The Recording Parrot had a small dimensional pocket near its heart, capable of storing books and pens.
The Recording Parrot's eyes shone like two flashlights, scanning the riverbank. After the inspection, it pulled out a notebook and checked the box marked 'Excellent.'
The environmental organization's task evaluations were divided into four levels: Poor, Average, Good, and Excellent.
Poor: The garbage wasn't cleaned up properly.
Average: The garbage was cleaned up but all thrown into the trash bin.
Good: The garbage was cleaned up, but more than half wasn't recycled into the trash bin and was disposed of independently.
Excellent: The garbage was processed in an environmentally friendly manner, adding no burden to the waste treatment plant.
In reality, the so-called environmental organization in Pupil City was established to alleviate the burden on the waste treatment plant.
The population of Pupil City had long been saturated, and the daily garbage output had exceeded the processing capacity of the waste treatment plant.
Therefore, the city's higher-ups established the environmental organization to reduce the burden on the waste treatment plant.
As for why they didn't build more waste treatment plants?
It wasn't necessary.
Yes, the higher-ups of Pupil City deemed it unnecessary.
Pupil City was secretly amassing strength to launch a territorial expansion war.
Once the expansion war succeeded, Pupil City would establish a second city, and a large portion of the population would be relocated there.
This move would not only alleviate the population pressure in Pupil City but also open up new territories for humanity.
Thus, the higher-ups of Pupil City stopped building more waste treatment plants.
This decision couldn't be labeled as right or wrong.
But it sowed the seeds of future trouble.
It led to the 'Pupil City Garbage Pileup Incident.'
Thousands of people died indirectly as a result.
The piled-up garbage bred garbage-related Pet Beasts, such as stench flies, blood-sucking mosquitoes, and toxic garbage beasts...
These Pet Beasts carried multiple pathogens, causing various infectious diseases, and the thousands of deaths were due to these diseases.
The garbage also polluted the environment, with waste water flowing downstream and contaminating the ecological environment, angering the Pet Beast kings downstream.
Coincidentally, downstream of Pupil City was a particularly strong Forest King Deer, who was especially protective of the environment.
The Forest King Deer was both a fighter and a healer, and it knew how to escape.
This made the strong individuals of Pupil City extremely frustrated, forcing them to take environmental protection seriously.
More importantly, this Forest King Deer knew its limits. It didn't kill people; it punished them. Every time it was angered, it would bring a fog-like cloud of itching powder, making the people of Pupil City suffer for days.
As the Recording Parrot was about to fly back, Li Cunxu gave it a bag of Flying Bird Cookies.
Flying Bird Cookies were snacks specifically developed for bird-type Pet Beasts and were highly popular among them.
The Recording Parrot really wanted to eat them, swallowing its saliva, and said, "Thank you for your kindness, but there's a rule against accepting food. In the past, some parrots were poisoned by offerings."
The Recording Parrot flew away, and Li Cunxu rode his bike back to the ranch cabin. On the way, he remembered there was half a bag of rice at home that he hadn't brought to the ranch cabin, so he decided to stop by his house.
When he was about ten meters from his doorstep, Li Cunxu didn't dare to enter. He noticed something particularly horrifying.
There was someone in his house.
Li Cunxu couldn't see the information on the panel, but he could see the panel floating above the person's head.
At that moment, there was a floating panel inside his house, moving around as if searching for something.
Was it Chen Xi? No.
Chen Xi shouldn't have the key to his house.
Moreover, the ranch was a gift from Chen Xi, and knowing he wasn't home, she would have gone to the ranch to find him.
Could it be the mysterious person who secretly removed one of his sister's Spirit Restriction Nails and caused the original body's death?
Li Cunxu parked the shared bicycle and quickly crouched into the green belt, quietly observing.
Suddenly, Li Cunxu remembered a setting in the game "Divine Taming": strong individuals are highly sensitive to being watched. If he kept staring like this, the other party might easily detect him.
"Use a mirror. The refraction of a mirror can somewhat reduce the sensitivity of strong individuals to being watched."
The problem was, Li Cunxu wasn't a girl, so he didn't carry a makeup mirror in his bag.
Moreover, the reflection from a mirror would also attract attention.
"Why keep staring? Forget it, I'll leave."
Realizing that continuing to watch would easily expose him, Li Cunxu decisively decided to leave.
