The onlookers were clearly divided into two groups, leaving a large enough gap between them for me to see what was happening inside without any effort.
The first thing that caught my eye was a young man with an irritated expression. From his attire, he at least belonged to a family who could afford to buy a house within the Third Ring with cash. Behind him stood two students who seemed to be around his age. Judging by their expressions, I concluded that this was a rich kid leading his two lackeys. In front of these three stood a boy with a nervous look in his eyes; I vaguely remembered he was a junior from our school.
I couldn't help but turn my face away. What a cliché scenario of bullying, and I didn't expect to run into it myself.
Although City Second Middle School and Canglan High School were so close to each other, such incidents were actually quite rare. Despite being a renowned elite school, Canglan High School was known for its strict discipline. Moreover, these wealthy students weren't as arrogant as commonly thought. For most of these noble kids, good manners were an essential part of their upbringing, which means the vast majority of them wouldn't be rude or bully others like many imagined—rather, they might be even more polite and kind than one would expect. However, we must separate a particular group from these wealthy kids: the nouveau riche and the brainless.
It was hard to tell if the person in front of me was a nouveau riche or brainless. Nonetheless, it was my first time witnessing such a melodramatic scene of bullying. Regardless of whether this rich kid would be punished by his school later, it was clear that the boy in front of him was in for a bad day. After all, he was outnumbered.
The crowd around them chattered, but no one stepped forward.
Most of our students didn't dare provoke the other side, while some people from Canglan High School disdained the rich kid's behavior also seemed reluctant to cause trouble.
Who would have thought I'd encounter something so infuriating early in the morning.
"Ah Jun," Qianqian gently tugged at my clothes and whispered, "Let's go, don't get involved."
I gritted my teeth and looked down to find a brick—but Qianqian pulled at me again. I knew finding a brick wouldn't help, so I could only sigh and turn to leave.
What would happen next was easily predictable—any flimsy excuse could escalate into a three-on-one beating or humiliation. The irritated young man would enjoy his perverse pleasure during this process, while the unlucky boy from our school would just have to accept his fate. I didn't know the origin of their conflict, but it would undoubtedly end this way.
To be honest, it's not that I lacked sympathy or a sense of justice. But as an ordinary student, I was powerless in this situation. Perhaps if I swung a brick unexpectedly, I might manage to land a blow, but the trouble it would cause afterward would be immense. Moreover, it might even implicate my sister. Life wasn't easy for a commoner…
But the frustration in my heart was still hard to shake off. Would it be more discreet to find a secluded place and throw a brick at him?
Before leaving the crowd, I turned back to glare at that rich kid once more.
"Tch," I muttered under my breath, "I really want to beat him up."
I didn't mean it seriously, but after I spoke, I seemed to hear a "click" deep in my mind. I shook my head in confusion, confirming I didn't hear an actual sound, but that "click" seemed to flash through my consciousness clearly and distinctly.
Suddenly, I felt dizzy. The desolate Metal World I always dreamt of at night flashed through my mind. Then, a voice echoed in my consciousness.
"Accepting external command set…permission confirmed…fuzzy command analyzed…executing…target confirmed, initiating Zenith remote space strike system, preparing for probing attack…fire!"
As the voice in my mind ended, I caught a glimpse of a translucent, arm-thick pillar, looking like flowing water, descending from the sky and silently disappearing beneath the feet of the suspected nouveau riche in the center of the crowd.
No one seemed to notice the light pillar. Everyone's attention was focused on the people in the center, so the nearly transparent "pillar" was ignored. Normally, I wouldn't have noticed such a hidden thing, but for some reason, I saw the trajectory of this "water flow" clearly.
Then, I noticed that where the "water flow" disappeared, there was a small dark red hole on the originally pebble-decorated ground. Around the hole, the molten ground slowly flowed into the vaporized cavity.
What was this? Supernatural phenomenon? Paranormal event? Close encounter of the third kind? Alien refueling tank leakage? Jade Emperor's random urination?
A series of chaotic explanations flooded my mind instantly. I had the habit of constantly thinking wild thoughts since childhood. These bizarre explanations didn't even convince myself, leading me to believe that what happened before me was probably an illusion. But what happened next confirmed that the scene in front of me was indeed real.
The arrogant young man suddenly took a step forward, seemingly intending to take action himself. But as he lifted his foot, he stepped right onto the magma-covered ground.
A few seconds later, a piercing scream like a pig being slaughtered suddenly echoed: "Oh oww oww oww!!"
Fabric is inherently flammable, and the ground, melted by the mysterious energy, far exceeded the burning point of fabric. In no time, the young man's pants caught fire, and the blaze quickly spread up his leg. Chaos erupted instantly; nearby people rushed to help, while many students further away quickly pulled out their phones to snap pictures and post online, writing, "I'm at the school gate and saw spontaneous human combustion!"
But at that moment, I couldn't focus on the chaotic scene in front of me.
The next voice in my mind caused utter panic.
"Probing attack complete…recalculating parameters…calculation complete, switching to formal strike mode…primary weapon array charging…secondary weapon array charging…ready, all combat units free to fire in ten seconds…ten, nine, eight, seven…"
Whatever was happening, one thing was clear: we were in serious trouble!
A single probing attack could burn a hole in the ground; if it fired formally, the best case scenario would be our school making headlines on Central TV—as either a fire site or an explosion report.
"Damn it, stop!" I screamed internally, but no matter how hard I tried, that mysterious state didn't reappear, and the countdown continued unhurriedly. I was sweating cold bullets, "Where's the power-off button for this thing?!"
"Ah Jun, what's wrong? Why is your face so pale?" Qianqian noticed my abnormality and asked nervously, but I had no time to respond.
Damn it! Damn it! What on earth was this thing? Why wouldn't it listen to me now?!
"Six, five…"
Cold sweat started trickling down my face.
"Four, three…"
"Qianqian!" I suddenly shouted, pulling her and running toward the outer edge—though I estimated our running speed wouldn't be enough to escape the imminent overwhelming attack or whatever it was.
But no matter what, I couldn't let Qianqian get hurt because of me!
"Ah Jun, what…" Qianqian was shocked by my sudden action and screamed.
"Two, one…"
A wave of dizziness hit me again, and my vision went black.
Qianqian's panicked voice blurred in my ears.
"Severe system error, external command set anomaly, highest permission lost…Zenith remote space strike system halting operation…"
Damn, what was this thing—so painful!
That was my last thought before I completely passed out.