The military district cafeteria was very spacious.

By estimation it was about a thousand square meters.

Inside were only tables and chairs, with no unnecessary decorations.

It looked very simple, matching the style of the military district.

At this moment it was exactly noon and the cafeteria was filled with soldiers eating.

Lin Zichen used Danger Perception, secretly sensing the Biological Levels of these soldiers.

Some he could not sense, possibly because the level gap was too great.

Of those he could sense, nearly half were Advanced Creatures.

The average strength was absurdly high.

Moreover, many carried a murderous aura.

The pressure was overwhelming.

‘It must have been from too much slaughter in the Source Site, with blood staining their hands…’

So thought Lin Zichen.

Soon, the group swiped their cards for food, found a seat by the window and began to eat.

“Xiao Chen, this food is so good, much tastier than the cafeteria food at school!”

Shen Qinghan took a bite, her watery bright eyes lit up, her pretty face filled with surprise.

She had thought that with such a huge cafeteria, the meals would be cooked in giant pots and taste bland.

Now she realized it had been her prejudice.

“Xiao Chen, try this.”

Shen Qinghan picked up a piece of fried tofu and affectionately offered it to Lin Zichen.

Lin Zichen didn’t think much of it, opened his mouth and ate it, then nodded in agreement, “The taste really is good.”

‘Damn it! Showing off their affection right in front of single dogs. Is that something humans should do?!’

Seeing Shen Qinghan feed Lin Zichen fried tofu, Li Moyu and Luo Yongjian nearly died of envy, cursing in their hearts.

Ma Xiwei didn’t feel anything. At this stage, she wasn’t interested in romance between men and women.

Her only thought was to become stronger, stronger, endlessly stronger!

Strong enough to earn pride for her father Ma Zhenhe!

Strong enough to let her father raise his head with dignity in front of her grandparents!

“Xiwei, feed me a piece of tofu too, I also want to experience the bliss of being fed by a beauty.”

Li Moyu looked across at Ma Xiwei, daring to make such a request.

Ma Xiwei didn’t even raise her head, her face expressionless as she snapped, “Scram!”

“Pfft!”

Seeing Li Moyu get scolded, Luo Yongjian laughed with glee, almost spitting out his food.

Li Moyu awkwardly laughed to cover his embarrassment.

He thought Ma Xiwei admired strength, so as someone stronger than her he tried to interact, hoping to build a connection.

Unexpectedly, Ma Xiwei didn’t care for him at all, leaving him a complete clown.

Just then, five people entered the cafeteria.

Four men and one woman.

They all looked around twenty years old.

Lin Zichen, seated facing the entrance, saw them right away.

He first noticed the only girl among them.

She was very beautiful.

Fair-skinned, with a great figure.

The only flaw was that her calves and arms looked a bit thick, her muscles too solid, lacking the tender allure of Shen Qinghan.

At this moment, the five were walking in while curiously surveying the cafeteria, looking like newcomers.

Most likely, they too were top talents invited for special training, probably freshmen from Kyoto University.

The guess was based on the fact that they weren’t Cyborgs, so not from the Machine God Group.

And since they entered looking around, they clearly weren’t from the military district either.

So by deduction, they had to be freshmen from Kyoto University.

Li Moyu’s words next confirmed Lin Zichen’s guess.

Li Moyu, gazing at the five, said to his companions, “Look at the entrance, those are the freshmen from Kyoto University here for the special training. The two guys walking in front are my high school classmates. After the college entrance exams, they both enrolled in Kyoto University’s Evolution Academy. Those two, one was Kyoto’s Second Rank, the other Kyoto’s Third Rank and both were my defeated opponents. In high school I beat them down for three straight years.”

Saying this last part, Li Moyu wore an annoyingly smug expression.

Meanwhile, the Kyoto Second Rank and Third Rank also saw him, walking steadily toward him.

Before long, the Kyoto University group reached their table and stopped.

The Kyoto Third Rank, a squinty-eyed guy, grinned provocatively at Li Moyu, “Traitor, what a coincidence.”

That “traitor” meant Li Moyu, who after the exam didn’t enroll in Kyoto University but in Shanhai University instead, betraying the years of cultivation from Kyoto’s affiliated high school.

Li Moyu laughed and shot back, “Perpetual third-place loser, who are you calling traitor?”

“Loser, me?”

The squinty-eyed guy sneered, full of confidence, “Li Moyu, do you think this is still high school? Times change. From the moment you betrayed Kyoto and went to Shanhai University, your strength was doomed to be surpassed by me and Qin Chuan. Now, you’re the loser in our eyes, ok?”

His tone grew more arrogant with each word, sharp and aggressive.

He despised a traitor who had grown up on Kyoto’s resources but chose an outside university.

There was no need to respect a traitor.

“You two? Really?”

Li Moyu scoffed, “Trash like you, I could take both of you at once with no pressure. Better run along and sleep.”

The atmosphere was tense, filled with barbed insults.

Trash, loser, they hurled at each other without hesitation.

Many soldiers eating nearby turned their heads, amused by the drama.

“Li Moyu, want to fight?”

The Kyoto Second Rank, whom the squinty-eyed guy had just called Qin Chuan, suddenly looked at Li Moyu calmly.

Li Moyu instantly dropped his food and stood up, “Just what I wanted!”

A defeated opponent was coming to humiliate himself and he had no reason to refuse.

He would crush them until they admitted defeat!

“Outside on the playground there’s a martial stage. Let’s settle this there.”

Leaving those words, Qin Chuan turned and walked out toward the martial stage.

Li Moyu didn’t waste words, striding after him.

“Let’s go too.”

Luo Yongjian stuffed rice into his mouth, then quickly got up, chewing as he followed.

Ma Xiwei silently rose and followed too.

