“How would I know?” A slightly hoarse voice came from the bracelet’s speaker, sounding troubled: “He was clearly dead, yet came back to life, and Sean Lincoln, the Despair Goddess who should have fallen into utter despair because of this, hasn’t despaired at all.”

Quinn Lucas frowned slightly, her tone icy: “This is the greatest obstacle to the Despair Goddess’s awakening. I suggest we remove this obstacle.”

“No way!” The hoarse voice immediately snapped in anger: “Quinn Lucas, don’t do anything reckless. You have no idea how terrifying the Despair Goddess is after awakening. If the organization truly wants to control her and avoid being devoured by a future Despair Goddess, we absolutely cannot stain our hands with Ryan Lincoln’s blood. Quinn Lucas, are you looking to die? I’ll kill you right now!”

Perhaps realizing his rebuke was too harsh, he softened his tone: “Don’t act rashly. I’ve already arranged for someone to investigate Ryan Lincoln’s situation, to see if he’s truly alive or dead, and whether it’s really him or someone else possessing his body. In any case, wait for my news. If you really can’t wait, you can help Sean Lincoln investigate the truth. If we can have the Despair Goddess kill her own brother with her own hands, that would be best—”

※※※※

An hour later, in classroom 3321 at Mingde University, Ryan Lincoln regretfully opened the ranking list.

“The practical assessment has ended. Congratulations, your final ranking is eleventh.”

Ryan Lincoln shook his head, a bit helplessly taking off his deep-dive helmet.

After defeating Wade, Ryan Lincoln was confident he could break into the top three of the rankings. The ‘Top Ten’ were indeed strong, but his grandmaster-level Crimson Thunder Blade and Crimson Thunder Palm could surpass them!

Unfortunately, for some reason, Ryan Lincoln never matched with any top-ten opponents after that.

So in the end, the defeated Wade still held fourth place, while Ryan Lincoln could only rise to eleventh.

As Ryan Lincoln took off his helmet, he saw Linda Warren beside him staring intently: “What’s your ranking? Did you make it into the top hundred?”

With Linda Warren’s words, the surrounding classmates all looked over, curiosity in their eyes.

They cared a lot about the grades of the two top students in their class.

In the distance, a ponytailed girl let out a light laugh: “Top hundred? Impossible. Ryan Lincoln’s grades are good, but at this school he’s only around top twenty in his year, not enough for the city’s top hundred.”

But Linda Warren immediately shot her a cold glare: “I just faced him in the practical assessment. I lost in just seven strikes. This guy quietly mastered the complete ‘Crimson Thunder Nine Slashes’. Not to mention the top hundred, even the top fifty is possible.”

Ryan Lincoln’s best friend Sam Warren was walking over. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Damn!” and turned to Ryan Lincoln in shock.

“Is this true, Rui? You mastered the Crimson Thunder Nine Slashes?”

“I did.” Ryan Lincoln nodded affirmatively, while opening the class advisor list in his personal terminal system.

What Ryan Lincoln cared about most now was when the school board’s reward would be distributed.

Before he could message the class advisor, an elderly man with thinning hair and a round face hurried in.

It was their homeroom teacher, whom they rarely saw even once in ten days or half a month. He walked to the podium, his face glowing with excitement.

“Everyone, please sit down. I have an announcement—a piece of great news! Our classmate Ryan Lincoln just achieved a perfect record of sixty-nine wins in the practical assessment, ranking eleventh in the entire city. This is the best result in our school’s history, a new record. Let’s congratulate Lincoln!”

After the homeroom teacher finished, he clapped vigorously, but everyone else was momentarily stunned.

They all stared at Ryan Lincoln in disbelief, even Linda Warren’s pupils contracted.

Not top hundred, not top fifty, but eleventh? Their classmate Ryan Lincoln actually made it to eleventh in the whole city!

A full two seconds later, a thunderous round of applause erupted in the classroom.

Everyone’s expressions were different—some jealous, some skeptical, some admiring, some happy—but all clapped their hands loudly.

Ryan Lincoln stood up and bowed to his classmates.

Just as he sat down again, he noticed a friend request from a stranger in his personal terminal.

The sender’s profile clearly read: “Assistant to the Chairman of Sky Blue Biotech Group, Brian Grant.”

Ryan Lincoln was puzzled for a moment, then remembered that Sky Blue Biotech Group was the parent company of his university.

Just over half a year ago, this company specializing in prosthetics and gene serum manufacturing had acquired 32% of Mingde University’s shares and joined the university’s board.

Ryan Lincoln immediately accepted the request.

Brian Grant sent a message right away: “Lincoln, congratulations on making it into the city’s top eleven in this practical assessment and achieving excellent results! According to the school board’s announcement, you will receive a set of top-grade artificial meridians, three gene enhancement serums, a full tuition waiver, and a scholarship of 30,000 federal credits, all provided by Sky Blue Biotech Group. Please come to the school service center to claim your prizes. In addition, our chairman has a small surprise for you.”