts as clearing it, which grants attribute bonuses and allows the unstable dungeon to repair its cracks, effectively preventing further monster outbreaks.

However, because the power rewards only go to the person who lands the final blow, awakened individuals keep entering the same dungeons, hoping to be the one to kill the boss and grow stronger.

Hence, Gong Qiang’s mockery about "milking" the dungeons.

"I will consider this," the principal said, not agreeing immediately. As principal, he had to prioritize student safety. At the very least...

While they were still in school, he didn't want his students to face public gossip.

After all, those awakened ones were living proof; because of the dungeon monster crisis, the masses were already filled with complaints about the inaction of the awakened...

After the meeting ended, the principal was about to close the call when Su Ang suddenly spoke up. "By the way, Father..."

Seeming to know what Su Ang wanted to say, the principal nudged him.

Su Ang paused.

"What is it?" Su Xingchen had been about to turn off his light-computer, but stopped when he heard Su Ang’s voice.

"Nothing." Su Ang’s expression remained unchanged. "Stay safe."

Su Xingchen nodded and ended the call. Only when the meeting room fell silent again did the principal speak. "Were you going to mention the hemostatic potion?"

Su Ang nodded silently.

"Keep it under wraps for now," the principal said coldly, a sharp glint in his eyes. "A man who flaunts his wealth invites theft. Facing the big shots too early will only put her in greater danger sooner."

Su Ang pondered for a moment before saying, "Understood."

"Of course," the principal added with a huff, "it’s mostly because I don't believe that brat—cough, I mean, I don't trust that little girl is capable of making a hemostatic potion out of magic plants!"

He opened the door and walked out. "Let’s drag this out. I’ll investigate in secret. If I let her claim such a huge merit, who knows how rampant she’ll get in the Magic Botany department!"

After the two left, the meeting room fell into a long silence. No one knew that just moments ago, a conversation among the power-players had taken place, and beneath that calm, casual exchange lay a turbulent, dangerous whirlpool.

And Qian Qi, who was about to be swept into that whirlpool, was currently busy methodically preparing for her honey-sweet retirement.