On how PhDs become human evil

"That's just regular cleaning fluid, isn't it...?"

"Yes. I remember it was used to make poison gas, right? Mixing acidic agents with chlorine-containing agents, you could—"

"Alright, stop!"

Bai Jie felt that the instructors at the Lion King Organization must be out of their minds. What kind of nonsense were they teaching? If they were sword sorcerers, wouldn't it be better to teach them spells and combat techniques? Creating poison gas... That's the domain of special agents and assassins!

Helplessly rubbing his forehead, Bai Jie looked into the shopping cart. Nearly half an hour had passed since they entered the store, and the cart only contained dormitory curtains, bathroom mats, toilet slippers, a mouthwash cup, a toothbrush, and a mug—all for two people for some reason. If someone who didn't know the situation saw this, they would definitely think that Bai Jie and she were a young couple shopping together.

Although Bai Jie had absolutely no interest in Himeragi Yukina, who was still a very young girl.

"Hime, is there anything else you want to buy?"

"I think this is about right. Do you have any suggestions, senior?"

"Although I live alone, my furniture was already prepared when I moved in - if there's nothing I need to buy, I'll go back. I'm hungry, I'll grab dinner on the way back."

"I understand. If it's alright, please let me treat you."

......

Five minutes later, carrying their things, Bai Jie and Himeragi Yukina walked out of the shopping center and arrived at the waiting area of ​​the train station.

"The Daoist School?"

"Blue Feather?"

Just two minutes after Bai Jie and Himeragi Yukina entered the waiting area, Aiba Asagi, carrying a small bag slung across her shoulder, also walked in from the entrance.

After the initial shock, Bai Jie immediately realized: "Oh right, you've finished your work now, are you getting ready to go home?"

Asagi and Shirai's houses are in the same direction, so it's no surprise that they take the tram here.

Upon seeing Bai Jie and Himeragi Yukina sitting side by side, Aiba Asagi's face darkened instantly: "Dōryū? Who is that girl?"

"Ah, you mean Himejiro? She's a new transfer student in the junior high school at our school. She happens to live next door to me, so I'm just doing my duty as a neighbor to take care of her."

Bai Jie would never admit that he was eyeing Himeragi Yukina's ten million yen savings and was planning to freeload off her.

Upon hearing Bai Jie's words, Ai Yu Asagi's gaze towards Himeragi Yukina immediately changed: "Then there's no need to come and buy things for her, right? I remember you were short of funds, weren't you?"

"I just came to help carry things. You can see that this much stuff isn't something a little girl can carry, right?" Bai Jie held up the many shopping bags in his hands. "Besides, I've said it several times, I'm not interested in a little girl who hasn't even grown up yet. You're not my girlfriend, so why are you jealous?"

"Well...."

Not only Aiba Asagi, but even Himeragi Yukina's expression turned sour.

"Senior, you're really blunt. Even though I'm only a middle school student, I'll grow up someday!"

"Then wait until you're older before you speak. Children shouldn't interrupt adults."

"Come back when you're older... Doru, do you really prefer people younger than you?"

"So what kind of bizarre thought process makes you say something like that? I'm not planning on saying goodbye to being single at this stage!"

Bai Jie felt so tired. Why was it so hard to be a chaste and virtuous man? Why did all these women have improper thoughts about him? He was a married man!

(I need to find an opportunity to explain to them that I already have a wife.)

With a helpless sigh, Bai Jie was about to say something more when his eyes suddenly locked onto a certain direction, staring intently at it without moving.

Noticing Bai Jie's change, Himeragi Yukina hurriedly asked, "Senpai? Did something happen?"

"I guess so. My spiritual vision saw a sudden burst of magic over there." Bai Jie rubbed his eyes. "But it's probably nothing serious. It's probably just that vampire trying to cause trouble again. It'll be fine if we leave it alone. The security team will handle it."

"The train is almost here, Himehime. Shall we go to the Keystone Gate for dinner?"

"Wait a minute, Daoliu! Are you planning to have dinner together?" Aiba Asagi panicked. Not only were they neighbors, but they were going to have dinner together? This crisis level seemed a bit high!

Without much thought, Asagi Aoi said directly, "Then take me with you too. I just finished my part-time job and I'm hungry."

"Just say you want to freeload, don't be shy. Also, don't overthink it. Do you think I don't know what's going on in your belly?" Bai Jie said with a wry smile. Lan Yu Qian Cong simply didn't want him to be alone with Himeragi Yukina. It has to be said that she was really overthinking it.

