Lu Mingfei doesn't want to be a superhero

"Mingfei, wouldn't you say this pollutes the ocean?" Old Tang ran up from behind carrying large bags and asked.

"Get lost! Don't you know how to read the room?!" Lu Mingfei kicked him. "Besides, we're pouring wine, not nuclear wastewater!"

……

The academy's cleanup team arrived on the same day that Lu Mingfei and his group killed Long and began arranging a cover-up.

After paying their respects to the old captain, Lu Mingfei and his two companions considered their mission completely complete. They submitted their mission termination application to the academy, which was approved. Old Tang collected his payment from the Salvador family, and then everyone said their goodbyes and boarded their planes back home.

Since the mission was over, Chu Zihang and Su Xi no longer needed to accompany Lu Mingfei on his connecting flight back to China; the two flew directly back to the academy.

Lu Mingfei, Su Xiaoqiang, and Su Xiaoqiang's mother flew back to China together. Norma said that because of the unexpected changes in this mission, which made it quite special, there might be additional rewards for the three of them, but this would need to be discussed and decided by the school's higher-ups.

Actually, Lu Mingfei didn't have to return to China so quickly. After all, Chu Zihang and Su Qian had to rush back to take the Dragon Slaying course, and he didn't have to go to high school anymore. He could play as much as he wanted before starting school.

But Susie's words earlier really scared him, so much so that he resolutely returned to China after the matter was over—what if the Little Fairy's family really drugged him?

After returning to China, Lu Mingfei told Shilan Middle School that he had been recommended to the University of Kassel and had been selected by a professor to join his research group. He was already studying with that professor and could not go to the school.

Angers was happy to help Lu Mingfei cover up the lie. After he made a phone call to the school, Lu Mingfei no longer needed to go to school except on graduation day.

As for the time when he didn't have to go to school... to be honest, he was still quite busy. Lu Mingfei bought a bunch of science, engineering and computer-related books and began his painful self-study life in his room at the Regent Hotel.

……

The bedroom of Su Xiaoqiang's parents.

"I can't take it anymore," Su Jiannan said, panting heavily as he circled the bed to avoid his wife. "I really can't. Honey, please understand me. I'm over forty now, not as young as I used to be."

"It's been so long since we last saw each other, why are you behaving like this?" Shaya, wearing a spaghetti strap nightgown, sat on the edge of the bed with her legs crossed, dissatisfied.

"To be honest, for someone my age, my performance is definitely in the top tier, right? You don't know that some of my friends who are about the same age are now taking traditional Chinese medicine to regulate their bodies," Su Jiannan defended himself.

“Then you should get some treatment too,” Shaya suggested.

"I...I don't need it!" Su Jiannan said firmly.

The main reason is that his health has been deteriorating recently, so he is taking Chinese medicine to regulate his vital energy. The doctor did not recommend that he take Chinese medicine specifically for regulating that aspect at the same time, but he did not want to tell his wife this reason, so as not to make her worry for no reason.

So Su Jiannan decisively changed the subject: "By the way, honey, I have something to tell you, but you must stay calm."

"Don't tell me you've hired a new young and beautiful secretary!" Shaya bared her canine teeth at Su Jiannan.

"No, no, my secretary always prioritizes practicality above all else..." After a pause, Su Jiannan realized what he meant and added, "I mean practicality in terms of work!"

"What is it?" Shaya asked.

“Xiaoqiang has been getting very close to a boy in her class lately, the one she took to Portugal named Lu Mingfei. You must have seen him in Portugal. I also met him a few times and investigated his family background. His family is respectable, and his parents are both highly educated. Although Xiaoqiang and he are both still a bit young, I really think it's not a bad thing for them to be close, and besides…” Su Jiannan said cautiously.

He didn't plan to tell his wife and daughter about the Dragonborn right now, so he kept his eyes on the pillow while he spoke, so that if his wife got angry and hit him, he would immediately pick up the pillow to block her.

Unexpectedly, when his wife heard that their daughter, who had just turned eighteen and hadn't even graduated high school, was in a close relationship with another boy, and that her own father didn't object, she didn't glare at him angrily. Instead, she had a thoughtful expression on her face.

Su Jiannan was full of questions.

After a moment, Shaya asked, "Honey, do we have a few vacant houses?"

“Yes, and not just a few, but many. Some were bought as investments, some were gifts from others that I couldn’t refuse, and some were used as collateral to pay off debts I couldn’t repay…” Su Jiannan said.

