Hero? I'm just here to borrow power!

Xia Mi muttered under her breath, "But you brought a beautiful girl who traveled all the way from the ocean to see you, and you sat down at this shabby roadside stall."

"What's the difference? It's all about filling your stomach."

The essence of Japanese ramen lies in the broth. The noodles are already prepared and only need to be briefly blanched in boiling water. At this moment, the soup pot is bubbling with white waves, and the rich and mellow aroma of pork bone broth spreads amidst the torrential rain, making it exceptionally tempting and possessing a kind of magical power to soothe the soul.

“Kamishiro-kun is right, little girl.”

Master Yue's booming voice suddenly broke in. He carried two steaming bowls of ramen and placed them steadily in front of Bai Ye and Xia Mi, one on each side. "Although with his status, it would be easy for him to book the most expensive restaurant in Tokyo for you, what difference does it make? Bringing you here also expresses his feelings. You are the first girl he has brought here in all this time."

As Master Yue spoke, he winked at Xia Mi with an air of importance, his expression of "you must seize this opportunity, young lady" resembling that of a gossipy old man worrying about the neighbor's child.

"Hey, boss, you've got the wrong target for your argument!"

Xia Mi was amused by him and launched a retaliatory attack without holding back, "Normally, shouldn't you be the one winking at this guy, hinting that he shouldn't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? How come the roles are completely reversed for you?"

"Sigh, if he had seized the opportunity, he wouldn't have come to my place alone for noodles for a whole year."

Master Yue let out an exaggerated sigh and said with a laugh, "Anyone who didn't know better would think he'd taken a fancy to this old geezer!"

Xia Mi narrowed her eyes. She discovered that the white-haired old man in front of her was just as good at roasting as she was. It was like meeting a worthy opponent.

While they were exchanging their "crosstalk" back and forth, Bai Ye had already picked up the first chopstick of noodles with a blank expression.

He thought to himself that this world seemed to follow a strange rule: the purer a person's dragon blood, the more skillful they were at spouting nonsense.

Lu Mingfei was like this, Xia Mi was like this, and even the Uesugi Yue in front of them was the same.

"Let's eat first." Bai Ye turned his head and glanced at Xia Mi, who seemed to want to say something more. "We can talk about the rest later."

"Oh."

Xia Mi swallowed back the playful remark that was about to come out, and could only stick out her tongue and make a face at Bai Ye's cold profile in resentment.

Master Yue, standing to the side, smiled silently, his face full of sighs of "Ah, this is youth."

"Hmm, the taste... is actually not bad."

Xia Mi picked up a large mouthful of noodles and slurped it into her mouth without any regard for her ladylike image. She mumbled a praise, and the rich broth, the chewy noodles, and the perfectly cooked soft-boiled egg instantly won over her taste buds.

"Don't use the word 'surprisingly,' little girl. It hurts me too."

Master Yue seemed to be infected by Xia Mi's吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or critical remarks) aura and immediately followed her rhythm.

Inside the small food cart, the sounds of Xia Mi and Master Yue bickering and slurping noodles filled the air, somehow masking the raging storm outside and creating a wonderfully cheerful atmosphere.

"I didn't expect you to have such good taste. You really can't judge a book by its cover when it comes to ramen stalls." Xia Mi finished her bowl of noodles quickly and sighed contentedly as she spoke slowly.

"Even an emperor, if he honed his ramen-making skills for decades, could make delicious ramen, couldn't he?"

Bai Ye's calm words were like a boulder crashing into a warm pond without warning, instantly shattering the joyful atmosphere.

An eerie silence fell over the air, as if time itself had frozen. The usually cheerful Chef Yue's wrinkles seemed to deepen, and he stopped wiping the dishes. In the small space, only the tireless sound of rain outside could be heard, making the silence all the more heavy.

"I'm done eating."

As Bai Ye spoke, he gently placed the chopsticks on the empty bowl, making a soft "snap" sound.

“Now that we’ve finished our noodles,” he raised his eyes, his gaze slowly sweeping between Xia Mi and Uesugi Kotsugi, “let’s get down to business.”

Black Moon Tide: Chapter 111 White Night's Plan

"God has awakened."

Bai Ye spoke, his voice not loud, but it was like a lightning bolt that shattered the warm atmosphere in the small house.

Just as Master Yue was picking up his teacup to take a sip of water to calm his nerves, his hand suddenly trembled. Before he could recover from the shock of his identity being revealed, these words, which contained even more information, entered his ears.

