Chapter 345 - 322: Guan Tong’s Birthday Party

Chapter 345: Chapter 322: Guan Tong’s Birthday Party

「Evening. Pinglu City.」

Guan Tong’s birthday party was held in a small courtyard provided by Shi Jingyi.

As a senior lecturer at the academy, she was assigned a residence with its own courtyard—a much better arrangement than what Guan Tong had as a temporary substitute teacher.

The six people attending the party, including Guan Tong, had already gathered in the courtyard. The table was laden with steaming hot dishes, all brought from the cafeteria by Xu Xiaotian.

Shi Jingyi, on the other hand, had prepared some light tea and other beverages, as most of them didn’t drink alcohol.

"Come on, let’s have a toast! Congratulations to Guan on turning twenty today!"

Wang Yan was the first to raise her glass. As the eldest among them, she had taken on the role of host.

"Congrats, Tong! As of today, you’re officially on the road to thirty!"

"Happy birthday~"

Guan Tong finished the tea in his cup and said, "Thank you, everyone. We’re all good friends here, so I’ll skip the formalities."

"Mm," Shi Jingyi said with a smile. "It’s not like you’re any good at them, anyway."

After returning to the academy, she had heard more than a few stories about Guan Tong from students and other teachers.

The most common descriptions of him were things like "doesn’t talk much" and "has a cold expression."

She knew, however, that Guan Tong wasn’t so much cold as he was simply uncomfortable dealing with strangers.

"Lecturer Jingyi is right," Wang Yan chimed in with a laugh. "Guan is just a quiet kid. But that’s fine. It’s better than those who are always blabbering on about nothing."

Hearing this, Xu Xiaotian, who was sitting to the side, gave an awkward chuckle. "Auntie, when you say ’blabbering,’ you mean a social butterfly like me, right? But hey, if I weren’t so outgoing, I never would have met Tong. And I definitely never would’ve guessed that the famous ’Shadow’ was actually Tong!"

Guan Tong shook his head slightly. "’Shadow’ isn’t really anything special. A lot of the rumors out there are just nonsense. Don’t believe everything you hear."

Silver Fox spoke up. "That’s true. Even some experts at the Strategy Research Room believe ’Shadow’ was created by some organization, not an individual."

Guan Tong found this strange. "Don’t you guys know who I am?"

"Only a few people know. It hasn’t been disclosed to the entire Research Room," Silver Fox said, winking at him. "You didn’t really think the person in charge would make it public, did you?"

After a moment’s thought, Guan Tong understood what Silver Fox meant.

’Even an organization as strict and disciplined as the Strategy Research Room isn’t immune to leaks.’

’The Research Room has a large staff, and with Psychic Power items like the Communication Secret Scroll allowing for long-distance communication, a leak is inevitable if someone is determined. The only way to prevent it would be to use shielding items at all times.’

’Perhaps similar incidents have already occurred.’

"It’s better that it’s not public," Shi Jingyi said to Guan Tong. "The tree that stands out from the forest will be destroyed by the wind. The more people who know your identity, the more danger you’ll be in."

Guan Tong nodded.

The group chatted as they ate.

Since Guan Tong was the guest of honor and the core of their group, the conversation naturally revolved around him.

However, as the conversation flowed, the others also got to know one another a little better.

When the topic shifted to the recent incident in Sakura Prayer, Guan Tong told them the reason he had originally gone there to get revenge on Mizusawa Chun.

"So that’s what happened!"

Silver Fox finally understood, realizing the conflict had stemmed from the fight over the Qimo Star Fragment.

"So that’s how the grudge started. We received news back when Sakura Prayer mobilized its warships, but we never thought you were involved."

Shi Jingyi fell silent, recalling the attack on her and Guan Tong after the earthquake rules ended... ’Clearly,’ she thought, ’there’s a good reason why Guan Tong, having been attacked like that twice, chose to live a solitary and nomadic life.’

"...Sakura Prayer—or to be precise, the Mizusawa Clan led by Mizusawa Chun—has had ambitions of world conquest from the very beginning. Thankfully, we stopped him in time. If Mizusawa Chun had been allowed to grow indefinitely, he would have become terrifyingly powerful."

Those who didn’t know about Mizusawa Chun’s abilities were shocked after hearing Guan Tong’s account.

"An ability that broken?!"

Xu Xiaotian was the most stunned.

It wasn’t surprising. Compared to his Instant Noodles Items, Mizusawa Chun’s Bloodline Power seemed to be from a completely different dimension.

"His ability and his status complemented each other perfectly," Shi Jingyi said. "A growth-type ability like that must be extremely weak in its early stages. Without help from others and the protection of an organization, it would be very difficult to develop."

"But Mizusawa Chun, the one with this ability, just so happened to be a member of a nation’s ruling family. This allowed him to use the vast resources of an entire country to feed his own growth, accelerating his ability’s development. That’s how, in less than two years, he became an existence far beyond that of an ordinary Ascender."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Shi Jingyi was right. Growth-type abilities required a lot of time and resources to develop, and for most, surviving the initial stage was an incredibly difficult process.

Few people had such uniquely advantageous conditions as Mizusawa Chun.

"How terrifying," Wang Yan sighed. "And of course a villain like that would have such good luck. If you and the others hadn’t stopped him, Guan, who knows how many more people he would have harmed."

"In this era, there will be more and more ambitious people like Mizusawa Chun," said Silver Fox. "That’s why we have to strike them down as soon as they appear. We can’t let the world fall into the hands of people like that."

"Speaking of which... You all know what’s going on with the Black Banner Country, right?"

Hearing Xu Xiaotian bring this up, Guan Tong said, "I know. Even though I’ve been in Sakura Prayer these past few days, I’ve been keeping up with the news."