"Looks like you've been stood up."
Su Enxi's voice came through the earpiece hidden beneath the long hair of the woman in the red embroidered cheongsam-Mai Sakatoku.
"Seems that way," Mai said softly.
"This man is unbelievably petty," Su Enxi complained.
"I hear someone talking behind my back. Besides, you stood me up first. Isn't returning the favor fair?" A voice sounded behind Mai.
Mai didn't need to hear it many times to recognize it.
Morin.
She stiffened and instinctively tried to stand, but two hands pressed down on her shoulders.
Logically, Morin should have been escorted in by an attendant.
Instead, he had appeared like this.
Without a sound.
Without presence.
Before he spoke, Mai hadn't noticed him at all.
"How did you get in?" she asked.
"Walked in," Morin said with a smile. He released her and sat across from her. "I thought you'd wait longer before contacting me."
"There was a small accident that day," Mai coughed lightly.
"Does that accident involve someone not showing up, then riding a Harley through the gates of Cassell College?" Morin raised an eyebrow.
"Strictly speaking, we only went in to take a look. We even helped a little," Mai shrugged. "And nothing serious happened afterward, right?"
"Nothing serious," Morin nodded. "Just two Dragon Kings invading the school."
He paused.
"So. Does this count as a date?"
...
Lu Mingfei sat stiffly in his chair.
Finger's clothes fit surprisingly well. Lu Mingfei didn't understand fashion, but even he could tell from the comfort and range of motion that the materials and tailoring were top-tier.
Finger must have once been a refined gentleman.
What kind of life change could cause such a fall?
After some classes and tutoring, Lu Mingfei finally understood the meaning of bloodline rankings. In a school of ten thousand students, only a few dozen were A-rank.
That ratio said everything.
Finger used to be a genuine A-rank.
Which meant he had once been terrifyingly outstanding.
Lu Mingfei pushed the thought aside.
That was later.
Right now, he should focus on the woman in front of him.
Zero.
If someone asked him to describe her outfit, he wouldn't be able to answer. His eyes were fixed on her face.
Completely.
For the first time outside of gaming, Lu Mingfei understood what "single-minded" meant.
There was nothing else in his world.
Like an elf born of ice and snow.
Elegant. Cold.
And yet she had taken the initiative to invite him out today.
On a day with special meaning.
Inside his heart, a tiny person was jumping and screaming.
What are you waiting for?
Are you really going to let the girl speak first?
She's practically spelling it out!
Lu Mingfei started to fidget.
...
"You really don't need to stare at me like that."
Morin spun lazily in the office chair.
In water-man form.
Across from him, a young man in black hanfu stared without blinking.
"The King ordered me to watch you," Samson said.
"Look at me. I'm clearly not doing anything strange," Morin spread his hands.
"That self-moving object doesn't look normal at all," Samson said.
"This was made by humans," Morin said, patting the humming micro-supercomputer and the biological research device attached to it. "A scientific research instrument."
Strictly speaking, it was a machine built by a machine built by humans.
It sounded redundant.
But it was an all-in-one gene analysis platform created by artificial intelligence.
Morin had originally planned to study dragon blood himself. Then he reconsidered. The biggest difference between humans and animals was tool use.
So he brought this over from that [AI World].
And grabbed a micro-supercomputer along with it.
Everything ran automatically while his water-man lounged in the chair in a textbook "Ge You slouch."
"Humans can build something this precise?" Samson looked shocked.
In his understanding, only a King could craft something like this.
Yet Morin claimed humans had made it.
"Don't humans only make simple longswords and spears?" Samson asked seriously.
"How long has it been since you left this place?" Morin immediately grasped the issue.
"Since my negligence caused the King to enter cocooning, I have guarded this place without moving!" Samson straightened his neck, filled with righteous fervor.
"For him, this was honor.
"So... since the Han Dynasty," Morin realized. He smoothly changed topics. "Then why did Norton leave the Bronze City and forget he'd lived so long?"
"I... fell asleep for a while," Samson said, instantly shifting from pride to shame. "When I woke, the King had hatched and vanished. It is all my fault!"
