Dazed and groggy, William Clark paused for a moment, feeling his backpack bump into someone. He turned around, just about to apologize, only to see his classmate Emily Bolton looking utterly disgusted, wiping her arm with a tissue, glaring as she said, “Watch where you’re going.”

William Clark curled his lips, said nothing, and quickly stepped aside.

Clearly, it was that woman who bumped into him—typical, the guilty party always complains first. Forget it, a real man doesn’t argue with women. Besides, he’d just completed the “body tempering” stage, and the difference in strength was huge. A wise man doesn’t suffer immediate losses.

“Xin, what’s wrong?” A boy from their class, David Grant, came over. True to his name, he was tall and strong—one of the twelve basic martial artists in Class 69.

Emily Bolton immediately put on a sweet smile. “It’s nothing, let’s go.” As the two passed by William Clark, David Grant shot him a sideways glance, as if he were looking at a pile of crap in a latrine.

William Clark kept his head down and eyes lowered. As a bottom-feeder in the school, he’d long since learned his own set of survival rules.

He waited until most of the students had left before William Clark slowly strolled out, trailing at the end of the after-school crowd.

“Ah Yan.” Someone called from behind—it was his only close friend, Henry Wood.

William Clark yawned again. “Why are you so slow too?”

“You slept all day again? You can even sleep with your eyes open, impressive.” Henry Wood pushed up his thick glasses. “We had to fill out our college preferences today, so I was late.”

“Special talent direct recruitment, huh? Man, it’s good to have a specialty.” William Clark said enviously.

In today’s society, martial artists are the pillars, and people with special talents are also highly valued. Henry Wood’s specialty was mechanics. With his talent, he’d likely end up in a B-level or higher military base, becoming an elite of the upper class.

As for himself, William Clark shrugged helplessly. In the future, he might have to rely on government welfare, becoming what people call a “rice worm”—a parasite of society.

Henry Wood patted him on the shoulder, comforting him, “Don’t lose heart, Ah Yan. You’ll definitely become an outstanding martial artist one day.”

Henry Wood had always known William Clark’s dream was to become an outstanding martial artist and own his own spaceship. Even if the dream seemed far-fetched, having a dream was better than just muddling through life.

Facing the setting sun, watching the vast crowd of students ahead, William Clark sighed with emotion, “It’s a shame, three years and not even one girlfriend. I haven’t even held a girl’s hand.”

Henry Wood nodded in heartfelt agreement. Even though he had a special talent and a promising future, most girls still preferred to date martial artists.

Suddenly, the crowd ahead stirred. A girl walked out from the A-level teaching building, and everyone’s eyes instantly turned toward her.

Jet-black hair down to her shoulders, amber eyes, a tall and perfectly proportioned figure—girls like her always became the center of attention. Not to mention, the armband on her school uniform bore the mark “3A (1-1).”

Senior Year, Class A1, top student—Grace Bell, a genius martial artist, the dream girl of every boy at Nanying Academy, and even the dream of many girls.

Watching Grace Bell join the after-school crowd, Henry Wood clicked his tongue and shook his head in admiration. “Now that’s a perfect girl! I’ve always wondered why Grace Bell chose to attend our Nanying Academy.”

William Clark gazed at the glowing figure of the girl ahead and murmured, “Yeah! Who knows? These are things we’ll never find out.”

Such inside stories weren’t for a bottom-feeder like him to know, and he wasn’t interested anyway.

“Mutong.”

“Yeah?”

“Next time, help me expand my music player’s storage. Make it bigger. The last one’s already full.”

“Screw you!” Henry Wood raised both hands, flipping two big middle fingers. That player was huge, and it was already full—just how many adult movies had this guy loaded in there?

……

As the city lights came on, William Clark walked along the streets of District 44 in Luoshi City.

District 44 was in the southern part of Luoshi City, near the outskirts.

Real estate in District 44 had always been sluggish. Most residents of Luoshi City were of Huaxia descent, and in the Earth Federation, the Huaxia people had a long history. Of course, they were also sensitive about numbers. The number 4 was never popular among Huaxia people, let alone a double 4.

On the other hand, the buildings in District 44 were too old. Many were built when Dormir Star was first developed—in short, they were dangerous buildings.

William Clark lived on the 24th floor of one such building. If an accident ever happened, it was basically a floor you couldn’t escape from.

Opening the door, William Clark frowned, sniffed the air, and his face changed dramatically. He rushed into the bedroom, quickly opened the cabinet, lifted the panel, and saw only one bottle of liquor left in the secret compartment. “Crap! Only one bottle left? That old man’s nose is too sharp.”

Behind him, a middle-aged man leaned against the door, thin and wiry, holding a bottle of liquor. His messy long hair hung to his shoulders, and his face was covered in a beard. This was William Clark’s father, Robert Clark.

“Of course, you should know whose son you are.” Robert Clark gulped down the liquor and mumbled, “We only have two rooms in this house, barely any space. Where could you possibly hide the booze?”

William Clark stood up, face dark, and roared, “Dad, didn’t you promise me you’d only drink half a jin a day? The doctor just told you last time to quit drinking!”