Lu Mingfei, why are you slaying dragons if you're not involved!

Chapter 169 Zero's "Betrayal" (Part 2)

[Warning, it's lunchtime...]

Su Xiaoqiang did not stay for long. She went to the company after a while, saying that she would move in in the afternoon.

Ling also said she had something to arrange with the housekeeper and couldn't have lunch with Lu Mingfei.

This makes Lu Mingfei's next move much easier.

The midday sun was blocked by clouds, everything was a white blur, with no golden hue in sight. The combination of low temperatures and high humidity brought by the strong cold air... this is what winter is like in the south. Just a couple of days ago, you could even go shopping in short sleeves during the day, but now if there's no air conditioning or heating indoors, you have to wear a thick down jacket and shiver.

The Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG, which had become incredibly familiar to him, came to a near-silent stop in front of Lu Mingfei. Lu Mingfei opened the car door, got in, greeted Uncle Chen, and unsurprisingly saw Chu Zihang in the back seat... scrolling through his phone.

"Senior brother, what new gossip is there this time? It can't be related to me again, can it?"

Lu Mingfei curiously peeked over.

"I'm no longer a part of the martial world, so how can my legend still be everywhere?"

Based on his understanding of Chu Zihang, Chu Zihang generally wouldn't take out his phone unless there was something important to discuss. But there was one exception: when there was gossip to share.

At this moment, Chu Zihang was no longer the "cold-faced killer" but the "gossipy old woman Chu." The gossipy heart hidden beneath his icy exterior beat strongly, driving him to find out the relevant information!
"Your mock exam results are in: 749 points."

Chu Zihang handed him the phone.

"Coincidentally, this score happens to be the same as the name of a mysterious research institution in our country. This institution belongs to the field of defense technology and mainly conducts research on paranormal phenomena. Now the campus forum is discussing whether you should be sent in to be studied."

"Is there such a coincidence?"

Lu Mingfei took the phone and glanced at it, his mood quite calm.

Now, he no longer feels any fear or worry about being "sliced ​​and studied on the lab bench".

After all, he is now considered a "destined super hybrid," and his status within the National Bureau of Abnormal Investigation, to which the Foreign Cooperation Division belongs, is quite high... He's one of our own, so no matter how well he performs, it's a good thing, and we're not afraid of him being cut off!
"But 749... such an outrageous score, is no one going to question me?"

Lu Mingfei's expression was slightly strange.

In his personal opinion, this wasn't really outrageous, after all, he had a complete grasp of all the high school knowledge, which was certified by the schedule, not to mention the supernatural vocabulary as an aid... But only he knew this, and no one else knew!

“It was originally there, but after your answer sheet photo was published and it was removed after several rounds of online grading and verification.”

Chu Zihang replied.

He had clearly been following the whole thing from the beginning, and now he was recounting it in a way that sounded like he was talking about everyday things... But he didn't talk about it for long before he changed the subject.

"There's one more thing, about Zhao Menghua."

"...That bet?"

It took Lu Mingfei a full second or two to recall what Chu Zihang was talking about.

Seven or eight days ago, he was still thinking that "one day I will surpass Zhao Menghua in the near future," but this goal has not appeared in his mind these days...

It's not forgetting, it's ignoring.

Unbeknownst to him, Zhao Menghua had already been surpassed, and this was hardly an achievement to be happy about or something to celebrate.

His horizons have long been broadened.

What has he been dealing with these past few days? Xiang Yu's tomb! The King of the Earth and Mountains! The destined super hybrid! Even the heavy responsibility of saving humanity... How could he possibly have the mind to remember a small bet at a time like this?

It's like a billionaire who can't remember the tens of thousands of dollars he lent out.

Of course, since Chu Zihang brought it up now, Lu Mingfei was still interested. After all, it was Zhao Menghua, and the two did have a grudge. Watching the enemy suffer, whether it was his own doing or not, would be quite interesting!
"Zhao Menghua isn't really planning to pay the compensation, is he? If he were to pay that money, he'd be financially ruined, if not bankrupt. Would his parents agree to that?"

Lu Mingfei thought for a moment and speculated.