However, given the magical burst that just happened, Itogami Island might be in chaos again tonight, so it's best to keep Aiba Asagi within my sight.

Section 375, Question 12: Would it kill you to let me have a quiet dinner?

The Gate of Foundations.

The most magnificent building in Itogami City is the central facility for managing the entire artificial island area, and it is also a gathering place for high-end brand stores, making it the island's top fashion hub.

In addition, the Keystone Gate also has a museum and a souvenir shop in the Demon Zone for visitors. In addition, it is also the tallest building in Itogami City. Tourists visiting Itogami Island usually make it their first stop for sightseeing. For the local residents, this is also common knowledge.

And naturally, this is also the largest food hub on Itogami Island. The three of them, Hakuge, Himeragi Yukina, and Aiba Asagi, were at a famous ramen shop here.

By the way, the restaurant was recommended by Aiba Asagi, who is quite the foodie on Itogami Island and knows all kinds of famous restaurants.

"See? I told you, coming with me was the right thing to do."

At the dining table, Asagi Aoi smiled smugly at Shirai and Yukina Himeragi.

"Ji Dong, you just arrived, so I won't say anything. Dao Liu, you've hardly ever been to the Foundation Gate, but I come here almost every day. When it comes to familiarity with this place, I'm definitely number one!"

"Yes, yes, you're amazing, okay?"

Bai Jie gave a perfunctory reply. To be honest, he wasn't picky about food, as long as it was edible. He had originally planned to just find a fast food restaurant with Himeragi Yukina and have a meal together.

But Aiba Asagi insisted on eating at this ramen shop, so Bai Jie and Himeragi Yukina had no choice but to go along with it. In the end, Himeragi Yukina would still pay, and Bai Jie could just be a kept man by a rich woman.

I'm increasingly feeling that my humanity, in its evil form, is trending towards becoming worthless...

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Bai Jie looked at Ai Yu Asagi and Himeragi Yukina and said, "Shall we just go back like this? It's getting late, it's already the hour of the Demon King. I feel like something bad might happen if we stay any longer."

"Here we go again. I've told you not to keep bringing up those Onmyodo theories." Aiba Asagi waved her hand. "Although it's said to be the time of the Demon, there are no demons or monsters on Itogami Island. I've lived here for ten years, and the only evil spirit I've encountered was the one before. Don't worry about it."

"It's just a habit," Bai Jie sighed. "But we have to take all this stuff back with us. It's so tiring to carry it around like this."

Just as Bai Jie said, he had two large bags of Himeragi Yukina's daily necessities on hand. Even Bai Jie would get tired if he kept carrying them around. His physical fitness in this virtual world was only at the level of an average high school student.

"That's true. It's not right to let a senior carry you all the time. Let's sit for a while and then go back. Where does Senior Lan Yu live?"

"We're going the same way as you. If we take the tram, we'll get off at the same stop. The apartment is just across the street, not far at all."

"Otherwise, why do you think she would be at that station... huh? By phone?"

Bai Jie had only spoken halfway when his phone, which was in his pocket, suddenly vibrated. After exchanging a gesture with Himeragi Yukina and Aiba Asagi, Bai Jie stood up and went outside to answer the call: "What's wrong, Nangong-sensei? Why are you calling me all of a sudden?"

Ashiya, where are you now?

"At the Foundation Gate, I was having dinner with Lan Yu and my new neighbors. What happened? The security team wants me to do another part-time job?"

There are only two reasons why Nangong Nayue would call Bai Jie—either the security team has work to do, or something related to him has happened. And unsurprisingly, Nangong Nayue said on the phone: "You're at the Keystone Gate. There are two troublesome guys trying to break into the Keystone Gate and cause trouble. Stop them, I'll be there right away."

"Terrorists? In this day and age, someone still plans to cause trouble on Itogami Island? Do they have a death wish?"

"The reasons are a bit complicated, but in short, you just need to stop them."

"Then you have to tell me the characteristics of the other party. There are thousands of people here at the Foundation Gate. How am I supposed to know who the terrorists are?"

"There were two terrorists: a blond, muscular man in a monk's robe and a little girl with blue hair."

