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Lungmen Image: Lungmen is a powerful, highly advanced nomadic city-state heavily inspired by real-world Hong Kong.
Lungmen was an incredibly modernized metropolis.
Due to the unique status of its Chief Executive, the city operated as an independent economic zone belonging to Yan.
Because its development was solely orchestrated by Wei Yenwu, the city was brimming with both lucrative opportunities and cutthroat challenges.
One could find corporations from every corner of Terra stationed here; just walking through the streets exposed you to the cultures of Victoria, Kazimierz, and Siracusa…
Furthermore, the LMD had become a universally recognized currency across most nations.
Even in the harsh deserts of Sargon, one could easily purchase whatever their heart desired using Lungmen’s currency.
Staring at a cityscape that was vastly different from Orario, Kai looked exactly like a wide-eyed country bumpkin, endlessly fascinated by every little thing.
If he hadn’t subconsciously drawn upon the accumulated memories of the past Sarkaz Kings, Kai—a boy who practically sprinted out of the medieval era—would have likely made an even bigger fool of himself when confronted with Lungmen’s staggering modernity.
“Ice cream…
it’s so good.
I bet Goddess would absolutely love this,” Kai mumbled happily.
“It’s a shame that ice is so hard to come by back in Orario, and heavy cream is practically a luxury good.” Wandering aimlessly through Lungmen’s bustling districts proved to be a highly enjoyable experience for Kai.
There were just so many novelties waiting to be discovered.
Right now, he was extremely thankful that he hadn’t tagged along with the Doctor and Amiya to meet the city’s Chief Executive.
Fortunately, before they parted ways, Kal’tsit had slipped him a loaded bank card; otherwise, Kai really would have been forced to just aimlessly window-shop all day.
“Stop running!
Drop your weapons and surrender immediately!
You’re completely surrounded, so give it up!
Civilians ahead, watch out!
Clear the path!” Kai was casually strolling down the avenue, licking his ice cream and savoring the sweet, cooling sensation on his tongue.
However, it seemed the great city of Lungmen wasn’t entirely peaceful after all.
Turning his head slightly, he spotted a man dressed entirely in black, complete with a dark ski mask, charging wildly in his direction.
The man was frantically waving a knife with one hand while clutching some unknown object tightly against his chest with the other.
Hot on his heels was an extremely fierce Feline officer, leading a squad of heavily armed guards in furious pursuit.
It was a rather bizarre scene.
The suspect obviously wasn’t running very fast, and his heavy, ragged breathing made it clear he was running on empty.
The officers chasing him kept shouting for him to stop, yet they deliberately maintained a very specific, cautious distance, almost as if they were carefully herding him rather than trying to tackle him.
A mugger?
No, that didn’t make sense.
The pursuing officers were clearly keeping their distance out of fear—was the object he was clutching dangerously volatile?
Kai didn’t overthink it.
He subtly expanded the radius of his ‘Divine Domain’ by a fraction and simply reached out, snatching the fleeing criminal right out of the air as easily as picking up a baby chick.
The petty pocketknife the man desperately swung couldn’t even leave a scratch on Kai’s suit.
“Watch out!!
He’s holding a volatile Originium explosive!” the fierce Feline yelled.
So that was it—a bomb.
Since they were in a crowded commercial district, the guards had opted to herd him away from dense crowds rather than risk a violent detonation.
However, no matter how dangerous an Originium explosive was, it became nothing more than a harmless dud the moment it entered Kai’s proximity.
Honestly, Kai wasn’t sure if the system had done this on purpose, but Originium was unequivocally the most lethal and valuable substance on Terra.
Yet, the system’s roulette had specifically granted him the Alatreon template; after undergoing a series of magical alterations, Originium now posed absolutely zero threat to him.
If the system was still awake, Kai definitely would have asked it.
Unfortunately, ever since he was forcibly transported to this world, that so-called system had completely crashed again.
Under the rioter’s utterly incredulous gaze, Kai effortlessly plucked the Originium bomb right out of his arms.
The only real tragedy was that Kai was forced to casually toss his half-eaten ice cream cone into a nearby trash can just to free up his hand.
“Alright, you can stop trying to set it off.
I’ve already stripped away all the Originium energy,” Kai said lazily.
