Lu Zhi’s eyes snapped open, his heart constricting, his pulse pounding like a drum. But the moment he met Shen Qi’s gaze, all his tension dissipated like smoke, leaving only exasperation. “Teacher Shen, is bullying so much fun?”
He saw no emotional fluctuation in Shen Qi’s eyes, only a deep, playful teasing.
Shen Qi, with great interest, touched Lu Zhi’s flushed cheek with his palm, saying meaningfully, “Your face is red…” He removed his hand, then gently pressed it to the spot on Lu Zhi’s chest, chuckling softly, “Your heart is racing too.”
Lu Zhi forced a laugh and unceremoniously slapped away Shen Qi’s meddling hand. He then pushed Shen Qi away, got off the bed, bent to put on his shoes, rolling his eyes as he said, “If I didn’t have a heartbeat, I’d be dead.”
He deliberately avoided mentioning the moment his heart had fluttered, naturally changing the subject. “How do I use this God’s Mark?”
Shen Qi tutted, sat beside him, his expression returning to its usual cold aloofness. “How would I know?”
Lu Zhi: …
Damn it, he’d been played?
Shen Qi: “However.”
“However what?” Lu Zhi was desperately eager to know how to use the God’s Mark, so he could have an extra layer of safety upon entering the cage.
Shen Qi looked at Lu Zhi’s bright, expectant eyes beneath his long, thick lashes. Lu Zhi’s complexion was fair with a rosy hue, delicate and fair. As they were sitting so close, Shen Qi could even see the fine downy hair, making him want to touch it. Shen Qi had already felt that smooth texture himself. “I know someone who’s been researching ancient civilization ruins.”
Lu Zhi put on his shoes and stood up, urgently asking, “Who? Can you take me there?”
Shen Qi didn’t answer him. Instead, he got up and opened the window. A scarlet-tufted green bird suddenly flew from a tree onto Shen Qi’s palm. Its beak held a silver ring, thumb-sized, which it tilted and placed into Shen Qi’s palm before fluttering its wings and flying away.
Lu Zhi mused, do the birds in this school also deliver packages?
Shen Qi turned, walked in front of Lu Zhi, and said, “Give me your hand.”
Lu Zhi was surprised, “Is this thing for me?”
Shen Qi seemed to dislike wasting words. The thumb-sized silver ring suddenly expanded.
Shen Qi grasped Lu Zhi’s right hand, and the ring was directly fitted onto his wrist. It automatically adjusted its size, settling snugly against Lu Zhi’s skin, as thin as a cicada’s wing.
“You passed the freshman test. This is the school’s gift, a light brain. You can query any questions a new student might have on it,” Shen Qi briefly explained how to operate it to Lu Zhi.
Lu Zhi listened intently, but his gaze fell on Shen Qi’s ring. He said, “Why do I have a bracelet, and you have a ring?”
Shen Qi glanced at him. “You want one?”
Lu Zhi quickly shook his head. “No, no, no, I’m just curious. Besides bracelets and rings, are there other types of light brains?”
“Naturally, there are. You’ll need to exchange for them with points,” Shen Qi said, tapping Lu Zhi’s bracelet. “Check it yourself.”
Lu Zhi said “oh” and lowered his head, playing with the light brain curiously. A bullet comment suddenly popped up, a golden application box exuding a rich, opulent aura, exceptionally conspicuous on the blue light screen.
Seeing the name of the friend request, Lu Zhi instinctively looked at Shen Qi and slowly said, “Teacher Shen actually likes gold. It’s quite… down-to-earth.”
That rich gold was something else.
Shen Qi raised his eyelids and glanced at the dazzling gold application box. He caught a different meaning in Lu Zhi’s words, as if he were calling him vulgar.
Shen Qi’s eyelids flickered. “Do you still want me to take you to find someone?”
Lu Zhi quickly tapped to accept, offering a fawning smile. “Teacher Shen, you’re the first friend on my light brain… What’s going on? Does this light brain have viruses? Why are so many people trying to add me?”
