Be A Global Beast Master By System Bugs

C42 – Expel Him from School!

“Run! Keep on running!”

The giant centipede behind Zhou Mu was closing in, its raucous taunts growing louder.

Zhou Mu spared a glance over his shoulder. The man was young, should have been brimming with youthful vigor, yet his face bore a dark, sinister look that screamed treachery and cruelty.

“Idiot!”

With a dismissive remark, Zhou Mu bolted ahead.

The centipede was fast, but it would need at least five minutes to catch him.

Five minutes wasn’t particularly long, but it wasn’t short either – just enough time for Goldie and Gator to regain some strength.

After a burst of speed, Zhou Mu gradually came to a halt.

It wasn’t that Goldie and Gator were ready to go again; the centipede had simply shrugged off its restraints.

“Sizzle!”

The grating noise, a mix of a screech and a scrape, filled the air as the centipede contorted its massive frame, tossing its rider to the ground.

Boom!

The ground shook violently, followed by an eruption of light.

The newcomer pursuing Zhou Mu didn’t even get a chance to cry out before meeting his end.

“Poor fool, trying to wield power that isn’t yours to command only leads to oblivion,” Zhou Mu mused, his words seemingly for the fallen student and perhaps for himself as well.

​”Sizzle!”

The piercing shriek echoed once more. The centipede fixed its gaze on Zhou Mu, poised to strike at any moment.

As a Lord-grade fiend beast, its intelligence didn’t match Goldie’s, but it was significantly smarter than Blazing Wind.

Facing Zhou Mu’s spirit animals, the dragon and phoenix species, the centipede instinctively recognized the threat and plotted its escape.

Its aggressive posture was a bluff, meant to intimidate its foe and guard against a surprise attack.

“Boss, it’s frightened!”

Goldie’s keen perception picked up on the centipede’s ruse instantly.

It was to be expected. Both were third-rank lords, but it was outmatched against a dragon and a phoenix species.

Even if it were just a frail centipede, the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord himself would have to beat a hasty retreat in this situation.

The centipede was unaware that Gold and Gator were nearly spent, their strength nearly depleted. They had exhausted so much energy that a swift recovery was out of the question. Otherwise, Zhou Mu wouldn’t have fled with them in tow; he would have finished off the centipede without a second thought.

“The heavens are kind to those who give life. Show kindness to others, and they will reciprocate. Helping others is helping oneself. Infinite Heavenly Lord, may goodness prevail, Amen, and may the gods stand with me!” Zhou Mu spouted a slew of platitudes he didn’t even believe himself, leaving Gold utterly bewildered by the mishmash of beliefs.

“Believing in one more deity means one more blessing. It costs me nothing, so why not?” Zhou Mu shot a glance at Gold and declared with unwavering conviction.

“It does seem… to make sense…” Gold mused, scratching his head with a wing, sensing something amiss but unable to pinpoint what it was.

With those words, Zhou Mu began to retreat slowly, careful not to betray any hint of aggression. The centipede, catching on to his intent and already deeply cautious, also started to back away, quickly putting distance between them. At that moment, Zhou Mu breathed a sigh of relief.

It had been an ordeal, a grueling one at that. Why had this freshman ranking match been plagued with so many unexpected twists? Wasn’t hunting fiend beasts straightforward enough? Why resort to inflicting harm upon one another?

With five of the six tyrant beasts dead and one on the run, the remaining beasts and the new students were utterly defeated. Without the strength to match, any encounter with Gold and Gator would be nothing short of a slaughter.

​With seven or eight hours to go before the competition’s end, Zhou Mu returned to where the Blazing Wind Spirits were detained and gathered the few dozen remaining freshmen. After some deliberation, he chose two representatives and entrusted them with the positioning devices for three and two tyrant beasts respectively. With this arrangement, the top two spots were secured, unassailable.

“Zhou Mu, what’s your plan now? Just wait it out until the end?” someone asked.

​”Absolutely not,” Zhou Mu replied with a wicked grin. “Whatever the reason, if you’ve chosen to oppose me, you must be prepared to face the consequences.”

The air was laced with a chilling malevolence, and a savage cruelty lurked beneath the ferocity, sending involuntary shivers through the new students nearby.

Gold shielded his avian face with his wings, thinking to himself, “Here he goes again, showing off.”

​…

Outside the Illusion Mirror, all the faculty and students watched with horror-stricken faces. A handful were pale as death, as if they had just lost their fathers.

In the scene before them, Gold and Gator tore through the masses like tigers among sheep, wreaking havoc.

Two Lord-grade spirit animals were up against more than ten thousand freshmen.

With such a staggering difference in numbers, the new students should have had an overwhelming advantage.

Yet, the truth was starkly different. They couldn’t even breach Gold and Gator’s defenses. With each passing second, swathes of people fell.

Over twenty thousand had entered the Freshmen Ranking Competition, but at this rate, it was feared that fewer than a thousand would survive until the end.

“Scoundrel! An absolute scoundrel! Such vicious brutality will surely bring untold calamities upon the Noshar Empire!”

A teacher in his forties leapt to his feet, his blood boiling, his face as red as a baboon’s behind.

“I propose we immediately strip him of his competition eligibility and expel him from the school!”

“Absolutely, it’s excessive! He must be expelled!”

“…”

To be admitted to Bayshore School was no small feat; one had to be either a genius or come from a background of wealth and influence.

Within this group, nearly twenty percent of the new students had close ties to the school’s faculty.

Fueled by Zhou Mu’s relentless slaughter, these teachers were incensed.

After all, only the survivors could claim their ranks. The dead would gain nothing.

Even if he had slain six tyrant beasts, failing to last until the end would leave him empty-handed.

“I beg to differ!”

A seasoned voice cut through the commotion, steady and assertive.

The room hushed as the voice resonated.

The speaker was none other than Lampo, one of Bayshore School’s three level ten Animal Whisperers.

The old academic, the benevolent elder, the muddled sage, the playful senior, the undying…

Lampo was known by many monikers, some less flattering than others.

Undeniably, he was the strongest and most authoritative figure at Bayshore School.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Even within the vast Empire of Noshar, he stood among the elite few.

In the face of Lampo’s words, one had to swallow their anger, however begrudgingly.

“Teacher Lan, are you really going to protect this criminal?”

Liu Shibin couldn’t contain himself.

His loathing for Zhou Mu ran deep, a desire to see him shattered beyond recognition.

“He who insults must expect insult in return. He who kills must expect death. He’s merely returning the favor with the same methods used against him. What’s got you all so riled up?”

Lampo’s gaze swept over the crowd, and not one of the agitators could meet his eye.

This spectacle was reminiscent of the keyboard warriors from Zhou Mu’s past life.

They would howl and rant online, spewing vitriol without restraint. Yet when asked to reveal their real names and addresses, they fell silent.

It wasn’t an admission of their error, but fear of retribution that silenced them.