In another world, Lu Mingfei is learning card making.

From that moment on, history underwent a dramatic change... Pshaw, no.

It should be said that once a being of a sufficiently high status appears in the world, its presence will inevitably attract everyone's attention.

For example, a fire dragon that appears for only a moment, even if it does nothing but stays there, will cause disturbances in the surrounding elements, which will eventually be received by a detection device set up as an ordinary antenna.

The researchers were just at work when they were startled by the bizarre uplift and downfall of the disturbance.

"Quick! Report immediately!" The research team was in complete chaos—

They had encountered situations where readings increased before. In more modern terms, the power of "words of power" doesn't arise or dissipate out of thin air; it depends on the surrounding high-energy elements.

In places with high elemental energy levels (what we would call "blessed lands" in ancient terms), even ordinary incantations can possess the power to move mountains and sever rivers; in places with low elemental energy levels, even the high-risk incantation "Monarch's Flame" can only serve as a lighter...

So under what circumstances would the energy level of this high-energy element rise and fall?

"An ancient dragon must have been reborn!" The team leader straightened his clothes, striking a pose of heroic sacrifice. "And, moreover, it's a dragon that at least survived the most recent human-dragon war!"

"That's why it significantly increases its energy readings the moment it hatches, and then suppresses them again."

"Next, it will seek out inspectors like us to ensure that the secret of its creation is not discovered by others."

"Comrades, the nation is testing us! At least until follow-up troops arrive, we must confirm that this testing station can collect all the information it's capable of collecting!"

The crowd didn't whisper among themselves; they simply lined up spontaneously and straightened their clothes. The group leader surveyed the group, said nothing more, and simply gave the order:

"Keep working!"

—Then this work went on for three days, until their mentality of "leaving a good spark before they die" disappeared, until the people sent by their superiors to take over the testing station arrived, and only then did they finally get out of this busy work, their bodies completely exhausted...

"Thank you all for your hard work." The young man carrying a huge backpack flipped through the many notes they had left behind during this time, and gave the order: "We're here to change shifts."

"This unexpected event has indeed caused some psychological trauma to everyone... but you can relax now."

"Oh, and don't forget the confidentiality agreement—don't tell anyone else about this."

Upon hearing this, everyone at the testing station erupted in celebration, but the team leader remained calm. He asked, "Then... what will happen to this city?"

"What will happen? Nothing much, just a check." The young man unfolded a map. "Using a location as a reference point, by calculating the attenuation rate, we can give a rough estimate of the area within a ring; with data provided by multiple testing stations, we can draw more than one ring..."

This map is a map of the city. Unlike tourist maps, this is a standard high-resolution military satellite map, with every alley and building clearly marked. It is an important document that can be considered a top secret.

But the young man used it without hesitation; he picked up a black pen from the table and began drawing circles on the map. One circle, two circles, the overlapping circles resembled ripples on the water's surface during rain, creating traces across the city.

"Then, just investigate." The young man closed his pen and looked up. "Although the textbooks say dragons are very strong, please rest assured, they're not beyond our control—after all, if they really had that kind of power, humanity would have been wiped out long ago, right?"

"At least for now, things are still under our control."

……

"Old Tang, could you please stop causing trouble?" Lu Mingfei sighed deeply. "It's always the same. I teach them quite well, and then you add a couple of comments, make a few sarcastic remarks, and the newbies run away."

"Let them run away. They're all just amateur players who can't amount to anything and lack any competitive spirit anyway." Old Tang's voice carried a strong foreign accent—which was perfectly normal considering his Chinese heritage. "Anyone who graduates from my tutelage must be a master-level player!"

"You're really overthinking it. Becoming a grandmaster isn't that easy. You're already a master yourself—if you really want to teach someone, you should become a grandmaster yourself first, okay?"

Whenever he thought of this, Lu Mingfei felt a surge of hatred that made his teeth itch.

This old Tang said he would teach RTS players who had no foundation, but what was he actually doing?

He can't stand newbies asking the same question twice, he can't stand newbies making mistakes that he considers "childish," and he can't stand newbies' low APM...

If you can't stand anything anywhere, what kind of students do you want to teach? Students who learn instantly and understand immediately? Students who are excellent at team coordination and can make last-minute changes? Students whose APM is also expected to be over 200?

Students like that would understand everything after playing a couple of rounds of the ladder, so why would they need to come to you to learn?

So the novice players that Lao Tang recruited all ended up in Lu Mingfei's hands, listening to his lectures—at least compared to Lao Tang's temper, Lu Mingfei, who answered every question and gave serious lessons, was so kind and approachable.

"You can't say that. I haven't reached Grandmaster level because I haven't played enough, okay? I have a job, I can't stay home all day playing computer games." Old Tang was pounding away on the keyboard, a habit of his. He always slammed his keyboard while playing games; as he put it, "It's no fun without that sound."

"Also, it's not that I really can't teach anymore—it's just that those students are all so terrible, there's no point in teaching them at all." Old Tang's voice was full of confidence. "If we're talking about someone worth teaching, I have indeed met one these days. I'll send you my QQ number after I finish this game."

You have a job? What kind of job? There's a time difference between here and the other side of the world, right? You're chatting with me despite the time difference... Are you a night shift security guard somewhere?

Lu Mingfei felt a toothache for a moment, but he still found paper and pen and prepared to write down the person's QQ number.

"Oh, wait, she said she wants to join the group herself. Check the notification and agree."

Lu Mingfei opened QQ as instructed and indeed saw a group join request. The nickname was "wo," and the profile picture was a pink jellyfish. Her group join request was also just "wo~," as if she was trying to be cute.

It must be her, right?

Lu Mingfei was somewhat unsure, but he still agreed. At worst, he could just add the wrong person and kick them out again.

Then the person at the very front of the line posted "Welcome newcomer," which was followed by a bunch of people repeating the same thing.