Enemies

Actually, aside from the "pretend couple" part, Xiao He felt that everything about this contract was pretty good.

An annual salary of ten million, and a transfer to Beichang University of Science and Technology, a prestigious university in Beichang City. Wasn't that the goal of life?

Besides, he might not even need to fight for real. After all, this was an age of peace. Compared with starting wars, countries were more inclined to wage cold wars through diplomacy and economic sanctions. Even M Country and O Continent, which had already discovered LV5 Mutants, merely flaunted the strength of their Mutants on social media. In everyday life, those Mutants rarely appeared.

Not to mention when M Country meddled in foreign affairs, even domestic crimes rarely involved these Mutants. They only saved a few people once in a while, after which the media would lavish them with praise.

But in truth, the contributions made by these so-called "superheroes" were practically negligible. The police were still the ones mainly responsible for maintaining public order.

Yet ironically, despite possessing one-sixth of the world's population, China had not found a single Mutant capable of reaching LV5 before discovering Xiao He and Ye Wanqing.

Mutant rankings were determined by the energy level their Superpowers could withstand. For example, if lifting a one-ton object required an energy level of one thousand, then someone who could unleash an energy level of one thousand or withstand an attack with that energy level counted as an LV1 Mutant. The higher the energy level, the higher the Mutant's rank.

Such a vast nation did not even have a Mutant worth showing off, so the country had begun intensifying its search efforts.

Rather than weapons, Mutants like Xiao He were more like mascots. Their main purpose was to give civilians a sense of security, to tell them, "Our country has powerful Mutants too. We're no worse than foreign countries."

As for why they had chosen a second-tier city like Beichang City as their base, the management costs were lower, but more importantly, Beichang City was located in the center of China. If anything happened in another city, they could get there as quickly as possible.

There was probably some deeper purpose behind transferring him from his original school. Still, getting a diploma from a prestigious university was a good thing. He had never planned to make a living off this "Superpower" stuff anyway.

He would pretend to be in a relationship for a few months, put on a show under Cui Man's supervision to help the government with publicity, and collect several months' worth of pay without doing much. Once the military found a Mutant stronger than him to replace him, he could take the money and live peacefully. It would not be enough to keep him comfortable for the rest of his life, but it would make life after graduation much easier.

With his garbage Superpower, he believed a Mutant stronger than him would appear soon enough. China was full of talented people. Could someone with a Superpower as trash as his really stay at the top?

So he accepted the "pretend couple" agreement. It only meant he could not get a girlfriend in the short term, but there was plenty of time ahead!

Looking at it in the long run, if he earned tens or even hundreds of millions, there would be more than enough time ahead. There would be "Lushan" and "At Noon" too!

Two days later, with the help of military personnel sent by Cui Man, he said goodbye to his familiar hometown and family and brought his luggage to the apartment he would share with Ye Wanqing.

The apartment had two bedrooms, a living room, and a bathroom. It was about a ten-minute drive from Beichang University of Science and Technology, and the location was excellent. There was a bus stop, a subway station, and two supermarkets outside, while a food court and movie theater stood right across the street.

Within five hundred meters, there was every facility Xiao He needed to survive.

Aside from assisting the Special Response Department with its experiments, they also had to pretend to be an ordinary college couple at Beichang University of Science and Technology and complete their studies as normal.

"Listen carefully. We'll be installing several cameras in the apartment." Cui Man explained as she watched the two of them unpack. "They'll be at the entrance, on the balcony, and in the living room. For privacy reasons, there won't be any in your bedrooms or the bathroom. I don't care how you live normally, but all your personal belongings must be kept in the master bedroom."

"In other words, we have to pretend to be a cohabiting couple, right?" Ye Wanqing asked with her arms folded.

"That's right. We've already prepared all the details for you. You just need to put your personal belongings in the room." Cui Man nodded. "I don't require you to get along well in private. Just don't let anyone see through you in public, okay? Normally, you can treat each other like strangers and live your own lives. As for your Superpowers, we still have a lot of research to conduct."

"Like what?" Xiao He asked curiously. He had not expected his bizarre Superpower to have any research value.

Cui Man glared at him. "For example, your Superpower is a superhuman Superpower. Can your physical functions be enhanced through training, like ordinary people working out? In addition, we need to scientifically investigate how Superpowers work."

