July 12th, 7:00 a.m., Li Jing, China.
The first ray of morning light slipped through the curtains and fell across Ji Minghuan's face. He slowly woke up, rolled over, and tumbled off the bed onto the tatami mat.
A moment later, a hand suddenly reached onto the bed, felt around beneath the blanket for the remote, and turned off the air conditioner with a beep.
He had set the temperature too low last night, and the cold air made him sneeze. If the summer cicadas outside had not been chirping nonstop, he might have thought it was winter.
After washing his face and brushing his teeth, Ji Minghuan wandered around the house. So early in the morning, Gu Qiye was already nowhere to be found. Li Jing City's celebrity Esper, Blue Arc, had probably received another emergency mission.
Ji Minghuan tilted his head, wondering whether his brother was so busy because some bastard named Ghost Bell had started causing trouble again. He made his way up to the third floor and knocked on the door.
When no response came from Old Man's room either, he pressed his Restraint Band against the doorframe and let his senses seep through the wooden door. Gu Zhuoan was nowhere to be seen inside, either.
"These two got up way too early... Don't tell me they're already outside beating each other up at this hour?"
Ji Minghuan muttered softly as he headed downstairs to the living room on the first floor.
He had the soft sofa all to himself and switched on the television with the remote. At that moment, the news anchor was reporting breaking news:
"At 7:15 this morning, Li Jing Third Bank suffered a violent robbery carried out by Esper criminals. Several guards were killed or injured in the fighting. A-Rank Espers