My Demon Friends

Chapter 740 700: Everyone Knows

The last day of the internship.

Zhou Li walked up to the podium. Because he was so handsome, it caused a stir in the ecology class, which was soon followed by his own classmates joining in, making him quite embarrassed.

Fortunately, having hung around Brother Nan for so long, his skin had thickened somewhat. So, he feigned composure, ignoring everyone's teasing, directly plugged in his USB drive, opened the PowerPoint his group had made on the projection screen, and cleared his throat.

"Hello everyone, I am Zhou Li, the leader of Group Six.

"First, allow me to introduce the members of our group...

"After a week of study, through the hard work of all our group members and with the help of our instructors, we designed an ecological garden. Its main aim is to utilize a small ecological zone, composed of various microorganisms and insects, to lessen the garden flowers' reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, thereby reducing manual maintenance..."

Below, in addition to the students from both classes and Teacher Liu, the counselor from the Life Sciences Institute, along with the dean and vice-dean—who had been absent for a week—also appeared. They sat quietly at the back, listening.

Zhou Qianqian smiled at him; it was quite an ugly smile.

Zhou Li ignored her.

Behind them, a scholarly-looking young man sat in the corner, also watching Zhou Li, occasionally nodding and sometimes frowning.

Zhou Li's mouth twitched, but he continued his explanation.

As the "useless one" in their small team, he couldn't just be a freeloader. This was his time to step up and be a tool, a useful person. Zhou Li had a good stage presence, making him perfect for the role of presenter. Brother Nan, on the other hand, completely lacked professional knowledge. Even with a well-prepared PowerPoint, she—the actual "useless one" in this context—wouldn't have been able to present it well.

About ten minutes later, Teacher Liu commented on their group's work, "Your group chose a small but practical topic. Compared to the previous groups, it seems to lack ambition, but it's also the most achievable. You were more professional and realistic in the details; in contrast, the previous groups were somewhat grandiose yet vague. The downside is that many flower cultivation bases have already implemented these schemes quite maturely. I didn't see much from you in terms of innovation or improvement."

The scholarly young man in the corner also nodded, then shook his head.

"Thank you, Teacher."

"You still need to work harder."

Teacher Liu lowered her head and gave them a grade.

Her words were strict, but her scoring was actually quite lenient. There might have been a significant difference in quality between the best and worst groups, but this wasn't greatly reflected in their scores.

Students always get to enjoy some leniency.

Coincidentally, Teacher Liu herself loved gardening and had a small garden at home. Seeing more and more young people interested in cultivating flowers, she felt quite gratified.

Zhou Li returned to his seat. Chang Xiaoxiang turned around and said, "That's definitely a high score! Your presentation points alone put you way ahead of the other groups!"

Cotton Swab nodded repeatedly in agreement. "And luck points!"

Baozi remained expressionless.

An unseen figure left its seat, leaned over to Teacher Liu to peek at the score she had given, then came over and patted Zhou Li on the shoulder, speaking in a grave tone, "You still need to work harder!"

Seeing this, Brother Nan quickly patted his other shoulder. "Work harder, indeed!"

Zhou Li sat there, expressionless.

Only one group remained.

The other groups' projects were so ambitious—things like protecting rare animals, tropical rainforests, desert greening, and so on. It was enough to make one feel inadequate.

And so, the internship concluded.

The accommodations arranged by the Life Sciences Institute were only covered until today; a car was scheduled to take them back in the afternoon. However, many students decided to stay in Banna for a few more days, as it was the New Year's holiday. The eight members of Zhou Li's group also unanimously decided to stay in Banna for two more days. Given the successful completion of the internship, Brother Nan decided to allocate additional club funds for food and drinks at the Banna night market that evening.

「Nightfall.」

After eating and drinking their fill, the group carried the lingering scent of street food and festivities. Brother Nan had managed to coax the other six into taking a boat tour on the Lancang River. Cotton Swab and Zhou Li's three dorm mates were eager to go. Even Baozi, who was short on cash, happily went along after her cousin promised to buy her ticket.

That left only Zhou Li and Brother Nan, strolling by the river with Tuanzi to aid their digestion. They bought some fruit along the way, carrying it as they walked leisurely.

"MEOW?"

Tuanzi noticed the scholarly young man appearing ahead.

The young man appeared calm, his eyes shining. Only when they drew near did he speak, "I heard the Evil God was captured. The fight was intense—like that earthquake mentioned in the news a couple of days ago…"

Zhou Li and Brother Nan were both startled by this and immediately exchanged a look.

