Chapter 28: A New Kind of "Bullying"

The morning classes ended with several people feeling uneasy.

After having lunch at the cafeteria, Xiao Sa, as per usual, headed to the mech maintenance base. Apart from encountering the top student Feng Yu on the first day, he hadn’t seen him again in recent days.

Unexpectedly, the moment he entered the base today, he encountered him once more.

It wasn’t just Feng Yu; he also saw a few familiar faces—those guys from Kaman’s group who spent their days loafing around.

Xiao Sa walked over slowly, crossing his arms, leaning casually against his mech, silently and coldly watching these people act out a cliché scene.

Kaman, with his group of idle rich, had their backs to Xiao Sa and were surrounding Feng Yu in the center. They hadn’t noticed Xiao Sa’s arrival, or even if they had, they wouldn’t bother with him.

"You don’t know that this mech maintenance base and the neighboring training ground were invested in and built by certain families, do you? We’re just asking you to help us complete today’s training tasks. It should only take you a few hours."

Feng Yu said coldly, "I have my own training tasks to complete. I don’t have time to do yours. Besides, don’t you have your own bodyguards?"

Kaman, with his hands in his pockets and his chin raised, said, "Don’t think we haven’t seen you coveting our mechs daily, sneaking in under the guise of maintenance. It’s lucky we aren’t charging a fee; we’re just collecting some interest."

"We just want the top student from Class B to do our training tasks for us."

Feng Yu frowned, understanding that these guys were deliberately picking a fight. He explained, "I haven’t used your mechs; I just examined them out of curiosity. If you disapprove, I will no longer maintain your mechs."

Kaman sneered. He disliked people like Feng Yu the most—those who acted aloof and disdainful, looking down on everyone else. What right did a commoner from a lower planet have to look down on him?

Kaman was even more annoyed today after being embarrassed in class.

"If you wish to continue your work-study here, then follow our orders."

Feng Yu felt extremely irritated but shook his head stubbornly in refusal.

These people, born with silver spoons, were already hogging resources that belonged to others, and yet they still bullied people with their status.

He clenched his fists, longing to beat these people up, but afraid that hurting them might lead to his expulsion, he hesitated.

Just as Feng Yu found himself in a dilemma, his mental entity suddenly lost control and took flight. The woodpecker adopted an aggressive stance, spreading and flapping its wings while emitting sharp, piercing cries.

For some reason, since encountering Xiao Sa that day, his mental entity had been calm for several days, but today it was agitated again.

Kaman saw that not only did he refuse to obey, but he also dared to summon his spiritual entity to resist. So, he immediately called out his own spiritual entity, and several companions behind him followed suit, summoning their respective entities.

Kaman's spiritual entity was a male crimson eagle, with keen eagle eyes and sharp talons. He had double-A level mental power, and the crimson eagle was the arch-nemesis of woodpeckers among flying spiritual entities.

Most of his companions also had A-grade mental power.

Just as the atmosphere between the two sides was becoming increasingly tense, the spiritual entities suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis descend.

Kaman's crimson eagle was highly sensitive to danger signals and immediately let out a warning cry, spreading its wings and flying towards the source of the attack. However, it collided with an invisible wall, getting hit so hard that it saw stars and nearly fell from the sky.

Kaman was startled. "What's going on?"

Xiao Sa walked out from behind the silver-white mech, wearing his usual white casual clothes, a black mask. He casually took off the white hood from his head, revealing a pair of deeply set eyes under his bangs as he casually glanced at the group.

Kaman was suspicious. Wasn't this the new transfer student in our class?

A mere C-level mentally impaired individual trying to play the hero? But he couldn't afford to offend General Landis.

He said impatiently, "This has nothing to do with you. Mind your own business."

Xiao Sa raised his right hand, a thin, semi-transparent silver mental energy needle flipping deftly between his slender finger bones.

His right index and middle fingers pressed together, drew a slight arc in the air, and the silver needle flew swiftly, embedding itself into the fluffy buttocks of Kaman's crimson eagle.

