Chapter Summaries

Li Lin and Xia Mi reported to the Executive Department for tests of their rare Word Spirits, while Ye Sheng warned them about the risks of losing control. The chapter ended as he realized they were ignoring his explanation to discuss anime.

• Caesar asked Li Lin what to expect during the Word Spirit test, and Li Lin warned him that Equipment Department devices might explode.
• Xia Mi gave Li Lin chocolates from Kyla and fermented mung bean juice, then ate the chocolates herself when Li Lin declined them.
• Li Lin and Xia Mi entered the Executive Department’s restricted passage and met Ye Sheng, who explained their tests would measure control, destructive power, and duration.
• Ye Sheng warned Li Lin and Xia Mi to stop their Word Spirits if they lost control, recounting how a student with King’s Flame had burned himself during a test.
• Ye Sheng realized Li Lin and Xia Mi were ignoring him and discussing A Certain Magical Index.

Li Lin displayed extraordinary control of earth through his Word Spirit during testing, alarming Schneider and the other observers before his domain collapsed from overexertion. After recovering and completing a more measured test, he was pulled away by Xia Mi, who worried that his antics would make the Executive Department suspect them of being dragon spies.

• Li Lin reshaped concrete and raised a massive pillar during his test, impressing the trainees and alarming Schneider.
• Li Lin's domain collapsed and he bled from the nose, so Schneider saved the footage to report the incident to Angers.
• Li Lin endured the backlash, recovered after about an hour, and resumed testing with lower limits on the weight he could control.
• Li Lin raised a concrete wall and carved a dragon head into it while Xia Mi watched anxiously for signs that the cameras had drawn suspicion.
• Xia Mi interrupted Li Lin's antics and dragged him away, insisting they attend to their club activities and its funding.

Li Lin asked Fingel about his Word Spirit test and learned that winning Day of Freedom granted the privilege of pursuing a girl who could not refuse a three-month relationship. He decided to compete so he could gauge Xia Mi’s reaction and sought training facilities to prepare for his awakened bloodline.

• Li Lin visited Fingel to ask whether his test results made the Executive Department suspect he could become a Dead Servant, and Fingel reassured him that his abilities were typical of an S-Rank.
• Fingel told Li Lin that Day of Freedom’s winner could pursue the first girl he liked and revealed Caesar’s reward for the Student Union champion.
• Li Lin considered using the dating privilege to provoke a reaction from Xia Mi, since he believed he could now defeat her but found their fights humiliating.
• Li Lin asked Fingel about Mixed-Blood training facilities, and Fingel warned him that Xia Mi had consistently beaten him in their recorded fights.
• Li Lin insisted that he would win Day of Freedom.

On the morning of Day of Freedom, Li Lin and Xia Mi prepared for the campus-wide battle, joking as they armed themselves. When the alarm sounded, they took cover in a classroom as the fighting began, but Xia Mi soon opened fire and disrupted the opposing side’s formation.

• Li Lin questioned Xia Mi about fighting as she assembled guns for Day of Freedom, and she explained they wanted to justify the club’s funds and claim Caesar’s bounty.
• Li Lin worried about the Equipment Department’s modified weapons, while Xia Mi teased him about possibly liking someone and promised to fight him fairly if they both reached the end.
• At 10:30, the campus alarm sounded, and students from the Student Union and Lionheart Society began firing on each other in the classroom.
• Li Lin and Xia Mi hid beneath a desk while a Student Union freshman officer took down five Lionheart Society members before an anesthetic grenade knocked him unconscious.
• When a Lionheart Society member raised an RPG, Xia Mi stood up and headshot three enemies, disrupting their formation as Li Lin remained beneath the desk.

During Day of Freedom, Li Lin and Xia Mi fought each other and battled through the school as the Student Union and Lionheart Society clashed. After Xia Mi wiped out the remaining fighters, she challenged Li Lin to a final duel whose outcome would decide their dating privileges.

• Xia Mi betrayed the Student Union after helping it seize a classroom, then fought Li Lin until he escaped through a window.
• Li Lin took weapons from fallen Lionheart Society members and fought his way through the teaching building, where Chu Zihang challenged him and was defeated.
• Li Lin knocked out Su Qian and gathered weapons as the fighting between the Lionheart Society and the Student Union spread across campus.
• Xia Mi used a rocket launcher and an autocannon to defeat the remaining fighters from both groups.
• Xia Mi discarded her weapons and challenged Li Lin to a final fight to decide three months of dating privileges.

