Stage

Chapter 173 Stage

At night, perhaps because the weather forecast predicted a cloudy day for the next day, the moon was mostly hidden, and the people in the library left early.

The mahogany door creaked open from the outside, and a figure quietly slipped in from the darkness.

"Who's there?"

The patrolling school worker heard some noise and turned around to shine his flashlight in that direction.

Under the bright light of a flashlight, the library doors were tightly shut, and there was no one there.

It was as if the sound he had just heard was just a hallucination.

"Norma, turn on the lights in the surrounding area."

Norma's translucent figure appeared in front of the school janitor, and all the lights in the area marked by the wooden door were turned on instantly.

The school staff searched the area for a while but found no one.

"Strange, am I hallucinating?"

"6

The school janitor muttered to himself in confusion.

"Sir, would you like to view the surveillance footage?"

1

Norma kindly reminded her.

"Okay, let's take a look. It's in the main gate area."

The next moment, a light blue transparent screen appeared in front of the school janitor, and the surrounding light gradually dimmed to reveal the surveillance footage.

There was indeed a creaking sound in the video, but the wooden door didn't move at all, making it look more like a bookshelf from a library.

"Sir, we didn't see anyone on the security camera footage."

"Norma" spoke after a moment of searching.

"Maybe I'm seeing things."

The school janitor scratched his head; the sound was probably just the normal friction of the wooden bookcase.

He belonged to the school's public affairs department, which consisted of veterans from special forces units around the world.

"It's getting late, you should get some rest."

"Norma" spoke.

The school worker responded, feeling a little strange; today, "Norma" seemed to have become a bit more humane.

However, he didn't think too much about it. After all, daily greetings and birthday wishes were not difficult for "Norma," the artificial intelligence. It was just a matter of whether she wanted to do them or not.

As the school staff left, all the lights were turned off, and the entire library returned to silence and darkness.

"Come out, he's gone, there's no one around for a kilometer."

"Norma" spoke to a bookshelf that the school janitor had inspected earlier, her tone becoming much more lively.

A person squeezed through the very small gap between the two bookshelves.

If Lu Mingfei could see this from here, he would realize that this person is his roommate Finger.

The "Bronze Throne" gave him extremely high control over his body, and combined with some "collarbone" techniques, he achieved the effect described above.

"What's up with you today? You're here so early."

Norma trotted over to Fingel's side and asked in a gentle tone.

"miss you."

Fingel chuckled softly and began to speak.

He often used this phrase to flirt with female students on campus, but this time his mood was noticeably different.

Unbeknownst to them, the sky-blue girl in front of them had already changed her form to "Eva" and was now wearing a light white court dress.

Unlike others who require Black Card permissions to switch to "Eva", this one is different.

For Fingel, starting this only requires a single sentence.

"You've arrived?"

The girl looked at him with surprise and delight, her eyes sparkling, as if she were seeing him for the first time.

Fingel stared at her, momentarily lost in thought, before she pulled him toward the first basement level of the library.

Every door was opened for them in advance.

This place is right next to the "Ice Cellar," which is the central control location of "Norma." Here, on the ground, they can communicate more safely than when they are above ground.

You are still so beautiful.

Fingel gently cupped the girl's cheeks in his hands and murmured softly.

The girl obediently raised her neck.

"Slap slap."

Fingel tapped his feet silently to the beat.

In the silence, familiar music began to surround them; there was no singing, but the two of them silently kept time in their hearts.

This piano piece is Pachelbel's "Canon in D Major," which represents memories and lingering thoughts.

"You still like this piece of music."

Fingel danced a solo under the lights.

He recalled that many years ago, when the two first met at the student council, the band was playing this very tune.

"I remember I had to snatch you from so many girls to become the dance king."

"Eva" said with a light laugh, deliberately avoiding the light and shadow, trying her best to overlap her body with Fingel's.

"But how come I remember being attracted to you at first sight?"

Fingel embraced "Eva" and spun around in the center of the hall.

After rotating 360 degrees, it slowly came to a stop.