He couldn't control himself, and the water he had just taken a sip sprayed out in a fan shape.

However, the expected messy scene of water splashing everywhere did not happen. Xia Mi's reaction was faster than a human's. She didn't even look, but with a flick of her wrist, the orange umbrella at her feet opened with a "whoosh," blocking all the water mist sprayed by Master Yue like a precise shield. The water droplets slid off the smooth umbrella surface, and not a single drop touched her or Bai Ye.

"Cough cough cough, is this the kind of thing you can just say?" Master Yue coughed violently while patting his chest.

He raised his head, his cloudy eyes filled with suspicion, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Bai Ye's overly calm face and the girl beside him who reacted with ghostly speed.

“She’s Angers’ top agent sent to Japan,” Bai Ye explained Xia Mi simply. “Don’t treat her like a human being.”

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm a genuine beauty, what do you mean 'don't look at me'?" Xia Mi muttered in dissatisfaction, closing her umbrella.

Bai Ye ignored her protests and continued speaking. His voice was clear and cold in the rain, as if he were reading a document without any emotion.

"Twenty years ago, an icebreaker from the Soviet Union arrived in Japanese waters. But just before it was about to dock, it and everything on board were deliberately sunk into the depths of the Japan Trench, which is the so-called burial place of the gods of the Hebi-hachi family—'Takamagahara'."

Bai Ye slowly recounted the intelligence he had collected and confirmed through various channels over the past year.

"The ship carried an embryo of the first generation. The sinking, though seemingly accidental, was in fact a meticulously planned sacrifice. That ship, that embryo, were sacrifices intended to awaken the 'god' from the very beginning."

"Kassel College's equipment detected the embryo's remaining heartbeat, so they dispatched an elite team to try and destroy it before it fully hatched... but it was all too late."

Bai Ye's gaze pierced through the rain, looking into the dark distance. "Its blood has already nourished the corpse of the god, reviving it. Now, that awakened thing may have already wandered to some corner of Tokyo."

“Even if they were tricked by humans and sunk to the bottom of the sea as sacrifices to the so-called ‘gods,’ the embryos of the first generation would not willingly submit to slaughter and become offerings.” Xia Mi finally stopped complaining. She rested her chin on her hand, her expression becoming more serious than ever before.

"But what if the brain of this embryo was removed the moment it sank to the bottom of the water?" Bai Ye asked calmly.

Xia Mi's brows furrowed instantly, and a deep sense of disgust and revulsion appeared on her bright and beautiful face.

"You mean..."

"It was never a life from the beginning, but just a fleshy bed that would keep multiplying by instinct."

"Its sole purpose is to endlessly produce the blood of ancient dragons in the deep sea to nourish the corpse of that sleeping god."

"Hey, I'm just an old man who sells ramen."

Master Yue suddenly spoke, his voice a little hoarse. He took back the empty bowls in front of Bai Ye and Xia Mi, and waved his hand as if shooing away flies, "If you want to discuss this kind of confidential information, please move to another place, okay? My business here is small and can't afford any trouble."

"At times like these, don't pretend you can stay out of it."

Bai Ye raised her eyes and glanced at him indifferently. "Uesugi Yue, the last Shadow Emperor, the last head of the Snake Clan with the blood of an 'Emperor', you have been missing for sixty years, and now you are hiding in a place like this selling ramen. Do you think you can hide forever?"

Bai Ye's words ruthlessly tore away the old man's last fig leaf.

Uesugi Yue's body stiffened. He had long known that Bai Ye knew his identity, but he hadn't expected the other party to be so blunt. He was silent for a moment, then gave a bitter smile: "With you around, I can't be considered the last one, can I?"

“My ‘royal’ blood is fake,” Bai Ye said without any concealment. “It’s just a tool used to deceive those old guys from the Snake Clan, to make them willingly invite me back.”

He paused for a moment, then dropped an even bigger bomb.

“However, Genjiro’s ‘royal’ blood is real.”

"No wonder... wait, the surname is Yuan?"

Uesugi Kotsugu first realized, then his face showed extreme disdain. "Are those old guys from the Snake Clan crazy? Even if they can't find an heir, they don't need to play this childish game. The three inner families have all died out long ago. Where would a 'Kou' with the surname Minamoto come from? Not to mention that he actually has 'Kou' blood."

“The surname Yuan is fake, but his ‘royal’ bloodline is real,” Bai Ye repeated calmly.

"How could that be..." Uesugi Kotsugi looked like he was listening to a fantasy, but halfway through his sentence, he seemed to suddenly realize something, his expression changed drastically, and he immediately shut his mouth.

