A School Uniform That Lacks Nothing

"Roar!" An ear-piercing wail shook the churning gray mist, and the monster's phantom coiled in black qi threw its head back and howled toward the sky. "Yes—that's more like it!" Although half of it had been bitten away by the phantom of the "wolf," the two severed halves of the shadow quickly pieced themselves back together. It was an outright monster. Its entire body resembled churning black ink without a fixed shape, its left hand cobbled together from a compass and its right hand stitched to a ruler. It was swathed and bound in aged test papers, and only its exposed face vaguely bore Bai Zhou's features, though swirling black mist veiled it from being seen clearly. The turbid whisper was hoarse and grating, sounding like an infant crying, or a father and son arguing, and if one listened closely, it even seemed laced with a teacher's reprimands: "You always surprise me, always delight me—but only like this are you worthy of being... seized by me!" The moment its voice fell, the school uniform seemed to turn into a netting cage binding Bai Zhou, tightening around him as if to throttle him. "This is my home turf. Just—stop struggling!" "Besides, weren't you enjoying it just now? Why resist?" It spread its arms and stepped slowly toward Bai Zhou: "We were meant to merge into one from the very beginning. Why reject me? As long as we become one, we can rule this school together and share supreme glory!" "Wouldn't that be a delightful thing?" "Come, embrace me!" The words were brimming with a bizarre affection, yet the voice was grating and shrill, and billows of black smoke poured from the speaker's body. The eerie sight was profoundly terrifying, sending gusts of chilling wind over the onlookers and making their hair stand on end. "What on earth is that thing—" Number 9 clutched her arms, already covered in goosebumps. Something in her mind shattered; she found it truly impossible to connect this hideous monster with the mysterious "Senior Zhou." "In this damn school, is the true nature of every anomaly such an evil thing?!" "—No! Obviously not!" Beside her, Blue of Pride cast its gaze over and earnestly refuted the claim without a second thought: "We've never seen such an evil thing either—" "Yet it does seem to be a product of this school." After hesitating for a moment, Blue of Pride added with great uncertainty, "This... is probably something unique to Senior Zhou?" In this monster that bore a striking resemblance to Bai Zhou, Blue of Pride simultaneously recognized numerous familiar yet alien traits, such as "exams," "pressure," and "study." Naturally, beyond those traits were also "greed" and "lust"—the traits of the devoured student council cadres. It seemed this was the core essence comprising "Senior Zhou's" existence—similar to those student council cadres, yet standing above them. "So complex, so ferocious, so unfathomable!" Blue of Pride's heart trembled. It looked with deep awe at the dark demon king in the distance, a being resembling a bizarre hodgepodge. If it were this Senior Zhou... Perhaps he really could evolve into a great anomaly at the "Principal" level in the future! "Your home turf?" "Don't make me laugh." Yet faced with the deformed monster approaching for an embrace, Bai Zhou merely shook his head. Then he raised his hand and pointed at this passionately approaching old friend, speaking softly as if issuing a command: "—Bite him!" "Awoo!" A wolf's howl rang out. A flash of dazzling silver-white darted past Bai Zhou. The brilliant, pristine luminescence inevitably evoked the splendor of moonlight, forming a stark contrast with the blood moon hanging above the fog. "A remnant like a pig or dog thinks it can amount to something?" Bai Zhou looked at the monster sharing a similar face to his own, feeling that the Exam King opposite him had definitely misunderstood something. Then the giant wolf pounced. "Roar!" As if the earth shook and the mountains trembled, dense mist churned. They bit and tore at each other; they roared back and forth. Fur flew in the wind, and whirlpools of mist swirled. The light surrounding the silver wolf abruptly transformed into countless sharp arrows, riddling the Exam King's body with thousands of holes. With every shift and leap, its form left behind lingering silver-white trails in the mist. Black patterns spread like spiderwebs, seemingly trying to trap the giant wolf's shadow, but the wolf ripped them all to shreds. The cool, clear brilliance carried a terrifying scorch and scalding heat, and every roar sent shivers down the spine. "You remind me of a story." Watching their battle, Bai Zhou nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Once upon a time, there was a prince who wanted to marry a real princess, but he could never be sure whether candidates were impostors." "One day during a rainstorm, a disheveled, beautiful princess knocked on the door seeking shelter. So the old queen came up with an idea: she placed a pea on the princess's bed, then laid twenty mattresses and twenty featherbeds over it to test her." At this point, Number 9 and her companions, who were eavesdropping with pricked ears, showed looks of comprehension mixed with bewilderment. So it was the story of the Princess and the Pea, a tale everyone knew—but what did their