Are You Sure You’re Not Just Craving Food

In the early morning hours, on a certain extremely hidden island in the South Asia Archipelago.

The entire island is covered in dense vegetation, and a thick gray fog hangs overhead like a natural shroud, enveloping the whole island. Even satellites in the sky cannot detect what lies on the island.

Suddenly, an ordinary wooden boat shot toward the island from the sea like an arrow loosed from a bow. There was only one person aboard, completely cloaked in a black robe, with no way to tell if they were male or female.

After the wooden boat docked, the black-robed figure leapt from the bow, darting into the densely forested mountains with a few flickers of movement.

Half an hour later, he arrived at the island’s center. Unlike the rest of the island, there stood a pitch-black palace. Flanking the palace gates were two statues of unknown beasts, their blood-red eyes seeming to hunger for flesh.

"Subordinate Blood Thirteen requests an audience with the Divine Envoy!" The black-robed figure bowed and called out toward the palace gates, but their voice still gave no hint of gender.

Boom!

The two massive black iron doors of the palace swung open with a thunderous crash.

Inside the palace, it was pitch-dark, not a trace of light, and a sinister aura faintly permeated the air as if it connected to a boundless abyss.

Straightening up, the black-robed figure stepped into the grand hall without hesitation.

Boom!

The two palace doors slammed shut with a deafening crash.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, eerie green flames flickered to life inside the hall, like ghostly fire. The light came from braziers on both sides, burning not wood but pale yellow corpse oil.

As the flames burned, a foul corpse-like odor permeated the air throughout the entire hall.

The black-robed figure approached the center of the hall, knelt before a wild-haired man wearing a ferocious ghost mask seated above, and intoned: "Greetings, Divine Envoy!"

"Mission failed?" the Divine Envoy asked, his voice booming like thunder and echoing through the hall, as if dozens of people were speaking in unison.

"Yes," the black-robed figure replied, bowing his head. If one looked closely, they could see his body trembling slightly beneath the robe.

"Useless!"

The Divine Envoy snapped coldly, flicking his hand. Even though they were more than ten meters apart, the black-robed figure was sent flying like a severed kite, crashing onto the icy ground.

"Spare me, Divine Envoy!" The black-robed figure scrambled up and knelt, pleading, "This plan was originally flawless, with Blood Fourteen secretly assisting. But unexpectedly, there was a powerful martial artist on the plane—he ambushed Blood Fourteen. If not for his interference, that girl Serena Tang would already be in our hands!"

"Who is that martial artist?" the Divine Envoy asked coldly, his tone thick with murderous intent.

"He’s called Ian Song, only seventeen, currently a senior at Saint Night High in Riverstone City. But according to my investigation, he’s actually the secretly nurtured heir of the Zhao Family, one of the Ten Great Families of Yanhuang!"

"The Zhao Family!" The Divine Envoy’s tone suddenly turned odd.

"I’ve already arranged for people to secretly infiltrate Yanhuang and wait for your order, Divine Envoy. At your command, my men will launch a frenzied assassination attempt on Ian Song!"

"Fool!"

The Divine Envoy suddenly cursed: "Our mission is to find the key, not to stir up trouble everywhere. Do you really think the Zhao Family is so easily provoked? If you kill their heir, would the Zhao Family let it go? As far as I know, their peerless genius Harold Zhao died in an accident twenty years ago, leaving them without a successor. Now they've finally cultivated a new prodigy, and if we kill him, do you think the Zhao Family will not fight the Blood God Cult to the death?"

Hearing the Divine Envoy's analysis, the black-robed figure broke out in a cold sweat and quickly said, "You are wise, Divine Envoy. I'll immediately recall my men!"

"No need to recall them. Let them search for Serena Tang’s whereabouts and recover the key. The Cult Master will emerge in three months. If the key fragments aren’t collected by then, you know what will happen."

"Yes, I understand!"

"Go now!"

"Your subordinate takes his leave!"

Boom—the grand hall doors slammed shut, plunging the hall into darkness once again. The Divine Envoy, seated on his throne, sighed softly: "Ian Song... I hope you won't disappoint the Zhao Family."

The next morning, after Ian Song got up, his phone rang nonstop.

After a single night and the Imperial Daily’s coverage, he had become a national hero.

Not just his uncle’s family—even classmates from school, basically everyone who knew him, called to ask if the hero who turned the tide was really him.

I wonder how much my Fame Points have increased?

After hanging up on Zach Zhang, Ian Song pulled up his system interface, eyes locking onto the Fame Points column.

Nice! Very nice!

Last night’s lottery cost 9.98 million Fame Points, but after just one night, not only had he regained it all, his Fame Points had broken through 30 million, reaching 35 million.

Imperial Daily’s influence really is impressive—over twenty million Fame Points gained in less than ten hours.

He believed that after today, it would rise even more.

By the way, Meow-Meow, how many Fame Points do I need for the next lottery draw?

38.88 million!

Ian Song could just barely accept that number.

He also found that although the Fame Point requirement for the lottery kept rising, the divine abilities and skills he drew were becoming more advanced.

He still had school today, and it was also the day monthly exam results were announced. So, after calling Felix Huang, he headed to Riverstone City.

He arrived at school close to ten o’clock, and the second class was almost over.

Ah, Ian Song!

The hero is back!

Hero, I want your autograph!

The moment he appeared, even during class, the whole classroom erupted.

Hannah Han, who was teaching, didn’t get angry at all. Instead, she smiled and said, "Now let’s invite our hero to tell everyone how he turned the tide and saved all the passengers on the plane, shall we?"

Clap, clap, clap!

Amidst the enthusiastic applause, Ian Song touched his nose and walked up to the podium.

After a brief pause, he simply recounted what happened on the plane, omitting some details. Even so, the students below listened with rapt attention.

After class.

Hannah Han called Ian Song to her office.

He had just entered the office when a group of teachers rushed over, bombarding him with questions about the hijacking.

Their enthusiasm was almost too much for Ian Song to handle.

Luckily, break time was only ten minutes. When the bell rang, the teachers reluctantly left Ian Song and returned to class.

"Thirsty, aren’t you? Here!" Hannah Han handed Ian Song a glass of water.

"Thanks." Ian Song took it and drained the glass in one go. Then he asked, "Hannah Han, why did you call me over?"

Hannah Han grinned slyly. "It’s nothing big. You’ve become a hero, right? You’ve brought glory to Saint Night High, so as your teacher, I have to show my appreciation. I bought a lot of ingredients to celebrate for you."

"Are you sure it’s to celebrate me, Hannah Han? Or are you just craving my cooking?" Ian Song said with a half-smile.

Exposed, Hannah Han got mock-angry. "You brat! We had an agreement, remember? Today’s the third day!"

Ian Song laughed. "How could I refuse your heartfelt invitation, Hannah Han? All right, I’ll come to your place at noon, but I have to go back to my uncle’s house tonight!"

"That’s more like it."