Chapter Forty-Four: Who Are You Calling Crazy? Me.

"Setting up the altar? What altar?"

This Chinese term was still somewhat obscure to these foreign friends, but they were much more familiar with the word "divination."

In the society of the hybrid race, divination-like arts were not entirely absent; in fact, before the Middle Ages, divination had been extremely popular, standing as an occult science on par with alchemy.

It was only in modern times that the renowned master alchemist Nicolas Flamel proved that only hybrids possessing Spiritual Slates or abilities akin to the "Prophet" could observe the future to any degree.

Coupled with the development of modern disciplines like psychology and behavioral science, this pseudo-"swindle" that had been popular for thousands of years ultimately fell into complete decline, surviving only in fragments within the history textbooks of hybrids.

Lu Mingfei's astonishing remark startled even Finger, who had just "scared" himself into hiding beneath the dining table. His large head poked out from the drooping tablecloth:

"Oh, Junior, my dear brother, this is hardly the time to be losing your mind, is it?"

Caesar had already patched through a call to a certain professor. Hearing Lu Mingfei's words, he was forced to turn his head, his brow furrowed into a tight knot as he asked in disbelief:

"Lu Mingfei, what did you just say? You want to divine?"

"Otherwise? Do you expect me to run all over the school looking for—"

Now the school was being invaded by an unknown number of dangerous dragons of unknown bloodlines, and Nono's life or death hung in the balance. Instead of leading everyone to hunt down the dragons, this newcomer possessing the heaven-defying Spiritual Slate "Time Zero" wanted to engage in divination?

Caesar spoke coldly, cutting Lu Mingfei off, his tone as hard as iron:

"Then you contact the professors, lead the Student Union members, and await the school's orders. I am going to save Nono."

Lu Mingfei shrugged:

"As you wish."

Lu Mingfei did not consider himself to possess the microscopic observational power or the iron will required to fight guerrilla warfare against mythological creatures capable of mental control. Since they understood mental manipulation, they might very well understand psychological invisibility—they were fiercely troublesome.

Behind Caesar, the doors of the Platinum Lodge were vaguely visible. The night had grown completely dark, and rain had begun to fall at some point, a faint glow rendering the rainy night chaotic and murky.

The rain caressed the roads, gardens, and greenery, making a rustling sound, as if some invisible monster were lurking within this chaotic rainy night.

"I am currently on the line with Professor Schneider. You take over his next deployment."

Without hesitation, he tossed his exorbitantly expensive custom smartphone toward Lu Mingfei, then strode into the rainy night that seemed poised to devour anyone who entered.

This was a small trick by Caesar, handing the leadership of the Student Union members over to the eccentric yet powerful Lu Mingfei rather than one of his own department heads, hoping it might slightly rein in Lu Mingfei's actions.

However, Lu Mingfei showed no intention of reaching out to catch the phone. He stared fixedly at the pure white dining table, wondering what was passing through his mind.

Just as the phone was about to crash to the floor, Finger dove beneath the table with a high-difficulty save akin to a volleyball player, caught the phone, handed it to Lu Mingfei, and grumbled:

"Junior, my living savior, you..."

"Just take it."

Lu Mingfei had no intention of accepting the phone at all. After Finger tried handing it over a few times in vain, he helplessly pressed the phone to his ear:

"Hello, hello, Professor Schneider, who am I? It's me, Finger."

"Where is Caesar? Uh, Caesar—Boss Caesar probably went to the restroom. He told me to first—"

"Hold your position, alright, I understand..."

Finger held the phone high, straightening his back with the demeanor of a sycophant, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"The school's order is for us to hold our position at the Platinum Lodge and await further instructions!"

The people inside the Platinum Lodge looked at one another in dismay.

This order truly made no sense. The Platinum Lodge was the activity center of the Student Union and lacked weapons and equipment; when the dragons actually attacked, did the school expect them to fight the intruders with dinner forks and table knives?

A male student raised his hand and asked:

"Finger, didn't Professor Schneider mention letting us go to the Equipment Department—"

"You, come over and clear the table."

Lu Mingfei imperiously interrupted the male student of the Student Union, then pointed to a plump, cute girl sitting nearest to him,

"You, go fetch me a cup of clear water."

Both the young man and young woman looked somewhat bewildered upon hearing Lu Mingfei's command. Eventually, the young man, whose temper was a bit shorter, stepped forward:

"Right now, we—"

"Still not going?"

Lu Mingfei frowned, his gaze cold and dark.

The plump, cute girl pulled back the young man who still wanted to reason with Lu Mingfei, and Finger hurried forward to smooth things over, saying:

"Junior, little chores like this can be handled by Senior, Senior will take care of it..."

Finger was tall and strong, and quite capable when it came to physical tasks. He quickly cleared the plates and condiment bottles from the table in front of Lu Mingfei, and by the time he finished, the female Student Union member had placed a cup of clear water on the table.

For some inexplicable reason, Lu Mingfei felt a surge of urgency and irritability. First, he rapidly rubbed his forehead with both hands, then he stood up and paced back and forth, suddenly leaped in place a few times, and finally smashed his head against the white-clothed dining table!

He lacked inspiration!

Although divination was not a spell that could only be used during moments of "sudden inspiration," situations like this—where he hesitated over which divination method to use and which deity to pray to—were exceedingly rare.

From a psychological perspective, this might be called something like decision fatigue, but to a seasoned diviner, it meant the present moment was entirely unsuited for divination.

If it's unsuited, then don't divine!

Lu Mingfei scanned the situation inside the Platinum Lodge. Aside from the attendants, dancers, and musicians controlled by unknown figures, there were over thirty people with the capacity to think and move.

Perhaps this wasn't exhaustion of his inspiration, but rather a "divine revelation"?

The corners of Lu Mingfei's mouth suddenly curved upward, his expression turning pleasant as he spoke amiably to Finger:

"Senior, go turn off all the lights in the Platinum Lodge. Don't leave a single one on."

Finger's mouth twitched:

"Junior, Senior feels obliged to remind you that the night vision of dragon species far exceeds that of hybrids."

Lu Mingfei had no desire to explain his motives; he merely instructed:

"Go on. If there's a master control room, cut the power directly. If not, get a few more people to help. Make it quick."

Finally, a Student Union member could no longer hold back, voicing his dissatisfaction loudly:

"Are we really going to follow the orders of a madman?! If the dragons are invading, he might get us all killed!"

After that male student expressed his discontent, a wave of murmuring broke out within the Platinum Lodge; clearly, he was not the only one unhappy with Lu Mingfei.

"Madman, speaking of me?"

Foul magic swirled in Lu Mingfei's eyes as he swept his gaze across the male student who had just called him a madman.

Screaming—there must have been a thousand mouths screaming!

Aside from the caster Lu Mingfei and the target of the spell, the poor male student, no one else knew what they had witnessed.

The male student suddenly let out a high-pitched, blood-chilling scream, clutched his forehead and dropped to his knees, bashing his head against the white marble floor tiles. His female companion tried to pull him back, only to be violently shaken off and knocked to the ground!

The Platinum Lodge fell instantly silent, save for the wretched screaming and head-bashing of the male student.

Lu Mingfei withdrew his gaze and said flatly:

"See, that makes you look much more like a madman than I do. Finger, go on, cut the power and turn off the lights."