After bidding a hasty farewell to the unfortunate child Liao Shiquan, Qi Yuan strode towards the dorm room. Other than feeling greatly shocked, his determination to remain single was strengthened.
Were the games not fun enough, or the comics and novels not good enough to read?
Were the waifus from anime and games not desirable enough?
Without becoming the strongest in the world yet, at his age, he could still sleep...very soundly.
Using hacks was not shameful at all.
Today, he returned to the dorm to pack up his belongings to bring home.
His mother and younger brother had no plans to follow him to Jidu, so moving his things back to the villa would be enough.
In any case, becoming one of the Dark Nine Seats would likely require traveling all over the world frequently like the Nine Seats. No matter what, he wouldn’t be able to rush back home. It made no difference whether his family stayed in Shen City or Jidu.
Before leaving, he just needed to ask the Shen City Superpower Association Branch’s President Yi and President Shi to look after the two of them.
Just as Qi Yuan took out his keys to unlock the door, he heard the sounds of rapid footsteps coming from the stairwell. Gao Changze dashed out.
Qi Yuan silently lowered his head to look at Ji Jia’s feet.
He wondered if Ji Jia had floated over without making any sound at all. How was it that there was completely no noise?
Did all women inherently possess the traits of an assassin?
His mother was also able to frightfully sneak up without making any sound...
As someone with social anxiety, Qi Yuan's attention made Ji Jia shrink behind Gao Changze.
Staring at a girl like this was indeed impolite. Qi Yuan pushed open the door, “Come in and talk.”
The three of them followed behind Qi Yuan into the room.
He had not stayed in this room for many days. The furnishings looked almost the same as when he first moved in.
Qi Yuan took out some Coke and mineral water from a box and placed them in front of everyone, then sat down on the bed himself.
Gao Changze twisted open a can of Coke with a pop and guzzled down a mouthful. He was the first to speak up.
“Brother Yuan, what should our squad do next?”
Yin Qingran had dispelled her possession at some unknown point in time and was sitting at the table listening to their conversation.
Squad?
Only then did Qi Yuan react that Gao Changze was a member of his squad.
Who still cared about that broken squad after becoming an official daddy?
Qi Yuan thought for a bit before gently advising, “I’ve already graduated. I'm flying to Jidu tomorrow. Focus on completing your studies first. You can come to help me afterwards when the time is right.”
“Don’t worry. I can apply for an internship. As long as I pass the exams, it’ll be fine.”
Gao Changze gave a thumbs up, baring his eight teeth.
The problem was that the squad itself was but an empty shell. If the Superpower Association did not issue any missions, he would have nothing for Gao Changze to work on...
And he was unclear on whether he could hand tasks off to unofficial personnel from the Dark Nine Seats side.
Gao Changze’s potential was decent. Wasting someone else’s lifetime was not something he should do.
“You can get internships starting freshman year?”
“Originally no. But internship opportunities that let you come into contact with S-level superhumans are an exception.”
Gao Changze had also dug up this little-known regulation from some corner on the net.
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll screw it up?”
“What is there to be afraid of? You’re an S-level superhuman already. Covering for me is no big deal.”
“I still have to carry out enforcement squad duties. I usually can’t pay attention to the squad either. You should think it through clearly before getting back to me.”
Qi Yuan truthfully informed him thus.
Just as he finished speaking, Yin Qingran directly raised her hand, “Jia Jia and I choose to join.”
Gao Changze had just been hesitating a little when he was instantly crushed by his companion's betrayal.
“Why is it you and Jia Jia? What about me?”
I was the one who came first...
Yet Yin Qingran didn't even glance at him as she heartlessly said, “Whether you go or not is your own decision. What does it have to do with us?”
Gao Changze scratched his head in irritation and steeled his resolve.
After getting through this, he would definitely have to get back at Yin Qingran someday!
Qi Yuan: ...
This was a typical tsundere girl and idiot straight man combo.
Even with his mediocre emotional intelligence, he could tell that Yin Qingran did not wish to drag Gao Changze down.
