Night fell silently.

Butler Fu, with a stooped back, pushed open the small courtyard gate and quickly entered the house.

He had a hint of fatigue on his face, but his eyes were bright.

“Young Master, it’s all taken care of.”

Zhou Huai sat up from his bed, his gaze turning to Butler Fu.

“How did it go?”

“As you instructed, I rented five houses.” Butler Fu lowered his voice, “They’re all in remote corners, and the keys, as you said, have been left on the doorframes.”

He handed Zhou Huai a few simple hand-drawn maps, marking the specific locations of the houses.

“No one noticed, right?” Zhou Huai took the maps, examining them carefully.

Butler Fu straightened his back: “Young Master, please rest assured, this old servant always handles things discreetly. It was all done in batches, under the guise of ordinary tenants, so it definitely won’t arouse {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} suspicion.”

Zhou Huai nodded with satisfaction.

“Butler Fu, you’ve worked hard.”

His voice softened a bit, then he solemnly instructed:

“This matter, and all the unique aspects of my Clone, remember, absolutely do not mention it to anyone, including... my father.”

“This point is crucial.”

A look of determination appeared on Butler Fu’s aged face, and he said firmly:

“The Young Master’s secret is this old servant’s life! This old servant swears to protect it with his life and will never reveal a single word!”

Zhou Huai felt a slight warmth in his heart.

“Good, that’s all. You’ve had a long day, so go rest.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Butler Fu bowed and slowly retreated.

After Butler Fu left, Zhou Huai did not immediately rest.

He picked up a tablet computer nearby and skillfully opened the Tianhai City Professional Official Website.

After all, he currently only had Yasuo’s perspective, and Yasuo was deep within the Trial Tower dungeon.

He had no way of knowing the challenge progress of other teams in the outside world.

Fortunately, the homepage of the Professional Official Website had real-time data updates for the Trial Tower challenge rankings.

The screen lit up, and the data refreshed.

“First Place: Yasuo (Individual) - Ninth Rank!”

Zhou Huai’s hanging heart finally settled halfway.

A cliff-like lead!

The second-place Lu Qi team was still struggling on the seventh Rank.

First place was secure!

He once again connected his consciousness to Yasuo.

The Strange Beast on the ninth Rank were already close to Rank 10, with greatly increased attack power and health.

But in front of the AI-controlled Yasuo, they were still no match.

Sword light flickered, lightning surged.

Those ferocious Strange Beast fell like cut wheat.

“The Smart Core AI is indeed powerful.”

Zhou Huai nodded to himself.

However, from the tenth Rank onwards, BOSSes would appear.

The difficulty would sharply increase.

He was a little worried if the AI would use the healing potions Butler Fu had prepared.

If it only charged head-on, leading to excessive health loss, it would affect subsequent efficiency, which wouldn’t be good.

He observed carefully for a moment.

Yasuo, under AI control, had astonishing combat awareness.

Facing large groups of Strange Beast, it would skillfully lure them and defeat them one by one.

When encountering dense attacks, it would temporarily avoid the direct confrontation, even grabbing the corpses of Strange Beast to use as shields.

That cunningness was even greater than when Zhou Huai controlled it himself.

Zhou Huai completely relaxed.

A strong sense of fatigue washed over him again.

His consciousness returned to his main body, and he fell into a deep sleep.

...

In the early hours of the morning.

Outside the Trial Tower, the lights were bright, and it was still bustling with people.

This night was destined to belong to the young Professionals who fought through the night.

“Phew... Finally out!”

Lu Qi gasped for breath, bringing his four teammates, somewhat disheveled, out of the Trial Tower’s light portal, preparing for a short rest.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and encouraged his equally exhausted teammates:

“Brothers, you’ve all worked hard! Our teamwork is getting better and better!”

“Let’s all push a little harder, make an effort, and try to pull an all-nighter tonight, rushing to the tenth Rank in one go!”

He patted his chest, promising grandly:

“When I take first place in this Trial Tower challenge, I’ll reward each of you with 100,000 great xia currency!”

“Wow! Young Master Lu is awesome!”

“100,000! That’s amazing, Young Master Lu!”

“Young Master Lu is mighty!”

Upon hearing this, the four teammates immediately perked up, their fatigue seemingly dissipating a lot, and they all began to flatter him.

Lu Qi proudly lifted his chin, subconsciously looking up at the huge real-time ranking screen in the center of the plaza.

However, the smile on his face suddenly froze the next second.

He abruptly stood up, staring intently at the dazzling data at the very top of the screen.

“First Place: Yasuo (Individual) - Tenth Rank (BOSS battle in progress)!”

“Tenth Rank?!”

“What the hell is going on?!”

Lu Qi’s eyes almost popped out.

His team had fought desperately, consumed countless potions, just to clear the seventh Rank, and were now exhausted like dogs, coming out to catch their breath.

Yet, that guy named Yasuo had already reached the tenth Rank!

And he was solo!

“Where did this Yasuo come from?”

Lu Qi trembled with anger, feeling like his lungs were about to explode.

Today was truly an unlucky year!

He had been beaten up by that inexplicable uncle in the morning, and his face still throbbed.

Now, another Yasuo popped up to snatch first place from him!

Damn it!

When had he, Lu Qi, ever suffered such humiliation!

“Hello?!” Lu Qi pulled out his communicator, his tone chilling, like the cold wind of winter.

“Immediately! Right now! Send a few people over to guard the exit of the Trial Tower!”

“If you see a long-haired man with an uncle-like appearance come out, directly apprehend him for me!”

“And that guy named Yasuo! As long as he dares to come out, take him down for me too!”

“Don’t let him enter the Trial Tower again!”

The person on the other end of the phone was obsequious, repeatedly saying yes.

Hanging up the communication, Lu Qi’s face was grim as he looked at the teammates who were still resting. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

“All of you, stop resting! Get up for me!”

“Keep pushing! Full power! Don’t hold anything back!”

“All the mana potions, I’ll cover them all!”

“If anyone dares to slack off, don’t blame me for being merciless!”

The teammates shivered, scared by his fierce demeanor. How could they dare to say more? They quickly got up and followed Lu Qi, rushing into the Trial Tower again.

However, could such a huge gap be bridged by temporary courage alone?

At four in the morning.

Zhang Mingyuan, the principal of Tianhai First High School, yawned and rubbed his bloodshot eyes.

The other three principals were much the same, all yawning incessantly with dark circles under their eyes.

To be the first to contact the mysterious “Yasuo,” they had stubbornly waited from daytime until the middle of the night.

Just then—

“Buzz!”

The giant bell at the top of the Trial Tower let out a long and resonant chime!

The data on the leaderboard suddenly froze!

“First Place: Yasuo (Individual) - Cleared!”

“Time taken: 19 hours 58 minutes 32 seconds”

“Cleared!”

“That Yasuo cleared it!”

Zhang Mingyuan suddenly sprang from his chair, all sleepiness gone!

“Nineteen hours! Less than twenty hours to clear the beginner Trial Tower!”

“Our Tianhai City hasn’t produced such a Prodigy in years!”

“Quick! To the entrance!”

The four principals scrambled towards the exit of the Trial Tower.

A dazzling white light flashed.

Yasuo’s slightly weathered figure appeared outside the tower.

He had just found his footing.

Not far away, several burly men in black suits, who had been waiting for a long time, their eyes gleaming.

“That’s him!”

“The long-haired one!”

“Whether it’s him or not, take him down first!”

The men exchanged glances, quickly fanned out, and silently surrounded Yasuo!