Zhang Chen returned to his original form and, along with Zhao Xiyue, went back to Phoenix Academy.
By this time, the school had indeed encountered problems.
However, it wasn't chaos, but rather extremely strict, militarized management.
The Board of Directors had dispatched its most elite guard force, imposing military-style control over the entire school.
All personnel entering and exiting required verification, and a complete census of all enrolled students and those who had not yet returned had been conducted.
"Fortunately, I turned you into a bird. If you had entered in human form, you would have been discovered at the entrance!"
Zhang Chen nudged the bird's head on his shoulder.
"Chirp chirp!"
The little bird chirped twice in response.
Soon, Zhao Xiyue and Zhang Chen arrived at the school entrance.
The security guards at the gate had been replaced by completely unfamiliar members of the Board of Directors' guard force.
They were all tall and strong, wearing unified uniforms.
"Name, class, state the name of a teaching instructor, and the name of the course taught by that instructor."
Two team members approached them with stern expressions and asked.
"Zhao Xiyue, Freshman Class Three, Vice President Zhou Feifei, professor of Spirit Medicine Refinement!"
Zhao Xiyue replied.
At the same time, two more female guard members stepped forward, using a detector to scan her pupils.
It was said to be a measure to prevent demons from transforming into human guise and infiltrating the school.
If they were demons, their pupils would reflect a bright red light.
"No issues!"
The inspector nodded towards the distant guardhouse.
Beside them, someone was using a tablet to check Zhao Xiyue's information and compare it with her in person.
"That's right, it's Zhao Xiyue, she's back. We need to inform the Board of Directors of this!"
The clerk said, sending a message.
"Zhang Chen, Experimental Class... Angina, instructor for Spirit Energy Projection course."
Zhang Chen also cooperated with the inspection.
Fortunately, the inspectors did not check the pupils of the faceless demon.
They simply treated it as Zhang Chen's spirit contract and bypassed it.
"Zhang Chen?"
The clerk froze for a moment, then quickly operated the tablet.
Meanwhile, at the Board of Directors.
The entire conference room was somber.
Tang Houde, the president of the Board of Directors, adjusted his glasses and said:
"This time, we lost 54 freshmen, of which 12 were rare geniuses, and one was a top-tier genius!"
"However, it's fortunate that Zhao Xiyue and Zhang Chen, two of the three top-tier geniuses, have returned. Otherwise, we would have suffered catastrophic losses!"
"From today onwards, all geniuses of rare-tier or above must be guarded 24 hours a day."
"Top-tier geniuses must be protected by a guarding squad!"
Zhou Feifei frowned and said:
"With the current number of Board of Directors guards, we can barely maintain the school's current safety status."
"Now, if we have to reallocate a large number of personnel, even entire squads, to provide protection, I fear there will be huge security loopholes in the entire school's defense."
Tang Houde nodded, his expression grim.
"I am well aware of this, but we must all know that Phoenix Academy's current status is absolutely not due to the number of students."
"It is the reputation of a genius academy that has brought our institution to where it is today."
"Therefore, geniuses are our academy's key resources. As for those other students who perform ordinarily, they can only experience the cruelty of natural selection earlier."
"This is unfair!"
Zhou Feifei stood up anxiously, ready to argue a few points, but was stopped by Xu Linna.
"Actually, President Tang's words have a lot of merit, Feifei. You need to think about it carefully and not rush to deny it."
"Furthermore, I believe that Zhang Chen from the experimental class requires no guard at all. This would allow us to retain a mobile team to deal with any potential situations on campus."
"And all of our teachers can participate in the defense, so safety is not an issue."
"In summary, I agree with President Tang's proposal."
Tang Houde was initially taken aback by Xu Linna's words.
However, he soon understood something from her gaze and nodded, saying:
"Then let's proceed as Director Xu suggests!"
Suddenly, the hunched-over Xi La raised her hand.
At the same time, Angina was also eager, her hand nervously clenched on the table.
"Teacher Xi La, what are your thoughts?"
Tang Houde asked in surprise.
This reclusive and unapproachable Xi La was actually volunteering to speak today?
It was truly baffling!
"I want to go guard Zhang Chen!"
Xi La said calmly.
Her statement caused everyone to freeze.
Angina, in particular, was so astonished that she exclaimed: "What? You want to guard Zhang Chen too?!"