“My name is Nie Yun.” Nie Yun walked straight up to Zhang Fan and stood in front of him, looking at him seriously. “If you kneel down to the princess now, I will give you a chance to apologize.”

The surroundings were unusually quiet.

Nie Yun's words were simple and direct, without any pleasantries, getting straight to the point. In his view, he was simply stating the facts in front of the other party, his face devoid of any false smile, as cold as ice.

"Have we met before?" Zhang Fan asked, looking confused.

"I don't know him."

"Have I offended you?"

"No, we're meeting for the first time today."

"Then you're just being nosy." Zhang Fan looked at him coldly. Zhang Fan didn't see the innate arrogance of those noble children in Nie Yun's eyes, but he did see indifference towards commoner students.

"Say what you will, I'm here today to teach you a lesson." Nie Yun stared at Zhang Fan, his tone calm.

However, everyone around him could clearly feel a chill emanating from him, and no one in the academy was willing to be his opponent.

This was his arrogance; as the captain of the Crescent Moon Guard, he was the sharpest sword in the academy. Anyone who stood in his way would be pierced by his blade.

“But he started it.” Zhang Fan glanced at Barkley, reminding him that Barkley had initiated the fight.

“I don’t care about the process, I only care about the result.” Nie Yun shook his head. “You made a mistake by harming a nobleman.”

"This isn't fair." Zhang Fan found it baffling; how could someone be so unreasonable?

“Fair?” A languid voice rang out. Alice stepped forward lightly, a smile playing on her lips. “Insubordination deserves punishment. Isn’t that fair?”

"That's just sophistry!" Zhang Fan retorted angrily, pointing at Barkley. "He's the one in the wrong, okay!"

"Who are you?" Alice's smile vanished, her chin raised. "Do you think you can judge the right and wrong of nobles?"

"Does that mean ordinary people deserve to be bullied?" Zhang Fan retorted angrily. "Then if I were beaten to death, who would I complain to?"

“Remember this! You are a commoner, we are nobles, that’s the rule!” Alice looked at Zhang Fan with disdain. “If you die, we will naturally compensate you.”

"Money, is it?" Zhang Fan felt inexplicably angry at Alice's words. She was clearly a little girl who had never experienced the harsh realities of society. She had been pampered since childhood and lived a so-called aristocratic upper-class life. In her eyes, commoners were like ants.

What angered Zhang Fan even more was that the civilian students around him did not show much resistance to this.

A strict hierarchical system ensures that people in this world are born into fixed social classes. Nobles are born nobles, and commoners are born commoners.

From the moment they are old enough to understand, commoner children are taught that they are born sinful, which is why they were born into commoner families. Therefore, they must serve the aristocracy and be absolutely obedient, using hard work and selfless dedication to cleanse their sins so that they can become nobles in their next life.

The nobles had taken all of this for granted, while the commoners did not think of resisting this unfair treatment, but rather of desperately trying to become nobles in their lifetime and live their lives.

Zhang Fan glanced around at the civilian students. How many of them entered the military academy just to make military achievements and climb into the aristocratic class in the future?

Zhang Fan now understood the root of the deep-seated problems at Ryan Military Academy that Dean Elwin had mentioned.

"Heh." Zhang Fan took a deep breath and said with a smile, "So, Princess Alice, what do you plan to do with me, a mere commoner? Beat me up? And then use your power to expel me from the academy?"

"The academy does not allow students to fight in private." Alice opened her goose feather folding fan, covered her mouth, and smiled faintly. "I will give you two choices."

"First, kneel down and apologize in front of all the students now, and I will forgive your recklessness."

"Second, they will issue you a challenge to a fight, and then make you kneel on the ring and apologize in front of all the students."

The other members of the Crescent Moon Guard immediately surrounded Zhang Fan, while Alice chuckled and asked, "So, which option do you want to choose?"

"What if I neither apologize nor accept your challenge?" Zhang Fan frowned. A duel challenge within the academy requires the consent of both parties; it cannot be initiated unilaterally.

"Then he, and him, and him..." Alice closed her folding fan, pointed at Hua Hua, and then at the commoner students of Class 1, Grade 3 of the F Training Camp around her, "none of them will graduate."

