Ch. 227 - Now Isn't the Time to Celebrate

"Send student Chen Shu to see me."

The mayor of Nanjiang City spoke, then got up and left on the spot.

He had completely lost interest in the Beast Taming competition.

This whole damn thing felt like a stage play. It was absurd.

"It seems our Fifth High has given up the match! Let's congratulate the students of Nanjiang Second High!"

"After three years, they've finally claimed first place in the whole city once again!"

"..."

The entire arena fell silent.

They took the championship without even fighting?

At this point, anybody could've done it!

"We... just became champions like that?"

Xu Xiaoyu and Xia Bing were both a little dumbfounded. They'd just gone through the motions and hadn't actually done anything else.

"Get on stage and accept the award!"

Chen Shu looked calm. Everything had gone exactly as he'd expected.

"Chen Pi, the mayor wants to see you! He's waiting at the city government building next door!"

Shen Wushuang spoke, a look of silent mourning in his eyes.

You dumb bastard wrecked the city-level tournament. Your karma had arrived...

"The mayor?"

Chen Shu frowned. He wasn't seriously being targeted now, was he?

I just wanted Beast Taming Power, all right? I really didn't mean to wreck the competition!

"Teacher, come with me, will you?"

Chen Shu said, "I'm feeling a little nervous..."

Shen Wushuang shrugged and said, "I've got something to deal with. You'll have to go alone."

"What do you need to do?"

Shen Wushuang bared his teeth in a grin. "I'm busy picking out a nice burial plot for you. Since you're my student, I'll give you 50% off. That's a pretty decent discount, isn't it?"

"Hehe..."

Chen Shu let out a dry laugh. Wow. Thanks a fucking lot.

With grim resolve, he left the Beast Taming Arena, which conveniently let him dodge the post-match interviews too.

The city government building was right next door, so it wasn't far.

Five minutes later, Chen Shu made it to the mayor's office without incident.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Come in!"

Chen Shu pushed open the door and said a little stiffly,

"Mayor, you wanted to see me...?"

"Sit. No need to be nervous!"

Mayor Zhou smiled faintly and said, "Just treat this place like your own home."

Chen Shu relaxed at once. One look was enough to tell him the man wasn't calling him over to make trouble for him.

His expression loosened. He sat down on the sofa, crossed one leg over the other, then started taking off his shoes...

"Hey! Hey!"

Mayor Zhou's mouth twitched. This little bastard was really treating the place like home?

Chen Shu looked up innocently and said, "What is it, Mayor?"

"We're just here to talk. There's no need to take your shoes off!"

The mayor shook his head.

This kid really never played by the script.

His gaze settled on Chen Shu as he said in a low voice, "You're pretty strong, aren't you?"

Chen Shu sighed and said, "I'm decent enough, I guess. Shame I still can't beat my master."

"Your master?"

The mayor raised a brow.

So there really was some expert teaching him. No wonder he was this strong.

"The old man at the entrance to the Beast Resource Bureau..."

"Old Ye?!"

Mayor Zhou was startled and shot to his feet.

Old Ye wasn't just the strongest person in Nanjiang City. His status and seniority were also second to none. Anyone who met him would feel instinctive respect.

"Yeah, yeah, Old Man Ye. You know him?"

Chen Shu immediately began spewing deadpan bullshit. "He absolutely insisted on taking me as his disciple. I refused with all my might at first, but what could I do? In the end, I still lost to his persistence!"

"..."

Mayor Zhou's expression froze.

Why did everything this little bastard said sound so unreliable?

Because of his F-rank Contract Spirit, Nanjiang's strongest expert had begged to take him as a disciple?

"Old Man Ye cried, made a scene, even threatened to hang himself. And me, being the kind of guy who respects his elders and looks after the young..."

"Stop. Stop right there!"

Seeing that Chen Shu was about to keep bullshitting, Mayor Zhou hurriedly cut him off.

If this conversation kept going, he was going to lose his mind sooner or later.

Mayor Zhou's expression turned serious as he finally got to the main point. "You practically destroyed the Beast Taming competition with your own two hands!"

"Huh? What?"

Chen Shu looked blank, as if he had no idea what was going on.

"Cut it out. All the principals already told me."

"Uh... Mayor, I just said one thing offhand, and they took it seriously and surrendered on the spot. I don't think that had much to do with me!"

Mayor Zhou fell silent at once.

This bastard had gone around saying that if they didn't surrender, he'd beat them every time he saw them.

He'd practically traumatized the entire field, and he was still saying it didn't have much to do with him?

"I've had enough. You can go now. Win some honor for Nanjiang City at the provincial competition!"

The mayor spoke.

He'd originally wanted to pressure the kid a little so Chen Shu would give his all in the provincial competition.

But after chatting for only a short while, he was already reaching his limit.

And besides, Chen Shu was Old Ye's disciple. Even as mayor, he couldn't really say too much.

"Uh, Mayor, isn't the government giving out any rewards? I'm not asking for much. Just 10 or 20 million would do!"

Chen Shu's eyes darted, and he instantly started getting ideas again. Nobody ever complained about having too much money.

Once he became a Black Iron-rank Beast Tamer, the cost of raising Contract Spirits would skyrocket severalfold, maybe even tenfold—especially for a min-maxing freak like Chen Shu, who wanted to train his Contract Spirits to absolute perfection.

"Hehe... you've really got some nerve, don't you?"

Mayor Zhou looked stunned.

He hadn't expected Chen Shu to actually set his sights on the government. The kid really feared nothing.

"You've already squeezed Nanjiang Second High dry. I heard the principal promised you a full 20 million!"

"Did that happen? Did it?"

Chen Shu looked completely innocent, as if he knew nothing about it.

Mayor Zhou said, "There's no way I'm giving you money. Do you have any other requests? I might consider those."

"Then give me some Beast Taming Pearls, Lord materials, whatever. I'm not picky!"

"..."

The mayor let out a dry laugh.

Those things were worth even more than cash, all right?

"Really, Huaxia Points work too. Go ahead, pile them on!"

"Hello?"

Mayor Zhou immediately picked up his phone and said, "Secretary Liu, it's time for the meeting, right? I'll be there at once!"

As he spoke, he walked out of the office while talking on the phone, leaving behind a dazed Chen Shu.

"Wait, are phone calls this perfectly timed now?"

Chen Shu shook his head, then finally left the city government building in resignation.

Standing in the hallway, Mayor Zhou looked down at Chen Shu's departing figure and muttered to himself,

"This kid... can he really make Nanjiang City famous across the whole province? Something about this feels off..."

...

Nanjiang Second High, Beast Taming Arena.

The people in the special training class had all heard the news about the championship.

Sure, Chen Shu was a menace wherever he went, but at least he'd brought honor to the school.

Every one of them trained even harder, drilling their own combat techniques and trying to catch up to Chen Shu.

Shen Wushuang sat at the entrance to the Beast Taming Arena, gazing into the distance.

There was a thoughtful look in his eyes. No one knew what he was thinking, but he seemed a little melancholy.

Before long, it was time for school to end.

Xie Sunan said, "Teacher Shen, you've been waiting all afternoon. Chen Shu will be back. Go eat first!"

Shen Wushuang shook his head and said,

"Now isn't the time to celebrate!"