Chiyu Academy, Class 1, Grade 3.
"MEI... We're really not going home together after school tonight? I genuinely want to make amends for what happened last time."
During class, the white-haired big guy poked the purple-haired girl in front of him in the back and said,
"Didn't you say you'd give me another chance? Just this once. I'll show you how sincere I am!"
MEI, sitting in front of the white-haired boy, felt someone poking her back. Her body trembled slightly, and without turning her head, she made a shushing gesture toward him, meaning that they were still in class and he should wait until after class to say whatever he wanted.
Seeing MEI's response, Kevin sighed helplessly. But things had come to this, so all he could do was wait until class ended and ask MEI what she thought.
The teacher conducting the class was a bald, middle-aged man who taught math. He could be considered a man with a strong sense of professional dedication—or perhaps just someone who looked at the PPT wherever he was supposed to and ignored students' questions. He was also clearly the type who was eager to get off work.
Teachers like that actually suited Kevin's tastes even better. Teachers who were eager to get off work generally wouldn't run overtime, and they wouldn't bother with their students either. As long as you weren't seriously disrupting class discipline, they wouldn't even care if you slept during class. The high school teacher had somehow turned himself into a university professor.
Kevin turned his head and glanced at Su, his deskmate. After discovering that Su was also listening to the math teacher's stream of "wa-bi-ba-bo" and sinking into thought, Kevin relaxed. At least he wasn't the only one who couldn't understand the lesson.
And once he had company, Kevin had a perfectly legitimate reason to sleep in class. His seat was a little awkward, though. He was in the third row, directly behind MEI, so if someone patrolled outside the classroom, he could easily be spotted.
So he still needed someone to keep watch.
Thinking this, Kevin tore off a small piece of paper from his notebook, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it at his deskmate Su. He then made a lookout signal that only the two brothers could understand.
After being hit by the little paper ball, Su looked at Kevin and helplessly shook his head without saying anything.
Kevin knew that meant Su had agreed to keep watch for him.
Nice! I can slack off for another whole class!
Thinking this, Kevin propped his head up with one hand on the desk. From the outside, he looked as though he had fallen into deep thought, but from the inside, he had already fallen asleep.
Time eventually reached evening.
"Kevin? Kevin! At your age... how can you sleep? At your age... you can actually sleep? Huh? How can you sleep?"
"Ah... huh?"
Hearing that strange voice, Kevin woke from his dreams in a daze. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was his good brother Su, followed by MEI, who was packing up her things in the seat ahead of him and preparing to leave.
"Hey! MEI, wait for me!"
Kevin immediately stopped worrying about anything else. After hurriedly tidying up his appearance, he pulled his good brother Su over and said,
"MEI, where are you going? Didn't we agree that you'd give me a chance to make it up to you this Friday?"
"Kevin."
MEI stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Kevin. After pushing up her round glasses, she said,
"I did agree to give you a chance to make amends, but I never said that today was the day you'd do it. I have something more important to do today. Kevin, go back to the field and play basketball. We'll deal with your matter later."
"Huh? What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?"
Kevin, whose brain couldn't quite keep up, was confused.
"sigh."
Su, who had been dragged over by him, helplessly sighed. Then he tugged on Kevin's sleeve and said,
"This matter... you're probably the only one who doesn't know yet, Kevin. A famous biology professor is arriving at our school tonight to give a lecture. MEI has already signed up. Actually, she wanted to tell you about it after signing up, but you went to play basketball with the club and missed the chance."
"Ah... huh?"
Kevin leaned back dramatically. Then he looked at the expressionless MEI, before looking at his helplessly exasperated good brother. He hurriedly grabbed Su's arm and said,
"Brother! My good brother! Tell me, is it still in time to sign up? I want to attend the lecture with MEI!"
"You... sigh... forget it."
Su sighed helplessly and glanced around. After confirming that the teacher had already left the classroom, he took a phone from his trouser pocket and handed it to Kevin.
"Here. Go somewhere empty later and fill out the form. I've already opened the software for you. Just enter your name below."
"What the heck! Su, you brought a phone too!"
"...Please don't use the word 'too.' Thank you."
"Oh, okay."
Watching the two brothers—one daring to do it and the other daring to endure it—MEI tilted her head slightly and gave a helpless smile. The next moment, she realized what she was feeling and hurriedly turned away, leaving at a leisurely pace.
That night, at the lecture Mobius was giving at Chiyu Academy, in the tiered classroom.
