"How is it? Mood any lighter, like a kite catching wind?"

Mo Zitong looked at Tang Coco with lantern-bright hope, like a child awaiting praise.

Tang Coco didn’t even look. "No." The word fell like a pebble in a cold pond.

"Uu… so cold," she whimpered, like frost on glass.

She slid a glance at Mo Zitong, sighed like wind through reeds, then took her hand.

"Come on. Let’s head back, like leaves returning to shade."

"…"

Mo Zitong watched Tang Coco’s back, stunned for a beat, then smiled like spring sunlight, thinking:

"This one’s really tsundere, prickly like a cactus with hidden bloom."

Suddenly, Tang Coco’s voice drifted forward like snow: "Today… thanks."

"It’s fine. You helped me, so I’ll help you, like hands crossing a bridge."

"…"

"What’s your plan next, like a map spread under moonlight?"

"Plan for what, when the road’s foggy?"

"This event—day four only, ten more waves to ride."

"…"

"Just let it flow, student style, like water following stones."

"…"

Mo Zitong stared speechlessly, silence heavy as rain. Student style? The coming days won’t stay calm.

After parting from Mo Zitong, Tang Coco reached the dorm. She pushed the door; a pink blur flew like a sparrow.

"Big Sis Coco! You finally came back, like the sun breaking clouds."

Beibei wrapped her up, her little head bouncing like a spring.

"Uh…" The sound wobbled like jelly.

"You’re okay, right? Chen Ying’s concern glowed like a lamp."

"I’m fine. See? All good, like a straightened reed."

"Right, Coco-jie, I’ve got good news, sweet as ripe fruit."

Beibei let go, her smile bright as candied haw.

"What?" The word flicked like a minnow.

"Our dorm scored an Elite Mentor slot, like catching a golden carp."

"…"

Beibei was giddy, joy bubbling like soda.

Tang Coco had expected it; no ripple disturbed her pond.

She wore a happy mask, moon-smooth, since these naive hearts missed the school’s shadows.

"Really? That’s great," she said, like fireflies lighting dusk.

"We didn’t expect it; morning finals got canceled, like a tide pulling back. Our opponent dorm just forfeited."

"…"

Tang Coco sensed that shadow; those Abnormals felt off, like masks—maybe not students at all.

"But it kinda makes sense, like bruised peaches after a storm."

"Yesterday Coco-jie hammered them hard; they’re likely still cracked like ice."

"Shame though—Coco was strong, and victory slipped like a fish."

Yuanyuan sat on the floor mat, licking a lollipop like a lazy cat.

"No helping it. Our goal’s met; that’s enough, like a lantern lit."

"Mm, true!" The nod bobbed like a buoy.

"Let’s celebrate tonight, like sparklers in the dark."

"Yay, yay!" Beibei burst like popcorn.

Mention food, and Beibei lit up like fireworks.

"Coco, you free tonight, like a clear sky?"

"Mm, tonight works," Tang Coco nodded, light as willow leaves.

Knock-knock-knock—

Suddenly, the dorm door thudded like a drum.

Chen Ying opened it, finding the first-floor supervisor, stiff as a post.

"Is student Tang Coco here?" His voice scraped like chalk.

"Yeah, she’s here. Coco, it’s for you," Chen Ying said, steady as stone.

"I’m Tang Coco. What’s up?" Her tone was calm as tea.

"The principal just called; wait downstairs soon, like a falcon on a perch."

"Hm?" Curiosity pricked like a thorn.

"What does the principal want with Coco-jie, like a summons in fog?"

"Who knows," Yuanyuan said, quiet as moss.

"Okay, got it," Tang Coco said, mind stirring like storm clouds.

——————

Half an hour earlier, administration building, principal’s office, air tight as glass.

"Chairman Chen, you went too far this time," Murong Ling said, voice cold as steel.

Murong Ling sat, gaze hard as ice on the shadowed leader across.

A suited youth stood beside him, still as a sentry.

