Shrouded in Mist

He closed his notebook. It was already afternoon.

Feng Qi stretched lazily and prepared to head out.

Lin Ran had called him earlier and invited him to study at the library, but he had declined.

He planned to find Bai Fusheng that afternoon and ask about Mu Qing.

Since Bai Fusheng was the principal of Star City Academy, Feng Qi figured he must know Mu Qing's circumstances in detail.

He took out the business card and dialed the number. Bai Fusheng's voice soon came through the phone.

"Who is this?"

"Master, it's Feng Qi. I'd like to ask you about something."

"Oh, Feng Qi. Just come directly to my office," Bai Fusheng readily replied.

After chatting briefly and noting down the location Bai Fusheng gave him, he left the dormitory and headed toward the Principal's Office.

Star City Academy was enormous. After half an hour of walking, Feng Qi arrived at Building One, which Bai Fusheng had mentioned.

After entering the building, Feng Qi went straight to the top floor, found the room marked "Principal's Office," and knocked on the door.

Bai Fusheng's voice immediately sounded from inside:

"You're Feng Qi, right? Come in."

Pushing open the door, he saw Bai Fusheng holding a watering can and tending to the office plants.

When he saw Feng Qi, Bai Fusheng smiled.

"Come, have a seat. What did you want to ask about?"

Feng Qi walked to the desk and sat down. After pondering for a moment, he said,

"Master, I want to learn about Mu Qing."

Bai Fusheng's expression changed when he heard Mu Qing's name. He asked in surprise,

"Why do you want to know about her?"

"She's my friend."

"A friend? I'd advise you to stay away from her."

"Why? Do you also discriminate against her because she's a Rune Modifier?"

Bai Fusheng was not angered by those words. Instead, he explained,

"Since I agreed to let her enter Star City Academy, how could I discriminate against her? The main issue is that her emotions are extremely unstable, and she's exceptionally powerful. She could accidentally hurt you. During her time at the academy, Mu Qing has lost control more than once."

Realizing that Bai Fusheng was worried about him getting hurt, Feng Qi continued asking,

"Master, then could you tell me what you know about Mu Qing?"

"I don't know much about Mu Qing. The reason she was able to enter Star City Academy was mainly because of a request from the Scarlet Institute, which was why I agreed. What I can say for certain is that Mu Qing is an observation and research subject of the Scarlet Institute. Her becoming a Rune Modifier was also the result of the Scarlet Institute's experiments."

Feng Qi was puzzled by this.

"Wasn't the Rune Modifier Project banned? Why could the Scarlet Institute still openly conduct this kind of research?"

"It was banned, but the Scarlet Institute is special. It is a special organization completely independent of all research institutions and directly managed by the military. They have the authority to conduct small-scale special experiments, including the Rune Modifier Project. After all, perhaps there is still hope for this path that once proved impassable. If it succeeds, it will certainly advance the development of all humanity."

"Even if the Scarlet Institute has the authority to conduct Rune Modification Experiments, does that mean they can disregard people's wishes and forcibly conduct human experiments on them?" Feng Qi could not help frowning.

Bai Fusheng was stunned by those words.

"All of the Scarlet Institute's experiments are reported to the military, and every living test subject participates voluntarily. How could there be coercion? Did Mu Qing tell you that?"

Bai Fusheng's words made Feng Qi realize something.

It seemed that many of the Scarlet Institute's actions had been approved of, but he did not believe the Scarlet Institute was innocent.

There had been a scene in Mu Qing's memories.

A woman in black had taken away the orphaned Mu Qing, saying that she was going to continue the unfinished experiment.

At the time, he could clearly feel little Mu Qing's resistance and struggle.

He felt that there had to be something wrong with the Scarlet Institute!

Thinking of this, he looked at Bai Fusheng and continued asking,

"Was Mu Qing becoming a Rune Modifier voluntary as well?"

"Of course it was voluntary. I asked the Scarlet Institute about this too. They told me that Mu Qing's parents had originally been Scavengers outside the city. In the early years, Star City took in and resettled a group of Scavengers, and her family was among them."

"After settling in the city, her family voluntarily signed up as living test subjects during one of the Scarlet Institute's public recruitment drives and underwent a series of Rune Modification Experiments. However, their bodies developed rejection reactions to rune energy, and none of them made it through."

"That doesn't make sense. Why would Mu Qing's family voluntarily participate in Rune Modification Experiments? Didn't they know there were risks? If something went wrong, what would happen to young Mu Qing? Could they not have understood that?"

"I had the same doubts as you at the time, so I asked the same question of the Scarlet Institute staff member assigned to liaise with me. The answer I received was that Mu Qing's relatives had indeed participated voluntarily, because they did not have long to live to begin with."

Seeing Feng Qi's puzzled expression, Bai Fusheng continued,

"The information I received was that Mu Qing's family had once been attacked by Domain Transcendents outside the city. Although reinforcements arrived in time, Mu Qing and her relatives had inhaled poisonous mist exhaled by the Domain Transcendents. A trace amount was not enough to kill them, but modern medicine had no way to cure it. They had at most around three years to live. So they made a series of requests to the Scarlet Institute, then voluntarily signed up for the Rune Modifier Project."

"What requests?"

"They hoped Mu Qing could grow up healthy and receive the best education. So, one year ago, the Scarlet Institute fulfilled its promise and sent Mu Qing to Star City Academy."

Bai Fusheng's answer filled Feng Qi with doubts.

If Mu Qing had been forced by the Scarlet Institute to undergo Rune Modification Experiments, why would they voluntarily release her and let her attend the academy?

The information he had found in the future also proved that the Scarlet Institute had not interfered with Mu Qing's life afterward. That was why, after graduation, she joined the Domain Battle Squad and became a Domain Warrior.

If the Scarlet Institute truly was an evil organization, it should have imprisoned Mu Qing and continued experimenting on her.

Thinking about it that way, the Scarlet Institute, which he had once considered utterly wicked, did not seem as evil as he had imagined.

Feng Qi suddenly found his thoughts impossible to sort out.

Could there be some hidden truth behind all this?

He had only seen one scene from Mu Qing's memories at the time. Now that he had heard Bai Fusheng's explanation, his previous speculation had begun to waver.

If Mu Qing had voluntarily continued participating in Rune Modification Experiments afterward, what had made her develop the desire to become an enemy of all humanity?

Unable to figure it out, Feng Qi felt a headache coming on.

The truth he had thought he was about to grasp had seemingly turned into a mass of mist once more.

After chatting for a while longer, Feng Qi bid Bai Fusheng farewell and returned directly to his dormitory.

Since he could not figure it out, he decided to explore Future Dreamland again and see whether he could find useful clues to piece together the answer.