It was 7 PM, Chicago time.
The Equipment Department's latest notice read: “Fresh Three-Generations Breed remains have arrived. An explosion is guaranteed to occur tonight. All students and professors, please prepare earplugs. If needed, a pair of earplugs can be collected for free from the Equipment Department.”
The Equipment Department was truly considerate.
Lu Mingfei twitched his lips, then reported them for disturbing the peace.
Putting away his phone, Lu Mingfei pulled open the Lionheart Society's door and peered inside, immediately spotting someone smiling at him in the center of the hall.
“Good evening, Senior Sister,” he greeted, walking over to the Senior Sister with a high ponytail.
Su Qian nodded in acknowledgment, “Good evening. The President asked me to wait for you here.”
“I’m sorry to have kept Senior Sister waiting,” Lu Mingfei scratched his head, revealing an embarrassed smile.
“It’s fine. It’s understandable for an S-class to be busy lately,” Su Qian said.
Busy... really?
Lu Mingfei felt a little ashamed. The reason he was so late was that he had been drinking with Fingel and accidentally slept for several hours in bed.
“Just call me by my name. ‘S-class’ sounds a bit strange.”
Lu Mingfei finally matched the name in his head with the image. Senior Sister Su Qian was also the Vice President of the Lionheart Society, a good student with a 4.0 GPA for two consecutive semesters. Professor Manstein had specifically looked after her, stating that if something concerned Su Qian, her testimony could be fully trusted.
“Okay, Lu Mingfei,” Su Qian replied, sighing inwardly, “Just as Nono said, he’s still a boy.”
The two stopped talking nonsense and ventured deeper into the hall where the Lionheart Society was located.
Only then did Lu Mingfei realize that the entire hall had been cleared. Besides Su Qian, not a single Lionheart Society member was visible. The hall was dead silent, the chandeliers reflecting a warm white light, leaving only the sounds of Lu Mingfei and Su Qian walking.
Thanks to Lu Mingfei, all Lionheart Society members didn't have to work late tonight. For a considerably long time to come, this hall would belong only to Lu Mingfei... and Chu Zihang.
On the third underground floor, Lu Mingfei followed Su Qian out of the elevator and looked up to see Chu Zihang, holding a bronze-yellow key, waiting outside the elevator.
“Thank you for your trouble,” Chu Zihang said to Su Qian.
“It’s a small matter,” Su Qian nodded. “The person has been delivered. I am not authorized to enter the archive room, so the rest is up to you two.”
“Actually, you could come along,” Chu Zihang suddenly said.
Su Qian shook her head, “The Principal doesn’t intend for that.”
“Alright.”
Chu Zihang extended the bronze-yellow key in his hand. After Su Qian turned to leave, he inserted the key into the lock and twisted it. The heavy door emitted the sound of mechanical gears moving, and with a crisp click, the archive room door opened.
The air was still fresh, and some yellowed scrolls showed no signs of cobwebs.
It seemed someone frequently entered and exited here, keeping it clean.
“I thought all the Lionheart Society’s confidential archives would be covered in a layer of dust,” Lu Mingfei joked.
“After losing Norton Hall a few years ago, the archive had a reorganization, so it looks much cleaner,” Chu Zihang said softly, fully pushing open the archive room door. The interior was as bright as day.
Mountains and hills of books appeared before Lu Mingfei's eyes. The heavy sense of history instantly enveloped him. Just touching the cover of any book, he could tell that the material of these books definitely did not belong to currently popular materials, more likely originating from cowhide or sheepskin.
“They’re all very mystical books. After becoming the President of the Lionheart Society, I often come here to read the old stories of the Lionheart Society,” Chu Zihang said. “History is a mirror. There are many things in those old stories that are worth learning from now.”
“The Lionheart Society truly has a long history.”
Lu Mingfei casually opened a page of notes. The time recorded on it could be traced back to the period when churches ruled Europe in the Middle Ages.
“The Principal said you’re returning to the country tomorrow.”
“Yes, I am.”
“I’ve heard the Principal mention some things about the Family in the country. The hybrids there seem to have a method for purifying their bloodline. He might want you to see that notebook by having me bring you to the Lionheart Society’s confidential archives at this time.” Chu Zihang pointed in a direction, and Lu Mingfei followed his Senior Brother’s finger.
Between the mountains and hills of books, a half-human-height table was placed, and an orange-yellow parchment scroll lay on it, seemingly waiting for its owner.
Lu Mingfei couldn't help but walk over to examine it closely. The first line of text stunned him.
Unleash the Lionheart.
Was it actually Chinese?
He paused, thinking of the Lionheart Society's name. Logically, two things with such similar names must be related. Could this thing be the Lionheart Society's ultimate secret technique?
Standing behind the table, Lu Mingfei carefully flipped through a few pages of experimental reports. His pupils gradually widened as his gaze swept over the surrounding books and ancient scrolls, and he began to count on his fingers as he read the content.
“Thesis 1: Can hybrids be created acquiredly?”
“Experiment: Organ transplantation, blood exchange, dragon blood injection...”
“Conclusion: Failure. None of the experimental subjects survived.”
“Thesis 2: Can the bloodline of hybrids be improved acquiredly?”
“Experiment: Pure-blood Dragon-kind organ transplantation, diluted dragon blood injection...”
“Conclusion: Bloodline indeed improved, but most lost consciousness and transformed into Death Servants. No survival possible for experimental subjects.”
“Thesis 3: Is it possible for Death Servants to reverse back into hybrids?”
“Experiment: Placing Death Servants into a non-powered hamster treadmill made with alchemy technology, while injecting serum and human blood, promoting blood circulation after sufficient exercise...”
“Conclusion: Death Servants successfully reversed into hybrids, but only retained human appearance and had no communication ability.”
“Experiment 4: Genetic commonalities between Death Servants and hybrids.”
“…”
The theses were varied and lacked humanity. The above were just the more coherent experiments Lu Mingfei saw at first glance. All the information recorded in the documents was uninhibited, challenging the limits of human imagination.
It seemed the predecessors of the Lionheart Society were not only dragon-slaying pioneers but also mad scientists.
He continued to flip pages until the Chinese that he could read without obstruction completely disappeared.
“These translations were all written by me,” Chu Zihang suddenly blurted out.
The archive room was instantly left with only the sound of their breathing. Even the rustling of paper disappeared. Lu Mingfei didn't know how to respond to his Senior Brother's words.
A compliment might not be appropriate, right?
He subconsciously placed his hand on the table, and a trace of black ink stained his fingertip. Could this still be wiped off? Could it be...
Lu Mingfei looked at his Senior Brother, “Specifically written for me?”
Chu Zihang did not deny it, “Yes. Your enrollment time is limited, and you might not have learned these foreign languages, so I simply translated them while waiting for you.”
Lu Mingfei secretly clicked his tongue. He couldn't discern Senior Sister Su Qian's gentleness, but he could feel himself enveloped by his Senior Brother's gentle nature.
He was just a little curious: as the President of the Lionheart Society, was this his first time seeing this notebook, or had he already reviewed it many times? After all, such a large-scale translation didn't seem like a workload that could be completed in one afternoon.