Chapter 354 - 320: Popping Champagne

Chapter 354: Chapter 320: Popping Champagne

The trust between people is a profound, and often troublesome, concept.

But in reality, once that first step of mutual trust is taken, everything that follows becomes much simpler.

Now that Lecturer Randy had, in his confusion, believed Lloyd’s rather flimsy story and was now in high spirits, Lecturer Lille—who was certainly no fool—proactively asked Lloyd to give him the same treatment.

Lloyd was, of course, happy to oblige. He promptly stuck a ’Dazed Hair’ on Lille’s forehead as well.

"Huh? Did I just grow a strand of hair?"

Lecturer Lille scratched his head, a suspicious look on his face.

"But wow, this really works, doesn’t it? I feel like the mental strain has lessened considerably."

Randy, who was standing nearby, quipped:

"Alright, stop scratching. You’re not married yet; you’d better protect that hair of yours."

"What does it matter? My girlfriend and I are already engaged. As soon as this mission is over, I’m going back home to her and..."

Lille was speaking nonchalantly when a bottle of liquor was suddenly shoved into his mouth.

"Sir, don’t say any more. Let’s continue," Lloyd said with a stern expression.

"Ahaha, right."

Lille gave an awkward laugh and began arranging for the students to prepare for the next round of recovery.

Meanwhile, Randy used the power of Wisdom to send a solemn reminder directly into Lloyd’s mind:

"Lloyd, no matter how miraculous this Holy Artifact of yours is—or if it’s even a Holy Artifact at all—it’s best you don’t publicize it. Doing so could bring you unforeseen danger and trouble..."

Lille added in the same manner, his tone just as solemn:

"That’s right. Your kindness and generosity won’t always be rewarded, especially when you use it in a way that’s so easily misunderstood..."

Lloyd didn’t answer aloud, merely nodding firmly to show he understood.

It seemed the two lecturers had noticed something was off. However, since they realized Lloyd was helping, not harming them, they didn’t press the matter.

’The Consciousness Tentacles skill really is easily misunderstood. And humans are exceptionally sensitive about a vital spot like the forehead...’

However, the lecturers’ well-intentioned warning didn’t dampen Lloyd’s mood in the slightest. He was more than happy to accept the massive amount of Madness Value, along with a precious Special Skill fragment.

This wave of experience points from Lecturer Lille, added to his previous gains, shot Lloyd up 5 levels, granting him 25 Attribute points.

’5 points into Rationality, 10 into Spiritual Power, and 10 into Cognition. Allocate!’

After allocating these points, three of Lloyd’s four Attributes—with the exception of one that shall remain nameless—all reached 315.

’If this keeps up, my ’bucket’ build is going to inflate into a ’tank’.’

He was, naturally, quite pleased with himself.

The only pity was that there were only six students left who could be "used," including the one about to participate in the fourth round of recovery...

Once those five students had also been forcefully knocked unconscious, Lloyd’s rapid leveling spree was more or less over.

’A part of me wanted to tell the lecturers that my ’Holy Artifact’ could be used on the students, too. They didn’t have to hit them so hard or knock them out so completely.’

’But they had already sensed something was off with my ’Holy Artifact.’ Pushing it further would only arouse more suspicion, and that wouldn’t be wise.’

’Hopefully, the students are tough enough to wake up on their own soon...’

As this thought crossed his mind, Lloyd’s attention was drawn to the other person who didn’t quite fit in: William, the Bounty Hunter and Teaching Assistant.

The man wasn’t involved in the actual recovery, nor did he join in the discussions or small talk. From the very beginning, he had been sitting quietly by himself. He had even deliberately chosen a spot at the edge of everyone’s vision, silently observing the situation. He hadn’t touched a single drop of liquor, giving off an air of complete detachment, almost as if he weren’t there at all.

’It feels like he’s not here for the archaeology, but to act as a monitor...’

’But everyone here is one of us, all hand-picked by the History Department. Who could he possibly be monitoring?’

’Or maybe... his time to shine is when a student can’t take it anymore and is about to undergo a corrupt transformation?’

Lloyd leaned toward the second possibility.

’It’s cruel, but necessary...’

’No wonder his gaze is so sharp and cold, like a knife. He’s probably had to do this sort of thing many times before...’

’In a way, I guess that makes him a colleague of sorts, doesn’t it?’

’Too bad for him I’m here. He won’t be getting any ’business’ on this trip...’

Lloyd gloated inwardly.

............

Several more hours passed, and Lloyd’s little "double XP event" finally came to a close.

All nine students, besides Lloyd himself, had been knocked unconscious by Veto Declaration, with no sign of waking up anytime soon.

The two lecturers, however, were ecstatic. As if by Magic, one of them produced a bottle of champagne from his pocket, and they began celebrating the successful conclusion of the operation.

Drinking by themselves wasn’t lively enough, so they beckoned to Lloyd and the Bounty Hunter Teaching Assistant.

"Lloyd, come on, over here! We really have you to thank for this."

"You too, William. Relax. Everyone’s mental state is stable; they just need to sleep it off. You can stop being so wound up. You definitely won’t need to take action on this mission."