Lu Mingfei doesn't want to be a superhero

Professor Mans was still wearing that somewhat comical diving suit, with the other commissioners lined up behind him, all with sorrowful expressions.

Among them, Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya, who were still wearing diving suits, were the most grief-stricken, as if the dead were their half-brothers.

"I am Mance Rundstedt, the leader of 'Operation Kuimen' and captain of the Moniach," Professor Mance said solemnly, clenching his fist. "Here, I must announce some heavy news: our outstanding S-class freshman, Lu Mingfei, fought bravely to cover his teammates' evacuation from the dragon ruins during this operation, and unfortunately sacrificed his life..."

"No! I don't believe it!" Guderian's eyes were red. "The principal said Mingfei is the best!"

“He was indeed the best, and I am proud to have such a crew member,” Professor Mans said. “But his vital signs have completely disappeared, and his oxygen supply should have run out twenty minutes ago. Just five minutes ago, the crew member in charge of the geological survey of the riverbed confirmed that the crack passage leading to the dragon remains at the bottom of the Yangtze River had collapsed. With the current technology, we cannot effectively clear the underwater collapse or carry out excavation in a short time, so Lu Mingfei… has been confirmed to have sacrificed his life.”

As soon as those words were spoken, as if a rock had fallen and dust had been stirred up, a somber and oppressive atmosphere filled the entire captain's cabin and library.

Behind Professor Mans, Shudeya suddenly buried her head in Ye Sheng's chest, letting out a suppressed sob. Ye Sheng hugged Shudeya tightly. Most of the girls covered their mouths to avoid crying in public, while the boys clenched their fists.

"No! Ming—not—" Professor Guderian's legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground, letting out a desolate cry. The professors around him tried to comfort him.

“The last thing we can do is send him off,” Professor Mans said, taking out a wet white handkerchief, tucking it into a hat-like shape and placing it on his head. “I heard that according to Chinese custom, when bidding farewell to the deceased, one should wear white clothes and a white hat. We didn’t have time to prepare white clothes, so we can only use a white hat for now.”

The person behind him also took out a white handkerchief and put it on.

The professors in the library also wore white handkerchiefs.

Guderian searched his pockets for a long time but couldn't find a handkerchief, so he could only silently pull out the Santa Claus-style nightcap that had been stuffed into his pants pocket earlier.

A splash of red amidst the white resembled a rose on a plum tree, or a newlywed couple joining a funeral procession, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Everyone looked at Professor Guderian.

Professor Guderian scratched his head: "My handkerchief was borrowed by Fingel yesterday to wipe the beer he spilled on his computer..."

In the midst of this quiet and solemn atmosphere, a boy, soaking wet and wearing only his underwear, pushed open the door to the captain's cabin and walked in cheerfully, like a corgi returning home after a long swim: "Professor! I'm back!"

The captain's cabin and the library were silent for a few seconds.

Professor Mans looked at Lu Mingfei in disbelief, his face twitching. He finally managed to straighten his tongue and blurted out, "Call me Captain!"

"Ah—Junior Lu, are you alright!" Shudeya jumped up, hugging Ye Sheng's neck, her head almost hitting the ceiling.

"Ah!" A sharper voice cut through the air as Professor Guderian jumped up, his arm around Manstein's neck. "Mingfei, you're alright!"

Lu Mingfei stood at the door, looking at the white handkerchiefs in everyone's hands: "What are you all doing...?"

"We...we..." Professor Mans quickly stuffed his handkerchief back into his handkerchief, stammering a few words, unsure of what to say—he couldn't very well say, "We're holding a memorial service for you," could he?

“We’re checking if everyone has washed their handkerchiefs properly!” Selma said quickly, coming up with a quick idea.

Lu Mingfei pondered for two seconds, then gave a look that seemed to say, "Who am I? Where am I? What is she talking about?"

Professor Mans gave Selma a fierce look, roughly meaning "Your internship score is reduced by half." Selma's face instantly turned ashen, as if she thought, "My memorial service can seamlessly connect with Lu Mingfei's."

"Captain, what's that?" Lu Mingfei pointed to the funeral couplet hanging from the ceiling behind them—the left side read "The mournful cries cannot stop the flowing clouds," the right side read "The weeping sounds accompany the wild cranes," and the horizontal inscription read "Eternal Glory."

