Ultimately, after the girl with glasses had considered all possible outcomes, she also had no choice but to lower her head, "I haven't found any clear loopholes, so the likelihood is that things are as Li Qingming said. I certainly don't dare to bet..."
Zheng Ruixing also sighed, "Blame us for not ever looking at the school regulations in our lifetime."
Seeing that the most outstanding and the most selfless people had made the same judgement, the others could only accept reality.
Now, real Hell was about to begin...
Some people couldn't help but remember Zhang Qingyi, and thought they should have sided with her and Li Qingming from the beginning, going down with them. Back then, Li Qingming was just a slightly bigger goblin at most, but now he had become a demon lord in the making.
Just when everyone was extremely anxious, Li Qingming took a piece of paper from Ji Xiaoxiang's hand, praised the handwriting, and then knocked on the table:
"Those who have understood the situation, come and swear allegiance to me now. Just read from the paper and that will do."
"In return, I also promise, I'll do my best to ensure you survive and won't harm you actively.
"Based on the school's basic regulation of treating people with sincerity, the cost of our breach is to become bad students."
"During the last 2 minutes, I will carefully see who's still out of my rule."
"Now, there are 7 minutes left until class begins."
"Begin."
"Remember to line up."
In fact, before Li Qingming could finish speaking, four or five people had already squeezed through.
If this were at the beginning of the secret realm, perhaps no one would surrender so easily.
But at this moment, after enduring such prolonged psychological torture, most of the people were on the verge of collapse.
They no longer had the strength to doubt Li Qingming, nor the brainpower to continue outwitting him.
Tired.
Leave it to him.
Whether he's a devil or a demon.
Entrust him with everything, oneself included.
The first one to step forward was still that stoutest boy, who, looking at the paper, swore on the spot:
"I swear, within the Secret Realm, I will fully obey Li Qingming's commands.
"My vote for the good student goes to Li Qingming, my vote for the bad student goes to Cai Zhixin.
"Huh? Is that all? Anything else?"
"That's enough," Li Qingming said indifferently, raising his hand, "I promise to do my best to ensure you survive and won't harm you actively. Next."
"Ah, thank you..." The boy's face immediately showed relief, "Thank you, truly."
Seeing him walk so peacefully back to his seat, many people actually began to envy him on the spot.
How great would it be to hand over one's fate to an absolute being? Afterward, there would be no more pressure; it felt so comfortable it made one salivate.
The queue thus grew bigger, with everyone lining up in an orderly fashion to swear their allegiance.
Some even cried, wanting to kneel halfway in a knight's salute, and one person even tried to kiss the tip of Li Qingming's shoe on the spot.
"Don't touch there; there are blades on the sole of the shoe."
Li Qingming kindly discouraged him.
Since the oath was short and there weren't many people left, the vast majority completed their swearing-in within a few minutes.
When there was no one left in front of Li Qingming, Zheng Ruixing stood up and walked over, looking at the paper and spoke solemnly:
"My vote for the good student goes to you; for the bad student, I will abstain.
"In the Secret Realm, I will act according to my own will."
Li Qingming waved his hand uninterestedly, "If you're not going to swear allegiance, don't waste time."
"Just stating my position," Zheng Ruixing replied with neither servility nor overbearance as he returned to his desk.
Not far away, after wrestling with himself, Cai Zhixin rubbed his eyes a few times before dragging his heavy steps over to Li Qingming.
Then.
Thump!
He knelt down.
"Brother Li, I was really wrong this time, truly wrong! I swear, within the Secret Realm, I will fully obey Li Qingming's command, my vote for the good student goes to Li Qingming, and the bad student to Cai Zhixin." After half-crying through his oath, he looked expectantly at Li Qingming, "Brother... I've sworn allegiance now, can you give a promise?"
Li Qingming raised his hand disinterestedly, "I will do my best to ensure you survive and won't harm you actively."
"Haha!! Oh no... Thank you, Brother Li, you'll always be my Brother Li..." Cai Zhixin wiped his eyes and stealthily rejoiced as he returned to his original position.
Seeing that everyone had left, with a calm and tranquil expression on their faces, Ji Xiaoxiang finally dared to poke his head out.