"It seems you still remember what your main job was before 1945, what you did for the family." Bai Ye met Uesugi Yue's gaze, which was filled with a mixture of doubt and fear, and slowly nodded.

“The current young master of the Snake Clan, Genjiro, the head of the Uesugi family, Erii Uesugi, and the ‘Dragon King’ of the Demon Clan, Genjiro,” Baiye said, and Uesugi Yue’s body trembled a little more with each name he uttered, “They are all your descendants.”

In an instant, Uesugi Yue's pupils contracted violently, and his weathered eyes ignited uncontrollably with a dazzling, molten gold-like flame! His golden eyes lit up, and the pressure of being an "Emperor" spread out uncontrollably.

"When you were the head of the Snake Clan, your genetic material was sent to the Soviet Union as a bargaining chip. Through decades of continuous breeding and selection, they finally succeeded in creating three children who inherited your bloodline power. And they..."

Bai Ye's voice slowly faded, "It is also an indispensable key in the grand plan of awakening 'God'."

Bai Ye's words fell in the small ramen stall. Outside, only the monotonous sound of rain hitting the roof of the stall and cart could be heard, cold and merciless.

"People always have to pay the price for their mistakes. You have been avoiding facing the mistakes you have made for more than 60 years. But the price you have to pay will eventually come knocking on your door."

"How...how did you know all this?"

Before Bai Ye, the familiar and kind ramen chef vanished. In his place stood a man with an aura so powerful it was suffocating, a man who had once been an "emperor."

Uesugi Koshi put down his ramen bowl and asked slowly.

“Everything leaves a trace once it’s done,” Bai Ye said softly. “There should still be an elder in the Sheqi family whom you can trust. He’s always known you’re here, but he’s never bothered you. If you don’t believe me, go ask him.”

In Uesugi Yue's eyes, facing the "Emperor's" pressure that he released without reservation, the young man in front of him not only did not change his expression, but even the pretty girl beside him did not see his dragon might that was enough to make low-level hybrids kneel and submit. He had no choice but to slowly retract his golden eyes, and the golden light in the car gradually faded, leaving only the dim yellow light.

"I'm not sure if Tachibana Masamune, the patriarch of the Snake-Headed Eight Families, and 'King General,' the leader of the Demon Clan. But current clues indicate that they must be survivors of that Soviet icebreaker and executors of the 'God's Revival' plan. Tomorrow, after the academy's team finishes exploring the burial grounds, I will go and kill them." Bai Ye calmly revealed his entire plan.

“Tachibana Masamune has been in charge of the Hebi-Hachi family for over twenty years. Unlike you, who are just sitting back, he is a true patriarch who holds power in his hands. At that time, the Hebi-Hachi family will probably see me as an enemy. I hope that you can step forward and, as the current Shadow Emperor, temporarily control the Hebi-Hachi family before I completely expose his conspiracy.”

"What if I refuse?" Uesugi Koshi's voice was hoarse.

“Then many people will die, a great many people.” Bai Ye answered without hesitation, “The people who once followed you, the children who have your blood in their veins… they will all die.”

"Are you going to challenge the entire Snake Clan and the Demon Clan all by yourself? That's equivalent to making an enemy of all the mixed-race people in Japan!" Uesugi Kotsuki finally lost his composure. His eyes widened in anger. In his eyes, Byakuya was so cold and arrogant, like a complete madman.

"Among the Snake Clan, there will always be someone who chooses to stand on my side."

Bai Ye's expression remained calm and composed. "Besides, my target is that resurrected god, the Japanese hybrid... he's not exactly my enemy."

"Then I'll test your strength, Kamishiro-kun!"

Before he could finish speaking, Uesugi Koshi suddenly sprang into action! The old trolley he had been pushing for decades was instantly torn to pieces by the violent force from the inside! Wood chips and shards of dishes shot out in all directions, and a torrential downpour rushed in.

As a complete "Emperor," he possessed power and speed unimaginable to ordinary hybrids. His five fingers transformed into sharp claws, traversing the distance between the two in a fraction of a second, aiming straight for Bai Ye's throat with a piercing whistle that tore through the air!

However, Bai Ye didn't even make a move.

Just as Uesugi Yue's body began to move, an invisible, mountain-like pressure appeared out of nowhere, pinning him firmly to the spot. The dragon blood within him roared madly, its power pushed to its limit, yet it could not break through the barrier made of air even an inch.

"Save your energy, dwarf."