Kaman was caught off guard and yelped in pain, glaring at Xiao Sa in both shock and anger. "So you were the one causing trouble in the classroom!"

His companions immediately glared at Xiao Sa as well, with some instinctively covering their own rear ends.

"What's his problem? Is he relying on the General's backing, disrespecting the rest of the nobility?"

Xiao Sa stood with his arms crossed, looking down at Kaman with a slow, deliberate gaze. "You're not paying attention in class and instead bullying a little kid here. Looks like the needles weren't painful enough?"

Kaman's neck turned red with anger. "The Roth family isn't someone to mess with!"

He looked at one of his companions and nodded slightly. "With so many of us, instead of bullying a disabled person, why don't you show this newcomer the ropes?"

Xiao Sa took out his usual gloves from his pocket, put them on, and flexed his wrist bones. Suddenly remembering something, he asked them, "You're all twenty this year, right? Just so no one says I'm bullying the younger ones."

The companion's spiritual entity, a gray wolf, clawed the ground and then lunged at Xiao Sa, snarling.

Xiao Sa didn't show the slightest hint of fear. Instead, he smiled with deep meaning.

Invisible, formless offensive pheromones transformed into blades, surrounding Xiao Sa like a vortex rotating around him.

As the gray wolf approached, it began to shiver, its fur bristling. In its vision, instead of seeing a frightened prey, it saw a hunter waiting for it to step into a trap filled with blades.

Recently, Xiao Sa had frequently been sharing his mental entity with Landis.

He discovered that if his mental power level completely surpassed the opponent's, he could even forcibly connect with the opponent's mental entity.

This move was highly damaging and extremely humiliating.

And now, the gray wolf had become his first experimental subject.

The gray wolf's vision suddenly paused, and it froze like a marionette. Its limbs felt as if they weren't its own. It came to an abrupt stop, turned around in front of Xiao Sa, and then lunged at Kaman's red hawk, catching it off guard and biting a mouthful of its plumage.

"Bayer, are you insane? How dare you attack me!"

Kaman glared furiously at Bayer, who frantically shook his head and protested his innocence. "I didn't!"

Meanwhile, Xiao Sa controlled the gray wolf to attack indiscriminately, not only biting the red hawk but also biting the mental entities of those nearby, causing them to fight each other chaotically.

Before Kaman could reprimand his companion, his vision suddenly darkened, and he looked up to see Xiao Sa had already rushed to his side.

Xiao Sa's right hand, wearing a black glove, lifted and formed a fist.

The next moment, Kaman felt his head fly up. More precisely, his body spun 180 degrees in the air, drawing an elegant arc before landing sprawled on the ground in a spread-eagled position.

Dazed and confused, Kaman thought, "???"

Xiao Sa ran his thumb across the corner of his mouth, narrowed his eyes, and clicked his tongue.

These guys, though possessing mental power above A-level, were accustomed to a life of luxury and rarely engaged in physical training. Their strength, compared to Xiao Sa's, was like that of a three-year-old child to a grown man.

In Feng Yu's stunned gaze, in just ten minutes, Xiao Sa had beaten the spoiled rich kids to the ground, where they cried out in pain. Their mental entities crouched, trembling like first-day schoolchildren.

Xiao Sa casually rotated his wrist and looked down at them with a condescending gaze. "The warm-up is over. You can leave now."

This was an utter humiliation!

Kaman glared hatefully at Xiao Sa before retracting his mental entity and swiftly leaving the base with his disheveled companions.

Feng Yu watched Xiao Sa with a complex expression, standing silently beside him, waiting for him to say something. However, Xiao Sa said nothing and climbed into his silver mech, starting his daily basic training as usual.

His progress was rapid, and his talent exceptional. Now, he could already maneuver the mech to perform basic actions proficiently.

Feng Yu silently stood by for a while before suddenly speaking up, “You didn’t have to help me. By offending these noble students, even if you are General Landis’ companion, they will find ways to make your life difficult at school.”

The coating of the cockpit door turned transparent, revealing Xiao Sa’s surprised face. “I wasn’t helping you. I just felt like teaching them a lesson.”

