Lu Mingfei doesn't want to be a superhero

Equipment Department, Underground Base, Conference Room.

Director Akadula put his arm around Lu Mingfei's shoulder, his face showing the sinister expression of a cunning old man who was luring a child to throw firecrackers into a latrine: "Mingfei, think about it carefully. The so-called Free Day, although it is said that students can act freely without any scruples and will not be punished by school rules, what are they actually doing on Free Day every year?"

Deputy Director Carl chimed in, "These ignorant students are just playing live-action CS. They even use Frija tranquilizer darts as ammunition. You can play this kind of boring game with terrorists and American soldiers every day in the Middle East, and you can even play it for real. Why waste precious holidays that allow them to disregard school rules?"

The Friga bullet is an alchemical bullet, and also one of the most unique and practical inventions in the history of alchemical weapons. When the bullet hits the target, it will quickly shatter and vaporize, without harming the person, leaving only a blood-like mark. At the same time, it contains a trace amount of anesthetic, which will make the person immediately unconscious.

Unlike modern tranquilizer guns, which have a range of only a dozen meters, extremely low accuracy, and require at least a minute to take effect after hitting a target, making them almost useless in actual combat, the Friga bullets not only have the same range and accuracy as ordinary bullets, but also have an abnormally strong anesthetic effect. Even a B-level hybrid would immediately fall to the ground if hit by one bullet.

The reason it is considered the most practical invention is that, in addition to being able to capture targets alive, it also greatly reduces the impact of hybrids on ordinary people in combat.

In dragon-slaying operations that take place in cities, it's inevitable that the agents will clash with ordinary people—for example, shootouts with local gangs and police are common occurrences during dragon-slaying operations.

In the ancient era of cold weapons, it was relatively easy for hybrids to deal with these ordinary people who had wandered onto the battlefield. They just needed to knock them unconscious. Even if the other side had ranged weapons such as bows and crossbows, they posed a limited threat to the hybrids.

But everything changed once civilization advanced to the age of firearms.

Modern weapons have narrowed the power gap between hybrids and pure-blooded dragons, making dragon slaying much easier. However, they have also narrowed the gap between ordinary people and hybrids. Faced with a group of armed ordinary people, hybrids can no longer stroll over and knock them unconscious as they did hundreds of years ago—even hybrids cannot withstand bullets with their flesh and blood.

During the period when firearms were widespread throughout the world, but before the invention of the Friga bullet, hybrids could only use firearms to deal with ordinary people. Under the immense power of firearms, ordinary people were often either killed or maimed.

For example, some time ago, Lu Mingfei and Su Xi said that when several students from the Lionheart Society were on a mission, they clashed with a local Mexican gang. The gang sent 37 people to surround them on the second floor of a nightclub.

Without Friga's bullets, the students would have had to fight their way out with live ammunition, and the headline of the local newspaper the next day would probably be "Shocking! Gang shootout results in dozens of casualties."

But with Friga bullets, no one will get hurt in this battle—unless they're anesthetized and hit their head on the ground and get a bump.

Therefore, once the Friga bullet was introduced, it was recognized by a large number of specialists, and orders poured in. The researcher who invented the Friga bullet became rich overnight—the researcher came from a small country, and the royalties from the Friga bullet made him so wealthy that he could control the economic lifeline of his own country.

Of course, during Free Day, Frigga's bullets were only used as paintballs in paintball.

Lu Mingfei smirked and looked at the director and deputy director: "So what are you trying to do? Replace Frigga's bullets with live ammunition? The principal will tie you to the shooting range and make the other students practice blind shooting."

"How could you have such a depraved idea?" Director Akadula asked in surprise. "We just wanted to take advantage of our day of freedom to have the students help us experiment with some new things and, incidentally, draw a conclusion."

"Hmm?" Lu Mingfei asked curiously.

“Let’s start with the first one,” Director Akadula said, setting out a box. “While the Friga bullets are useful, their single anesthetic effect is rather monotonous. So, after the Equipment Department’s painstaking research over this period, we have developed several Friga bullets with different functions. We hope that on the day of our freedom, the students can help us test them.”

