"I knew it, the dean is a total dog, there's no way he'd save someone for free."

"Right, and he still pretends to be some savior, not wanting to charge protection fees?"

"Wants to act like a saint while being a whore, unbelievable! By the way, why are you Musashi and Kojiro, while I have to be Meowth?"

"Who told you to lose at rock-paper-scissors? Blame me?"

Among the crowd, three Super God Academy students were bickering with each other. Strangely, the people around were intentionally or unintentionally keeping their distance, as if the three of them were some kind of fierce beast.

"What's going on? Why is there no one around them?"

"Idiot, can't you see their capes? Didn't you see the words 'Ritian Sect'?"

"I know these three, they're the Rocket team trio of the Ritian Sect. No one within tens of millions of kilometers doesn't know them!"

"What did they do?"

"You'll be scared to death if I tell you. The three of them teamed up to take down a Level Six medium life-form grade cosmic beast, and it dropped an Eorok crystal!"

"Eorok crystal? You mean the energy crystal formed when a Level Six life-form burns its life force?"

"Exactly, that thing. It's said that one Eorok crystal can greatly increase the success rate of leaping from a Level Five peak life form to a Level Six life form, rivaling the effect of a Power Pill!"

"Buddy, isn't the highlight that these three Level Four life forms teamed up to take down a Level Six life form?"

"Not just that, there's something even more outrageous," said a treasure hunter. "See the one with the blue hair? He's Kojiro of the trio. He, alone with two swords, can disable over two hundred Level Five peak life forms in one move."

"And the one with the red hair, he's Musashi, and he wields a great sword like nobody's business. Have you ever seen a 400-meter-long sword? You wouldn't escape even if you ran 399 meters first!"

"What about the other one?"

"The other one's name is very strange. He's called Meowth, but he's the most dangerous of the three. He's like a moment hidden in the night, appearing with claws that can tear your throat or even your body apart."

"Look at the 'fire of fate' above their heads; it's almost turning orange. They must have snatched the fate of tens of thousands of people. You think we wouldn't keep our distance?"

...

"What's going on up ahead? Why is it so chaotic, are they talking about something?"

"It seems to be about protection fees. That Zhang Menglong said protecting us is not his duty, so he's charging us protection fees."

"What? Protection fees? What nonsense, this city isn't even his. He just got lucky to find it first."

"Shh!" Someone in the know immediately cautioned, "Watch what you say. This city really is his. It's said he snatched it from the hands of hundreds of thousands of people, among which were even a dozen geniuses from the Summit Ranking. Do you know what that means?"

"I saw it too. He neutralized a combined attack from 11 Summit Ranking geniuses with just one move. Look, their bodies are still outside... oh, they've probably been transported out by now."

"Really? How strong must he be?"

"Look at the character on the back of his cape. He's the first generation of the Ritian Sect, its founder!"

...

"Mr. Zhang, about your protection fees..."

"Is there a problem?" Zhang Menglong said, "I provided you with protection. It's only fair that you pay me some protection fees. I'm not a robber. I'll only take what I should, not a penny more. No need to get nervous. I'm not asking for much in protection fees."

Hearing this from Zhang Menglong, everyone's expressions eased a bit. If they couldn't hide in the city, it was only a matter of time before the beast tide caught up with them. Then they'd be transported out with no gains, which would be both embarrassing and unfortunate.

The only reluctance they had was that it felt like an invisible eye in this treasure hunting space was constantly watching them, and anything could affect their fire of fate. Paying this protection fee would surely mean that some of their fate would be taken by Zhang Menglong.

"Forget it!"

To gain the shelter of this city while paying an affordable price wasn't something they couldn't accept. They'd have plenty of opportunities to regain their fire of fate later, so there was no need to fall out over it.

"Mr. Zhang, how much is your protection fee?" Gales asked.

"Our Ritian Sect standard is 10 billion Cosmic Coins per person, no cheating!"

"10 billion Cosmic Coins per person? Do we have that standard?" The trio started whispering among themselves.

"No idea, how much did whoever last collect?"

"I remember it was 10 million Cosmic Coins per person."

"Gee whiz, the dean really is the dean: stronger than us and much more sinister, raising it by 1,000 times!"

...

"Mr. Zhang, isn't this protection fee a bit too high? Could it be less?" It wasn't that they didn't want to. 10 billion Cosmic Coins were already a huge sum for a Level Five life form, and even an ordinary Level Six life form only had tens or hundreds of trillions of Cosmic Coins in liquid assets.

"We're willing to pay!" The blue-haired youth stepped out, "Everyone, Mr. Zhang was so generous to save us. Is this his responsibility? No, it's love! What's wrong with giving a little reward for his great love? I will be the first to offer this money!"

"Idiot!"

"Damn, why are you cursing me?"

"Could your shilling be any more obvious?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Duh, you're still wearing the Ritian Sect cape. How obvious do you think it is? Did a door hit your head or something?"

"I think he might have tried to headbutt a door."

"Ahem ahem ahem!"

"Zhang Menglong, it wasn't us who begged you to open the door and let us in. You did it voluntarily. Why should we pay you protection fees?"

"Exactly, others may fear you, but we don't necessarily fear you. You think you can charge protection fees from two million people by yourself? Isn't that too much wishful thinking?"

"Don't be intimidated by him, he can't do anything to us. With so many people, each of us could spit and drown him!"

...

"What? Now that there are more people, you think you've got something?" Zhang Menglong laughed, "I protected you, so you have to give me protection fees. Otherwise, get out now!"

Everyone turned back to look outside; the entire city was shrouded by countless fierce beasts. If they stepped out of the city, they'd be torn to shreds in less than a second.

"No! You can't do this!"

"I'm sorry, but the truth is I can, because this is my city, my territory, and my rules," Zhang Menglong laughed, "Someone grab those who just led the protest!"

"Yes, Dean!" Three people started to step forward at Zhang Menglong's command.

"Not you all!" Zhang Menglong rolled his eyes, "You three just find someplace cool to hang out and don't get in the way when I'm showing off!"

"Ah? Not us?"

"Then who is the dean ordering?"

The three of them looked at each other. Besides them, there were no other Super God Academy students here!

"Boom!" With a loud noise, 10 Black Warriors appeared in front of Zhang Menglong, clad in black armor and holding weapons.

"Black Warriors! They're Black Warriors!?"

"He can actually control the Black Warriors, weren't they said to be uncontrollable by modern means? Did he find the controller?"

"No, these 10 Black Warriors are different from the 108 outside earlier. Their life form energy... Level Six peak?"

"That's impossible!"

Everyone's expressions froze completely at this moment.

"Take off their pants and hang them on the city walls!"