"Too bad there's no surveillance in the neighborhood. Otherwise, I could have figured out what's going on."
However, it was precisely because there was no surveillance that Li Cunxu dared to hide with his sister in the rain.
Surveillance wasn't widespread in the Divine Taming world. It gave off a sense of being watched, which strong individuals detested. Some even went out of their way to destroy surveillance equipment.
Many strong individuals could use small tricks to remotely damage surveillance, leaving no trace of the culprit afterward.
Li Cunxu rode several kilometers in one go before finally relaxing.
"I can't go home."
"But this is also a good thing. It proves that my suspicion of a mysterious person lurking in the shadows is true. I'm not just fighting with thin air."
The next day.
Li Cunxu's environmental account received fifty environmental points.
Environmental points could be exchanged for resources at environmental organizations.
One point was worth about ten yuan, so fifty points were equivalent to five hundred yuan.
"Not bad, a no-cost deal."
Li Cunxu got up and washed up. Today, he was going to report to the 18th Middle School.
After washing up, Li Cunxu eagerly opened the door to the second bedroom.
Inside the second bedroom were the ten slimes that had been injected with the Slime Mutation Needle yesterday.
Disappointingly, the slimes showed no changes.
After being injected with the Slime Mutation Needle, slimes had a high probability of mutating within the first three days. After three days, the chance of mutation became almost negligible.
Li Cunxu packed six slimes with the Digestion Talent into his Pet Pouch and set off on his bike.
He had to leave early because the ranch was in the suburbs, quite far from the 18th Middle School in the city.
Fortunately, the people here had the physique of Shinjuku superhumans. Even riding a bicycle wasn't much slower, especially since the original owner was a bicycle enthusiast, making him faster than the average person.
Arriving at the 18th Middle School, Li Cunxu was mercilessly stopped by the gatekeeper under the astonished eyes of many students.
The Female Gatekeeper said expressionlessly, "This is the 18th Middle School. Boys are not allowed inside."
Li Cunxu explained, "I'm a new student here to report."
The Female Gatekeeper looked skeptical and said coldly, "The reporting period for new students has long passed. Besides, this is a girls' school. We don't admit male students."
"I have a text message from the Education Bureau."
"Ridiculous lie. You can't fool me. Guardian Knight, Immobilization Spell."
Before Li Cunxu could pull out his phone, the Female Gatekeeper summoned a Guardian Knight without hesitation. The knight held a shield in one hand and a spear in the other, clad in full steel armor.
The Guardian Knight's eyes glowed red, and Li Cunxu was immobilized on the spot.
The Guardian Knight's proficiency with the Immobilization Spell wasn't masterful, so it couldn't move while casting, leaving it standing guard alongside Li Cunxu.
Li Cunxu remained immobilized until nearly noon.
Only after a phone call did the Female Gatekeeper order the Guardian Knight to release the Immobilization Spell.
The Female Gatekeeper offered a half-hearted apology, "Sorry, the Principal didn't notify us about a male student reporting in, so we had to immobilize you. You should head to the Principal's office now!"
Li Cunxu rubbed his legs, which had been standing all morning. He could see through the facade—it wasn't a lack of notification; it was clearly intentional, a way to put him in his place.
If there had truly been no notification, the Female Gatekeeper would have either chased him away or called the police to arrest him, not immobilized him and made him stand for an entire morning.
Li Cunxu said nothing, simply staring at her with a gaze so intense it sent chills down her spine.
He would remember this grudge.
After all, he was a master of curses, and those who dealt in curses were never known for their magnanimity.
For now, he was powerless, but that might not always be the case.
As Confucius once said, "Even a grudge spanning ten generations can be avenged."
He was just that petty.
Li Cunxu stared for a while longer, then turned and walked away without a word.
The Female Gatekeeper, however, was left unnerved by his gaze. After he left, she shook her head, her tone a mix of disdain and self-reassurance.
"Little brat, trying to scare me with his theatrics."
Li Cunxu knew the hierarchy well—the Female Gatekeeper was just the enforcer; the Principal was the true mastermind. Without the Principal's orders, a mere gatekeeper wouldn't dare to make him stand for no reason.
"This is troublesome. If this is how it is on the first day of transferring schools, it's not going to be easy to stay here."
But it didn't matter. If things got too bad, he could always transfer again. After all, he was in the right.
(End of Chapter)