Li Lin defeated Xia Mi in the final round of Day of Freedom, winning the students’ admiration. When he began to explain that he liked an upperclassman, Xia Mi’s Golden Eyes flared and she demanded to know whom he meant.

• Xia Mi challenged Li Lin to a serious martial arts match and teased him about serving her tea if he lost.
• Fingel and the injured students gathered to watch as Li Lin and Xia Mi fought on the tree-lined path.
• Li Lin used his physical advantage and familiarity with Xia Mi’s techniques to defeat her, and she surrendered.
• Xia Mi congratulated Li Lin and asked him to give a victory speech.
• Li Lin began to confess that he had fallen for an upperclassman, but Xia Mi’s Golden Eyes flared as she asked who he liked, frightening the crowd away.

After teasing Xia Mi with a fake story about falling for an upperclassman, Li Lin heard her nervously ask him to date her so he would not date anyone else. Meanwhile, Caesar prepared to hand Norton Hall over to the Martial Arts Club, and Schneider asked Angers to let Li Lin audit the second-years’ War Practice Class.

• Xia Mi interrogated Li Lin about the supposed upperclassman, then realized he had invented the story to tease her.
• Xia Mi shyly asked Li Lin to go on dates with her and avoid dating anyone else for now.
• Caesar overheard Xia Mi’s invitation, left champagne outside the Martial Arts Club office, and arranged for Norton Hall to be prepared for Li Lin and Xia Mi.
• Angers and Schneider discussed Li Lin’s potential and the concerns surrounding his place at Cassel College.
• Schneider asked Angers to make Li Lin an auditing student so he could join the second-years’ War Practice Class and fight a Dead Servant.

After the Student Union celebrated its Day of Freedom victory, Caesar warned its members that next week’s War Practice Class would put them on a real battlefield. He then tried to push Li Lin and Xia Mi toward a romance while hinting that Li Lin should take ownership of Norton Hall.

• Caesar received a call from Frost Gattuso, who warned him that Professor Schneider would command his War Practice Class group and cautioned him about Li Lin.
• Caesar addressed the Student Union, urging its members to carry their pride into War Practice Class without underestimating the dangers of a real battlefield.
• Li Lin joined the hall’s toast to the Student Union and the coming battlefield while Xia Mi asked him about a weekend date.
• Caesar told Li Lin that he should claim Norton Hall and take the girl he liked to its balcony, prompting Xia Mi to hide behind Li Lin and eat her cake.

Li Lin and Xia Mi prepared for their first date while Li Lin learned that they had been chosen for the second-years’ war practicum. After spending the afternoon at the shooting range with Fingel, Li Lin hurried to the train station, where Xia Mi was waiting for him.

• Li Lin researched Chicago date attractions during class, and Fingel arrived late with an overnight KFC meal.
• Li Lin asked Fingel why he and Xia Mi had been selected for the war practicum, and Fingel said the Executive Department wanted to test their reactions to Dead Servants and prepare them for combat.
• Xia Mi left class after growing jealous of Li Lin talking with Fingel, then texted him to meet her at the train station after class.
• Li Lin left class with Fingel and practiced handling firearms at the shooting range for half the day.
• Li Lin changed clothes and rushed to the train station, where Xia Mi waved to him from the platform.

Xia Mi led Li Lin on their first date through downtown Chicago, turning it into a playful mission while hiding deeper feelings stirred by her memories. The date continued toward a riverside dinner, and Xia Mi called the city her patrol territory.

• Xia Mi gave Li Lin a hand-drawn map and dragged him through downtown Chicago on a date she had planned.
• At Millennium Park, Xia Mi insisted on taking photos together and teased Li Lin about using them to threaten him someday.
• Li Lin and Xia Mi walked beside Lake Michigan, where Caesar messaged that he had booked them a river-view dinner at Smyth.
• Xia Mi reflected on memories of the throne, death, and fate, then chose to stop dwelling on them and pointed out that Chicago resembled a steel dragon by the lake.
• Xia Mi said Chicago was now her patrol territory.

Li Lin and Xia Mi spent a date shopping and visiting Navy Pier, where Xia Mi teased him about confessing while struggling with her growing feelings for him. The chapter left Xia Mi realizing that she liked Li Lin, though neither of them defined their relationship.

