Out of tune (3)

Shu Ningmiao stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar person in front of her, completely bewildered. What came into view was the man's cold mask. Half of the mask, made of metal, covered his eyebrows, eyes, and cheeks, revealing only the beautiful contours of his nose. The man held her face very seriously, as if he were studying some fragile ceramic.

She blinked again, managing to squeeze out a question: "Who are you?"

Shu Ningmiao shrank back slightly. If she hadn't seen that he was with another envoy, she probably wouldn't have been so polite: "You've mistaken me for someone else."

The man paused for a moment, but instead of letting go, he rubbed her face a couple more times, making her face even redder.

He was wearing a very thin glove on his clasped fingers. I don't know what material it was, but it looked like leather, but colder and harder, and extremely cold, as if it had just been taken out of the morgue. It made Shu Ningmiao shiver. Her attention was momentarily distracted, and her gaze fell on the stray hairs that were hanging down because he was looking down.

The man had some long, wispy hair at the back, the curve of which was somewhat familiar—of course it was familiar, it was the hair she had casually cut for him with scissors, unlike the neat cuts done by a stylist.

Shu Ningmiao raised her hand, pressed his face against hers, and pushed him back: "Shu Changyan!"

"Call me brother." He reluctantly turned his face away from her palm, revealing his thin lips that parted slightly.

In that instant, all her wariness and astonishment vanished, leaving only a surge of anger that seemed to come from nowhere.

Shu Ningmiao's mind was a jumbled mess; she had just been thinking about many things—

The game system, the new superpower status, this attack, Prometheus... Shu Changyan, who appeared amidst all the confusion and mystery, was like a cartoon-shaped firework suddenly exploding in a sky full of artillery fire.

Finally, Shu Ningmiao simply asked him a question in a daze.

What are you doing here?

"Look at you."

Shu Changyan was pressed back against her face by her hand, and even when she pulled on her ear and pushed, she didn't let go. Her head tilted back slightly, and instead, she put her hands under her arms and easily lifted her up like a toy.

Shu Ningmiao's feet immediately left the ground.

Shu Changyan grabbed her and shook her to make sure she wasn't missing any parts. It felt like holding a big stuffed doll, without any strain.

Shu Ningmiao eats three meals a day on time, has a normal weight, and when she doesn't activate her "angry" state, she still has some difficulty lifting the same weight. Shu Changyan is so relaxed, is he using a superpower?

With Yelü Qi's example before her, she knew that the wielder's power must be considerable, but she had no such awareness about Shu Changyan. After all, Shu Changyan didn't have Yelü Qi's exaggerated physique; at most, he was just taller and stronger than an ordinary person.

Moreover, Shu Changyan left the Shu family after the spark was ignited and never used his supernatural abilities in front of her.

To be honest, in Shu Ningmiao's memory, her brother had never changed. Even though he was an agent, Shu Ningmiao did not have the perception that he was "very powerful".

He must have come for this attack. Shu Ningmiao recalled Shu Changyan's previous warning that the agents and the Central United Council should have known about Prometheus for a long time and had been consciously trying to erase Prometheus's traces.

The surrounding flames were cleared, and the staff and guards who had been blocked outside by Prometheus were able to enter the String Light Academy. The other students in the training ground successively broke out of the system; some had fallen into a coma, while others had woken up and were still conscious.

"I'm fine." Shu Ningmiao pulled her hand away from his. "You go deal with the attack. I'm leaving now."

She pulled her hand away from his and immediately walked a few steps away, turning her back to him. It was the first time she had seen Shu Changyan appear before her as the "executor," which was quite strange, and besides, she herself felt very uncomfortable with the identity of "brother."

Concern and care are much harder to deal with than disdain and contempt. Shu Ningmiao was ashamed of delicate and gentle emotions. She was at ease with her father and grandmother, but as soon as Shu Changyan opened his mouth, she had an urge to tell him to shut up.

“That person is on duty today.” Shu Changyan put his arm around her shoulder from behind, bent down slightly and spoke in her ear. Although he was very cold, his tone was still familiar, with a rising tone at the end: “The person with white hair and two red tendrils.”

Shu Ningmiao followed his gaze and saw that he was referring to the user with a wide range of superpowers. She hadn't noticed before, but the person's hair was indeed white, and his bangs were dyed red.

It turns out that people working at the Union Building can also dye their hair. She had previously heard Lin Chuxu say that even councilors who don't wear formal attire will be warned by the Control Yuan, which may be because the status of the councilor is so high that no one dares to say anything to him.

“His name is Zhao.” Shu Changyan raised his hand and put it around her hair, then gently ruffled her hair a couple of times. “You can talk to him if you have something to say; he knows you.”

Her hair was already messy, and when he ruffled it, it became completely frizzy. Shu Ningmiao pushed his hand away, raised an eyebrow, and before she could even open her mouth, Shu Changyan had already tactfully raised his hands: "The helmet has flattened your hairstyle, let me fix it for you."

Shu Ningmiao was amused by his words and turned to push him away a little. Shu Changyan grabbed her wrist again, his expression turning serious behind his mask: "It's not safe yet, don't go too far."

He thought for a moment and said, "Stay...where I can see you."

Shu Ningmiao nodded indifferently. She didn't want too many people to see and discuss her relationship with the wielder, but she wouldn't wander around randomly either. After the Prometheus attack, the school would definitely need to confirm the safety of all students.

Shu Changyan released her hand, his azure eyes silently watching her departing figure for a long time, never looking away.

Cornunos has a very well-equipped medical facility, and the String Light Academy also has several clinics that treat people with superpowers. There is no need to send them to other places for treatment, which is probably the only commendable advantage in this incident.

Shu Ningmiao spotted Wei Shengqianheng amidst the bustling crowd.

