SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL

"Teaming up is fine!"

Ben said with a smile. "However, you have to listen to me."

To make things easier, Leo didn't want any further complications at this point. So, he decided to go along with whatever Ben said.

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

"First, the number of people in the team is limited to just you and me," Ben said with a smile. "Can you agree to that?"

It wasn't that Ben was unwilling to help his other classmates, but he had his own reasons.

Besides, Ben's goal was the extra reward!

If he had more teammates, he would have to share the rewards, which meant fewer benefits for himself.

Leo hesitated for a moment, but the hesitation didn't last long before he nodded.

"Okay, just the two of us then."

Leo had already said in class that he would bring Ben along, and because of that, fewer people were willing to team up with him.

Everyone believed that Ben was a burden!

Although Leo's Flare-Flare Fruit had the potential to become powerful in the future, right now, the difference between everyone's abilities wasn't that big. Relying on Leo alone wouldn't provide much of an advantage.

As a result, many people no longer considered Leo a good teammate.

The few who were still willing to team up had other motives—most of them were after Leo himself.

Leo would rather have no teammates at all than deal with that.

"Alright, then it's settled," Ben said with a satisfied smile.

He had agreed to team up with Leo on a whim.

Simply put, he wanted to use Leo as a shield!

Since the Spirit Realm tracked everyone's scores, if Ben went in alone and received an abnormally high reward, it would draw suspicion.

But with Leo on his team, things would be different.

After all, Leo was considered a genius.

A genius achieving great results? That was perfectly normal!

Even if he had a burden like Ben dragging him down, a genius could still pull off incredible feats.

So, when the time came, Ben could simply give all the credit to Leo and stay out of the spotlight!

As for fame…

When he became invincible, both fame and fortune would naturally follow.

"By the way!"

Just as Leo was about to leave, Ben suddenly remembered something.

He asked, "Leo, do you have money?"

Leo looked confused for a moment but then nodded.

"I do."

Leo's father, Henry, was a Transcendent and the president of the Transcendent Association. His family was wealthy—far wealthier than Ben's.

"How much do you have in your account right now?"

"I don't know the exact amount. Before I came to school, my dad gave me some money, plus all my lucky money from childhood… It's probably more than a million."

Hiss!

Good heavens.

A little rich guy!

A million wasn't an astronomical sum, but for a student, it was rare to have that much.

It showed just how wealthy Leo's family was.

"Can you lend me 500,000?"

Ben asked casually. "Don't worry, I'll write an IOU, and I'll definitely pay you back."

"There's no need for that. I trust you," Leo said nonchalantly. "Is 500,000 enough? If not, I can send you a million! Honestly, the money is just sitting there, and I don't need it."

For Leo, lending Ben money was no big deal.

The value of the Flare-Flare Fruit alone was worth tens of billions, so what was a million?

Besides, he was telling the truth—the money was just lying around in his bank account, untouched.

"Uh… okay!"

Ben was taken aback by Leo's generosity.

He had never encountered someone lending money so casually.

Suddenly, Ben felt that Leo had many good qualities.

He was good-looking, kind-hearted, and generous!

Most importantly, Leo wasn't like those spoiled rich kids who acted entitled.

Aside from being a little stubborn, Leo's personality was far better than those self-absorbed kids.

Thinking about it, Ben became even more convinced—Leo was the perfect shield.

"Send me your card number."

Leo didn't waste any time. After Ben sent his account details, Leo transferred the money immediately.

A few moments later…

Ben received a notification—one million had been deposited into his account.

Preparing for the Spirit Realm

Now that he had money, Ben got busy.

First, he spent 400,000 to buy a small apartment near Chicago University, then ordered a deluxe version of the sunbathing equipment and moved in.

It took ten days to get everything sorted.

Buying a house and waiting for the equipment to be delivered took time.

At first, Ben had considered setting up the sunbathing equipment in his dormitory.

But that idea was quickly scrapped.

It would be too much trouble.

The deluxe sunbathing equipment was huge—about the size of a bed!

Getting something that big into the dorm would be a nightmare, and it would attract too much attention.

Moreover, the deluxe version consumed a lot of electricity.

Ben didn't want to deal with the dormitory staff constantly questioning him about his electricity usage.

Living outside was simply more convenient.

At Chicago University, it was common for students with money to buy apartments nearby instead of staying in dorms.

It also gave them more freedom.

With Spirit Realm trips every month, students lived under extreme pressure, constantly walking the fine line between life and death.

If they couldn't find a way to relieve that stress, their mental health would suffer.

And it was better to do that outside of school…

The Final Day Before Entering the Spirit Realm

Time flew by, and soon it was the last day of May.

Early in the morning…

Ben woke up inside his sunbathing equipment.

Ever since he bought it, he had been using it as a bed, sleeping in it every night.

Although sunbathing every day didn't increase his attributes, it kept his body in peak condition.

The first thing he did after waking up was check his stats:

Race: Human

Constitution: 290

Spirit: 95

Strength: 290

Agility: 290

Talent: Kryptonian Bloodline

Spirit Points: 0

Explosive attributes!

For a newcomer who had never entered the Spirit Realm, his stats were ridiculously high.

The Great Superman Physique was truly remarkable!

Tomorrow, he would enter the Spirit Realm.

And with it, he would gain another attribute boost!

Once that happened, Ben would have three stats surpassing 300.

If the first layer of the Spirit Realm didn't have any particularly strong monsters, then…

He wouldn't hold back.

After washing up, Ben grabbed breakfast downstairs before heading to school.

He arrived just in time for class.

The bell rang.

Then, Adore walked into the classroom.

"Tomorrow, you will enter the first layer of the Spirit Realm," he announced. "After class today, there's no training. Get plenty of rest and enter in your best condition!"

Hearing that they had the day off, the class didn't cheer—if anything, they looked more nervous.

The thought of entering the Spirit Realm the next day and facing potential death made everyone uneasy.

Adore had a serious expression as he asked, "Have you all found your teammates?"

The students nodded one by one.

Then, almost instinctively, everyone turned to look at