Lu Mingfei doesn't want to be a superhero

As Valdis said, the banquet was of a very high standard.

After being led through a winding passage, Lu Mingfei and his companions came into view a magnificent hall. In the center of the hall, a long table was covered with a snow-white tablecloth, and the edges of the tablecloth were decorated with gorgeous patterns in gold thread.

Around the long table were beautiful women who had cut off the hems of their skirts and were wearing what looked like miniskirts, busily working... well, they might be nuns or maids.

They wore exquisite makeup, with alluring eyelashes and moist lips. Their fair and shapely thighs moved beneath their skirts, their bare feet stepping on the snow-white wool carpet. Each time, only their toes touched the ground, their rounded toes slightly curled, as if they were wearing invisible high heels. They strolled and danced gracefully above the thin clouds.

A tall, robust, silver-haired man was already waiting at the long table.

Lu Mingfei stood in front of the snow-white wool carpet, hesitating whether he should take off his shoes as well, when Valdis walked over and reminded him, "Honorable guest, there is no need to take off your shoes. Someone will replace the carpet if it gets dirty."

That being said, Elena had already taken off her shoes, clearly indicating that not everyone was entitled to step on this wool carpet.

Lu Mingfei and his two companions followed Valdis to the long table. The burly, silver-haired man sat in the first seat below the head of the table and stood up when he saw Lu Mingfei and his companions arrive.

Valdis bowed respectfully to the silver-haired man: "Lord Shilun, I have brought three distinguished guests from Kassel College."

"Hmm." The silver-haired man merely hummed in response, his emerald-green eyes not even bothering to move towards Valdis.

But then, when he looked at Lu Mingfei and the other two, he immediately showed a friendly and warm smile, like the warm winter sun: "Good morning, distinguished guests. I am Shilen Powell, the provincial inspector of the Solomon Temple Order. I am responsible for monitoring whether all branch temples violate the commandments. I am also the person who is conducting this thorough investigation of the Vianaburg branch temple and is in contact with you all. Thank you for coming. Please have a meal first."

Lu Mingfei thought to himself, "Your speed of changing your face is comparable to the speed at which a guy named Loki in another world gets slapped in the face."

However, he didn't find it particularly surprising. The information Susie had given him already explained that the Solomon Temple had a strict hierarchy, divided into six classes from lowest to highest: "servant," "squire," "attendant," "soldier," "knight squire," and "knight."

The provincial inspectors were responsible for overseeing all branch temples, while the city inspectors were responsible for overseeing the discipline of the main temple. In addition, there were legion commanders responsible for military administration and general military decision-making, the high priests who were second-in-command, and the Grand Master, the leader of the Order of Solomon's Temple.

These five individuals were the highest-ranking members of the Solomon Temple Order, forming the highest class within the Order—the Knights.

Below the knights is the "squire" class, also known as the "prospective knight." When a knight takes a liking to a soldier, the soldier can choose to swear allegiance to that knight and become a squire. After the knight abdicates or meets with misfortune, his squire will be eligible to run for the new knight.

The number of knights each knight can have is not equal. Normally, these knights who are second only to the knights are either the second-highest level or elites of the main hall, or the heads of large branch halls.

As for the Valdis branch lord who received them... considering that he was only the lord of a branch lord in Portugal, his rank was probably just a soldier, two ranks lower than the provincial inspector of the knight class in front of him, so it's no wonder that he was not taken seriously.

As for those busy maids... they weren't even considered the lowest servant class; in the Solomon Temple, they were at most just "pretty servants."

Of course, this was someone else's family matter. Although Lu Mingfei felt that it was somewhat anti-civilization for such a large organization to practice such a hierarchical system in modern society, he didn't say much. He simply followed Chu Zihang and Su Qian and introduced himself.

Upon learning that Lu Mingfei was an S-rank, Inspector Shi Lun was also taken aback.

He then surprisingly asked to move his seat down one seat, so that Chu Zihang, the leader of the trio, could sit in the first seat, Lu Mingfei in the second seat, and he, a knight of the Solomon Temple, could sit to Lu Mingfei's left.

Although the Solomon Temple is far inferior to the Academy, it is still a major force among the mixed-race Europeans. Its knight class is roughly comparable to the elders of the Secret Party or the board members of the Academy. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be so humble in front of Lu Mingfei, an S-rank.

But unable to resist the other party's enthusiasm and determination, Lu Mingfei had no choice but to accept.

During the banquet, they also talked about the internal investigation. Inspector General Shi Lun said righteously that he would definitely get to the bottom of the truth and give Solomon Temple and the Secret Party an explanation.

Since Lu Mingfei and the other two were there to supervise and witness, it wasn't appropriate to push them too hard. Chu Zihang wasn't good with words, and although Lu Mingfei had been trained by Tony and wasn't afraid of this kind of occasion, Susie and Chu Zihang had both told him to observe more and talk less, so he just stared and ate and drank without saying a word.

