Kindness is preyed upon by the tiger

"Black Tortoise." Southern Dipper began to report: "Combat style exceeds conventional models, mental resilience evaluated as S+, summary: meets expectations, high-growth target. Although not a one-hundred-percent compatible candidate, he is, like you, the person most suited to sit in this position right now."

"Vermilion Bird, drastic emotional fluctuations, easily influenced by the environment, but bloodline potential activation is stable. Summary: qualified, but requires further observation and guidance."

White Tiger shook his head as he listened.

He picked up his teacup but didn't drink, just letting the cup slowly turn in his hands.

"I told you... two lively boys, and in your mouth they're just reduced to a string of code. Southern Dipper, don't you dream about turning into a pile of binary at night?"

Saying this, he stood up, strolled over to the light screen, and tapped his finger on Yin Chen and Hong Yuan in the corner.

"What about these two kids? Wind and axe, one slicing, one chopping, their coordination actually has some merit."

"Unstable combination." Southern Dipper's answer came with almost no delay: "Individuals have obvious shortcomings, but the combination effect exceeds expectations. It is recommended to maintain the current mode. As the second candidates for Black Tortoise, they are qualified, but compared with the current Black Tortoise, deficiencies still exist."

White Tiger withdrew his hand and paced back to the sofa to sit down.

This time he didn't sink into it, but leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

The lazy look on his face was gone.

His eyes slightly narrowed, his gaze landing on Southern Dipper's motionless back.

"A tenth-tier demon core, two demon kings thrown in as a bonus..." He spoke slowly, his voice deepening: "Southern Dipper, you went around in such a big circle, testing this, evaluating that... Your real target, from the very beginning, was Liu Feiyu, wasn't it?"

He twitched the corner of his mouth. He had only just figured it out. No wonder this heartless guy Southern Dipper was willing to work overtime.

"Using the entire Northern Frontier Outpost as your testing ground, just to bait him into taking the hook? I don't know what you see in him."

Wei Zhe, the Thousand-Faced Moth, and those two demon kings, in Southern Dipper's estimation, turned out to be nothing more than insignificant props.

"To be precise, it was for your two subordinates." Southern Dipper finally turned half his body to correct him: "Just conveniently recovering a high-value target along the way."

His finger swiped through the air, and on the light screen, the tenth-tier demon core that Liu Feiyu had put away was magnified.

"From the very beginning, it was never prepared for the demon race."

...

"Is it over?"

Long Ao plopped down onto the pile of rubble.

His throat felt like it was on fire, and every breath carried a sweet, metallic taste of blood.

Chen Guan stood quietly, glancing at his popularity value. Although it had increased, the growth wasn't significant. The audience seemed to have gotten used to his high combat power.

At this rate, how long would he have to wait before he could pay off the bill the system had given him?

He put away his scythe.

Under the moonlight, that face was so pale it didn't look like a living person's, even his lips had lost their color, turning his whole person into a depressing grayish-white.

From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a figure lightly jumping down from a stone beam.

Liu Feiyu flicked his fingertip.

That coin traced a bright silver arc and disappeared into the air.

He met Chen Guan's gaze, a smile rippling from the bottom of his eyes.

He raised an index finger, gently pressing it against his lips, signaling him to keep quiet.

"Our cooperation... was quite pleasant, right?" Liu Feiyu's voice carried a laugh, and even the corners of his eyes revealed a sense of satisfaction.

Chen Guan expressionlessly looked away, his jawline tight.

Pleasant? Right now he just wanted to know exactly how many more treasures were stuffed in his pockets.

One after another, they were all secretly using cheats.

Right now he needed to save up money to do something big. His strength had entered a slow-growth phase, and his speed of improvement really might not be able to keep up.

Just then, several blinding pillars of light descended from the sky, illuminating the ruined walls as bright as day.

This was followed by a few muffled thuds.

Several figures wearing standard tactical trench coats descended from the sky.

