If it were an ordinary situation, Lin Dong of course wouldn’t dare to bring it up to the Boss first.

But since this time it was exactly about introducing "robots" to the school…

He could conveniently use that topic to casually mention Jiang Ye’s abnormality.

With that thought, Lin Dong directly nodded in agreement.

He agreed straightaway, but Song Jie looked at Li Ku with complicated eyes.

Li Ku’s gaze swept over indifferently, “You’re staying too?”

Song Jie was silent for a moment, then finally said, “I’ll go back to the dorm.”

He Yuliang and Du Yuheng also hesitated briefly, then opted to return to the dorms.

In He Yuliang’s previous life, Jiang Ye had died right in the auditorium.

Somehow he felt that certain fates might be unchangeable.

So it was very possible that Jiang Ye was destined to die here…

As for He Yuliang’s previous life, his relationship with that dead person hadn’t been close.

What’s more, he had used the Reroll Life skill only under Jiang Ye’s orders.

So the so-called “good brothers” were nothing more than an empty joke.

He Yuliang didn’t plan to worry about Jiang Ye’s fate.

As for Du Yuheng…

His thoughts were different from everyone else present.

Having experienced reincarnation dreams, he understood better than anyone how unusual Jiang Ye was.

So he didn’t believe Jiang Ye would die, even if he violated school rules.

Even if Jiang Ye had died in the auditorium in He Yuliang’s previous life,

Du Yuheng was certain there was something fishy about that “death”!

And those oddities were not something he could meddle in.

So he chose to leave as well.

Thus, among the bosses gathered in the central area, only Li Ku stayed to guard Jiang Ye;everyone else left quickly.

From the auditorium to their dormitory building, it was about a ten-minute walk.

But that distance was nothing to these big shots.

Even the five newbies who had latched onto the big shots rode that influence and hurried back to the dorm building.

As for Li Ku…

He kept checking the prison watch on his wrist, counting the seconds like each one mattered, his mood growing heavier.

As time passed, Jiang Ye showed no sign of waking.

Li Ku’s inner struggle was this—

If Jiang Ye still wasn’t awake by 25:59…

Should he forcefully take Jiang Ye away, or let him remain in the auditorium?

Let him stay in the auditorium…

But if he died suddenly for violating school rules, what would happen to his Exile City quota?

Yet Li Ku had a vague feeling that, given Jiang Ye’s personality, being forcibly awakened might actually make him angry.

Of course, both choices had pros and cons for Li Ku.

If he truly ignored Jiang Ye and left the auditorium alone, letting Jiang Ye fend for himself,

then maybe tomorrow morning he could be the first to arrive at the auditorium and salvage the black scale Jiang Ye might drop.

After all, in He Yuliang’s previous life, Jiang Ye had died and dropped a black scale.

Li Ku had obtained an Exile City quota thanks to that black scale.

So even if Jiang Ye died now, Li Ku could still use the black scale to obtain the Exile City slot.

But…

If Jiang Ye really died like that, the experiment to introduce robots would likely be impossible to carry out.

They might never obtain the dark energy in the auditorium reliefs.

Then even if Li Ku went to the Exile City, he would have to start from the very bottom…

He would face a long, arduous, twisted road.

So…

What should he choose?

Whether Jiang Ye lived or died—that was the question.

While Li Ku agonized over all this,

and as time edged ever closer to zero o’clock,

he suddenly sensed something in the void.

It felt as if something…

had peeked at him through distant time and space?

Peeked? Or something else? He couldn’t describe that strange feeling.

Just as he stood there stunned, Li Ku suddenly received a private friend message from Lin Dong:

“Go back to the dorm.”

“The Boss says, don’t worry about him.”

Those two brief messages made Li Ku decide.

At the same time, they stirred up a storm inside him!

The Boss says don’t worry about him…

On the surface it sounded like the Boss had decided to let Jiang Ye die.

But in essence, this was precisely the Boss taking care of the matter!

If the Boss truly didn’t care, there would be no need for Lin Dong to pass on a message.

