Human Genius? Sorry, I’m a Deviant-Chapter 234: A man's knees are worth their weight in gold

Liu Ziming, Xu Hao, and Feng Jue immediately snapped to attention, their relaxed expressions vanishing completely.
Liu Ziming swallowed his food, his brow furrowing tightly: "More trouble? I thought things had just calmed down recently! These damned Mist Creatures are absolutely relentless!"
"They must be getting restless again now that our dean has been back for a few days."
Xu Hao put down his spoon: "The dean should have beaten them into submission at the border."
"The activity cycles of Mist Creatures have always been unpredictable - frequent skirmishes and assaults are the norm."
Feng Jue analyzed: "The dean personally rushing back indicates the situation might be more severe than Teacher Wang let on. Let's hope the front lines can hold."
Su Zhan listened quietly without interrupting.
Time passed slowly like this.
Su Zhan never found the right opportunity.
Every night he lay awake, counting the hours as days dragged by.
The third night.
The night was deep and dark.
Wang Mingyuan knew he couldn't wait any longer.
He once again slipped silently to the door of Su Zhan's dormitory, cautiously confirming his surroundings just like the previous night before quickly entering.
Arriving at Su Zhan's door, he knocked, locked it behind him, and deployed a soundproof barrier.
Seeing the absolute determination on Wang Mingyuan's face, Su Zhan immediately understood - the critical moment had arrived.
"The academy has a secret escape tunnel, a contingency left behind since the academy's founding, meant to preserve hope for our most promising seeds if the academy ever faces complete destruction."
Wang Mingyuan cut straight to the point without unnecessary words: "This tunnel has existed for over fifty years, never been used, and has almost been forgotten."
"The academy was confident in its strength and never publicized it."
"Now we can only pray that Qin Bai doesn't know about it, or has long forgotten this record."
As he spoke.
Wang Mingyuan carefully retrieved an ancient-style bronze key from his chest and pressed it into Su Zhan's hand.
The key felt cold to the touch, yet seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.
"This key can open the hidden door to the tunnel entrance. The location of the hidden door and the tunnel's architectural plans are engraved on it - carved very small but extremely detailed. You're Awakened, so you'll definitely be able to see it clearly."
Wang Mingyuan stared into Su Zhan's eyes: "Take it! If... if questioned later, I'll say I lost my key long ago. Beyond that, I know nothing!"
Su Zhan gripped the cold key, feeling it burn like fire in his hand.
This teacher was gambling his reputation, position, and even his life!
Risking everything, just to give him a slim chance of survival!
"Teacher, I..."
Su Zhan's nose stung, his eyes instantly reddening as his legs weakened, about to kneel and kowtow to Wang Mingyuan.
Though a man's knees bear gold beneath them, this kindness weighed heavier than mountains!
But Wang Mingyuan suddenly reached out, supporting his arm with powerful strength that prevented his kneeling motion.
"No need for that!"
Wang Mingyuan looked at Su Zhan, his expression profoundly complex: "I believe in you, Su Zhan. I believe what you possess within you is power and potential beyond our comprehension."
"I only hope that if one day you truly stand at the pinnacle of power... you won't turn your weapons against humanity."
These simple words.
Contained all of Wang Mingyuan's fears and highest hopes.
Su Zhan's tears finally burst forth uncontrollably as he nodded heavily: "Teacher, I will definitely remember your words! Definitely!"
"Alright, time is pressing. Qin Bai isn't a god - he needs rest too and can't watch you twenty-four hours a day."
Wang Mingyuan patted his shoulder with both relief and sorrow: "I observed carefully when I entered - he's not nearby right now, only two ordinary Supervision Department personnel are monitoring outside."
"Now you need to memorize the entire map completely. Is half an hour enough? Delay breeds danger."
"Absolutely enough."
Su Zhan looked closely at the bronze key in his hand.
On the key's surface, extremely fine lines carved intricate tunnel network patterns.
Text annotations marked various entrances and key node positions alongside them.
Without Awakened vision far surpassing ordinary people, it would be impossible to distinguish.
"The tunnel's hidden doors are distributed throughout the entire Vermilion Bird Academy, many located in extremely concealed or long-abandoned areas. This key only opens one relatively hidden entrance among them."
Wang Mingyuan added: "You must familiarize yourself with the entire network to move flexibly underground, avoid potential searches, and find the most advantageous exit for yourself. You must memorize everything completely."
Su Zhan nodded heavily, saying no more.
He concentrated all his mental energy intensely, locking it completely onto the miniature map on the key.
His brain operated at unprecedented speed, processing corridors one by one, intersections, marked points...
The life-or-death pressure unleashed his latent potential.
After only fifteen minutes.
Su Zhan suddenly raised his head, eyes bloodshot.
Clutching the key tightly in his palm, he looked at Wang Mingyuan with absolute certainty in his tone: "Teacher, it's done. I've memorized everything."
"When I go out later, I'll create a disturbance to lure them away, or directly knock them out."
Wang Mingyuan said seriously: "But this won't buy much time. The remaining path... you can only rely on yourself!"
"Teacher..."
Su Zhan choked up, countless words stuck in his chest, ultimately condensing into just two: "...Take care!"
Wang Mingyuan gave him one last deep look, then resolutely turned, removed the soundproofing, opened the door, and quickly merged into the night outside.
Time was urgent, leaving no room for hesitation.
Wang Mingyuan walked out openly and boldly.
Immediately alerting the two Supervision Department personnel hidden in the shadows.
Their gazes instantly locked onto him, bodies slightly tensing as they entered a guarded state.
As Su Zhan's mentor, Wang Mingyuan's every movement warranted attention.
Under their watchful eyes, Wang Mingyuan walked out of the dormitory, moving slowly like this, gradually leaving their line of sight.
One man frowned, somewhat uncertain: "Should we to Commander Qin immediately?"
The other hesitated before saying: "Commander Qin has maintained uninterrupted high-intensity surveillance on the target for seventy-two hours straight. His mental energy consumption is enormous - we just forcibly persuaded him to rest and recover for a moment... It's not like Wang Mingyuan hasn't visited Su Zhan before. We can this tomorrow."
"He probably wouldn't dare to..."
The other continued: "The target is still inside. We just need to watch the door closely. Wang Mingyuan definitely wouldn't dare to openly defy orders from above, hah... unless he's tired of living..."
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Two sharp sounds cut through the air.
Wang Mingyuan unexpectedly emerged from their blind spot to the side and rear.
His hands chopped at the vital points on the backs of the two Supervision Department personnel's necks.
Before they could react, darkness filled their vision as their bodies went limp and collapsed, losing consciousness.
Wang Mingyuan expressionlessly reached out to support both men, preventing them from hitting the ground too loudly, and quickly dragged them to a hidden corner in a nearby storage room.
After completing this.
Wang Mingyuan warily scanned the surroundings, confirming he hadn't attracted other attention, then nodded slightly toward Su Zhan's dormitory direction.
He then quickly distanced himself from the scene to establish an alibi.