Chapter 349: The Probe and Its Outcome

For the next ten-plus days, Jie Ming lived like a wound-up learning machine.

Ever since the suspicion took root—that the knowledge of this world might very well have originated from other fallen wizards—a never-before-seen mentality of “picking up an absolute bargain” began to grow wildly inside him.

Free access to another wizard’s core knowledge?

Any wizard who encountered such a chance would call it a once-in-a-millennium stroke of fortune, practically unrepeatable!

If his previous obsession with studying had still carried the instinctive thirst of a researcher for the unknown and a wizard’s reverence for knowledge, now an additional, almost bandit-like fervor had been added to the mix.

During this stretch, Jie Ming’s eyes snapped open each morning only for studying. He was either in the lecture hall listening, in the library digging through materials, or hooked to the academic databases through his personal terminal, frantically downloading, reading, and comprehending those profound theories and applied technologies.

His forget-food-and-sleep intensity not only drew sidelong glances from classmates and teachers, it even frightened the pair who were supposed to be his “parents” in this life.

They tried several times to persuade him to take care of his health and find some balance between work and rest.

Jie Ming would agree verbally, but his body honestly kept diving straight back into the ocean of knowledge.

Only on this rest day, more than ten days later, did he reluctantly lift his head from the sea of learning.

Today was the day of the “Clean Ocean” volunteer activity.

To put it plainly, the Clean Ocean event consisted of volunteers manually picking up trash along a designated stretch of coastline.

With this world’s level of technology, cheap automated robots could have finished the job far more efficiently.

Yet according to the community administrators, keeping the activity in its manual form was meant to “strengthen citizens’ environmental awareness” and “promote neighborly exchange within the community”—a classic case of form triumphing over function.

Jie Ming arrived at the designated beach meeting point, registered with the supervisor, received a biodegradable black garbage bag and a long-handled picker, and was assigned his section of sand.

His gaze swept casually across the already-dispersing volunteers and quickly locked onto the familiar figure.

Viola wore light sportswear and a wide-brimmed sun hat. Picker and garbage bag in hand, she bent gracefully now and then to collect the scattered litter, a flawless gentle smile on her face.

A small circle had naturally formed around her—men and women alike all eager to chat with her.

Jie Ming did not approach immediately.

Like any ordinary volunteer, he lowered his head and began earnestly cleaning his assigned area, patiently waiting for the right moment.

Halfway through the event, the organizers announced a fifteen-minute break.

Only then did the volunteers relax, gathering in twos and threes beneath the shaded canopy where drinks were provided.

Jie Ming slowed his pace without seeming to, adjusting his path so that he “happened” to run into Viola as she too headed toward the rest area.

“Senior Viola? What a coincidence.” Jie Ming put on a perfectly measured expression of mild fatigue mixed with pleasant surprise.

“It really is you, Jie Ming. Fancy meeting you here.” Viola smiled back, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment. “Looks like Amy wasn’t exaggerating. You’ve been studying so hard you look exhausted.”

“Yeah, my parents have been nagging me nonstop. They said if I didn’t get out of the house soon I’d start growing mushrooms. Forced me to come get some fresh air.”

Jie Ming gave a helpless shrug, then added with just the right amount of “surprise,” “I never imagined Senior would participate in something like this. And from the way everyone greets you, it seems you’re a regular?”

The smile on Viola’s face remained impeccable. “Mm, I do often take part in all sorts of volunteer activities. Contributing to society feels very meaningful.”

Anyone else hearing that would probably think her kind and socially responsible.

But Jie Ming, who knew her true nature all too well, deliberately let a very subtle expression cross his face. “I really couldn’t tell that Senior Viola was such a caring person.”

At those words, the curve of Viola’s smile deepened ever so slightly, and an almost imperceptible glint of amusement flashed through her beautiful eyes.

She lowered her voice until only the two of them could hear:

“Spirit of service? Maybe. Though… it seems you’ve already heard about me from Amy, haven’t you?”

“Truth be told, watching these volunteers toil under the blazing sun, backs aching, legs sore, forcing weary smiles onto their tired faces… that exquisite hint of ‘suffering’ is really quite delightful.”

A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out across Jie Ming’s back.

Recalling the cluster of men and women who had been hovering around her earlier, a realization struck him. “So the reason you were staying close to that group was to make sure they were working hard enough?”

Viola laughed lightly. “Hey, don’t make it sound so sinister. I was merely encouraging them to contribute diligently to the community.”

As expected!

Still the same old flavor.