He stood there unharmed, surrounded by several men in white. He didn't appear to have suffered a concussion or coughed up blood. Shu Ningmiao finally breathed a sigh of relief and, without even bothering to say hello, turned and left.

After she turned around, she didn't know that Wei Shengqianheng, who had been keeping his eyes closed, seemed to sense something and looked in the direction she had left, his eyes slightly narrowed.

In the dim light, Wei Shengqianheng's eyes were dim, and after a long while, a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips.

After a brief period of chaos, all the unconscious students had been sent to the treatment room. The remaining students, who were still relatively conscious, were separated and gathered by class, and the teachers of each class were compiling a list.

Weston's face was so distinctive, always somewhere between being about to explode in anger and about to spew venom, making him stand out among a group of worried teachers.

Shu Ningmiao quickly found her class. Ai Ruiji stood listlessly in the corner, looking somewhat dejected. When he saw Shu Ningmiao approaching, he raised his head but quickly looked away.

Seeing her expression, Shu Ningmiao suddenly wondered what the others had seen during the time they were under Prometheus's spell. Perhaps it was the same thing?

She didn't want to ask others directly, but there was someone she could talk to.

Shu Ningmiao looked around, locked onto her target, walked straight over, and took the other person's arm.

Shi Yu stiffened, looked down and saw it was her, her eyebrows twitched: "How were your grades?"

"What's it to you?" Shu Ningmiao smiled warmly as if she were whispering to him, but in reality she lowered her voice and gritted her teeth as she uttered each word: "Where were you in the combat simulation? There wasn't a trace of you."

He wasn't surprised by Shu Ningmiao's accusatory words. He smiled slightly and said in a clear voice, "I couldn't find you either."

"Didn't you find us, or did you not even look for us?" Shu Ning glared at him. "I even ran into Su Ni."

"I really... couldn't find it." Shi Yu lowered her eyes innocently, her expression indifferent. After a long while, she sighed, "Perhaps someone wants to be alone with you?"

Shu Ningmiao was too lazy to pay attention to his nonsense and asked directly, "What did you see in the last part of the combat simulation?"

"Prometheus?" Shi Yu didn't hide it from her; he was even quite familiar with this organization. Hearing this, the corners of his lips curved up: "He talked about some boring things."

"For example?" Shu Ningmiao frowned. "Please be more specific."

"Are you curious?" Shi Yu's eyes and brows were gentle and soft, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking. "I told you before when we were at the medical center that they felt Pandora had no reason to exist. In addition, they were also very averse to technological development and people with superpowers. They probably wanted to go back to primitive society and be savages."

He paused, glancing out of the corner of his eye as Shu Ningmiao took out a terminal: "Prometheus opposed the misuse of technology and even proposed limiting the time spent using terminals, so it's not suitable for you."

"That's not what I meant." Shu Ningmiao turned off the terminal screen: "What were your thoughts after listening to their speeches?"

Neither Pines nor Prometheus were really her concerns; she only wanted to keep money, power, and strength in her hands and continue to live a good and dignified life.

Whether Pandora's pollution is real or not remains to be discussed, and she has no interest in returning to primitive society; she asked this question simply out of curiosity.

“What feelings could I possibly have? People can’t understand each other. Some believe in the church, some believe in Prometheus, some believe in Pines, and some believe in themselves.” Shi Yu nodded slightly: “That’s all.”

"Which category do you belong to?" Shu Ningmiao asked casually. "Did you and your aunt convert to the Yangsong Church together?"

Shu Ningmiao knew that Shi Yu's parents were believers in the Yangsong Church and donated huge sums of money to charity every year, but Shi Yu himself was not religious.

Shi Yu smiled but remained silent.

In the center of the training field, Principal Alo Beria and several officials were arguing fiercely about how to deal with public opinion.

Zhao was completely bewildered. He slowly withdrew from the battlefield and found Shu Changyan, who was standing guard to the side: "Where is your precious little sister?"

Shu Changyan ignored him: "Have you dealt with it properly? Don't leave any loopholes."

Apart from the Central Union Building, Cornunos should have been the safest place in Pinheis.

They thoroughly investigated all the security loopholes left by the Public Security Bureau.

“They’d only dare to do it again if they wanted to die.” Zhao curled his lips, his eyes sweeping across the students, searching them one by one.

His sister has good grades and should be in Class A.

Zhao's gaze lingered on the few scattered students in Class A, and he found the one with the most eye-catching expression and the most smug look, thus confirming his identity.

For no particular reason, he just intuitively believed that the girl was Shu Changyan's sister. She had an arrogant air about her that she deserved to enjoy everything, which was very much in line with Shu Changyan's usual attitude of wanting to offer everything to his beloved sister.

"Hmm—" He coughed twice deliberately, drawing out the sound: "Look at that young couple, they're quite a good match."

Shu Changyan remained unmoved.

Zhao continued, "A perfect match."

Shu Changyan gave him a cold look: "It's just kids playing around."

"You absolutely mustn't pass on your terrible views on relationships to your sister." Zhao raised an eyebrow: "It seems your brother-in-law isn't very popular with you."

"She doesn't need to please me to like whoever she likes." Shu Changyan lowered his mask: "Are you bored?"

“I’m not bored. Aren’t you bored standing here watching?” Zhao twirled the ring on his finger. “The potential hazards have all been dealt with. If we stay any longer, the reporters will swarm around us like flies.”

Shu Ningmiao, who was in the distance, seemed to have sensed something and looked over from afar.

“Prometheus.” Shu Changyan lowered his eyes and exhaled.

“Ignore them. Their activities are too secretive, and their members are all ordinary people. It’s not worth getting involved.” A cold glint flashed in Zhao’s eyes. “Let the police do the cat-and-mouse game. These people are bound to be of some use.”