CHAPTER 77: CHAPTER 77: I’VE BEEN BEATEN, HOW CAN YOU MISS OUT?

"Are you the dean of the Skill Department?" Qian Qi sized up the short and plump dean, chuckling, "Perfect timing. As a student of the Awakener University, I believe I have both the right and duty to question your educational standards."

"Nonsense!" Fan Jinghai, being questioned by a student for the first time, found it amusing, "When I took the position of the dean of the Skill Department, your parents probably weren’t even born yet! What gives you the right to question my educational standards?"

Qian Qi’s eyes darkened, and she asked coldly, "Then I want to ask, it was you who tacitly allowed the Skill Department students to come to our Magic Plant Department to practice with our magic plants?"

Fan Jinghai was startled, suddenly understanding the situation, "Just because of this?"

"Just because of this?" Qian Qi grabbed Xu Jing by the back of the collar, letting out a cold laugh, "You actually said, just because of this?"

"What about it?" Now understanding the situation, Fan Jinghai’s tone became calm, "The students of the Skill Department can’t enter instances frequently, and normally can only compete against classmates. If they lack practical combat experience, they’ll inevitably be at a loss when facing real demons, so they have to practice with magic plants first."

"They’re also trying to become stronger to protect you ordinary people. Although using magic plants for practice might harm your interests, I hope you can understand."

What kind of human talk is this? Zhang Feng was furious and was about to speak but was stopped by Qian Qi.

She pondered for two seconds, then sneered, "I didn’t expect the students of the Skill Department to be so lousy, that they would be at a loss when encountering real demons. It seems your educational level really isn’t up to par."

Fan Jinghai’s face darkened. He just said those words to tell Qian Qi not to make a big deal out of it, as after all, this was something tacitly approved by the school. Causing a fuss would only bring shame to their Magic Plant Department.

"No matter what you say, practicing with magic plants is beneficial to us and to you." Fan Jinghai snorted coldly.

"Did you hear that, Qian Qi?" Xu Jing couldn’t help but speak smugly, "Magic plants are originally demons; what’s wrong with us practicing with them? Once we become stronger, we will protect you afterward, right?"

Qian Qi glanced at Xu Jing, turned off the speaker, and leaned over to whisper sinisterly in Xu Jing’s ear, "You’re right, but I once got hit when I destroyed a classmate’s magic plants, and yet you remain unharmed, which irritates me immensely."

I got hit, how could you not?

Xu Jing: ...

Xu Jing: ???

What nonsense?

Qian Qi turned the speaker back on and looked at the angry students of the Magic Plant Department.

"My fellow Magic Plant Department students!" she shouted out loud, "Did you hear that? The dean of the Skill Department hopes we can understand them, to provide magic plants free of charge for their students to practice because one day they will protect us!"

Upon hearing this, the students of the Magic Plant Department were instantly enraged, ready to unleash curses, but Qian Qi continued to shout loudly, "He is right; we should understand them. They are willing to harm our magic plants to increase their strength for our protection. After all, this is a fair trade!"

Fan Jinghai listened and couldn’t help but nod, feeling satisfied with Qian Qi’s way to see reason and yield.

"But what about us?"

Yet, Qian Qi’s tone shifted as she looked at the Skill Department students with pity in her eyes, "We painstakingly research magic potions for the sake of protecting you!"

"We bury our heads in the experimental fields for years, day and night researching difficult topics, bearing ridicule, enduring bullying, searching for directly consumable magic plants like Defense Fruit, studying medicines like the Blood Stopping Magic Potion that can treat severe injuries, and for what?"

"Isn’t it all to give the Skill, Beast Taming, and Command Department students an extra guarantee of life during critical battles in the future?"

"If this is a fair trade, then where is our reward?"

"Yes! Where is our reward? You can protect us and smash our magic plants, but when we protect you, what can you give us in return?" The students of the Magic Plant Department couldn’t hold back and shouted angrily. Since Fan Jinghai shamelessly boasts, why should they cower and be passively moralized?

"Companions! We are different from the Skill Department students!"

Qian Qi spread her arms wide, shouting passionately, "We don’t seek rewards! We’ve never regarded this as a cold trade! We silently and selflessly dedicate our time and life just to research magic plants that benefit humanity, allowing people to survive this instance crisis as much as possible!"

"But those who come to destroy our magic plants? They’re destroying not only our hard work but also the lives of thousands of warriors and innocent people outside! Even their own lives!"

"How can we stand idly by to such foolish behavior?!"

"We cannot stand idly by!" The students of the Magic Plant Department were all too familiar with this rhetoric. They immediately followed with passionate shouts, and the voices of nearly a thousand students resonated throughout the entire Skill Department College, leaving the Skill Department students almost dumbfounded.

They didn’t expect that just by smashing a few magic plants, they would be painted by the Magic Plant Department students as a selfish group disregarding thousands of lives.

Xu Jing was even more furious, practically steaming, knowing that what Qian Qi had whispered to him earlier was far from such selfless and righteous words!

Qian Qi screamed a bit breathlessly, took a deep breath, and began to shout hoarsely again:

"So today, we appear in the Skill Department College simply for you to apologize to yourselves, to apologize for not cherishing life and personally destroying your own way out!"

"And to sincerely apologize to those students in the Magic Plant Department who are silently researching to protect you!"

"Moreover, to apologize to those warriors fighting on the battlefield, to your parents and relatives who support your schooling, and to your school friends and colleagues for, due to the destruction of the Magic Plant Department students’ intensive efforts, causing the progress in researching life-saving and prolonging magic potions to once again be delayed!"

"I ask you, dean of the Skill Department, are you willing to apologize!"

The principal arrived just in time to hear Qian Qi’s "big words" and twitched his lips, feeling a sense of déjà vu about the scene.

Fan Jinghai’s face turned almost green with anger. He couldn’t believe how this Qian Qi could twist words so easily, pinning the Skill Department College in a position of immorality and injustice, leaving him unable to retort even a single word.

"You, you..." He pointed at Qian Qi, even spitting, "Since when did your Magic Plant Department become so selfless? Just a bunch of useless people eating up school subsidies waiting to die, talking about Blood Stopping Magic Potion and Defense Fruit, it’s sheer nonsense!"

The principal heard this and immediately felt things weren’t good.

"Ha!" Seeing Fan Jinghai stubbornly persist, Qian Qi pushed Xu Jing towards Fan Jinghai, sneering, "Good, very good!"

She turned to face the Magic Plant Department students and said solemnly, "My fellow students, from now on, any Blood Stopping Magic Potion we make, any Defense Fruit we grow, in fact, any medicinal products produced in the future, are not allowed to be sold to the Skill Department College!"

"Otherwise, it’s going against all Magic Plant Department students!"

"Can you promise me!"

Qian Qi looked at this group of her future employees, her eyes dark and deep, hiding ambitions that others couldn’t perceive.

She was starting to build her own power.

"We can!" The students of the Magic Plant Department shouted, full of excitement, "We are not cowards! If they refuse to admit their mistakes and refuse to change those damn bad habits, then they shouldn’t come to our department to buy magic potions in the future!"

Upon hearing this, both Fan Jinghai and the principal remained calm. Instead, the Skill Department students were the first to panic.

"Please don’t—"