Kevin sat openly beside MEI. The professor who was supposed to give the lecture had not arrived yet, so Kevin casually struck up a conversation with MEI.
"Hey! MEI, the professor isn't here yet. Stop studying for now. How about we talk about something else?"
MEI was flipping through her notebook. She glanced at Kevin and said casually,
"What do you want to talk about? If it's more of your meaningless sweet talk, I'll have to reconsider whether it's reasonable to allow you to remain my deskmate, Kevin."
"Uh..."
His little scheme exposed, Kevin awkwardly scratched his head. But he was Kevin—Chiyu Academy's Great Prince, noble handsome man, and King of Sweet Talk. How could such a minor difficulty stump him?
He quickly adjusted his emotions, clapped his hands, and said with a smile,
"MEI, have you seen the news board posted on the campus wall? I only heard about it myself, but there's a major piece of news on it that says... 'The most magnificent performance from beyond dusk is about to begin!' Apparently, a great magician from Dusk Street is coming to Changkong City to perform magic. Will you have time then? Do you want to go see it with me?"
"We'll see."
MEI did not directly refuse, but neither did she directly agree. Her attitude toward Kevin remained neither warm nor cold... at least, that was how it appeared.
"If I don't have anything else to do then, I can consider it. But if I'm in class at the time, please allow me to refuse. After all, I'm not interested in something like 'magic' to begin with, Kevin."
"Hey! So you mean that as long as you have time then, you'll go?"
Kevin's comprehension had always been absurd. He scratched his head, slapped his hands together, and said excitedly,
"Great, MEI! I'll remember those words of yours. Just wait and see. When that great magician comes to Changkong City, I'll definitely make sure you have no class to attend at that time... No, I'll definitely make sure you have free time!"
"You... haha."
Hearing Kevin let the truth slip, MEI found him both infuriating and amusing. She was just about to say something when her expression suddenly changed, and she quickly changed her words.
"All right, Kevin. Another student has arrived. You should quiet down and get ready too. That professor should be here soon."
Kevin's ears misheard her, and he took MEI's words to mean, "That biology professor is already here." He immediately perked up and turned his gaze toward the podium in the tiered classroom. He wanted to see exactly what kind of biology professor could make MEI care so much.
He had initially assumed that a professor who could persuade the Chiyu Academy authorities to suddenly arrange a lecture for the students would certainly be a highly respected old man. Even if he wasn't seventy or eighty, he had to be over fifty.
Until... two peerless beauties, one with golden hair and one with green hair, walked into the classroom...
Xu Ziling and Mobius entered the classroom.
After sweeping her gaze around the room, Mobius immediately locked onto the girl sitting alone in a corner of the classroom, whose hair was the same emerald green as hers.
That must be the person Blanca recommended to me: "Klein."
Judging from Klein's current expression, she was still rather confused. It was obvious that she had been tricked and coaxed into attending the lecture Mobius was hosting that night. But that was exactly the effect Mobius wanted. Someone too clever was not suitable as an assistant.
As for this first impression... well, Mobius was fairly satisfied with Klein.
She was quiet, and her personality seemed rather submissive, which made her suitable for Mobius to take the initiative with. Although Klein's eyes looked confused, her hands had never stopped moving. Before "that professor" arrived at the lecture, Klein kept flipping through the biology notes she had written herself. That showed she wasn't stupid, at least.
Her gaze also did not wander. She did not sit with anyone else, and although she was reclusive, she knew what she should and shouldn't look at. She had a clear goal in mind for her actions.
Blanca had really done well to find someone like this. This little one named Klein truly seemed like the perfect choice for an assistant.
Xu Ziling, meanwhile, focused more of his attention on the purple, white, and gray trio inside the classroom. His eyes gradually filled with astonishment.
He had never expected that this small tiered classroom would contain, all at once, the future leader of the Fire Moth, the Fire Moth's strongest warrior, Great Immortal Su, as well as Mobius from his side—the future creator of the Fire Moth's fusion warriors—and her good assistant Klein...
This small classroom really was hiding dragons and crouching tigers!
At that moment, Xu Ziling noticed Kevin whispering something to MEI inside the classroom. He then quickly exchanged a signal with Su behind him. Immediately afterward, Kevin stood up and extended his right hand.
Xu Ziling's expression changed at once.
Based on his years of experience as an overworked employee, Kevin's posture and actions clearly meant he was about to say...
