With his hand on his back, Bai Xian Ming walked leisurely through the busy street.
The smell of food assaulted his nose as he walked, but it did not bother him. After all, the food smelled good.
The old man hummed in a low voice. Some of the passersby recognized him and greeted him. The old man returned the greeting with a smile and a nod.
The old man really liked this neighborhood, but he did not stop at any shop, he went straight to the deeper part of Xing District.
Miao Miao Noodles and Ramens Shop: he stopped in front of this shop. Merging two buildings, Miao Miao Noodles Shop expanded and added a new menu, ramen.
"I haven't tried the ramen yet, maybe I'll try it after I meet that guy," Bai Xian Ming muttered as he looked at the crowded shop.
"Oh, speaking of him, where is he now?" The old man unlocked his smartwatch and texted Heero.
"Done. So... What..." Just as he dropped his hand, his smartwatch vibrated.
Bai Xian Ming looked down and was surprised to see a reply from Heero.
"So fast..." He murmured and opened the text. There were two words in the reply.
[Look up!]
The old man unconsciously looked up. On the roof, Heero waved at him.
"Ah, how does he know?"
Then he remembered something, "Oh, it's the security check,"
Bai Xian Ming nodded and entered the shop. He was not here to eat, so he did not join the long line.
As he entered the shop, a waitress in a yellow uniform greeted him with a sweet smile.
"Welcome to Miao Miao Noodles and Ramen Shop~,"
Bai Xian Ming was a regular customer, so the waitress recognized him.
"As usual, Grandpa Bai?" The waitress asked.
"No, not now. I want to meet your boss first," Bai Xian Ming pointed up.
*** ***
On the roof, Bai Xian Ming found Heero sitting at his usual place under the apple tree.
The old man did not approach Heero right away. He took a long breath and exhaled slowly.
This was the place with the most refreshing air in the district.
Then he scanned the surroundings. The roof had turned into a garden with various plants. This was one of his favorite places.
The Luminous Hyacinth that adorned the garden was a perfect place to relax.
Slowly, the old man walked towards Heero. Bai Xian Ming did not look at Heero but at the apple tree. At the branch of the apple tree to be exact.
There was a golden Luminous Hyacinth, larger than its normal size. The feather of the Luminous Hyacinth was golden, all gold as if made of pure gold.
The golden feather also glowed, the brightest among all the Luminous Hyacinths. The golden Luminous Hyacinth stood proudly, showing off its beautiful feather.
"Can you give it to me?" The old man asked, his eyes still glued to the bird.
"As long as it wants to follow you, why not?" Heero snickered at the old man who wanted his treasure.
Bai Xian Ming let out a small sigh and sat down next to Heero. Without beating around the bush, he expressed his purpose for coming here.
"So... what is this urgent situation you were talking about?"
"Oh, that..." Heero told the old man about the mutated child and Lord Specter.
"So, you say the Specters are now changing their target to the mutants?"
From the old man's tone, Heero could tell that he was relieved rather than alarmed.
"Isn't that good news? It means we have a little more time to breathe?" Bai Xian Ming asked in a confused tone. It was not an urgent situation, but it was good news.
Heero was speechless. Only when he saw the serious look on the old man's face, did he realize that the old man did not understand what would happen if the specters were able to subdue all the mutants out there.
Talking to an old man sure is difficult, I have to explain everything to him...
He then began to explain the implications of what would happen if the Specters subdued all the mutants. A large and powerful army would be created, what would they face if all mutants were turned into specters?
Only then did the old man realize the gravity of the information. They were safe for a little while longer, but the longer the 'safe' period, the greater the danger they would face.
Bai Xian Ming immediately stood up from the bench and shouted, "I have to go back now! We must think of a countermeasure against them!"
Before the old man could move, Heero pulled him back to the bench.
"What? That stupid conference again? Do you think this conference is useful?" Heero was speechless.
This old man would rather have a pointless discussion with the other old men than talk to him.
Heero once attended a so-called executive conference. The meeting was impractical because the executive only thought about the benefit of their troupe and not about the interest of the whole Hero League.
From that day on, he never attended the meeting again. He had learned his lesson, and once was enough. It was a waste of his time.
"Hear me out first. I'm not done talking yet!" Noticing that the old man was about to scold him, he added.