“Xiao Chen, let’s go as well.”

Seeing everyone leave, Shen Qinghan looked at Lin Zichen.

Lin Zichen stayed calm, eating slowly as he replied, “Eat first. Better full than hungry this afternoon.”

“Oh.”

Shen Qinghan obediently stayed seated, though her heart wasn’t in it, eager to watch the duel.

Lin Zichen wasn’t interested in this rookie scuffle, only wanting to eat in peace.

But seeing how eager Shen Qinghan was, he symbolically ate a few more bites, then set his chopsticks down and said, “Alright, let’s go have a look.”

“They didn’t take their trays. Let’s clean them up first.” Shen Qinghan dutifully said.

Lin Zichen followed her to tidy up the trays before heading out together.

Outside at the playground, they found a crowd already gathered.

Most were people heading to lunch who stopped after hearing about the duel between freshmen from the two top universities.

The fight hadn’t started yet.

In fact, the stage was empty.

The two sides were still beneath the stage discussing the wager.

Since it was a duel, there had to be a winner and loser and thus a bet.

Otherwise, victory would feel meaningless.

After some discussion, they decided the loser would have to call the winner “Grandfather.”

With the wager agreed, Li Moyu leapt onto the stage, arrogantly shouting, “Both of you come together, save me the trouble of beating you one by one!”

“No need, Gao Mu alone is enough to crush you.”

Qin Chuan crossed his arms and spoke calmly.

The “Gao Mu” he mentioned was Kyoto’s Third Rank — the squinty-eyed guy.

“Hah, just him?”

Li Moyu sneered, “I could crush him with one hand.”

At that, Gao Mu jumped onto the stage, looking at Li Moyu, “Arrogant fool, you’ll soon know shame.”

“Cut the crap, fight!”

With that, Li Moyu activated the Demon-Eyed Giant Ape Gene and Shadow Nightcat Gene, his body enlarging while purple beast ears grew atop his head.

He had fused the Shadow Nightcat Gene just last week at home, to make up for his lack of speed, balancing strength and agility.

On the other side, Gao Mu also activated his Aberrant Beast Gene.

His skin hardened into thick scales at visible speed.

Lin Zichen recognized it immediately.

The Armored Earth Dragon Gene!

A defense-focused earth-type Aberrant Beast!

Even an ordinary ninth-rank Armored Earth Dragon could withstand a full-power punch from a first-tier Advanced Demon-Eyed Giant Ape and remain unscathed.

Bang!

A crisp impact rang out.

On stage, Li Moyu and Gao Mu were already fighting.

Li Moyu attacked fiercely, fists like iron cauldrons smashing down, legs like steel pipes kicking with force, each strike aimed at vital points.

Gao Mu defended, relying on his scales to block and counter when possible.

It looked intense.

But neither could gain the upper hand.

“Xiao Chen, looks like they can’t beat each other, maybe it’ll end in a draw.”

Shen Qinghan, watching for a while, said to Lin Zichen.

Lin Zichen remained calm, “It won’t be a draw. That Kyoto student Gao Mu will win.”

“How so?”

Shen Qinghan turned, puzzled.

She saw the match as fifty-fifty, not understanding how Lin Zichen was so sure.

Lin Zichen leaned close and whispered, “That guy is holding back. I sense he has two Aberrant Beast Genes, but only activated one. Li Moyu is already at full power.”

“Really?”

Shen Qinghan widened her eyes, still doubtful.

‘Was Xiao Chen using some kind of superpower to see through their cards?’

She focused intently on the stage.

After about two minutes, the fighters pulled apart.

Li Moyu frowned, “Of all genes, you chose one that can only defend, not attack. You’ll just turtle to a draw, boring.”

“Only defend? A draw?”

Gao Mu laughed, mocking, “Top Scorer Li, what if you already used your full power and I haven’t yet?”

As he finished, he activated another Aberrant Beast Gene.

His body bulked up, muscles swelling with explosive force.

His frame grew by half.

The Demon-Eyed Giant Ape Gene.

This Kyoto freshman Gao Mu, like Li Moyu, had fused the Demon-Eyed Giant Ape Gene.

“Impossible!”

Li Moyu couldn’t believe it, “With your talent, how could you already have fused two Aberrant Beast Genes as just a freshman? Something’s wrong!”

Gao Mu explained, “Yes, my talent isn’t as good as yours. But Kyoto University’s gene fusion technology is far ahead of Shanhai University’s. Even someone like me could achieve dual fusion in the first semester. Betraying Kyoto for Shanhai will be the worst mistake of your life.”

With that, Gao Mu stepped forward aggressively, attacking Li Moyu.

Though his attacks weren’t fast, Li Moyu didn’t dodge.

In his eyes, Gao Mu was always a defeated opponent.

His pride wouldn’t allow him to evade.

He had to clash head-on!

Bang! Bang! Bang…

The two hammered each other with fists, neither backing down, every strike landing solidly.

They traded blows for half a minute.

At last, Li Moyu, with weaker defense, broke first.

His fists split open, bones fractured, his stamina drained. Gao Mu slammed into him with a shoulder strike, knocking him off the stage, ending the fight.

“Traitor, call me Grandfather!”

Victorious, Gao Mu looked down at Li Moyu from the stage.

Li Moyu wanted to clench his fists, but the pain was too great, sweat pouring as his broken hands refused to close.

If not for the crowd, he would have screamed in agony.

“What, can’t accept it?”

Seeing Li Moyu hesitate, Gao Mu sneered.

Li Moyu honored the bet.

Clenching his teeth, swallowing his humiliation, he shouted up at Gao Mu, “Grandfather!”

After shouting, Li Moyu quickly slipped into the crowd, unwilling to lose face any longer.