• Li Lin used the Martial Arts Club’s funds to buy Xia Mi gifts, and she accepted them happily while complaining that he had bought too much.
• Li Lin and Xia Mi took a cab to Navy Pier and decided to ride the Centennial Ferris Wheel together.
• During the ride, Xia Mi hinted that Li Lin should say something romantic, but he guessed she would reject a confession.
• Xia Mi watched Chicago’s nightscape and recognized that her feelings for Li Lin had grown into liking him.

After her date with Li Lin, Xia Mi returned to Norton Hall and remembered how their relationship began. As she faced the coming War Practice Class and her fear of Li Lin’s fate, she chose for a while to savor the ordinary happiness of being with him.

• Xia Mi teased Li Lin about his poor performance on their date before they said goodnight at the dormitory fork.
• Walking alone, Xia Mi remembered how Li Lin had shared his breakfast with her when they were children and how their roles later reversed.
• Xia Mi went to the renovated Norton Hall residence she had arranged for Li Lin and worried that the Secret Party would send him into dangerous battles.
• Xia Mi called Su Qian to discuss War Practice Class precautions, then joked with her about the date.
• Alone in Norton Hall, Xia Mi reflected on her wish for a peaceful, ordinary life and sat beneath the moonlight setting aside thoughts of dragons and war.

Li Lin and Caesar received A-Rank Executive Department uniforms and learned they would investigate a gang using a drug that could turn ordinary people into Mixed-Bloods, though dozens had died. At the train station, Caesar tried to coach Li Lin on romance and gave him an extravagant perfume gift for Xia Mi before the mission briefing.

• Fingel delivered Executive Department uniforms and warned Li Lin and Caesar that their mission might involve killing someone.
• Fingel explained that a gang had seized a Japanese Mixed-Blood and a drug that could force ordinary people to develop dragon genes, causing dozens of deaths.
• Caesar questioned why the case required students and learned it was an A-Rank mission focused on a complex investigation rather than dragonized Dead Servants.
• Li Lin and Caesar received a gathering order after breakfast and saw Xia Mi waiting at the train station with a second-year girl.
• Caesar learned that Li Lin had not changed his relationship with Xia Mi after their date and gave him an unopened luxury perfume to give her.

On the train to an A-Rank mission, Aki Shigede teased Xia Mi about her relationship with Li Lin after discovering he had given her an extravagant perfume. Li Lin then learned Xia Mi had spent 880,000 US dollars of the Martial Arts Club’s money on renovations for Norton Hall, leaving him stunned.

• Aki Shigede asked Xia Mi whether she and Li Lin were dating, and Xia Mi insisted they were only close friends.
• Xia Mi showed Aki Shigede the Royal Dignity No. 1 perfume Li Lin had given her, and Aki teased her by calling it an engagement gift and offering to buy it.
• Li Lin found Caesar speaking with Paci Gattuso, who explained that the Gattuso family had arranged repairs and renovations for Norton Hall at Xia Mi’s request.
• Paci told Li Lin that the rushed renovation would cost 880,000 US dollars after Caesar negotiated a discount.
• Li Lin realized Xia Mi had used the club’s bank card to pay for the renovations and slumped in shock.

Schneider briefed the students on Molotov Cocktail, a drug that triggered fatal Dragon Blood reactions, and the missing survivor Leonardo Williams. When Agent Jon lost contact at the clinic, Schneider sent the students with the First Operations Group to secure the site and find him.

• Schneider showed the students evidence that Molotov Cocktail had caused deaths and Dragon Blood reactions among ordinary people in Los Angeles.
• Schneider explained that Japanese researcher Shinji Katakura had brought the drug to the United States before a gang attacked and killed him.
• Surveillance showed Leonardo Williams surviving an injection and escaping the clinic with two bottles.
• Schneider appointed Caesar Gattuso squad leader and outlined the operation's rules on Word Spirits and firearms.
• Norma reported that Agent Jon had lost contact at the clinic, and Schneider ordered an S-Rank mission escalation and reinforcements.
• Schneider gave the students special operational authority and ordered them to secure the clinic, search for Jon, and confirm his vital signs.

The First Operations Group planned to infiltrate 18th Street Gang territory to find the missing Jon, with Li Lin posing as a recruit and Caesar providing sniper cover. Li Lin entered the gang’s dental clinic, but the mission shifted to eliminating witnesses after he threw a gang member through the glass door.

