Chapter 10

Around two o’clock in the afternoon, Qin Chi drove back to the neighborhood.

In her bedroom, Xu Qiao was practicing her abilities while drawing the curtains. She heard some noise outside but didn’t pay it much attention.

Although she unexpectedly became teammates with him, their family backgrounds, personalities, and ages were too different. Xu Qiao believed that she and Qin Chi would likely be amicable neighbors, smiling and greeting each other whenever they met, and engaging in polite small talk. However, it was highly unlikely that they would become close friends who could enjoy leisure activities together.

Aside from that, Xu Qiao sensed that Qin Chi was hiding some secrets.

Given how wealthy he was, why didn’t he live in a better environment in the central district?

With ten years of experience on base missions, why didn’t he seek out more suitable teammates instead of casually teaming up with three rookies who had just graduated?

Why did he leave the original base?

Xu Qiao had no intention of probing into her new neighbor’s secrets. She was enjoying her stable life, so she needed to prepare well for the base mission that came around every six months.

Xu Qiao practiced the whole afternoon. The continuous release of her abilities nearly exhausted her mental energy. She didn’t break a sweat, but she felt more fatigued than if she had run twenty to thirty kilometers outside. She collapsed onto her bed, too tired to move even a finger.

Just as Xu Qiao was about to fall asleep, Lu Yang knocked on her door. “Dinner’s ready.”

Xu Qiao weakly replied, “Coming.”
—-
After washing her face in the main bathroom while wearing slippers and combing her disheveled hair, Xu Qiao went out, ready to shower and sleep after dinner.

Lu Yang was setting the chopsticks at the dining table. He casually glanced over and noticed Xu Qiao’s tired face, which looked more exhausted than after staying up all night. He asked in confusion, “What were you doing in there?”

Xu Qiao replied, “Practicing my abilities. Even if my water ability level is low, it still has some offensive power. I can’t just be completely defenseless.”

Lu Yang didn’t want to discourage her, so he nodded in agreement.

The attack strength of a D-level ability user was comparable to that of an ordinary person wielding cold weapons, only effective against low-level E-class and D-class beasts, unable to penetrate the defenses of C-class beasts.

Yet Xu Qiao was a C-level healer, which meant she had to go into dangerous areas where C-class beasts roamed to complete her missions.

Halfway through the meal, Lu Yang glanced at Xu Qiao’s hand holding the chopsticks and said, “My dad prepared a set of B-class armor materials for me, but I have to wait three more years to use it. Instead of letting it sit in a box and waste away for three years, why not let you use it first?”

The B-class armor, made by integrating the skins of B-class beasts with rare metals through modern technology, could withstand the powerful bite force of B-class beasts.

The production of armor was monopolized by the government. For an ability user to obtain a set of armor, they could either enlist in the military and receive free allocation from the guards, exchange corresponding contribution points at the association for a free set, or provide their own beast skins and metal materials to the armor smiths at the association, but they would have to pay a high processing fee.

Xu Qiao was touched by her middle school brother’s thoughtfulness and smiled as she declined, “First of all, I don’t have enough savings to pay for the processing fee of B-class armor.”

“Second, we are going to a C-class danger zone, and the chance of encountering a B-class beast is very low.”

“Third, if you want to take care of me, you should use your own abilities to get me high-level armor in the future. Don’t let Uncle Lu’s kindness go to waste.”

The first two reasons were acceptable, but the third one left the middle school student speechless.

Seeing Lu Yang lower his head and slow down his eating, Xu Qiao reached out to pat his head. “Okay, it’s really not cost-effective to use B-class armor on me. When you graduate from military school, you can use it to make armor. The safer you are, the more time you’ll have to take care of me, right?”

Xu Qiao treated Lu Yang like a brother, so her kindness was not purely an investment. Still, having a B-class ability user brother did make her life a bit more stable.

Lu Yang nodded gloomily.
—-
After taking a shower and drying her hair, Xu Qiao was about to sleep again when her communication wristband, which was set to silent mode, lit up.

It was the group chat for “Silence is Golden.”

Sun Fushan: [“I thought about it all afternoon, and I still think we should make four sets of uniform team uniforms. What do you all think?”]

Meng Li: [“I can’t afford it.”]

Xu Qiao silently laughed.

Sun Fushan: [“You don’t need to worry about the costs. I’ll find someone to design a few styles, and you can just pick the one you like.”]

Meng Li: [“No need.”]

