Stronger with Crimson Modifier-Chapter 40: Quota

Witnessing this scene, Lin Tong was also slightly surprised. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

He had seen Hong Shan’s previous fights.

In terms of his Mountain-Crushing Ram alone, combined with his physique, he had leveraged the advantages of that Fighting Technique to near perfection.

While his method of attack was somewhat one-dimensional, his strength was considerable. He was a promising candidate.

In his view, Hong Shan had a high probability of securing a spot in the core class.

He never expected that when Hong Shan faced this man, he would be crushed so completely, unable to put up any resistance.

Soon, the first round ended.

Chen Chang, also from Class Two, was eliminated in the first round.

He had the misfortune of being matched directly against Sims.

Knowing full well how terrifying his opponent was, Chen Chang wisely chose to forfeit.

After all, there was a choice: forfeit immediately, or get beaten up and then be declared the loser.

As long as one wasn’t stupid and had no masochistic tendencies, they would naturally choose the former.

After a ten-minute break to recover their stamina, the second round began.

This time Hu Qi was up against a white man, whose full name was very long, shortened to Kita.

He was a member of Class Three, ranked second in strength right behind Sims.

Unlike Hong Shan, Kita did not engage in a direct head-on clash with Hu Qi from the start.

He had also seen Hu Qi’s previous fight.

He had watched Hu Qi send the nearly 200-pound Hong Shan flying off his feet with a single kick, and he knew he couldn’t replicate that feat.

He stood no chance in a head-on clash. To defeat his opponent, his best bet was to use hit-and-run tactics to wear him down.

If a strike missed, he would immediately retreat to create distance.

Unfortunately, in the face of Hu Qi’s absolute strength, such tactics were useless.

Just as Kita tried to approach again, Hu Qi suddenly stepped forward and rushed out.

Reacting on instinct, Kita let out a low shout and threw a punch at Hu Qi, attempting to force him back.

Hu Qi, however, didn’t dodge. He leaned slightly, his hand forming a claw as it shot out and seized Kita’s incoming wrist from the side.

His eyes narrowed. As he focused his strength, the muscles in his arm visibly bulged, swelling by a size.

Then, using his waist as a pivot and the power from his legs, he erupted with force.

He slammed Kita to the ground with a shoulder throw.

He pressed his bent knee into Kita’s back, pinning him to the ground.

"Hu Qi wins!" the coach serving as the referee for the match announced.

Hearing the voice, Hu Qi then let go and stood up.

He looked at his opponent, who was struggling to breathe.

He spoke softly, "Sorry."

"COUGH, COUGH, I’m fine..."

Kita coughed twice and waved his hand.

"My skills were just inferior."

He paused, his gaze fixed on Hu Qi.

"To be honest, I’m really curious who’s stronger, you or Sims. It’s a shame that it looks like you two won’t get to fight!"

"Heh, who knows about that," Hu Qi smiled noncommittally and looked to the side.

There, Sims had already finished his fight.

The students who made it to the top ten were all skilled, but they had the bad luck of facing Sims.

Their defeat was just as absolute.

Seemingly sensing Hu Qi’s gaze, Sims suddenly turned his head to look over.

A cold smile appeared on his dark face, and he raised his hand to his neck to make a provocative throat-slitting gesture.

In response, Hu Qi raised an eyebrow.

Without showing any weakness, he raised his hand and directly gave the middle finger.

Visibly, Sims’s already dark face became a shade darker.

But perhaps due to the presence of the coach and the crew-cut Young Man, Sims did not act out.

Sensing a certain gaze move away from him, a cold smile lifted the corner of Hu Qi’s mouth.

’This so-called core class is definitely not simple. While I don’t know the details yet, I suspect it involves true Extraordinary Power.’

’I am determined to get in. No one can stand in my way.’

Thanks to the Perfection of his Criminal Investigation Technique and the bonus from his [Attentive as a Hair] Trait, his observational skills far surpassed those of an ordinary person.

Basically, with just a sweep of his gaze, he could take in the changes in expression of everyone present and analyze them.

And the crew-cut Young Man, who was the examiner this time, naturally attracted most of Hu Qi’s attention.

The man hadn’t said a word the entire time, but he had clearly been observing everyone’s performance.

What Sims had just done was naturally no exception.

However, the examiner didn’t intervene. In fact, he seemed to appreciate it.

From this small detail, Hu Qi could roughly gauge the examiner’s attitude.

’This man probably appreciates fighters with some fire in them, those who aren’t afraid to be aggressive.’

’Therefore, if I had reacted poorly to Sims’s provocation just now, or hadn’t been firm enough, I would have likely left a bad impression on him.’

’The approving look the examiner gave me when I responded was enough to prove my guess was correct.’

’As for Sims, that guy probably did it on purpose.’

’That son of a bitch!’

Hu Qi’s eyes narrowed slightly, a cold light glinting in their depths.

Ever since he killed Lu Shi and his companion, even he himself hadn’t realized it,

but when facing certain situations,

his mindset had undergone a subtle, unconscious change.

...

These thoughts flashed through his mind.

Hu Qi walked to the side, and the first person he saw was Song Jian. Beside him, the girl named Lin Rong was saying something in a low voice.

"I lost!"

Seeing Hu Qi walk over, a bitter smile flashed across Song Jian’s face.

His opponent wasn’t Sims.

It was a little-known, expressionless young man from Class Four.

"If not this year, isn’t there still a chance next year? You’re still young anyway."

Hu Qi didn’t know how to comfort him. He was never good at this kind of thing, so that was all he could say.

Sparring with Hu Qi, a master who had achieved Perfection in Mixed Martial Arts, had been a great help to Song Jian recently, allowing his strength to grow steadily.

Logically, with Song Jian’s strength, securing a spot in the core class shouldn’t have been a problem in Hu Qi’s eyes.

Unfortunately, some things just don’t go as planned.

Who could have predicted that when he was just one step away from qualifying for the core class, he would run into a dark horse and be defeated?

"That’s true. Congratulations to you this time for successfully entering the core class."

Song Jian smiled, but no matter how one looked at it, the smile was tinged with bitterness and felt forced.

The two exchanged a few more pleasantries.

Just then, the other matches concluded, and the victors were decided.

The final five were Sims, Hu Qi, Ye Li, Wang Yue, and Liu Ping.

Sims was from Class Three, while Hu Qi and Ye Li belonged to Class Two.

Wang Yue was from Class Five, and Liu Ping, the one who had defeated Song Jian, was from Class Four.

As for Class One, Hong Shan’s loss meant that none of its members advanced; they were all eliminated.

Looking at the list, the crew-cut Young Man looked to Chen Wu at his side, a smile on his face.

"Chen Wu, your Class Two did well this time, with two people advancing. Keep it up!"

"It’s all thanks to the excellent decisions and planning from the higher-ups. I merely did the basic work required of me."