"Three hundred bucks." Brian Carter frowned. Damn, that's already one percent gone in a single meal—he really wished his math was a little worse.

The waiter looked a bit nervous. Would this possible juvenile delinquent do something to him? He looked so fierce.

Anyone who eats this much must be pretty strong.

Suddenly, Brian Carter's face broke into a smile as wide as the Laughing Buddha's. "Can I get a discount?"

Caw caw caw caw...

A flock of crows seemed to fly over the waiter's head. "Ahem, sir, I'm sorry, but you didn't order a set meal, so we can't give you a discount."

"You really don't understand the concept of small profits and quick turnover. What a rip-off." Brian Carter muttered as he swiped his card, his heart aching.

But as soon as he walked out of the burger joint, Brian Carter's mood was as bright as the sunshine—he was finally back!

Brian Carter ran to the public server to start searching for rental information, but his sunny mood quickly vanished. "Damn, it's only been a year and the rent has already doubled! How is anyone supposed to live like this?"

Looks like he needed to enroll in school as soon as possible. He'd heard that campus housing was cheap, and there was no tuition fee, so he should still have a bit left over.

The question was—which school should he go to?

On Earth, the best academy was undoubtedly the Capes S-Class Human Academy, the pride of the planet. But considering his wallet—and the difficulty—Brian Carter immediately gave up on that idea. The letter in his hand was useful, but it had its limits.

You can't be too greedy—that's what the old man always said, and Brian Carter understood that. There were plenty of A-Class academies, though. In Shangjing, there was a particularly "famous" one: Yalong A-Class Military Academy. Just hearing the name sounded familiar, because it was the alma mater of General David Thompson. But even now, it was still only A-Class. In fact, if it weren't for being General David Thompson's alma mater, it probably wouldn't even hold onto that A-Class rating.

Back when Landon Thompson caused a stir, it directly led to Yalong's decline. Meanwhile, Capes rose to prominence because it was founded by General David Thompson. Originally, it was just to quickly popularize new combat methods, but after hundreds of years, Capes Human Academy had become a symbol of Earth, producing countless generals and scientists.

For Brian Carter, he just needed a diploma. No matter what, Yalong was still a top school in Shangjing, and most importantly—it was close!

Who knows, the old man might sneak back at any time. With his addiction to alcohol, it wouldn't be long before he came back naked. Brian Carter decided to wait and see!

It was already more than half a month into the semester, but for Yalong, accepting a student like him wasn't a problem. Brian Carter's enrollment process went very smoothly. It was clear that Yalong was still obsessed with its former glory. Unfortunately, no big names had come out of here in a long time, while Capes kept producing one leader after another in politics, the military, and science.

But Brian Carter was happy. Now that information was shared everywhere, and he had already mastered the Blade Technique, he wasn't interested in any mysterious skills. The quality of the school didn't matter much—the key was self-cultivation. Besides, a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. Yalong was still a top academy in Asia, so it had to have something going for it. That was enough.

What he lacked now was a solid understanding of basic theory. Maybe the Martial God was really powerful, but the guy was clueless about the basics—always just smashing someone with a palm. Out of sympathy for his misfortune, Brian Carter couldn't be bothered to argue.

Yalong, youth, a new beginning—Brian Carter laughed heartily. The sunshine was wonderful.

"Hey, classmate, you stepped in dog poop," a kind soul nearby reminded him. He'd never seen anyone so happy after stepping in dog poop.

"Ah!!! Who's so lacking in public decency? My only pair of shoes!"

Brian Carter's miserable scream marked the start of his campus life.

Chapter 13: Saving Money

Sure enough, stepping in dog poop was a bad omen. When Brian Carter went to the logistics department to move into his cozy dorm, he got some very unfortunate news: since the semester had already started, all the dorms were full, and it might take a few days to free up a room for a new student.

The teacher looked at him with regret. After confirming several times, Brian Carter realized there was nothing he could do. He could only walk the streets in frustration. Damn, the school was so shady—they'd just swiped five thousand bucks from him for fees, it was enough to make him cough up blood. But after he put on his best pitiful act, the teacher promised to get him a dorm within three days, which was a relief. Honestly, even if he had to sleep outdoors on Norton Star, he wouldn't care, but that was the life of a savage. Now that he was back in human society, he had to follow the rules.

But after checking out the hotels near the school, he found a bunch of little punks—did they think all students were rich? The cheapest room was five hundred bucks! For someone like Brian Carter, who had more going out than coming in, that was absolutely unacceptable.

There was nothing he could do. Ever since the Zago tribe had taken root in the solar system, no matter how many were killed, they couldn't be wiped out—only driven away. Some remote places had become their strongholds. The Federation kept sending troops to wipe them out, but these guys were masters of guerrilla warfare. Big cities had extremely strict defenses, so the wealthy all wanted to live in these military strongholds, which directly drove up housing prices. Things only stabilized after the Federation implemented various policies.

But looking back, prices had already skyrocketed.