TYMIMA Chapter 13

Zhan Pingchuan ruffled his messy, bed-head visual kei hairstyle, casually draping the school uniform jacket over one shoulder, relying on his strong, powerful deltoid muscles to keep the jacket from falling.

 

“At this time, the place is probably packed. Well… I’ll queue up. Who asked me to be a hardworking, capable, and devoted homebody? My golden nature always inadvertently reveals itself to others.”

 

He rambled on, deliberately dragging out the final syllables, as if specifically speaking for Lance to hear.

 

Lance stood by the bathroom door, his loose white and gray short-sleeved shirt hanging down to his thighs, his house slippers neatly placed together, looking quite well-behaved.

 

“Thank you for the trouble.”

 

His voice was so melodious that Zhan Pingchuan felt like he was listening to the third movement of a symphony. With just this soft voice, let alone queuing to buy food, even if Lance asked Zhan Pingchuan to personally roll the dough and wrap shumai, he would immediately order five different types of rolling pins.

 

He never expected that someone who had been pursued for marriage since childhood, and had long transcended such base interests, would have a day when lust clouded his judgment.

 

Zhan Pingchuan left with that lazy demeanor, pulling the dormitory door closed behind him.

 

In the next second, he opened his drowsy eyes, and that relaxed, indolent air receded like the tide, replaced by the alertness and sharpness of a predatory beast climbing into his expression.

 

He quickly put on his school uniform jacket properly, firmly securing the attached hood on his head. At school, the uniform was the best disguise.

 

Next, he took large strides to the corner of the dormitory corridor, his peripheral vision quickly scanning left and right, then slipped into the water room.

 

Each floor of Star University’s student dormitory had a large water room with white ceramic tile flooring and painted walls, equipped with washing machines, dryers, clotheslines, water dispensers, and other essential facilities.

 

The water room was usually empty, only becoming crowded on weekends. Moreover, this floor was all freshmen who had just started school less than two days ago, so there weren’t many clothes to wash.

 

As Zhan Pingchuan expected, the water room was empty. Dried water stains remained on the ceramic floor, and a layer of white scale had formed on the washing machine’s water inlet.

 

Zhan Pingchuan had studied carefully—there were no surveillance devices inside the dormitory building. This was thanks to Star University’s jungle law philosophy. They tacitly approved and condoned any campus bullying, believing that all incidents should be resolved by students themselves. If an adult couldn’t even protect themselves, then they had no right to graduate from Star University.

 

Zhan Pingchuan pushed open the glass window of the water room with one hand. Supporting himself on the balcony with one hand, he suddenly exerted force from his waist and abdomen, easily leaping onto the windowsill.

 

He crouched at the window, looking down at the hard ground three floors below, then slightly raised his eyebrows and jumped out without hesitation.

 

At the same time as Zhan Pingchuan closed the dormitory door, a cold, sharp, and shrewd smile appeared on Lance’s obedient and gentle face. He looked up at the door, making sure the footsteps were getting farther away, then picked up his sneakers and darted into the bathroom, swift as a cat.

 

Changing shoes and clothes took only about ten seconds. He pushed open the small ventilation window in the bathroom with one palm, and the hot wind from outside poured in recklessly, filling his eyelashes.

 

He waved away the dust, observed the gravel path overgrown with weeds outside the window, then reached up and turned on the shower head.

 

The water curtain instantly poured down, carrying a tart taste of chlorine dioxide filtration, wetting one side of his sleeve.

 

He let the shower water splash onto the floor tiles, locked the bathroom door behind him, then grabbed the upper edge of the small window with both hands. His arms suddenly exerted force, the muscles in his pale, thin arms tensing as he lifted himself up.

 

Taking advantage of his slender build, flexible waist, and loose tendons, he slid himself out through the narrow gap.

 

Everything went well, except for a slight hitch when passing his buttocks through, which left some dust on his pants.

 

Lance landed silently and carefully avoided the school’s surveillance equipment along the way.

 

As expected, to accommodate the Blue Pivot inspection team, the vast playground had been cleared. Students had to take detours through corridors between buildings to reach the cafeteria.

 

“Mad Clown.”

 

Mad Clown quickly arrived at Lance’s side via an anchor point, raising his hand to toss him a long box: “I’ve brought the item. What do you want to do next?”

 

“Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots.” Lance said, his fingers turning the knob to open the box for a look.

 

VSSK, a silent sniper rifle. 12.7mm bullets capable of penetrating heavy body armor, maximum effective range of 600 meters, equipped with a large integral silencer.

 

Mad Clown straightened his top hat, the corners of his mouth rising in a standard arc: “Don’t forget, Boras and Kluova could be anyone entering the campus after 4 PM, and the VSSK magazine capacity is only 5 rounds.”

 

“I know.” Lance tucked the bullets into his pocket, about to leave.

 

Mad Clown narrowed his eyes, moving closer to block his path: “Kluova is an A-level. Surely you’re not planning to call that thing out? Your mind absolutely cannot handle it anymore.”

 

Lance raised his eyebrows, pushing him in the chest: “I’m not that stupid.”