"I... I've been observing in secret! Most people are sincere, almost as devout as believers towards their gods... but Cai Zhixin... Anyway, he's not sincere!"
"I know," Li Qingming replied. "I was going to ignore him, but since you're so concerned about him, we'll deal with him in the next class vote."
"So, is there really a poison needle inside the pocket watch?"
"That's private. Don't think you can bluff me by suddenly asking."
"Ah, this is so annoying... You've seen through that too!"
In the midst of the chatter, Ye Qian, who had been silent, suddenly stood up and briskly walked over to Li Qingming. He crouched down at a safe distance and whispered, "I have a question, if I use the escape artifact now, can I still take Zhang Qingyi with me?"
"Weren't you depressed?" Li Qingming looked at him, a bit disappointed by his renewed resolve. "I actually quite enjoyed seeing someone like you in despair."
"I've adjusted," Ye Qian asked again. "So, can I save Zhang Qingyi?"
Li Qingming didn't refuse but instead looked towards the small black cube that had fallen to the ground. "It seems something has dropped over there, is it yours?"
Ye Qian stared blankly for a while before recalling that it was the energy block Sea Urchin Head had rewarded him with.
So he quickly turned and snatched it up, hurriedly handing it over to Li Qingming: "It's yours now."
"Get it right, this is a consulting fee," Li Qingming cautiously took it. "I haven't threatened you, nor have I bullied you. You are willingly paying a consultant's fee of your own free will."
"Yeah, yeah, consulting fee."
Only then did Li Qingming nod towards Zhang Qingyi, who was lying dormant on the desk. "The escape artifact has a high priority, so there's a good chance you can take her out with you. However, she's cursed by a master, and I'm not sure if she can be cured."
Ye Qian pressed on, "What if we complete the goals of the Secret Realm? Can her curse be lifted then?"
"I guess it can for the people here, but if she's outside, I can't say for sure."
"Does that mean, completing the Secret Realm is the most viable way for her to survive?"
"That's my judgment."
Ye Qian let out a sigh of relief and then nodded vigorously: "Change of plans, I want to hire you to help me protect Zhang Qingyi until we complete this Secret Realm. Name your price."
"Two hundred million."
"... Are you serious?"
"You're buying my self-respect."
"Wait... just wait…" Ye Qian lowered his head, nervously crunching numbers, and after wiping his brow, he asked, "Can I pay that two hundred million over ten years?"
"Of course not," Li Qingming waved his hand. "Consultation over, keep your distance from me if you're not pledging loyalty."
"…"
Seeing Ye Qian so downcast, Ji Xiaoxiang couldn't help but cough softly.
"Um..." she said, peeking out, and gently said, "Zhang Qingyi didn't hate you in the end. The way she was staring at you... she wanted to see with her own eyes that you broke free... only then could she rest peacefully with closed eyes..."
Ye Qian stood entranced for a moment before he lowered his head, his fists gradually clenching:
"... So that's what she meant.
"Actually, I... had fallen for her at first sight on the very first day.
(Li Qingming: Keep your distance, I don't want to listen.)
"But from beginning to end, I never dared to take it any further, afraid of diluting my assets.
"I hate myself for being like this, and then it turned into hating her, labeling her as a woman greedy for money.
"But as it turns out... she has always been wonderful.
"The one twisted by money was me.
"I want... to correct this."
(Li Qingming: I'm going to vomit, get away from me.)
Ye Qian said this and then looked up once more, his eyes shining:
"Li Qingming, I won't pledge loyalty to you, not ever.
"But I will cooperate with you here to complete the Secret Realm.
"To protect Zhang Qingyi until the very end."
"That's enough," Li Qingming, feeling his scalp tingle, waved his hand tremulously. "Go away, I'm starting to feel allergic."
"Oh? You like this, huh? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Ye Qian chuckled, his fists pumped. "Come on, Qingming, lead us all to survive. I know you're just not good at expressing yourself, but you deeply love the group!"
Li Qingming stood there, his hair on end, as he grabbed his pocket watch and aimed it at him: "This is the last warning, I promise you won't have time to use your artifact."
"Ah... haha..." Ye Qian then laughed and walked back, saying, "I'm much better now, thank you."