The Evil God is Miss Zheng's emotional pillar!

Fortunately, they were both prepared.

Zhou Li looked down at the pineapple and durian he was carrying and said to Brother Nan, "This should be enough fruit. Shall we head back to the hotel?"

Brother Nan nodded. "Your big bro was thinking the same thing."

So they hailed a cab.

In the cab, Zhou Li saw Brother Nan incessantly typing on her phone. He turned his head and glanced over; the chat window header read "Little Zheng." The phone's light cast a pale white glow on Brother Nan's face, her eyes sparkling.

Brother Nan was always better at comforting people than he was. Seeing this, Zhou Li relaxed. He decided to wait until they were back in their room. Once Brother Nan's comforting words had some effect, he would add a few of his own to help Miss Zheng adapt more quickly to life without Lord Evil God.

「About fifteen minutes later.」

Huai Xu lay on the bed, hands clasped behind his head, staring at the ceiling as if muttering to himself. "It's a good thing he left. A fellow with his personality definitely should have. If he hadn't, he'd either wreak havoc on the human world or get ganged up on and killed. Or, down the line, when technology advances or the Heavenly Masters mature, he might even be captured for experiments. Just like in that TV show I watched... Huh? What was that show called again? Hmm, anyway, it was really tragic.

"Once he gets to the new world, where everyone knows him and gives way to him, who knows how carefree he might be.

"It's a pity, though. This world has lost another Great Demon capable of rivaling me, the Great Devil King. A Demon's life is truly lonely..."

Zhou Li was typing messages to Miss Zheng on his phone, but he was also listening to Huai Xu.

There was a definite note of melancholy in Huai Xu's voice; Zhou Li confirmed this. However, this Old monster was simply never serious. Such a poignant sentiment, yet he'd managed to phrase it like that.

But that won't stop me from plagiarizing him.

Zhou Li: Huai Xu has a point.

Zhou Li: Leaving with the Old Land World was Lord Evil God's best choice. That world has no humans. Even if Lord Evil God roams that entire world, it won't lead to wars. Most Demons, by nature, will treat him with tolerance, so he won't have to commit acts of slaughter. He can soar more freely in the vast sky, explore the world, instead of being confined to a single corner.

Zhou Li: If he had stayed, without the Old Land World, no matter how strong Lord Evil God was, he would no longer have been invincible. Perhaps that would have been worse.

Zhou Li: So we should be happy for Lord Evil God.

Zhou Li: He will live very well there.

Actually, this is also good for Miss Zheng, Zhou Li thought, but it's not appropriate to say that. I'll just stick to talking about Lord Evil God.

Why isn't she replying...?

Zhou Li pondered briefly then typed:

Zhou Li: When your eyes are healed, if one day you miss Lord Evil God, just look up at the stars. Lord Evil God is among those countless stars, perhaps watching over you too.

Still no reply...

Zhou Li turned his head to look at Huai Xu.

The Old monster, still in his earlier posture staring at the ceiling, seemed to know exactly what Zhou Li was thinking. He smirked. "Little Zheng is on the phone with Li Daimao. She has no time to bother with a scumbag like you who just TAP-TAP-TAPS away at his keyboard without any sincerity..."

"Who's a scumbag?"

"Everyone says so. That proves everyone knows it..."

"Who says that?"

"Everyone."

"Nonsense!"

"You're getting defensive."

"I'm not getting defensive!"

"But you even used an exclamation mark."

"...That's slander against my character!"

"Hmph."

The Old monster let out a lazy yawn, offering no further reply.

SWISH.

A small cat suddenly leaped onto his bed. Chin raised, it said sternly, "I forbid you to speak about Zhou Ni like that!"

Its voice was clear and sharp.

The Old monster pursed his lips again. "I didn't mention his name."

Lord Dumpling wasn't so easily fooled and continued to reprimand him earnestly, "You *were* talking about him!"

"I was not."

"Don't you dare talk about Zhou Ni!"

Tuanzi then turned, jumped off the bed, and scurried back to Zhou Li's side. She had just displayed her awe-inspiring power before the wretched Huai Xu, and his meek acquiescence had left her feeling immensely satisfied. Brimming with pride, she leaped onto Zhou Li's bed, planted her little paws on his thigh, propped up her upper body, and declared as she stared at him:

"Zhou Ni! Lord Dumpling protects you!"

"..." Zhou Li remained expressionless. "Thank you, Lord Dumpling."

"You're welcome, MEOW!"

"..."