Only Susie was somewhat reliable, exchanging pleasantries with Shilun throughout the meal. During this time, the Valdis branch temple master occasionally echoed Chief Inspector Shilun's words, but he was cautious and dared not say much.

His secretary, Elena, was responsible for peeling shrimp and pouring wine the whole time without saying a word, like a diligent but mute waitress or a housekeeping robot.

After a hearty meal, Chu Zihang had Lu Mingfei pull out the agreements he carried with him. These were all contracts requiring Shi Lun and Valdis to remain honest or never distort the truth in the upcoming investigation, which they readily signed.

Now that things have come to this point, today's task can be considered completely completed. All that remains is to come every day or every other day to inquire about and record the progress of the investigation, and to take away some copies of relevant documents to be sent back to the school for safekeeping later.

Ultimately, it's just a formality. If nothing unexpected happens, Lu Mingfei and his two companions will continue eating, drinking, and having fun until the mission ends, and then fly home or to school.

But for some unlucky people, accidents are always a constant companion.

After smilingly seeing off Lu Mingfei and the other two, Shi Lun remained seated at the long table, looking at Valdis expressionlessly: "Have the rest of you leave."

Valdis's face turned deathly pale. He swallowed hard and called out in a trembling voice, "Everyone out... and you too, Irena."

“Yes.” Elena lowered her head and walked out barefoot with the other maids.

Valdis stood up, head bowed, and looked shakily at Shilun: "Uncle..."

"Fool!" Shilun suddenly flew into a rage and casually smashed a heavy porcelain plate in Valdis's face.

Valdis let out a wail as the porcelain plate shattered in his face with tremendous force, causing him to fall backward onto the cashmere blanket.

For his bloodline, this wasn't very painful, but he knew that if he didn't scream in pain, things would only get worse.

The next second, a riding boot stepped on his chest. Shi Lun lowered his head, his golden-green eyes blazing with fury: "Idiot! What have you done! Why did Kassel College send not only the president of the Lionheart Society, but also an S-class freshman! What flaw did you let them discover!"

“Uncle…I didn’t,” Valdis felt as if dozens of anvils were pressing down on his chest, violently forcing the air out of his lungs. “I was just following the orders from the main hall…”

He called Shilun "uncle," but they were both middle-aged, and Shilun looked about the same age as him.

This is due to the difference in bloodline. Although there is a difference of more than thirty years, Shilen, as the head of the Powell family, is far superior to his good-for-nothing nephew Valdis in terms of bloodline, and even time is less likely to leave a mark on him.

“If you had strictly followed the orders of the main hall, you wouldn’t have attracted the attention of Kassel College!” Shilun grabbed Valdis’s chin with one hand, forcing him to open his mouth. With the other hand, she casually picked up a handful of shards of porcelain from the ground and stuffed them into Valdis’s mouth in his horrified gaze, forcing him to close his mouth.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing. You're using even cruder methods than what the main hall requires to obtain more mixed-race women, hoping to gain greater merit in this way..."

Shilun covered his forehead with one hand: "But I really don't understand what you want merit for? I've already made you my knight's squire, what else do you want? To inherit my knighthood after I die?"

Valdis shook his head violently, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, his golden eyes involuntarily opening due to the intense struggle and fear.

“Why are you shaking your head? Your eyes have already told me what you want,” Shilun sneered. “Why don’t you think about whether you’re even worthy? With your meager bloodline, you’re not even qualified to covet the throne of a knight! Do you know what level you would be according to the standards of those three people? You’d be a B-level mixed-blood at Kassel College!”

"You piece of trash dare to look up at the throne!"

Shilun roared in a low voice, and a pair of pupils opened in his golden-green eyes, as if a torch had been lit in the hall. The light in his pupils, along with his roar, crushed Valdis's nerves.

After a long while, Shi Lun stood up: "Go investigate those people... no, never mind, being discovered will only make things worse..."

He muttered to himself, then issued a new order: "Dispose of all the test subjects, burn them all, or use hydrogen peroxide or sulfuric acid, whatever you do, don't leave any DNA traces. Then destroy all the documents, give me the most valuable ones, and also..."

He stared at Valdis, who was getting up from the ground: "Our Powell family stopped being pirates before you were even born. Don't try to learn the pirate ways of our ancestors, unless you want to bring a real storm upon yourself."

"Yes, Uncle..."

Valdis lowered his head, blood from the porcelain shards dripping from his mouth onto the wool carpet, his dim golden eyes fixed on the spreading bloodstains.

Chapter 80: Yachts and Sunscreen

Port of Vianaburg.

Today the sun shines brightly under a cloudless sky. The azure tide surges onto the yellow sand beach time and time again, with snow-white waves and foam rolling up and down. A winding white line twists and turns between the yellow and blue.

Lu Mingfei and his group of five stood at the port, facing a burly old man with dark skin.

“I understand signing a contract, but why do we have to pay half a deposit first?!” Su Xiaoqiang’s cousin, Tulio, stood at the front of the group, looking dissatisfied.

Today is a good day to go out to sea, so they want to rent a yacht for deep-sea fishing, and the old man in front of them is the captain of the best boat they can find.

