The Healer Squad

"Then, bye-bye."

Luo Qiusheng waved and turned to leave the internet café, which was open all night. Behind him, Lu Mingfei was still slumped in his computer chair, rubbing his bloodshot eyes as he mumbled an invitation to team up and play again sometime.

It had looked like they had merely spent the whole night playing games in a daze, but in truth, the invisible distance between them had quietly vanished.

When they spoke of personal matters again, or the secrets surrounding Kassel and the Dragon Tribe, neither would need to be so guarded or test the waters.

The real problem in his heart was still Chu Zihang. With a loser like Lu Mingfei, sunk deep in inferiority, a mix of soft and hard tactics—coaxing him one moment, frightening him the next—could easily bring him around. But Chu Zihang was different. He was a genius, a sharp thorn wound tight for more than a decade, never once coming loose.

The only demon that had haunted him for half his life was that scene on the rainy night: the black Maybach stalled on the overpass, Chu Tianjiao standing alone against a monster on horseback, and Odin wielding Gungnir.

"We're both losers. It's just that my growing-up years are long behind me..."

The morning sun cut down at an angle, bright enough to sting. Luo Qiusheng raised a hand across his brow, filtering the scattered golden rays through his fingers. A faint melancholy spread through his eyes. "Helping you—isn't it also helping the person I used to be?"

He took the elevator to the twelfth floor of an office tower downtown. Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched across the entire wall, and from more than ten stories up, he could look out over half the city.

Pedestrians on the streets below were tiny as scattered sesame seeds, while the traffic formed thin silver threads. Standing before the window, Luo Qiusheng's pupils quietly glimmered with swirling gold, and the dragon might hidden in his blood spread silently through the air.

A strange matter had been circling in his mind.

Yesterday, someone had hacked into his old offline Nokia. All that remained on its screen was a single, terse message: The rooftop of Yi Zi Building. You should be looking for us, too.

The old-fashioned phone had never connected to any wireless network, yet the other party had managed to break in with pinpoint accuracy and track him down. Their methods were simply unbelievable.

At first, Luo Qiusheng had felt a chill in his heart. But after thinking it over calmly, he found the whole thing rather amusing.

Anyone capable of evading the two top-tier surveillance systems at the Academy, Eva and EVA, and precisely investigating his identity and movements could only be one of the nannies working under Lu Mingze, in the entire world of Hybrids.

Still, he hadn't expected them to reach out and invite him so directly. Luo Qiusheng couldn't help wondering if this was yet another scheme laid by Lu Mingze's mysterious boss.

The elevator doors slid open, and a woman stepped inside.

Her waist-length black hair was tied in a high, neat ponytail, revealing the smooth, pale nape of her neck. She carried the cold aura of someone tempered by traditional martial arts. A light, even fringe fell across her forehead, with fine strands tucked against her temples. If she let her hair loose, the ink-black tresses would spill over her shoulders like a waterfall.

A vague sense of familiarity flickered through Luo Qiusheng's mind, but he had no interest in striking up a conversation. He stepped aside and took out the special communications phone issued by Kassel College.

A reply from EVA popped up on the screen, confirming that Raymond had returned safely to the Academy's headquarters. At last, the stone weighing on his heart had fallen away.

The incident convinced him that the fated path laid out in the original story wasn't unchangeable. Many outcomes could be turned around by human hands.

The elevator car was so quiet that the faint slide of its cables was all they could hear. The woman's footsteps were as soundless as a cat's. Suddenly, she leaned in, her fingertips carrying a hint of playfulness as they reached straight for Luo Qiusheng's chin.

In the next instant, Luo Qiusheng raised a hand and clamped his broad palm around her wrist, locking it in place with enough force to leave her no chance of breaking free.

"You... you're a Hybrid?"

Pure golden dragon pupils burst open in Luo Qiusheng's eyes. Constantine's dragon-bone bloodline, dormant within him, surged violently, and the innate pressure of a superior dragon poured out in an instant, instinctively sensing and suppressing lower-ranking Hybrids.

The woman let out a pained grunt, then deliberately put on a soft, aggrieved voice, trying to bluff her way through. "You're hurting me."

