Good holidays always pass quickly, let alone these short everyday breaks that aren't even holidays.
Before Hachiman Hikigaya and the others could even react, they were already back at school.
The daily academic pressure was practically non-existent for Qianshu Lian now; after all, the strengthening of his physique also reinforced his brain.
The academic pressure from his original world had already molded him into a good student who could immediately immerse himself in studying during designated study periods.
Although Soubu High School was a private school and relatively strict in this regard, it still couldn't compare to how things used to be.
After all, a private school also meant that many wealthy individuals attended it; to be precise, the vast majority were middle-class and above.
Naturally, it was impossible to manage everyone with uniform strictness. What if they offended some low-key but influential individuals?
So, the school could only be said to have a lot of room for retreat, ensuring they would never find themselves in a stalemate with either party, allowing everyone a friendly way out.
Besides making money, private schools also needed to cultivate students' networking skills. If they offended the students' parents in this regard, it would be more loss than gain.
Yukino Yukinoshita, sitting next to Qianshu Lian, covertly glanced at Qianshu Lian with a hint of curiosity. Qianshu Lian hadn't mentioned the reward he received that night at all.
Previously, Qianshu Lian had at least mentioned that the previous reward allowed him to step into the mysterious world, but he showed no intention of mentioning that night's reward.
Qianshu Lian, on the other hand, gazed out the window, watching silently.
At this moment, in a quiet place, many people in black robes were gathered around an altar, softly chanting an incomprehensible song.
Unbeknownst to them, in the shadows, countless Black Shadow Troops soldiers were silently waiting, and behind the Black Shadow Troops, a group of tall, burly individuals were also observing them in silence.
The chanting of the people around the altar suddenly stopped, and a tall figure leaped out, shouting loudly at the surroundings.
"Nameless heretics are infiltrating the godless territory! My loyal kin, drive them all out!"
Upon hearing this, the people in black robes all drew their weapons and began searching everywhere for potential enemies.
At first, no matter how much they searched, they couldn't find any trace, until the altar suddenly emitted a faint blue light, followed by blue light appearing on all their weapons.
Then, several Black Shadow Troops soldiers in the shadows were forced to reveal themselves.
"So they were hiding in the shadows! No wonder we couldn't find anything. Light the torches and drive them all out!"
Someone yelled loudly, and others frantically lit torches. At this moment, a light switch silently hung on a nearby wall.
No matter how much these guys lit torches, no one touched it.
They abandoned the simplest method. Wouldn't turning on the lights be better at this point?
The revealed Black Shadow Troops soldiers pulled out their weapons and began to retaliate. Several kunai shot out, striking a few unfortunate individuals who, with a scream, instantly transformed from human bodies into struggling small fish, falling to the ground.
That's right, although they were all referred to as merfolk, many of them were actually just fish, not the pure mermaids with human upper bodies and fish tails as imagined.
Even a few Black Shadow Troops soldiers couldn't help but fall silent, staring at these small fish. The others also stopped in their tracks, involuntarily looking at those salted fish.
"I remember we're saltwater fish, aren't we? Why did these guys turn into freshwater fish?"
One merman asked in confusion, and another merman beside him immediately replied,
"At this point, why are you still bothering with saltwater fish and freshwater fish? Is there any difference? Aren't we all merfolk?"
"No, no, no, this is very important, just like whether tofu pudding should be sweet or savory, freshwater fish and saltwater fish are completely different!"
Some merfolk insisted stubbornly.
Another merman immediately retorted, "Are you looking down on us freshwater fish? Although in many cases we can't compare to some strange saltwater fish, we're not necessarily much worse than you."
With that, a group of freshwater merfolk and saltwater merfolk began to argue, and the original atmosphere of shared animosity instantly vanished.
The leading merman also looked at the bickering crowd below, utterly perplexed. "I remember when we handed out flyers, I think we forgot to print whether it was a freshwater merman or saltwater merman gathering?"
"That's right, boss, but at the time, we just thought we'd finish the meeting, everyone would be normal and united, get something from the Water God, and then everyone would go home to their mothers."
"We didn't think we'd be exposed~" The subordinate also responded somewhat awkwardly.
The Water God's frequency of responding to these merfolk and their citizens was much higher than for humans, but the Water God valued the quality of citizens more. Of course, if you had a larger quantity, that could also work.
That's why everyone gathered together, no matter what, to first get more things from the Water God, and then everyone would split the profits accordingly.
It was much better than everyone being independent and getting nothing. Now that they were exposed, the atmosphere they wanted to maintain could no longer be sustained.
Fortunately, the large number of Black Shadow Troops soldiers, who were originally on high alert, saw this situation and knew that these guys probably weren't cut out for fighting. They immediately chose to disappear back into the shadows.
The hulking figures hidden in the Black Shadow Troops' shadows instantly lost all desire to attack. They had initially thought it was some cult stronghold, but it turned out to be just a group of merfolk who had teamed up to scam food and drinks.
After losing their external enemies, the merfolk could no longer suppress their internal conflicts. Many merfolk immediately took off their coats and clothes, revealing their strong bodies and tattoos.
Although many merfolk worked in various industries, many also belonged to gangs, as their physiques were generally more robust than ordinary humans.
While they could do manual labor like moving bricks, that would be too tiring. After all, they were merfolk, and prolonged exposure to the sun was too unfriendly for them.
But precisely because of this, they showed no fear when internal conflict erupted. The two major categories, representing freshwater fish and saltwater merfolk, clashed.
In an instant, countless merfolk were beaten back into their original fish forms.