Feng Yu’s woodpecker flew into the air again, circling the silver mech twice before stopping in front of the transparent window, gently pecking it twice, trying to squeeze inside.

Feeling awkward, Feng Yu hastily recalled his woodpecker. It was strange; the bird rarely approached strangers, but ever since it encountered Xiao Sa, it had taken a liking to him.

To ease the awkwardness, Feng Yu quickly asked, “I heard that your mental power level isn’t high and you don’t have a mental entity. How did you manage to defeat them all just now?”

Sitting lazily in the cockpit, Xiao Sa replied, “Mental power level isn’t everything. Strength and combat skills are also important.”

Feng Yu nodded thoughtfully, then looked at him with regret — what a pity that he has a disability.

Xiao Sa suddenly asked, “Why is your mental entity in such poor condition despite your young age?”

Feng Yu lowered his eyes. “I come from a lower-class planet, where the mental contamination is very severe. I couldn’t afford high-concentration inhibitors. Furthermore, military academies have higher levels of contamination compared to regular higher education institutions.”

Xiao Sa nodded and jumped out of the cockpit.

He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out an inhibitor the size of a finger, handing it to Feng Yu. “In that case, I’ll trade this inhibitor for your tutoring time. I want to quickly improve my mech operation skills.”

A B-grade high-concentration inhibitor?

Feng Yu was somewhat surprised and hesitated before accepting it. “I can help, but mech operation skills can't be mastered in a short time.”

He secretly thought he had seen many noble students like Xiao Sa. After enduring the rigors of training, they often became lazy like others.

Xiao Sa said, “It won’t take long. I need to participate in the grade’s practical combat next month, so I only need to take up your time for a month.”

The top student’s eyes widened, and he looked at him in disbelief. “Don’t underestimate mech operations. As a beginner, there’s no way you can participate in the grade’s practical combat in just one month. You’ll lose badly!”

Perhaps it would crush his confidence, and he would never return to the training room.

Xiao Sa's expression remained calm as he casually nodded. "I know."

Feng Yu was very frustrated. Why should he be in a hurry? When the time comes, he’ll see the reality and know to back down.

※※※

The next day.

Xiao Sa, as usual, headed to the mech training ground. He walked on the long corridor that connected the training ground and the mech maintenance base. Sunlight filtered through the corridor’s glass and cast a glow around his feet.

With one hand in his pocket and the other holding his class notes, a gentle breeze accompanied him as he walked.

Moments later, he suddenly stopped, looking ahead at the occasionally moving heads in the shadows. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and slowly walked over. Sure enough, Kaman had brought a group of bodyguards to block the path.

"I knew you'd come here. Was being a hero yesterday fun?"

Kaman cracked his knuckles and stared at him coldly, then signaled to his bodyguards behind him.

The bodyguards quickly surrounded Xiao Sa.

Other students passing by on the corridor left hurriedly with varied expressions, not wanting to offend the Lot family’s second son.

Xiao Sa raised an eyebrow and extended a finger, pointing at his own cheek with a puzzled expression. "Didn’t you put anything on it when you got back yesterday? It’s still puffed up."

It was mockery—blatant mockery!

Kaman was so furious he nearly exploded. Wasn’t he embarrassed? He, Kaman, a C-grade mentally impaired person, had actually beaten him to the point his face was swollen!

He had treated it all night, but it still hadn’t gone down, forcing him to claim he was stung by a bee to avoid embarrassment.

This guy was just asking for it.

Gritting his teeth, Kaman had initially only intended to warn Xiao Sa not to underestimate the Lot family. Otherwise, he would embarrass General Landis, and then he shouldn’t expect any favors from the admiral.

"Don’t underestimate him just because he’s only C-grade in mental power. His combat skills are impressive. Be careful. All of you, go! Pin him down and make him apologize!" Kaman said viciously.

Xiao Sa shook his head helplessly. "Why can’t you learn your lesson? You offered your left cheek yesterday and now your right cheek today."

Seeing how enthusiastic they were, he silently took out his debate-specialized gloves.