"I have a solution to this. It's not the best, but it's much better than your stupid conference,"
Bai Xian Ming's eyes shone when he heard that, "Are you going to kill the specters?"
"Have you found their hiding place and the whereabouts of the Big Boss? If not, don't bother me with a small number of specters. You can send my two disciples, and in two months, the rest of my disciples will be ready to face the ghosts," he said.
Bai Xian Ming shook his head dejectedly. After the specter attack incident, the zombie army and the zombie king disappeared from the north.
It was as if they never existed. Such a huge force was gone, but of course, they were not dead.
Therefore, the Hero League investigated the whereabouts of their natural enemy. However, the results were unsatisfactory. Except for a small group of specters here and there, they could not find their main base.
"So... what's your solution? old man asked.
First, get the mutants on our side. Instead of letting the specters capture them, it would be much better if we work with them!" Heero voices his thoughts.
But the old man gave him an unexpected reaction. He frowned at his suggestion.
Shaking his head, Bai Xian Ming replied with a wry smile, "That will be difficult! The others won't agree,"
"Why do you need them to agree? We will carry out the plan ourselves if they don't agree,"
"They" in the old man's mouth were the other executives.
"As for the mutant side, I have a way to make them join us. I have a way to cure their mutation. We can use that to make them join us,"
"You found the cure?" Bai Xian Ming opened his eyes wide. All the while, the crisis remained in his mind.
"Didn't you hear me? I found a mutated child and cured her mutation. She was the one who told me about Lord Specter!"
'Sure enough, talking to old people is hard...'
"Then the plan is feasible if you can cure them!" Bai Xian Ming nodded and added with a broad smile, "For the first time, you bring me the good news."
The old man tapped Heero's shoulder with a big smile on his face.
"And the second solution?" The old man looked at the young man greedily.
Heero rolled his eyes and looked at his smartwatch. He checked the time.
"Oh, it's about time," Heero stood up and smiled at the old man.
Somehow, the smile gave Bai Xian Ming a bad feeling.
"I have to go now, Grandpa Bai~ Can you help me protect my family?"
Before the old man could answer, Heero continued with a happy smile, "Hoho... As expected from the boss of the Hero League. He's always ready to help his people,"
"I'm counting on you, Grandpa Bai~ I'm going~," Heero gave the dazed old man a light hug and turned around.
Only after Heero was about to jump off, the old man snap out of his daze and asked, "Wait! Where are you going?"
"First dungeon!" The young man jumped off anyway, but an answer echoed behind him.
Heero was on his way to the first dungeon. He was going to catch the bullet train to Jilin City, where the first dungeon was located.
*** ***
Jilin City
When Heero got off the train, two women were waiting for him.
Bai Xin Yue and Kang Seo-Yeon had big smiles on their faces when the man stepped off the train.
"You're finally here~,"
Heero nodded with a smile, wondering how they knew he was coming.
"Ah, must be the old man...
"Are you going to check out our training?" Bai Xin Yue asked.
Heero's twenty apprentices were training in the first dungeon. With how rich the ki was inside the dungeon, it would help them in their training.
"Yes, but I will check something else first,"
"Oh, what is it?" Kang Seo-Yeon asked curiously.
"Nothing. Just a routine check of the dungeon, to make sure that no strong beast has come out,"
Heero covered his investigation with that since he had no way to explain about Dramonia.
Then the three of them went to the first dungeon.
Heero investigated the dungeon for two hours. He found nothing suspicious.
Standing at the edge of the land, facing the pitch black void, Heero muttered frustrated, "There's nothing here... There's no... Eh!"
Blinking, Heero felt a slight movement in the void in front of him. He felt it, not saw it.
Staring deep into the void, his eyes began to change from blue to purple. Then he found something, a fiercely blazing red Ki in the void.
Red Ki was identical to Beast Ki, which meant that there was a beast hiding in the void.
"Huhuhu... No wonder I can't find anything on the land, that's where you're hiding," Heero chuckled as he spoke in Dramonia.
But he got no answer. If someone saw this, they might think Heero had gone crazy, talking to an empty void.
"Come out! You can't hide from my eyes!" Heero pointed to his purple pupils.
"I say come out! Or do you want me to use force, Niadin the Void Dragon!"
After the name was called, bright red blood pupils appeared. The pupils looked at Heero and Heero stared at the pupils as well.