Xia Mi's voice rang out, cold and arrogant. Her golden eyes suddenly lit up, their light purer and more majestic than Uesugi Etsushi's. A true dragon's might, far surpassing that of an "Emperor," erupted in the air! Even the torrential raindrops falling from the sky were repelled by an invisible force in this area, forming an absolutely dry circular domain.

Yan Ling · Dustless Land!

Xia Mi simply stared coldly at Uesugi Yue, and the invisible barrier instantly ejected him, causing him to fall awkwardly into the heavy rain outside.

Only now, completely soaked, did Uesugi Etsu realize just how terrifying the seemingly harmless girl beside Byakuya truly was.

Although the Dustless Land was not a high-level Word of Power, in her hands, he was able to be thrown back without any resistance. Although he did not suffer any substantial damage, he could clearly feel the gap between them—not a gap in physical strength, but a gap in the use of Word of Power. The other party was different from him; she was not a hybrid who fought by borrowing bloodline power, but a true elemental manipulator… a monarch.

"I'm here to cooperate with you, not to kill you."

Byakuya stepped out of the Dustless Land and, amidst the pouring rain, reached out and pulled the distraught Uesugi Kotsushi up from the ground.

“Even if I really have to fight against all the mixed-race people in Japan, I am confident that I can win… But if the day comes when ‘God’ truly awakens, Japan will sink into the sea on its own without me having to lift a finger.”

After helping Uesugi Echizen up, Byakuya said calmly, "You're a bastard father, but Genjiro is a good kid, and Uesugi Erii is a good girl."

"You have a day to think it over carefully."

After saying that, Bai Ye found his relatively intact black umbrella among the wreckage of the shack. He opened the umbrella and turned to walk towards the car not far away. Xia Mi looked down at her feet; her beautiful orange umbrella had been broken into several pieces along with the shack. She made a face at Uesugi Kotsushi in the rain, then quickly caught up with Bai Ye and nimbly squeezed under his umbrella.

Bai Ye frowned as he watched Xia Mi squeeze in, but did not stop her. Even though the other party was essentially a dragon, ordering her to leave the umbrella's range in the pouring rain was still too ruthless.

So the two walked side by side toward the car, rain pattering against the umbrella.

“Your Japanese is very good,” Byakuya suddenly said as they walked toward the car.

"Have you been to Japan before?"

"Of course I've been here." The girl under the umbrella chuckled, her voice carrying a hint of timelessness, as if she had traveled through thousands of years. "But back then, this place was called Edo."

Their conversation was not loud, but it clearly reached the ears of Uesugi Kotsugi, who was still standing in the ruins.

#Additional Chapter, Bounty 2/4#

Black Moon Tide: Chapter 112 Ragnarok

"Don't you have anything to say to me about 'Ragnarok'?"

In the penthouse of the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills, Minato Ward, Tokyo, Byakuya sat calmly on the sofa, his gaze fixed on the girl who was wandering around.

This is a duplex apartment on the 45th floor, with an area of ​​nearly 200 square meters. The interior design follows the concept of "minimalism," with large areas of pure white walls and black furniture with hard lines. Apart from the necessary living facilities, there are no superfluous decorations. Nevertheless, compared to the simple room in Beijing that Bai Ye had previously lived in, which could only be called a "base," this place can be considered luxurious.

Xia Mi was clearly very interested in this place. She didn't answer Bai Ye's question immediately, but instead, barefoot like a curious cat, she stepped on the cool, smooth composite floor and gently stroked the floor-to-ceiling glass window that covered the entire wall of the living room. From this height, the entire night view of Tokyo was laid out unreservedly at her feet, with countless lights converging into a dazzling, flowing ocean of light.

"The speed of human evolution is truly astonishing, isn't it?"

Her voice carried a touch of melancholy, "Hundreds of years ago, this was just a small fishing village with fewer than a hundred households. Now, it is the most prosperous center in all of Asia."

Upon hearing Xia Mi's words, Bai Ye's expression remained unchanged. He simply sat quietly on the sofa, like a sculpture blending into the shadows.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" After overlooking the view of Tokyo, Xia Mi turned around and, quite naturally, jumped up and sat on the armrest of the single sofa next to Bai Ye, looking down at him.

"As a human, how should I reply? 'Thank you for the compliment, Dragon King'?" As it turns out, sarcasm is indeed contagious, and Bai Ye, unusually, also responded with a rather unfunny joke.

Xia Mi looked Bai Ye up and down, then scoffed dismissively, "How are you human? Compared to you, I think I'm more human."