"Investigate it scientifically?" Ye Wanqing asked in confusion. "How?"

Cui Man poked Xiao He in the chest. "When you lift a one-ton car, the energy consumption is extremely high. Scientifically speaking, the calories you consume every day should also be terrifyingly high for that to obey the laws of physics. But in reality, your calorie intake is exactly the same as an ordinary person's. Those calories are nowhere near enough to support lifting a car. So what exactly provides you with that extra energy? If we can figure that out, we can understand the difference between Mutants and ordinary people. And if we can use that energy, we'll gain a new source of power: environmentally friendly and inexhaustible."

"Hmm..." Xiao He pondered it. He had never considered Superpowers from that angle.

"All right, that's enough for today." Cui Man frowned. "Finish unpacking and get some rest. Starting tomorrow, all sorts of experiments will be waiting for you. Make sure you're well-rested."

After Cui Man left, only Xiao He and Ye Wanqing remained. An awkward atmosphere filled the apartment. They were two strangers who knew absolutely nothing about each other, and they were of opposite sexes, yet from today onward, they had to live together while pretending to be a couple...

Ye Wanqing was the first to break the silence. Folding her arms, she laid down three rules.

"Well, we're both here for the compensation in the contract, so let's cooperate and make things easier for each other." Ye Wanqing paced in front of Xiao He. "I'll sleep in the master bedroom, because our clothes are all kept there. If I don't sleep there and you use my clothes to do something perverted, that would be very awkward for me."

"..." Her posture, like an adult lecturing a child, along with the blindly arrogant content of her lecture, made Xiao He a little angry.

"Also, don't get so excited just because you're living with a girl, and don't entertain any fantasies." Ye Wanqing glanced at Xiao He. "You're completely not my type. I won't have any thoughts about you."

"Thank goodness." Xiao He patted his chest in relief. "I'm not interested in girls with elephant legs like you either. I only like long-haired girls with long, slender legs. You have nothing in common with my type."

"You're the one with elephant legs! My legs aren't thick at all!" Ye Wanqing's face reddened with anger. "I'm even less interested in a fat guy like you, whose body is all flab! You judge girls by their looks and only judge them by their appearance. That's why someone like you doesn't have a girlfriend! And never will!"

"My body is all flab?! Fat guy?! I'm one meter seventy-eight and eighty kilograms. Is that really fat?! At most, I've got a little extra flesh! I'm not fat at all!" Xiao He was angry too. "What about you? Do you have a boyfriend!?"

"I may not have a boyfriend, but people pursue me." Ye Wanqing folded her arms smugly.

Xiao He was immediately rendered speechless. No one did pursue him. In this day and age, it was always the guys who took the initiative.

"Doesn't that still make you single? Let's see who finds someone first." Xiao He sneered.

"..." His words plunged both of them into silence, because logically speaking, as long as they were pretending to be a couple, neither of them could find someone. As for after their partnership ended... they probably would not care about this anymore.

"Anyway," Ye Wanqing said with a curl of her lips, "behave yourself and don't get any crooked ideas. Let's act a little more convincingly in front of others, work together to earn this money, and after the contract ends, we'll go our separate ways and have nothing to do with each other, okay?"

Since she had softened her tone, Xiao He did not continue to argue. He merely added, "But while we're pretending to be a couple, if either of us gets close to someone of the opposite sex with the intention of dating after our partnership ends, that should be none of the other person's business, right?"

"Can't you just hold out for a few years?" Ye Wanqing frowned. "Who you want to get close to is your business, but don't let it affect the contract, okay? If we violate the terms, it won't just be you who loses out. I won't get paid either."

"So as long as Officer Cui doesn't object, it's fine, right?" Xiao He pressed.

"Mm... If Officer Cui has no objection, then of course I don't care." Ye Wanqing shrugged. "I'll put my luggage away first. I'm using the first and second drawers. You'll use the third and fourth. Coats and things can go in the wardrobe."

"Mm, I'll set up my computer first. Mine's a desktop." Xiao He replied listlessly.

Still, Cui Man had already prepared the other details in the apartment for them, such as matching couple's mugs and toothbrushes in different colors, Photoshopped couple photos, and matching towels and slippers.

At first glance, it looked as if the two of them had already been living together for a long time.

Isn't it just sharing an apartment with a girl? How hard could it be? Come on, I can do this. Xiao He silently encouraged himself.