"Oh, right! This commander."
Ben came to the female commander's side, cupped his hands, and asked, "May I ask how to address you?"
"This subordinate is Emima!" the female commander quickly said.
Subordinate — in ancient times, it was generally how people of lower status addressed their superiors.
Emima calling herself 'subordinate' in front of Ben completely treated herself as a lower-ranking person, showing respect.
Ben's punch had really changed many things.
"Commander Emima."
Ben politely called out, then said, "Let's set off!"
Emima noticed Ben wasn't riding a horse and asked in confusion, "Aren't you riding a horse?"
Ben waved his hand: "I don't need to ride a horse… You lead the way, I'll keep up."
Actually, he couldn't ride a horse!
But with his current speed, keeping up with a galloping horse was easy.
Hearing this, Emima didn't ask further and immediately urged her horse forward, heading into the dark distance.
Ben then strode forward, easily keeping pace.
…
Watching them leave, the other transcendents on the city wall suddenly panicked.
"What are they doing?"
"Does this even need to be asked? They're letting the natives lead the way — they must be going to hunt monsters."
"Damn? I just remembered — those monsters were so scared by that guy they didn't dare to come near..."
"Then what do we do?"
"What else? If we want a high mission rating, we have to follow!"
Thus, a large number of transcendents jumped from the wall and ran toward the dark horizon.
Only those who had chosen to lie low remained still.
In Area 17, Joe Root and the others didn't move.
They kept in mind the task Ben had given them — surrounding Leo and secretly guarding against threats.
Seeing the solemn looks around, Leo calmly said, "No need to be nervous. You've seen it yourselves — we get SSS-level mission ratings every time, all thanks to Ben. Among us, the truly important one is Ben! I'm just a decoy standing in front to attract attention. As long as others aren't fools, they won't pick a fight with me now."
Everyone thought this made sense.
However, they still didn't dare to relax.
What if there really were fools?
Just then, a commotion rose from the city wall.
Everyone looked over and saw that the female general, Emima, had come to Area 17 with her subordinates.
She came bearing gifts — after exchanging pleasantries with Joe Root and the others, she ordered her people to deliver food and warm clothing.
The northern wall was bitterly cold at night.
Though Leo and the others were transcendents and not very afraid of the cold, the clothes made things much more comfortable.
Thus, Joe Root and his group were soon basking in what felt like a vacation.
They lit a bonfire on the wall, bundled up in cotton clothes, and grilled food, making others envious.
Unfortunately, this kind of treatment was exclusive to Leo's group — Emima had done this to curry favor with Ben, lest he return and blame her if his teammates had suffered in his absence.
…
Now, Joe Root and the others sat around the fire, chatting while warming themselves.
"This mission… is really too comfortable."
"Yeah! They say the Spirit Realm is life and death, but right now, this feels like a holiday."
"We owe it all to Brother Ben! Without him and Leo leading the team, we'd be in deep trouble."
Thinking of the huge monster earlier, everyone nodded.
Without Ben turning the tide, that creature would've been unstoppable.
"It's awesome coming to the Spirit Realm with Brother Ben!" Brevis exclaimed.
As soon as he spoke, a sudden explosion in the distance illuminated the sky.
A massive roar followed.
Yet no one panicked.
They all knew — Ben was showing his might at the monster's lair!
Everything stayed calm on their side.
No one dared to cause trouble — even if Ben wasn't there, Leo, being the strongest among the new students and a Natural system Devil Fruit user, had powerful wide-range attacks.
Killing Leo would require a human wave tactic.
Even if they succeeded, once Ben returned, he'd slaughter everyone involved in revenge.
Ben had that kind of strength.
…
Time passed quickly.
It was already late into the night.
Everyone assumed Ben wouldn't return until dawn.
Unexpectedly, at just one or two in the morning, he came back — safe, with Commander Emima in tow.
"Brother Ben! You've worked hard."
"Come sit here, Brother Ben."
"First, have some hot soup to warm up."
As Ben arrived at the wall, everyone stood and greeted him warmly.
Ben quickly waved his hand: "We're all classmates, no need for formalities!"
Then, seeing the feast laid out, he grinned.
"You guys are having a good time! Even got barbecue going?"
Joe Root chuckled, "All thanks to you. These supplies were sent by Emima — exclusive to us."
"Brother Ben, this food is saved just for you," Brevis added.
Ben nodded and, without ceremony, sat down and dug in.
After a night of monster hunting, he was starving.
Leo asked curiously, "After you left, a lot of new students followed. Didn't you run into them?"
"I did. They're still out looking for monsters," Ben said.
The team noticed his choice of words — "looking."
It suggested that monsters were now scarce.
Leo's eyes narrowed. "You didn't kill all the monsters, did you?"
