Chapter 3: The Test

At nine in the evening, the cold weapon mixed martial arts tournament inside Storm Arena was still underway.

At that moment, in the control room, a middle-aged white man in a referee's uniform sat before a screen, repeatedly reviewing a video recording.

If Tao Ran were still present, he would recognize this man as the chief referee who had presided over his match against Ichabod Wood.

"Sampson, you're still watching that footage?"

Beside him, a middle-aged man of similar age, holding a cup of coffee, looked over with a puzzled expression: "Hasn't it been determined that it was an explosion caused by armor failure?"

"That was just the preliminary result. Even the appraiser's tone was quite uncertain."

Sampson frowned, several knife-like creases appearing on his forehead: "According to his initial judgment, the armor shouldn't have exploded without reason. Ichabod's neck component must have been subjected to at least ten tons of impact force in an instant, exceeding the armor's load-bearing capacity, causing Ichabod to be instantly knocked flying and the armor to be completely destroyed."

The middle-aged man couldn't help but laugh: "Are you joking? Ten tons of impact force? Then Ichabod's opponent must have been at least a sixth-level professional, right? Any evidence? You should have noticed it too, shouldn't you?"

"First, I have to admit I was a bit distracted at the time, so I can't rule out that possibility."

Sampson looked helpless: "And that appraiser did tell me that. Precisely because there's no evidence to support it, the result was armor failure. However, the appraiser insisted on sending the armor to the Exxon Magic Energy Lab for a detailed third-party test, and the Nathan Sports Group supported his opinion."

"The Nathan Group is the armor sponsor for NHSAA. Of course, they don't want their product to have problems. This could be a huge scandal."

The middle-aged man spoke with a sarcastic tone, then asked: "And you? After watching the footage so many times, have you found anything?"

"No! From the footage alone, no person or object made contact with Ichabod."

Sampson crossed his arms: "This is the result of my repeated reverse playback, frame by frame. I can vouch for it. Unless—"

"Unless what?" The middle-aged man took a casual sip of coffee.

"Unless his opponent, that is, Andre Lee Wiltonstein, had a sword speed of at least 320 kilometers per hour, escaping the capture of our specialized cameras."

Sampson shook his head: "But that's even more incredible, isn't it? Even a seventh-level magic shadow user doesn't have such ability."

"So why bother agonizing over it?"

The middle-aged man laughed: "The match is almost over. I think we should find a bar to hang out and relax a bit. Right, Sampson?"

...

The school bus carrying Tao Ran and William Jacques had arrived at the Wanderer District where their residence was located.

Unlike his high spirits an hour earlier, William Jacques was listless as he stepped off the bus, his face as wilted as a bitter gourd, muttering to himself: "Why? Why? This shouldn't be, it shouldn't. That guy clearly shouldn't be my match. Why did I end up losing? Eliminated in the first round, oh my god! How will Louise see me? Unreliable William?"

"You were too confident and attacked too hastily."

Tao Ran commented without emotion: "You ran out of steam. It would be strange if you didn't lose to him. In short, you were careless and overconfident."

As he spoke, he discreetly shifted his gaze to the side, lingering on a young girl who had also gotten off the bus.

Tao Ran guessed she was about twenty years old, with delicate features and fair skin. She wore a tight white T-shirt and hot pants, accentuating her curves.

—Such attire, if in the Original Dome Realm, would be extremely indecent. Even the most open-minded female disciples of the Joy Union wouldn't dress like that.

Even in this world, it was quite out of line. This was the Wanderer District, one of the top three neighborhoods in Atlanta for assault cases. A girl dressed like this was asking for trouble.

Tao Ran had no intention of meddling. He knew this young girl was likely what this world called a call girl. On the bus, he had overheard her flirting with a government employee from a neighboring district, even offering a price of five hundred gold shields per night.

The girl's cool attire was clearly due to her profession, none of his concern.

Yet Tao Ran couldn't help but be concerned, because at this moment, a surge of lust was burning within him, forcing him to fix his gaze on the young girl, a hint of red even appearing in his eyes.

This situation felt incredible to Tao Ran. He had to use all his strength to suppress the urge to pounce on her.

Could this also be a heart demon?

But Tao Ran asked himself: he was by no means a lecher, nor would he stoop to developing feelings for a call girl. What difference would that make from a beast?

Heart demons arise from one's own thoughts and desires. This situation was utterly against common sense.

"Hey! You, who was scared stiff on stage, have no right to talk about me!"

William Jacques, walking ahead alone, was completely unaware of his friend's abnormality, grumbling discontentedly: "That guy was despicable, utterly shameless!"

"Alright, if you consider reasonable tactics as despicable."

As the young girl gradually walked away, Tao Ran finally managed to calm his restless energy. But his mind was still filled with distracting thoughts, leaving him no strength to argue with this fool beside him.

"As I recall, this tournament has a loser's bracket revival process, right? You can still fight your way out of the loser's bracket."

"Loser's bracket? Ha!"

William's lips twisted: "Easy for you to say! That place is even more full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers! Over 100 schools in Atlanta, a total of 2000 people competing for four spots in the top 64 from the loser's bracket. Don't you think that's too cruel, Amo?"

"I can take time to coach you—"

Tao Ran hesitated for a moment: "Every day after dinner, I can teach you for half an hour."

This was only because William Jacques was the original owner's best friend to date and had helped him break free from the heart demon's entanglement.

Tao Ran anticipated being very busy in the coming days, needing to spend time and energy understanding this world and establishing himself here. There was also that small problem just now that needed to be resolved quickly.

Setting aside half an hour each day for William was already a sign of his sincerity.

"You teach me? Come on! I think you'd better fix your own problems first. Next time, you won't be so lucky."

William waved his hand weakly: "I think I need to go home and cool off. See you tomorrow, lucky Amo."

Tao Ran watched William's back until it disappeared around the street corner, then shook his head and walked in the other direction.

The original owner of the body and William lived in the same district, but their residences were over three hundred meters apart, on opposite sides of the school bus stop.

By the time Tao Ran followed the original owner's memory to find his dwelling, ten minutes had passed.

It was a very old apartment, and Tao Ran's residence was a semi-basement of about thirty square meters.

Tao Ran had originally planned to continue clearing Li Mochen's memories when he was alone. But after returning to this basement, he abandoned that plan, threw himself onto the bed, and began to snore loudly.