“Alright. If you guys want to come back to continue taking classes with me, just let me know.”
This was not some pirate ship. There was no need to be so hot-blooded over it. It just made him feel rather awkward.
Gao Changze expressed his understanding and brought up something Qi Yuan had never considered before: “Oh right, our squad still doesn’t have a name yet, does it?”
They hadn’t even registered the squad yet. Where would a name come from?
But when asked to randomly think of a name now, he did feel a flash of inspiration.
Qi Yuan uttered two words, “Reincarnation.”
As he spoke out the name, countless associative words relating to reincarnation exploded in Gao Changze’s mind. The more he contemplated it, the more he felt this name possessed an domineering yet mysterious quality with maximum style and refinement.
Yin Qingran lowered her gaze, fingers tracing the tabletop.
Reincarnation... Did this word have some sort of connotation?
His superpower? Sending enemies into reincarnation?
Or was it representative of his pursuit?
Qi Yuan looked towards the three people in the room and could not help feeling emotional.
Gao Changze had sabotaged him three times causing him to be shanghaied. Then he merely sabotaged Gao Changze once in return, only to get sabotaged again.
There was a saying, “What goes around comes around.” Who did Heaven ever let off easy?
This name was most apt.
...
On departure day for Jidu,
Qi Yuan stood beside the helicopter chatting idly with Su Ke, while also waiting for Gao Changze and company.
Suddenly, sounds of slight clamor came from the distance.
Four people walked over draped in black cloaks with hoods covering their heads. Their faces were concealed behind exquisite masks.
Perhaps Gao Changze had been scolded one too many times by students for his crappy aesthetic taste.
He had upgraded the style of the cloaks. Golden threaded embroidery etched out intricate designs and the workmanship was much more refined.
The masks had also been upgraded from the previous plain wooden ones to refined masks with patterns.
“...What getup is this of yours?”
It was fine for Yin Qingran and the rest, but Jia Jia and Gao Changze had applied for internships already. What was the point of still hiding their identities?
Gao Changze’s voice sounded somewhat warped from behind the mask, “Uniform outfit for the Reincarnation Squad.”
Su Ke’s gaze swept over them. His eyelids were half-lowered.
Aside from Jia Jia and Gao Changze, there were two other people.
One was the woman who had partnered with Qi Yuan previously. Based on the figure, the other was likely an elderly person.
So there was no little girl?
The investigative personnel had said before that a young girl's voice could frequently be heard coming from Gao Changze's villa.
Unfortunately, so as to not arouse Qi Yuan's resentment, they did not dare approach to verify if the voices were real people or just recordings.
From Gao Changze’s food purchases, analysis showed that at least two to three people existed in his villa.
While analyzing, Su Ke did not forget to usher everyone onto the helicopter.
After boarding, they flew towards Jidu.
As a city with a long history, Jidu still exuded a historical ambience despite some changes due to the Integration Zone.
The old and new buildings were interspersed in harmony with each other, appearing out of place yet congruous at the same time.
Upon landing, under Su Ke’s arrangements, everyone split up to get into vehicles heading towards their lodgings.
Qi Yuan gazed listlessly out the window and saw a familiar advertisement.
The advertisements were pretty much identical to Shen City's, the only difference being more spokesperson appearances.
Body armor, beauty products, monster museums and such.
“This monster museum is an enterprise belonging to a former Nine Seats squad captain. As public servants like us, we can enter the museum without paying.”
Seeing Qi Yuan’s attention linger on the ad, Su Ke picked an advertisement to initiate small talk.
“But I appreciate this squad captain’s goodwill. Being surrounded by monsters during missions every day, we’re hard pressed to even escape them. Let alone going to observe their specimens for leisure.”
Whether large enterprises had direct or indirect associations with S-level superhumans, they were either relatives, friends or S-level superhumans holding shares in the company.
Letting enforcement squad members view monster specimens for free was truly asking for the impossible.
It was reasonably suspicious whether this squad captain came up with this nonsense idea to prevent squad members from freeloading food and drinks.