current situation have to do with the Princess and the Pea? Watching the slaughter between wolf and monster, Bai Zhou kept an impassive face and continued unhurriedly: "The next day, the princess said she hardly slept a wink all night, constantly feeling bruised by something hard." "And so everyone realized she was a real princess, and the prince chose her as his wife." Here, Bai Zhou paused, his expression turning odd: "However—" "In truth, the princess was a male thief disguised as a woman. He had colluded with the treacherous queen beforehand, plotting to usurp the nest and seize everything in the castle." "—?" Hearing this, Number 9 and the others were dumbfounded. What kind of Princess and the Pea is that?! "Fortunately, on the eve of the wedding, the fake princess couldn't suppress his habit of stealing, and an alert hound caught him in the act, exposing the man's identity!" Bai Zhou cast a peculiar gaze upon the giant wolf, which was panting as it clamped its gaping jaws around the Exam King's head: "—Just like right now!" By this point, the battle was already decided. The Exam King's dark form was shredded countless times. Like a self-healing ragdoll, it was frantically savaged by the giant wolf that had found its new toy. Though it could regenerate, it was almost powerless against the wolf. Every one of its methods seemed completely useless against the moonlight. The Exam King was stunned. "Not enough, still not enough!" The Exam King glared with blood-red eyes and turned its gaze toward Blue of Pride and Black of Sloth nearby. It bared a grin at them, its sharp white teeth grinding together like two buzzing chainsaws. "Huh? Oh no!" Blue of Pride and Black of Sloth sensed danger. Sharp-witted as they were, they spun on their heels and ran for their lives. Yet in the next instant—*squelch! Shhk!* A compass pierced through Blue of Pride's heart, and a ruler followed immediately, shearing off Black of Sloth's head. "Underclassmen, lend me your strength..." "Join the glorious evolution!" Opening its maw wide, it inhaled like a whale drinking in the sea, swallowing dry all the specks of luminescence into which the two underclassmen had dissolved. With that, the entire student council of Yuanmeng Middle School was wiped out! "Not good—" Bai Zhou, who had remained expressionless all this while, finally underwent a change of expression. Shadows of various colors faintly emerged upon the Exam King and fused into one. New power welled up inside the Exam King. As if water had been brought to a boil, the pitch-black ink forming its body bubbled violently, and its form showed signs of new metamorphosis. It seemed poised to evolve once again! Correspondingly, Bai Zhou's Fate Principle space was also churning into a tempest. Another "Exam King" was stirring up trouble there; things looked bad. "And you—" The Exam King simultaneously displayed scalding glares of greed, naked desire, pride that viewed humans as food, and sloth that sought shortcuts. It turned its head toward Number 9 and the other two, spreading into a hideous, grim smile with an eerie cackle: "I smell lies." "You... must also be bad students who don't study hard, right?" The moment its words fell, the massive figure, three to four meters tall, hunched its back and flashed right before Number 9 and her companions. A twisted shadow cast down, and blood-red eyes swept over their bodies, radiating a suffocating, horrifying pressure. "Bad students must be eaten—" "We're not bad students! We're not bad students!" The three wanted to run, but their limbs could no longer move. The surrounding spirituality seemed to have turned against them, surrounding them completely, and the solidified air made movement harder than wading through a swamp. —Before a powerful Level 4 anomaly like the Exam King, Level 2 Extraordinaries were nothing. At this moment, suffocating despair engulfed the three. Their mouths fell open and rasping rattles came from their throats, but no sound could escape. Their hands and feet were colder and more numb than ice, completely refusing to obey their will. Then, the Exam King moved—so fast that none of them could track it. As the gray mist was blown away and a fierce wind swept back her hair, Number 9 smelled the rancid odor of rotten ink coming from the monster. Her pupils shrank; Number 9 was forced to freeze in place. *So this is what it feels like when death comes...* The athletic girl in the peaked cap, a vibrant college girl, thought to herself. But right at that moment—*clang!* A spark of searing fire burst into the girl's stunned pupils. First a wisp of flame ignited, followed by billowing fire surging upward like a meteor streaking past her eyes. Then the girl smelled a scent completely unlike the rancid ink—a warm, comforting fragrance reminiscent of a quilt baked in the sun. The boy's silhouette swept across her vision, once more stirring the bangs over her forehead. "This is..." His back came to a stop before her. The reassuring "Senior Zhou," facing the massive monster three to four meters tall—threw a punch! In this instant, he was clearly throwing a punch, yet in the Exam King's eyes, it looked like the swing of a blade. *Slash!