Stops-Gut-Man straightened up, gave a couple of light coughs, and resumed his air of mystery. "I don't know if any of you have heard, but on the KO Rank, anyone whose Battle Power Index breaks ten thousand has the ability to control it. Even when facing off against others, they can completely conceal themselves, just like ordinary people."
Wang Arthur looked triumphantly at Wang Dadong. "Did you hear that? It's entirely possible with Rex."
Wang Dadong remained silent, but Ding Xiaoyu spoke up first. "There are only two people on the KO Rank whose battle power breaks ten thousand."
Silence hung among them for a while.
About half an hour later, Teacher Tian Xin called to let Brother Dadong know that Rex had been taken away by people from the Black Cat Bar. Wang Dadong grabbed his jacket, ready to dash over.
In the end, the three of them decided to go together. Why three? Because they refused to let Qiao Xi go with them to the Black Cat Bar. No matter what she said, it was a flat no, so she haded to stay behind.
After sitting there listening to Stops-Gut-Man complain for ages about how too green they were, how they played the pig to eat the tiger, and after eating three plates of edamame without even paying for them, Qiao Xi had several glowing veins throbbing on her forehead. Yet Stops-Gut-Man acted completely oblivious, his mouth running tirelessly as he kept on talking. Finally, one punch knocked him to the ground, and that was that.
Ah, the world is so quiet. The world is truly wonderful.
Back home, after dealing with the documents Qianyue had just sent over, she sat on the bed, playing on her computer out of sheer boredom. Suddenly, she sensed a familiar aura, followed by the sound of someone landing on the balcony.
"No way, is it Rex again?"
She opened the balcony door, and sure enough, it was him.
"I must say, Brother Rex, you really check in here every single day, don't you? Come on in."
Once inside, the light illuminated Rex's face clearly.
"You're hurt?"
She looked at Rex's fair face, noticing bruises and scrapes near the corner of his eye and the edge of his lip.
She led Rex to the living room, dug out the first-aid kit, and began applying medicine to his wounds.
"Honestly, do you have to act so hard? Why did you get yourself covered in injuries? Sister Xinxin went over today, didn't she? I heard everything back at Stops-Gut-Man's place just now. Sister Xinxin called Brother Dadong to say you were taken by the Black Cat Bar people. Why did your own subordinates have to hit you so hard? Was it to keep Brother Arthur from getting suspicious? Don't forget you have asthma! What if you'd had an attack because of this? Do you have any idea how worried people get? Good thing Brother Dadong didn't let me go—I don't even have to guess how furious he'd be seeing you covered in injuries. Don't you know people worry about you? Do you think being KO.2 makes you invulnerable?!" Qiao Xi launched into full nag-mode, leaving Rex completely dazed while her hands kept steadily applying the ointment.
Recovering his wits, Rex burst out laughing. "You're still laughing?" Qiao Xi could barely keep up with his train of thought.
"No, I just suddenly thought of when we were kids, and you used to put your hands on your hips and lecture both of us because I fought with Dadong."
Qiao Xi's cheeks flushed slightly. "Th-that was just back when we were kids," she mumbled, pouting.
Flashback: It happened after she had been traveling through other dimensions and wanted to come back to check on Wang Dadong and the others. She had been back for about two months when, one day, Wang Dadong ran into Qiao Xi while trying to dodge Angel, knocking her down and pushing Angel over in the process. Both Qiao Xi and Angel suffered scrapes on their arms and knees. Wang Dadong was too proud to apologize, and Rex, unable to stand it, ended up fighting him. Qiao Xi looked at Rex—who was completely uninjured except for being a bit weak from an asthma attack—and at Wang Dadong, who was beaten black and blue. She put her hands on her hips and scolded them: they were clearly best friends, yet they were fighting over something so trivial! Wang Dadong bumped into people and pushed Angel, and not only refused to apologize, but Rex—who had asthma—actually joined in and started fighting like Wang Dadong! It was getting more and more out of hand! (Why did this feel entirely like an overbearing mother chewing out her son?)
End of flashback.
Rex's mood shifted abruptly as he looked at Qiao Xi with dead seriousness. "Do you really worry about me that much?"
Not catching what Rex was getting at, Qiao Xi answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course! You've had a weak constitution since you were little. Even if you're KO.2, you still have asthma. Hurting yourself like this? Of course I'll worry."
Realizing she had completely missed his point, Rex smiled helplessly. "I really am no match for you. All right, I promise you, I won't hurt myself like that again."
Qiao Xi scoffed inwardly: *Yeah, right.*
The next day, in the Ultima Class classroom.
Wang Dadong announced from the podium that the entire class would help Rex work off his debt.
The final consensus, just like in the original plot, was to go work at a construction site.
"Brother Dadong, can I not go work at the construction site?"
A few background students in Ultima Class were just about to flare up—since everyone else in the class was going, refusing to go made zero sense—when Qiao Xi hastily spoke up. "I know a friend who works at a pub. I heard they're looking for a resident singer, and you can make thirty thousand a night just for that! Plus, I play a few instruments, and I can bartend and mix drinks too. That could add another twenty thousand, so I could make one hundred and fifty thousand in just three days. That way, things might be a bit easier for you guys."
Xiao Xiao, Arthur, Rex, Dadong, and Sha Jie all spoke at once: "No!"
"Xiao Xi! How can you go work at a pub? It's way too dangerous for a girl!" Wang Dadong was the first.
"Exactly, Xiao Xi. I don't want you getting bullied because of me." Rex pressed his thin lips together, making it clear he didn't want Qiao Xi working at a bar either.
"Yeah, little sister Xiao Xi, you're so pretty and cute, what if you run into bad guys who harass you?" No need to guess who used that nickname—it was Jin Baosan.
"I just want to ask one thing: did you guys forget who froze you solid just a few days ago?"
"That's right, Sis. Leave the working part to us; you don't need to go work at a bar."
Qiao Xi pudely pouted. Why was this happening? Was her appearance really that unthreatening? It wasn't like they didn't know she had a Battle Power Index; why wouldn't they let her go? Wouldn't this make money much faster?
"I'm actually really strong, you know... I'm not a Muggle... Look, if you're really that worried, you can just have someone come with me, and then you'll feel safe, right?"
The group thought this was a decent idea, but who should accompany Qiao Xi?
Wang Arthur looked at Ding Xiaoyu and let out a crooked smile. "How about Xiaoyu? We can trust his fighting skills."
Ding Xiaoyu was slightly startled, then nodded. "Got it."
Qiao Xi nodded as well to indicate that worked for her.
At that moment, no one noticed that behind the group, Rex lowered his head, pushed up his glasses, and his gaze darkened. If one looked closely, a faint greenish glow could be seen flickering deep within his pitch-black pupils.
That evening, while Ultima Class worked hard at their jobs, Qiao Xi sang as a resident artist at the pub, with Xiaoyu accompanying her.
Originally, both Qiao Xi and Xiaoyu were supposed to work there so their combined salaries would be higher. Unexpectedly, the pub owner was extremely stubborn, insisting he only needed one person. With no other choice, she had to tell the owner that Xiaoyu could play piano to accompany her—their guitar and piano could play together, and Xiaoyu was just helping her out and didn't need a salary. Only then did the owner agree to let Xiaoyu stay.