Having the genes of a demon king, I never intended to be a kept man.

Professor Li's life force seemed to be very weak, and he coughed occasionally.

After removing his mask, everyone could see clearly visible fine blood vessels on his face, all of which were black. His skin was also covered with frightening black mycelium, clearly a result of severe contamination by demonic energy.

Without a doubt, the level of contamination was such that the demonic energy had already eroded his heart, and even the blood of darkness could not save him.

Gao Shenxue bent down to examine him, remained silent for a few seconds, then turned back and said softly, "He's beyond saving."

Everyone looked at each other.

As students of the War Academy, Gao Shenxue, Xia Xiyao, Nangong Qiuyue, and others naturally recognized Professor Li.

They had all taken Professor Li's minor professional courses before.

No one expected that Professor Li would actually appear here.

"Professor Li?"

When Ye Ge heard Yu Li mention the name, she pondered for a moment, as if trying to recall, and then said, "Oh, is that arrogant, conceited, ignorant, ordinary yet confident, idiot professor in the academy who clearly knows nothing and has no talent but still dismisses your research outright?"

Everyone: "..."

Professor Li: "......"

"Cough...cough...cough cough cough cough...!"

After listening, Professor Li coughed weakly and violently several more times, coughing up a mouthful of black blood from his chest.

Ye Ge turned to look at Yu Li: "Right? I didn't mistake you, did I?"

“…Ah?…Um…” Yu Li said somewhat embarrassedly, “Yes, yes.”

"..." Xia Xiyao said awkwardly, "Xiao Ye, at a time like this... aren't you being a bit too direct?"

Nangong Qiuyue was also speechless: "Yeah, they're about to die, and you still want to humiliate them..."

"Then we should definitely say it," Ye Ge said. "He's about to die. If we don't humiliate him now, won't we have another chance later?"

Professor Li: "......"

Ye Ge knelt down in front of Professor Li, looking at him with clear eyes and asking, "Tell me, how did you end up here?"

Professor Li's pale lips moved slightly, his voice barely audible: "I..."

His eyes were glazed over, and he was breathing heavily, clearly lacking the strength to speak.

Ye Ge turned her head: "Xiao Li, how much soul power do you have left?"

Yu Li: "About 20% left..."

Night Song: "Hmm, let's give him a chance to live."

Yu Li had just awakened to become a superhuman, and her soul power was still very low. A large-scale healing spell had just drained her soul power to its limit.

Although 20% is not enough to save a life, it can still provide a little more sustenance.

"Okay." Upon hearing this, Yu Li immediately put her hands together in prayer.

A healing light fell upon Professor Li.

Professor Li's condition has indeed improved significantly.

At least his eyes aren't so unfocused anymore.

"Can you speak now?"

Ye Ge looked at him with a smile.

Professor Li: "Hmm...it's possible."

“Actually, I could probably guess even if you didn’t say it,” Ye Ge said. “Wang En planted you here, right?”

"...No wonder he's a student chosen by Principal Lan Mi." Professor Li's pale face showed a bitter expression.

"What about other things?" Ye Ge asked, squinting.

Professor Li paused for a moment, then quickly confessed everything.

After listening, Nangong Qiuyue said angrily, "As a scholar in the field of scientific research and a professor at the War Academy, why would you help Duke Wang En do such a harmful and treacherous thing?!"

Professor Li fell silent.

Ye Ge waved her hand, signaling Nangong Qiuyue to be quiet.

After a long pause, Professor Li sighed softly, his voice slightly hoarse, and slowly said, "I once truly hoped to become a great scientific researcher, a pioneer who would create an era and build the future for humanity..."

"When I was young, I also studied at the Imperial War Academy. My extraordinary talent was not considered top-notch in the academy, and I failed the inner sect assessment several times. I was very self-conscious at that time. But once in an alchemy class, I concocted a potion that no other students could concoct. That was the first time I saw a look of surprise in my teacher's eyes."

"Back then, I thought I had a great talent for scientific research and alchemy."

After reaching adulthood, Professor Li fulfilled his wish and became a master alchemist, entering the War Academy as a secondary profession instructor.

However, he spent his entire life refining alchemical potion recipes left by his predecessors, and even at the age of eighty, he still had no groundbreaking inventions.

Professor Li was in great pain. He felt that he was just a scholar and professor in name only, doing the same thing every day. His daily work was to repeatedly refine known potions day after day.

If one cannot explore the unknown and contribute one's own inventions to the human race, but merely repeats known work, then what kind of scholar is he?

Eighty years old was considered old age for someone of his relatively low level of superhuman ability. Around the age of eighty, Professor Li still attempted many original experiments. Alchemy wasn't a single, straight path, but rather a multifaceted branching tree. He explored many directions, trying to find his own way.

However, his experimental projects were always met with failure and setbacks... This not only destroyed his confidence but also burned through his savings from years of teaching at the War College.

At the age of ninety, Professor Li had already given up on the idea of ​​becoming a Saint-level alchemist.

Until one day, Duke Wang En found him and showed him a small black bottle.

That small bottle contained hundreds of millions of dark microorganisms.

Professor Li looked excited as he saw these life forms existing in the demonic energy through the microscope, because it was something that the academic community had never seen before!

Wang En then asked him if he was interested in doing research with him to cultivate these highly promising life forms.

Professor Li agreed without hesitation.

Later, Professor Li and Bao Bingqing created the first version of Dark Blood.

That was his first work in his life.

At first, Professor Li, excited about his research findings, was completely unaware of Duke Wang En's purpose. He simply thought that Duke Wang En was researching the Dark Blood in order to save the civilians who were corrupted by demonic energy.

Later, when Professor Li realized something was wrong, it was too late to back down.

"Professor Li, you should be aware of the consequences if the academy finds out about this, right?"

Duke Wang En threatened him in this way.

Professor Li was pale. He knew the seriousness of the matter. Once it was exposed, it wouldn't just be a question of whether he would be dismissed from the War Academy; the Empire would definitely not let him off the hook either.

Thus, Professor Li, having his weakness exploited, was now on Duke Wang En's pirate ship and could no longer get off, leaving him no choice but to be at Duke Wang En's beck and call.