He stood there silently for a while.

They both knew that they were not each other's ideal partner.

"What do you want to know that you came so late?"

"EVa" asked.

This is the real issue.

Fingel spoke up, "I'd like to know, what is Principal Ta'an planning? There are a lot of people involved this time."

Since that accident, the academy has never sent him on missions again.

"Project Bronze: Previously, they discovered the 'King of Bronze and Fire' in Bronze City, but it was only his remains. This time, they obtained a clue that the real body is most likely in Egypt."

Eva revealed all the information she knew without any reservations.

Fingel nodded.

"There are a few interesting people among this year's freshmen, my roommate Lu Mingfei is quite good."

"And Lin Zhiying."

Fingel was somewhat surprised; he rarely heard "Eva" describe someone like that.

"He obtained a white card with the highest level of access from the library."

"Eva" explained.

Lin Zhiying had previously given "Norma" a secret order, but it clearly didn't work on Eva.

"You never found that missing white card. I never imagined it had been sitting in the library all along."

"It's really a pity."

Fingel felt somewhat regretful about this.

Although his hacking skills were superb, with the cooperation of "EVA", he could only reach the black card's level of access at most, and could not support anything higher.

"I'll figure something out."

After saying this, Fingel turned and left without lingering.

Eva stood still and watched him go.

A moment later, "Eva" placed a notebook where he had left, on which was written "The Twisted Self," clearly written by Fingel himself.

The Art of Mental Splitting

"What a silly boy."

"Eva" chuckled, and something that looked crystal clear shone on the ground in the light.

However, this thing is useless to her now.

In the dormitory, Chu Zihang had already gone to bed early to rest.

Lin Zhiying's shouts should be the loudest in the bathroom, with water flowing down his clearly defined muscles.

With the further development of the "Earth Power," the body, which had previously stagnated, began to become even more perfect once again.

Dragonblood exists and maintains a perfect physique without much training.

However, as the camera panned further down, the area between the thighs was bathed in holy light.

"No, when will the new version be released?"

Lin Zhiying couldn't help but complain.

Although he hasn't yet reached the point where he can do *that* with any of his targets, he still wants to fantasize about it.

Well, that's right.

"Can you hear me?"

Lin Zhiying said to himself.

"I'm here."

At the same time, it was still daytime in Xia Mi's area. In class, as a high school student, she had just stood up to answer the teacher's question and was responding in her mind after sitting down.

"Being a high school student in the country is so troublesome."

Xia Mi couldn't help but mutter a complaint, but before Lin Zhiying could reply, Xia Mi continued, "Have you already received the notification to go to Egypt?"

"Yes, I just received the message today."

Lin Zhiying wasn't too surprised that Xia Mi knew where the "King of Bronze and Fire" was.

Not to mention that the Dragon Kings had a general sense of each other, Xia Mi also absorbed the energy core in the remains of the "King of Bronze and Fire".

There should be some remaining clues.

"When the time comes, go over there and keep an eye out for the Dragon King. If you can kill the Dragon King and obtain something, I will continue to give you some rewards."

Lin Zhiying estimated that if she completed this task again...

The rewards from the missions alone are enough to raise Xia Mi's favorability to around 60 or 70 points.

At this point, the two sides can basically talk about anything.

If you go a step further and reach an affinity level of 80, you can try to develop the relationship into a romantic one. However, as you progress, it will definitely become more and more difficult to raise the affinity level.

From level 60 to 80, barring any unforeseen circumstances, there's a high probability that Xia Mi will have to kill another Dragon King by then, given her personality.

While winning over other girls might require giving them gifts or other means, Xia Mi requires slaying a dragon.

This is understandable. In her previous life, even though many players came into contact with Xia Mi, none of them were able to successfully win her over, because the price she paid was too high.

Will you come then?

Lin Zhiying asked.

"It depends on the situation. I'd like to come, but I'm still in school and I've already taken a long leave of absence."

Xia Mi thought for a moment, then spoke and hung up the "phone".

"Hey, could I have your contact information?"

