Inside the painting classroom, the bright light struck the walls, casting a faint halo.
Every brightly colored canvas hanging on the walls seemed possessed of a life of its own, whispering ancient secrets at every passing moment.
The air in the classroom seemed momentarily frozen, silent and heavy with tension.
Lanqi shifted his gaze away from the paintings and gently looked toward Mogute, Senior Professor of the Fine Arts Department, a faint smile on his lips and eyes shining bright as stars in the night sky.
During the latter half of the lesson, the other two students had answered with increasing ease; Lanqi had neither helped them further nor made things difficult for them.
Once class ended, they collected their credit coins and quickly departed from the room.
Only Professor Mogute, Lanqi, and Hyperion remained in the classroom, discussing how Lanqi's passing reward would be fulfilled.
"...Name whatever you wish. As long as it is within my power, I will do my utmost to grant it."
Professor Mogute pondered, a profound light flickering within his pitch-black eyes, before he finally spoke.
He truly could not fathom what reward to offer Lanqi.
Even for the previous record of twenty-one points, the reward had simply been the freedom to take whatever one chose from the Fine Arts Department.
During these extraordinary times, the Vice Headmaster had just warned them that everything must strictly follow the rules. Thus, even if Lanqi made an extortionate demand, Mogute would have to accept it.
What was more, Lanqi possessed an artistic talent that genuinely intrigued Mogute; he had no desire to suppress such an extraordinarily gifted student.
"I would like to ask two questions. Can you guarantee that you will answer everything you know to dispel my confusion?" Lanqi asked politely, showing not the slightest hint of conceit over his classroom performance.
"Very well. On the honor of the Calpas family, I promise you that I will answer your questions to the best of my knowledge."
Professor Mogute hesitated briefly before solemnly agreeing.
If it was such a simple request that caused him no hardship at all, it only proved that this student was paving a very smooth road for himself.
However...
Just as Professor Mogute's mind began to relax, Lanqi's question detonated in his heart like a crash of thunder—
"Please tell me: in your view, what is the greatest crisis about to befall the academy, and what do you consider to be our turning point?"
Lanqi stared at Professor Mogute with a grave expression as he asked.
Since he was certain the deal was struck and had secured Professor Mogute's absolute promise, asking bluntly—or even boldly, aiming straight for the heart of the matter—presented no issue at all.
Yet what followed was a reaction so violent that even Lanqi had not anticipated it!
"How... how could you know about this?!"
All of a sudden, Professor Mogute lost his composure, practically shouting the question.
His eyes locked onto Lanqi. He seemed to have realized something, yet dared not believe it.
Recalling Lanqi's seemingly omniscient wisdom, boundless talent, and unfathomable intellect from moments ago, a terrifying suspicion welled up in Mogute's mind!
Yet Mogute did not dare question Lanqi.
He only felt his heart pounding frantically, as if it were about to burst from his chest.
Certain pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place!
"Professor, you should not answer a question with another question," Lanqi said in a low voice.
He could not let this senior professor know that his clues came from the Shadow World's background information and the music classroom.
For now, he just needed the professor to honestly fulfill their agreement.
"!"
Hearing those words, Professor Mogute's brow twitched. Facing Lanqi's profound gaze, his heart grew even more erratic.
He tried to decipher the look in Lanqi's eyes, only to discover that those emerald-like pupils refused to let him glean a single secret!
Mogute lowered his head, breathing hard to calm his frayed composure.
Then, he finally let out a long, deep sigh.
Everything pointed to one conclusion: the Glow Demon before him was very likely the Demon King's Castle special commissioner mentioned by the Vice Headmaster.
And the question the commissioner had just posed was an attempt to establish contact with the school's leadership.
After all, among the faculty who knew the commissioner's identity, aside from the Vice Headmaster, there were only a handful of senior professors.
The only way to meet a senior professor and speak in private was to clear a Difficulty 3 classroom.
Mogute also realized that whether Lanqi was this commissioner or not, having made such a promise, he should simply go with the flow and answer honestly.
"Yes... our academy is currently facing a grave crisis. And this crisis may erupt tonight."
Mogute admitted slowly, his voice laden with helplessness and worry. His gaze settled on Lanqi once more, seemingly watching every flicker of Lanqi's reaction with bated breath.
"Before long, an envoy from the Blood Clan will arrive at the academy to investigate humans whom the Blood Clan suspects may be hiding here.
"Once discovered, none of us in the academy's senior leadership will escape culpability.
"If the academy truly has problems, the only one who can save us is the special commissioner sent from the Demon King's Castle."
Having said this, Mogute looked at Lanqi with hopeful eyes, as though this final remark were spoken directly to him.
He thought that if this person truly was Lord Special Commissioner, then at this stage, it was time to lay all cards on the table.
"..."
Lanqi remained impassive, seemingly lost in thought as he processed this immense surge of intelligence.
Beside him, Hyperion strained with all her might to keep her expression neutral, while screaming wildly inside.
A special commissioner from the Demon King's Castle?
Could it be that silver-haired demon Lanqi had killed back in the Demon King's Bestowed Restaurant?!
So the hidden plotline of this Shadow World was actually a massive free-for-all among multiple conflicting factions: humans disguised as demons within the academy, school administrators trying to avoid calamity, a Blood Clan envoy determined to root out the humans, the Demon Realm Inspectorate that dared not cross the Blood Clan, and the Demon King's envoy!
For challengers to survive tonight, their only path was to gather intelligence as early as possible, navigate among these demons with conflicting allegiances, exploit the mutual checks within the demon race, and carve out a path to survival in the narrow cracks!
It was a life-and-death challenge and a horror game that demanded the absolute limits of strategy, courage, and survival instincts.
Reflecting carefully on just how many hidden, lethal adversaries truly sought the challengers' lives in this tier 4 Shadow World, even Hyperion could not help but feel a momentary, bone-chilling dread.
Yet now...
Hyperion realized something.
There existed a dangerous anomaly that neither the demons nor the Blood Clan had foreseen—Lanqi. All on his own, without anyone realizing it, he had already stirred this muddy pool into complete and utter darkness!
"..."
Lanqi still did not say a word.
Quietly, from an inner pocket of his coat, he produced the black jade seal looted from the silver-haired demon.
He held it up before Professor Mogute's eyes.
At this moment, silence spoke louder than words.
Chapter 70