“It’s literally just a slightly hard rock now.” Watching the thug helplessly thrash around in his grip, Kai just waved his hand dismissively and tossed him directly to the guards who had just sprinted up to them.
The L.G.D.
officers were undeniably well-trained; in a matter of seconds, they had the rioter completely subdued, stripped, and searched.
They quickly dug out the Originium detonator, which turned out to be hidden inside a fake tooth.
No wonder Kai had been able to clearly see the man aggressively grinding his teeth beneath the ski mask the moment he grabbed him.
So he hadn’t been angrily gnashing his teeth at Kai; he had been desperately trying to trigger the bomb.
Honestly, with how hard the guy was biting down, Kai was surprised he hadn’t completely crushed the detonator outright.
Meanwhile, the fierce Feline leader ordered her subordinates to drag the suspect back to headquarters before striding over to Kai.
“Sir, thank you for assisting the Lungmen Guard Department.
I am Senior Superintendent Swire of the L.G.D.
Here is my badge.
Please hand over the hazardous material in your possession.” “Here you go.
You guys really work hard, huh,” Kai smiled, tossing the inert rock over.
“Once again, you have our gratitude.
Could you please provide your residential address?
There is a cash reward for assisting the Guard Department in apprehending dangerous criminals.
Additionally, do you happen to work here in Lungmen?
We can also deliver an honorary pennant directly to your workplace.” A crazed criminal sprinting down a crowded street with a bomb was incredibly dangerous, so a handsome reward for acting as a good Samaritan was standard protocol.
However, it was completely meaningless to Kai, so he simply waved his hand and declined.
“I’m an operator from Rhodes Island.
I’m just part of the entourage visiting Lungmen today, so there’s really no need for the cash reward or anything like that.” “Rhodes Island?
Ah, that explains it.
You’re the Oripathy experts Chief Wei invited over,” Swire realized.
“No wonder you were able to neutralize that Originium explosive so easily.
It’s because you possess an intimate understanding of Originium, correct?” “You hit the nail on the head.
I’m not actually a doctor for Rhodes Island; I’m an operator who specializes in handling raw Originium,” Kai lied smoothly.
“Well, we owe you a great debt this time.
If that lunatic had actually managed to detonate that Originium bomb on the main street, it would have been an absolute disaster,” Swire sighed.
A lingering trace of relief colored Swire’s elegant features.
This area was Lungmen’s bustling commercial hub; while foot traffic was somewhat lighter than usual due to it being a workday, an Originium explosion would still have inevitably claimed victims.
Worse yet, anyone caught in the blast and injured by the shrapnel would undoubtedly contract Oripathy.
For innocent civilians just trying to live their daily lives, being doomed as an Infected due to a random, senseless act of terror was simply far too cruel of a fate.
“By the way, I still haven’t caught your name,” Swire noted.
“Kai Constantine.
Guard Operator for Rhodes Island.” “It’s a pleasure to officially meet you, Kai.
You can just call me Swire.
At least leave me your terminal contact info.
Since you refuse to accept the official cash reward, let me treat you to dinner later tonight once I finish processing this maniac.
Surely you won’t turn that down, will you?” Image: Swire “I…
well, alright.
I’ll look forward to dinner with you, Officer Swire.” Just as he agreed, Kai’s terminal rang at the perfect time.
Amiya’s sweet, gentle voice drifted through the speaker.
“Mr.
Kai, could I ask you to come back for a moment?
There’s something we might need your help with.” “Got it.
I’ll head back right away.” Hanging up the call, Kai cast an apologetic glance at Swire.
Getting urgently called away literal seconds after agreeing to plans with someone was undeniably awkward.
“It’s completely fine.
We still have plenty of time before the evening,” Swire waved it off gracefully.
“I’ll just call you later tonight to see if you’re free.” “Sounds like a plan.
I’ll take my leave for now then,” Kai nodded.
Watching Kai’s retreating figure, a deeply contemplative look surfaced on Swire’s face.
It wasn’t that she had suddenly fallen for him—though, admittedly, he was incredibly handsome.
What she truly wanted was to understand the precise mechanism behind the Arts he had used to instantly neutralize that highly volatile Originium explosive.
Such groundbreaking technology would be an absolute game-changer for the L.G.D., who were constantly forced to deal with deranged terrorists.
Now, it all hinged on whether she could charm some useful answers out of him over dinner tonight.
Image: Wei Yenwu ….