"Given his personality, he's unlikely to be a coward. In that case, it's possible he'll transfer schools to avoid the limelight? After all, his grades are practically guaranteed for Tsinghua or Peking University, and other schools would definitely welcome him warmly..."

The conversation abruptly stopped because Lu Mingfei was still browsing the posts while speaking, and soon saw the one about Zhao Menghua.

"They actually admitted it?"

Lu Mingfei looked up at Chu Zihang, somewhat taken aback.

Where did he get so much money?

"This is a bit strange."

Chu Zihang said slowly, "He won the lottery, the grand prize. The winnings are enough to pay out the entire amount of that bet, and there's still some left over."

"What?!!"

Lu Mingfei was shocked.

"What kind of luck is that? Someone actually won the lottery? Aren't those lottery numbers usually chosen by insiders before the draw? It's not even a shady operation, it's blatant money laundering!"
The most I've ever won before was twenty yuan from a scratch-off lottery ticket on the street, which was enough to cover my internet bill for several days!

“You’re absolutely right, it’s practically a zero-probability event.”

Chu Zihang took the phone back, did a few things with it, and then handed it to Lu Mingfei. "But I couldn't find anything. It seems he just bought a lottery ticket out of boredom and won."

"Pure luck?"

Lu Mingfei scratched his head, looked at the post on his phone that Chu Zihang had made a move on, and raised an eyebrow.

"A bet's a bet, and you accept the loss—that's a pretty straightforward way of putting it..."

"That's the problem. Given his personality and resilience, when faced with such a miraculous turn of events, his words should have been more enthusiastic, perhaps even overjoyed."

Chu Zihang said calmly, "But he displayed a frankness that was completely contrary to his nature. For some reason, this made me feel that he was somewhat... guilty."

"Feeling guilty?"

Lu Mingfei muttered those two words, unable to quite understand them for a moment.

"It's just a feeling, without any concrete evidence. I might be overthinking it. Because the possibility of 'turning over a new leaf' or 'deliberately putting on a show' exists, there's no point in continuing to speculate."

I'm telling you this so you can be a little more careful in the future. People can be treacherous; you have to be cautious.

Chu Zihang changed the subject and asked, "Shall we eat out for lunch, or come straight to my place? We can practice our duet together while we're at it."

"Let's go straight to your place, senior brother..."

Lu Mingfei paused slightly. Before coming out, he had briefly activated [Electromagnetic Induction] once to confirm that he did not have any listening devices on him.

"I have something else to say."

Chu Zihang narrowed his eyes, and his previously calm and emotionless gaze suddenly turned sharp.

Given Lu Mingfei's personality, he wouldn't say something so nonsensical. His greatest skill is probably expanding a single issue into a massive amount of garbage information surrounded by countless nonsensical words, requiring the listener to be very adept at filtering out the distractions in order to understand it correctly.

However, there is one exception: when it is something quite serious and important that cannot be said outright... at least not now.

He glanced at Lu Mingfei, their eyes met, and everything was understood without a word.

"it is good."

……

Within that wondrous "sensory field of vision," there were no special points of light. There were only electric field lines or magnetic field lines transmitted by the most basic electrical components.

Electromagnetic induction, off.

The sudden wave of fatigue hit him like a punch to the head. Lu Mingfei slumped weakly into the recliner and it took him a while to recover.

The room was simple and clean. There were no fancy decorations. The only thing related to "leisure" was the long tennis bag piled in the corner, but Lu Mingfei knew that hidden inside was actually an extremely sharp alchemical weapon, the legendary "Demon Sword" Murasame.

"Senior, what do you think would happen if I took a picture of this and posted it on the campus forum?" After calming down a bit, Lu Mingfei started to act up again, asking and answering himself, "I'd probably be hunted down by a bunch of envious and jealous female students before I even get to perform on stage tonight, right?"

"What is it?" Chu Zihang asked, getting straight to the point.

Lu Mingfei then recounted the discovery of a large number of hidden surveillance cameras and listening devices in his bedroom.

……

"These are essential items that must be used in the emergency response plan."

Su Enxi handed a letter sealed with wax to Ling.

"Did you remember everything I just told you? If there really is a risk of exposure..."

“I am not Shude Mai.” Zero interrupted Su Enxi’s impending long nagging with a calm tone and took the letter.

