Volume Two: The Youth of a Thousand Faces, Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Penny Can Stumble Even a Hero

Why did Zhang Haiqing invite Huo Ye to participate in the campus hover bike race? For profit.

Zhang Haiqing was Bancroft’s most successful businessman—there was no rival to his status. Selling hover bikes was merely a minor cog in his vast industrial chain; he held no fewer than thirty major enterprises in Bancroft, among them, a casino.

With gambling now legalized, so long as it wasn’t used for laundering dirty money, nobody bothered to clean out the casinos. Every month, for the campus hover bike race, the casinos—led by Zhang Haiqing’s SkySea Casino—opened betting pools for the event. Huo Ye had been making waves lately, and his ghostly, nimble racing skills during his showdown outside the city had left a lasting impression; even an A-class Catastrophe couldn’t touch the hem of his jacket. Such mastery was rare.

If Huo Ye participated in this race, the betting pools would surely see unprecedented turnover.

Huo Ye set the date for the next weekend, giving himself a full two weeks to modify and familiarize himself with his new vehicle.

After a few practice laps, Huo Ye had a rough grasp of the track layout and the turns. He headed to the third-floor lounge, found a beverage shop, and planned to relax with a drink.

It was three in the morning. Since waking, Huo Ye had barely rested. Tired, he sank into a seat, closed his eyes, and tilted his head skyward, letting out a soft moan.

“Hello, what would you like?” The server’s voice reached him.

“Golden Eyebrow tea,” Huo Ye answered reflexively. A man of pure Chinese heritage in both mind and taste, Huo Ye could drink coffee, but preferred tea—especially Golden Eyebrow black tea.

“Coming right up,” replied the server.

Huo Ye suddenly realized—he recognized this voice. He looked up. It was Lu Dingyuan.

“Oh, it’s you.” Huo Ye greeted him, though discomfort stirred within. Honestly, he still couldn’t fathom why Lu Dingyuan had thrown that punch in the final round—what purpose could such a disruption serve? It defied logic!

In truth, Lu Dingyuan was an archetypal innocent; motives barely concerned him. If he had any motive, it was simply—joy.

Lu Dingyuan fought like a child sketching—colorful, freewheeling, unpredictable. You never knew where the next stroke would land, whether it would be a mess or a stroke of genius.

One thing was clear: Lu Dingyuan’s ability level was among the academy’s best.

Xiao Liu put down the order tablet and, recognizing Huo Ye, greeted him, “Hey, aren’t you the guy with the long legs?”

Long legs? Couldn’t you phrase that more normally? Since arriving at Bancroft, Huo Ye felt he’d discovered two nemeses: one was the infuriating Ke Zhen, the other, the oddly logical innocent Lu Dingyuan. His eloquence had never failed him—until he met these two. Were they sent by heaven just to vex him?

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Huo Ye sized up Xiao Liu and asked, “You work here as a server?”

“Yes. My family is poor; they can’t afford my tuition, so I have to support myself.” Xiao Liu replied naturally, with no sense of shame or pressure.

At Bancroft, over eighty percent of the students came from wealthy families. This wasn’t internal corruption; it was a time-honored rule: the poor study literature, the rich study martial arts. Without resources and medicine to temper the body, becoming a powerful ability user was extremely difficult. Children of poor families had to work ten or twenty times harder to reach the same heights as their affluent peers.

Huo Ye admired Xiao Liu’s self-reliance, and even considered inviting him to his club. But, remembering Xiao Liu’s penchant for unpredictable antics at crucial moments, he thought better of it.

Finishing his tea, Huo Ye checked the time and prepared to return home to cook breakfast for the two girls.

That morning, he made plain porridge and scrambled eggs. A light breakfast brought fresh energy to the three, and after eating, they headed out for classes.

Ke Zhen’s classroom was at 27 Donghe Road, in an indoor parking lot. The moment Alice and Relimi arrived, their spirits sank. Other students trained in high-tech arenas, with sophisticated combat simulations—why here?

Was spaciousness its only merit? No, there was a better word: emptiness!

There was no equipment. How could classes be held here? Just talk? Bancroft was an academy for ability users; cultural studies ended in high school!

Huo Ye watched their expressions with calm amusement, as if to say, “You’ll get used to it. You’re still too young.”

Ke Zhen finally emerged from the depths of the parking lot, dragging three thick ropes, each attached to a VRF sleep pod.

The trio suddenly understood—so they’d be training inside VRF? Then what use was Ke Zhen as a teacher?

Huo Ye took out his twin Ghost-Slaying Blades, drew one, and pointed it at Ke Zhen. “I think I deserve a reasonable explanation.”

Ke Zhen gazed at the sky, stroking his beard in melancholy, and spoke slowly, “It’s a long story. Back when I was Bancroft’s chief instructor, I trained countless talents, was in high demand. Powerful families begged me to take their heirs, but I ignored them. Who would have thought, ten years later, Bancroft treats me as nothing…”

“Speak plainly!” (All)

The three spoke in unison. Why reminisce about the past now? You’ve gone on forever without getting to the point—even web novelists aren’t this verbose!

Ke Zhen’s face didn’t change as he conceded, “They say I haven’t taught in ten years. When I suddenly returned, they used the lack of budget as an excuse and refused to allocate funds. I couldn’t afford training equipment.”

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Huo Ye felt his trigeminal nerve ache. He wanted to hit Ke Zhen, but the reasoning was unassailable. Without academy funding, Ke Zhen truly couldn’t buy the expensive equipment. Perhaps even these three sleep pods were bought with his own money.

Suddenly inspired, Huo Ye approached Ke Zhen. “Let’s talk privately.”

They moved to a corner. Ke Zhen asked, “What is it?”

Huo Ye said, “While we have no choice and can make do with VRF for now, it’s not a long-term solution. We need to find a way to earn money.”

“Of course we need money, but I don’t know any quick ways. Most ways to get rich fast are written in criminal law—get caught and you’re sentenced.”

“I’m not asking you to break the law. I do know a way to make quick cash. Are you familiar with Bancroft’s casinos?” Huo Ye asked.

“I am, but I’m no gambler, and don’t know gambling techniques. Do you?” Ke Zhen replied. He mentioned this because Genos, vice captain of the Reaper Hunt Squad, was actually a gambling master.

‘Master’ wasn’t quite accurate. There’s an old saying: ‘Veterans fear experts, experts fear cheats.’ The cheats are the true masters.

Genos was a renowned cheat—yet never caught. Until Eddie recruited him into the Reaper Hunt Squad, making him a legend in the gambling world.

Huo Ye said, “I do know a bit about gambling, but that’s not my point. I heard Bancroft holds a hover bike race every month. I plan to win some prize money, maybe a few points. But I also heard the casinos open multiple types of betting pools—not just win or lose, but all sorts of data-based bets, like guessing football scores. I think we can work this to our advantage.”

Ke Zhen thought for a moment. “You mean you join the race, control your performance to manipulate the data, and I make money by betting? That’s doable—but there’s one last issue.”

Huo Ye asked, “What’s that?”

“To make big money, you need big bets. I have no capital.”

Huo Ye was speechless for a moment, then said, “I’ll provide the funds. If we win, the profit goes to buying equipment. If we lose, it’s on me.”

“Excellent! It’s settled then!”