Down below, the Alphas who saw Li Po’s movements all had amused expressions on their faces.

“When that Omega goes down, I’m going up to carry him off—don’t any of you try to steal my chance!”

“You’re really bold, thinking you can touch an Omega in front of everyone?”

“Just a little touch, it’s not a crime. I’ve never even held an Omega’s hand before!”

“Better be careful. He’s got connections behind him. You don’t want to end up with a punishment.”

“Relax, I’m just joking. Don’t take it so seriously.”

The noise from the crowd was mostly blocked by the transparent wall. Li Po kept his eyes lowered, quietly staring at the ground, his expression completely calm.

At some point, a dagger had been placed in his hand. The blade glinted coldly, the metal grip fitting tightly against his palm, its chill spreading to his fingertips, making them slightly numb.

He flexed his wrist, massaging his numb fingers.

Suddenly, a gust of wind came whistling toward him from a short distance away, aiming straight for his nose!

Li Po’s eyes sharpened instantly. He gripped the dagger tightly, his hand moving faster than his eyes as he quickly thrust in the direction of the attack—

Slash!

A skeletal, bony claw was sliced cleanly in half, with the white bones exposed where the fingers had been severed. Only a thin, black membrane connected the broken piece to the rest of the hand.

Dark red blood oozed from beneath the membrane, dripping into the cracks in the ground, where it was quickly absorbed by the dirt.

Seeing this scene unexpectedly, Li Po’s face went pale, and his stomach churned slightly.

Damn, that’s disgusting.

His pupils shrank, and he fought the urge to retch as he looked up toward Hong Mao in the distance.

With just one glance, he almost couldn’t stop himself from gagging.

Someone, please explain—how a perfectly normal person suddenly turned into a monster?!

And not just any monster, but one that was grotesque and utterly revolting!

Li Po’s brow furrowed deeply, his face as pale as paper. At the same time, a thought flashed through his mind, sending a chill down his spine.

Could Hong Mao have been parasitized?

No, that didn’t seem right.

Li Po immediately dismissed the thought.

Parasitism wasn’t possession; it couldn’t turn a living person into a pollutant so suddenly. Besides, if Hong Mao had truly mutated, wouldn’t the Alphas below have reacted?

Li Po discreetly glanced at the crowd below, and with just one look, he started to piece things together.

The Alphas down there all had amused expressions, none of them showing any unusual reactions, and none were surprised. This meant that Hong Mao’s transformation was expected—it was all part of the training.

It made sense. This was the S District, not some gladiator arena. There was no way they would go to such lengths just to have two people brawl on stage.

Once he figured it out, Li Po’s face went blank. He quickly lowered his gaze, glanced at his own body to confirm he hadn’t changed, and finally let out a sigh of relief.

But that relief didn’t last long.

Wait, in other people’s eyes, could he look like a monster?

Li Po’s vision momentarily darkened.

–

Down below.

“This Omega’s got pretty good nerves. I almost had a heart attack my first time up there.”

“No, I think he’s just too scared to react.”

“Yeah, that makes sense… But this training is really twisted. They use holographic technology to overlay pollutant stats onto a human body. It’s impossible to tell with the naked eye. The first time, I thought the guy had really mutated, so I didn’t hold back at all.”

“That only happens the first time. The second time, everyone knows it’s just for fun. The difficulty is way lower than regular training.”

“True.”

But Hong Mao wasn’t here just to have fun.

A sharp blade cut a small wound on his finger, a thin line of blood slowly trailing down, soaking into the lines of his palm. The pain was about as bothersome as an ant bite, so Hong Mao didn’t care at all. He casually brushed back his bangs, revealing a pair of sinister eyes.

“Hiss…”

His movement was too big, and he accidentally bumped the pustule on his forehead, almost bringing tears to his eyes from the pain. The blood from his hand smeared across his forehead, staining the edge of the pustule, just millimeters away from the white liquid inside.

Suddenly, something eerie and horrifying happened.

The white liquid seemed to sense the scent of blood, slowly flowing toward the smear. Gradually, the red and white mixed together, the white liquid moving as if it had a life of its own, consuming the blood until it was completely gone.

