"Oh? Little one, finished your first match already?"
Outside the courtyard, Yae Miko was admiring the scenery of Port Ormos when she noticed Ye Luo walking out.
Hard not to notice him — he was the only one leaving this early.
Normally, mushroom battles shouldn't end so quickly.
Which meant… Ye Luo must have some kind of hidden mushroom-beast technique?
Yae Miko's eyes gleamed.
Good stuff being kept secret from her?
When she trained Ye Luo with "special methods," had he been secretly laughing at her inside his heart?
What a wicked little brat.
Her eyes narrowed, a dangerous smile curling on her lips.
Novelists had extreme imagination, but editors weren't any less insane.
Any author not on the verge of madness wasn't a real author.
Ye Luo, noticing her amused expression, immediately felt uneasy.
"Eh? This match wasn't hard. My opponent was too simple — I finished it in a few seconds," he explained helplessly.
"???"
Yae Miko's face twitched.
Yes, the opponent was simple.
If she went in personally, she'd also speedrun the fight.
But the point was — you were supposed to be commanding your mushroom beast.
Even if you're strong, YOUR MUSHROOMS are still weak as hell.
"Ye Luo? You finished already?"
Paimon's voice appeared next. She and Lumine approached.
Paimon flew next to Yae Miko, stomping excitedly.
"Hehehe! Miko's special training worked! We beat our opponent in just a few minutes!"
"As long as it helped you."
Yae Miko chuckled behind her sleeve.
Then she narrowed her foxlike eyes and added meaningfully:
"But sadly… even though all of you trained together… Ye Luo finished MUCH faster than you."
"Please don't say I'm fast."
Ye Luo's eyebrow twitched.
For a man, being called "fast" was a personal insult.
"Huh? Oh right… Ye Luo, why were you so fast?"
Paimon blinked.
Miko's match was in the afternoon.
Ye Luo trained with them in the morning.
So why did he finish HOURS earlier?
Did the opponent… forfeit?
"Simple. I one-shot them."
Ye Luo repeated.
Paimon stared.
Lumine stared.
Yae Miko stared.
"…Can you explain in detail?" Paimon asked.
Ye Luo immediately perked up.
He cleared his throat and began recounting the entire battle—
Which lasted about ten seconds.
At first, Lumine and Yae Miko listened earnestly.
Then their expressions slowly froze.
Then turned blank.
Then collapsed internally.
"STOP!"
Paimon finally exploded.
"You're telling the TRUTH?!"
"Absolutely," Ye Luo slapped his chest.
"I am a man of truth."
"Truth…?"
Lumine's mouth twitched violently.
"Deep breaths. Feeling dizzy is normal after confronting someone as powerful as me,"
Ye Luo said sympathetically.
Even without Conqueror's Haki, sheer strength eventually produced an aura of intimidation.
He knew this.
And he accepted it wholeheartedly.
"I'm not dizzy," Lumine glared.
Last time they sparred she didn't even get serious.
How could she fear him?
Fight again if you dare!
"Good. I respect your resolve," Ye Luo nodded sagely.
Paimon pressed her temples.
She had finally parsed Ye Luo's "story."
"You said… you punched through space… summoned an ultimate-evolution mushroom from the river of time… and erased your opponent's mushrooms from existence…?"
"Uh…"
After hearing it summarized, even Ye Luo realized it sounded overboard.
"A little bit of artistic exaggeration…"
"A little?"
Paimon nearly screamed.
This was not exaggeration — it was FRAUD.
"Little one… did YOU personally fight?"
Yae Miko suddenly asked.
She had already deduced it.
He must've fought himself.
This was a mushroom-beast competition — what kind of lunatic stepped in personally?!
"What's with those looks?!"
Ye Luo roared indignantly.
"I only stepped in because the mushrooms were tired! I wanted them to rest!"
He jabbed a finger at them dramatically.
"YOU are the ones wrong! You always use mushrooms as tools — for errands, for battles, for everything!"
"But I'm different!"
"I genuinely want to become Mushroom King!"
"..."
Lumine, Paimon, and Yae Miko all stared silently.
Paimon suddenly felt her entire theory on how Ye Luo unlocked his Vision was WRONG.
There was NO WAY this guy got a Vision from being wronged.
If anything, HE would wrong others into GETTING Visions.
"Mr. Ye Luo, we need you to come with us.
Your match needs to be verified."
As expected, officials soon appeared.
"Why? The rules don't say I can't fight!"
Ye Luo whipped out the printed rules.
"It says the trainer and mushroom must fight together.
WASN'T I fighting WITH them just now?!"
"Uh… that's… for the organizers to interpret…"
The guards were stunned.
They did NOT expect anyone to study the rules so thoroughly.
But they were just security — they couldn't explain loopholes.
So they escorted him away.
"Fine, fine.
I help your boss find loopholes and you should be THANKING me."
Ye Luo shrugged and followed.
Truthfully?
He did it on purpose.
He remembered that the tournament organizers eventually got arrested.
If they got taken away…
Prize money also disappeared.
Confiscated.
No payout.
That meant all his effort was for nothing!
So he wanted to meet the hosts personally.
Yes, they made the event flashy.
But the last thing they wanted was a direct conflict with someone linked to the Akademiya.
The expected procedure:
They would revoke his eligibility.
He would protest.
The protest triggered an investigation.
Investigation uncovered irregularities.
Organizers panicked.
They'd look for a compromise.
And what compromise was more universal than…
MORA.
He just wanted hush money.
"You pay,
I forgive you."
Simple and fair.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/pikachu614