"Oh." Morin wisely didn't ask, And then Constantine was taken too? He could imagine Samson charging him to the death. "So you've never left? Never been to the human world?"
"Of course not. Guarding the King without moving is my duty!"
"Just you?" Morin asked. "Where are the others? Norton can't be so miserable that you're his only subordinate. And naming you Samson-using child labor is too much."
"I will not allow you to insult my King!" Samson glared, ready to die if needed.
"Alright, alright. No insults. Just answer the question."
"...Some betrayed during the war. Some died," Samson said quietly. "In the end, only us remain."
"So tragic," Morin sighed. "I was going to ask why you didn't find a female dragon to live with. Especially since today is a special day."
"How can you say such shameless things?" Samson replied seriously.
"Fine. Fossil confirmed," Morin nodded. "Then where did you learn modern vocabulary?"
"It is simple language," Samson said. "I learned it from listening to your conversation with Norton."
"A genius dragon," Morin marveled. "Do you even know what day it is?"
"What festival?" Samson was blank.
"In this underwater city, time meant nothing.
"The seventh day of the seventh lunar month. Qixi Festival," Morin said.
"Ah." Samson nodded. "Palace maids threading seven-eyed needles at Kaijin Tower. A habit everyone followed. I never thought it would become a festival."
"Ge Hong recorded it in Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital."
Morin stared.
"You're cultured."
"Tell me-how did Liu Xiu kill Wang Mang? Was he really a Child of Destiny?"
"What is a Child of Destiny?" Samson frowned. "He was killed naturally. Meteors did fall, but they were from a battle between Kings far from the sun."
"Wang Mang lost. His strength was inferior."
"So it was hype," Morin concluded. Emperors always needed legends.
"Who was your King fighting?" Morin asked.
"The King of Earth and Mountain," Samson said. "Both were heavily injured. The enemy fled north. My King came here to cocoon."
"So that's it." Morin thought of Xia Mi in Beijing.
Equal strength.
Mutual stalemate.
"Why did you fight back then?" Morin asked.
Samson fell silent.
Regret was written all over his face.
"Master, test results are ready," the smart robot announced.
"Is this made of a Living Soul?" Samson asked instinctively.
He felt no resentment from it.
But creating Living Souls required unbearable suffering.
How could there be none?
"This is artificial intelligence," Morin said. "Human wisdom crystallized. What it cost was time and knowledge."
He avoided phrases like "blood and sweat."
Otherwise Samson might take it literally.
Morin ignored Samson's disbelief and focused on the screen.
Human DNA: double helix.
Dragon DNA-based on Norton's blood sample-
Quadruple helix.
"But there are obvious issues," Morin muttered.
Some segments were double helix.
Some quadruple.
Some shifted between the two.
"These extra chains must be the source of Soul Skills," Morin mused. "Power magnitude, range... maybe proportional to quadruple helix density?"
"Controlled experiments are needed."
"That requires a lot of blood..."
Then he remembered Norton could transform.
Plenty of blood.
Morin relaxed.
Inside the cocoon chamber, Norton suddenly felt a chill.
"What is this?" Samson walked closer, eyes wary. Even if the King allowed it, he had to be vigilant.
"This is science," Morin replied absently.
Then his eyes lit up.
He turned to Samson.
"What art thou plotting!" Samson stepped back, reverting to archaic speech.
"Well..." Morin rubbed his hands. "Would you be willing to contribute a little to your King?"
"I would do anything for my King!" Samson stood tall.
"Good. Originally, I planned to use the King's blood. But he's in seclusion now. My sample size is too small."
"I can't interrupt him, right?"
"That is reasonable," Samson nodded.
"But the experiment must continue," Morin said smoothly. "And the King also wants to see the results. Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed-or given me blood."
"But... you took it with water while he wasn't paying attention," Samson recalled.
"Details." Morin waved it off. "The important part is he didn't fight me afterward."
"That means consent."
"You don't think your King couldn't defeat me, do you?"
"Of course not! The King is the strongest!"
"Then good," Morin smiled. "Since your King contributed... shouldn't you also contribute a little?"
His gaze locked onto Samson.
A perfectly sized dragon-blood storage tank.
Keep bluffing.