"Don’t worry, Principal Murong. We have a plan," the chairman said, tone dry as dust.

"A plan?" Her glare flashed like lightning.

"Yanjing University can train Abnormals and offer a base, like a forge under watch."

"But you may not endanger any student’s life, a red line like fire."

"And you may not use students as test subjects, like mice in a maze."

"Besides, your target this time is that exchange student, a lone swan."

"How do I explain this to Ninghai, with waves rising?"

Murong Ling’s anger flared like wildfire.

"Explain what? Ninghai doesn’t know," he said, dismissive as smoke.

"She’s just a rare mechanical-type Abnormal, a cog without a castle."

"We checked—no power behind her. Don’t be so cautious, Principal, like a river over stones."

"Heh. Checked? With your antique intel network?" Her laugh iced the room.

"Let me ask you: she’s the sole heiress of Chenghua International. Did you know?" The question fell like a hammer.

"Chenghua International?" Surprise fluttered like a moth.

"Yes. Chenghua International. Even outsiders have heard the name; it rings like a bell."

"They just rolled out civilian Armor. Officials are testing cooperation, like bridges forming over rivers."

"And you? You nearly got their heiress killed, like tipping a lantern into oil."

"…"

The old man fell silent, his ignorance hanging like fog.

"Chenghua is strong. Almost no one can mimic or surpass it, like a mountain above plain."

"Think why: behind Chenghua there must be an Abnormal power, like thunder behind clouds."

"If their heiress gets hurt here, the fallout won’t be yours alone to bear, like an avalanche racing down."

"Hmph." His pride cracked like dry clay.

He snorted, rose, and moved to leave, like a bull pawing dust.

Suddenly Murong Ling’s voice rang behind him, like a bell on a cliff:

"Don’t underestimate her; her strength runs deeper than you’ve seen, like a river under ice."

"Don’t lift a stone only to crush your own foot—her warning snapped like a twig."

"She’s of Huaguo. Don’t make her lose faith in her homeland, like a bird barred from sky."

"Or you official bodies will regret it, one day, like thunder arriving late."

"…"

Bang!

The old man slammed the door and left, anger trailing like smoke.

"Alas…" Murong Ling sighed, like autumn wind through reeds.

She picked up the phone, like lifting a shell to her ear.

"Is this the supervisor of Dorm Building 3?" Her voice was clear as water.

"I’m Principal Murong Ling. Please call exchange student Tang Coco, like a note sent by dove."

"I’ll wait downstairs shortly, like a lantern at the gate."

Ten minutes later, Murong Ling drove to Tang Coco’s dorm, headlights slicing like silver.

That white silhouette already waited below, still as moonlit snow.

"Long wait?" She rolled down the window, smile soft as spring rain.

"Hello, Principal Murong. It’s fine. I just came down," she said, smooth as jade.

"Hop in. Dinner’s on me," she said, like a banner in breeze.

"Mm?" Her eyebrow lifted like a feather.

"Come on, get in~" Her coo was sweet as honey.

"Oh…" Tang Coco climbed in, puzzled like a kitten.

The Benz glided through Yanjing’s streets like a black swan.

Tang Coco glanced at Murong Ling and asked, curiosity pricking like thorns:

"You… needed me for something?" Her voice was a whisper over glass.

"I’ll tell you in a bit. What do you want to eat?" she asked, like offering a warm bowl.

"Um…" Her pause hovered like mist.

"Don’t be formal with me. Off campus, I’m not the principal," she said, like shedding a cloak.

"Oh. I’m not that hungry," she said, like a quiet pond.

"Then let’s grab a drink," she said, like rain in a dry season.

Murong Ling led Tang Coco to a café, lamps glowing like fireflies.

They took a private booth and ordered drinks, like two boats in a cove.

"How’s it? Are the wounds better?" Her care warmed like coals.

"Mm. Those small cuts are nothing," she said, like gnats on armor.

