Lu Mingfei, become the king of gambling in dungeons!

"Huff... huff... huff."

"……Dream?"

The first rays of sunlight streamed into the minimalist room, which had little girlish style, filtering through the white lace curtains and dark blue velvet curtains. Xia Mi, sweating profusely, sat up straight in bed in the old town cottage, her startled gaze sweeping over the French windows with their curtains drawn.

A nightmare unseen for centuries, an absolute omen of doom.

She couldn't remember any clear details of the nightmare, only a blurry scene.

The blurry scene resembled an old film reel, seemingly a dream related to the subject of her observation... Chu Zihang, the only person she could identify. There was a giant dragon... Fenrir was also in the dream, though she knew nothing of its contents.

There was another figure, so vaguely defined that I couldn't recall him no matter how hard I tried, but he was absolutely crucial, playing a pivotal role in my dream.

As a pure-blooded dragon, she rarely dreams. The only dream she's ever had that could be considered a nightmare is probably about the "new era" of the past, the day the Black Throne burned atop the world's highest mountain, with scalding blood flowing down like lava, staining the entire mountain red and melting the ice and snow with its heat.

That was a day that all dragons who experienced that era would forever remember—a day of world rupture, a day that was epoch-making. Every time I recall it, unease wells up in my heart, because it is both the past and a prophecy. One day, black membranous wings will sweep across the sky, bringing boundless despair.

As the Dragon King, she would never have nightmares for no reason, nor would she lose so many memories related to dreams.

Dreams are places where consciousnesses easily intersect. The higher one's lineage, the more one can perceive the future hanging over this planet. If there is an invisible hand stirring at the intersection of countless consciousnesses, then that is the web of fate under the scissors of Skadi.

Xia Mi rested her hands on her lap, swaying and squinting as she reminisced on the bed.

Chu Zihang... the only clue related to the dream, may also be one of the core elements of the dream.

Perhaps we need to find a way to change our original strategy.

Shilan Middle School, the place where she and Chu Zihang once stayed.

Kassel College, where Chu Zihang is currently located, is also a gathering place for dragon slayers. She is already one of the top students in the Kassel preparatory class, and perhaps she can choose to advance her studies...

"Be careful, Xia Mi, the enemy is in the dark while we are in the light."

Xia Mi rubbed her temples, picked up her fluffy Soft Bear pillow, pursed her lips, looked out the window, and after a moment's thought, drew back the curtains to bask in the sunlight.

However, we cannot sit idly by and wait for our demise.

If you don't go to the center of the vortex, won't it pull you in?

A monarch cannot easily show weakness.

She had a premonition that she was already in a vortex, that those eyes in the shadows had once again set their sights on them, the once-honored ones, and that the chaotic winds of darkness from the depths of this world were slowly blowing toward her and her brother, with no way to avoid them.

……

……

University of Kassel, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois.

"Mingfei is going to enroll early! The principal has promised that he can take the 3e exam for the preparatory students after enrollment."

The quiet library was filled with the sounds of hurried footsteps and slightly cheerful voices.

In the lobby of the Kassel Library, hundreds of thousands of parchment scrolls and hardcover books with gold-embossed covers crowd the carved cherry wood bookshelves. The scent of leather and aged paper ferments in the air, and the corner books, amidst the dust, carry a faint aroma of beeswax and incense.

A few warm yellow iron wall lamps illuminated the slightly dim library. Only a tall, slender figure sat reading, his face covered by a black mask. A gas tube led to a gas cylinder on a cart. He was enjoying a pleasant reading atmosphere, but this was interrupted by an uninvited guest.

"Ahem, ahem, Professor Guderian." Executive Director von Schneider closed the heavy book "The Genome and Life Legacy of High-Risk Hybrids" in his hand, turned around, and said, "If your future student has to enroll every time you mention this, then he has already enrolled six times at the freshman registration office today."

"But in fact, our invitation letter has not yet been sent to his email address. The incoming freshman is completely unaware of it. At least it wasn't there when I checked seventeen minutes ago."

He added coldly, as if he didn't see Guderian's frozen smile under the dim light.

"Besides, you've only been assigned as a temporary mentor. It hasn't been officially confirmed whether his final mentor will be you or Lundstätter. Considering that he has already awakened his hybrid bloodline on his own and may be able to counter-surveillance the academy's monitors... after enrollment, he might be Lundstätter, but the probability of me being his mentor is not small either."

This bucket of cold water didn't completely wake Guderian; he quickly regained his excitement and raised his voice:

"The headmaster already promised... It doesn't matter, Norma, turn on all the lights. Why not turn on the lights if you're reading?"

"Yes, Professor."

The huge crystal chandelier above and all the table lamps on the table were lit up.

The moment the lights were turned on, Guderian regretted letting Norma do it; he clearly saw von Schneider's sharp, scrutinizing gaze.

No one in the academy liked to look von Schneider, the head of the executive department, in the eye during working hours; it was like staring at a knife tip from several centimeters away.

Even the old professors who were his private friends wouldn't want to do that. They didn't mind joking and chatting with Schneider in their spare time. But Schneider worked at least 28 days a month, and once he was at work, he became cold-blooded and rigid.

Guderian stammered, changing his form of address: "You? Is there something wrong with you? I'm getting a little flustered and want some water because you're staring at me like that."

He and Schneider weren't as close as he was to Manstein, where they could listen to old records and put their arms around each other in private.

"We've known each other for forty years, you don't need to act like this in front of me... pretending to be clueless when you already know the answer. Sometimes your acting is really bad." Schneider waved his hand. "You're overestimating things."

"You mean?" Guderian was a little dumbfounded. The tenured professorship that was within his grasp seemed to have flown away like a cooked duck that hadn't even caught a whiff of its aroma before it flew away.

"This may not be a task that will bring a genuine smile to everyone's face."

Schneider paused, then handed over a mission agreement for the executive department personnel, pointing to the document Guderian was holding:

"They were the ones who sent you to the library to sign the papers, right? If it was a regular admission, why did you come to me instead of the people in the admissions office?"

"The principal wanted to admit this S-class student ahead of schedule largely because the board of directors raised some questions. In the end, the decision was made to let Lu Mingfei enroll in Kassel as soon as possible to take the 3E exam, provided that his safety was confirmed. I think what the board of directors wanted to confirm was not your safety as the inviter."