It was handwritten, and the calligraphy was vigorous and powerful, clearly showing genuine skill.

Professor Mans opened his mouth: "Why don't you just call me professor?"

Lu Mingfei was silent for a few seconds: "You guys... aren't planning a funeral for me, are you?"

The people in the captain's cabin looked at each other in a noisy commotion, and finally nodded in unison.

Lu Mingfei glanced at everyone's matching white hats and cautiously asked, "The atmosphere has been built up to this point, and I'm not dead... isn't that a bit impolite?"

Professor Mans and others: ...

In the library, Professor Guderian frantically stuffed his hat back into his pocket, then belatedly shouted, "Quick! Stop the clock! Stop it!"

……

In Su Xiaoqiang's dormitory room in the dormitory building.

There was a knock on the door.

"Please come in," Su Xiaoqiang said.

Susie pushed open the door and walked in, carrying a bag of strawberries, and said with a smile, "How's it going? Are you confident about the 3E exam?"

Su Xiaoqiang shook her head with a bitter face: "My reaction to Long Wen is very weak. The exam is the day after tomorrow, and I don't know how it will go."

“Don’t worry, at worst you can just cling to Lu Mingfei’s coattails,” Susie teased. “He’s a prince-like figure. The school even postponed the 3E exam for him. In previous years, the exam would have been over by now.”

"Damn! He's that awesome?!" Su Xiaoqiang's eyes widened.

“Yes, there are rumors at school that he is the principal’s illegitimate son or grandson,” Susie said with a smile.

Before Su Xiaoqiang could complain, the melodious sound of bells drifted over from afar.

Su Xiaoqiang subconsciously looked in the direction from which the bell sounded, and Ling, who had been intently reading at the table, also looked up.

“Someone has left us,” Susie said sadly. “Every time the bell tolls, it means someone has sacrificed themselves on the battlefield to slay the dragon.”

Su Xiaoqiang also showed a sad expression.

Zero changed from a sitting posture to a standing posture.

“Let’s go downstairs. Every year at this time, students go downstairs to mourn.” Susie took Su Xiaoqiang’s hand. Knowing that Ling was not used to being in contact with others, she simply nodded to Ling.

Three girls walked out of the dormitory, downstairs, and onto the open space in front of the dormitory building, where many students were already standing like javelins, looking up at the clock tower in mourning.

"The bells will ring for a long time, to mourn the lives of the victims..." Susie explained softly.

The next second, the bell stopped abruptly.

Su Xiaoqiang and Ling both looked at Su Qian.

Susie: ...

A moment later, a slightly awkward announcement came over the loudspeaker: "I'm so sorry, everyone, it was a misunderstanding. No one was injured. Please go back to what you were doing..."

The students standing on the ground experienced a subtle change in their mindset.

Although their movements haven't changed, just a second ago they resembled soldiers pointing their spears to the sky on a solemn battlefield, but now they inexplicably look like a flock of silly geese lined up neatly in a wheat field.

Just as Su Xiaoqiang was deeply doubting whether the school was reliable or not, her phone rang. The caller was Lu Mingfei.

"Hey? How's the mission going?" Su Xiaoqiang asked.

"Well...it went pretty smoothly overall, and I should be able to go back to school tomorrow," Lu Mingfei said. "There was just a little mishap."

"What accident?" Su Xiaoqiang asked.

"You might not believe it, but..." Lu Mingfei carefully chose his words, "I'm dead."

Su Xiaoqiang: ? ? ?

Chapter 180 You have to take responsibility for me!

Early morning, in Su Xiaoqiang and Ling's dormitory.

The standard dormitory room at Kassel College has three desks: one for public use and the other two for the two students in the room to use privately.

Lu Mingfei and Su Xiaoqiang, who had just returned to school, sat at her desk.

"That's roughly what happened. I can't tell you the details because of mission confidentiality regulations," Lu Mingfei said dejectedly. "If I hadn't swum back quickly, my funeral would have been over by now."

"What's most infuriating is that they wrote a funeral couplet for me on the spot, which was fine, but when I asked about it later, they said they couldn't find a suitable long strip of white paper, so they tore off pieces of paper from a notebook and stuck them together with transparent tape. Is this how you treat people, or rather, ghosts?!"