Yesterday, Kaman and his group thought that Xiao Sa had only won because of some trickery and that they had lost due to their own careless underestimation of him.

So today, they brought over a dozen professional combat guards, but they ended up proving their incompetence in front of Xiao Sa again.

Kaman, with his right cheek swollen, stared in shock and speechlessness at the sight of his fallen guards lying on the ground.

His companion Bayer, with a bitter expression, tugged at his sleeve. "Should we just leave him alone? There's something weird about this guy. Maybe our intel was wrong. He might not be a C-rank."

Kaman's expression shifted, and finally, he decided to back down.

If news of today’s incident spreads, he would never be able to show his face again, endlessly mocked by his older brother.

But before he could take two steps, a hand suddenly blocked his path. Its owner looked at him displeased, "I finally managed to corner you guys, and I'm not letting you leave just yet."

Kaman was furious. Who exactly is cornering whom?

Suddenly, Xiao Sa asked an unexpected question, "Did you all submit your homework today? Have you completed your mech operation training tasks?"

What? Kaman thought his ears were playing tricks on him, his expression strange. With his swollen cheeks, he looked especially ridiculous.

"What’s it got to do with you? Move out of the way."

Xiao Sa shook his finger at him, "I knew none of you did your homework. Now hurry up and take out your assignments. You're not leaving until it's done today. Later, if you don't finish your mech operation training tasks, none of you will be leaving the training room."

Kaman and his companions exchanged puzzled looks. Is this guy crazy?

Controlling everything, now he’s even controlling whether we do our homework? Even their own fathers never controlled them like this. How can a 20-something transfer student suddenly act like their moral guardian?

Xiao Sa, unwilling to waste more words, snapped his fingers. A semi-transparent psychic needle reappeared at his fingertips.

Xiao Sa gave them a malicious smile, "Are you all enjoying the feeling of ‘hanging hair from the beam and pricking thighs with needles’?"

Kaman and the others instantly blushed, instinctively clenching their legs together, their thigh muscles tightening.

Xiao Sa, standing a head taller than Kaman, loomed like an insurmountable wall, more like a twisted fiend.

Kaman was dumbfounded. Was this even fair?

Thus, for the next few days, under Xiao Sa’s unreasonable tyranny, Kaman and his group of spoiled rich kids were forced to spend the most diligent three days of studying in their lives.

Every day, they were forced to enter the classroom on time, their light brains confiscated by Xiao Sa, and they had to listen attentively to the lessons, complete their homework and training tasks.

When the elderly professor from Class A received their homework, he was utterly shocked. If he hadn't seen them struggling with their homework, hunched over their desks, he would have suspected that the homework was done by someone else on behalf of Kaman and his group.

The old professor was very pleased. Had these privileged prodigies finally realized their mistakes?

Kaman, who had reached his limit after being "bullied" by Xiao Sa for three whole days, couldn't take it anymore. That very night, he ran home, intending to vent his grievances to his father, Duke Lot.

Unexpectedly, the moment he entered his father's study, he heard his father talking animatedly with his older brother: "Our second son has truly come of age this time. I never thought this stubborn younger brother of yours would ever see the light."

Becoming accomplished? Me?

Kaman stood awkwardly at the door. Duke Lot gestured for him to come in.

Before he could even begin to cry and complain about his painful experience of being bullied by Xiao Sa, Duke Lot gently patted his head and said:

"Guess who just called me? It was Professor Vera. He said you've been performing very well at school these past few days. Not only are you making progress, but you're also helping the other young men from the other families."

He sighed, "Had I known you'd earn glory for the Lot family like this, I wouldn't have enrolled you in the noble class. By the way, didn't you mention wanting a new supersonic car? I've already ordered one for you."

Kaman: "..." Is there really such a good thing?

"Haha, our second son has truly surprised us this time. If I remember correctly, just a few days ago, he was drinking at the club and didn't come home all night. I wonder how long this sudden transformation will last?"

Kaman's older brother sat on the sofa with his arms crossed, his eyes narrowed as he looked at him.