Hua Hua and her classmates who were being pointed out immediately turned pale.

They knew Alice wasn't joking; she had the ability. And for Alice, whether a commoner could graduate was just a matter of a nod.

“Brother Fan…” Hua Hua stepped forward and grabbed Zhang Fan’s arm; his hand was trembling.

As a friend, Hua Hua couldn't possibly ask Zhang Fan to kneel down and apologize, but he was also afraid of being expelled from the academy. He felt helpless and powerless right now.

The students from Class 1, Grade 3 of the F Training Camp around them were also gritting their teeth and trembling. They were all furious, but they didn't even know who they were angry at. They knew perfectly well that what the other person was doing was wrong, but three years had passed, and they only had one more year to graduate...

“Okay, I accept the challenge.” Zhang Fan nodded, taking in everything around him.

...

Ryan Military Academy, Arena Fighting Hall.

Both fighters have taken their places on the ring.

The surrounding trapezoidal stands and even the aisles were filled with students from the six training camps who had rushed over after hearing the news. The fighting arena, which could only accommodate 3,000 people, was packed with more than 4,000 spectators. This did not include the students who could not enter the fighting arena due to crowd control and could only watch the live broadcast on the big screen outside the arena.

"Referee, isn't this a foul?" Zhang Fan pointed at the Crescent Guard standing on the opposite side of the arena.

The duel was about to begin, and none of the ten guards seemed to have any intention of leaving the arena.

"Hehehe." A lazy laugh came from the other side, and a group of noble sons escorted Alice as she slowly walked onto the arena. "I think you must have forgotten that this was a duel challenge issued by 'us' to 'you'. Everyone here can testify that you accepted it."

"What do you mean?" Zhang Fan was a little confused.

"So, this is an 'infinite challenge' issued by Class 1, Grade 3 of Training Camp A to Class 1, Grade 3 of Training Camp F." The instructor referee looked at Zhang Fan with some sympathy. "Kid, they've provided video evidence, and you've fallen into their trap."

"Infinite Challenge?" Zhang Fan was truly bewildered. Why did these noble children have so many strange and nonsensical ideas?

"Simply put, the competition ends when the last person on one side surrenders," the instructor referee explained.

"So... this means a group fight?" Zhang Fan still didn't understand. "Can I represent the entire class to accept the challenge?"

"As long as someone accepts, that's fine." The instructor/referee nodded. "As for whether other students in the same class go up to the ring, and how many people go up to the ring, that's your prerogative."

Oh wow!

Zhang Fan finally understood; it meant that ganging up was about numbers versus brotherhood.

Zhang Fan looked around; it seemed he was the only one there…

Hua Hua's face flushed red and then turned pale as she sat in the audience. Her fingers were almost digging into the railing until they bled, but she just couldn't muster the courage to go up.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the arena, the Crescent Moon Guard had already stepped forward.

"Perhaps you'll think that's unfair," Alice laughed heartily, reveling in the feeling of manipulating her opponents. "Then how about this: we'll provide these ten people, and your people can come up whenever they want. Doesn't that sound fair? Hehe—"

Zhang Fan looked to both sides again. Wasn't he still alone? Was he still going to take on a whole group by himself?

"Don't make a move." Nie Yun stepped forward alone, looking coldly at Zhang Fan. "Your opponent is me."

"You guys should all come at me together, I'm in a bit of a hurry." Zhang Fan looked at the other party with some boredom. He hated these collaborators who hid in the aristocratic circle and bullied their own people the most.

"And what's with the cool act? Do you think you're so handsome? Are you more handsome than Liao Changtian?"

"These kids who haven't even grown their first hairs yet are always giving me that cold laugh. I'll give you that cold laugh!"

Veins bulged on Nie Yun's face. This time, not only he, but the entire Crescent Moon Guard was cursed.

"asshole!"

"presumptuous!"

"You're asking for it!"

The Crescent Moon Guard roared in anger.

The instructors and referees, not wanting to miss an opportunity to stir things up, added fuel to the fire with a wave of their hands:

"The duel begins!"