"Yes, yes, these days I've been spending a lot of time with long-legged girls, and it's gotten into the habit of explaining a question several times and then asking for confirmation several times."

Su Enxi sighed, "Luckily, we've let her go out and be herself now...it's less of a hassle..."

"This letter looks very realistic."

Zero examined every detail of the envelope, turning it over and over.

"What's inside?"

"I can guarantee that it is as perfect as every detail of this envelope."

Su Enxi's expression was slightly strange.

"Because it's different from the email we forged last time...it's real!"

Ling subconsciously looked up at Su Enxi.

"This is a backup plan left by the boss."

Su Enxi explained.

“He has always been a man of meticulous planning. Although it seems there was a slight mishap in that we suddenly couldn’t contact him one day... at least this channel is still usable. I asked someone to contact them and it took some time to get this letter, and it was still in time.”

"So, to what extent do I need to reveal this information?" Zero asked.

"You don't need to say anything more; the contents of the letter are theoretically enough to solve everything."

Su Enxi blinked. "I've already checked it beforehand. This wax seal was forged later, so there's no need to worry about any problems."

"it is good."

Zero responded, put the letter away, and turned to leave.

"Hey, a girl with no connections, no job, and no income."

Su Enxi suddenly spoke.

Zero stopped in place and turned to look at her.

"What I said to Lu Mingfei this morning should have had a great effect, but... a mission is a mission."

Su Enxi stared intently into Zero's eyes.

"You wouldn't really...do that, would you?"

"Cooking is just to make him even more dependent on me."

Zero's tone was completely flat, as if he were simply stating a fact.

“I can interpret this questioning as your anger at me for waking you up at four in the morning to drive to buy groceries…”

"Stop!"

Su Enxi quickly interrupted her, looking guilty as if her true thoughts had been exposed, "Goodbye! Go back and prepare for the ball, and try to win over Super White Rabbit tonight!"

Zero then turned around and leisurely left.

Su Enxi only breathed a sigh of relief when the door lock clicked shut.

Her usually intelligent eyes were now unusually lost, and the shrewdness that used to allow her to make tens of millions of dollars in the stock market seemed to have lost its effectiveness.

"Can you truly remain completely unmoved while captivating others?"

She muttered under her breath.

She had this question because she suddenly remembered what Mai Shude had said earlier.

Mainly, as the person who knew all the interactions between Ling and Lu Mingfei from beginning to end, her observations were the most meticulous... For some reason, even though she knew it was acting, the more she watched, the less she felt it was acting!
She knew Sanwu Niu's personality well. Don't be fooled by her perpetually expressionless, icy exterior; she's a habitual liar, making it impossible to tell if she's telling the truth or a lie. This would obviously be an advantage during a mission, but now, as a spy…

What if what she's saying to me is also a lie?
Previously, with her boss around, Su Enxi had absolute trust in him, knowing that everything was under his control. But now, her boss has been out of contact for over ten days, without a word or even a message, so as time goes by, Su Enxi can't help but become a little suspicious.

"should……"

She murmured to herself, ultimately choosing to believe in Sanwu.

"Isn't it?"

……

"So you're currently suspecting the Secret Service."

After listening to Lu Mingfei's account of what happened, Chu Zihang summarized the events.

He did not ask Lu Mingfei how he discovered the listening devices and hidden surveillance, nor did he question him even though he had not seen any evidence. Instead, he directly pondered based on Lu Mingfei's account.

“Yes, I think they are the most likely.” Lu Mingfei nodded.

"This suspicion is reasonable, but it's not the only possibility."

Chu Zihang took a piece of paper and a pen and began to write and draw.

"First of all, the forces or individuals capable of accessing your room and installing so many listening devices without your knowledge are suspicious, there are..."

He wrote them down one by one.

[Secret Party] [International Cooperation Division] [Yu Ji]...

He paused for a moment, then wrote down the last candidate.

【zero】.

"Is that okay?"

Chu Zihang paused slightly and asked him.

The room became very quiet for a moment.

"..."

Lu Mingfei took a deep breath.

"can."

"Next are the possible reasons why they did this..."

Chu Zihang continued his analysis.

(End of this chapter)