* Bai Zhou shouted internally. What slash was this? —Moon Cinder Holy Oath Slash! His sublimated spirituality ignited. Punching like brandishing a blade, his fists hooking like crescent moons, blazing flames roared to life around Bai Zhou's fists! This was also an adaptable truth Bai Zhou had realized from the Wolf Knight. A saber could be a blade, a stool leg could be a blade, so naturally a fist could be a blade as well! Bai Zhou unleashed his scalding flame fists upon the Exam King—*boom, boom, boom!* The Exam King's evolution was cut short. The Exam King collapsed, blown apart on the spot by this strike. Amid an incredulous roar, over two hundred squirming fragments of ink scattered across the air—but it wasn't over. Over two hundred squirming ink fragments let out over two hundred unwilling roars, densely overlapping one another. As long as the ink could recombine, the Exam King could return! "Awoo!" Yet at that moment, the pale giant wolf leaped forward. Lowering its body, it swept through like a whirlwind, gobbling up every single ink fragment in the blink of an eye! *Burp—* The giant wolf let out a satisfied burp. The two hundred-plus roars ceased abruptly. The Exam King, returning like lightning—met its second death faster than lightning! Only a faint thread of translucent colored light remained, drifting slowly into midair, about to disperse back into the gray mist. Fallen leaves return to their roots. Yet an autumn wind swept up the fallen leaf. *Hum!* A tremendous suction force erupted from the school uniform, pulling that thread of colored light toward it. And then— it swallowed it whole! Just as the Exam King had devoured Blue of Pride and the others, the school uniform now devoured the Exam King's "essence," preventing it from returning to the school. This school uniform was no longer the Exam King's vessel. It had devoured its former self. Now, it was simply "Senior Zhou's school uniform." Having gathered the entire student council and devoured its past self—this school uniform lacked nothing anymore. *Tap.* Bai Zhou halted his steps and looked down at the empty ground beneath his feet, lost in contemplative thought. It was right here that the Exam King had vanished into thin air. "...Rule the school together?" He blinked and whispered softly, seemingly turning the phrase over in his mind. Sorry, but he had never even considered that. After all, his sights had never been set so low. The Special Control Bureau, the Armory, the ghost market and the Ghost Corpse, the Zijing Group, the Paths of Radiance and Paths of Desecration, and all the enigmas surrounding Crow... This world was magnificent. You were a toad looking at the sky from the bottom of a well— "But I am not." Bai Zhou whispered softly, and the phantom of the pale giant wolf beside him quietly retreated back into his body. *Hum!* The "Moon" glyph branded upon the Sea of Ignorance hummed. The wolf's phantom darted right into it. At the same time— "No!" A roar filled with confusion and refusal echoed across the surface of the Sea of Ignorance. Under the gaze of the Fate Principle, the twisted black silhouette of the monster was torn to shreds by the colossal wolf shadow, completely vaporized under the illumination of the White Sun! The Sea of Ignorance, which had been churning ceaselessly moments ago, was now calm and mirror-still, as if nothing had ever happened. An act of "rebellion" had thus come to an end. The dust settled. "Phew—" Exhaling a long breath, Bai Zhou looked down at his school uniform. With the Exam King's disappearance, the uniform also quieted down. Yet this dormancy did not mean it had lost its previous functions; rather, it was—digesting! The evolution and metamorphosis that had been occurring within the Exam King hadn't halted; the process had merely been extended. It had absorbed too many anomalies, including the deceased Exam King itself, and all of it required digestion. Once digestion was complete... Bai Zhou's heart thumped. He recalled the confidence the Exam King had displayed during its evolution and that terrifying aura it had begun to exude. Once it finished digesting, would this school uniform be equivalent to a successfully evolved Level 5 anomaly? What would he gain from it then? Bai Zhou looked forward to finding out. All of this was thanks to an immense contributor— Bai Zhou examined his inner Fate Principle space, his gaze settling on the "Moon" glyph above the Sea of Ignorance. In truth, the timing of the Exam King's emergence had been impeccable, and the danger of that moment was far greater than it seemed. The Exam King manifesting before his eyes was manageable, but the Exam King manifesting inside his mind had nearly tainted and possessed him! Fortunately, at the critical juncture, both the "Soothe" and "Moon" glyphs had rendered meritorious service. Especially the "Moon" glyph! Today was the "Moon" glyph's debut. In fact, hidden within the "Moon" glyph was the phantom of a giant wolf, which Bai Zhou could summon to his side to fight shoulder to shoulder. Bai Zhou only needed to expend a tiny sliver of spirituality to sustain this phantom, as if it were an innate companion beast linked to him mind to mind. Yet in stark contrast to that tiny cost of spirituality, this wolf possessed remarkably formidable combat capability! Combat instinct was practically engraved into its head, claws, tail, and every corner of its body—and as Bai Zhou advanced in