Jie Ming forced a dry laugh, momentarily at a loss for words.

As expected of Senior, huh?

Even after an entirely new life, she could still find a way to stand on the moral high ground while savoring other people’s pain.

…Normal people would sooner crack their skulls than think of something like this.

At that moment, he keenly sensed a gaze carrying obvious hostility coming from his side-rear.

Without turning his head, he shifted slightly and caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye: a fairly young, rather handsome male volunteer glaring at him, brows furrowed.

Especially when he saw Jie Ming talking with Viola—the displeasure in those eyes was practically overflowing.

Jie Ming remembered him; he had been the most attentive of the bunch orbiting Viola earlier.

Jie Ming blinked, then feigned sudden realization and turned back to Viola. “Senior, that guy over there… is he your boyfriend who came with you? Though he looks different from the one I saw at the mall last time.”

Far from looking embarrassed, Viola seemed to find the topic entertaining. Her interest visibly piqued as she happily explained, “Oh, the previous one? Ancient history.”

“I did hear something from Amy, but I didn’t expect you to move on that fast…” Jie Ming’s eyelids twitched.

Viola glanced toward the young man in the distance and let out a wicked little laugh.

She deliberately leaned even closer to Jie Ming, close enough that her breath almost brushed his ear. “That previous one was a very talented artist—passionate, sensitive. At the exact moment he loved me most, I simply planted a tiny ‘misunderstanding’ and a bit of ‘coldness’ so he believed I’d fallen for someone else.”

“You should have seen his face—collapse, agony, disbelief… it was like a masterpiece! Absolutely exquisite!”

As she described the other’s torment, the light in her eyes was something Jie Ming knew all too well: pure, unadulterated appreciation and delight in suffering itself.

“And later, after I cleared up the misunderstanding, he gave me a brand-new flavor of pain…”

Listening to Viola’s gleeful chatter while feeling the almost tangible hostility boring into his back, Jie Ming finally put it together.

He unobtrusively shifted sideways and smiled bitterly at her. “Senior, the reason you’re willing to chat with me for so long… couldn’t be that you’re also enjoying the ‘jealousy’ and ‘unease’ your current boyfriend is tasting right now, could it?”

Viola didn’t bother denying it; she even nodded in faint approval. “Very perceptive, Junior Jie Ming. Observing the subtle pains people experience because of their emotions is one of the highest forms of enjoyment, you know.”

Just as they were about to continue, someone in the distance called Viola’s name—the activity organizer needed her for something.

Realizing their brief encounter was about to end, Jie Ming suddenly spoke up. “Senior, one last thing.”

“Hm? What is it?” Viola paused mid-turn, looking at him curiously.

In that instant—

The relaxed smile from their conversation still lingered on Jie Ming’s face, but his right hand shot upward with lightning speed. Without any warning, he drove a straight punch directly toward the bridge of Viola’s nose!

Though his raw physical strength was sealed, under the blessing of extreme technique the blow was still fast, accurate, and vicious, whistling with sharp wind!

In the spark-between-flint moment, the smile hadn’t even fully faded from Viola’s face when her body reacted on purest instinct—her head snapped to the side by a minute yet precise angle, the motion fluid and swift, something no untrained person could achieve!

That evasive posture carried the unmistakable shadow of combat training.

The fist, trailing wind, brushed past several strands of her silver-gray hair.

And almost simultaneously, Jie Ming’s punch turned into an open palm.

His five fingers gently swept past her temple, plucking away a small dead leaf that had somehow settled in her long silver-gray hair.

The smile on his face never wavered, as if the earth-shattering strike just now had been nothing but an illusion. His tone remained casual: “All good now, Senior. There was a leaf in your hair; I got it for you.”

Viola froze in place, a trace of blood draining from her cheeks.

For the first time, clear alarm, wariness, and an unconcealable trace of shock appeared in those eyes that always carried either amusement or mockery.

She stared at Jie Ming for several seconds, lips moving soundlessly, but ultimately said nothing.

She simply took a quick half-step back and spoke rapidly in a tone more distant than ever before: “Thank you… I’ll be going now.”

With that, she turned and walked swiftly—almost fled—toward the people calling her.

Jie Ming remained where he was, the formulaic smile slowly fading from his face.

He hefted the half-full black garbage bag and turned expressionlessly.

Step by steady step, he walked away in the opposite direction from Viola.

On the sunlit beach, the volunteers continued chatting and resting.

No one had noticed the heart-stopping exchange that had just occurred.

But Jie Ming knew—the probe had yielded its result.