434: Chapter 420 School Treasure

After driving Neo away, Zhang Mu remained alone in the square, standing quietly.

The lights of the distant city illuminated the night sky. In contrast, the slightly dim stars did not yield, striving to emit starlight to assert their presence, while the bright moon remained entirely unaffected, casting silver moonlight across the ground.

Zhang Mu looked left and right, slowly walking around the perimeter of the square, choosing a spot for the statue of god.

Theoretically, things meant to attract attention are generally placed where they are easy to observe and where foot traffic must pass, such as the center of a wide open space.

However, when planning the campus layout, Zhang Mu hadn't obtained the statue of god yet, so he hadn't considered that the building placement should facilitate people passing by a certain spot.

This resulted in the main teaching building being located directly behind the square, while the dormitories, cafeteria, and other buildings were diagonally in front on both sides of the square.

Parents entering through the main gate, out of concern for their children's living environment, would most likely head to the dormitory building on the right first.

Afterward, whether going to the teaching building or the opposite side, they would choose the relatively shorter stone path across the grass rather than the square, which would take over ten minutes to cross.

As for the students staying on campus long-term, there was even less reason for them to add unnecessary burden by choosing the long way when going to or from class.

Zhang Mu flew into the sky to look down over the entire school. After pondering for a while to no avail, he was about to land when he suddenly thought: what if I just put it higher?

With a solution in hand, he pulled out his Mobile Phone and checked the time. There were still three hours until dawn, enough time to set up the Magic Array.

Stowing his phone back, he looked toward the civilians and the army facing off in the wilderness outside the school.

To collect faith power faster, the more people worshipping the statue of god, the better. The three hundred-plus students were far from reaching the level of "many people."

The people of America could come in handy now.

Zhang Mu crossed his arms over his chest, watching the excited crowd. He would allow them to approach within a certain distance of the school, but they couldn't enter. Otherwise, it would interfere with the students' normal studies and make this Magic School seem too low-class, as if anyone could just walk in.

Simply issuing a ban would certainly be ineffective. He believed that even if the punishment were increased to the death penalty and Neo were made to dispatch heavy troops to patrol, there would still be reckless individuals trying to sneak into the school.

He couldn't rely on others; he had to do it himself.

Zhang Mu made his decision and immediately set to work.

...

Three hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Just as the horizon turned the color of a fish's belly, Neo arrived at the square leaning on his cane. Seeing Mr. Gao's back, he walked over quickly.

"Mr. Gao, should we gather the students now?"

"Wait."

He didn't know what they were waiting for, but since it was Mr. Gao's instruction, Neo obeyed unconditionally, falling silent and waiting obediently.

Mr. Gao turned back to look at him: "After school starts, there will definitely be a large number of outsiders trying to sneak into the school. Do you have preventive measures?"

"Of course, Mr. Gao."

Neo had considered this since the start of construction. After witnessing the people's madness yesterday, he had refined the plan overnight.

Being asked now, he was full of confidence and raised his head to explain.

Originally, he had envisioned cordoning off an area of ten square kilometers outside the school and building a high wall, with heavy troops deployed on top to monitor the wilderness without any blind spots.

After getting into bed last night, he felt that this might not be enough. Those lunatics attracted by the supernatural could absolutely do something as crazy as digging a tunnel directly to the school.

He planned to push the defense line out by ten kilometers, dispatching helicopters for round-the-clock patrols, paired with ground troops equipped with monitoring equipment to ensure the defense line had no flaws.

Mr. Gao nodded as a sign of recognition for his effort, but questioned: "Too many Soldiers will scare the students coming and going. This isn't a completely closed management system; students can enter and leave normally after school."

"Additionally, the noise of helicopter rotors is too loud. It can be heard faintly from several kilometers away in open terrain, which will affect the students' classes."

Neo's gaze was a bit confused. Did that mean he couldn't use a large number of Soldiers and machinery?

This put him in a difficult position.

"I will solve these problems," Mr. Gao followed up by giving him a task. "The planned high wall can be abandoned, but some things still need to be built."

"What things?"

"Hmm... according to the planning of a tourist attraction, build several observation decks outside the school. Don't make them too high, just enough to see the roof of the teaching building."

"Uh, Mr. Gao, are you saying we should allow the public to visit the school from a close distance?"

"Unlike Hogwarts, which hides in a different space and can completely block out outsiders, this Magic School is built on Earth. Sooner or later, it will have to come into contact with ordinary people. Since it's inevitable, it's better to face it directly than to avoid or delay it."

