Sizzle—
White smoke rose again.
But this time, the searing spot had shifted to Marcus's own face.
Qi Li gripped Marcus's forehead with one hand and seized his left hand with the other, forcing it down toward his face without giving him a chance to object.
The movement was so fast that Marcus didn't even have time to dissipate his superpower.
“Aaah!!!”
Instantly, Marcus let out a miserable scream.
Visible to the naked eye, a deep, scorched handprint covered in burns was dented into his face.
As Qi Li continued to press down, Marcus's nose melted away first, followed by flesh and bone…
Watching, his own left hand was about to sink into his brain bit by bit.
“No, no, no, no—”
Andre, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, saw this and shook his head in terror, finally shoving with both hands.
In an instant, the speakers, computers, stainless steel thermoses, fruit knives, razors, pushpins, and other metal objects floating in the air all aimed at Qi Li, shooting forth like a torrential downpour.
Clang, clang, clang, clang—
A string of sounds like metal striking iron rang out on Qi Li.
When it was all over, Andre's all-out strike, launched with all his might, had at most sliced open Qi Li's outer garment, not piercing his skin in the slightest.
But this did wake Qi Li up.
He paused with both hands, first glanced at the panting Andre, then turned his gaze toward the doorway.
With such a commotion, quite a few people in the hallway were already peering into the dormitory with exclamations of shock.
Among them, inevitably, someone had already taken out a phone and was filming this.
Qi Li's expression changed slightly; he immediately released Marcus's left hand, quickly stood up, used his body to block the camera, and covered Marcus's face, which was more than half ruined and hideously ugly.
He almost forgot—this wasn't the outside world.
At school, killing wasn't forbidden, but it absolutely could not be clearly captured on camera.
Even if Marcus had struck first with murderous intent, once the footage got out, Qi Li would still face big trouble.
Qi Li withdrew his hand in time.
As for how to explain this situation to the outside world,
there happened to be ready-made evidence here.
Qi Li grabbed several bags of “laundry detergent” from the floor that hadn't been affected by the fight.
Although in America, marijuana leaves had been legalized in many places, some things with stronger potency were still expressly prohibited.
He held up the thing in his hand and explained to the crowd outside:
“Everyone, don't worry. The people here were just taking enhancement drugs in a group. For their physical and mental health, and to uphold the glory of Godkin University, which cultivates numerous superheroes, I came to stop them—”
Qi Li said, glancing back at the scene.
Avery was still embedded in the wall; Simon and Phoebe had “happily” collapsed side by side on the ground; Hank had been stuffed into the floor; Marcus was covering his face, rolling on the ground screaming miserably.
Only Andre was more or less unharmed.
“Uh—” Qi Li turned back, shrugged at the crowd outside, and continued in a sincere tone,
“Of course, I must apologize. I did use a bit too much force just now.”
“Cool—” someone whistled excitedly.
These people didn't care who was right or wrong; they only saw that, as fellow superhumans, Qi Li had single-handedly taken down six people.
Ordinary people or superhumans alike, in their bones they all worship the strong.
Qi Li's splendid performance just now undoubtedly made them watch with great relish and feel admiration.
With the first person leading the applause, seeing that Qi Li had evidence and his actions aligned with mainstream values, regardless of whether they used drugs themselves, they now nodded in agreement and joined the applause.
“Thank you! Thank you for your support! To protect the scene evidence, I'm going to seal off the scene until campus security arrives. Thank you, please step back a bit.”
Bang! Qi Li reset the door that he had blown off earlier into the door frame, blocking the outside view.
Afterward, he put his hands on his hips and let out a slight sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly and defused a PR crisis in time; otherwise—
“Huh? I almost forgot, you're still standing.”
As Qi Li turned around, he noticed Andre, who was at a loss.
Andre shuddered all over: “I…”
Qi Li shook his head: “Forget it, it's better to have everyone neat and tidy.”
As the words fell, he appeared instantly before Andre and landed a solid punch on the other's cheek.
Andre fell at the sound and quietly went to join his companions.
Not long after, campus security arrived along with doctors and nurses, handling the scene quite skillfully.
At the same time, Shetty's call came in: “Qi Li, I didn't expect you'd bring us a surprise so soon.”
Qi Li smiled: “I hope the surprise you mean, President, isn't an antonym.”
Shetty paused, her tone carrying a faint helplessness: “To be precise, the surprise is positive. Thanks to your timely response and good measures, you didn't let negative public opinion about you ferment. But Qi Li, if something like this happens again, please communicate with us in advance? You should know, you won't get lucky every time.”
“Of course.” Qi Li agreed readily.
Whether he would actually do so next time was a matter for next time.
Shetty was very satisfied with Qi Li's attitude: “I'll explain matters regarding Simon, Phil, Andre, and the others afterward. For the next while, Qi Li, don't make any more statements about these people; all responses should focus solely on the drug epidemic. I believe before long, the prefix ‘United Nations’ will be added to your anti-drug ambassador title.”
Not mentioning Simon and the like, presumably the school had its considerations, not wanting the image of Godkin students to be equated with drugs.
Compared to actively seeking it out, being lured by others and passively getting hooked undoubtedly had the least impact and could earn sympathy points.
For this, the school would also help arrange things, giving Qi Li the reward of “United Nations Anti-Drug Ambassador.”
To this, Qi Li naturally accepted with a smile: “No problem.”
Finally, Shetty curiously asked: “Qi Li, do you really not touch enhancement drugs?”
Qi Li said lightly: “Whoever makes me touch it, I'll kill him.”
Shetty heard the extra seriousness in Qi Li's tone.
To be honest, she had never seen such a superhuman.
“You're an angel, Qi Li.” Shetty sighed emotionally.
Angel?
If someone like him counts as an angel, that's too cheap, isn't it?
Qi Li shook his head, put away his phone, and was about to return to his own dorm.
Suddenly, his footsteps paused.
At the far end of the hallway, a low black donkey was slowly walking this way, a rope in its mouth.
Sloan?
The name suddenly popped into Qi Li's head.
Subconsciously, he glanced behind the black donkey again.
As expected, that familiar red hat was floating at a medium height behind the black donkey's butt, with ropes circling under the hat, following along step by step.
Chapter 16