Cinema

A torrential rain had just passed, and Li Capital was still shrouded beneath a dim curtain.

Dark clouds blanketed the sky. The afternoon sunlight filtered through them, but it could not reach every corner of the city. Gu Yi Mai Community happened to be one of the areas left without light.

The bathroom was dimly lit. Ji Minghuan pressed the switch on the wall, turning on the orange-yellow bathroom light. He strolled over to the sink, picked up a towel from the rack, and wiped his face in the mirror.

Then, as he headed toward his room, he replied to his best friend's messages on his phone.

Gu Wenyu: I happen to be free. Where should we go?

Li Qingping: How about a movie? That new Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time.

Gu Wenyu: Oh, oh, Eva. I wanted to see it too. Are you booking the tickets, or should I?

Li Qingping: Just head out now. I already booked them for you.

Gu Wenyu: How much? I'll WeChat it to you.

Li Qingping: Bro, do I look like I'm short on that little bit of money? But if you ditch me again, I'm seriously getting mad. You've been like dead these past few days. Every time I ask you out, you play dead. I'm starting to think you found yourself a girlfriend behind my back.

With a ding, his best friend sent him the location of a cinema.

Ji Minghuan glanced at the address, then returned to his room and found a T-shirt and jeans in his wardrobe. He threw them on in a few quick motions, tugged at his sleeves, and headed out.

Incidentally, he was wearing a T-shirt printed with the cartoon image of the Esper "Silver Devourer."

Unlike a national idol like "Blue Arc," Silver Devourer had a mixed reputation in the country. His temper was far too explosive, and he often said shocking things without any tact, frequently doing things people found impossible to understand.

He usually appeared in a silver uniform and a silver mask. His Esper ability allowed him to gain different abilities immediately by devouring different metals.

So the Esper Association's business partners had designed Silver Devourer's cartoon image as a cool-faced silver hamster, lowering its head to gnaw on the little iron block in its paws.

Who knew whether the man himself would laugh or cry if he saw it.

At any rate, Ji Minghuan laughed. He only knew that Gu Wenyu was a Silver Devourer anti-fan, which was why this T-shirt had ended up in his wardrobe.

Ji Minghuan twisted the doorknob, but the moment he opened a crack in the door, he saw Gu Zhuoan's face. His tall figure stood quietly against the wall, hunched over, both arms hanging before his abdomen as he stared at the floor in thought.

"Wen Yu... what day did Qiye say she's going to Japan?" Gu Zhuoan asked, lifting his head.

"I haven't asked yet."

"Then remember to ask her, and get ready a few days ahead of time."

"Mm."

"Going out to have fun?"

"Yeah."

"Don't come back too late."

"Okay."

Gu Zhuoan fell silent for a moment before reminding him, "There have been a lot of Esper criminals outside lately. Black Cocoon, Frame Skip, Earthworm Man... Ghost Bell, and others. Anyway, if you run into danger or trouble outside, remember to call me right away. I'll come pick you up immediately."

Come on, isn't Ghost Bell standing right in front of me? By your logic, shouldn't I call you right now and say: Wuwuwu, Old Man, I'm so scared. The supercriminal Ghost Bell is blocking my bedroom door, and he won't even let me go out and have fun.

"Okay." Ji Minghuan raised his eyes from his phone screen and looked at Gu Zhuoan. "Anything else?"

"No. Go have fun."

At five thirty in the afternoon, Ji Minghuan arrived at the cinema on time.

The dark clouds had not fully dispersed, and the sky remained somewhat gloomy. The street was soaked, puddles reflecting colorful neon lights and the cinema's movie posters.

It was summer, and the air hovered somewhere between damp and muggy, making people feel miserable. Fortunately, a corner of the clouds suddenly collapsed moments later, and warm afternoon sunlight poured down, easing some of the pedestrians' irritation.

After scanning the QR code and collecting two movie tickets from the Taopiaopiao machine, Ji Minghuan and Li Qingping each held a bucket of popcorn as they lounged in the massage-chair area, waiting to enter.

Li Qingping still wore his hair in a small braid today, and his handsome face drew the attention of quite a few passersby.

One of the cinema's large screens was playing information on Esper criminals recently active in Li Jing City. Photo after photo flashed across the display, cycling through dangerous figures such as Ghost Bell, Flying Ant, Frame Skip, and Black Cocoon, while an AI female voice reminded residents to stay away immediately if they saw anyone dressed similarly.

When the screen showed Black Cocoon's upside-down figure, with Restraint Bands rippling around him like waves, Li Qingping immediately slapped the armrest and pointed at the screen. "Holy shit, no matter how many times I see it, I still think his outfit is awesome. What about you?"

"My sister says he looks like a Big Moth," Ji Minghuan said without lifting his head.

Li Qingping grinned. "He's obviously cool as hell, okay? I watched the video some netizen uploaded. He was reading while twisting off the heads of five bandits. My old man and I were both dumbstruck. We kept wondering what kind of person he was. Not to mention, even Blue Arc was scared stiff by him at the time."

"Blue Arc's condition seemed off that day. With his strength, how could he get toyed with by two criminals that weak?"

"I got that feeling too... In that livestream, his movements seemed to have become much slower."

As he spoke, Li Qingping turned to Ji Minghuan. "Say, don't you think Black Cocoon's outfit looks familiar?"

"Does it?"

"What do you mean, does it? It clearly looks a lot like the Battle Suit we designed together in middle school!"

"I forgot all about it until you mentioned it."

"Ah... you really are a fair-weather brother. Didn't we agree that if either of us awakened Esper abilities and became an Esper someday, we'd have our Battle Suit made according to that design?"

"Oh... I guess that did happen." Ji Minghuan spoke absentmindedly. "Good thing our test results both came back Muggle. Besides, why insist on chasing after the profession with the highest death rate? After graduation, I can get a job, and you can go home and inherit the company. We both have bright futures."

"I really wish I had Esper genes." Li Qingping sighed. "If they had a choice, who would willingly be a Muggle?"

Watching him put on that act, Ji Minghuan could not help grumbling inwardly, Big Brother, just don't let me test you and find out you're an Esper later. Otherwise, I'm definitely making one or two alt accounts to mess with you.

"But actually..." Li Qingping paused and looked away. "Sometimes, I think being an ordinary person is pretty good too. Going to boring classes every day, spacing out while looking at the sports field, hanging out with friends during breaks... that's nice too."

"Why are you suddenly getting sentimental? Your youth hasn't even passed yet, and you're already reminiscing about the youth you've lost? Or did your brain suddenly short-circuit and switch to the wrong channel?"

"Coke or Sprite?" Li Qingping smiled, changing the subject.

"Coke."

At that, Li Qingping bought two drinks from the vending machine beside the massage chairs and handed one bottle of Coke to Ji Minghuan.

"Thanks."

Ji Minghuan looked down at his phone, thanking him as he reached out to take the Coke.

At that very moment, a pitch-black Restraint Band extended from his fingertip, lightly touching Li Qingping's little finger before swiftly retracting between his fingers.

Condition met: Touched the target's body. Passive skill activated—"Restraint Belt Detection."