237: Chapter 237 The Refined Scoundrel

Inside the largest lecture hall at Kyoto University, the air was so stifling that it was hard to breathe.

The classroom, which originally only held five hundred people, was now crammed with nearly a thousand.

Even the aisles and windowsills were packed with students, and quite a few gray-haired professors were mixed into the crowd, notebooks in hand, their expressions as serious as if they were attending an academic symposium.

Everyone's gaze was fixed on the young figure on the podium.

Lin Fan had changed into a handsome black suit.

He wore gold-rimmed non-prescription glasses on the bridge of his nose, and his hair was combed meticulously; he looked refined and cultured, exuding the air of an intellectual.

Only those familiar with him could read the familiar scent of a Shrewd Merchant in his eyes, which flashed with sharp intelligence from time to time.

"Students, many people ask me, what is the first element of survival on the Ten Thousand Races Battlefield?"

Lin Fan's voice was clearly transmitted to every corner of the classroom through the loudspeaker.

He did not stand behind the podium reciting from a script; instead, he paced back and forth in front of a giant holographic map, holding a pointer.

"Is it strength?"

Lin Fan paused and scanned the room.

"Wrong."

He held up a finger and shook it gently.

"It is cognition—an extreme judgment of the value of resources."

The students below listened, utterly mesmerized, their pens moving rapidly across their notebooks.

Lin Fan pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, a meaningful curve tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"In traditional martial arts concepts, your first reaction when encountering high-level exotic beasts is to run or fight for your life."

"But in my 'Battlefield Resource Studies,' those are not exotic beasts; they are walking raw materials, undeveloped blind boxes, and the capital for you to defy the heavens and change your fate."

"When you learn to examine the battlefield with a commercial eye, you will discover that fear stems from poverty, while courage stems from a desire for profit."

At the back door of the classroom, three figures were struggling to squeeze a gap through the wall of people.

Zhang Hao sucked in his stomach with great effort, his face contorted from the squeezing.

"Excuse me, excuse me, I am Instructor Lin's teaching assistant."

Zhang Hao shouted while using his sturdy build to forcefully carve out a path.

Chu Yaoyao, following behind him, widened her eyes, looking at the man on the podium in disbelief.

She rubbed her eyes hard, even suspecting she had walked into the wrong classroom.

"Is that Brother Fan?"

Chu Yaoyao tugged on Zhang Hao's shirt hem in front of her, her voice filled with doubt.

"Since when did he become so... presentable?"

In her impression, Lin Fan was always that Shrewd Merchant who wore oversized shorts and flip-flops, squatting on the side of the road haggling with people.

The Lin Fan on the podium now exuded a convincing instructor's demeanor in every gesture; he was like a completely different person.

Su Qingxue walked at the very back. She wore a simple, slim-fitting white shirt today, and her cold, aloof temperament caused the crowd around her to unconsciously make a little space.

She watched Lin Fan, who was holding court on stage, and a hint of a smile flashed in her originally cold eyes.

This guy really could act the part of anything.

He was clearly teaching ways to maximize the exploitation of exotic beast corpses for profit, yet coming from his mouth, it turned into profound battlefield survival philosophy.

And yet, these proud children of heaven were listening with great interest, completely led down his path.

On the podium, Lin Fan did not notice the three in the corner; he was immersed in his own speech.

"For example."

Lin Fan's pointer tapped on a red dot on the holographic map.

"This is a Black Iron Giant Rhinoceros, a C-rank exotic beast with thick skin and flesh."

"Textbooks teach you to attack its soft underbelly and then retreat quickly."

"That is an extremely wasteful behavior."

Lin Fan slapped the table, appearing heartbroken.

"The skin of a Black Iron Giant Rhinoceros is the core material for making C-rank defensive blind boxes, and its horn, when ground into powder, is the main ingredient for powerful virility... ahem, powerful Qi-recovery pills."

"If you kill a Black Iron Giant Rhinoceros and only take the crystal core, your profit is only 500 points."

"But if you follow my 'Whole-Body Recovery Method' and have it professionally packaged by the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, its value can increase tenfold!"

A collective gasp of shock echoed through the room.

Ten times the profit was enough to make any martial artist go crazy.

An old professor sitting in the front row raised his hand and asked with a trembling voice.

"Professor Lin, but full-body recovery requires extremely high dissection skills and packaging equipment. How could we possibly do that on the battlefield?"

Lin Fan looked at the old professor with satisfaction; this supporting act was too professional.

"Good question."

Lin Fan snapped his fingers.

"That is the key point I want to talk about today."

"The Myriad Treasures Pavilion's latest battlefield portable packaging capsule, for only 9,988, will allow you to possess a mobile processing plant you can carry with you."

"Buy it, and the battlefield will no longer be a meat grinder, but your private vault."

"Students, remember one thing: in this era, only by turning the enemy into a wallet is it the greatest cruelty to the enemy."

Thunderous applause instantly drowned out the entire classroom.

Countless eyes burned with fanatical fire; it was a desire for wealth and strength.

Zhang Hao had finally squeezed into a corner, and upon hearing this, his jaw hit the floor.

"Good heavens, is Brother Fan running a pyramid scheme at Kyoto University?"

Zhang Hao stared, dumbfounded, at the students around him who had fallen into a frenzy.

Even those scions of noble families, who were usually arrogant, were now frantically asking where they could buy the packaging capsules.

Chu Yaoyao was also stunned.

"Why do I feel like Brother Fan isn't here to teach, but to stock up on inventory?"

"When these students go to the battlefield later, won't they just see exotic beasts and start packing them up with glowing eyes?"

The smile at the corners of Su Qingxue's mouth grew even wider.

She knew Lin Fan too well.

The most terrifying thing about this man was not his strength, but his ability to pull everyone into his logical closed loop.

When everyone began to measure war in terms of profit, Lin Fan was the god who set the rules.

"However, he isn't wrong, either."

Su Qingxue said softly.

"For civilian students without a background, this is indeed a shortcut to accumulate resources quickly."

Although the methods were a bit crass, it could truly save lives and make them stronger.

That was enough.

Lin Fan on the podium seemed to sense something, his gaze sweeping casually across the corner of the classroom.

When he saw the three people squeezed into the crowd, the eyes hidden behind his lenses curved slightly.

He did not stop lecturing, but nodded almost imperceptibly in that direction, revealing a standard "Shrewd Merchant-style" smile.

That smile contained too many meanings.

There was welcome, there was smugness, and even more, a hint that he was about to lead everyone to get rich together.

Zhang Hao shivered when he saw that smile.

"It's over. I have a premonition that Brother Fan is definitely cooking up something bad again."

"I'm afraid that by coming to Kyoto University this time, we're going to turn the world upside down."

Chu Yaoyao, however, waved her little fist excitedly.

"Turn it upside down then, anyway, Brother Fan is the one holding it up."

"I can't wait to see how Brother Fan scams these arrogant guys in Kyoto until they don't even have their underwear left."

Su Qingxue did not speak, just watched Lin Fan on the stage quietly.

Her eyes were firm and gentle.

No matter what Lin Fan wanted to do, she would accompany him.

Even if it meant turning the sky of this Kyoto upside down.

The bell for the end of class rang.

Lin Fan closed his lesson plan and elegantly adjusted his cuffs.

"That's all for today's class."

"Also, one more announcement: the Myriad Treasures Pavilion Kyoto University flagship store will open in three days."

"With a student ID, you get 5% off your first order."

After speaking, he turned and walked away dashingly amidst the students' wild cheers, leaving behind only a silhouette that hid his merit and fame.