"It's a small business, please understand, please understand." The old man was nearly 1.9 meters tall, and the muscles on his arms were like the gnarled roots of an old tree, but he smiled like a street vendor selling miracle cures or rat poison.

“Alright, swipe the card,” Tulio said. “I’ve heard you’re the most reputable captain around here. I hope you get your money’s worth.”

“I’m afraid that won’t work,” the old captain shook his head and said seriously, “I can only guarantee that you will get your money’s worth.”

"Sure, sure, swipe the card." Tulio took out his card, then stared dumbfounded as the old captain pulled out a POS machine and two contracts from his belt.

Tulio swiped his card, then placed the contract on a relatively flat part of the POS machine and signed it with the pen handed to him by the old captain. Lu Mingfei curiously stepped forward to watch: "Why does it say there are four people on board? We have five people."

“Oh, I’m not going,” Tulio said with a smile, signing his name in beautiful cursive. “This is the boat prepared for you. I have other appointments today.”

"Huh?" Lu Mingfei was even more curious. "Can I ask what kind of agreement it is?"

“It was a nudist party with three girls.” Tulio handed a contract and a POS machine back to the old captain, casually stuffing his own into his pocket.

"A nudist party?" Lu Mingfei immediately looked at Tulio with awe. "I never expected that you, my brother, who usually looks like a playboy with nothing to do, are actually an astronomer."

Lu Mingfei thought to himself, "I'm familiar with this character. He's a super genius and a playboy. Isn't this just a low-budget, youthful version of Tony?"

But he soon realized he was very wrong.

Tulio looked somewhat embarrassed: "The celestial bodies I'm talking about might be a little different from what you understand. You know... nudist beaches?"

Lu Mingfei was stunned for a moment, and his respect grew even stronger.

Su Xiaoqiang wore a white wide-brimmed hat, the shadow cast by the brim obscuring the upper half of her face and eyes.

She stepped forward, put her arm around Lu Mingfei's shoulder, and pulled him back, as if her blood cousin was an indescribable deep-sea creature.

"Haha, anyway, have fun, I'm off!" Tulio quickly slipped away.

Lu Mingfei wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and gazed in the direction where Tulio had fled in disarray. He suddenly realized that Tony's top spot on his "unreliable list" seemed to be in jeopardy.

"What? You're so engrossed in watching, do you want to go to his nudist party too?" Su Xiaoqiang said from the side.

“How is that possible? There’s a man other than myself at the nudist party. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps,” Lu Mingfei blurted out.

"So you would have gone if it were all women?" Su Xiaoqiang asked quietly.

Lu Mingfei paused for two seconds, then dashed off to a yacht docked in the harbor: "I'll go on board and chill the beer for everyone!"

"Hey, young man, you've come to the wrong ship," the old captain shouted, "Not that one!"

……

As expected of Su Xiaoqiang's family, they were incredibly wealthy. The four of them managed to rent a large yacht, complete with a kitchen, bedroom, living room, and even a minibar. Moreover, the entire yacht was decorated in a pirate ship style, inside and out.

The deck was made of solid wood and painted, and the ship was equipped with a wooden lookout tower, rudder, mast, and large black sails—of course, these were all decorative, and no one expected them to actually be functional.

The interior of the ship was the same. The minibar was filled with dark brown bottles of rum, and the floors and walls were deliberately aged. Animal hides, pirate scimitars, and flintlock gun models were hanging on the walls. Portugal prohibits guns, so from this perspective, Lu Mingfei and his two companions entering the country with guns was already breaking the law.

From a business perspective, this boat is more like a "bed and breakfast" or a "boutique hotel." Customers who are willing to pay for its unique style will not mind that it is more expensive than other yachts of the same quality.

On the deck, Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang had changed into their newly bought swimming trunks, covered with beach shorts, and were sitting side by side on the gunwale fishing. Every muscle on their bodies looked like it had been sculpted, like two ancient Greek bodybuilding sculptures.

Fishing rods are provided free of charge by the boat. After catching a fish, you can hand it over to the boat's chef to prepare it and enjoy the freshest ingredients.

"Girls are so slow," Lu Mingfei complained. "Why aren't Su Xiaoqiang and Senior Su out yet?"

The boat had sailed far from the beach, and from here, the coastline looked like just a faint line.

Chu Zihang remained calm and composed, like an old man who was neither happy nor sad: "Their coming out won't increase our chances of catching fish."

"Senior brother, why are you only thinking about fishing?" Lu Mingfei said with exasperation. "The swimsuits of the pretty girls are the key!"

“Susie will wear a one-piece swimsuit,” Chu Zihang said.

Lu Mingfei was taken aback, thinking to himself, "When did Senior Brother Chu and Su Qian become so close? They're even exchanging swimsuits."

Perhaps because Lu Mingfei's doubts were too obvious, Chu Zihang took the initiative to explain: "Susie suffered open wounds to her waist and thighs during a recent mission. Although most scars can heal completely with the physique of mixed-race individuals, it still takes time."