Not long after, Gao Rongfeng returned, a look of guilt on his face.
"The fellow believer truly possesses divine power, managing to defeat such a powerful monster!" the old man said with admiration.
"Alas, what divine power do I have? I was merely protected by the true God. The monster exploded and died on its own!"
"It's a shame I couldn't protect that child and fulfill my promise to escort him safely to the Prosperous Dynasty!" Gao Rongfeng said with deep regret.
...
The scene shifted again, and Zhang Mo found himself back in his room.
The recent battle had been incredibly exhilarating. It had been a long time since he'd had such a thrilling fight.
However, as soon as the last monster was eliminated, his teleportation time arrived, and Zhang Mo was sent back.
"Sigh, I thought I could play a little longer. I didn't expect two hours to pass so quickly!"
"In the end, I couldn't escort that big brother back to the True God Cult safely. I hope Sister Wenwen won't blame me!" Zhang Mo muttered to himself.
He then quickly changed his clothes, sneaked to the bathroom downstairs for a shower, and then tiptoed back to his room to sleep.
The next day, after breakfast, Katerina drove Zhang Mo to school.
The school was a very famous private institution in this country.
Although Qingyun Kingdom's military strength was not impressive, its economy and education were quite good. This private school had produced countless high-ranking officials in politics and business, as well as many renowned scholars and scientists.
"Mom, isn't it bad not to go to school? I don't like school; I like fighting monsters!" Zhang Mo pouted.
He hadn't dared to speak up when Zhang Chen was present during breakfast. Now that it was just him and Katerina, he finally voiced his complaint.
"Where are there so many monsters for you to fight?"
"Besides, children your age all go to school. And if you don't understand anything except fighting monsters, what's the difference between you and monsters?"
"They don't need to go to school either, and they only need to fight and kill." Katerina said, half-jokingly.
"But... Dad didn't go to school either, and he doesn't go to work, and he only knows how to fight and kill, right?!" Zhang Mo retorted indignantly.
"That's not true. Your father went to school before, and he's a university graduate!"
"He can choose to work, or he can choose to fight monsters, or he can choose to do nothing, because he has the ability to do so!"
"Learning is a choice. If you master knowledge, you can choose your future career and hobbies."
"But without knowledge, you have no choices. If you only know how to fight monsters, then that's all you can do. What will you do if one day the monsters are all gone?"
"That's why people should acquire more abilities to have more choices in life and richer experiences. Only through experience can you know what suits you best!" Katerina gently persuaded him.
"Oh!" Zhang Mo nodded with pursed lips. Although he didn't fully grasp the concept of choices, he felt it made sense.
"Alright, we're here at school. Study hard, and good luck!" Katerina waved to Zhang Mo and watched him enter the campus.
In the classroom, the teacher gently placed a hand on Zhang Mo's shoulder, smiling as she introduced him to everyone.
"This is a new classmate in our class, Zhang Mo. Momo, say hello to everyone!"
Zhang Mo nodded and, without any shyness, said, "Hello everyone, my name is Zhang Mo. I hope we can all become good friends!" Having been frequently present at various activities of the True God Cult since childhood and often appearing in public, he was no longer prone to stage fright.
"Oh my, this boy is so strange. His eyes are blue, but his hair is black!"
"His skin is also white, unlike ours. He looks a bit odd!"
"Could this guy be a monster? That's how it always happens in cartoons!" the children whispered amongst themselves, some of them giggling at Zhang Mo.
"Alright, everyone quiet down. Momo, you can sit in the third row!" the teacher said.
In the empty seat in the third row sat a girl with black hair, black pupils, and large eyes. She was also an outlier among the other classmates because everyone else in the class had yellow hair and green eyes. With Zhang Mo now present, she didn't seem quite so conspicuous.
"Hello, I'm Zhang Mo!" Zhang Mo friendly extended his hand towards the big-eyed girl.
The girl didn't speak but instead moved her single desk beside her to make more space.
"Chen Yubu, I saw your name on your name tag!" Zhang Mo said triumphantly.
"Xi!" the girl whispered.
"What?" Zhang Mo asked, surprised.
"That character is Xi from 'hope.' My name is Chen Yuxi, not Chen Yubu!" Chen Yuxi corrected him with a frown.
"Oh..." Zhang Mo nodded. It seemed he really shouldn't have boasted about his literacy skills. After all, he hadn't attended school properly for more than a few days in the post-apocalyptic world. And his friends, Xiaobai and Moyan, were also illiterate. Compared to them, he considered himself a scholar, but here, his knowledge level seemed quite inadequate.
Feeling the gap, Zhang Mo studied diligently for the rest of the day. He was naturally intelligent, and with his near-perfect body and brain created by meteorite energy, learning elementary school knowledge was incredibly easy. Within a day, he had caught up on all the knowledge he had missed.
As soon as the last class ended, Chen Yuxi lowered her head and walked out of the classroom with her schoolbag. Zhang Mo, heading home on his own, saw two older boys escorting Chen Yuxi into a small alley as he exited the school gate.
"She doesn't have anyone to pick her up either?"
"And... it seems she's in trouble!" Zhang Mo's sense of justice flared, and he followed them.
In the dim, damp alley, he found three older boys and a young man with tattoos on his arm, smoking. The group was rummaging through Chen Yuxi's schoolbag, scattering her pencil case and books onto the ground.
"Only ten yuan? How is that possible? Your parents died and left you so much money, so why do you only have ten yuan in your pocket?! Didn't I tell you to bring more money when you go out?!" The young man said, then slapped Chen Yuxi, causing her to stagger and nearly fall.
"Remember, if it's still only ten yuan tomorrow, it won't be as simple as today!" The young man squatted on the ground, smoking, and spat the smoke into Chen Yuxi's face as a threat.
*Bang!*
In an instant, the young man was sent flying over ten meters away, his burning cigarette butt shoved directly into his mouth. Zhang Mo appeared beside Chen Yuxi, carrying his schoolbag, and mimicking Zhang Chen's expression and tone, he said, "If you don't want to die... get out!"