Xu Qiao knew that Meng Li didn’t want to owe Sun Fushan any favors, fearing it would make the enthusiastic captain uncomfortable. She typed, [“I have a set of C-class armor. Although it’s old, it should last a few more years. How about this: let’s set aside some points as a common fund for our team after each mission? Once we accumulate enough, we can buy armor, weapons, and other supplies for the team?”]

Meng Li: [“That works.”]

Qin Chi: [“Support.”]

Sun Fushan: [“Okay, then I’ll prepare four team badges? Brass material, cost-effective, and it’ll be a small gift from me as the captain to everyone.”]

Meng Li: [“As you wish.”]

Xu Qiao: [“Then I’ll trouble the captain to put in some extra effort and make them look nice.”]

Qin Chi: [“Remember to make them matte.”]

If the reflection is too strong, it could easily attract mutated creatures.

Sun Fushan: [“Got it! I’ll hand them to you in person on Sunday!”]
—-
After sleeping comfortably through the night, Xu Qiao woke up full of energy on Monday. She first went to water the fruits and vegetables inside and outside her house with her wood-type ability.

The growth of these fruits and vegetables mainly relied on the nutrients from nature. By watering them once a week, Xu Qiao not only provided a substitute for fertilizer but also ensured they wouldn’t undergo any diseases or mutations.

Once she finished tending to her small courtyard, Xu Qiao stepped into Lu Yang’s yard. While using her abilities, she carefully inspected each vegetable bed, on the lookout for any weeds.

As she walked under the apple tree in the center, she suddenly heard the sound of curtains being drawn on one side. Looking up, she met the gaze of her neighbor through the bedroom window a few steps away. He was wearing a dark golden silk pajama, and it seemed he had just gotten out of bed; his short hair was a bit messy, but it didn’t detract from his gentlemanly demeanor.

Xu Qiao felt a bit embarrassed and asked, “Did I wake you?”

Qin Chi smiled and replied, “No, I usually wake up around this time. What are you doing?”

Xu Qiao briefly explained her work.

Qin Chi said, “Then I won’t disturb you; I’ll go tidy up.”

He didn’t pull the curtains closed, and Xu Qiao politely didn’t peek inside. She quickly finished her remaining tasks and turned to head home.

In the bathroom of room 102, the door was tightly locked. A golden-red giant dragon expanded in size, almost filling the entire space. In the coiling body of the dragon, there was only enough room left for Qin Chi to stand.

It was as if Qin Chi didn’t see the terrifying giant dragon that could scare an adult to tears; he indifferently brushed his teeth.

The dragon spat flames in front of the mirror: [“You just let me breathe in the bathroom?”]

Qin Chi mumbled, “It’s because you came out without my permission.”

He had actually still been sleeping until just now. When his spiritual entity suddenly burst out of his mind, Qin Chi abruptly woke up and saw the fire dragon lurking beneath the window wall, peeking up slightly. Its golden pupils, the size of lychees, narrowed into slits, resembling a bloodthirsty beast hidden in the dark, trying to spy on its prey outside and waiting to deliver a fatal strike once it had a clear view.

Qin Chi had long been accustomed to his spiritual entity, but for others, the fire dragon’s movements at that moment would be even scarier than the most terrifying scenes from monster films.

The dragon coiled around Qin Chi, its flames transforming into new words: [“Her spiritual entity is a lotus; I’ve never seen a real lotus before.”]

In the Qin family, there weren’t even any flowers, let alone a single green plant. The military unit Qin Chi was stationed with didn’t have any flowers either.

Qin Chi replied, “Some people treat their spiritual entities as private matters and wouldn’t easily expose them. You can be curious, but if you actively ask or force someone to reveal their spiritual entity, that’s very impolite.”

The dragon responded: [“Is the lotus scent better or the peony scent?”]

Qin Chi’s gaze turned cold. “I can tolerate your bloodlust, but if you have any lewd or perverted thoughts, I’d rather destroy my crystal core myself.”

The difference between a superhuman and an ordinary person lies in the presence of a crystal core in their mind.

If the crystal core is destroyed, the superhuman will lose both their spiritual entity and abilities, becoming an ordinary person.

The dragon retorted: [“I’m just asking about flower scents. How is that lewd?”]

Qin Chi said, “You have one more minute; this conversation is over for today.”

The dragon became angry, trying to use its massive body to destroy the bathroom’s decorations.

Qin Chi warned, “If you break anything, you’ll be grounded for a week.”