"I'll go prepare it now," Neo said, about to leave.

Mr. Gao helplessly called him back and then said: "Don't be in such a hurry. You'll have plenty of time to take it slow after school starts. For now, let's get the orientation ceremony organized first."

"Besides, the school-protecting artifact is almost here."

"school-protecting artifact?" Neo turned around blankly. The square was empty; nothing extra had appeared compared to last night.

"Do you know about the calamities?"

"Of course. Although I've only seen them in videos, that monster's massive size and terrifying combat power still left a deep impression on me. I haven't been able to forget it to this day."

"Mages and calamities are mortal enemies. This isn't just because both sides fight for living space, but also for a more important reason: calamities can strengthen themselves by devouring mages."

Neo's pupils constricted: "Calamities... view humans as food?"

"Humans?" A strange smile appeared on Mr. Gao's face. "No, they view us as food."

Viewing the supernatural as food?

Neo corrected the terminology in his mind, then realized something: "Calamities have the ability to lock onto the supernatural. Is that why the Mountain Gate, Hogwarts, and Seventeen all established their headquarters in different spaces?"

"Setting up headquarters in different spaces has nothing to do with that... forget it, explaining from the beginning is too troublesome. You just need to know that if we release magic in the school, a calamity will strike immediately."

After saying this, Mr. Gao remembered that several low-level calamities had appeared on Earth. To avoid a misunderstanding, he added: "Not those small fry, but the big guy I repelled at the seaside."

"The Rock Giant?!" Neo's heart couldn't stop pounding wildly, as if it were about to jump out of his chest. He had to press down hard on it for it to ease up. "W-what should we do?"

"Originally... it wasn't easy to solve, which is why I never mentioned the idea of building a school at first. But later, I received some... good news."

Speaking of this, Neo thought of the term Mr. Gao had just used—school-protecting artifact.

"I will invite one over. Its uses are very broad: it can maintain a barrier, and if the calamities can't break through, they won't come. At the same time, it can block ordinary people trying to sneak into the school."

"Oh, right, it can also bestow blessings."

Mr. Gao spoke a long paragraph, and Neo keenly caught a key word—'one'.

This was a measure word usually used as a prefix for personal pronouns, like "one gentleman."

The question was, did an 'artifact' have a connection with this measure word?

Neo was utterly confused. Mr. Gao didn't clarify but waved his hand: "Time's almost up. Go wake the students and have them line up in the square."

Snapping back to his senses, Neo temporarily cast aside the chaotic thoughts in his mind and called his assistant.

A few minutes later, the chirping of children and the sound of messy footsteps came from the dormitory building.

After a while longer, students of varying ages and heights came out from a building in groups of three or five. They arrived at the square and lined up under the direction of the school staff, with the short ones in front and the tall ones in back. The lines were quickly formed.

The order of the lines wasn't very good. The students didn't know that the man standing facing them was Mr. Gao, and they whispered to the Classmates around them without any restraint.

Mr. Gao scanned them for a moment and said calmly: "Silence."

It was clearly just a normal tone, but the voice was filled with heavy pressure. The students felt as if a pair of powerful hands were pressing down on their shoulders. They all became quiet, their faces revealing nervousness.

"I am Gao. People are used to calling me Mr. Gao, but you can use a different title: Headmaster Gao."

The man introduced himself. The students, hearing clearly what he said, all stared at him with wide eyes.

"Very good, it seems you already know who I am." Mr. Gao smiled and made eye contact with each of them one by one. "Today is the first day of school. As the headmaster, I should show a kind side, but unfortunately, your lack of discipline has driven kindness away. It has fled."

His expression turned cold: "So, I've decided to skip the pleasantries and proceed directly to announcing the school rules."

"The good news is that it won't take long, and the content is very concise. There are only two rules."

"One: a handbook containing the complete school rules will be distributed to you shortly. Two: any student who violates the school rules will be expelled on the spot and never readmitted."

"By the way, I want to emphasize one point. The school rules were personally drafted and compiled into a handbook by me. There are ten major rules and one hundred and three sub-rules. I hope the first thing you Classmates do after receiving the handbook is to memorize all the regulations."

Mr. Gao's severity, combined with the harsh school rules, clearly frightened the students quite a bit. Their looking-around heads lowered, and their fidgeting arms returned to their sides.