Besides, this was the Dreamland period—private friend messages couldn’t normally be sent then.

That meant Lin Dong had specifically woken up from Dreamland to send this message!

And his waking up like that, and his sending that particular message…

were clearly orchestrated by the Boss!

That was the Boss managing things!

For a while, countless thoughts swirled through Li Ku’s mind, his breathing slightly heavier for a moment, his eyes toward Jiang Ye clouded and complicated.

But he didn’t have much time left.

So he only sent Lin Dong a simple reply, then hurriedly left the auditorium.

He almost sprinted back to the dorm building as if life depended on it.

He didn’t return to his usual room, just picked a random one, lay on the bed, and entered Dreamland.

He entered Dreamland with only a few seconds to spare before zero o’clock.

He didn’t even get to meet the Boss, and formally entered the school’s arranged Dreamland.

In the silent auditorium…

As time finally reached zero o’clock,

the lights that had always been bright in the auditorium suddenly went out.

The whole quiet auditorium sank into gloom.

Only the two black relief fish showed scattered points of light, faintly flickering in the deep dark.

And Jiang Ye, still lying in the center seat of the auditorium…

seemed to have completely vanished into the darkness, his life uncertain.

The night passed quickly.

At 5:30 the next morning, the school’s wake-up bell rang on time.

Still thirty seconds early, ringing across the whole campus.

Students who had slept in Dreamland for more than five hours were forcibly awakened on schedule.

They had only one hour for breakfast.

Those with dull expressions skipped dressing and washing, and went straight to the cafeteria.

The big shots who had experienced the oddity in the auditorium center last night quickly gathered and headed back to the auditorium.

Du Yuheng and He Yuliang, having received no message from Lin Dong, went to find Li Ku.

When they didn’t see Jiang Ye beside Li Ku, He Yuliang’s expression turned complicated and he was about to speak.

Li Ku, as if he’d guessed what was on his mind, said bluntly, “It’s what the Boss wants.”

He added, “It was President Lin who sent me the message.”

As he spoke, a trace of hesitation crossed Li Ku’s eyes, and he turned to Lin Dong to confirm, “Are you sure your message conveyed the Boss’s intent and isn’t just you acting on your own to deceive me?”

At these words, the usually innocent-looking Lin Dong glared at him, his tone a little unfriendly:

“What joke is that? I might lie sometimes, but I would never lie using the Boss’s name.”

He Yuliang thought to himself, this much actually matched the Nomadic Merchant in his later life.

No one dared to use the Nomadic Merchant’s name to swindle people…

Just as he thought this, Li Ku confirmed again, “The Boss specifically told you to send me that message?”

Lin Dong’s expression was also complex as he nodded, “Yes.”

“Also, regarding the robot-introduction plan, the Boss agreed and told me to handle it myself.”

When these words came out, the big shots present looked a little strange.

Leaving Jiang Ye alone overnight in the auditorium…

Most likely, Jiang Ye shouldn’t survive.

And without Jiang Ye’s methods, how could they make the auditorium reliefs absorb the mechanical eyeballs?

Introducing robots without a way to deal with robots… wouldn’t that be like inviting a tiger into the house?

Or…

Each among the big shots had their own doubts.

Li Ku said directly, “Let’s go to the auditorium and check first.”

He had actually planned to sneak to the auditorium alone in the morning.

That way, if Jiang Ye was dead, he could be the one to loot the body.

But the random room he’d chosen last night happened to be where He Yuliang and Du Yuheng stayed.

With Lin Dong and the others arriving so quickly, he had no time to act alone.

However…

Li Ku had a feeling deep down—

Perhaps Jiang Ye, who’d stayed in the auditorium all night, wasn’t necessarily dead.

Sure enough, when the group of big shots arrived back at the auditorium in a grand procession…

The auditorium was as bright as it had been when they left last night.

And Jiang Ye was still lying quietly in the center seat…

He wasn’t awake!

But he wasn’t dead either.

It was as if the whole school rules had simply forgotten him!

The big shots stared at Jiang Ye, who’d slept all night without consequence, astonished and dumbfounded.

