Chapter 329: Chapter 206: Direct Provocation? (Two-in-one, 2/5)_2 "So, we can confirm they’re deliberately provoking us to lure us into action. Should we just ignore them?" "But what I wonder is why the Academy Alliance is so insistent on using a two-star Skeleton Mage to bait us? He’s not that alluring." "China loves to use these types of tactics that blend truth and falsehood, trying to act mysterious. They’re probably just trying to make us think this kid is unusual, forcing us to take action against him." "Let it go. We don’t have the energy to focus on him right now. The Academy Alliance is still ordering a global search for those two people, which shows that they haven’t found them themselves. This guy is even less likely to be one of them. We don’t need to bother with such bait." "But for a two-star professional, cooperating with a three-star professional, to pass a trial jointly formed by over a hundred Level 20, first-transition Golden BOSSes... I feel something is off." "I heard that this instance is filled with goblins. If he had special items and equipment specifically targeting goblins, it wouldn’t be impossible." "That’s indeed true." They were right, but unfortunately for them, in the later stages of this challenge instance, the goblins possessed many enhanced traits. Their strategy of racial suppression wouldn’t work at all. SSS-level titles aren’t so easy to earn. After ending the call, Rangu’s eyes flashed as he asked the people around him, "After you investigated that two-star Skeleton Mage kid and found nothing unusual, did you continue to investigate his surroundings as you did before?" Though he suspected the kid was just bait, Rangu decided to investigate further out of caution. "Yes, my lord. We discovered that he recently came into a significant amount of money from an unknown source." "A significant amount of money? Didn’t he win over a billion in the academic contest?" "No, it wasn’t just over a billion; it was several billion. His parents went missing when he was young, and he was adopted by a couple named Liu Yuanzong and Qiu Yuehong. However, their daughter, Liu Yiyi, was solely responsible for raising this boy, Chen Mo. Recently, Liu Yuanzong contracted a strange illness, and the treatment costs were high. Before this kid participated in the academic contest, even before he received the prize money of over a billion, he suddenly produced tens of millions to pay the medical fees." "Oh?" "However, after many inquiries, his homeroom teacher seemed to recall that the kid found a backpack left by his parents, from which he retrieved many of their belongings, which is how he obtained so much money." "What was the strength of his parents?" "Second-transition." "It’s not particularly strange for belongings left by second-transition professionals to yield tens of millions." Rangu felt that, so far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "That part isn’t a big deal. Although it’s just one side of the story, it does make sense. The strange things happened later." "What things?" "After the academic contest ended, a Pharmacist appeared at the hospital where Liu Yuanzong was being treated, selling the Ten-Thousand Spirit Medicine’s prescription. This kid, Chen Mo, bid 3.5 billion and bought it. This is very strange! Although by this time he had received the 1.1 billion reward from the Academy Alliance, plus the 100 million reward from the Seaside Second Middle School’s Principal, and even if his parents left some inheritance, how much could a backpack not carried on one’s person be worth? Producing tens of millions is understandable, but taking out two or three billion is clearly impossible, right?" "That point is indeed suspicious." Rangu nodded. "That’s not even the most suspicious part. Just yesterday, he actually paid a 2 billion deposit to purchase a residence near the Global Academy Alliance. This was after he had already spent 3.5 billion on the prescription, and then he conjured another 2 billion out of thin air. We haven’t even been able to determine where his money came from." "Could it be that the Academy Alliance gave him all this money to put on this show? All his major expenditures occurred after the academic contest. Before the contest, he could only scrape together tens of millions at most, isn’t that right?" someone beside him immediately analyzed. Looking at the changes in Chen Mo’s displayed wealth, the timeline indeed seemed to fit. If Chen Mo truly had so much money before, it should have been evident before the academic contest. Yet, before the contest, he showed no signs of being wealthy. "Could it be precisely because he broke historical records in the academic contest and set a new highest record that he became valuable enough for the Academy Alliance to use? Perhaps they gave him tens of billions, allowing him to continuously reveal suspicious points to lure us into a trap?" someone nearby immediately suggested. "But he’s just a two-star Skeleton Mage. Even if we’re suspicious of him, at most, we’d send a second-transition professional to test him as a precaution. Would they go to such lengths just to trap one of our second-transition professionals? The higher-ups at the Earth Academy Alliance must have too much time on their hands." "Well, that’s not necessarily true. If the Academy Alliance intends to use him as bait, they surely wouldn’t make it easy for a second-transition to discover the truth. He must have covert protection. Sending just a second-transition would likely result in them being annihilated before finding anything, thus compelling us to dispatch more and stronger personnel to investigate." "Based on a few inexplicable suspicions, they expect to lure our experts out into the open? They must be dreaming!" "But they’ve succeeded. These few inexplicable suspicions are precisely what have us stumped now. We can’t just ignore it." Hearing the discussions around him, Rangu couldn’t help but sink into thought as well. This move by the Academy Alliance was very direct. They were practically telling them, ’There’s something suspicious about this person. And since we’ve allowed him to appear so problematic, we’ll definitely have him secretly protected. It’s your call whether you want to test us.’ If we don’t test it, it’ll always weigh on our minds, like an unresolved issue. But if we do, the cost will be significant. This was the moment for him, as the commander-in-chief, to make a decision. Currently, they had not yet connected Chen Mo with the zeroth-transition professional who had been rampaging in the event venue. This was because Chen Mo was a Skeleton Mage, a summoning-type profession. News regarding the deceased genius from their Yongming Star System had already reached Rangu. Rangu at least knew that if this person from Earth was a Summoner, he would actually be at a significant disadvantage against their star system’s prodigy, Yun Zhi. Based on this, Chen Mo was effectively ruled out as that particular zeroth-transition professional. At this moment, Rangu was focused on him solely because he was very strange. Strange enough to warrant a thorough investigation. But now, the other party was being so brazenly conspicuous, it was as if they were openly daring them to send people for a thorough investigation. After some thought, Rangu decided to hold off on taking direct action for now. Unless the other party can reveal something truly significant openly. If he truly possesses the capabilities his confidence suggests, they can’t stay hidden forever. Right now, it’s all just speculation and hearsay. They expect me to deploy a large number of experts based on this? Not a chance. Weighing the pros and cons, Rangu decided to temporarily refrain from acting. But this did not mean abandoning the investigation. "Allocate some manpower. This kid will be a key target for future investigation. I’m curious to see just how long he can keep up this strangeness." "Sir, isn’t it possible the Academy Alliance simply wants us to divert manpower to this, thereby reducing the intensity of our main search?" "That’s unlikely. We have a clear target right here, and we don’t need many people to monitor him. Would such a minor diversion of resources truly have a significant impact?" "Perhaps for them, even reducing the chance of us finding those two before they do by 1% is a win." "Perhaps. If that’s their sole objective, then so be it! After all, one can never be too careful. This kid is strange, and he still needs to be investigated, just in case." "Your foresight is always so comprehensive, Sir. I’ll get right on it." 「At this moment, in the Academy Alliance, everyone was already stunned by Chen Mo’s provocative words against the Aliens.」 The Examination Committee even specifically dispatched personnel to stand guard nearby. They were afraid the Aliens wouldn’t be able to resist the provocation and would start killing. After all, everyone had previously witnessed the cruelty and madness of the Aliens. Who knew what these Aliens were thinking? Their three Life Planets had far more people than Earth. They could afford to trade several of their lives for one of ours without feeling the loss.