Lu Mingwang

[Ever since I killed the streetwalker, I had remained uneasy. What happened at school kept weighing on my mind.]

[Sure enough, I had barely woken up in the office when I heard the terrible news.]

[Something had happened at school.]

[Details omitted.]

[Pollution incidents grew more numerous and frequent, but I successfully resolved them all.]

[Once, my dream was to become filthy rich. Half a year later, I had achieved half my dream: I became dirt.]

[Because all of Night Spirit City had been blown sky-high.]

"?"

Xu Ye woke groggily in his recliner, greeted by a string of information simulated by his writhing heart.

This time, however, the information left him rather bewildered.

It seemed like two completely illogical passages stitched together, with far too many leaps in between.

Still, the information gave Xu Ye such a fright that he nearly sprang out of his recliner.

"Oh, Murong Yehai, what happened to you? How could you leave me so easily? You haven't even bought me Metersbonwe yet! And my name isn't 'hey.' It's Chu Yusi." Alice clutched her chest.

"Alice!" Xu Ye said. "Stop sneaking into my memories to watch teen idol dramas! This isn't the time for that."

"Ahem." Alice cleared her throat and tucked one hand behind her back. "Actually, you don't need to be so nervous. This is only one possible future. Worst case, we just run away. Aren't you going to intensive training? It might be near Night Spirit City, but you'll still be outside the blast zone."

"Besides, this cat thinks your strength probably limits some of the heart's functions, leaving it susceptible to uncertain factors or special items."

"Well said. Don't say it again."

As he snarked, Xu Ye opened his eyes. He had already heard hurried footsteps outside.

Xu Ye stood up and opened the door.

He Li, who had been about to knock, paused, then broke into a bone-meltingly seductive smile. Her eyes were bright and alluring, and a fresh fragrance wafted toward him.

She wore a loose red sweatshirt today, lending her a youthful air, though it still couldn't conceal her impressive assets.

Her hair was piled high, revealing the perfect curve of her neck. Under the light, her flawless skin gave off a faint, supple sheen.

She really was the queen of playing the field.

Alice gave He Li's chest a resentful look, then glanced at her own and sighed.

"Morning."

"I was just looking for you."

As she approached, Xu Ye had to retreat several steps before that oppressive feeling eased.

"Did something happen at school?" Xu Ye asked, feigning casual interest.

He knew a pollution incident had definitely occurred at school, but for now, he could only pretend otherwise.

He Li nodded, took a sip of cold brew, and spoke a little faster. "Yes. A student at your school jumped off a building. Normally, a few students jump every year. That's pretty standard. But these are unusual times. An Aberrant appeared at First High School, and your case still hasn't been fully closed, so we need to send people to keep an eye on things."

"Me?" Xu Ye pointed at himself.

"We're going with you."

We?

That meant someone besides He Li was coming.

Before Xu Ye could speak, He Li stepped sideways and back, revealing a new face.

"Lu Mingwang?"

Xu Ye exclaimed when he saw who it was.

He didn't know many people at school. The only reason he knew this guy was that he felt Lu Mingwang was the only person whose looks could give his own a run for their money.

Lu Mingwang was six feet tall. His family owned a hospital, he was rich, sunny and outgoing, lean and muscular, and terrible at school.

Aside from being equally handsome, his life was completely different from Xu Ye's. He had a bright future ahead of him.

Girls at school often shipped the two of them and had written a whole pile of scripts.

But Xu Ye wasn't particularly close to him. He merely knew he existed.

"Xu Ye?"

"What are you doing here?"

"You're with the Ninth Team?"

Lu Mingwang was equally surprised to see Xu Ye, his eyes widening.

"A lucky coincidence." Xu Ye curled his lip as bits of information about Lu Mingwang surfaced in his memory.

"I was forced into it!" Lu Mingwang grabbed Xu Ye's arm and wailed. "Do you know how miserable I am? A few days ago, I was walking down the street when I saw an injured man lying in the grass. As a doctor's son, I didn't think twice. I ran over to save him."

"But who knew he'd shove a dagger into my hand, say something about carrying on his will, then grab my hand and plunge it into his heart?"

He sobbed quietly.

Xu Ye silently tugged, trying to free his arm, only to discover that the guy was clinging to him like an octopus.

He Li added, "An Awakened from the Eighth Team was badly injured on a mission that day. There was no one else around, so to keep his Sequence Talent from being lost, he had no choice but to rope in some unlucky sap."

"But this kid grew up without facing much hardship, and he has a pretty good personality. His Second Personality tested as a very timid boy."

Lu Mingwang: "..."

Please stop talking!

"Let's go to First High School. We can discuss the rest on the way. Our colleagues have already quietly sealed it off and set up [Silent Forest]."

"You're new, and so is Lu Mingwang. This is probably a large-scale pollution incident. I might be an ordinary person, but at least I'm an old hand."

"Li Yunyao will be our liaison."

"Everyone, take your earpieces, phones, and weapons. Given your lousy aim, the captain said you can borrow [Beginners Must Not Die] for now."

He Li tossed Xu Ye a dagger.

Xu Ye ran his fingers over it, feeling a sense of familiarity.

He thought back to his first fight with an Aberrant. Only a few days had passed, yet his entire life seemed to be hurtling down a completely different road.

A short while later, the three of them drove up to the school gates.

"He Li, look around the area. Xu Ye and Lu Mingwang, return to your respective classes and assess the situation first."

Li Yunyao's icy voice came through their earpieces.

"First, establish whether there's any pollution."

"What form it takes, how many Aberrants there are, whether the pollution source is still at school..."

Classes had already started, and the guard at the main gate wouldn't let them in. Xu Ye led the other two around to one side of the back gate and deftly climbed over. Under their strange looks, he easily avoided every camera.

"Xu Ye, do you skip class a lot?" Lu Mingwang asked in surprise.

"Why wouldn't I? Skip whenever you can. Don't hesitate. Once you start working, it won't be so easy to skip work," Xu Ye said matter-of-factly.

"..."

He and Lu Mingwang weren't in the same class.

He was in Class One, while Lu Mingwang was in Class Seven.

"I'm outside Class One. Something's off."

Xu Ye spoke quietly.

He knocked and, with the homeroom teacher's permission, pushed open the classroom's front door.

Standing in the doorway, he took in the entire scene.

A slight chill ran down his spine.

"Aah!"

At the same moment, Lu Mingwang's scream came through his earpiece.