The meeting of the Assistant Team was scheduled for the next day, March 14th, which was a Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., lasting nearly six hours. According to the notice, there was no break time indicated.

Zheng Qing originally did not want to waste his valuable time on such matters.

However, after carefully studying the replies from Old Yao, Su Shijun, and Thomas, he keenly noticed that none of them suggested he should ’just skip’ the meeting. On the contrary, Su Shijun, with whom he had the closest relationship, sent a very concise reply requesting his attendance, and even Thomas, with whom he was less close, simply indicated that ’not attending has no negative impact’.

These people all knew he had chosen many courses this semester and was usually very busy with studies.

Yet they still gave such answers.

So after tossing the Cao Herb a few times and burning a piece of Turtle Shell, Zheng Qing ultimately did not send a rejection reply before the deadline, which meant he needed to attend the meeting.

The First University Assistant Corps’ large meeting room was located at the end of the third floor of the office building.

Zheng Qing finished writing his homework for Yin Fu Studies and Second-Order Battle Array Theory at 8:50 in the morning, and he had to attach four Armor Horse Charms to himself to barely make it to the meeting place with less than five minutes before the official start of the meeting.

At the door, after removing the Invisibility Talisman from his body, Zheng Qing pushed open the door, originally intending to sneak in along the wall.

However, the red robe he wore formed a sharp contrast with the roomful of black-robed people, so as soon as he entered, he immediately attracted the attention of all the assistants present.

The looks carrying confusion, curiosity, and scrutiny made the young wizard feel a great deal of pressure. Of course, compared to students, the assistants’ propriety was much higher; no one whispered or pointed at him in the meeting room, which made the young wizard feel slightly relieved.

"Yo, Assistant Zheng Qing, good morning!" Zheng Qing’s practice class teacher waved at the young wizard from afar, smiling broadly: "Happy weekend!"

Hilda sat in the corner of the last row of the large meeting room, very much in line with Zheng Qing’s usual ’habit’ in class. Even better, there was just an empty seat next to Hilda, so the young warlock happily accepted the invitation swaying in mid-air within seconds.

"Not happy at all."

After sitting down, Zheng Qing immediately took out his notebook, ink bottle, and feather pen, placed them on the table, then rubbed his wrist and let out a deep sigh:

"The semester has only been three weeks, and I’ve already forgotten what a real weekend is like... Yesterday alone, I had to complete two in-class quizzes, five homework assignments, and a seven-page ’Yellow Turban Warrior and Talisman Jurisdiction Analysis Report’. I wrote all night to scrape together five pages, yet I still don’t know what to write for the remaining two pages. How could I be happy?"

"Isn’t the joy of student life found in these things?"

Hilda shook his head, the copper rings on his face clinking against each other, producing a pleasant sound: "Besides falling in love with girls and battling Wild Demons, it’s the perpetually unfinished homework and the life-and-death exhilaration after torment that leave the most lasting memories."

Zheng Qing shook his head.

He had no masochistic tendencies and could not feel any pleasure after being tormented.

"Do you know what this meeting is about today?" There were still a few minutes before the meeting started, and Zheng Qing did not waste a single minute, immediately beginning to inquire for information to fulfill his contract with Xin Fat Man.

Hilda gave him a sidelong look.

"This is the sort of thing you should ask Zhang Yu... At the worst, Thomas knows more than I do."

Saying this, the practice class teacher pointed to his own nose: "I’ve been sitting here with you, do you think I know more than you?"

The words were a bit hurtful, but they made perfect sense.

Zheng Qing quickly closed his mouth and eagerly searched around for the owners of the names Hilda just mentioned — Thomas was sitting in the front row of the meeting room, discussing something quietly with other assistants. As for Zhang Yu, the leader of the Assistant Team, he seemed to arrive even later than Zheng Qing because Zheng Qing’s eyes scanned around a few times, but he still didn’t see that familiar high collar and gray hair.

"Are you really planning to ask those two?" Hilda touched the copper rings on his nose, seemingly amused by the young man’s slightly reckless actions.

"Why not?" Zheng Qing asked as he belatedly gave him a look.

"I suppose you could," Hilda pondered his words, glanced quickly at the other assistants around, then slightly lowered his voice and quickly explained: "But considering your unique status, shouldn’t you strive to keep a low profile? As far as I know, the Assistant Team has quite a few fervent fans of Su Councilor."

Zheng Qing immediately regretted that he hadn’t brought his invisibility talisman with him for courtesy when entering.

It was too late.

Perhaps it was just psychological, but after Hilda’s comment, Zheng Qing suddenly felt the unfriendly eyes around him increase sharply, as if every look directed at him turned into a small knife, slicing back and forth across his body and neck.

He tightened his robe and cleared his throat.

"Do you know about the secret weapon?" He directed his inquiry to his only available ’senior assistant’.

Hilda gave a snort through his nose: "The most widespread rumor on campus right now." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

He neither said ’yes’ nor ’no,’ yet Zheng Qing promptly noted the word he used — rumor — and rumors always brewed based on some facts.

"So, Edge Academy is indeed up to something?" the young assistant mused as he fiddled with his obsidian cufflinks: "Do you know what secret weapon Edge Academy intends to build? Why would Edge Academy need a secret weapon?"

These were the queries explicitly stated in the contract he signed with Xin Fat Man last night, so even when he heard the word ’rumor,’ Zheng Qing had no choice but to grit his teeth and repeat them.

Hilda gave him a strange look.

"If your brain’s been eaten by zombies, just blink; I won’t laugh at you," the practice class teacher said with his usual cynical smile, patting Zheng Qing on the shoulder: "But for the sake of your mental safety, I’ll answer those two questions for you — I don’t know, and I don’t want to know — even if Edge Academy is indeed planning to build some ’secret weapon’, it wouldn’t still be a secret if everyone knows about it, right?"

Thinking of the nuclear weapons in the Mortal World, a flash of insight crossed Zheng Qing’s mind, and he nodded thoughtfully: "So this weapon has to be very powerful, so after people know about it, it would create a substantial deterrent, while it won’t be casually trampled over by some ’ignorant fearless’ individuals who knock down the door."

"Wow!" Hilda looked at the young man with surprise, pouting: "I take back what I said; your brain hasn’t been eaten by zombies."