Shaya held up a finger and suggested, "Xiaoqiang said before that Lu Mingfei had a falling out with his family, so he's now homeless and staying in hotels. How about we pick out a nice house for him to stay in?"

Su Jiannan: ? ? ?

……

Two days later, in the Peacock Mansion villa district in the east of the city, in front of a beautifully decorated villa.

Lu Mingfei and Su Jiannan stood at the door. Lu Mingfei looked bewildered: "Uncle Su, are you really going to lend me this villa?"

“Sigh!” Su Jiannan shook his head. “Nephew, what kind of relationship do we have? It would be too formal to say we’re just borrowing it. If you like this place, you can stay here for now. Tomorrow I’ll have my secretary come and handle the transfer of ownership. I’ll also arrange for a cleaning company to come and clean regularly. If you don’t like it, I can take you to see other places.”

"No need, no need, Uncle, I really like it," Lu Mingfei quickly shook his head. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I can't accept such a big gift for nothing. Consider it a gift I bought for you. Could you give me the money after the next round of stock dividends?"

“I’ve already said, talking about money is too formal,” Su Jiannan shook his head and patted Lu Mingfei’s shoulder. “Xiaoqiang told me your birthday is coming up soon, so consider this your uncle’s early birthday present!”

Since things had come to this point, Lu Mingfei couldn't refuse, so he could only hold Su Jiannan's hand and agree with a grateful expression.

He suspected that Su Xiaoqiang's mother had said something to Su Xiaoqiang's father, but he had no evidence.

……

Villa, master bedroom, nightfall.

Lu Mingfei opened his eyes, rubbed his eyes, and got out of bed.

The room was dark and silent, with only the rustling of the wind outside the window.

It has been more than a month since he returned from Portugal. During this time, he has been studying the various books he bought, which has caused his sleep schedule to become somewhat disordered. He sleeps during the day and wakes up at night.

"No, we can't do this anymore. Even if we don't go to school, we need to establish a regular schedule..."

Lu Mingfei smoothed his disheveled hair with his hand while turning on the bedroom light.

He wasn't worried that his irregular sleep schedule as a mixed-race person would be unhealthy. The main problem was that when he woke up at night or dusk, the room was dark and silent, which was quite depressing. It felt like he had slept in the most remote corner of the world that no one cared about.

Fortunately, Su Xiaoqiang would always come to him for tutoring in her spare time, or drag him out to play, euphemistically calling it "a reasonable way to release the pressure of senior year".

So although his schedule is irregular, it's not particularly chaotic, and it should be easy to adjust.

I have to make some changes, otherwise I'll just lie in bed and feel depressed for three minutes every morning after waking up, and I won't even feel like getting out of bed.

However, if he wanted things to be more lively, he had other ideas.

After changing his clothes and washing his face, Lu Mingfei checked his remaining transmigration energy—not full yet, but quite sufficient.

Although he had already checked the house with the mindset of "better safe than sorry," "always be on guard," and "better safe than sorry," and found no cameras or anything like that, Lu Mingfei still went into the bathroom, and then silently used his internal power of time travel to disappear from the spot.

Chapter 97: Wizard Hulk, Borrowing Money Online and Not Paying It Back

Lu Mingfei thought that he would appear at Tony's house again this time he traveled through time.

After all, the mechanism of time travel is that he will appear near things or people in this world who are closely related to him. The closer the connection, the greater the probability of him appearing. In this world, the person he is most closely connected with is Tony. The places he used to appear in were basically near Tony every time.

But unexpectedly, he appeared at Kamar-Taj this time.

Standing in this antique building, Lu Mingfei immediately understood why he was there.

A portal with swirling sparks, characteristic of sorcerers, opened before him, and the Ancient One and Dr. Banner stepped out together.

He had studied in Kamar-Taj for a period of time, and now two people connected to him are in Kamar-Taj. With these three connections combined, it's not surprising that he's here.

"Good evening, Ancient One, Dr. Banner." Lu Mingfei waved to them.

"Evening?" Dr. Banner was taken aback. "I just had breakfast."

“It seems you came in the evening,” the Ancient One smiled. “Come with me. It’s breakfast time in Kamar-Taj now, though it’s just some simple food.”

……

In a quiet room.

The three sat facing each other.

Lu Mingfei let out a burp.

