Chapter 17: You Ran Away

Year 128 of the Transcendent Era, February. All members of the Crimson Heart Squad have reached level 10.

In the same month, you used a financial loan to equip your team with rare level 10 gear sets. Everyone eagerly selected sets that suited them, except Wang Meng, who eyed the Berserker set you were wearing—upgraded to level 10 and enhanced twice.

The attributes of the Berserker set were incredibly tempting to him, especially its built-in Healing skill, which improved in effectiveness with higher equipment levels and more enhancements. At this stage, the Berserker set was his ultimate desire.

Normally, the combination of the Berserker set and Healing skill is a tank’s dream gear. After some thought, you handed the Berserker set over to Wang Meng.

You then used the remaining funds, along with the income from secretly selling runes, to acquire for yourself a level 10 elite-tier set—the Beastblood set.

With the Crimson Heart Squad upgrading from mere slingshots to cannons, their strength soared dramatically.

You led the team into a level 9 dungeon—the Wandering City.

The level 9 dungeon boss had a thick health bar and formidable attack power, but you managed to slay it without serious harm.

After this battle, you gained a rough understanding of the Crimson Heart Squad’s overall strength.

Putting other teams aside, it was no problem to decisively defeat the Dragon Fang Squad.

After all, the Dragon Fang Squad had been wiped out by a level 9 lord boss, while your team had taken down a level 9 dungeon boss.

Although there are differences between these two types of bosses, even if the Crimson Heart Squad couldn’t win outright, retreating would be no issue.

Year 128 of the Transcendent Era, June. The second university of Cloud City issued combat internship assessment tasks for second-year combat majors.

All second-year students were required to form teams and venture into the wilderness to fight for survival. The credits earned for killing abyssal monsters would vary according to the monsters’ level and rank.

This time, the head of the warrior department gave you a final ultimatum.

The school’s purpose was to cultivate outstanding professionals for society, and any truly excellent professional’s path inevitably involved combat in the wilderness.

If you found any excuse to avoid participating again, you would receive another serious demerit.

Three serious demerits would mean expulsion.

You continued to act as you pleased, indifferent to the threat.

Year 128 of the Transcendent Era, July. News of your serious demerit for refusing to fight in the wilderness spread through the campus.

Suddenly, you became a notorious figure at Cloud City’s second university.

Seizing the moment, you started a live broadcast, using your infamous reputation and the label of coward to make one last profit.

Many people cursed you shameless, called you a coward.

The Federation had invested so many transcendent resources in your training and the school had nurtured you—was it just so you could hide in the rear like an ostrich?

Faced with this scorn, you carried on as usual.

Year 128 of the Transcendent Era, October. After prolonged overdue loan repayments, financial institutions sent a special team to inform the school leadership.

The head of the warrior department was furious upon learning this and publicly declared the matter would be dealt with sternly!

They would never allow an untrustworthy troublemaker to continue causing harm at Cloud City’s second university!

The discipline director, upon hearing this, eagerly prepared to act.

Having lacked the chance before, this opportunity was too good to miss.

This time, you would be forced to swallow what you’d taken in and spit it all out!

He was eager to see how you would use school regulations to justify your actions.

Without school rules to shield you, you were nothing but an ant before him!

Yet, clearly, the discipline director was mistaken once again.

Upon learning this, you immediately contacted the Crimson Heart Squad members, gathered your long-prepared belongings, and decisively left Cloud City via teleportation array.

When the department head sent a final notice and the discipline director came personally but found no trace of you, even after waiting several days, they had to admit one thing: you had run away!

Unlike traditional students, you seemed indifferent to the so-called graduation certificate of Cloud City’s second university.

What was a diploma worth thousands to others was, to you, nothing but a worthless piece of paper!

For a time, the discipline director, department head, and financial investigation team sat silently in the office, staring at each other in confusion.

They couldn’t understand—did you really not value the diploma from Cloud City’s second university at all?

Did you not care about the career advancement channels provided in your senior year?

If none of that mattered, what was your purpose in coming to Cloud City’s second university?

“Of course, the purpose is for college students to secure larger loans and more easily obtain transcendent resources.”

Lin Xia smiled upon reading this.

In a world where power belongs to oneself, what use is a diploma?

As for the career advancement routes offered by Cloud City’s second university, once the professional’s level rises, who fears lacking advancement channels?

When your strength is unmatched, who dares to restrain you?

If anyone does, then tear it all down and start anew!

In the ordinary world, various certificates prove one’s abilities.

But does the transcendent world need them?

Isn’t strength obvious at a glance?

After leaving Cloud City, you did not return to Jiang City but went to one of the frontline strongholds—Li City.

Li City housed five war groups; the Golden Hand War Group you had contacted earlier was stationed here.

The Golden Hand leadership stated that as long as every member of the Crimson Heart Squad completed their first class change, they would qualify to join the Golden Hand.

You watched with interest.

The closer you got to this goal, the more your plans seemed justified.

You believed you could survive a long time in this simulation—at least several decades, no problem.

Lin Xia muttered: “...Why does that sound like setting a flag?”

“Normally, such thinking isn’t wrong.”

“Once you join a war group, all external troubles become manageable.”

“That’s how it should be, barring accidents.”

“I hope I’m overthinking.”

Lin Xia sighed and fell silent, hoping the flag wasn’t that ominous.

To hasten the job transfer task, you led the Crimson Heart Squad to the outskirts of the Bone-Eroded Wasteland near Li City.

The wasteland teemed with ghosts—one of the abyssal monsters that dropped low-level soul crystals.

Thus, the Crimson Heart Squad devoted themselves wholeheartedly to monster hunting.

But, as often happens, the unexpected occurred.

Year 129 of the Transcendent Era, January. Cloud City’s second university expelled you for prolonged absenteeism.

In the same month, the Crimson Heart Squad’s name appeared on the Guangyun Commerce Guild’s bounty list.

Bounty reward: nine million credits plus a full set of level 15 mage equipment.

Though the bounty sum was modest, the mage equipment set was extremely valuable.

Most importantly, no one in the Crimson Heart Squad had completed their first class change, and their strength was limited.

To many bounty hunters, this was a bargain well worth taking.

The peaceful monster-hunting life of the Crimson Heart Squad was shattered.