Director Akadullah placed the box on the table and opened it, revealing five types of bullets: black, white, green, yellow, and pink.

“Let me introduce them,” Deputy Director Karl stepped forward. “Both the black and white bullets are voice-changing bullets. People hit by the black bullet will have a mature woman’s voice, and those hit by the white bullet will have a loli’s voice. The black and white colors respectively symbolize the black stockings of the mature woman and the white stockings of the loli. The effects can last for more than 48 hours.”

Lu Mingfei instantly felt that he shouldn't be in this godforsaken place.

"What practical value do these things have?!" Lu Mingfei shouted, his face darkening. "Are they meant to make the enemy die a shameful death after hitting them?!"

“Practical value?” Deputy Director Karl gave him a serious, admonishing look. “Mingfei, your understanding of the value of science and technology is still too superficial. Haven’t you heard this story? When Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction and demonstrated it to others, a noblewoman asked: What is the use of this? Faraday immediately retorted: What is the use of a newborn baby?”

“When a baby is born, no one knows what enormous contributions he will make to society or humanity when he grows up. The same is true for a new technology!” Director Akadura said with an air of “I am extremely devout to science,” as if he were about to radiate holy light.

"Damn it! Why are you making that face? The thing you invented is already the biggest blasphemy against science!" Lu Mingfei thought to himself.

“Speaking directly is a bit too monotonous and lacks persuasiveness. Come on, let me demonstrate this warhead to you…” Deputy Director Karl, the leader of the Lolita faction in the Equipment Department, picked up the white warhead and was about to press it onto the back of his hand.

"No!" Lu Mingfei quickly stopped him, gripping his wrists tightly with both hands. "Please, please don't talk to me in a loli voice while wearing the face of a cold and aloof male god researcher. I'll start to wonder if I ate a poisonous mushroom."

"Then I'll demonstrate." Director Akadula picked up a black bullet at some point and pressed it against the back of his hand.

Lu Mingfei tried to stop him, but it was too late, and his face showed despair.

“Ahem…ahem,” Director Akadula cleared his throat. “Now your voice should have changed.”

Lu Mingfei's eyes twitched violently—the burly Arab man in front of him, dressed in a white robe and with a full beard, was speaking in a clear, elegant, and even slightly husky voice, like a mature woman.

"How about it? Isn't the transformation perfect?" Director Akadula said proudly.

If you only hear her voice, the listener would probably imagine a sexy, mature woman like Fan Bingbing... Lu Mingfei thought to himself, while his stomach churned a little.

"This is the culmination of our hard work, the fruit of countless amounts of money, talent, and effort!" Deputy Director Carl said proudly.

"If the principal knew you were using the funds for this, wouldn't he send you to Thailand for surgery?" Lu Mingfei couldn't help but complain.

"No, the principal only cares about the results. As long as the equipment department can reliably provide the school with equipment that is powerful enough, he won't care what we do. Besides, the principal himself is a habitual embezzler of funds. Don't you know he's booking five-star luxury hotels all over the world?" Director Akadula said frankly.

"Moreover, the principal is an absolute dragon-slaying pragmatist. I even suspect that if we could create a weapon that could instantly kill the Dragon King, on the condition that the principal goes to Thailand for surgery, he would grit his teeth and fly there, and he would even pay extra to jump the queue for the surgery..." said Deputy Director Karl.

“Let’s not discuss this topic anymore, let’s talk about the green bullets instead,” Lu Mingfei said, his eyes twitching.

“The green one is a super-potent laxative, a kind of pill that can effectively confuse the enemy’s combat thinking,” Director Akadula said. “Because according to our psychological research, the risk of diarrhea can make people anxious and impatient, which can easily lead to mistakes in haste. If you treat ordinary bullets as physical damage and Frigga’s tranquilizer bullets as magical damage, then the diarrhea bullets are mental damage. Those hit by it will suffer varying degrees of mental interference…”

"This thing exudes a gloomy, evil, and lewd aura. Just how dark must a person's heart be to invent something like this!" Lu Mingfei covered his face.

