Chu Zihang and the Beijing Subway Station

Big Bear avatar: "Senior, your avatar is pretty old-school. Makes people want to top up some Q Coins."

Default Penguin avatar: "I didn't know what to change it to. I've used it ever since I registered."

Big Bear avatar: "Senior, I heard you're studying at some aristocratic university abroad now, called Cassell University? Is it well-known?"

Default Penguin avatar: "Not especially. I'm a sophomore now."

Big Bear avatar: "Senior, I'm in my final year of high school and want to apply to an overseas university. Are there any universities you'd recommend? Is Cassell University hard to get into?"

Default Penguin avatar: "This school has a rather unusual admissions process. Do you have a specific place in mind? Cities with many prestigious schools, like Austin, Ann Arbor, or Boston?"

Big Bear avatar: "Mm... I'm still considering it. I'm a little worried I'm not good enough."

Big Bear avatar: "Senior, are the requirements for that part-time job really not high?"

Default Penguin avatar: "It mainly involves performing. If you're confident, I can send an email to that coach now."

Big Bear avatar: "That's so formal and awesome. I'm still a little confident in that area. Senior, give me three minutes. Let me think of how to thank you."

Default Penguin avatar: "All right. I have a course project to finish."

Chu Zihang rarely started new topics, but he answered every question and replied quickly. Whatever Lu Mingfei talked about, he gave targeted responses without being perfunctory.

Senior was really giving him face. Lu Mingfei figured it probably wasn't his face he was giving.

Liu Miaomiao... Could that woman really be so capable?!

Who would've thought that Lu Mingfei could misjudge someone one day? Could that unknown, crafty junior girl have been Liu Miaomiao herself? Had she been "pretending to sleep to lure in the enemy"?

Lu Mingfei vaguely sensed that something was off. Between the lines, Chu Zihang seemed to genuinely have some impression of him. That sympathy and concern had nothing whatsoever to do with Liu Miaomiao.

Senior actually knew him, a fellow student? Where had this concern come from?

He had an exceptionally good impression of Chu Zihang back at Genji Heavy Industries. He was an incredibly loyal guy. In the early stages, the person who had worked hardest to save him had been Chu Zihang.

It wasn't that the others had hesitated or held back when saving Lu Mingfei. It was just that when Chu Zihang saved someone, he acted like his own life didn't matter, while Lu Mingfei's life did. Maybe he had lost something before?

It was just that some of the things he said were a little strange. Like when Lu Mingfei was about to die, he had said, "Stay alive. We'll go smash the axle of that wedding car together." Caesar, who had been beside them, hadn't immediately chimed in when he heard that. After waiting a while, he had leaned over and said seriously, "Stay alive. I'm looking forward to that day too."

To Lu Mingfei, Caesar and Chu Zihang seemed to have clashing personalities and didn't get along. He was the lubricant between them, probably like the master of a household with two extraordinarily capable concubines. But they were all genuine friends too, the sort who could entrust their backs to one another.

Who knew which unlucky bastard would have his car axle smashed by the three of them? And a wedding car axle at that. Could it be that a girl Chu Zihang liked was getting married...? They should invite Gen Chisei too when the time came. He always felt that guy was often excluded by their little trio at Genji Heavy Industries.

He had previously thought that his friendship with Chu Zihang had begun at Cassell University. Now, it seemed that Chu Zihang might have noticed him as early as middle school.

Lu Mingfei blinked. It wasn't exactly that he felt flattered among friends, but he was as happy as if he had encountered a like-minded companion while watching the sunset alone. So you already knew about me. So you had already saved a little kindness for me.

Overwhelmed with emotion, he quickly typed out a message, offering Chu Zihang his own goodwill.

"Senior, whoever's wedding car axle you want to smash in the future, go smash it. I fully support you."

"I'm a little sleepy. Senior, see you in our dreams."

Inside the hotel, Chu Zihang quietly stared at the blue message that had popped up on his phone.

He sat cross-legged on a crystal velvet carpet, took Sacred Blade Murasame from its black case, and wiped it down. When he was done, he sheathed it, like a warrior who used his blade as a mirror to inspect his eyes before killing.

Of course he remembered someone like Lu Mingfei.

He had recalled it again and again in misery. Everyone from that rainy night had been marked in his memory in heavy ink, especially that person's helplessness, which was somewhat like his own later on.

Being able to help someone similar to himself was quite a good thing.

Unlike what Lu Mingfei thought, he had not just finished his lunch break, nor was he in the United States. He had just gotten off a plane and arrived at a coastal hotel.

Outside the terrace window of the upscale hotel, wooden eaves slashed across the dusk. Several antique yellow lights stood in the water. Blue sky was spilling ink through gaps in the clouds onto the sea, and at the point where the infinity pool met the distant ocean, tourists soaked like translucent fish.

This was Trinidad and Tobago, located in the southern Caribbean Sea of Central America, close to the waters off Venezuela.

The country consisted of Trinidad Island, Tobago Island, and twenty-one smaller islands. Its capital was Port of Spain. With a land area of 5,128 square kilometers, its total size was only equivalent to an ordinary prefecture-level city in China. It was relatively famous for its petroleum processing industry.