Kaman clenched his fists, wanting to defend himself, but upon meeting his older brother's cold gaze, he ultimately just twitched the corner of his mouth and said nothing, swallowing the complaints he had planned to express.

※※※

The next day after school, Kaman, with dark circles under his eyes, stood alone on the main path to the entrance. Ten minutes later, Xiao Sa appeared right on time.

Xiao Sa walked over calmly and saw Kaman staring at him with mixed emotions.

Xiao Sa's first words were: "Did you do your homework today?"

Kaman scratched his hair in frustration. "Yes, I did the homework and completed the training! Happy now?" Psycho!

Xiao Sa gave him a look that said 'finally' and was about to leave.

Kaman hurriedly stopped him: "Wait a moment."

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he looked around to make sure no one was watching, then asked in a low voice, "What exactly do you want? Have I offended you in some way? Why are you doing this?"

Xiao Sa replied matter-of-factly, "Because I need Class A to participate in next month's grade-level combat competition, and I'd prefer your performance to be above average."

Kaman's eyes widened in disbelief, as if he was looking at someone who had lost their mind. "Are you crazy? Our class is always in last place. Hardly anyone from our class participates in the grade-level battles, and why should it concern you whether we participate or not?"

Xiao Sa slightly lifted his chin and glanced at him with narrowed eyes. "You all have mental power levels above A-rank. Just based on that, you're stronger than the other classes. Your mechs are also top-notch, and you even have access to special VIP training rooms equipped with first-rate facilities. With all these advantages, why shouldn't you participate in the combat competition?"

"Is being in last place really something to be proud of?"

Kaman took several deep breaths to suppress the urge to lash out.

His face flushed red, he lowered his voice. "Do you understand? None of us have inheritance rights. Apart from a certain level of mental power, we lack political or business acumen, and we don't have any other special skills. Our families have no other expectations for us, which is why they threw us into this kind of aristocratic class. In a few years, when we reach the appropriate age, we'll be matched for marriage alliances and become tools for marriage alliances. Can't we enjoy life as playboys while we still can? Why do you insist on helping us?"

Xiao Sa raised an eyebrow, tilted his head, and expressionlessly pointed out, "You've misunderstood. I'm not trying to help those who are useless. I'm just informing you. Otherwise, I'll have to beat the entire class until they end up in the hospital. That way, I'll be the only one left in this class."

He narrowed his eyes and said in a casual tone, "I'll be watching you closely. I'm sure you wouldn't want rumors to spread about you being beaten by someone with a C-rank mental disability."

Kaman's teeth were almost grinding in frustration. Was this guy a demon? Or was he just against the Lot family in particular?

In the distance, the sound of two spacecraft horns echoed.

Xiao Sa patted his shoulder and said earnestly, "Work hard. I'm leaving now."

Leaving Kaman standing there, bewildered.

Xiao Sa got into the spacecraft and was surprised to see Landis waiting for him in the back seat. "Why did you finish work early today?"

Landis didn't answer, just looked at him thoughtfully and asked expressionlessly, "Who was that person just now?"

"A classmate," Xiao Sa thought for a moment. "I think his name was... Kaman?"

Haino quietly reminded Xiao Sa, "His name is Kaman. Kaman Lot."

Landis let out an "Oh," asked casually, "Have they been picking on you?"

Xiao Sa shook his head helplessly. "Why do you always think people would pick on me?"

He touched his own cheek. Is being too attractive really a crime?

Haino muttered under his breath, "Exactly, he should be asking if you've been picking on others."

Xiao Sa was speechless.

Landis remained silent, his icy blue eyes staring deeply at him, then extended his hand—

Xiao Sa seemed to know what he was going to do and quickly reached up to rub Landis's soft golden hair. "Good boy, don’t worry, no one can get the better of me."

Landis was speechless.

The pilot, who was operating the aircraft, hastily raised the soundproof barrier between the front and back seats.

Landis pursed his lips and, with a conflicted look, gently pushed away Xiao Sa’s daring hand.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

It seemed his partner wasn’t as vulnerable as he had imagined in areas he didn’t know.