Shen Qi’s eyes flickered, remembering something. He leaned closer to Lu Zhi, swiped a few times on his light screen, and found a permission setting to reject friend requests. Only then did the dense stream of incoming requests disappear.
Lu Zhi then discovered that the homepage of the light brain was the public Superhuman Forum page, shared worldwide. The central section resembled a chat channel in a game interface, scrolling rapidly.
After seeing the fast-scrolling chat content, Lu Zhi realized that so many requests had come in because of Shen Qi.
In the top left corner of the homepage, there was a gilded power ranking. Shen Qi himself was ranked first, his name adorned with a gaudy golden crown. The second name was Wu Molou, his name frame colored red, the third was Xi Xi, green, and all subsequent rankings were a uniform blue.
Lu Zhi finally understood that the gaudy gold application box he had jokingly called vulgar was actually owned by the strongest person. He sighed at the designer’s taste.
Because Shen Qi never paid attention to people, he had actually followed Lu Zhi and automatically announced it to the world, which attracted a barrage of fan requests.
[World]: Freedom of speech, please speak civilly.
[Miao Miao Miao: Ahhhhh~ I’m dead. I actually see my male god online in my lifetime.]
[A Bowl of Porridge: Ahhhhhhhhhh~ Male god, I love you, I want to bear your children.]
[Brother Just Likes to Be Wild: Can the ones above be more dignified? I can also bear children for the male god.]
Seeing this, Lu Zhi coughed into his hand, turned his head to look at Shen Qi’s profile, and mused, he appeals to both men and women, no question.
[Bear Kneels to Conquer (Out): Shen Qi! Fight me!]
[Enchanting Long Legs (Out): Wake up, have you recovered from the last beating?]
[Clouds and Sea: I’ll join the fun too. Can Big Shot Shen Qi take me with him next time he enters the cage?]
Lu Zhi poked Shen Qi’s shoulder with his finger and asked, “What does ‘Out’ mean?”
Shen Qi glanced at the hand Lu Zhi had withdrawn his finger from. His fingers were fair, his nails neatly rounded. “Overseas account.”
Lu Zhi said “oh,” frowning. “This person seems to be challenging you.” More and more people appeared, and the chat channel scrolled rapidly.
“Don’t mind people who are insignificant,” Shen Qi said, directly closing Lu Zhi’s light brain. “I’ll take you to see someone.”
…
Fifteen minutes later, Lu Zhi, back in Dream Whale City, followed Shen Qi into an elevator that descended deep into the seabed.
Lu Zhi then realized that the structures built beneath the sea were no less impressive than those on the surface. To describe it more precisely, the seabed was the rooted tree, and the surface was the lush foliage.
Beep—
The elevator reached Sub-level 109, stopped, and opened its doors. A chilling atmosphere hit him – the temperature of the deep sea.
The people walking around wore uniforms, and everyone seemed busy.
Just then, a woman with a fiery figure and a heroic face approached, saluting Shen Qi. “Greetings, Team Leader Shen. I am Yue Xin, leader of the MJ13 Protection Team.”
Shen Qi nodded. “I need to see Elder Hong.”
Yue Xin: “Please follow me.”
Lu Zhi whispered, “Is Elder Hong’s status quite high?” After walking only a few meters, he saw several teams of patrolling soldiers.
Shen Qi ignored him, returning to the unapproachable demeanor he had on their first meeting.
Lu Zhi rolled his eyes. So pretentious!
“Elder Hong is in Research Lab No. 3 today. I don’t have the authority to enter, so I can only bring you this far,” Yue Xin said after saluting, then turned to leave.
The black and gold metallic door exuded a sense of timeless depth.
Shen Qi walked to the entrance. A green light scan passed over his entire body. With a beep, a mechanical voice announced, “Identity verification passed.”
The tightly shut door suddenly swung open, and a wave of heat washed over them. Lu Zhi, seeing the raging flames within the research laboratory, instinctively exclaimed in shock, “Quick, call the fire department!”
Shen Qi, however, turned, grabbed his hand, and walked into the flames.