“He’s a pervert who only likes hardcore works and cross-dressing,” Director Akadula said. “Even in the Equipment Department, a place where otaku gather, he’s a pervert among perverts.”

"Don't equate otaku with perverts, hey!" Lu Mingfei shouted.

“Actually, it should be ‘approximately equal’,” Deputy Director Karl corrected.

Why did I forget to bring a gun? If I had shot them all, I wouldn't be suffering here. Lu Mingfei rolled his lifeless, hopeless eyes.

"Finally, there are the yellow and pink bullets. They are used together. The yellow bullet can dissolve inorganic matter; if a person is hit, their clothes will dissolve extensively. The pink bullet contains computer parts and is a super-effective weapon suitable for both men and women..."

Deputy Director Karl was halfway through his sentence when Lu Mingfei lunged at him and grabbed him by the neck: "Aren't there any normal inventions here? What's with these two 18+ bullets?! If Freedom uses things like this every day, the school's art style will change from a hot-blooded comedy shonen manga to some kind of unspeakable adult comic!"

"Don't...don't worry...these two are just our personal preferences. Only the first three types of warheads will be used in Freedom Day..." Deputy Director Karl said with difficulty, his neck being choked.

"Don't use either of them!" Lu Mingfei roared.

……

The chaotic scene finally calmed down, and Lu Mingfei and the other two sat back down at the table.

"What's the second thing?" Lu Mingfei asked expressionlessly.

“Actually, the second thing is the most important,” Deputy Director Karl said, rubbing the bright red five-finger mark on his neck. “Mingfei, you should also know that the Equipment Department is divided due to the struggle between the mature women faction and the young women faction, leading to years of war, widespread suffering, and the risk of national collapse and destruction…”

"You might as well just perish sooner, consider it a contribution to the world, okay?" Lu Mingfei complained.

"So after discussing it with Karl, I made a bold decision," Director Akadula said with a resolute expression, his beard trembling, but his voice gentle, "Let the students who participated in Freedom Day this year decide the winner for us!"

"Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing? What planet is this?" Lu Mingfei's mind was filled with questions.

"You see, in previous years, Freedom Day was a team competition between the Lionheart Society and the Student Council. So we thought about it, and this year, Freedom Day will allow students to abandon their original student clubs and groups, and instead compete as two opposing camps: 'Loli-loving' and 'Mature-loving'. The Loli faction and the Mature-loving faction in the Equipment Department will provide technical support to their respective allies. The student camp that wins Freedom Day will represent the victory of either the Mature-loving or Loli faction!" Deputy Director Karl stood on his chair, raised his fist, and shouted loudly, "We're calling this thrilling competition the 'Battle of Mature-loving vs. Loli'!"

"It's called the 'Battle of the Lolis' for short," Director Akadula added.

"Hehe, hehe, hehehehe..." Lu Mingfei chuckled coldly. After the previous provocation, he now actually felt that the scene was still normal and not unacceptable.

“You also think this suggestion is great, right? It can not only bring the Equipment Department, which is responsible for logistics, closer to the students fighting on the front lines, but also resolve the biggest dispute within the Equipment Department in one fell swoop,” Director Akadula said.

“How can you be sure the students will go along with your nonsense?” Lu Mingfei said. “I think there are probably more normal people in Kassel College.”

“There will definitely be a reward. We’re not capitalists, we can’t get something for nothing,” said Deputy Director Karl. “After a unanimous vote by the Equipment Department, every mixed-race person who participates in the ‘Battle of the Mature Women and the Lolis’ on Freedom Day will receive a custom-made personal weapon for free. Those who don’t need a personal weapon can exchange it for the right to request the Equipment Department to completely remove the explosive function of a certain piece of equipment, and they can exercise this right three times!”

“We are determined to end this protracted war at great cost,” Director Akadullah said.

Damn! Someone might actually agree with that!

Lu Mingfei felt that things were like a mad dog that had broken free of its reins, rushing towards an abyss from which there was no turning back.

