The people at the Brook Education Center had been bribed and pretended not to see this kind of oppression.
If they intervened, it would be considered non-compliant.
But if they didn’t intervene, given Little Sheep Food Company’s absolute control over Brook, it wouldn’t matter much.
So… it didn’t matter whether a declining person opposed resistance or not.
Maybe if she opposed resistance, it would seem even more suspicious.
They all looked at Huo You.
Under the warm orange light in the room, she hesitated before finally saying awkwardly, “I understand. Brook has its own rules, and things aren’t what they used to be. I’m just a declining person.”
She didn’t hand over the bank card from her body directly.
Instead, she went back to rummage through that little worn-out bag and pulled out her ID card to give to the investigator, while also extending her hand.
The investigator first scanned the bank card with a device.
“Balance: 15.00 Federal Copper Coins.”
Uh… enough to buy a pizza?
Clearly, a poor person.
The investigator narrowed his eyes and switched to a device for scanning parasite data.
He pricked and scanned Huo You’s open palms one after the other.
Beep beep.
“Declining person, no parasite detected.
“Body condition: weak, anemia, malnutrition, and experiencing dizziness and nausea due to prolonged study and test preparation… Please remember to drink plenty of hot water.”
Oof, sounds exactly like a student cramming for college entrance exams.
For a moment, the scene and atmosphere were extremely awkward.
To break the awkwardness, a service worker from the Brook Education Center said, “Isn’t there cornbread? Still in a hunger state?”
Huo You, embarrassed: “I have to save it… I still have a whole day left.”
Service worker: “Uh… then drink more hot water.”
Huo You became even more embarrassed, tapping her fingers together: “Water costs money… especially heated drinking water.”
Truly, the words weak, helpless, and poor might as well be flashing in golden light on her forehead…
The Little Sheep Food Company investigator shot the Brook Education Center staff a look: ‘Damn, you guys are worse money-grubbers than us. Even hot water costs money?’
The Brook Education Center staff: ‘Oh, you’re so noble and righteous? So clean and honest? Yet you bribed us?’
How else could they investigate?
Despite his earlier aggression and intrusion, the investigator didn’t feel awkward at all.
He indifferently wrapped things up.
“Same as before, Miss Huo, I hope you pass the college entrance exam.”
The word pass was oddly used, with an implied meaning.
It didn’t sound like a blessing—more like a reflection of her current situation, a warning: No matter what he said or did, she shouldn’t even think about causing trouble for him.
Huo You seemed not to understand.
Three years of hardship had worn away any arrogance she once had.
With her head lowered and eyes downcast, she was filled with humble gratitude.
“Okay, okay, I’ll work hard! Thank you.”
The investigator fake-smiled, curled his lips, closed the door, and left with the Brook Education Center personnel.
As they walked through the corridor and turned the corner, the investigator lowered his voice and asked, “Did she have any stored or incoming parcels?”
“No, she’s too poor to afford such extra services.”
“Wait… did something big happen in your company? Why are you investigating a declining student so thoroughly?”
The Brook Education Center staff sounded indifferent but might have been probing.
When something is unusual, there’s always a reason.
On this garbage planet, everyone was scheming for profit.
“A lot of people died. We couldn’t find out why, and it made us look bad. You think we’re like your public employees, getting stipends? We’re just workers.”
The investigator was being casual with his words, but deep down, he also looked down on Huo You.
Otherwise, with how sharp he was, why would he leave loose ends for himself?
A declining person—if she had even a sliver of potential, why would her family abandon her?
It only meant one thing: poor qualifications and a lowly status.
What future could she possibly have?
But the most important thing…
After leaving the education center, the investigator first sent Little Tyrant’s test data, then reported the investigation details to Xu Yao.
Xu Yao browsed through the data, his expression dark.
He asked, “Did she take the bank card directly from her person and hand it to you?”
Huh?
The investigator felt a jolt in his heart.
He hadn’t thought about it at first, but now that he reconsidered…
“No, she took it out from her tattered bag. She seemed nervous. I checked, though—her bag had all sorts of junk, but nothing suspicious.”
This meant she hadn’t predicted their investigation process in advance, nor had she prepared the bank card in advance.
But still… damn, the manager was meticulous.
Too bad trash is just trash—Huo You was nothing remarkable.
The Electric Python, Li Tom, Scavengers, and an unknown Yellow Sparrow man—after investigation, the whole bloodbath was now a closed loop.
Yet, somehow, the original prey, Huo You, had managed to hide the final spoils.
Xu Yao looked at the test questions from earlier but quickly lost interest.
Her accuracy rate was around 30%.
Not complete garbage, but just mediocre garbage.
And this was the easiest foundational knowledge from the Education Bureau—the simplest questions from the test.
All in all, Huo You was just that.
She wasn’t worth paying attention to.
The only reason she had fallen so hard was that she had probably offended someone in the Huo family—either due to her poor aptitude or some other issue.
She was just a fallen dog getting kicked.
“I got it. Good work. From now on, keep an eye on her over there. Have the Brook Education Centerstaff watch her too. Don’t let her get killed. Also—on the 17th, exam day, she’ll fail the first test for sure.
Failing means she’ll lose her exam qualifications and be kicked out of the education center. Keep watching her.”
The investigator said, “I heard this year’s college entrance exam reform increased the difficulty?
They might deploy criminals from the prison sector, like murderous psychopaths, berserkers, and mutant infectees? Not just combat trials, but also comprehensive ability assessments? It’s that hard?”
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