He wasn't here to conduct research. Following the Executive Department's internship assignment, he was here to hunt down an out-of-control, dangerous hybrid. If necessary, there were no restrictions on any violent means.

His recent life schedule had been packed. Sometimes he was still at school in the morning, fulfilling his duties as president of the Lionheart Club, and by afternoon his plane had already left North America.

After reading every message Lu Mingfei had sent, a rare trace of confusion appeared on Chu Zihang's face.

He understood the reasoning. Lu Mingfei probably wanted to show that he knew how to repay kindness.

But... why smash a wedding car's axle?

Shaking his head, Chu Zihang finished the email and sent it to the youth center coach. He also slightly revised the greeting he had prepared in advance for his mother before sending it.

At this point, all distracting thoughts should be put aside.

There had been too many distracting thoughts lately. Perhaps it was an ominous sign. He had even inexplicably fallen asleep during a club debate.

"Norma, report the current locations of Agent Ryder and the logistics team."

Taking out his contacts, Chu Zihang put on sunglasses to conceal his burning Golden Eyes, fitted a miniature wireless earpiece, prepared special-effect steel-core rounds, picked up his weapons case, and pushed open the door.

Judging from the target's filthy crimes, tonight would probably be... a night of fire and blood.

[Challenger, take note. Normal Mode has been activated. In this mode, dungeon monsters receive no base stat bonuses.]

[The new dungeon "Beijing Subway Station" has arrived. The dungeon objective is to survive for a sufficient amount of time.]

"Breathing... twenty-two breaths. Deadpools? Doesn't sound like it."

After entering the new dungeon, Lu Mingfei opened his pale golden eyes, flexed his fingers and loosened up his body, then rubbed his neck.

To be safe, he had given himself two tubes of Evolution Potion beforehand. The negative effects of a small amount of Evolution Potion didn't even count as stimulants for him. At most, they were Red Bull-level side effects.

As he eased the stiffness in his shoulder and neck muscles, he surveyed his surroundings and guessed which nook or cranny the Deadpools would pop out of to deliver their warm welcome.

It was a mediocrely decorated internet cafe. Judging from the noise, its atmosphere could only be described as smoky and chaotic. Basketball tournament posters and glamour shots of obscure female celebrities were plastered on the walls of the private room.

A pile of Nutrition Express bottles and instant noodle cups was stacked in front of the computer desk.

There were quite a few Chinese decorations, so this should be China. But this wasn't a subway station, either?

Someone was approaching this private room, walking and stopping as though asking for directions or trying to confirm something.

"Coming for me? Should I use violence to interrogate the NPC? I'm not very good at that."

Hmm, his first thought had been to use violence. Without realizing it, he had become a thoroughgoing violent criminal too. Truly, one who lies down with dogs rises with fleas.

Lu Mingfei listened to every footstep of the approaching person, loaded the magazine, racked the silver-gray slide, chambered a round in his pistol, and made some basic judgments.

They seemed to be an ordinary person, rather thin and weak.

The person who pushed open the door was a chestnut-haired girl in a white cloth dress. Her flowing black hair was pinned with a familiar butterfly clip, and she moved slowly at the doorway as if struggling with some inner conflict.

"Lu Mingfei."

"Chen, Chen Wenwen?"

After freezing for a moment, Lu Mingfei quietly hid the Desert Eagle he had just concealed behind his back and closed his eyes, extinguishing their golden glow.

He could even meet an old acquaintance while running a dungeon? Could it be that the Deadpools in this dungeon could take form according to what was in his heart, like ghosts and demons in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio?

If it could take form based on what was in his heart, it should have turned into that terrifying red-haired shrine maiden from Genji Heavy Industries. What was the point of turning into Chen Wenwen? Ghost brother, you're too out of touch. You can't keep up with the updates to my romantic version anymore... Lu Mingfei thought with his eyes closed.

Damn it, why were these Golden Eyes so unreliable? They wouldn't turn off when they were supposed to.

His nerves remained highly tense. It was a habit forged through hundreds of bloody lessons. No matter how relaxed or useless he was normally, once he entered a dungeon, he treated it like entering a battlefield.

Heavy rain was falling outside. More than half of Chen Wenwen's white dress was soaked, and water dripped steadily from her wet hair as she lowered her head. At a time like this, no one would feel much romantic interest in her. Instead, she was unsettling, like a female ghost.

"I had no choice but to come to you..." Chen Wenwen said through sobs. "I've looked for so many people these past few days, but none of them believed me. Later, I could only leave you messages on QQ... I called for you on QQ all afternoon, but you never came online. Luckily, I installed a QQ program that can see IP addresses, so I found this internet cafe."

He couldn't say what was wrong, but Lu Mingfei quietly took out the Desert Eagle he had just hidden behind his back. With one hand behind him, he used his fingers to release the magazine and replace it with tranquilizer rounds.

Miss, didn't we already end in our second year of high school...? Pah, pah, pah. There had never been anything to begin with.

A plot NPC?

A honey trap?

There wouldn't suddenly be five hundred Deadpool axemen rushing into the private room, right?

"Zhao Menghua has gone missing..." Chen Wenwen raised her head to look at Lu Mingfei. Her beautiful eyes were full of red veins that even her long lashes couldn't hide, and she wept like rain-drenched pear blossoms.