"Go and discuss this with Chu Zihang and Caesar yourselves, don't try to drag me into this!" Lu Mingfei felt he should protect his innocent reputation.

“To be honest,” Director Akadula said with a troubled expression, “most of the people in the Equipment Department are not good at socializing with the popular people outside. If it weren’t for you being the middleman, we wouldn’t know how to implement this plan. Just persuading the presidents of those two student clubs would have been a major obstacle for us.”

“I’m not going anyway. Why don’t you guys just pick up your knives and make your own version of ‘A Day of Freedom’?” Lu Mingfei said.

“We’ve had that idea too, but we’re all civilians and don’t fight. If we really wanted to determine who was better, we’d have to hack into the most advanced fighter jets in each country and fly them to the Sahara to fight. But that could trigger World War III,” Deputy Director Karl said, scratching his head. “I don’t think we should cause such a big mess for personal matters.”

"Even if it's for official business, it shouldn't be allowed..." Lu Mingfei was speechless.

“Besides, we didn’t ask you for help for nothing,” Director Akadula said.

“I don’t need personal weapons; I can dismantle the explosive devices in my equipment myself,” Lu Mingfei said.

He's not one to fall for bribes.

“Not those two,” Director Akadula said. “Karl and I discussed it, and if you help us, we’ll secretly give you the access card to the school’s ‘Alchemy Archives.’ Except for the forbidden-level alchemy knowledge, which is kept by the vice principal, almost all the alchemy knowledge in the school is stored or backed up in the ‘Alchemy Archives.’”

“There are only five access cards in the whole school. The principal, the vice principal, the director, and I each have one. We don’t even know where the third one is,” Deputy Director Karl said quietly.

Lu Mingfei lowered his head and remained silent for a few seconds before raising his head: "I'll go try to persuade Senior Brother Chu and Caesar."

……

Lionheart Society, President's Office.

The interior design here is reminiscent of that of ascetics, with no superfluous decorations or furniture other than the various honorary symbols hanging on the walls; there isn't even a sofa or coffee table for receiving guests.

Chu Zihang sat behind his desk, Su Qian stood beside him, and Lu Mingfei sat opposite him.

"So, this is why you came to find me?" Chu Zihang asked.

Lu Mingfei sat in the guest chair and nodded honestly.

184. Chapter 183 Caesar

Kassel College, Lionheart Society, President's Office.

"Senior Brother Chu, are you going to participate in the Equipment Department's activities?" Lu Mingfei asked with the smug look of an insurance salesman. "The rewards for the activities are quite generous."

"I think it's more like a farce than an event," Susie complained. "I knew the people in the equipment department were unreliable, but I didn't expect them to be this unreliable."

Lu Mingfei nodded in agreement—I also think they're being ridiculous, but they're giving just too much.

But before Lu Mingfei could speak, Susie immediately chimed in with a complaint: "And why choose from mature women and cute girls? Aren't there any male characters? What about us girls?"

Lu Mingfei: ...

After a moment of silence, Lu Mingfei cautiously suggested, "How about... we try yuri?"

Susie: ...

Chu Zihang, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "I will participate, and I will also help spread the news to the entire Lionheart Society."

"President!" Susie's eyes widened. "Are you serious? This will probably break up the Lionheart Society and the Student Council into two camps."

Chu Zihang nodded: "I think that compared to the simple competition and honor, it is more important to gain more substantial help in slaying the dragon through a day of freedom. In the face of slaying the dragon, we can temporarily put aside our sectarian prejudices."

“I’m not being prejudiced,” Susie said with a smirk, “but President, think about it. In previous years, Freedom Day always ended with either the Student Council winning or the Lionheart Club winning. If we follow the ideas of those anime fanatics in the Equipment Department this year, wouldn’t the winners be the ‘mature women’ or the ‘loli’? People would think this is a large-scale event organized by anime otaku in Akihabara.”

“Senior sister, I could hear the strong disdain for anime and manga in your words!” Lu Mingfei raised his hand and said.