"I’m sorry. You noticed yesterday’s mess, right…" Her regret fell like rain.

"What mess?" Tang Coco played dumb, mist like a veil.

"It’s okay. I know what they’re doing. You can speak plainly," she said, like clearing fog from a path.

"Do you know why Yanjing University was allowed to open an Abnormal Academy?" She spoke like unlocking a gate.

"No idea…" Her answer drifted like a leaf.

"Because of that tree…" Her words pointed like a tower in mist.

"A tree?" Memory rustled like leaves.

The back hill’s tree had carved the deepest mark this week, like a scar on stone.

"Could it be the one behind the hill…"

"Yes. That one," she said, certainty clicking like a latch.

"What’s special about it?" Her question rose like smoke.

"That tree appeared twenty-one years ago," she said, like a comet over night.

Back then, Yanjing University was small; the back hill was barren, like bones under sky.

An expedition found the tree up there, like finding a pearl. Guess what happened after?

Tang Coco shook her head, like a leaf in wind.

"Two weeks later, everyone in that expedition became Abnormals, like sparks catching straw."

"…"

Tang Coco froze, shock like a cold wave.

Officials sealed the hill and researched, like nets over a pond.

They learned not everyone who touches the tree becomes an Abnormal; success isn’t 100%, like dice under a sleeve.

Later, to create more Abnormals, they expanded Yanjing University and built this Abnormal Academy, like raising a fortress.

At first everything stayed controllable, like a tamed horse.

They made around two hundred Abnormals, like stars counted at dusk.

But in recent years, Huaguo’s authorities lost control of the tree, like reins slipping.

Across Huaguo, Abnormals keep appearing, like mushrooms after rain.

Few are truly powerful, but trouble spreads like weeds.

"Twenty-one years… Wait! That’s the year I was born… wait…" Her thoughts flashed like lightning.

Suddenly, a thought surged in Tang Coco like thunder.

"My Anomalous Energy came from the me in another world, like a river crossing worlds."

"The time it reached this world matches the tree’s birth, like twin bells."

"People who touch the tree become Abnormals… modified… granted Anomaly Power… strength blooming like seeds with teeth."

"Could that tree be the handiwork of the Clock of Power, like a puppeteer behind curtains!?"

Tang Coco shaped a wild guess, a spark in a storm.

"If so, it wants to break this world’s balance, creating Abnormals that defy this world’s laws, like wolves in a flock."

"What are you thinking?" Murong Ling’s gaze was a quiet lake.

"Has Huaguo’s official side considered destroying the tree? Abnormals bring a lot of trouble, like thorns in silk."

"Of course they tried. They strapped ten tons of explosives to it, like thunder harnessed."

Useless. Worse, the blasted leaves rode the wind far away, like spores on a gale, causing greater impact.

"So later, officials chose to use it, to create more Abnormals, building Abnormal battalions, like forging spears."

"But there’s still a problem officials can’t crack, like a knot in wood."

"What problem?" Her voice was soft as rain.

"The roots beneath the tree wrap the entire mountaintop, like coils around a heart."

"You can’t flatten the mountain, like trying to iron thunder."

"Officials suspect those roots protect something buried in the earth, like a dragon guarding a pearl."

"Something?" The question hung like smoke.

"Mm. They don’t know what. No probe can see inside," she said, like blind eyes on stone.

"I think maybe a demon sleeps there…" Her voice dropped like embers under ash.

"Something that births Abnormals to disrupt society, like locusts chewing fields."

"I doubt it’s a beautiful angel like the tree; more likely claws than wings."

"…"

Tang Coco fell silent, surprise ringing like a bell—Murong Ling’s grasp almost matched the truth.

"Why tell me all this…" Her words floated like dandelion.

"To show my sincerity," Murong Ling said, smile curled like a crescent.

"Sincerity?" The word gleamed like silver.

"I want to work with you—and with the Abnormal power behind you," she said, like joining boats on a river.

"…"