How Am I Still Alive?-Chapter 1357 - 1343: Turmoil

"Have you heard? Shandar got beaten up, by that impressive ’Heavenly Black Spin’. Right in front of everyone, it was so bad he almost cried on the spot."

"...Isn’t he in the senior eighth tier? Who did he mess with? Got into trouble with a Quasi-God, or was it another senior eighth-tier?"

"No, no, no, if it really was a Quasi-God who beat him up, that wouldn’t be news at all... He was beaten by a little girl, a little girl definitely no older than six."

"Seriously? Do you know who that was?"

"I heard it’s the daughter of a Quasi-God... the daughter of Balance Disaster Beast Kerdalais and that Lu Ping’an!"

"Man, isn’t Lu Ping’an only 17 years old, not even close to being old enough to be Kerdalais’s match, a real mismatch..."

When the news spread, a certain Big Cat’s roar of "Lu Ping’an!" resonated again in the courtyard.

She indeed had a reason to be angry, not only was she mistaken for her own daughter.... Just this identity, to a Quasi-God like her, was an insult, and once the misunderstanding was cleared up and it was confirmed that it was her, not her daughter, her old pals would ridicule her even more.

By then, the number of people focusing on the "daughter" would translate into an equal amount of reversal and astonishment.

"Why are you shouting, all you’ve got left is your mouth..."

Lu Ping’an also felt awkward, after all, the rumors outside were indeed a bit messy, considering Big Cat’s human form rarely appeared in the past; it was mostly her "Disaster Beast" form...

"...My reputation is probably ruined. Chris, maybe we shouldn’t hurt each other."

Lu Ping’an always had a fondness for cats, but if his liking was construed in that way, it was a bit too much for him.

"Meow?"

When gods fight, the mortals suffer; normally, the courtyard executives just pretend to be blind and ignore it.

But this time, Meow stood out with a look of dejection on its face.

"...They asked me, asked me if I was Lu Ping’an’s daughter Meow? I denied it Meow, they didn’t believe me Meow!!"

Alright, innocent little Meow suffered the consequences.

Being Lu Ping’an’s "daughter" was still somewhat acceptable... Being the daughter of a Balance Disaster Beast, though, that could really be deadly.

"...I’ll try to explain it."

Yesterday, when he received a call from the Animal Protection Association, Lu Ping’an was also baffled... He suspected those guys were trying to scam his money, or it was a test by someone.

But now it seemed he had underestimated Big Cat’s influence; this joke, obvious to anyone with eyes, is now being taken more and more seriously as if a bunch of people were blatantly lying.

He pondered about how to explain...

"Uh, seems I can’t explain it, should I say it’s not the daughter of a Disaster Beast but the Disaster Beast herself?"

Lu Ping’an was also getting frustrated, was this trouble of being seen as a "cat lover" actually meant to trap him?

"...Let’s wait a while, probably until I’ve been laughed at enough."

The real form of Big Cat, it seemed, could only just cope like this.

Ordinary people were one thing, but those old timers, how could they possibly not know the truth.

Maybe there were some bastards fueling the situation, otherwise, there’s no reason for the rumor to spread this fast. In less than a day, the rumor had spread through the entire Upper Circle of Wanjing, even prompting calls from old monsters who had been in seclusion for decades to ask about the situation (and laugh at Chris).... Considering Chris’s reputation back in the day, the list of suspects was just too long to even think of seeking revenge.

"...Look on the bright side, at least our goal was accomplished. Now when I go out, there are noticeably fewer followers."

When they clashed with that eighth-tier... Although the fact that a squabble over a nonredeemable coupon evolved into a scene featuring top combat forces was somewhat absurd, the fight was essentially instigated by Lu Ping’an and his team.

Lu and Chris needed to set an example, to showcase the power of this "young Disaster Beast."

That Shandar was also a carefully chosen appropriate opponent, an eighth-tier Fighter skilled in combat... It was easy for a superior of the same path to thrash a subordinate, often brutally.

Especially since Big Cat had had previous "frictions" with the opponent, not only did it know everything about the opponent which increased its chances of winning, but it was also able to limit the opponent’s resistance... When the opponent realized they were indeed facing that Ferocious Beast and it only wanted to beat them in a single fight, "the rational Shandar" would most likely just take the beating.

As for the reason for the fight? Just pick one from history; it was all too common.

Taking the floor that needed reconstruction as proof, the two did indeed fight seriously, but since the entire Haijing District wasn’t being reconstructed, it also indicated that their fight wasn’t fully serious... Had it reached that point, naturally other Quasi-Gods would have intervened.

"Message, they must have received it by now, otherwise they wouldn’t be retaliating at such a level."

Big Cat glared at Lu, didn’t want to deal with it and walked away.

In reality, the message Lu Ping’an wanted to convey, "Big Cat indeed has revived, but its condition is quite subtle, with combat power around seventh and eighth order," had been conveyed... And some beings had responded to this proactive leak of information in a mocking manner.

Lu Ping’an just shrugged his shoulders; he figured explanations were probably unnecessary when comparing media whitewashing with the local tyrants; it was completely uncomfortable.

And this "seventh and eighth order partially crippled Big Cat" was also the "best current state" chosen by Lu Ping’an... Too strong would bring too troublesome threats and close attention; this level of power was enough to deter small-time crooks who truly had big shots causing trouble.

"Even if it’s a crippled Chris, since she is still that Kerdalais, she still has too many dangerous methods, she could possibly kill even a Quasi-God."

This was the "best current state" Lu and Chris had repeatedly discussed and it seemed to also have been accepted by the outside, although the process was a bit delicate.

"Another new commission?"

"Is it commissioned by a Quasi-God?"

"No."

"Then reject it. Tell them there’s already a queue of Quasi-God big shots waiting."

After she reappeared, this research institute received more than a dozen academic commissions in two days, mostly of the type that involved "answering questions."

On one hand, it might still be people probing; on the other, some genuinely wanted to avail themselves of Big Cat’s academic capabilities.

After all, a developer of the Life system who had reached the pinnacles as a Black Knight (Soldier), Healer, Fighter, and Beast Tamer was extremely valuable, especially in an era with infinite unknown lives every day.

What was also being probed was Lu Ping’an... whether he was the master who had tamed this beast or merely its guise, whether he was the Guardian of Order or an ambitious pretender just masquerading.

Thus, at least publicly, Lu Ping’an refused those "simple commissions" with a low moral threshold and high profit, regardless of whether he was disguising himself or not, to those probing, such a stance and action itself was the answer they needed.

But for Lu Ping’an himself, these were minor issues; his identity as an "official person" was his greatest reliance now.

No matter how powerful or dangerous he was, as long as he didn’t break the law and made his stance clear, there was no reason for the officials in the Capital of the Eastern Country to easily give him up.

Of course, there was also a gamble involved... Seeing that it was only a minor controversy and not a storm, he was on the winning side of this gamble.

But what concerned him more was not the current situation, but...

"Is this my opportunity..."

Lu Ping’an could sense it, when "Creation" was successful, when he truly connected to this new "Clone," he would advance further as a quasi-rule of the Life system.

He had already received a clear warning; he might not need a complete cat, just two-thirds of one, and he would have to cross that line and become a true Rule-level.

This wasn’t just a warning given by spiritual intuition; "knowledge"-derived "reason" also provided a logically consistent explanation.

"Rule-level can create Rule-level, which is fair..."