But the restless dragon blood in her body couldn't withstand the pressure of a superior bloodline. It boiled beyond her control, and her dark purple pupils turned entirely golden, exposing her Hybrid identity.

Luo Qiusheng's lips curved in a knowing smile. "Heh. So it really is you, Jiu De Mai."

A playful rumor that had circulated in certain circles flashed through his mind: Jiu De Mai had dated enough men to assemble them into a production of The Three Hundred Spartans. Whether it was true or not, it showed just how bold and free-spirited she was in her usual dealings.

"Did your boss send you to sound me out?"

Before he could finish, a cloud of faint, ink-colored mist rose around Jiu De Mai.

[Spirit Word: Netherlight]

Meaning: Even if a candle were lit in the depths of the underworld, its flame would still be swallowed by endless darkness.

The black mist enveloped her figure, twisting all the light around her. Using its concealment, she darted to the side, trying to break free and launch a surprise attack on Luo Qiusheng.

But the all-encompassing perception granted by his dragon-bone bloodline had already seen through every blind spot in her vision. Luo Qiusheng turned slightly and seized her slender neck with one hand. The dark domain formed by Netherlight shattered at once, its black mist scattering and fading away.

"Your abilities put you among the best of the new generation of Hybrids, but you're far too impatient." Luo Qiusheng slowly released his grip on her neck. His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable weight. "Your instinct to fight back is part of your nature—and your biggest weakness. You were the ones who asked to meet me. You didn't intend to burn all bridges between us, did you?"

Jiu De Mai stumbled back several steps and braced herself against the cold wall of the elevator, coughing violently. A faint red mark circled her neck. She looked up at the young man before her again, her eyes full of suspicion.

"You're terrifyingly perceptive. I don't know how you recognized me at a glance, and I can't begin to guess what this aura suppressing dragon blood is."

"Who are you, exactly?"

Luo Qiusheng didn't answer directly. He simply reached out and pressed the button for the top-floor rooftop. The metal number "28" slowly lit up.

"If you want to know what I'm capable of, come with me to the roof. Your other companion should have been waiting there for quite a while."

Su Enxi had deliberately arrived early at the rooftop, and she had never told anyone. Jiu De Mai's heart jolted. He had somehow figured out their entire arrangement in advance. Her vigilance only deepened, but she also knew there was no way out now. She could only nod in silence.

The elevator climbed, and the atmosphere grew stifling.

Luo Qiusheng lowered his eyes and toyed with his phone, seeming unconcerned. In truth, he was keeping an eye on the shinobi blade hidden at Jiu De Mai's waist, while suspicion took root in his heart: Lu Mingze clearly had the power to rewrite fate. Why was he still trying to recruit Luo Qiusheng? If he was looking for him, had something happened with Renata?

Meanwhile, Jiu De Mai discreetly studied the unwavering Golden Pupil in Luo Qiusheng's eyes. She could faintly sense that his bloodline far surpassed that of an ordinary pureblood, and even seemed to carry the aura of an ancient fire dragon. She wondered to herself: the boss had specifically warned them to make sure this man stayed on their side. Could he have the bloodline of a First Generation in his body?

The iron door to the twenty-eighth-floor rooftop stood ajar. Beyond it lay a wide, open-air terrace, where an evening breeze carried the city's dust straight toward them.

Su Enxi leaned against the rooftop railing in a relaxed outfit, a chilled cocktail beside her. When she saw the two of them walking over together, her red lips curved into a composed smile.

"About time. Mai, done testing out our mysterious new friend?"

Jiu De Mai walked to Su Enxi's side and briefly recounted the encounter in the elevator. After listening, Su Enxi turned her gaze to Luo Qiusheng and dropped her casual air.

"Let's get straight to the point. Since you know about our boss, you should also know that he has leads on some First Generation dragons. We also have a trove of classified Dragon Tribe records that even your Academy can't access. In turn, the unique energy you possess could give us the help we need."

Luo Qiusheng leaned against the railing and gazed at the distant skyline. The light in his dragon pupils flickered on and off. "I'm willing to work with you, but I have limits. I won't let you pull my strings, and I won't become a weapon for you to slay dragons. I want enough freedom."

Su Enxi exchanged a glance with Jiu De Mai. They shared a brief look, and both had expected this.

"Fine. We can promise you that."