Having said that, he pulled out a Chinese textbook from the desk and casually flipped through it as he explained:
"Now, I am studying.
"And rule number twenty-three of the school states: No one may disturb others while they are studying.
"That is to say, if I keep holding the Chinese textbook and study without stopping, and someone disturbs me during that time...
"They would be a bad student.
"I could have trapped all of you with this trick.
"If anyone doesn't believe it, we can do an experiment right here and see if this trick works.
"For the next five seconds, I will concentrate on studying, feel free to interrupt me."
In the silence, Li Qingming seriously began to study.
As for interrupting him...
No one dared to gamble on that.
At least none of the twenty-some people present was such a madman.
After such five seconds, Li Qingming blandly put the Chinese textbook away and gently spoke to everyone:
"Alright, I'm done studying, unfortunately, no hero sacrificed themselves."
"This was just a demonstration example. I've thought of seven similar tactics.
"At least two of them, you have no way to resist; even if you close your eyes and do nothing, you'll become a bad student.
"Look, I've been leading you on so nicely, you should understand by now—"
At this point, he tucked his hands back into his pockets, leaned back in his chair as usual, right leg crossed over his left, and looked around with satisfaction.
"To you guys.
"I am now.
"Much more terrifying than the overseer."
Watching those faces gradually turn horrified,
Li Qingming finally showed a satisfied smile.
...
13:48:07, inside the command tent.
Daylight stood directly in front of the screen, staring intently at that "46," without saying a word.
The others were still exchanging content of no significance.
"Chief Zhou, the reporters and parents are already outside."
"That damn Vanguard, he's stirring up emotions on social media, claiming he's already in position, and that we're delaying the rescue."
"The people outside are losing control, and the mayor has also expressed concern over this incident."
"The average rescue time for a Secret Realm within level three intensity in the city is twenty-seven minutes; we've already exceeded this duration."
"The trapped personnel are approaching thirty minutes, nearing the limit of a normal person's mental breakdown."
Facing these pieces of information, Zhou Cheng, standing beside Daylight, just nodded.
Not to mention anything else, he did have some composure; otherwise, he wouldn't have climbed to this rank.
But soon, a message came through the headset that made even him tense up.
"Chief Zhou... the second-order Vanguard who came for the rescue... seems to be drunk..."
"???" Zhou Cheng was stunned and tightened his grip on the headset. "How drunk?"
"He climbed up to the cordon, shouting 'Vanguard is free, fight! Fight!' He's done... can we get a couple of people to control him?"
"Damn it... is there not a single reliable one among these free Vanguards! When's the next zero-order Vanguard arriving?"
"It will be another ten minutes or so..."
"..." Zhou Cheng glared at the monitor and said firmly, "Daylight, I can't hold out any longer, let's stop here."
"Shh." Daylight stared at the screen and said, "No one has perished, the kids have figured out the rules; it's almost time, I can feel it—they're about to break through the soil."
"I think they're closer to being laid to rest..." Zhou Cheng then raised his hand toward the microphone at Daylight's collar, "Enough of this, I can't afford to play this game anymore."
"Don't grab my stuff!" Daylight angrily pulled away, smacked Zhou Cheng, but she instantly realized she had done wrong and quickly turned back to plead exaggeratedly, "You promised me, give them 40 minutes, you agreed, didn't you?"
"..."
In the midst of Zhou Cheng's changing expressions, the man with rotten teeth under his hat rushed into the tent.
"Wasn't the new guy a drunkard? It's my turn to go in, right? What are we waiting for?"
"Follow orders!" Zhou Cheng turned and shouted, "Wait at the entrance!"
"Come on, boss..." the man in the hat complained as he propped up a baseball bat, "This magical artifact is rented by me, and if I can't take down the Sovereign, I'll lose everything... Look, I paid such a high price, isn't it all to help you guys save the citizens?"
"Quit that bullshit." Zhou Cheng snorted coldly, "I've reviewed your file, full of debt due to gambling and drugs, terminated by a company five years ago, weak but always betting on Secret Realms, just hoping to strike it rich with a Sovereign's treasure to turn your luck around; everyone knows what you're thinking."
"...Then don't our goals align?" the man in the hat spat and chuckled, "Get it straight, boss, in this Secret Realm, only trash Vanguard like me can enter, you guys should be begging me now. If I get too anxious, I might even quit!"
"So annoying." Daylight turned her back and waved her hand dismissively, "Nakata, throw him out."
"Yes." The man in sunglasses stepped forward and made a ushering gesture.
"Don't you touch me, you worthless junk man!" the hat man cursed as he walked out, "You'd better consider this well; the people outside support me, your actions are outright villainous, I'm the righteous one!"
"Damn it." Zhou Cheng turned and cursed, "Come on, class 3-4, give me energy!"
"They can't hear you." Daylight merely stared at the screen and spoke coldly, "Stop flapping, fat fly. Sometimes, the best thing a leader can do is nothing at all."
"... You could at least... turn off the mic before you say that..."
"Ah... sorry..."
...
β1-2103257, 36 minutes and 15 seconds after the outbreak.
Inside, after a series of discussions, Zheng Ruixing and the girl with glasses had to admit two facts.
First, the only rules of the Secret Realm were the school rules.
Second, the current Li Qingming was truly able to use the rules to easily torment everyone.
What was even more twisted was that Li Qingming could invent rules on the fly.
Since no one knew what the school rules were, not even how many there were, it gave Li Qingming the sole authority to interpret the rules, allowing him to concoct seemingly plausible rules to manipulate others.
But that wasn't the most disheartening part.
To block their retreat, Li Qingming even willingly exposed a lot of personal information.
For example, he just held a pocket watch and said, "It can fire three poison needles."
He also touched the leg of the table, saying, "Hidden inside is a blowgun that can take seven people away."
Even pointing toward the ceiling lampshade: "Inside is poisonous powder."
Just as everyone started to feel that the last point was a bit far-fetched,
Li Qingming took out a gas mask from his backpack.
Alright, the school rules required him to treat people with honesty.
In the end, all the school rules definitely contain "no fighting".
But there are rarely any that say "no killing".
Perhaps due to different national conditions, some overly free places need to add this rule.
But for this Secret Realm, for Li Qingming,
His act of firing poison needles from a watch would hardly be considered fighting or brawling.
This led to Li Qingming not just having the authority to interpret the rules, but he also had the right to execute.
At this point, everyone had to admit...
As Li Qingming said, the current him was far more terrifying than the Sovereign.
Looking at Li Qingming's face, cruel yet mocking, many started to fondly remember Sea Urchin Head's voice and smile; this Sovereign even seemed to grow increasingly affable and kind.