The dragon: “…”

It wanted to go to the battlefield; it wanted to fight among the mutated beasts, to kill madly!
—-
Lu Yang had early self-study and left first. Xu Qiao was set to leave at seven-thirty. When she opened her door, she unexpectedly bumped into Qin Chi, who had just walked out of room 102.

Xu Qiao couldn’t hide her surprise as her gaze fell on her neighbor.

He had changed into a black suit, paired with a white shirt and a blue tie, looking very formal.

Xu Qiao recalled her three years at military school and realized that none of her teachers had ever dressed like this.

“Good morning,” Qin Chi said, having locked his door, smiling as he greeted her.

Xu Qiao replied, “Good morning! Are you going to be late leaving now?”

The Second Military Academy was built on the Fourth Ring Road, and it took at least forty-five minutes to drive there at the fastest.

Qin Chi explained, “I’m teaching the third and fourth periods today, so leaving now is just right.”

Xu Qiao understood and smiled as she said goodbye to him.

As Xu Qiao watched the familiar black sedan turn the corner, she recalled her neighbor’s suit and guessed that he was probably teaching a humanities class.
—-
The Second Military Academy.

A teacher responsible for teaching first-year students the course “Morphology and Characteristics of Mutated Beasts” was on an extended leave, and Qin Chi happened to fill that vacancy while recuperating at the Southeast Base.

With the principal of the Second Academy, Wei Jian, absent from the base, Qin Chi briefly got acquainted with a few colleagues in the office. When it was time, he took his lesson plan to the classroom.

“Morphology and Characteristics of Mutated Beasts“ is a required textbook across major military academies, and all students must complete it in their first year. Although the course isn’t taught in the second and third years, there are exams for it every semester.

Now, it was already the second semester of the first year, and in three months, there would be final exams. The course had progressed to A-level mutated beasts.

Since this subject relied heavily on rote memorization, some students, with a negative attitude, slumped over their desks and fell asleep as soon as they entered the classroom, waiting until the exams approached to cram all night.

When Qin Chi walked into the classroom and stopped at the podium, the awake students—regardless of gender—were stunned. The students who weren’t fully awake sensed that something was off, rubbing their eyes and raising their heads.

Qin Chi smiled and introduced himself.

A boy from the back row joked, “Teacher, why are you dressed so handsomely to teach class?”

Clearly a good-natured teacher, Qin Chi was neither embarrassed nor angry; he explained in a friendly tone, “To be honest, I like to dress like this at home too.”

Before the bell rang, the students enthusiastically began chatting with the new teacher.

“Teacher Qin, how old are you? You don’t look like a military academy teacher at all.”

“Twenty-nine, specializing in mutated biology. I don’t dare to compare myself to experts, but I should be good enough to teach you.”

“Teacher Qin, I’m asking on behalf of the girl in front—are you single right now?”

After a round of laughter, Qin Chi replied with a smile, “I’m single, but I don’t plan to change that for now.”

After answering a couple more questions, the class bell rang, and Qin Chi signaled for the students to quiet down. He sat on a chair, connected his tablet to the teaching screen, opened the PowerPoint presentation, and said, “Today, we will discuss the A-level blood mantis.”

He pointed, and the second slide displayed a high-definition image of a blood mantis. Despite the clarity, the image was still small, which diminished the sense of danger it conveyed.

Serious students sat upright, while the lazy ones prepared to continue sleeping.

Qin Chi smiled, saying, “I believe that seeing the actual entity of a mutated beast will help deepen your memory, so I’ve prepared one in advance. You’ll have five seconds to prepare mentally. After five seconds, I will release it, but don’t worry; it’s just a dead blood mantis.”

The classroom erupted into a wave of chatter—some were excited, some were nervous, and others were scared.

A sudden breeze brushed past the students’ faces, and in the next moment, a gigantic blood mantis materialized, floating in midair, supported by an invisible wind, hovering only a foot above the students’ heads.

As the name implies, the blood mantis was crimson all over, with six pairs of limbs adorned with sharp spines. Its thick forelimbs were equipped with two massive “scythes” that looked sharp and hard, possessing a metallic quality.

The mantis’s head had been severed from its body, lying on the wind curtain with its crimson protruding compound eyes facing the table of students who had just “woken up.”

The students, feeling the gaze upon them, let out silent screams and awkwardly fell to the floor.

As the shock and fear brought by the blood mantis finally subsided, the students all turned to look at Teacher Qin at the podium.

Qin Chi still wore a gentle smile as he used the wind to position the three segments of the blood mantis’s body upright on the side of the podium. He calmly said, “Next, let’s start with the body morphology of the blood mantis…”