บท 29: Chapter 29: The Cheating Scandal and Baseless Accusation
Li Qi pointed her finger at Sophia, her gaze shifting to Liam standing nearby. Fueled by burning jealousy, she could no longer care about maintaining her composure.
However, as she looked at Liam's expression, she quickly became disappointed. The emotions she expected—anger, fear, or even a hint of guilt—were entirely absent. Instead, Liam merely appeared puzzled, as if he were looking at someone who was "not very bright."
Spreading his hands in confusion, Liam spoke, completely ignoring the accusations of cheating. He didn't even attempt to defend himself. Instead, he said with genuine curiosity, "Why are you suddenly targeting me? I mean, just because I mistook you for a waitress earlier? It's not a big deal—you do kind of dress the part."
"What... what?" Li Qi was momentarily stunned. Was this guy fixated on the wrong thing? Why was he still talking about the waitress incident instead of addressing the cheating accusation?
But as she realized what was happening, she became furious and shouted, "Who looks like a waitress? How do I look like a waitress?"
"Well, you're dressed differently from everyone else. Your outfit is pretty neat, and you look older, so I thought you were staff."
"Who are you calling old?! Look carefully—this is an official examiner's uniform! How does this look like..."
Li Qi, clutching her collar in anger, abruptly halted, realizing something was off. Wait a minute... wasn't she supposed to be talking about the cheating issue? How did the conversation suddenly shift to whether or not she looked like a waitress? This guy must be messing with her! How did she get so easily sidetracked?
In the judges' area, a burly man over six feet tall with broad shoulders frowned at the scene and scolded Li Qi, "This is a serious matter! If you're accusing someone of cheating, stick to the point! Don't bring up irrelevant things like your part-time jobs—do you think this is a joke?"
Li Qi felt a surge of frustration at his words, as if something was pressing against her chest, making her want to cough up blood. What part-time job? Is everyone just going to assume I'm a waitress now?
But she knew exactly who the man was—the mighty War God of the War God Hall. Even though she and Sophia were both War Gods, they weren't on the same level. She didn't dare argue back, so she could only bite her tongue.
She took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure and refocus her thoughts. She realized something was off about Liam—whenever he spoke, she would end up completely losing her train of thought. Could this be part of his superpower?
After a few seconds, Li Qi stopped looking at Liam and turned to the other judges, saying, "According to the report Sophia submitted, Liam's E-level ability underwent a highly unusual mutation, resulting in an ice-based power—an extremely high-level ice ability. He demonstrated this power when he arrived and when he registered for his ID card, both times with Sophia present."
"So, I believe it wasn't him who did it. Sophia was helping him cheat!"
Her words sent the group of candidates into an uproar. People began whispering to one another, and that was exactly what Li Qi had planned. She had arranged for Liu Peng and several other candidates under her wing to stir up doubt and suspicion among the others. With some encouragement, the crowd, which included many who already looked down on lower-level abilities, quickly voiced their agreement.
"No way, if that's true, we're done for."
"How can we compete against the examiners?"
"What should we do? This needs to be investigated."
Liam observed quietly, his eyes scanning the faces of those speaking up, memorizing them. He didn't waste his breath trying to defend himself because "proving one's innocence" is often the hardest thing to do.
"So, my suggestion is that we search him and find any illegal items he might be carrying!" Li Qi declared smugly.
Sophia was furious. She realized that Li Qi didn't really care about the cheating accusation—she was just here to make trouble.
"That's not possible! This is completely humiliating. You don't even have any..." Sophia began, but Liam gently patted her shoulder, stepping forward to stand between her and Li Qi.
"Thanks for standing up for me, but this kind of pointless argument isn't going to resolve anything," Liam said calmly. Then he turned to Cain, the elderly headmaster. "So, Headmaster Cain, you seem to be enjoying the show. Are you going to say something?"
Cain, who had been silently watching the situation unfold, his smiling face concealing his thoughts, finally spoke up after a few seconds of silence. His voice was calm and gentle as he said, "Hehe, I've already scanned him. There's nothing suspicious on him." Then he turned to Li Qi and added, "As for storage rings, that's an easy problem to solve."
With a wave of his hand, a transparent wristband appeared on the arms of all 126 candidates.
"We were already planning a small reform for this test. This is an energy wristband that was recently created. It will enhance your safety by allowing you to request an exit if you sustain serious injuries. I've just added a storage function to it. You can store anything you want in here, and it will automatically reject any illegal items."
Liam looked down at the wristband, impressed by Cain's effortless demonstration of power. His abilities were clearly far more formidable than they appeared.
Seeing the kindly old man take charge, Li Qi backed down, though her eyes still gleamed with satisfaction. She had achieved her goal—discrediting Sophia and planting seeds of doubt about Liam among the candidates. Even if Liam was talented, as long as Liu Peng and the others followed her instructions inside the test, he wouldn't perform well.
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