In the spacious tiered classroom of the Sage Academy's first-year students, after Lanqi's words fell, the sudden confrontation seemed to freeze all sounds in the air, leaving only this oppressive, pervasive silence that couldn't be broken.
Even the afternoon light shining through the windows from outside the classroom seemed to have slowed down a bit.
The other students now had various expressions like statues. Some kept staring at the scenery outside the window while listening with their ears, some lowered their heads pretending to read their books as if nothing was happening, and others directly turned their heads to look from their seats.
No matter what, they were all silently watching the drama unfolding in the back row.
The spectating students finally realized what a despicable person Lanqi was!
It turned out that his first words were actually a trap question!
Only after confirming that he had successfully induced Modan's habitual sarcastic remarks did he follow up with the legal warning.
At this moment, Modan's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and he remained silent, feeling as if he had been played by Lanqi.
After a brief yet seemingly long few seconds,
"How old are you this year?" Lanqi finally spoke again, breaking the silence.
Modan didn't understand why Lanqi was asking about his age and didn't respond to Lanqi's question.
Or rather, Modan was now unwilling to casually answer any of Lanqi's questions.
"He's 19," Huberrian told Lanqi from the side.
She somewhat understood Lanqi's intention. After several interactions, she found that Lanqi's thought process wasn't entirely incomprehensible, just difficult for most people to follow.
Lanqi calculated mentally and looked at Modan:
"Then you'll be out when you're 27."
"?"
Modan was stunned for a moment before realizing what Lanqi meant.
Lanqi didn't seem to be speaking in code to threaten him, but was seriously calculating the minimum 8-year sentence he could secure for the defendant as the plaintiff's lawyer.
"Yawn..."
Lanqi yawned and lazily lay back on the desk, then smiled and winked his left eye at Modan.
As if he had just played a little joke on Modan.
However.
This friendly and non-aggressive display only made Modan's blood pressure soar at this moment!
Modan's pupils trembled slightly, his eyes like a powder keg that could explode at any moment. Although his facial muscles remained still, his throat was tightly closed, as if preventing that impulsive anger from bursting out in uncontrolled words.
"You'd better, first see if you can wait for this duchess to inherit the Alansar family, otherwise it's all empty talk."
Modan finally held back that seemingly devil-ignited rage and impulse,
"Lanqi Wilford, if you don't want your Wilford Trading Company to suffer collateral damage, you'd better not continue to meddle in her affairs."
He stared coldly at the relaxed Lanqi and threatened in a deep voice.
Lanqi frowned upon hearing this.
"So... if I continue to help Huberrian, you'll find ways to ruin the Wilford Trading Company?"
"That's right, our Gasigus Marquis family has plenty of ways to use legal business means to swallow up your entire enterprise at the lowest cost."
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Modan had become extremely cautious with his words now.
He knew that Lanqi's previous question was intended to induce him to prematurely state "criminal evidence" again.
But using the same trick twice was obviously ugly.
Modan laughed coldly in his heart, certain that with his power and influence, he had plenty of ways to deal with this smart-aleck border youth.
For example, he couldn't possibly not care about his family's Wilford Trading Company!
But the next second.
Modan never expected that -
Lanqi would stare straight at him, as if he had seen a savior.
This genuine look of expectation involuntarily sent a chill down Modan's spine.
"?"
What normal person would have such an indescribable look of joy after hearing that their family's business was being threatened?
How badly did your father abuse you as a child to make you hate the Wilford family so much?!
"Business warfare is all about winners and losers. If you can swallow it, then go ahead. No need to notify me," Lanqi shrugged and said with his eyes closed, looking completely carefree.
Modan took a deep breath, finally feeling a sense of exasperation.
"Lanqi Wilford, just being glib is meaningless. How much real ability you have will soon be exposed in the Shadow World. I hope you won't embarrass yourself in front of the whole capital. Many people are watching you."
Modan had also realized that Lanqi's disregard for his family was almost like that of a demon!
No wonder he got along well with Huberrian.
"Huberrian, let your mud boat sink to the bottom of the sea with your pipe dreams."
Throwing down these words, Modan turned and left with a gloomy expression.
Modan's words were full of certainty.
Because he knew that if Huberrian wanted to become stronger and have more chances to find her father, she could only beg him and submit to him.
One day she would come to her senses and seek him out.
...
After Modan left, various subtle noises began to rise and fall in the classroom.
Some perceptive students realized that Lanqi's accusations against Modan earlier might be groundbreaking.
Because among the many well-known academies in the Southern Continent, there had never been a precedent of successfully prosecuting and imprisoning a fellow student since their establishment.
Once Lanqi set this bad precedent, with Huberrian hiring him as a lawyer to threaten Modan,
The atmosphere of this Icerite Magic Academy could very likely be led astray by Lanqi.
In the past, if there were irreconcilable conflicts between students, they would mostly go to the arena or artificial Shadow Worlds with life protection to fight it out.
At worst, they might play a bit rough, bet on something, and have a duel concerning dignity.
But with Lanqi's demonstration, students would gradually discover -
For any campus conflict or dispute, finding ways to send the opponent directly to prison was the most effective and efficient method!
At the back of the classroom.
"Sigh—"
Huberrian finally smiled helplessly.
From the moment she met Lanqi, she felt that this guy was serious yet full of absurdity at the same time.
If he were an opponent, he would surely be a super newbie.
But if he were a teammate, he would definitely be the most reassuring and beautiful newcomer.
"Lanqi, thank you."
"It's nothing. I've always disliked conflict and only like to mediate. There's no need for meaningless arguments between classmates."
Seeing that Modan had left, Lanqi lay on the desk and mumbled.
He felt like he was about to become the sleep emperor again.
Looking at the clock with sleepy eyes, he felt that every minute and second was torture.
He didn't want to attend class.
Now he didn't even have the energy to read the law exam book he had been longing for.
It was like when he was in high school before, encountering a subject he disliked, he would fall on the desk as soon as the teacher started speaking.
Lanqi thought, maybe he should go challenge a Shadow World today?
According to the school's regulations, if one missed class due to challenging a Shadow World, it wouldn't count as skipping class. They would even be given a certain period of vacation time to adjust after passing.
Moreover, when students participate in Shadow World challenges, the school would also award students a small amount of real credits based on the difficulty and completion status - not only could these be used as elective course credits for any semester, but if there were enough, they could even replace compulsory course credits!
Therefore, many stupid warriors from the Knight Academy would put all their effort into challenging Shadow Worlds, trying their best to indirectly replace compulsory courses!
Lanqi now felt that he might have to go down this path too.
He couldn't help but look at Huberrian.
She seemed to be learning very easily today, not looking as miserable as he was at all.
And Huberrian should be a person with a rather cautious and steady personality.
He wondered if she would agree to go on a Shadow World adventure with him.