Upon hearing the voice on the phone, Bai Jie froze, his gaze fixed on the two people on the other side of the crowd. The characteristics Nangong Nayue had described matched those two perfectly. The blond, muscular man was even holding a giant axe that looked incredibly sharp, and you could tell from his face that he was no pushover.

"What a coincidence, Teacher Nangong. Those two are right in front of me right now. I'll go deal with them first, and then I'll contact you again."

Before Nangong Nayue could reply, Bai Jie hung up the phone, flipped his wrist, and a talisman appeared in his hand: "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands (Order)."

The incantation vanished in a burst of sparks amidst the words, followed by a wisp of gray smoke that began to spread like a thin veil within the Foundation Gate. In the blink of an eye, it covered the entire Foundation Gate, and the once bustling crowd disappeared completely after being enveloped by the smoke.

No, it can't be said that they all disappeared. The two people that Nangong Nayue identified as terrorists are still in the same place.

With his hands in his pockets, Bai Jie walked up to the two men and said with a smile, "Excuse me, gentlemen, but I suspect you're up to no good. Please come with me to the police station."

"The magicians from Itogami Island, huh? They arrived quite quickly." The blond, muscular man sneered. "But at this point, it's useless for anyone to stop us, Astarothie!"

"Accept the command, execute it, Rose's fingertips."

A pair of transparent arms radiating a rainbow of light suddenly burst out from behind the blue-haired girl. They were even seven or eight times larger than the girl herself, making one think that they were the arms of a giant.

Bai Jie recognized the true nature of the arm immediately.

"It's a familiar? That girl doesn't look like a vampire either. Could she be an artificial life form? You really have no conscience at all."

Bai Jie stared coldly at the blond, muscular man, and strands of spiritual energy began to erupt from his body as a storm.

"Although I don't know what you're trying to do by hacking into the Keystone Gate, well, I think I have two reasons why I absolutely have to kill you now."

"Firstly, it's because of Teacher Nangong's request. She's my big benefactor now, the one who keeps me from starving. If I don't work hard, I won't have any money to live on. I have to work diligently."

"As for the other one... even if it's an artificial life form, you better cherish it, you bastard. Playing with life in front of me? Did you jump, or am I too weak to lift a knife?"

The Fire Realm Curse descended, and a magnificent crimson lotus bloomed within the Foundation Gate.

Section 376, Chapter 13: Who told you I can't fight in close combat?

In the gray, misty world, the blazing, brilliant red lotus, like a barrier, enveloped the entire Foundation Gate. Every street was occupied by the divine flames of the Fire Realm Curse. The golden-red flames and the gray mist rose and fell, dividing the world into two parts.

At the center of this world, Bai Jie, clad in a golden-red flame robe, scattered countless sparks with every shake. Several fiery dragons circled around Bai Jie like satellites, their fiery breath constantly raising the temperature of this world, making one feel as if their body was burning just by standing there.

Gazing at the divine flames that unfolded in an instant, the blond, burly man swallowed hard, his heart pounding: "What powerful spiritual energy! Speaking of which, I've heard that there's an Onmyoji from the Far East who currently resides on Itogami Island. Could that be you?"

"Ashiya Dōryū is just an obscure Onmyoji." Bai Jie's tone was unusually cold. "Although it is rude of me to say this, may I ask you to die right here? To be honest, I don't really like people from the Church, especially since you have an artificial life form with you."

Bai Jie didn't actually hate many things, but the church was undoubtedly one of them. No matter which world he was in, the church's various actions disgusted him.

Artificial life forms are something Bai Jie despises. These beings, which are like humans but not quite, are, in Bai Jie's view, a desecration of humanity itself. They are half-baked beings that are neither human nor ghost, which is unacceptable to him as a human being.

Now that the blond, muscular man has touched both of Bai Jie's restricted areas, there's only one outcome—

"Die! By the power of the law!"

As soon as he spoke, the several fiery dragons circling around Bai Jie instantly grew in the wind, swelling into enormous dragon bodies hundreds of meters long in the blink of an eye! The raging flames transformed into a torrent that incinerated everything, crashing towards the two of them!

Before the flames arrived, the heat wave had already descended. The extremely high temperature of the heat wave even melted the ground into a lava zone, and the incomparably red earth spread wildly in all directions!

"Astarothie!"

"Command accepted!"

The giant, shimmering with rainbow light, immediately unleashed an immense surge of magical power, clenching its fists and slamming them out, directly colliding with the rapidly approaching fire dragon in mid-air!