the future, the wolf's phantom would grow even stronger. It was the epitome of cost-efficiency. Even now, Bai Zhou roughly estimated that the giant wolf phantom could go toe-to-toe on equal footing with an Extraordinary at Anguissola's level! Yet most importantly— For some reason, this phantom of the pale giant wolf seemed to possess a natural suppression over foul, sinister Ruin Realm anomalies! The Exam King's frantic thrashing just now was clear proof, instantly turning the confident Exam King into a clownish ragdoll. What this meant for any Extraordinary walking the Reflected Ruin Realm— went without saying! Bai Zhou subconsciously pursed his lips, suppressing the excitement in his chest. Because that wasn't all— A wolf was a beast! Bai Zhou had essentially raised a wolf inside his own Fate Principle space. And beasts often possessed a fierce sense of territory— Therefore, whether now or in the future, if any evil dared to encroach upon Bai Zhou's Fate Principle space, the first obstacle it would have to face was the pale giant wolf guarding the house! —That was the true reason the Exam King's plot had failed! "A wolf, huh..." The endless utility of the "Moon" glyph stirred Bai Zhou's heart. Yet the "Moon" glyph was merely the tip of the iceberg, one ten-thousandth of the true Lunar Wolf Power—Bai Zhou could hardly imagine what the forbidden power of a complete Lunar Wolf would look like. No wonder the Wolf Knight had once believed this forbidden, heretical power could save the world! Bai Zhou recalled the words the Wolf Knight had spoken to him: "If you are a wolf..." "That's fine too." Although Bai Zhou did not possess the complete forbidden power, within his body, the potency of the Tears of the Moon Goddess had already fused with the fragmented Lunar Wolf Power, sparking a new chemical reaction. He was only lacking a guiding ritual to awaken and activate this power... "Tsk!" Pondering this, Bai Zhou turned his gaze back to Number 9 and the other two, who were still trembling and wearing looks of relief after surviving a catastrophe. Only, in addition to being stunned, Number 9 seemed to be looking at Bai Zhou with an odd blush. In contrast, the reactions of the other two looking at Bai Zhou were far more normal. Gratitude laced with awe, and awe mixed with fear. Humans and anomalies, after all, could never understand one another. "All right, underclassmen, pardon the spectacle." Bai Zhou slowly drew out an apologetic smile toward the three: "We shouldn't waste any more of your time. It's time for us to keep moving forward—" Before the school uniform's unknown evolution finished, Bai Zhou had no intention of targeting ordinary anomalies anymore. Advancing to Level 4, accumulating spirituality, eliminating hidden dangers, and the uniform's evolution— Bai Zhou had gained more than enough benefits and made ample preparations. Without realizing it, nearly half the night had passed. Time waited for no one! Now, the Adventurer Bai Zhou and his guinea pig squad needed to get straight to the point— "..." The silent group of four navigated layers of dense fog. Led by Bai Zhou, the trio wearing the school uniforms felt uneasy, recording everything they passed with their body cameras. Playground, library, cafeteria... Seeing that he showed no signs of stopping and was only penetrating deeper into the campus, Number 9 mustered her courage and asked Bai Zhou: "S-Senior!" The girl in the peaked cap spoke very softly, asking in a small voice with a red face: "Where are you taking us?" Before Bai Zhou in front could turn around, Number 31 and Number 42 beside her stared at this completely unfamiliar Number 9 with terror and worry: "Big Sis, what's wrong with you? Possessed by evil spirits? Or feeling unwell?" "..." Number 9 clenched her fists, her demure act shattering instantly as she glared fiercely at her two good-for-nothing lackeys who couldn't do anything right. "We're here." Abruptly, Bai Zhou came to a halt. His figure stopped in front of— an abandoned teaching building. "This is...?" Leaving the confusion behind him unaddressed for the moment, Bai Zhou narrowed his eyes, sizing up this dilapidated abandoned teaching building. Within Yuanmeng Middle School, which was aged and decrepit overall, it seemed quite unremarkable, just one of many teaching buildings. Yet while Bai Zhou appeared composed on the surface, he inwardly raised his vigilance to one hundred and twenty thousand percent. If he remembered correctly— this abandoned teaching building was fundamentally a writhing mountain of flesh. And deep inside that mountain of flesh, there was also an upside-down girl with a "π" on her head! "This is the place." With a light cough, Bai Zhou turned around. Facing the varied expressions of the three behind him, Bai Zhou blinked. Then he quickly stepped aside and raised a hand toward the seemingly unremarkable abandoned teaching building behind him, acting like a doorman ushering in guests: "This is where we usually have our classes. Would you like to take a tour together?" A gentle voice, a harmless gaze—his eyes drifted ever so casually across the body cameras on the trio's chests. Standing before the pitch-black arched entrance of the teaching building, Bai Zhou gave a slight bow and spoke directly toward the cameras: "Please, come on in!"