• Declan explained that the team would use infiltration and decapitation rather than launch a frontal assault, and assigned Li Lin to pose as a gang recruit.
• The group rode in a modified van carrying an explosive charge, then stopped a kilometer from the target area.
• Declan gave Caesar an anti-materiel sniper rifle and assigned him to cover the team’s retreat.
• Li Lin entered the dental clinic disguised as an injured high school student and was led inside by a tattooed gang member.
• The tattooed man flew through the clinic’s glass door, and Li Lin told Caesar he had attacked him for trying to touch his ass.
• Li Lin told the team that the plan had changed and they might need to eliminate all witnesses.

Li Lin and Aki Shigede searched the gang-run dental hospital for evidence while Schneider ordered the team to destroy the site within half an hour. After Aki found signs that Jon had died and was ambushed underground, Li Lin intervened and revealed the suspected Time Zero user.

• Schneider took command, ordered Norma to send false orders, and redirected the team to contain enemies around the hospital.
• Li Lin kept the gang members occupied while Aki Shigede entered the hospital to find its underground clinic.
• Aki Shigede found the blood-soaked clinic and Jon's Half-Rotted World Tree shoulder badge, leading her to fear he was dead.
• Schneider warned Aki Shigede to activate Ghost Illumination as an unseen attacker closed in, but it was too late to conceal her position.
• Li Lin dropped through the ceiling, drove the attacker back, and struck him with a concrete-and-rebar trap, revealing the scaled young boxer suspected of possessing Time Zero.

Li Lin fought Leonardo, a Mixed-Blood with the Word Spirit Time Zero, and overpowered him with earth manipulation and martial skill. Leonardo fled into the sewers, and Professor Schneider ordered Li Lin and Aki Shigede to withdraw while Executive Team Three handled the pursuit.

• Aki Shigede left the operating room to search the underground clinic for the Molotov Cocktail while Li Lin confronted Leonardo.
• Li Lin used walls and pillars of earth to intercept Leonardo’s high-speed attacks, then battered him with stone-clad punches until he regained consciousness.
• Leonardo panicked at the sight of Li Lin and fled into the sewers using Time Zero, witnessed by Aki Shigede and her collar camera.
• Professor Schneider ordered Li Lin and Aki Shigede to return to Executive Team One and leave the cleanup to Executive Team Three.
• Li Lin suspected that the Molotov Cocktail was intended for Mixed-Bloods and wondered whether the Secret Party had long known how to refine bloodlines.

Li Lin and Xia Mi shared dinner on the Texaco Building rooftop before Professor Schneider summoned the operations teams and revealed that Leonardo had used the Molotov Cocktail again and slaughtered his family. Schneider assigned Li Lin to confront Leonardo at close range while the other operatives supported him from a distance.

• Xia Mi brought Li Lin dinner and told him that the Executive Department called him a dragon slayer chosen by fate.
• Xia Mi considered how to make Li Lin pursue power and become her retainer, while struggling with the possibility that she might one day have to fight him.
• Professor Schneider reported that the Molotov Cocktail was addictive and hallucinogenic, and that Leonardo had returned home and killed everyone around him, including his family.
• Li Lin told Schneider that the tragedy could have been prevented if Schneider had approved his actions at the hospital basement, and Schneider explained why he had stopped him.
• Schneider ordered the operatives to eliminate Leonardo, assigned Li Lin to engage him at close range, and told everyone else to keep at least eight hundred meters away.

Leonardo lost control after using Dragon Blood to attack the debt collectors who threatened his family, then slaughtered the 18th Street Gang boss and others who entered his home. Li Lin arrived to stop the rampage and struck the dragonized Leonardo with a Mountain-Leaning Strike.

• Leonardo woke amid the aftermath of attacking his family and realized Dragon Blood had taken control of him again.
• The 18th Street Gang boss and two bodyguards entered Leonardo’s home, and Leonardo killed them in a burst of violence.
• More than a hundred people had been killed near Leonardo’s residence, and Schneider learned that Li Lin had arrived.
• Li Lin drove a van into the old apartment building, escaped before it exploded, and faced Leonardo as he charged from the flames.
• Leonardo punched through Li Lin’s earthen wall, but Li Lin slowed him with a vortex of stones and rammed him with the Mountain-Leaning Strike.