Zhao Chen's earlier disregard had already annoyed Zhang Haoran, so he decided to seize the opportunity to pick a fight, even bringing up his relationship with Jiang Shasha.
Jiang Shasha frowned slightly beside him. She had only agreed to spend some time with Zhang Haoran to see how things went, yet he was already claiming they were dating. This made her somewhat displeased.
It was only then that Zhao Chen finally looked up, giving Zhang Haoran a casual glance before uttering a single word: "Oh."
Zhang Haoran's lips twitched. What was wrong with this guy? Weren't there rumors that he was really into Jiang Shasha? Why was he so indifferent even when provoked like this?
Jiang Shasha also looked at Zhao Chen in surprise, sensing that he seemed different from before.
"Hahaha, you really are a useless Baron, a good-for-nothing piece of trash," Zhang Haoran attacked again.
Li Wei couldn't take it anymore and pointed directly at Zhang Haoran. "Zhang Haoran, don't push your luck."
"And what are you? If I'm a useless Baron, then you're not even worth being called useless. If I remember correctly, you failed your final exams for three years straight. If it weren't for your father pulling strings, you would've been expelled long ago." Zhao Chen glanced at Zhang Haoran, speaking in the calmest tone but with the most cutting words.
"You…" Zhang Haoran flushed with anger. This was his sore spot, something he hated others bringing up.
"So what if I have connections? My dad has even arranged for me to have a T2 Starship next semester! I bet you'll only be able to scrape together a T1 Starship by then. I hear there's going to be live combat training—your T1 Starship will probably end up as target practice, hahaha…" Zhang Haoran doubled over with laughter.
[Random Task triggered: Challenge Zhang Haoran to a Starship Duel and defeat him in the duel.]
[Accept?]
Zhao Chen's expression shifted. He hadn't expected a Random Task to trigger at this moment.
Defeating Zhang Haoran… That would be somewhat challenging.
But compared to the previous Quarterly Mission, it was much simpler.
Most importantly, completing the task would not only grant uncertain rewards but also earn him a Task Point.
Although Zhao Chen currently had System Points, items in the System Store couldn't be exchanged freely. To exchange for an item, he needed the corresponding Task Points.
For example, a T1 Tier Item required one Task Point and the corresponding System Points.
And right now, Task Points were exactly what Zhao Chen urgently lacked.
"Don't blame me for being blunt—facts are facts. I suggest you stop wasting time here and humiliating yourself. You'd be better off crawling back to your remote Stellar Territory." Zhang Haoran saw Zhao Chen frozen by his words and thought he had struck a nerve.
Jiang Shasha watched everything indifferently from the side. Zhang Haoran might have gone a bit too far, but if this made Zhao Chen realize the gap between them and back down, then it wasn't so bad.
At that moment, the corners of Zhao Chen's lips curled upward.
"Who's humiliating themselves remains to be seen." Zhao Chen raised his head, locking eyes with Zhang Haoran for the first time, his gaze filled with provocation and mockery.
At the same time, Zhao Chen made a decision in his mind.
'Accept the task.'
[Random Task accepted.]
[Task Content: Challenge Zhang Haoran to a Starship Duel and defeat him in the duel.
Task Difficulty: D-grade]
Mission Reward: One Task Point and 300 points
Failure Penalty: Deduct 300 points]
So there's actually a failure penalty, directly deducting 300 points.
It's worth noting that Zhao Chen's account currently only has 100 points. If the mission fails, wouldn't it go into negative numbers?
"You, a guy who doesn't even have a Starship to his name, what right do you have to speak here! If I were you, I'd have packed up and left long ago. You don't even deserve to stay at North Star!" Zhang Haoran pointed directly at Zhao Chen's nose, clearly annoyed.
A fallen noble should just obediently accept humiliation. Why does this guy keep breaking the script again and again?
"Since you're so confident, why don't we have a Starship Duel?" Zhao Chen took out a card from the collar of his academy uniform.
That was the academy's student ID card, which could be used for studying, living, and various other activities within the academy.
Including Starship Duels.
"Starship Duel? You and me?" Zhang Haoran was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. He stood up and walked directly to Zhao Chen's table. "You, a guy who doesn't even have a Starship, what are you going to fight me with?
Are you even worthy?"
"Of course, not right now. There's still one month left until the end of this semester. Let's set it before the end of June. I'll tell you the duel time then.
If I lose, I'll drop out of school next semester. If you lose…" Zhao Chen narrowed his eyes as he stared at the other.
"I'll drop out!" Zhang Haoran immediately responded.
At this point, the development of the situation had already exceeded Jiang Shasha and Li Wei's expectations.
Li Wei stood up, pushed Zhang Haoran aside, and shielded Zhao Chen. "Zhang Haoran, if you have the guts, challenge me to a Starship Duel!"
Zhang Haoran glanced at Li Wei, spread his hands, and chuckled lightly. "Everyone saw it. This Starship Duel was proposed by Zhao Chen."
Li Wei's father had considerable influence, and Zhang Haoran didn't want to stir up unnecessary trouble.
"Li Wei, let me handle this myself." Zhao Chen placed his hand on Li Wei's shoulder.
"But…"
"If you still consider me a friend, trust me." Zhao Chen said seriously.
Li Wei gritted his teeth and could only glare angrily at Zhang Haoran.
At that moment, a holographic projection box appeared between Zhao Chen and Zhang Haoran.
[Third-year student Zhao Chen has issued a Starship Duel challenge to third-year student Zhang Haoran. The time is tentatively set within one month. Please confirm whether to proceed.]
By now, the commotion had attracted quite a few people.
After all, Starship Duels were rare, as they fell under the category of actual combat. Moreover, Starship Duels inevitably involved damage to the ship's hull and could even result in casualties. Therefore, the North Star Starship Military Academy only saw about four or five such duels per month.
"Although I don't know where your confidence comes from, I'll make you regret today's decision." Zhang Haoran took out his own ID card and accepted Zhao Chen's Starship challenge.
From then on, the duel information of the two was recorded in the Academy Database, pending only the final confirmation of the time.
"Li Wei, are you done eating? If you are, let's go." Zhao Chen wiped his mouth, his calm expression as if nothing had happened.
"Huh?… Oh, I'm done…" Li Wei had no appetite for food now and simply followed Zhao Chen out of the cafeteria.
Zhang Haoran watched Zhao Chen's departing figure with a cold sneer.
A guy who didn't even have a Starship dared to challenge him to a duel?
He would only end up humiliating himself.
"Shasha, don't worry. Once I defeat him and make him leave the academy, he won't have any chance to bother you again!" Zhang Haoran turned to Jiang Shasha, already carrying himself like a victor.
"Hmm..." Jiang Shasha was also watching Zhao Chen walk away. For some reason, she felt that the Zhao Chen before her had changed drastically.
Most importantly, it was only now that she realized Zhao Chen hadn't once looked directly at her from start to finish.
Had he truly forgotten her?
Or was he just pretending?
For some reason, Jiang Shasha felt a twinge of unwillingness.