Chapter 365
Chapter 365
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 365 – Lan Qi’s Return to the Imperial Capital Helrom
This time, Lan Qi and the young lady of the Milford family naturally didn’t pay any special attention to one another—just a brief crossing of gazes.
Lan Qi was sure the young lady had seen him, but it was obvious she was extremely wary of the Son of Annihilation.Her eyes even showed a hint of avoidance.
Lan Qi smiled and sighed.
Perhaps they might meet again someday at the Protos Royal Magic Academy in the Imperial Capital, Helrom—but by then, he shouldn’t be frightening them anymore.
Although they hadn’t had much interaction before, seeing the young lady’s misfortunes somehow gave Lan Qi a strong sense of déjà vu.
Every time he saw Huperion, it was either because someone was trying to kill her—or was on the way to kill her.
But this time, Lan Qi didn’t sense the presence of Great Poet of Love on the young lady, and her appearance was completely different from the disguise Talia had given Huperion before they set off.
He was probably overthinking it.
Still, if Huperion really wanted to disguise herself as a count’s daughter to infiltrate the Protos Empire, she would definitely change to a completely new face.She would also need a skilled card maker who understood demonic magic script to remake her [Transformation: Human] card.As for the Great Poet of Love card—which didn’t belong to Huperion and could not be stored in her soul space—it would have to be sealed and disguised as some other item just to get through the security inspection at the Box Mountain Province.
Sid’s finger suddenly poked Lan Qi, interrupting his thoughts.
Lan Qi turned his gaze toward her, surprised and confused.
“Why were you staring at that girl for so long?”
It was probably because Lan Qi was dressed up as the Son of Annihilation that Sid was unusually irritated by his current look—even the poke was more forceful than usual, showing no mercy.
“Was I?”
“You see, there were two girls on the platform just now.But instead of asking me ‘which one,’ your first reaction was to explain yourself.”
“…”
Lan Qi was speechless for a moment.
Then he chuckled and replied casually,“She just reminded me of an old friend, but it’s probably not such a coincidence.”
Meanwhile—
On the opposite platform, with the tracks now empty before her, Huperion watched the departing train.
She had just accidentally looked at someone very dangerous!
At the same time, she realized that the Son of Annihilation had left.
But in that moment, she had seen that figure smile faintly.His calm and steady demeanor almost made her feel as though fortune always followed him—for a brief second, she had the strange feeling that he looked… familiar.
“It… shouldn’t be, right…”
Huperion murmured as she stared at the distant train.
She didn’t dare imagine such a surreal and absurd scenario—that Lan Qi had somehow replaced the Son of Annihilation,and then just so happened to help her at this very station.
But—
For a moment, she didn’t know whether to trust logic or her intuition…
Huperion stood quietly on the platform.Her skirt swayed gently in the breeze, which stirred her silky, satin-like hair.She pressed the windblown strands back with her hand.
The train roared as it departed her sight, carrying away mist and fading noise, heading toward the distant horizon.
If it’s him/her, she thought, we’ll definitely meet again in Helrom.
Inside the train and on the platform, the two figures thought the same thing from different worlds.
…
…
The next day.
Central region of the Protos Empire — Imperial Capital Helrom.
The magitek train slowed to a steady stop at the southern station of Helrom as the slanted afternoon sunlight of spring cast warm hues over the tracks.
Lan Qi and Sigrid retrieved their luggage from the cargo section and emerged from the crowd of the station hall, passing through the heavily guarded checkpoint.
Their footsteps were brisk as they navigated through the rush-hour crowd at four o’clock in the afternoon.
As they stepped out of the station, the fresh air mixed with natural floral scents hit them.Compared to the cold northern provinces, here one could truly feel the breath of spring.
On both sides of the streets, lush greenery and towering old buildings merged together, blurring the line between fantasy and reality.
“Helrom always has this dreamy feeling about it. Even I think it’s a nice place to live.”
Lan Qi was pulling a suitcase with one hand and holding a cup of afternoon tea with the other as he spoke with emotion.
No matter how many times he came to this city, the deeper he went, the more fascinated he became with its increasingly fantastical scenery—beauty one couldn’t find even in paintings.
“I think you’d be a great city planner.You might even make it better.”
Sigrid replied, casually chatting with him as they walked.
They had switched to another train midway and changed their appearances during the transfer.
Between the glittering skyscrapers bathed in golden sunlight, flowers bloomed like waves in the floating gardens.Even from afar, one could hear the plants singing and see the faint sparkle of starlight from the floating flora, adding an even more leisurely touch to the afternoon atmosphere.
Boss Cat was hiding silently in Lan Qi’s shadow.It had been listening to the two of them chatter non-stop the entire way.
According to what Talia had said, when she and Lan Qi traveled from South Mantina to Ikerite, they had barely spoken to each other at all.
Now, whenever Boss Cat thought back to Lan Qi’s time with Talia, and then compared it with Lan Qi’s interactions with Sid right now—
Using the control variable method…Could it really be Talia’s problem?
“Once we get back to the academy and rest for a bit, I have to head to the Helrom Broadcasting Corporation.”
Lan Qi told Sigrid.
The interview program was scheduled for tonight, so he had to get to the Helrom Broadcasting Corporation (HBC) headquarters early.
It was still fairly early now, but later he would have to leave Sigrid alone at the Protos Royal Magic Academy.
“No problem. Just drop me off at Gloria’s place.”
Sigrid nodded.
“She’ll be okay?”
Lan Qi asked after a moment’s thought.
He remembered having seen this Gloria in Associate Professor Sido’s history class once—she seemed to have been a little bored and had come to observe him.She was also Sigrid’s trusted aide who stayed at the Academy.
But during this trip, Lan Qi had helped the Bishop of Annihilation test the loyalty of their subordinates, and he had detected a shocking number of potential traitors—enough to make even the Bishop despair at the state of humanity.
So he couldn’t help but worry whether loyalty would hold up under great temptation, or if it might be swayed by treacherous individuals.
“Don’t worry. I practically raised her myself. I know her inside and out.”
Sigrid replied with confidence.
Back when she was posing as a student at the Protos Royal Magic Academy, she had spent most of her time living at Gloria’s house.Gloria was one of Sigrid’s most trusted subordinates.
Gloria herself was a powerful student—ranked tenth among the third-years—and owned a private residence at the Academy.Later, Lan Qi had conducted a thorough sweep for potential Resurrection Church infiltrators in the Academy, and because Gloria was an ally, he allowed her to remain there.
Lan Qi said nothing, lost in thought.Sigrid looked at him, about to reassure him further of Gloria’s reliability—
Only to notice the confused look in his eyes.
It was as though he was trying to figure out whether she was under thirty… or well over thirty.
That made Sigrid laugh in exasperation.She sped up her pace, leaving Lan Qi behind and refusing to speak to him any further.