It was 11:49 PM, Chicago time.
Lu Mingfei stood on the broken section of the right ring, communicating with Fingel on the left side via his earbud. On the platform was a C-level agent, providing light with a flashlight from the Equipment Department.
According to the C-level agent, the flashlight, currently on its second setting, gave him a constant feeling of impending explosion. The most indicative sign was that the switch had turned completely red, and the smell of burning plastic permeated his nostrils.
The experienced Fingel calmly told him that things from the Equipment Department were always like this, weren't they?
Lu Mingfei grew increasingly curious about Fingel's past experiences. Was 'Fingel the loser' really the Senior's favorite label? The Senior seemed to be persistently maintaining that label.
"Senior, what do you think of me now?" Lu Mingfei suddenly asked.
As he spoke, he stepped onto a bronze stele in front of him. Simultaneously, an identical bronze stele rose again in front of Fingel.
All the bronze steles were one meter in radius and uniformly shaped. If one ignored the size of the ring, looking down from above, the steles on the ring would resemble keycaps on a keyboard.
However, these bronze steles had no resilience, not even pictographs. Reddish-brown copper rust grew on their surfaces. As the steles rose one after another, the vibrations caused the rust to flake off.
The history intertwined within this dragon tomb, buried by time, was completely lost.
"Very good, why do you ask?" Fingel replied.
Lu Mingfei's mind replayed his experiences with Fingel over the past few days. He had seen the thick muscles on Fingel's arms, which absolutely could not be developed by just staying in the dorms eating family buckets and drinking cola every day.
The posture he used to hold the knife, the perfectly timed finishing blow, the cracked blade.
None of these were things a 'loser' should possess. A, B, C, D, E, F—had Fingel really been held back for four years? When exactly did his rank begin to decline?
"How do I compare to you in the past, Senior?" Lu Mingfei asked again. "Am I half as good as you?"
He knew Fingel wouldn't talk about his past achievements. Fingel's answer would most likely be something like, 'Junior, you're super amazing, how could I possibly compare to an S-rank,' and so on.
But he still couldn't help but ask.
Lu Mingfei knew deeply that everyone around him had secrets: Lu Mingze had them, Angers had them, Chu Zihang had them, Caesar had them, Fingel had them.
Too many.
"Senior, what is your Rune?" Lu Mingfei brought up the old topic again.
"Holy crap, Junior, you reveal your own Rune and then ask me what mine is? That's too sneaky!" Fingel complained.
【Writing here, I hope readers remember our domain 101kan.com】
"I'm just curious, Senior. You used to be an A-rank student, you know? Who in the forum isn't curious about an A-rank student's Rune?" Lu Mingfei said.
"To this day, what Chu Zihang's and Caesar's Runes are is still a hot topic on the forum. The recordings of the combat practicals always deliberately cut out the sections where they use their Runes. If I'm not mistaken, after this mission, my Rune won't be widely known within the academy either."
"It'll probably be sent to the Principal? Or to someone even higher than the Principal? In any case, S-rank authority isn't omnipotent; my Rune will be exposed someday."
"Don't worry, the Board of Directors won't easily move against high-ranking students," Fingel said calmly, jumping onto the next bronze stele.
"Unless something truly affects their interests, or there's new information that can unveil another layer of the Dragon race's mystery, then they'll become unscrupulous."
As he finished speaking, Fingel's voice slightly deepened but quickly returned to normal. "The Principal will help you. Didn't you know there's a rumor going around school lately that you're the Principal's illegitimate child?"
Lu Mingfei was startled. Ever since the fan club incident, he had paid close attention to the campus newspaper but had never heard of this rumor.
"There's such a thing? How come I don't know?"
"Heh heh, I'm not the Head of the News Department for nothing, Senior. I've already nipped that rumor in the bud," Fingel said proudly.
Unbeknownst to them, the topic had been sidetracked by Fingel again. Knowing that pressing him wouldn't yield an answer, Lu Mingfei got up and jumped onto the next stone stele.