"Hey! You two beautiful ladies, that professor should be here soon. Don't just stand there. Why don't you come sit over here with us?"
As Kevin spoke, he pointed at the empty seats in front of himself and MEI and continued,
"We have the top student in our grade here! If you don't understand anything during the lecture, it'll be convenient for everyone to discuss it afterward, right? MEI and I never refuse to answer other people's questions! Especially when you're two such pretty ladies."
"Pretty ladies?"
Xu Ziling froze, then turned to look behind him.
But other than the front door of the tiered classroom, there was no one else behind him.
Something was wrong. Kevin wasn't looking at Serpent, and there was no one behind Xu Ziling either. Where had these pretty ladies come from?
Wait, could it be that the person he was looking at was actually...
"Hey! Don't just stand there."
During the moment Xu Ziling spent wracking his brain, Kevin—the warmhearted Great Prince of Chiyu Academy—had already obtained MEI's agreement. He walked over, patted Xu Ziling on the shoulder, and said with a smile,
"Beautiful, come sit over here with us. When the professor starts the lecture, feel free to ask me anything you don't understand! Although... uh, I might not understand it either, but there's someone beside me who definitely does! That'll be enough to satisfy your questions!"
Xu Ziling: ...
As Kevin repeatedly called him "beautiful" while patting him on the shoulder, a huge vein throbbed on Xu Ziling's forehead.
No, wait! MEI, your Kevin is acting this wild, and you're not going to control him at all?
However, when Xu Ziling turned his gaze toward MEI, he discovered that MEI's attention was not on Kevin at all. Instead, it was focused on himself—or more precisely, on Mobius beside him.
MEI stared at Mobius, sometimes furrowing her brow tightly and sometimes relaxing her fingers, as though she were considering something, or perhaps denying her own thoughts.
Mobius also noticed what was happening on Xu Ziling's side. After hearing Kevin's words, she smiled slightly and said,
"Don't suppress yourself, Little Mouse. Do what you want. As long as I'm here, no one can touch you."
"Little Mouse?"
Kevin froze, then looked at Mobius.
What kind of bizarre way is this green-haired young lady using to address someone? And who is the Little Mouse she's calling?
Kevin had no time to think about that question.
A slender palm had already cut through the air. With a slap, it seized his wrist, followed by an overwhelming force. Caught off guard, Kevin felt his field of vision rising continuously... No, it was his entire body being flung into the air!
"F*ck!"
After shouting an authentic Shenzhou curse, Kevin forcibly suppressed his shock. He performed a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree backflip in midair, using centrifugal rotational force to stabilize the turbulent air around him before landing steadily on the ground.
"Whew..."
Kevin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and looked at the owner of that slender palm.
"Wait... miss, are you trained in martial arts? Could we not start fighting the moment we meet?"
Kevin would have been better off saying nothing. The moment Xu Ziling heard how he addressed him, his expression darkened. His legs instantly exerted force, and his body shot forward with enough momentum to tear through the air. He was about to rush over and punch Kevin again.
"Wait, Little Mouse."
Mobius stopped Xu Ziling, keeping her eyes fixed on Kevin.
"This fellow actually withstood your punch and looks as though nothing happened... How interesting. That means he has considerable research value. Little Mouse, don't bother. I'll help you vent your anger."
"Understood."
Xu Ziling stopped and brushed back his brilliant golden hair. He had only intended to teach Kevin a lesson for his "reckless mouth" and had never planned to do anything serious to him. Hearing Mobius say that, he nodded.
"As you say, Doctor."
"Wait... what?"
Kevin stared in astonishment at Mobius as she walked toward him, leaning back defensively.
"Miss, are you coming over to spar too? Don't. I never hit girls, and besides, when the teacher arrives, it'll be hard to explain if they see this."
"Heh heh..."
Mobius smiled, but her smile made people's spines turn cold.
Then she extended a hand toward Kevin and spoke in an extremely dangerous tone.
"Student... what's your name?"
"Hm? Are you asking for my contact information?"
Although our Great Prince Kevin did not quite understand what she meant, his body reacted instinctively. He immediately straightened his posture and smiled at Mobius.
"Hey, student, you're new here, aren't you? I'm the number-one prince of our school. You can call me Kevin."
"Kevin... all right."
Mobius smiled, but the next second, her expression turned cold. She pointed toward the classroom's front door and said,
"Then, Kevin, I'm asking you to leave my classroom on the grounds that you've disrupted class discipline. Get out."
Before you continue