After a few seconds, the white liquid began to solidify, like water freezing into ice, hardening into tiny granules that clung to Hong Mao’s forehead.

Up close, it looked almost like… an insect egg.

Hong Mao’s forehead itches intensely. He really wanted to scratch it, but worried about infection and leaving scars on his face, he held back.

Fortunately, his attention soon shifted elsewhere.

For fairness, the system had also given Hong Mao a dagger. But due to the difference in mental power, the effect of using the dagger would vary greatly.

To put it simply, an E-Class could use the dagger to poke a hole in a piece of meat, while an A-Class could pierce all the way through to the chopping board with just a light touch.

So at this moment, in Hong Mao’s eyes, Li Po was nothing more than meat on a cutting board, while he was the butcher.

The dagger flashed as it moved, so fast it was almost invisible, aiming directly for Li Po’s eyes. No one even saw when Hong Mao had gotten in front of the Omega—they only managed to catch a brief glint of the blade’s reflection.

Without hesitation, Hong Mao brought the dagger down, images of the beatings and punishments he had suffered flashing through his mind like a carousel.

The scars that had healed seemed to ache again. He clenched his teeth, a look of twisted satisfaction in his eyes—

But in the next second, he suddenly froze, his body stiff and motionless.

Hong Mao’s eyes widened in disbelief, his expression so exaggerated it almost looked comical.

The blade had stopped just half an inch from the Omega’s eyes. Hong Mao tried with all his might to drive the dagger forward, but the intense pain drained his strength, and he could barely keep his arm raised.

“You… dare…”

This was the first time Li Po had ever hurt someone.

The sight of Hong Mao in his monstrous form almost made him want to vomit. He took a deep breath, released his grip on the dagger, and let his sweat-soaked hand drop to his side.

“So, it’s okay for you to hurt me, but not okay for me to fight back?”

Although Li Po had a pure and innocent face, no one at this moment could associate him with innocence. The sharp tip of the blade hovered just above his light brown eyes, and with just a slight downward movement, the dagger could pierce and destroy them.

But Li Po would never let something like that happen.

He glanced at the blood-spattered creature’s chest and calmly raised his other hand, grabbing the dagger Hong Mao had raised high.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t fight back?”

Hong Mao’s lips were pale, trembling, and he couldn’t even form a complete sentence.

On his forehead, the white egg-like granule suddenly started shaking violently, as if reacting to the dagger’s stab, trembling uncontrollably.

But no one else witnessed this bizarre scene.

“Yes, I can’t beat you,” Li Po said coldly, his voice steady, “but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stand here and let you hit me.”

His gaze dropped to the dagger embedded in the creature’s chest, and he smiled faintly, “Does it hurt?”

From Li Po’s perspective, the dagger had gone in deep, almost piercing through the creature’s chest. But in reality, the real Hong Mao had only been grazed by the tip of the blade. Though not fatal, the wound was painful enough to last for a while.

When Hong Mao didn’t respond, Li Po gave him a kind smile. “Let me help you pull it out.”

“If I pull it out, it won’t hurt anymore.”

With a sharp “squelch,” Li Po yanked the dagger out without hesitation. At the same time, he swiftly stepped back to avoid the dirty blood splashing onto him.

He found it disgusting.

The system had set the pollutant’s stats very high, so even though Hong Mao’s wound wasn’t deep, the blood still gushed out, splattering all over him, even hitting his face.

As luck would have it, a few drops landed right on the white granule.

The white granule soaked in blood began to swell, growing larger and larger—

In the next instant, the outer shell of the granule suddenly cracked open, and a dark, black appendage extended out.

The tip of the appendage was sharp like a stinger, and it instinctively pierced the skin on Hong Mao’s forehead, burrowing deep inside.

At the same time, a sharp system alarm echoed throughout Training Ground No. 2:

[Warning, warning, pollutant is invading!!!]

[Warning, warning, pollutant is invading!!!]

[Warning, warning, pollutant is invading!!!]