"Senior, who usually reviews your News Department's newspaper?"
He recalled the process of compiling the monthly literary journal at the Literary Club: soliciting submissions from the whole school, first review by the Literary Club, then second review by the teachers, and only then could it be printed and distributed.
Since the News Department had a campus newspaper, would there be a similar process?
"Of course, it's all me, Senior," Fingel lowered his voice. "Otherwise, how do you think those scandalous stories about the professors get printed? Although we speak openly about it, in reality, we in the News Department print them privately."
"Scandalous stories? How come I've never read them?" Lu Mingfei was surprised.
Fingel went silent this time, but soon, Lu Mingfei's inner trench coat pocket vibrated twice.
Lu Mingfei's expression was odd, realizing what Fingel had done during his silence.
"The 'enhanced version' has to be custom-ordered, of course." It was indeed a message from Fingel, followed by a few thoughtful promotional lines: "Junior, if you want one, I can print a copy specially for you. Given our relationship, the original price is 20 per copy, how about I charge you 16 per copy?"
"Senior, do you say that to everyone?" Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow, questioning him.
Fingel's voice returned through the earbud, "How could I? Everyone else gets a 10% discount, but Junior, I'm giving you an 80% discount—80%!"
"Really? What discount do you give the Principal?" Lu Mingfei had seen the campus newspaper on the Principal's desk and now suspected it was probably the 'enhanced version.'
..."50% discount."
"Senior, you're too much of a crook!" Lu Mingfei fumed.
"No, no, no, Junior, you have to think this way: if the Principal didn't look at the enhanced version, we wouldn't dare sell it privately like this," Fingel argued.
Damn it!
Lu Mingfei cursed inwardly, thinking that the Senior was indeed a cunning merchant. The sudden silence wasn't to hide the existence of the enhanced version, but to hide the discount issue.
The Principal's discount didn't matter how it was set; if Fingel gave a 50% discount, some might even say Fingel was bold.
What the Senior really wanted to hide was the discount for people other than the Principal!
He quickly messaged Fingel back, "Senior, what's the lowest discount you offer?"
..."10% discount."
..." Lu Mingfei was stunned, amazed that he even cheated the Principal!
"The Vice Principal provides the most intelligence. If I don't give that old man the lowest discount, I can't get a discount myself," Fingel explained.
Lu Mingfei had no more energy to complain about Fingel and dutifully began jumping on the bronze steles.
After all that, he at least understood who was backing Fingel's News Department. Back then, the Literary Club could post solicitation notices everywhere because their second-review teacher was the head of the grade level. Now, the News Department was probably fearless of complaints because they had the two principals backing them up.
Fifteen minutes later.
Lu Mingfei and Fingel finally met in the center of the ring.
"So, as long as we both step on this bronze stele, a platform will rise from the center of the ring?" Lu Mingfei and Fingel looked at each other.
"Exactly. These rings are actually underwater elevators, used only to keep the platform below from drifting off course."
"Alright."
Lu Mingfei accepted Fingel's explanation, and they both jumped onto that bronze stele.
A clear vibration came from beneath their feet. The expected roar did not occur; the mechanism was so smooth it seemed as if it had recently been lubricated.
The expansive space suddenly fell silent.
The agents who had arrived at the platform shortly before calmly watched the S-rank perform. They were all more or less injured, their wounds having just stopped bleeding.
As time passed, a faint smell of blood permeated the air.
Lu Mingfei lowered his head, turning on the flashlight on the back of his phone to illuminate the slowly rising platform. Dark blue scales reflected a faint white light, and red liquid flowed between the scales. The everted scales also bore charred marks.
The phone's light was utterly insignificant on such a creature, not even revealing a tenth of its full appearance.
The creature under the light twitched its scales, and a layer of golden light tore through the areas shrouded in darkness.
"All agents, run!"
Meeting the gaze of that golden light, Lu Mingfei suddenly pressed his earbud and roared.