Lu Mingfei thought Su Xiaoqiang would slam her fist on the table and laugh, "Hahaha, Lu Mingfei, I can laugh at you for a year because of this!" But to his surprise, she didn't show any expression on her face and just stared straight at Lu Mingfei.

"What?" Lu Mingfei was completely confused by her stare. "You're not trying to confirm if I'm a ghost, are you?"

"Don't worry, I'm really alive. If you don't believe me, touch me; I'm still warm." Lu Mingfei leaned closer.

Su Xiaoqiang reached out and gently pinched Lu Mingfei's face, then suddenly leaned forward, getting very close to him, so close that her breath could brush against Lu Mingfei's face, making it both itchy and hot.

Suddenly, a beautiful face appeared in front of him, and Lu Mingfei was a little afraid to look into those bright eyes.

“Little…Little Heavenly Maiden, what are you doing?” Lu Mingfei stammered.

After staring at Lu Mingfei for a long time, Su Xiaoqiang said softly, "Don't do anything risky. Protect yourself."

"The way you said that sounds just like my mom..." Lu Mingfei muttered under his breath.

Su Xiaoqiang tightened her grip on his cheek slightly.

"I was wrong, I was wrong!" Lu Mingfei quickly begged for forgiveness. "I promise I won't take any more risks in the future. No, I didn't take any risks at all!"

"You're going to take on a dragon single-handedly in the water without any risk!" Su Xiaoqiang stared wide-eyed. "The book says that even in advantageous terrain, you need an elite squad to slay a dragon. You're going to go and fight it alone?"

“I’m sure I’m confident before I go,” Lu Mingfei scratched his head. “I’m someone who values ​​my life the most, and I would never joke around with my own life.”

"Really?" Su Xiaoqiang asked, her face full of doubt.

“Of course.” Lu Mingfei said seriously.

"Hmph, just be careful anyway." Su Xiaoqiang released Lu Mingfei's cheek and leaned back in her chair.

"Hey? Little Fairy, is this considered showing concern for me?" Lu Mingfei suddenly leaned forward in a cheeky manner.

He had expected Su Xiaoqiang to deny it outright, but to his surprise, her gaze darted around a few times before she blushed slightly and exclaimed, "Yes! I care about you! What's wrong?"

Lu Mingfei was speechless for a moment, unsure how to respond.

Before Lu Mingfei could figure out how to reply, Su Xiaoqiang stood up again and placed her hands on his shoulders: "Lu Mingfei, don't die so easily, you... you still have to take responsibility for me!"

Lu Mingfei almost jumped out of his chair: "What responsibility do I have? We're completely innocent!"

But then a thought flashed through his mind: "Wait, could it be that back in Portugal, we slept in the same bed on the ship, and then... But that can't be right, we were both dressed, and Senior Sister Su was there too. Could it really be that drinking caused this..."

As Lu Mingfei spoke, Su Xiaoqiang's face went from slightly bewildered to flushed red. She moved her face close to Lu Mingfei's and interrupted him through gritted teeth: "What are you thinking! I'm saying you brought me to the world of hybrids, you have to take responsibility for me! I don't have many friends in the world of hybrids, you can't die!"

"Oh...oh! I see." Lu Mingfei suddenly realized. "I knew that no matter how beastly I am, I wouldn't go so far as to lay a hand on my brother while drunk."

Su Xiaoqiang's expression seemed to say, "If I wasn't afraid of getting my teeth dirty, I would bite you to death right now."

Just then, the door opened.

Ling, who had finished her morning exercise, walked in carrying two bags of breakfast.

He then turned his gaze to Lu Mingfei and Su Xiaoqiang, whose faces were almost touching.

Su Xiaoqiang then realized that she and Lu Mingfei were a little too close. If she moved her face forward even slightly, their noses would touch. If they got any closer, they would kiss.

Su Xiaoqiang quickly distanced herself from Lu Mingfei, even taking several steps back, as if Lu Mingfei were some indescribable filth.

"Zero, you...you're back?" Su Xiaoqiang tried her best to maintain a calm and natural expression as she faced Zero.