Are You Into Blondes?

Then there was Cate.

The school's interview room.

Cate sat in a chair with her back straight and her hands folded neatly on her knees, as if she were interviewing for a Fortune 500 company.

The same went for Jordan.

"All right, Cate, I'll skip the small talk. We've met before, after all."

Lu Heng set Cate's file aside.

Jordan and Cate were both students with decent personal records. At least, neither had any serious problems so far.

Even if they did, when it came to ability points, the principles were up to him, their Guardian.

After all, wasn't he the one who got to decide how to interpret them?

"So I can join The Seven?" Cate deliberately reached out to touch Lu Heng's hand.

She released a wave of mental energy.

"Kid, you don't actually think that little trick of yours can show off in front of me, do you?"

Lu Heng clasped Cate's hand and pulled her toward him.

Cate let out a startled cry and fell into his arms.

To her surprise, she couldn't read the Guardian's mind at all.

It was completely different from last time.

This time, the Guardian had blocked her superpower.

"How is that possible? Even with special training, no one should be able to completely block my telepathy."

"Nothing's impossible. Last time, I was only testing your behavior and the strength of your superpower."

Lu Heng let go of Cate, only to see her looking delighted.

She looked as if she'd discovered a treasure.

A Supe who couldn't be read or mind-controlled by her was practically heaven-sent!

Not even her childhood sweetheart, Golden Boy, had that ability.

"So... what job are you assigning me?" Cate struggled to contain her excitement.

"An internship at Vought. Your ability could be used to interrogate criminals, but..."

"I accept."

"You can think it over. Criminals' minds are usually more twisted than normal people's... It might..."

"You don't have to say anything else. I accept the job working for you."

Cate looked as if she'd discovered a whole new world. Her excitement was impossible to hide.

Lu Heng's super hearing told him that her reaction was genuine.

She really was excited, but not because of the job.

[Key Character · Jordan Li — Emotional Change: Anticipation]

[Ability Points Gained: +2,743]

[Key Character · Cate Dunlap — Emotional Change: Testing → Shock → Ecstatic → Infatuated]

[Ability Points Gained: +2,276]

Current Ability Points: 19,456 / 250,000

Monday.

Jordan and Cate reported to Vought together.

Ashley assigned them to the Guardian's oversight team as interns, with a monthly salary of $8,000 that would double once they became full-time employees.

Lu Heng would decide what their actual duties were.

"Guardian, what are we supposed to do?"

The two came in excitedly and found Lu Heng sitting with his legs propped on the desk. A box of pizza and a huge bucket of Pepsi sat beside him.

The TV hanging on the opposite wall was playing SpongeBob SquarePants.

SpongeBob SquarePants!

SpongeBob SquarePants!

SpongeBob SquarePants!

SpongeBob SquarePants!

They stared, dumbfounded.

Where was his heroic bearing? His crime-fighting? That champion of justice?

All they saw was a shut-in stuffing high-calorie food into his mouth.

Every now and then, he even burped.

When he saw them come in, Lu Heng started handing out orders.

"Jordan, go get a glass of water, then sit over there."

"Cate, you sit down too. Don't be shy. Make yourself at home."

Without taking his eyes off the TV, Lu Heng started the next episode.

He'd loved this cartoon back then, but had never gotten the chance to finish it.

Now he was going to watch the whole thing from beginning to end.

"Um, sir?"

Cate asked hesitantly, "What are our duties?"

"Duties?"

Lu Heng chewed his pizza and answered without turning around.

"Your job is to be on call. When there's no assignment, do whatever you want."

"When there's an assignment, I'll let you know."

"That's... that's it?"

Jordan was in her female form at the moment. She folded her arms and looked incredulous.

"That's it."

"Then, for now..."

Lu Heng pointed at the sofa. "Sit down and watch SpongeBob. Squidward's Moving. A classic among classics."

Jordan and Cate exchanged a glance.

An $8,000 monthly salary, a place on the Guardian's direct team at Vought, and their main duty was watching cartoons?

Did he have no shame?

Did he have no regard for the law?

Was there any pizza left?

Three minutes later.

They had their feet up on the coffee table, alternating between bites of pizza and sips of cola.

"Here's a question for you two."

Lu Heng watched the cartoon, then suddenly blurted it out.

Here it comes!

This was the real test!

Everything that had happened before was just a smokescreen the Guardian had put up to throw them off!

They pricked up their ears. Maybe he was going to quiz them on specialized knowledge about superpowers.

"Well, which do you like better, Coca-Cola or Pepsi?"

Cate: "???"

Jordan: "???"

"I guess Pepsi," Cate said.

She opened a bottle of Coca-Cola.

"I can't tell the difference," Jordan admitted honestly.

In the end, the three of them sat side by side on the sofa, watching SpongeBob.

The scene was remarkably harmonious.

A classic was a classic.

That lasted until someone pushed open the office door.

Starlight walked in.

"Guardian, do you want to hang out tonight..."

She stopped halfway through her sentence when she saw the scene on the sofa.

As a woman whose love life had just started to blossom, all Annie saw was the Guardian with his arms around two women.

One on each side, and one of them even had blonde hair just like hers.

Starlight's smile froze on her face.

"Annie! Perfect timing. Come watch SpongeBob with us." Lu Heng patted the seat beside him, as if he hadn't noticed a thing.

Starlight didn't move.

Her gaze swept over Cate before settling on Lu Heng.

So Lu Heng had a thing for blondes?

The pizza nearly slipped out of Cate's hand.

She recognized Starlight at once, but a woman's intuition told her there was something more: murderous intent.

"M-Ms. Starlight!" Cate sprang to her feet.

"I'm a huge fan of yours!"

Starlight's expression softened a little.

"Thank you."

Then she walked over and sat beside Lu Heng, casually resting a hand on his arm.

Lu Heng felt her give his arm a gentle pinch.

"Don't tease me, Annie. I'm right in the middle of enjoying this."

Cate had already shifted to the very edge of the sofa.

She didn't want blood splattered on her face.

Jordan sat there, squirming.

Should she switch to her male form? Asking online. This was urgent...

"Ahem, um, we're going to buy pizza."

"Right, Orleans Chicken Leg Pizza."

The two made an excuse and bolted.

"Annie, look how badly you've scared the kids." Lu Heng took a sip of cola.

He could hear that Starlight's heart was racing.

"Are you into blondes?"