Standing to the left of the lines, the school staff who had been responsible for looking after the children last night all showed relaxed smiles.

They had been put through quite an ordeal last night. Some mischievous children had gone exploring all over the dormitory building after waking up, completely ignoring their reprimands.

The school staff could only let it be. These were all students of the Magic School; they were afraid to even grab them by hand, let alone scold or hit them.

After getting up this morning, they thought that every day would be such a torment, lamenting that their future lives would be bleak.

But now it seemed that light still existed. The school staff looked at Mr. Gao with admiring gazes. He was a powerful supernatural being and, moreover, a qualified headmaster.

Mr. Gao stood with his hands behind his back, his cold gaze scraping over the students one by one: "Listen, no matter how prominent your family is or how distinguished your parents' social status is, to me, there is no difference."

"If anyone thinks they can rely on their parents to ignore the school rules, what awaits you is not just expulsion, but also me coming to your door to hold you accountable."

Even the youngest students in the lines understood that "coming to the door to hold someone accountable" definitely meant more than just "asking."

The students from noble families trembled a few times, putting away the superiority they were constantly exuding. they tried to control their expressions and posture to make themselves look no different from their Classmates.

Mr. Gao looked at them and nodded with satisfaction. With a group of children at such a mischievous age, if you didn't establish authority at the very beginning, you could forget about being able to control them later.

"That is all for the talk regarding school rules." Mr. Gao raised his hand, and a light gate opened behind him. "Now, applaud and welcome your teachers."

Not only were the students applauding, but Neo standing to the side, his several allied clan leaders, and dozens of faculty and staff were also clapping their hands vigorously to express their enthusiasm. At the same time, confusion about the light gate arose in their hearts.

The supernatural beings that had appeared in the human world so far had their residences, or "bases," established in spaces outside of Earth.

According to the "Jinshui Town" three-day tour documentary released by China, that space was a world of its own, with a complete natural ecosystem, a human society, and various non-human alien races.

A treasure of this level was clearly not something an individual could possess or create. The Mountain Gate and Hogwarts were also occupied in the organizational forms of "schools" and "sects."

An individual could not compete with an organization, especially when the individuals within the organization were not weaker than the former.

Then what was the deal with Mr. Gao's light gate?

What was behind the gate?

A different space like the Mountain Gate or Hogwarts?

Mr. Gao didn't know about the guesses swirling in everyone's minds, and even if he did, he wouldn't care. He stepped aside, and the students were able to face the light gate directly.

Inside the gate was a vast white expanse, with light flashing from time to time. It felt like it was right in front of them, yet it seemed separated from reality; one couldn't grasp its substance or see the scene inside clearly.

After a while, a foot wearing a high-heeled shoe stepped out of the light gate. The students' gazes followed the leg upward and saw an elegant woman in modern professional attire, wearing black-rimmed glasses.

With a smile on her lips, she stood by the gate. And from inside the gate, teachers came out one after another.

There were men and women, with a large age span. The youngest-looking one appeared to be in their early twenties, while the oldest was very aged, with a hunched back.

Once everyone had taken their places beside the elegant woman, the light gate closed. The students counted the number of teachers with their eyes—nine in total.

Mr. Gao returned to his position directly in front of the student square: "This is your alchemy instructor; you can call him Teacher Liu. This is..."

After the introductions were finished, he continued: "You should all be very clear that I am a student who was expelled from Hogwarts, so the knowledge I will teach you all comes from Hogwarts."

"Of course, I have refined most of the knowledge in terms of details. In a strict sense, what you are about to learn is a brand-new energy application system derived from magic."

"The difficulty is no less than that of magic. I hope you all will be diligent and not lazy."

After hearing this, the students' eyes shone as they looked at the row of teachers. The boring opening speech was over; was it time to officially start learning now?

Thinking that they were about to come into contact with "magic," for the first time in their lives, they desperately hoped that time would pass a little faster.

Mr. Gao probably understood their feelings, but he didn't satisfy them. Instead, he put his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky.

"To ensure your safety, it is necessary for me to take some preventive measures."

Neo, who had been silent since the gathering, couldn't help but raise his head, his eyes flashing with heat.

Regarding the school-protecting artifact Mr. Gao had mentioned, after thinking for a long time, he had guessed a few things. He just lacked evidence to confirm them.

Fortunately, the mystery was about to be revealed.

Neo tilted his head back to the extreme limit of what a human body could reach.