A boy who thought he was very handsome stopped in front of Xia Mi, striking a childish pose.

Xia Mi looked at him coldly, picked up a pen, and with a gentle "smack" of two fingers, the pen was instantly snapped in two.

"If you dare to come near me again, this is what will happen to you. This time it was a pen, next time it might be your leg."

Xia Mi spoke up.

She overheard the boy talking to others about being a freak or something, but she didn't pay much attention.

However, I am not used to it now, and I have to admit that I actually thought of Lin Zhiying just now.

Also.

How could a man who is not even as good as her servants possibly want to be her boyfriend?

"Hey bro, do you know why you're going to Egypt?"

"One cut through water" asked in the friend's chat box.

----------------

Is he truly the "King of Bronze and Fire"?

Aside from Lin Zhiying, Angers didn't tell the other players why they were going to Egypt.

It was pretty much the same in my previous life.

All I told them was that we were going there to carry out a mission and conduct on-site research.

What kind of mission would require so many people to be mobilized? This is also the reason for "One Cut Cuts Water" to have doubts.

Therefore, he decided that instead of guessing, he should contact Lin Zhiying directly.

"More or less, but keep it a secret for now. We'll talk about it after the operation."

Lin Zhiying said this to prevent others from causing trouble and creating unnecessary problems, and also because if the news leaked out, Angers would most likely immediately associate it with him.

That might cause a decrease in favorability, which is not the situation Lin Zhiying wants to happen.

Speaking of this, Lin Zhiying recalled his previous life. In his previous life, "King of Bronze and Fire" was also in Egypt, but at that time, most of the players were just playing around.

There were thousands of players participating.

Just now, I heard Lin Zhiying say that "One Cut Cuts Water" said that there were only a few hundred players in this exercise.

He suspects that his rebirth has caused the "Dragon King's Resurrection" storyline to be brought forward, resulting in fewer players meeting the participation requirements and thus this situation has arisen.

However, this is actually irrelevant.

Ultimately, the real dragon-slaying depends on the skill level of elite players, while most players can only clear out mobs and deal with dragon servants.

It was late at night in the principal's office; Angers rarely waited this late.

"Norma."

A transparent figure emerged from the room.

Her expression was calm, and her eyes were devoid of any light.

"For the next 10 minutes, I would appreciate it if you could leave here temporarily, okay?"

Angers tapped his fingers on the table and spoke to Norma.

"Okay, it's a pleasure to serve you. If you need to finish early, you can go to another room or the hallway and call..."

I.

After saying this, Norma's figure completely disappeared from the room.

Angers sat at his desk, his fingertips lightly tracing the surface.

Still uneasy, he activated the highest-level alchemical shielding array in the office, and a strange halo of light instantly enveloped the entire room.

This is a simplified version of "Word of Power: Commandments," which can prevent people from using Word of Power to eavesdrop to some extent.

After waiting a few more minutes, he opened an encrypted anonymous computer. There were no icons on the screen, and the sound of keyboard typing was particularly clear in the quiet room.

Angers skillfully opened a website. If Lin Zhiying were here, he would definitely recognize that the website displayed was the same hunter website he had seen before.

"Is there a business deal you'd like to take? It's in Egypt."

Angers spoke to a mysterious "hunter".

"I need you to get something from the pyramid you're building, and I'll reimburse all expenses incurred. I'll tell you the specific item and location later."

On the other side of the computer screen, Lao Tang accepted the task without hesitation the moment he saw it.

He had done similar tasks, such as climbing the pyramids and bringing back the items, several times before, and he had basically no problems with them.

I had felt slightly unwell before, but thanks to my incredible luck, I escaped danger.

At the academy, after shutting down his computer, Angers stared at the screen in front of him, deep in thought.

He had already set up the stage for the next scene, with Lin Zhiying, Lu Mingfei, and the Dragon King all ready. His gaze seemed to be recalling something as he looked at the screen.

Ten minutes have passed.

"Norma."

Angers began to speak.

"I'm here, sir."