The Ancient One was being too modest when she said the food was simple. During the time Lu Mingfei was studying here, he always felt that the food at Kamar-Taj was quite good. Although the ingredients were all very ordinary home-cooked foods, this place was full of hidden talents. The chef in charge of the canteen had excellent skills and could make even ordinary ingredients taste quite delicious.

Moreover, the good food here can also be seen from another aspect—Dr. Banner has gained a lot of weight since I last saw him.

"So, Dr. Banner, you've been staying in Kamar-Taj all this time to study?" Lu Mingfei asked, resting his chin on his hand. "Are you abandoning science and embracing magic?"

"The generally accepted definition of modern science is 'an ordered system of knowledge based on verifiable explanations and predictions of the form, organization, etc., of objective things; it is knowledge that has been systematized and formalized.' From this perspective, magic is just a relatively niche branch of science." The person who said this was not Banner, but the Ancient One.

“When I was talking to Thor, he seemed to have said something similar, that for Asgard, magic and technology are actually the same thing,” Lu Mingfei said. “To be honest, I’m actually thinking of bringing Tony over to learn magic. Someone as smart as him would definitely be good at magic.”

“Magic requires borrowing power from magical entities in other dimensions. Since it is borrowing, there must be a price to pay. Intelligence only determines the speed at which one learns magic, but the ability to balance the price and restrain the desire for power is the most important quality of a mage,” Gu Yi paused and smiled. “Of course, this statement is not absolute, and one can occasionally find some loopholes.”

"A little loophole?" Lu Mingfei asked curiously.

"Ahem!" Dr. Banner coughed twice, clasped his hands together, and then suddenly pulled them apart, revealing a thin line of fire connecting his two palms.

As Banner turned his palm, the fire line split into more lines, first becoming a simple geometric plane, then becoming increasingly complex, and finally transforming into several layers of intricate magic arrays in front of Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei's eyes widened: "Dr. Banner, you've learned magic?"

Banner saw the magic circle on his hands go out and said, "Actually... to be precise, Hulk and I learned magic together."

Lu Mingfei's eyes widened even more.

Hulk...learning magic?!

An image of a green giant dressed in a mage's robe immediately appeared in Lu Mingfei's mind. Lu Mingfei shook his head to dispel this eerie image.

Hulk learning magic? What kind of magic? Is he learning to use a staff to knock enemies from one side of the Pacific Ocean to the other?

“Come on, let’s talk in spirit form, it’ll be more intuitive.” Banner closed his eyes.

Lu Mingfei closed his eyes as well. After his spirit rose out of his body, he found that the Ancient One's spirit had also left his body, while Banner's spirit was in mid-air... separating.

In Lu Mingfei's field of vision, Banner's translucent spirit seemed to have two overlapping shadows, somewhat similar to how a person looks at something when their eyes are crossed.

A moment later, the two shadows separated, and one of them instantly swelled up and transformed into a green giant.

“Hulk,” Lu Mingfei greeted Hulk, “long time no see.”

"Hulk! Magic!" Hulk pounded his chest.

"Dr. Banner, you're now able to separate from the Hulk and talk to him?" Lu Mingfei turned to Banner, who was still in his original form, and asked.

"I guess so. Under the guidance of the Ancient One, I successfully separated from Hulk in spirit and was able to communicate with him," Banner said with some distress. "However, Hulk is still not very willing to listen to me."

"Banner! Listen to Hulk!" Hulk roared.

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to Hulk, Banner will listen to Hulk..." Banner quickly reassured Hulk.

After a while of calming him down, Hulk finally calmed down. Banner turned to him and said, "That's how it is. Now Hulk and I can talk directly to each other this way. And our magic is actually a little different from how the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj learn magic."

"Not quite the same?" Lu Mingfei asked curiously.

“The power of sorcerers is borrowed from powerful beings in other dimensions. These beings include cosmic gods, powerful magical creatures, energy life forms, and some were even sorcerers in the past,” the Ancient One explained. “The casting of spells requires a corresponding energy source, just as different engines require different types of fuel.”

"For example, most of the sorcerers in Kamar-Taj have a pact with Vishanti, and can borrow power from Vishanti to cast Vishanti's spells. If they learn other spells but do not have a pact with the source of the spell, they will not be able to cast the spells even if they learn them. If they forcibly use the power of Vishanti to cast other spells, the consequences will be unpredictable."

"Therefore, which magical entities to contract with is a question that mages should carefully consider," the Ancient One said slowly. "There is a huge gap in the power of magical entities. The Vishanti are among the best, but beneath such a powerful being as the Vishanti, there are many weak magical entities."