 

Meanwhile, a large passenger aircraft was slowly descending from an altitude of eight thousand meters. Thick, soft clouds flew past the windows like cotton gauze. The blazing sun hanging high mercilessly radiated ultraviolet rays, heating the windshield to a scorching temperature.

 

Boras pulled down the shade, taking advantage of the time before landing to rest with his eyes closed.

 

Kluova reclined her seat, lazily tilting her neck back as a flight attendant massaged her temples.

 

“There were two assassination attempts at Harbor Tan Airport just now.”

 

Boras kept his eyes closed, expressionless, and replied concisely: “Mm.”

 

Through a thick curtain, they could still hear the conversations of passengers in economy class, including questions about the flight’s sudden change of route and the constant crying of children.

 

Kluova: “They say even a plane was blown up, and both body doubles were killed. Fortunately, the director arranged things properly, having us take this flight in advance.”

 

Boras: “Mm.”

 

Kluova: “But… what if the Black Lantern Society has some special ability and comes to blow up this flight too?”

 

Boras suddenly opened his eyes.

 

Kluova burst into laughter: “I’m joking. This is a passenger flight with hundreds of civilians on board. Hiding in plain sight—there’s no better way than blending in among them.”

 

Boras finally turned to look at her, saying flatly: “You mean, would the Black Lantern Society harm civilians?”

 

Kluova was momentarily stunned.

 

She had complacently thought using civilians as shields was a good plan, while simultaneously being absolutely certain that the Black Lantern Society wouldn’t blow up a flight full of civilians.

 

The plane finally broke through the cloud layer, gliding over Capital City. The orderly rows of steel and concrete buildings came into view, with the ring expressway wrapping around the entire city like intricate blood vessels.

 

Kluova’s concerns were clearly unnecessary. After a five-hour flight, the plane landed smoothly at Capital City Airport.

 

They picked up their luggage and, at the moment of standing, subtly changed their appearances.

 

They merged with ordinary travelers walking through the jet bridge, hearing the flight attendant politely say behind them: “Thank you for your cooperation. Welcome to fly with us again.”

 

Boras and Kluova exchanged glances, then distanced themselves as if they were strangers. After passing through airport security, they entered the underground parking lot and got into two different cars.

 

Hundreds of travelers were retrieving their cars in the parking lot, loading their luggage, complaining about the fatigue of the journey and the heat of Capital City. No one noticed that two high-ranking officials from the Blue Pivot inspection team had been among them.

 

The vehicles drove onto the elevated highway for a full half hour before finally reaching Star University.

 

Coming and going through the school gates were Star University teachers, campus staff, employees’ family members, social participants in activities, and scattered students.

 

The Star University principal had originally prepared an extremely grand reception ceremony, but Boras had ruthlessly declined it.

 

Although the culprit who took Erdiff had likely already escaped from the school, his consistently rigorous nature made him cautious until the last second.

 

He didn’t even need to appear at the scene to restore voice prints with his ability. As long as he was within a two-hundred-meter radius of the incident site, he could achieve his goal.

 

He didn’t even need to inform the Star University principal about the content of the voice prints he extracted. Capturing the culprit and eliminating the threat was the business of the Blue Pivot Ability Inspection Team.

 

“Park in the lot closest to the playground,” Boras spoke.

 

The driver nodded in acknowledgment, turning the car toward the playground.

 

Boras closed his eyes, instinctively listening to the sounds around him.

 

Teachers were complaining about teaching tasks, believing that the school’s arranged courses and exam content were severely disconnected from reality, disadvantaging students when applying to major guilds after graduation.

 

School staff grumbled that the Federation’s subsidies to Star University had been decreasing year by year, with deteriorating benefits. If the year-end bonuses didn’t increase, they planned to resign.

 

An employee’s family member was shrieking: “Twenty yuan for a pound of potatoes? Are these potatoes or gold? Why don’t you just rob me!”

 

The supermarket owner retorted: “These are from Desert City. Look at the size, the fullness, the starch content! Alphas from Desert City are taller and more handsome than those from coastal cities, let alone potatoes! If you can’t afford good ones, don’t eat them!”

 

Students were discussing trivial gossip: “What? An electric eel form Awakened was killed by his own electricity?”

 

“What? He died trying to steal an A-level Awakened’s wife? Serves him right.”

 

Boras frowned. Because of this ability, he inevitably heard a lot of useless information, and receiving and processing these sounds daily was quite exhausting.

 

However, at that moment, Boras suddenly heard a distinct clicking sound among the many background noises.

 

He instantly forgot his fatigue, his pupils sharply contracting, a surge of excitement rushing to his head, causing his fists to clench tightly on his knees. His eyes flashed with a cold, satisfied light, as if a venomous snake had tracked down its long-awaited prey.

 

Being in the Blue Pivot inspection team, he was all too familiar with this sound—it was the sound of a silenced sniper rifle being assembled.

 

He keenly realized that an executive of the Black Lantern Society was on campus right now!

 

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(advanced chapters available on kofi)