Chapter 62 Did They Undergo Brain Transplant Surgery?

"What? Lu Mingfei ran away?"

Aboard the *Moniah*, currently resupplying in Tokyo Bay, Professor Manas wore a look of utter bewilderment.

"That kid had pinpoint marksmanship, saved Gao Mi, took Ye Sheng's service weapon, and even tried to hold Guderian hostage for intel... and on top of that, Nono and Ye Sheng finally exposed their mutual crush to each other?"

Listening to the second mate's report, Professor Manas had the surreal sensation that he was still asleep and trapped in a dream.

He could understand Nono calling Lu Mingfei a veteran actor—after all, the hybrid community was never short on method actors. But how on earth did the kid suddenly transform into a gunslinger?

Staring at the reports and photographs transmitted from the Wu Gorge, Professor Manas couldn't help pushing up his glasses.

In the pitch-black environment of the photos, even with flashlights cutting through the dark, not even he himself could guarantee hitting every single shot. Yet somehow, that kid—whom everyone had written off as a loser—had managed to score precise headshots.

Just look at those dead Ghouls with their heads blown apart; the bullets had pierced straight through their eye sockets in almost every case.

This proved that Lu Mingfei didn't possess night vision. He had entirely used the Ghouls' glowing golden eyes as his crosshairs.

Recalling how the kid had pieced together a series of draconic secrets purely from visual and auditory cues, combined with his observation of Ye Sheng's facial expressions, Professor Manas couldn't help suspecting that, somehow, unknown to everyone else, Nono and Lu Mingfei had undergone a brain-swap surgery.

Otherwise, how else could one explain why Nono, that sly little genius, had failed her mission, while this good-for-nothing kid of a decade suddenly turned out to be monstrously brilliant?

Just who was the profiling expert here?

Moreover, whether by luck or misfortune, Lu Mingfei's assault on Ye Sheng and his holding up of Guderian had indirectly exposed the secret romance between Ye Sheng and Chusegawa Natsuki.

Although their top-tier ace duo was now facing the crisis of dissolution and reorganization, at least they had managed to avoid a repeat of total annihilation for the strike team.

It was a small blessing in the middle of a disaster.

Frowning in deep thought, he contacted the Director of the Operations Department, Professor Schnabel, only to learn that the headquarters academy was also facing quite a headache.

Right now, the Coffin Mountain strike team was going all out to clear the battle site of any traces. While other things could be explained away as shooting accidents, things like bullet casings, Ghoul fragments, and the mountain tunnel had to be thoroughly dealt with. Otherwise, they would have to prepare for top-secret draconic information to be exposed in broad daylight.

"The situation is getting a bit troublesome. The commotion at Wu Gorge was simply too big.

We're worried that not just the local government and police, but even the eyes of those noble hybrid families have been drawn to it. If that happens, the difficulty of our subsequent operations will skyrocket."

Professor Schnabel was also having a massive headache. "Furthermore, our people found the motorcycle Lu Mingfei discarded on the mountain road, along with Frigg bullets and a piece of a motorcycle rearview mirror on the pavement.

Clearly, apart from him, someone else quietly infiltrated our quarantine zone and clashed with him.

Right now, we don't know whether Lu Mingfei was abducted or if he abducted the other party, but one thing is certain: he is now a completely uncontrolled, dangerous element."

"What do you mean?" Professor Manas asked, puzzled.

"He poured an entire bottle of rubbing alcohol into the motorcycle's fuel tank and rode it for half a kilometer like that," Professor Schnabel said in a deep voice.

"His actions are far too unpredictable. His marksmanship, physical skills, knowledge, and guts far exceed ordinary people.

He dared to charge into an active operation site single-handedly, dared to seize a weapon and slay monsters on his very first encounter with extraordinary beings, and dared to take hostages and extort information the moment he arrived at Kassel's outpost.

He was already that reckless without a gun; I shudder to think what he might pull off now that he has one."

Although Frigg bullets were virtually non-lethal, that did not mean they were completely harmless.