"Not quite," Ben said. "But those monsters are too timid now — hiding deep in the Abyss. I heard it leads to another world. I thought about going in but decided against it."
"Good call. We just need to complete the mission," Leo agreed.
"Yeah."
Ben nodded, accepting a skewer of grilled meat from Hales and chomping down hungrily.
Hales asked, "Brother Ben, how many monsters did you kill just now?"
Ben thought for a moment. "I lost count… must be hundreds of thousands."
Everyone gasped.
Hundreds of thousands — that was insane!
But it was real, and they were the ones benefitting.
This was going to be another SSS-level mission rating, no doubt.
Wang Duminy couldn't help but exclaim, "Brother Ben, you're incredible!"
The others nodded enthusiastically.
Ben just shook his head.
Truthfully, if he wasn't worried about standing out too much, he could've stormed the Abyss and raised the monster count to tens of millions.
But that would cause a worldwide sensation — even fools would realize that Leo's Flame-Flame Fruit couldn't possibly kill so many.
He'd risk being exposed.
Too much was as bad as too little.
Just then, Alwin pointed out, "Brother Ben, that General is approaching…"
Everyone stood and looked.
The female General had heard of Ben's return and was leading her subordinates over.
Emima, the previous female commander, followed behind.
Soon, the General stood before Ben.
"On behalf of all soldiers, I thank you for your bravery in defeating the Abyss threat!"
She gave a deep salute.
Ben quickly helped her up. "No need to be so polite!"
After exchanging pleasantries, the General invited Ben and his group to rest at the military camp.
The monsters were too afraid to return, and even if they did, city wall guards would spot them early.
Ben gladly accepted — the chilly wind on the wall was indeed uncomfortable.
…
As dawn approached, Joe Root and the others spotted the returning students who had chased monsters into the Abyss earlier.
Their faces were gloomy — clearly dissatisfied with their harvest.
Especially Conrad, whose face was black as coal.
Joe Root smirked at the sight.
He almost taunted Conrad, asking if he managed to outdo Chicago University this time.
But he restrained himself — too childish.
A little later, as dawn's golden rays spread across the land, a system prompt appeared in every transcendent's left eye:
[Attention: This Spirit Realm has ended and will teleport you out in 30 seconds…]
[29, 28, 27…]
Seeing the countdown, Ben remembered he still had a Transcendent Treasure Chest from the fifth level.
He quickly retrieved and opened it.
In the blink of 30 seconds, everyone vanished from the scene.
…
Back on Blue Star, at Sanford University's playground, students returned one by one.
The teachers and leaders counted heads, satisfied to see most had come back.
Only one team failed to return, but that was acceptable — the sixth level usually had a high loss rate.
Importantly, Conrad's team had all returned safely.
This indicated things must have gone smoothly.
"Conrad!"
A teacher approached him. "Feeling okay? Any injuries?"
"No!" Conrad replied proudly. "I feel great."
His memories were wiped, but the Endurance Rune gave him confidence.
Even if he didn't surpass Leo this time, he believed his result wouldn't be far behind.
"Next, we tally scores," a leader announced.
"Students with mission rewards, report to your teachers!"
Many raised their hands.
Teachers stepped forward to count.
The first team killed 339 monsters, earning an A-level mission rating — solid work for Sanford University.
Other teams landed in the A and B tiers.
Plenty of monsters in this sixth level, it seemed.
Just surviving and returning almost guaranteed a decent rating.
The teachers were pleased.
All eyes now turned to Conrad.
If regular students could get A-levels, Conrad — backed by a special Endurance Rune — should surely score at least an S-level, maybe even SS or perfect, outshining Leo from Chicago University.
As anticipation built, Conrad's face suddenly darkened.
So did those of his nine teammates — murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"How can this be?"
"Impossible… this must be wrong!"
"The Spirit Realm glitched! How could our score be so low?"
The leaders stiffened.
Conrad's class teacher stepped forward. "What's going on? Is it your score?"
Still stunned, Conrad stayed silent.
One teammate finally raised his hand, showing the teacher his data.
The teacher read it — and his face twisted in shock.
The leaders barked, "Teacher Wu, read it out loud!"
After hesitating, the teacher announced:
"Conrad, Stubbs, Narine…
Number of monsters killed: 193.
Comprehensive score: B-level.
Ranking: not in the top 100.
Reward: 97 spirit energy points."
A stunned silence fell over the playground.
Everyone gawked in disbelief.
Sanford University's president had personally sponsored Conrad with a rare Endurance Rune, betting on him to crush Leo's record.
Yet here he was — with a B-level result, worse than average students.
Conrad's worst previous score had still been an A-level.
In earlier Spirit Realms, he'd scored S-level three times.
Why, with extra help this time, did he fall behind?
No one could understand it.
Conrad, now fully aware, saw the gazes around him and wished he could sink into the ground in shame…
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