Redemption

He was so engrossed in his reading that, before he knew it, the sky outside the window was approaching dusk.

"You're interested in these?" a deep, cold, and hard voice suddenly sounded nearby.

Chen Guan looked up and found that Long Ao had at some point stood by the bookshelf diagonally across from him. He was watching him with his arms crossed, his gaze falling on the few books spread open in front of him.

"Classmate Long," Chen Guan nodded in greeting, closing the book in his hand. "I'm just browsing."

Long Ao walked over, glanced at the titles of the books on the desk, and then looked at the coffin beside Chen Guan. A trace of inquiry flashed in his eyes. "Your coffin is made of ten-thousand-year profound iron."

It wasn't a question, but a statement.

Long Ao had already seen through it.

Chen Guan felt a slight chill in his heart, but his face remained impassive. "Classmate Long has a good eye."

"Carrying it on your back, isn't it tiring?" Long Ao's question was very direct.

"I'm used to it." Chen Guan's answer was equally simple.

Long Ao stared at him for a few seconds before suddenly saying, "This afternoon, you fought well."

He was referring to the battle on the tree-lined path. Long Ao added, "Although your opponent was trash, you were still not bad."

This was probably a Long Ao-style of acknowledgement.

"Thank you," Chen Guan said. He had already learned through the bullet comments that Long Ao and An Changqing had spectated the incident.

"Liu Feiyu is a piece of trash, but his family is a bit troublesome." Long Ao rarely spoke so much. "If you need help, you can look for me."

Chen Guan was somewhat surprised. Long Ao looked like the type who was a lone wolf and disdained associating with others. He actually took the initiative to offer help?

Seemingly seeing Chen Guan's doubts, Long Ao twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a hint of a smile. "I've found that kid an eyesore for a long time, and..."

His gaze fell on the coffin again. "Someone who can carry this thing around everywhere can't be a piece of trash. I like the strong."

This reason... was very Long Ao.

"No need for now, thank you." Chen Guan politely refused. He didn't want to owe favors, especially to someone like Long Ao who clearly had a strong sense of purpose.

Moreover, he had his own trump cards.

Long Ao didn't mind either and nodded. "Suit yourself."

After saying that, he turned and left without any hesitation.

Chen Guan watched Long Ao's tall back disappear among the bookshelves, deep in thought. Long Ao's strength was unquestionable. Although his personality was eccentric, he clearly distinguished between gratitude and grudges, and was straightforward.

[The author leaked that Brother Ao will be a villain. What about Chen Guan? It feels like Brother Guan will also be a villain.]

[I agree with the above. Serving as a lackey for the big villain because of a youthful rescue is an old tradition.]

[Wrong. Did you guys forget the Person in the Coffin? The Person in the Coffin is Little Brother Guan's white moonlight.]

[One thing is one thing. I think these two have a chance.]

Bullet comments flashed by. They said that Long Ao would be a future villain, but for now, Chen Guan couldn't tell if he was a friend or foe. However, no matter what, Long Ao couldn't possibly be a pure petty villain like Liu Feiyu.

After this interlude with Long Ao, Chen Guan saw that it was getting late, so he packed up his books and prepared to leave the library.

Just as he walked to the circulation desk to go through the procedures, An Changqing also walked over holding a few books. Seeing Chen Guan, he smiled gently. "Classmate Chen Guan, what a coincidence."

"Classmate An," Chen Guan nodded.

"I've already dealt with the matter from this afternoon," An Changqing said in a low voice while checking out his books. "Liu Feiyu will receive the corresponding punishment. He shouldn't dare to cause you trouble again in the short term. However, regarding the Liu family... you still need to be more careful."

"Thank you," Chen Guan thanked him sincerely. An Changqing had indeed done him a huge favor, saving him from many possible subsequent entanglements.

"You're welcome. As the class monitor, maintaining class order is my duty," An Changqing said frankly. "Besides, you didn't do anything wrong."

He paused and glanced at the books Chen Guan was borrowing. "Researching special materials?"

"Yes, I want to learn more about them." Chen Guan didn't deny it.

"Dean Situ is an authority in this field. You can ask him more during the weekend classes," An Changqing suggested, then added, "If there are any materials you need help finding, you can also tell me. I might be able to provide some clues."

"Okay, thank you."

The two walked out of the library side by side. An Changqing suddenly remembered something. "By the way, starting next week, the academy will gradually issue some low-difficulty team missions to encourage freshmen to form teams and complete them to accumulate practical experience and points. If you're interested, we can team up."

Team up with the protagonist? This was undoubtedly a good opportunity to gain popularity points.

Chen Guan's heart stirred, but his face remained calm. "Okay, if Classmate An doesn't mind."

"How could I?" An Changqing smiled. "Your strength is obvious to everyone. Then, we'll keep in touch when the time comes."

"Mm."

The two parted ways at the fork in the road. An Changqing still had some other things to do and didn't return to the dormitory. Chen Guan carried the coffin on his back and walked alone on the way back to the dormitory, his thoughts churning.

Liu Feiyu's trouble was temporarily suppressed, but the hidden danger still remained.

Long Ao had released goodwill in a certain sense.

An Changqing took the initiative to invite him to team up.

Looking through the library, he seemed to have grasped a bit of the ropes regarding the coffin and his own strength.

Today, he had gained a lot.

He opened the system panel.

[Popularity Points: 3897]

A clean and neat counter-kill, coupled with the subsequent intervention and interaction of An Changqing and Long Ao, caused his popularity points to experience another surge.

Light flickered in Chen Guan's eyes. With nearly four thousand popularity points, there were many more things he could do.

He was in no rush to exchange them. Instead, he decided to return to the dormitory first, properly digest today's gains, and carefully plan his next step.

The night grew darker, and the evening lights were lit.

Chen Guan pushed open the door to Room 304, gently set down the heavy profound iron coffin, and leaned it against the wall. He walked to the bed and looked at his sleeping main body, his fingers brushing over that lifeless face that was exactly the same as his own.

"Soon..." he muttered to himself, as if speaking to the Person in the Coffin, but also to himself. "We will become stronger and stronger, strong enough... to face everything."

The bullet comments exploded.

[Daily question: Who is the Person in the Coffin?]

[This affection part.]

[A whiff of a villain. I bet fifty cents that Chen Guan and Long Ao are definitely the same kind of people.]

[Leaving a mark, I'm an ancient person now, waiting to be pinged.]

His popularity points steadily rose again, eventually reaching 5769.

Chen Guan clicked his tongue. He never thought that his deliberately profound words could cause such a huge reaction.

Now that he had money, it was naturally time to shop. Chen Guan turned his gaze to the system mall.

Directly add attribute points? Currently, his stamina was 3.2 and his strength was 3.5. Putting nearly 6 attribute points entirely into a certain stat could certainly bring about a significant improvement. For example, putting them all into strength might allow his pure physical strength to approach that of a Tier 1 Superhuman.

But improving a single attribute like this would make his shortcomings even more obvious, and as the attribute increased, the cost-effectiveness of subsequent point additions would decrease.

Exchange for skills or items?

[Basic Meditation Introduction (White)] 500 points. The cost-effectiveness was average. More advanced skills and equipment easily cost thousands or tens of thousands.

His gaze quickly swept across the dazzling array of lists in the mall, eventually locking onto a few options.