Hit at close range in a vital area, they could still cause fatal injuries.

"So what do you plan to do?" Professor Manas realized the gravity of the situation.

Norma was a supercomputer capable of hacking into numerous systems.

However, China was a miraculous country equipped with a national firewall. Trying to hack into the transportation department's surveillance system during such a sensitive window of time was genuinely difficult.

Without Norma's assistance, relying solely on the China Branch and the strike team to find Lu Mingfei in a mountain city with such complex terrain and treacherous roads was no different from searching for a needle in a haystack.

"I am currently applying to the Principal for authorization to capture Lu Mingfei. Guderian said Lu Mingfei confessed himself that his bloodline awakened five years ago, and he has already mastered his Spiritual Speech."

Professor Schnabel's tone was icy. Paired with his low, viscous breathing that sounded like a torn bellows, it felt exceptionally chilling.

"Among the dangerous hybrids we've hunted down or executed over the years, there is no shortage of examples like Lu Mingfei—those who endure in silence for years, only to completely spiral out of control the moment they erupt.

According to Guderian's description, Lu Mingfei was in an exceptionally agitated emotional state when he left, showing faint signs of losing control. We must rein him in before he completely loses control, to prevent even greater losses!"

Professor Manas caught the implication. "Lu Mingfei possesses his own Spiritual Speech, and a tremendously powerful one at that?"

"Guderian didn't deny it. He may have already guessed Lu Mingfei's Spiritual Speech, but according to regulations, until that kid is officially classified as a dangerous hybrid, only the Principal is allowed to know his Spiritual Speech."

"Then what did the Principal say?"

Just as Manas's voice trailed off, Schnabel, far away across the ocean, received a reply from the Principal.

The response was extremely concise: they were not to take any redundant measures; a designated specialist would handle the contact with Lu Mingfei.

Seeing this order to stand down, even with Schnabel's profound trust in the Principal, he couldn't help mentally complaining that Mr. Angers showed far too much favoritism toward Lu Mingfei.

Back then, he had overridden all objections to grant him the S-rank title, and now he was stubbornly protecting him.

Even if the capabilities the kid had displayed truly matched the prestige of an S-rank, his level of danger was equally evident.

Schnabel wouldn't even have blinked if Norma told him Lu Mingfei was going to storm the Mountain City branch with a gun tonight, considering how openly hostile and resentful the kid was toward Kassel College.

Yet, remembering that the Principal would be departing for China tomorrow, he extinguished any thoughts of making alternative plans.

The strongest individual was about to take the field. No matter how monstrous Lu Mingfei was, before he had fully matured, he could never be a match for the Principal.

As for the specialist the Principal mentioned—well, one could only hope that fellow could redeem past glories and graduate early; otherwise, his conscience would trouble him for the rest of his life.

Just as everyone was being driven to distraction by Lu Mingfei, Guderian—who was already at his wit's end—received yet another piece of bad news:

His only student had failed the mission, and due to insufficient credits, he would most likely have to delay graduation by another year! Kassel College's most legendary slacker was only increasing in value!

Meanwhile, that exceptional Russian freshman who had thrown all their arrangements into chaos had rejected Kassel's recruitment offer half an hour ago and vanished completely, leaving no room for persuasion.

If Guderian could previously describe his series of recruitment missions as a losing bargain, he could only sum it up now by saying he had lost his army and the girl as well.

The S-rank and A-rank students had both run off, Ye Sheng's service weapon had been stolen, and despite no fatalities among the headquarters and branch combat personnel after a massive battle, the number of severely and lightly wounded soldiers had easily crossed the half-century mark.

The only good news was that the Principal would personally arrive in China tomorrow to take charge of the overall situation. With him stepping in, all misunderstandings would smoothly dissolve.

Besides, that worrywart student of his was already on a flight heading this way. With that lovable jester around to lighten the mood, Lu Mingfei probably wouldn't be quite so resistant.

"Only... just where are you right now, Mingfei?"