Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 593, Page 592: "Wedding Organizer"

Lumière Street.

Li Busi watched as Xu Wenli checked his arrangements once again.

"Tomorrow is an auspicious day, a perfect time for a grand wedding," Xu Wenli said, straightening up and looking at the overcast sky above.

"Li Meng will be coming over to take a look later," Li Busi said.

Li Meng was his and Li Miaosheng's father. He was a researcher at the Pure White Society whose achievements were not particularly high, or rather, whose achievements outside of research were higher than those of research itself.

Li Meng was an old friend of Xu Wenli, and the second-in-command of Xu Wenli's research team on the "hidden corpses" was Li Meng. However, what was more remarkable about this man was that he seized an opportunity to seduce a woman from the central government, thereby gaining important responsibilities despite his mediocre performance.

Although Li Meng is now divorced, the reason, in a sense, is because he used himself and his child as experiments, but that's not entirely the case.

Li Busi had cold interpersonal relationships from childhood to adulthood. After becoming the "Dead Crown Prince," he spent most of his time being handed over to the Academy for special training. When he was close to maturity, he used his mother's connections to contact the Central Government, which attracted attention and led to his testing. He then transferred to the Prism Unit, leaving behind his life of being studied and becoming a warrior fighting for Dadu.

Incidentally, it also brought a large sum of research funding to my father.

The cold child eventually became warm funding.

Xu Wenli turned his head in confusion: "What is he doing here? Our research topics are different now, we've long since gone our separate ways."

Although he thought it was normal for a father to come and visit his daughter on her wedding day, Li Busi knew that Li Meng certainly hadn't come for that reason.

Li Meng and Xu Wenli are old friends. Although there is a certain age gap, Li Meng and Xu Wenli hit it off when they first joined the society because they shared the same ideals. It is a very happy thing to have a like-minded and talented person in the society.

But just like the unpredictable moods of these eccentric geniuses, shared ideas may suddenly diverge at some point, and after the initial fervor, they may suddenly become like strangers.

That's the situation for both of them, but Li Busi didn't understand it very well.

"His report stated that he came to see your research findings and, incidentally, share his latest findings."

"Hmph." Xu Wenli snorted coldly, clearly not thinking there was anything worth sharing.

However, if someone wants to come, this is the Pure White Society, and there's no reason why no one can come. Xu Wenli can only ignore it when the time comes.

"Li Miaosheng seems a bit too submissive. She might have some ulterior motive. You should keep an eye on her," Li Busi warned again. Although their time together was brief, that strange younger sister had indeed left a deep impression on him—a bad one.

Xu Wenli nodded heavily, but it was unclear whether he had actually listened or not.

Li Busi picked up his phone; a new message had appeared: [Fan Zhonghong has arrived on Lumière Street.]

Fan Zhonghong is back?

Li Busi frowned. He had mysteriously run away before, but now he had returned. Did that mean he was confident that he could break into the Pure White Academy and take Li Miaosheng away?
There were previous reports that Fan Zhonghong had been spotted in Xixi Keke, and he had just sent people to investigate, only to find that the other party had already arrived on Lumière Street so quickly.

This speed of movement... could it be a surprise attack?

He made a direct call and asked, "Where is Fan Zhonghong now? Who did he bring with him?"

"Sir, he should be heading towards the research institute! The people he's with... I've sent you the information!"

Li Busi glanced at her. Lin Yilin? He didn't recognize her, but... how did this person have a special search warrant?!
"Stop them!" Li Busi instinctively sensed something was wrong, even though the information showed that Lin Yilin was just a very good-looking person in a law firm, without anything particularly outstanding.

"Zhonghong is back?" Xu Wenli turned around.

Li Busi remained silent, only looking at Xu Wenli.

Xu Wenli shook his head helplessly: "Even if it's you, be careful. He won't do anything he's not sure of."

Li Busi turned and left. He walked quickly through the research institute.

"You damned prince, why are you in such a hurry?" At this moment, a voice called out to him, and two people walked out from around the corner ahead.

Li Busi raised an eyebrow: "What are you doing here?"

The man and woman who appeared before us were the lamplighters.

The woman had short, wavy blonde hair that reached her shoulders and wore a white dress, while the man was tall and imposing, wearing a white suit and sporting a slicked-back hairstyle. He stood silently beside her.

Cheva and Deville, the lamplighters mostly act alone, as this is the only way to maximize their power. Although there is no explicit rule against lamplighters teaming up, everyone abides by this rule.

If they were to stick together, they might be ridiculed, and the Lighthouse would usually use missions as an excuse to separate the light-bearers who were supposed to be working together. Only these two were different; the Lighthouse tacitly allowed them to act together, which must be due to something special.

Therefore, Li Busi was also able to recognize these two.

There shouldn't be anything on the streets of Lumière that requires the lamplighter to return and be stationed there recently. Even the rally next week won't have much to do with Lumière.

"The chief believes that Xu Wenli's research is of great significance to Dadu and that it is necessary to eliminate the danger as much as possible, so he sent us to maintain order at the scene."

“Your chief…”

Who else could be called the chief by the lamplighter, besides the "immortal lighthouse"?

This matter originally belonged to the Pure White Society, and his presence in the Prism Unit seemed somewhat out of place. This was only because he was a close associate, and the Central Committee attached great importance to this matter, so they sent him to facilitate it.

However, Li Busi originally thought that having him was enough.

"Alright, having you guys as insurance isn't bad." But mature people quickly accepted this, and Li Busi continued forward on his own.

"So where are you going?" Cheva asked in a lighthearted tone.

“There’s something that might interfere with the wedding. You guys stay here and I’ll handle it,” Li Busi explained simply.

"Do you need Deville to come with you?" Cheva asked.

Li Busi glanced at the silent Deville, then, remembering Xu Wenli's instructions and Li Miaosheng's sarcasm, changed his mind before speaking: "Okay, thank you."

Cheva nodded to Deville, who silently took a few steps forward to Lee's side.

Indeed, the relationship between these two was rather peculiar, with one lamplighter so obedient to the other.

Indeed, there are some less clear-cut hierarchical distinctions within the Lamplighters, generally stemming from their positions. For example, the "Guardians," who are stationed in a particular location for extended periods, are among the most common type of Lamplighters. The "Tide Riders," who hold key positions within the Tide Army and whose abilities have been thoroughly honed in combat, are positions that only the more mature and powerful Lamplighters can fill.

Further up the hierarchy are the very few. These are the "Wanderers," who are completely free and even have a great deal of autonomy over their own actions. The source of this privilege is varied, and it may be due to the requirements of certain missions or the appreciation of the "Eternal Lighthouse."

The distinction between these three groups isn't actually that clear-cut. It's merely a slight differentiation within the lighthouse based on their modes of action, and doesn't entirely represent a difference in strength. Some "watchmen" are also extremely powerful, surpassing even the "roamers," but they are simply single-mindedly focused on their duty and have no interest in anything else. However, there is an objective difference in the number and general strength of these three groups, progressing from the beginning to the end.

Cheva and Deville are equal "roamers" and have been dispatched by the "Immortal Lighthouse" for a long time.

That's why Li Bu Si believed that Deville's obedience to Cheva was definitely due to the special nature of their personal relationship.

What are the personal relationships between the lamplighters?

It sounded a bit strange, but Li Busi had no time to investigate. His immediate priority was to get rid of Fan Zhonghong, this thorn in his side.

Li Busi disliked this "prospective brother-in-law" whom Li Miaosheng kept praising.

(End of this chapter)