The roughest of them, Zhang E, couldn’t help but complain:

“What the—? This kid… did he never wake up from the ideological reform movie, or did he go straight into Dreamland here?”

“Two bells couldn’t wake him up. He—could it be that he’ll never wake up??”

The five newbies who’d previously clung to the big shots couldn’t help interjecting, “With him like this, could we wake him like we woke Du Yuheng?”

Du Yuheng, who’d been cued, remained completely silent.

Lin Dong glanced at the newbies and emphasized, “The Boss already said, don’t worry about him.”

“That means, nobody is allowed to wake him up!”

The newbies shrank back, cowed by Lin Dong’s stare, and didn’t dare make a sound.

He Yuliang mumbled, “But if he keeps not waking, won’t that cause trouble?”

“And…” he asked Lin Dong, “Will the robot introduction plan still go ahead?”

“Of course,” Lin Dong answered decisively.

If the Boss allowed it, it must proceed!

Lin Dong’s rise to Student Council President didn’t rely on strength or background.

It was because he spent all his effort trying to gauge the Boss’s mind and loyally serve him.

Mysterious and unfathomable, the Boss was laissez-faire with those under his protection.

It seemed like the Boss cared about new recruits, but actually the Boss mostly didn’t care.

Lin Dong felt that many of his reports and requests were not taken to heart by the Boss.

But last night was different.

On the robot-introduction proposal…

the Boss had said it was workable and told him to handle it.

Lin Dong knew clearly the Boss had actually cared about this matter!

So…

Regardless of what consequences introducing robots would bring, he had to do it!

This was the fattest golden thigh in the entire Land of Exile—he had to hold on tight!

Lin Dong’s youthful, innocent face showed no visible expression.

But the look he passed to Zhang E, Wu Zhu and the others concealed a chilling coldness.

Zhang E confirmed, “With the Boss’s permission, that means we can…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but the implication was clear.

Lin Dong directly answered, “Yes, we can.”

“Those soulless hollow people can disappear.”

At that declaration, the five inexperienced newbies, who had never seen the world, showed a flash of terrified shock.

He Yuliang’s expression was complex, but he remained emotionally restrained.

After all, in his previous life he had witnessed many living players fall…

Only in his previous life, Li Ku had orchestrated all this.

This life, Lin Dong was pushing it all ahead.

Thinking of those hollow people without souls or thoughts…

He Yuliang felt for a moment that perhaps death was a relief for them.

Otherwise, what meaning is life without thought?

Didn’t the philosophers say people are thinking reeds?

Those without thought might be no different from soulless machines.

He Yuliang did not pity them;instead, he constantly warned himself not to become like them.

His only current worry was his own confusion state.

He feared that in others’ eyes his confusion state might appear like the hollow, thoughtless people.

But then He Yuliang tried to think from another angle—

Might those who appeared thoughtless to them actually be in a special state where they could be reborn?

Maybe they could be saved?

He pushed the thought aside.

Even if they could be saved, who would save them?

In this world, there was no need for saints.

While mulling this over, He Yuliang suddenly noticed—

Since entering the auditorium, Du Yuheng had been silent, perhaps lost in thought.

The Student Council big shots were deciding to go on a breakfast rampage.

He Yuliang and the five newbies, lacking strength, chose to remain in the auditorium.

Du Yuheng, who did have some strength, said, “I’ll stay in the auditorium too, in case some hollow people hide here.”

When he said that, Lin Dong nodded in agreement.

So Lin Dong and the other big shots left.

The auditorium was left with only the eight comrades originally organized by Jiang Ye’s “small meeting.”

He Yuliang then found an opportunity to ask Du Yuheng, “You’ve been silent since entering the auditorium. What were you thinking about?”

“Do you know some inside information?”

Du Yuheng was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked He Yuliang in return:

“Did you and Jiang Ye secretly call the Boss ‘Nomadic Merchant’?”

He Yuliang was startled by that question.

No—actually, he was doubly startled.

The first shock was—

“You said who? Jiang Ye? You’re saying it was Jiang Ye??”