When they landed, the crushed stones beneath their feet were shaken loose, kicking up choking dust.

"Yo, packing up for the day?"

The leading man was tall. He had his hands in his trench coat pockets, impatiently waving away the dust in front of him.

Those lazily squinting eyes swept around the messy scene.

"Looks like we came right on time, just in time to collect the ashes."

"Instructor Jing?!"

Long Ao shot up from the pile of rubble.

The sudden movement pulled at his wounds, hurting so much he gasped, his facial features scrunching together.

Seeing this, Su Yuehe threw another healing spell at him. But for some unknown reason, the mana required to heal Long Ao was several times that of others, and the famously mana-deficient mage was powerless to help more.

The person who arrived was precisely the White Tiger who had just been drinking tea and watching the show.

The several instructors behind him didn't say a word, quickly spreading out.

They each pulled out instruments and began testing for residual demonic aura, their movements as practiced as if they were sweeping their own backyards.

"Instructor Jing."

An Changqing pressed one hand against the bloodstain spreading on his chest, and with a clang, the longsword in his hand returned to its sheath.

He took a step forward: "Is the Great Wall's backup... always this fast?"

Having just narrowly escaped death, no one could have a good expression seeing these rescuers who arrived right on time to clean up the mess.

"Slow?"

Instructor Jing raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement appearing in his expression.

He didn't answer directly, but instead strolled over to the corpse of a tiger demon, using the toe of his tactical boot to lightly kick that massive tiger head.

"Tsk, big guy."

Only then did he turn around and spread his hands towards An Changqing, his expression as if saying this was the most natural thing in the world.

"We received the SOS signal, threw down our midnight snack chopsticks, and rushed right over. There are still great demons outside that we have to deal with. You have to understand, this is the Northern Frontier. Accidents, death, and demonic beasts are the main themes here."

[What the heck do you mean didn't eat midnight snacks? Does his leisurely look seem like he was in a hurry?]

[My heart aches for our little angel Changqing, still seriously arguing with that old slicker.]

[This damn working tiger is slacking off on the job like this.]

An Changqing pursed his lips tightly, not saying another word.

He wasn't an idiot; naturally, he could hear that this was an excuse.

With such a huge commotion, could they really not have noticed anything?

These few demonic beasts weren't considered strong. At least in his eyes, someone of Instructor Jing's level could easily suppress them.

Some things are better left unsaid even if you see through them.

He lowered his eyes, considered as accepting this explanation. There was nothing he could do even if he didn't accept it. His father was from the Superpower Association and couldn't control the Great Wall.

"Alright, alright, don't put on this face like your parents just died."

Instructor Jing walked over with large strides, his palm, as big as a palm-leaf fan, patting heavily on An Changqing's shoulder twice.

The force was so great it almost slapped this slender student council president into the ground.

"Aren't you all still breathing? Being able to survive is a skill in itself."

After saying that, he couldn't even be bothered to look at An Changqing again.

He walked straight past him, heading toward the black-clad boy who had been standing at the edge of the battlefield from beginning to end.

Chen Guan's tattered clothes fluttered in the night wind. His exposed skin was crisscrossed with scratches where the blood had already coagulated. The deep red marks made one's skin crawl just looking at them.

Instructor Jing stopped in front of him, their eyes meeting.

"Ahem, you can get the clothes reimbursed later."

Chen Guan did not even bat an eyelid. "Then when will my emotional distress fee be reimbursed?"

"Tsk, you little money-grubber."

Instructor Jing chuckled softly. Then, raising his voice, he switched to a cold, strict, and businesslike tone, making sure everyone present could hear him loud and clear.

"Cadet Chen Guan! You acted without authorization! Considering your circumstances, your merits make up for your faults, but rules are rules! Go back and write a five-thousand-word reflection. Hand it in to my office by eight tomorrow morning!"

Chen Guan: "..."

Nice guys really do get bullied by tigers.

Damn White Tiger.